Our Lenten theme is PRAYER AND RECONCILIATION. Let us pray that God will pour out special blessings on each one of us these 40 days as we climb the Lenten mountain together: a Journey of Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving and Penance leading us to the JOY of the TRIDUUM: the Last Supper, Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ: the PASCHAL MYSTERY, the center of our Christian life, which we celebrate at EVERY MASS! On ASH WEDNESDAY...

AS WE ENTER LENT, WE ARE ALL CALLED TO BE HOLY! WE ARE ALL CALLED TO BE SAINTS. On this seventh Sunday of Ordinary time (next week is First Sunday of Lent), we hear the end of Chapter 5 of Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 5:38- 48). This completes our reflection on this magnificent beginning of Jesus' SERMON ON THE MOUNT. Jesus is telling all his disciples, including ourselves today, what it means to be a true disciple, what it means to live a Christian life. Jesus is not abolishing the Law of Moses; He is fulfilling it. He is making it complete. Jesus is raising the bar. He is asking us...

"O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!“ These are the words that JESUS gave to Father Dolindo Ruotolo, a holy priest living in Naples, Italy (1882- 1970). They are the words repeated ten times at the end of each day of his SURRENDER NOVENA. Father Don Dolindo Ruotolo is already recognized a SERVANT OF GOD, the first step in the canonization process. Like his neighbor, friend and contemporary Padre Pio, God gave him the Gift of Stigmata. One day, he...

We just had a good discussion of this year's Christmas Book: “A Father who keeps His promises - God's Covenant Love in Scripture" by Scott Hahn. When we chose the book, we knew that we could not go wrong with Scott Hahn. However, we also knew that it would take more time to read than any of the 12 earlier books distributed at Christmas. I will not try to summarize the many insights that the 30 participants gathered from such a rich book by Scott Hahn covering the entire Bible through the powerful lens of God's Covenant Love. I would simply like to encourage you to...