With Pope Francis opening the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve, we all entered the JUBILEE YEAR 2025, also known as the HOLY YEAR celebrated every 25 years. Earlier on, Pope Francis had written” For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the “door” (John 10:7) of our Salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere and to all as “our hope” (1 Tim 1:1)... The time has come for a new Jubilee, when once more the Holy Door will be flung open to invite everyone to an intense experience of the Love of God that awakens in hearts the sure Hope of Salvation in Christ.” In this new Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis has called all of us to be PILGRIMS OF HOPE! Inspired by this Jubilee Year, we had chosen “CHRIST IS OUR HOPE” as the theme for...

“My prayer for you is that you make your home another Nazareth where Jesus can abide always with you. Let us pray - God bless you”. This is the way Mother Teresa of Calcutta ended the 4-page letter she wrote to me and my family after our meeting her personally in Calcutta during the Summer of 1978. I have cherished her letter for over 45 years! Her ending was a true blessing. I knew that I had met a living saint. I was then 33-year-old and a member of the World Bank Mission in Dacca, Bangladesh. I am grateful to God to have had the opportunity to meet one of the greatest saints of our time. I am grateful to have received such a powerful blessing from Mother Teresa. For the last 14 years my home has been Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church. Our parish is a family of families. As your pastor, I am grateful to God to have..

This is a time of the year to share the Joy of Christmas with others. Joy is contagious! I hope this Advent has already been filled with the Joy of preparing the Coming of Christ in our own hearts. Let me begin by sharing one of my own experiences. I love Silent Adoration. I can feel the power of the Light of the Holy Spirit radiate into my heart. There is a sense of Peace. A sense that my heart is resting with the Lord. He is within me. This Advent Season, I heard in this great silence several times one of my favorite verses from Isaiah: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light." (Isaiah 9:1)and it continues: "You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing ..for a child is born unto us, a son is given us. They named him Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful" (Isaiah 9:2-6). This is the coming of the Messiah, the expectation we have had since the beginning of Advent. This is our moving from Darkness into Light. This is the time to REJOICE at the First Coming of the Son of God on earth! HE IS OUR LIGHT. HE is our only Light. We are lighting the Fourth Candle of Love this Fourth Sunday of Advent! In these last few days of Advent, I invite you to reflect on the moments of Joy you have experienced this Year, and to share them with your family and friends. This is the time to SHARE THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS! We can be grateful to God for all the blessings HE has poured upon our parish and parishioners this Advent. Here are three events you can reflect on:...

We are lighting the third candle of the Advent wreath. We are lighting the candle of JOY, the rose candle...We have reached the Third Sunday of Advent, GAUDETE Sunday, REJOICE SUNDAY. All the readings are about JOY! Are your hearts filled with the same JOY as when you were young? Do you remember how much you were excited when Christmas was approaching? The JOY of Christmas was felt all around you! For us in Southern France in the 1950's we were all looking for...

I had just entered into the great silence of Adoring Jesus Present in the Blessed Sacrament. I looked at Jesus. HE was looking at me. I felt the power of His Presence. COME LIGHT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT! COME INTO MY HEART! I am waiting. I am attentive. I am listening. I was expecting some word from God. In this total silence, I heard a soft voice in my heart: "Come to me my son and I will give you REST!” In that silent Adoration, I felt PEACE in my heart! It was a most joyful and calm Holy Hour. It was a beautiful way to end the first day of our three-day Advent Mission. I was looking forward to the