Our parish celebrates its Feast Day on the Sunday preceding May 24, the exact date for the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians. You are all invited to join our children and youth at 11 am for the crowning of Mary (outdoor statue) and to attend the 11:30 am outdoor Mass organized by our Youth. We are blessed to have such a large number of children and youth at OLHOC. Let us all celebrate with them with great joy on our Parish Feast Day! Since the dedication of our new altar..

I will never forget the sad eyes of a 10-year-old boy in Bethlehem. He was following our 21 pilgrims together with some friends selling shawls and wallets. In every pilgrimage, I constantly remind our fellow pilgrims: NO SHOPPING! I do not want our wasting precious spiritual time by being continually harassed at every street corner... I noticed that the 10-year-old boy was staying close to me...He was holding a sheep on his frail shoulders ...and suddenly, he put his sheep on my shoulders and shouted...

It is good to be back home REJUVENATED! The 21 pilgrims of our parish who went to the Holy Land truly experienced the HOLY SPIRIT AND THE JOY of THE RISEN LORD! The pilgrimage was a great celebration of the JOY OF THE EASTER SEASON! We left Waldorf tired and worried on EASTER Tuesday ....but as soon as we arrived in the Holy Land within the beautiful Octave of Easter, the HOLY SPIRIT took over and YES we became OVERJOYED! We celebrated Mass together every day and many times the readings of the day referred to the exact places we were visiting! WOW!!! Every day we were truly "OVERCOME WITH PASCHAL JOY" as concluded in every one of the five Prefaces of the Easter Season: "Therefore, OVERCOME WITH PASCHAL JOY, every land, every people EXULTS IN YOUR PRAISE ..." Upon our return,...

One of our parishioners wrote me a beautiful letter sharing a recent spiritual experience, truly a sign from God and His mother. Having obtained permission and maintaining anonymity, I am sharing with you the entire letter: April 2, 2022 To: Rev. Fr. Alain Colliou, OLHOC Catholic Church Re: The Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Fatima “On Sunday, March 6, 2022, after the 11:30 am Holy Mass, I went and prayed before the image of the Divine Mercy. Thereafter, I went to pray before the Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Fatima. I knelt down on the right-side kneeler, bowed down my head and started praying. Then I raised my head to gaze at the Blessed Mother but.. I noticed....

GOD's MERCY IS INFINITE. On this Second Sunday of Easter, we rejoice in celebrating GOD's INFINITE MERCY. The devotion to Divine Mercy can be summarized in five words: "JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU". Since Pope John Paul II canonized Sister Faustina Kowalska on the Second Sunday of Easter in the Year 2,000, the Catholic Church celebrates DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY throughout the world. This is a day to remember that "Jesus, the Risen Lord, is God, and as God is all LOVE and MERCY, JESUS is also ALL LOVE and MERCY. We trust in Jesus' Infinite Merciful Love. Jesus is always ready to forgive us.” In the Gospel of this Divine Mercy Sunday, the RISEN LORD meets with his disciples for the first time (John 20:19-31). Following Jesus' Death, they had gathered together in the UPPER ROOM. They had locked the doors. They were afraid of being arrested and killed like their Master. We cannot imagine...

LET US ALL REJOICE: THE LORD IS RISEN! ALLELUIA! YES! HE IS TRULY RISEN! ALLELUIA! LET US ALL REJOICE IN THE RISEN LORD: HIS RESURRECTION ON THE THIRD DAY CHANGES SALVATION HISTORY ONCE AND FOR ALL! HIS RESURRECTION GIVES US HOPE IN ETERNAL LIFE". Do these repeated ALLELUIAS as messages of JOY and HOPE resonate in our hearts today? Are our hearts truly moved? Or do they remain lukewarm and indifferent? In these challenging times, we all need HOPE! Many of our brothers and sisters have faced much suffering through two long years of a Pandemic bringing fear and isolation. Many have stayed home even for two years not receiving the EUCHARIST. As we began celebrating Lent six weeks ago, a...

