Tuesday morning (August 24), as every morning I was spending time in silent meditation in the presence of the exposed BLESSED SACRAMENT in our little chapel at the rectory. This is the best moment of my day. A time for silent ADORATION. A time for silent REFLECTION in the presence of the Lord. I was meditating on the Gospel of the day, Feast of St BARTHOLOMEW APOSTLE: JOHN 1:45-51. Three simple WORDS touched me: "COME AND SEE". These are the words Philip told Nathanael, who is identified later as Bartholomew. Philip was filled with the JOY of having encountered Jesus who had asked him: FOLLOW ME! He wanted to share that JOY with his friend Bartholomew: He had just encountered the Messiah. This is what EVANGELIZATION is all about: to be a living WITNESS OF OUR FAITH IN CHRIST, to share the JOY OF OUR FAITH with others and invite them to encounter Christ: COME AND SEE! COME AND SEE JESUS! COME TO MASS! I was looking at

Exactly two years ago, many Catholics were SHOCKED by the results of a Pew Research Center survey on the BELIEF in the real presence of Jesus, body and blood, in the EUCHARIST. The headlines in the media were: "Just one-third of U.S. Catholics agree with their church that Eucharist is body, blood of Christ", or "Pew Survey shows majority of Catholics don't believe in Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist". I too was shocked at the headlines...but looking at the details of the survey, I was less shocked. The survey selected people who identify themselves as...

Some parishioners have asked me to use the weekly column to talk about MAINTAINING REVERENCE IN OUR CHURCH. I am happy to do so for two reasons: 1. REVERENCE is an integral part of our on-going parish focus on EUCHARISTIC RENEWAL and 2. in my 11 years at OLHOC, at different times we have tried different ways to encourage such REVERENCE IN OUR CHURCH and clearly the TIME HAS COME TO RENEW OUR PAST EFFORTS ! How can we...

"EUCHARIST, PRIESTHOOD, UNITY" are the three words that summarize the legacy of Father Narcisse Martin (1845-1923), who spent the last 29 years of his life as PASTOR evangelizing and serving the entire area of Waldorf (St Peter) and Brandywine (St Michael and St Dominic). This large territory included the one now covered by our own parish OLHOC, which was established in 1980, 57 years later (territory served earlier by St Peter). Before coming to Waldorf, and for over 16 years,...