"HOPE IS THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL" (Hebrews 6:19). We, Christians, are people of Hope. We know that God loves us and that He has a beautiful plan for each of us. Many people are suffering today because of the continuing pandemic. About 400,000 Americans have died of Covid-19 within the last 12 months. Everyone has been affected through the loss of a relative or friend. Many are afraid of being infected and have not yet come back to attend Mass at church. Many are asking, "God, where are you? Why are you allowing this pandemic to continue? " I always say that GOD IS A GOD OF HOPE! God will never abandon us. We believe in the resurrection of the bodies. We believe in eternal life. We believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. We believe in the Catholic Church. We are never alone on our journey of Faith. We have been praying for the end of the pandemic. We have been using a strict protocol in our own parish, in our own church so as to protect lives. Now that vaccination is available in Charles County, ...

I believe that God never stops calling us. He knows each of us by name. He knows everything going on in our lives. He knows all our thoughts and desires. He has created us in His own image. He loves each of us personally. Since our baptism, we are all called God's children. He has a plan for each of us, a beautiful plan because He loves us and He wants each of us to be close to Him. He sends His only Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, to reveal Himself to each of us, to redeem us from our sins, to guide all our steps on our pilgrimage on earth so that we can return to Him and be with Him now and forever. The question we are all struggling with is: "What does God want me to do?" Every day is a new day, a new beginning. Every day, we can ask God: "What do you want me to do today?" As we have completed our wonderful journey of Advent and Christmas, it is a good time to reflect on God's plan. It is a good time to...

"I HAVE BAPTIZED YOU WITH WATER; HE WILL BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT" (Mark 1: 7-11) says John the Baptist. Do you remember the day of your own Baptism? (If you don’t, ask your parents or call the parish where you were baptized). Who baptized you? Like Jesus being baptized by John in the waters of the Jordan River, were you fully immersed in water? Did you feel the Holy Spirit? Did you feel becoming a totally new person? Are you aware that your Baptism was the beginning of a new life? Are you aware that since the day of your Baptism, you became God's child as a full member of the Body of Christ, His Church, the Catholic Church? This weekend, we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord as we close the Christmas Season and enter the First Week of Ordinary Time. This is a time to reflect on our own Baptism and on the permanent dwelling of the Holy Trinity at the center of our inner being. This is a time to reflect and pray to the Holy Spirit in the SILENCE of our hearts. Given the daily challenges we face, including ...

I hope you all had a most blessed Christmas and that despite the ongoing challenges in your daily lives you could find the JOY OF THE NEWBORN KING in your hearts! Together, let us GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR THE JOY OF THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON: THE PRINCE OF PEACE has come down from heaven and joined us on earth. We can proclaim with the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 9:1-6): "The people who walked in darkness have seen a GREAT LIGHT; upon those who dwelt in the LAND OF GLOOM A LIGHT HAS SHONE. You have brought them ABUNDANT JOY AND GREAT REJOICING...For a child is born to us, a son is given us...They name him... PRINCE OF PEACE. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful.'" Through this Christmas Season lasting until January 10, the Baptism of the Lord, and including the three celebrations of the Holy Family, of Mary Mother of God, and of the Epiphany of the Lord, let us...

In this Year of St Joseph, I invite the entire parish to seek a PLENARY INDULGENCE by praying the Litany of St Joseph this Sunday as we celebrate the FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY and JOSEPH: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. God our Father in heaven, have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us. God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. Holy Mary, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Noble son of the House of David, pray for us. Light of patriarchs, pray for us. Husband of the Mother of God, pray for us. Guardian of the Virgin, pray for us. Foster father of the Son of God, pray for us. Guardian of virgins, pray for us. Faithful guardian of Christ, pray for us. Head of the...

Are you ready to celebrate the JOY OF CHRISTMAS 2020? While we still have a few days to enter into that Joy, I would like to share some reflections about the JOY OF MARY AND JOSEPH at Christmas and how this most Holy Couple can inspire us. Like both Mary and Joseph before Jesus's birth, we have many FEARS in our daily lives. We are afraid of the unknown. We are afraid of accepting God's will as it may go against our own will. Wouldn't you be afraid if a messenger of God, an angel, were to appear to you and begin to talk and tell you what to do? The Angel Gabriel told Mary, "DO NOT BE AFRAID MARY, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him JESUS. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High." (Luke 1:31-32). Joseph, learning Mary was pregnant before living with him, had decided to divorce her quietly when suddenly the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "JOSEPH, son of David, DO NOT BE AFRAID to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the HOLY SPIRIT that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him JESUS, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:20-21). In both instances, Mary and Joseph through GRACE and FAITH overcame their fears and said, "YES” to God. We too like Mary and Joseph can...