May we all have a most JOYFUL ENTRANCE INTO THE HOLY CITY OF JERUSALEM THIS “PALM SUNDAY”! As we WAVE HIGH the newly blessed PALMS and enter the Church in a solemn procession, our hearts are filled with JOY, the JOY of entering into Jerusalem with the KING OF GLORY, Our SAVIOR OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. This entrance for us today is the entrance into HOLY WEEK! It is the entrance into the PASCAL MYSTERY. It is the entrance into the TRIDUUM: HOLY THURSDAY, GOOD FRIDAY, AND EASTER VIGIL. Today, on Palm Sunday, we share the JOY of the crowd that has been accompanying JESUS from the top of the Mount of Olives (Luke 19:37-39): “As Jesus was approaching the slope of the MOUNT OF OLIVES, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with JOY for all the mighty deeds they had seen. They proclaimed: BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. Peace in Heaven and glory in the highest”. We too will cry out today: HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST! Unlike the crowd 2,000 years ago, we...

At the end of each of our three Masses on the Feast of the Annunciation, we prayed together the Act of Consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On that very day, millions of people also watched prayerfully on their screens Pope Francis' solemn entrustment of the world to Mary. Many parishioners let me know...

We all want to go to HEAVEN.. The key question is: HOW do we make it to Heaven? The image of CLIMBING A LADDER TO HEAVEN has been attractive since JACOB's dream. Jacob had this amazing vision of angels coming up and down a ladder linking Heaven and earth (Genesis 28:10- 17). The incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, GOD BECOMING MAN, makes a permanent connection between Heaven and earth. Jesus proclaims “I AM THE WAY, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). He also tells us: "AMEN, AMEN I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the ANGELS OF GOD ASCENDING AND DESCENDING ON THE SON OF MAN.” You can imagine Jesus holding for us a ladder to climb to heaven. You can imagine this Christian ladder as the Prayer method developed by GUIGO: GUIGO's LADDER. GUIGO was...

Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary next Friday March 25, day of the Feast of the Annunciation. As already announced to you at the beginning of Lent, we have been planning to renew our own Consecration to Jesus through Mary at our three Masses on March 25: 7 am, 9 am and 7:30 pm (following the 7 pm Stations of the Cross). On that day, we will unite our prayers to those of Pope Francis and all Bishops, PRAYING FOR PEACE in Ukraine and Russia. OUR LADY requested in all six apparitions at FATIMA in 1917 to PRAY THE ROSARY EVERY DAY, especially to obtain PEACE . OUR LADY's request is as urgent today as it was 105 years ago when the FIRST WORLD WAR was raging in Europe and COMMUNISM was taking hold of RUSSIA. The whole world is shocked by...

"JESUS LOVES YOU SOOOOOO MUCH. You cannot imagine it. His HEART is bigger than AN OCEAN OF LOVE AND MERCY! HE will always love you. HE will never, never abandon you! HE is always ready to FORGIVE YOU: REPENT! COME TO CONFESSION! COME TO MASS: BE PREPARED TO RECEIVE HIM In the EUCHARIST. COME AND ADORE HIM in the Blessed Sacrament... HE is waiting for you. . Set aside time to come and spend time with HIM...IMMERSE yourself in HIS HEART: AN OCEAN OF LOVE AND MERCY!" My written words cannot describe the powerful message of FATHER MARTIN SCOTT who blessed our entire parish with...

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is a reminder that peace on earth is fragile. Only God can provide peace. As I am writing this column (Tuesday March 1st), the Russian armed forces continue to advance toward the capital Kiev while peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations entered a second day. Pope Francis has invited all of us to PRAY FOR PEACE. Let us do so throughout this LENTEN JOURNEY of 40 days as we climb together the Mountain leading us to the HOLY WEEK and EASTER: the JOY of the RESURRECTION! Last Saturday morning, I...

You may have already taken one of the invitation cards to join us in our Lenten series "THE GIFT OF ADORATION": HOW DO WE ADORE? IS YOUR PRAYER LIFE DRY OR BORING? "Prayer is one of the most basic elements of a life of faith, but it is not always easy to do. Though we are taught that prayer is a conversation with God, we often feel as if the conversation is completely one-sided, JOIN US AS WE EXPLORE TO GROW CLOSER TO JESUS CHRIST THROUGH ADORATION". Prayer is very personal. We all have different ways of praying. In its broadest meaning, prayer is "to feel the presence of God". It is to be aware that God is always with us. I often...