Today, Tuesday, December 8, 2020, as we celebrated the great Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, POPE FRANCIS surprised all of us, he proclaimed a "YEAR OF ST JOSEPH" beginning immediately and ending on December 8, 2021! I announced this GOOD NEWS at the end of Tuesday’s 7 pm Mass and I now would like to invite all of you to ENTER INTO THIS YEAR OF ST JOSEPH with great JOY and HOPE! Why is Pope Francis proclaiming this Year of St Joseph today? Exactly 150 years ago, December 8,1870, Blessed Pope Pius IX proclaimed ST JOSEPH PATRON OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH. Recalling that 150th anniversary, Pope Francis announced his proclamation of a special Year of St Joseph and published a new Apostolic Letter, "Patris Corde" ("With a Father's Heart"), In which he describes St Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an accepting father, a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows. In introducing this new Apostolic Letter,...

Last week, I suggested that this Advent we focus on preparing the Way of the Lord to receive Him in our hearts while we keep praying, "COME LORD JESUS". When we pray these three powerful words, do we think of Jesus' first coming at Christmas (The Perfect Gift) or do we think of Jesus' second coming at the end of time, the Day of Final Judgment? Or are we simply asking Jesus to come and stay in our own hearts right NOW? When is Jesus coming? IS JESUS COMING TODAY? I was invited to give an Advent talk to a group of young Catholic women earlier this week. By coincidence (or God's incidence) I was asked to talk about "ADVENT AND THE COMING OF JESUS, COME LORD JESUS!" The interesting part was not my talk (it is always difficult for me to connect in virtual meetings, when unable to see the reactions of individuals) but rather the questions and reflections by the participants. I will share only some of the takeaways from our discussion...

As we are celebrating THANKSGIVING Day this week, we can be GRATEFUL for all the blessings that God has poured upon each one of us, our families, our workplaces, and our parish in the last 12 months. Everything good we have in our lives comes from God. We have to be GRATEFUL to God, at all times, not only on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of our lives. Should we be also grateful to God for what does not go so well in our lives? The last six months have been challenging. Many people have suffered and are still suffering. God does not want us to suffer. HE has given us a free will. We believe that by accepting our suffering for God’s Glory, we can be transformed and get closer to Him. I remember that I felt angry when last March we had no choice but to close our doors to all of you. This was painful for all of us. As six months have now passed, we see that we achieved many goals: ...

Over the last five years, we have been celebrating Black Catholic History Month (November) at our parish. Because of the restrictions imposed by the on-going pandemic, our celebration this year will be much simpler. There will not be any celebration with special presentations in the Father Martin Hall. Our focus will be on individual prayer while also remembering Black Catholic Saints. At the end of each Mass this coming weekend (November 21-22nd), Prayer Cards will be available in the Narthex. We are inviting you to pray together with three great Black Catholics and imitate their powerful virtues: St Benedict the Moor (1526-1589) (April 4 Feast Day), St Martin de Porres (1579 -1639) (November 3rd Feast Day), and Servant of God Mother Mary Lange, Co-foundress of Oblate Sisters of Providence ( 1784-1882). I already wrote to you about St Martin de Porres (weekly bulletin of November 8) as we celebrated his Feast Day on November 3rd. St Martin, who lived 400 years ago in Peru, was fully committed to help people in need, whether poor or sick. He also displayed the virtue of humility in challenging circumstances. He had a very difficult childhood. He was born out of wedlock. His mother was a former slave and his father a Spanish nobleman who abandoned his young son Martin right after the birth of his sister. He joined a Dominican convent as a servant and did all kinds of menial jobs with great humility and love (cooking, cleaning), while also feeding the unwanted and the abandoned. All of us can be inspired by such a humble and loving Saint! St Benedict the Moor was born about 50 years before St Martin de Porrres. His parents were African slaves who converted to Catholicism and were granted freedom before the birth of Benedict in San Fratello, Sicily. As a young adult....

ARE YOU READY? THE BRIDEGROOM IS COMING! STAY AWAKE! This is the message of the powerful parable of the ten virgins we heard last Sunday. Jesus is the bridegroom. Yes, he is coming. Be prepared! Be ready! "Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour!" (Matthew 25:13). JESUS IS COMING! For 2,000 years, we have been awaiting HIS SECOND COMING. He can come at any time. THE END OF TIME MAY BE NEAR. The final judgment may be near. Do you believe it? I do, IT COULD HAPPEN any time. It could happen at this very moment. It could happen today or tonight, or it could happen in another 2,000 years. We should not be afraid of the end of time. We should all REJOICE at the thought of JESUS' SECOND COMING! Yes, Jesus warns all of us. He wants us to be ready all the time. Are you ...

We just celebrated the great Solemnity of All Saints Day. I want to write to you today about an amazing Saint who lived 400 years ago in Peru, SAINT MARTIN DE PORRES whose Feast was just celebrated on Tuesday, November 3rd. He is not as well-known as some of the greatest Saints as Saint Francis of Assisi or Saint Vincent de Paul. But like Saint Francis and Saint Vincent de Paul, he was fully committed to help people in need, whether poor or sick. He was also extremely humble. He had a very difficult childhood. He was born out of wedlock. His mother was a former slave in Peru and his father a Spanish nobleman who abandoned his son Martin right after the birth of his sister. He joined the Dominican convent of the Holy Rosary as a servant and did all kinds of menial jobs with great love: cooking, cleaning, and feeding the unwanted and the abandoned. Eventually, he took vows as a lay brother. He had an exceptional love for the great Sacrament of the Eucharist and for the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament In the last few years, we remembered him in our parish as part of...

This Sunday, we celebrate the great SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS. At every Mass, not only on All Saints Day, we pray with all the Saints in Heaven. All SAINTS are an integral part of the CHURCH. While Jesus is the Head of the Church, the Saints in Heaven and all the baptized Catholics living on earth constitute the BODY OF THE CHURCH. As all the baptized are CALLED TO BE SAINTS, we can say that our Church is a CHURCH OF SAINTS, Saints in Heaven, and all potential Saints on Earth. Anyone entering Heaven becomes a saint (with a small s). To enter Heaven forever, we do not need to be recognized/canonized by the Church as a Saint, with a Capital S (e.g. St John Paul II, St John XXIII or St Teresa of Calcutta). To be in Heaven is to be with God. God is present at each Mass; Jesus, who is both God and the Son of God, is fully present in the Eucharist, the Body of Christ. MASS IS HEAVEN ON EARTH, the Saints in Heaven are present not only at ALL SAINTS MASS, but at every Mass. I recall...

Every morning in the last few days, I listen to the birds singing in our backyard at the rectory: the little sparrows, the blue jays, the cardinals, the robins and many more that I do not recognize. The birds are singing. They are not worried as many of us about continuing uncertainties and challenges. They are not listening to the news on the radio. They are just singing, singing songs of joy! As the weather has been cold and then warm again, they may believe that Spring is coming! With God it is always Spring Time! Time for Renewal and Joy! I pray to God that we can all find the Joy of Spring in our hearts, the Joy of a new Life, the Joy of a transfiguration of our souls to be conformed to the image of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Joy of Conversion: going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, being at Peace with God, accepting God's invitation to come to the Feast on Sunday, the Wedding Feast of His Son, the prelude to the Eternal, Heavenly Banquet, receiving the Body of Christ, receiving God, the Son of God in the Eucharist , and being transformed. I loved watching...

Dear Parishioners, I would like to express all my appreciation for your generous support to the Capital Campaign, which has now been completed successfully. To paraphrase St Paul (this weekend’s first Letter to the Thessalonians 1:1-3) "I give thanks to God for the generosity of all of you, remembering you in my prayers." When we launched the Capital Campaign four years ago, we wrote to all of you, "The top priority is to renovate the Sanctuary and Narthex; the current 400 chairs (380 to be exact) and the carpet in Sanctuary need to be replaced; with a new configuration, we will be able to provide a seating capacity of about 450. A second priority is to provide additional space for multi-purpose classrooms, meeting rooms and storage. A third priority is to evangelize by making the outdoor space in front of our church more prayerful: we plan to have a small Perpetual Adoration Chapel and we will have a beautification project and a new, larger steeple for our church. For this capital campaign to be successful, we will need broad support to raise the estimated investment cost of...