LENT is around the corner, beginning on ASH WEDNESDAY MARCH 2nd. Are you ready for another JOYFUL LENTEN JOURNEY: 40 days of preparation culminating in the HOLY WEEK, the PASSION and RESURRECTION of our LORD JESUS CHRIST? In this Year of EUCHARISTIC RENEWAL at OLHOC, we have chosen a LENTEN theme of RECONCILIATION AND ADORATION...As a picture speaks more than a thousand words below is the continuous relationship of Reconciliation to Eucharist to Adoration:...

While I was on a silent retreat for priests last week, the key question I reflected on was: "GOD, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?" This question is relevant to all of us. GOD IS CALLING EVERYONE! CAN YOU HEAR HIM? ARE YOU LISTENING? CAN YOU HEAR WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO FOR HIM? ARE YOU PREPARED TO OBEY HIM AND TAKE A STEP TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW? The Retreat Master, Father Brendan would meet with all of us for a short time twice a day and will keep provoking us with questions. He would also give us...

In the last few weeks, we have re-discovered St. JOHN BOSCO: TEACHER AND FATHER TO THE YOUNG. We knew that he had a great devotion to OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS, patroness Saint of our parish and we felt close to him when praying daily the beautiful prayer he wrote to Mary Help of Christians, especially when venerating his relic (before Cardinal Gregory placed it inside our new altar last Sunday) and also when praying the special Novena to St John Bosco (January 22-30). As we just completed the NOVENA to St John Bosco at all Masses last Sunday and celebrated his Feast Day Monday (January 31st), we re-discovered...

THE ALTAR IS THE GATEWAY TO GOD! These words proclaimed by CARDINAL GREGORY in his homily touched the hearts of many of our parishioners attending the solemn Liturgy of the Dedication of our new altar last Sunday. These words touched my heart too and they resonated in my ears throughout the entire Liturgy. We were all focusing on a new altar where Heaven and earth were to meet for the first time in the presence of the Shepherd of our entire Archdiocese. We were blessed and honored to have Cardinal Gregory preside. For nearly all of us, including me, this was also the first time to participate in such an ancient rite. It was, truly a...

St JOHN BOSCO had many prophetic dreams and performed many miracles (including healing) through his beloved MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS. In 1862, he had a remarkable, mystical dream, a vision of the future of the Church. I will provide here my own summary of this dream, focusing only on a few points. The church is represented by a fleet of ships which are under attack by the ENEMY. In the midst of a fierce naval battle and a major storm, TWO COLUMNS of great height appear. They are very close to one another. On top of one, there is a STATUE OF THE VIRGIN MARY, with the inscription in Latin AUXILIUM CHRISTIANORUM (HELP OF CHRISTIANS in English); on the other, stands a LARGE HOST (EUCHARIST) with the words: SALUS CREDENTIUM (SALVATION OF THE FAITHFUL). After a long battle, the main ship of the Church (with the Pope on board as leader) is finally anchored to the two large columns, and the Church fleet becomes victorious miraculously. The enemy ships disappear under the waves ...and the sea is calm again...

Cardinal Gregory is coming to OLHOC next Sunday, January 23rd. You are all INVITED to join him at the 11:30 am Mass when he will dedicate our new altar. I wrote about his visit extensively last week (January 9 weekly bulletin) and emphasized that THE ALTAR IS CENTRAL to the CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST. At every Mass, the altar represents the two aspects of the same Paschal mystery: the ALTAR OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE CROSS (Jesus, as Victim, dying on the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins) and the TABLE OF THE LORD (Jesus' Last Supper Institution of the Eucharist). The liturgy of the Mass expresses this unity of sacrifice and communion in many prayers. While the priest at Mass represents Jesus, the High Priest, St Ambrose said eloquently: "The Altar represents the Body of Christ (sacrificed victim) and the Body of Christ (after the consecration and before Communion) is on the altar.” Several of you asked questions about...

Cardinal Gregory is coming to dedicate a new altar at the 11:30 am Mass on Sunday January 23rd. It is a great honor for our parish and all our parishioners. This will be his second visit in less than two years. I hope that many of you will be able to join us and welcome him as you did on the occasion of our 40th anniversary in September 2020. We are grateful to God for the generosity of the two pa- rishioners who have funded this latest OLHOC project for a new altar and have chosen to remain anonymous. We are also grateful to the members of our Parish Council who unanimously recommended...