In the Introduction to his Encyclical "THE GOSPEL OF LIFE", St John Paul II reminds us that "The Gospel of Life is at the heart of Jesus' message... It is to be preached with dauntless fidelity as the GOOD NEWS to the people of every age and culture... At the dawn of salvation, it is the BIRTH of a Child which is proclaimed as GOOD NEWS...The source of this great joy is the Birth of the Savior, but Christmas also reveals the full meaning of every human birth... When Jesus presents the heart of his redemptive mission, he says he came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). It is in that new and eternal life that all the aspects and stages of human life achieve their full significance." Last weekend, we celebrated "RESPECT LIFE SUNDAY”. Both Deacon Rich and Deacon Bill preached beautiful homilies about "respecting lives at all stages" from the beginning of the embryo in the womb to natural death" with special emphasis on protecting the "unborn". St John Paul II encouraged all of us to preach the Gospel of Life to all people at all times. We need to fight the growing culture of death. The gravest attack on life in our current culture is...

In the Second Reading of this coming Sunday, we have one of the most powerful passages from St Paul's Letter to the Philippians ( 2:1-11). It is all about HUMILITY and how humility LEADS us to JOY through BEING ONE in JESUS. HUMILITY is the foundation of our Christian life. St Paul encourages us to live a humble life, imitating Jesus' own humility, "Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, HUMBLY REGARD OTHERS AS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOURSELVES, each looking out not for his own interests but also for those of others. Have in you the SAME ATTITUDE that is also in CHRIST JESUS... who, though He was in the form of God, emptied Himself taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, He HUMBLED HIMSELF, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. I suggest that you keep asking God to grant you the virtue of humility by praying daily the inspirational LITANY OF HUMILITY...

The one-year celebration of our 40th anniversary has just come to an end with the visit of Archbishop Wilton Gregory last Saturday. It was a beautiful day. The weather could not have been better, cool and dry! Inside the church, the Holy Spirit was fully present and filled our hearts with the warmth of His Love while our Blessed Mother put her protective arms around our shoulders. There were many moments that brought much JOY to those attending (if you could not attend see footnote below) including the powerful homily delivered by the Archbishop. In his homily, Archbishop Gregory commented on the Parable of the Vineyard Workers (Matthew 20:1-16) and God's Unique Justice, "God's justice is always directed toward generosity... We have all been recipient's of God's generosity... The parable is not about what we have earned or what we merit though our labors, but what God has given to all of us out of his superior generosity. The parable is not about what we do, but what God does so generously for all of us." Archbishop Gregory concluded his homily, "honoring the hard work of the parishioners of Our Lady Help of Christians for 40 years in the establishment and growth of a fine community of faith". He gave...

St Paul's Letter to the Philippians is filled with Joy, Peace and Hope in Christ. In this weekend’s Second Reading (Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a), St. Paul proclaims, “TO ME LIFE IS CHRIST.” What a powerful and inspirational statement! How do these three words "LIFE IS CHRIST" apply to your own life? They are challenging. Of course, as Christians, our life is to “center on Jesus Christ, our Savior, who died for our sins on the Cross and rose on the third day giving us such a great hope in eternal life.” But in reality, there are so many distractions and difficulties in daily lives that most of us tend to focus on ourselves, and how to resolve our daily challenges alone, forgetting to ask God's help. Through St Paul's exemplar life, God is inviting us to say, "To me too, like to St Paul, LIFE IS CHRIST.” Last week's second reading (Romans 14:7-9) amplifies this theme, "None of us lives for oneself and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord, we are the Lord's. For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” As we...

Early today, as in most mornings, Fr. Ben and I were praying in front of the exposed Blessed Sacrament in the little chapel of our Rectory. In addition to the prayers in the Breviary of the "Office of Readings” and the "Morning Prayer" we also spend a full half-an-hour in silence. This is one of the best moments of my day. Today, the words coming into the silence of my heart were repeatedly, "REJOICE IN THE LORD! ALWAYS REJOICE IN THE LORD! REJOICE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD! REJOICE! GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD!" I was also recalling the words of St Paul’s to the Romans (second reading for this weekend), "None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord" (Romans 14:7-9). St Paul was in jail when he wrote his letter to the Romans. Following his dramatic conversion from persecutor of Christ to disciple of Christ, he spent his entire life living for Christ. Though in jail, he was totally free, no longer having chains attaching him to the world. He was ready to die for Christ. He had just proclaimed also from his jail, “Nothing, neither life nor death, can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus Our Lord." (Romans 8:38) Paul was totally at peace, feeling the Presence and the Love of Jesus Christ. I pray to God that as we enter our 40 HOURS OF ADORATION TONIGHT, beginning at 10 pm, together we can find...