Father’s Articles

Last week, on the Feast of the Ascension, Pope Francis officially announced the Jubilee Holy Year of 2025, which will be celebrated by all Catholics around the world.

This Mother’s Day is also the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord.  Some parts of the Church still celebrate…

The month of May is arguably the most delightful month of the year – the weather is great, trees are budding and flowers are blooming, the school year is ending, summertime awaits!  But it is also one of the busiest months of the year, its days filled with sacraments, end-of-the-school-year events, graduations, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, and family celebrations!

This week’s celebration of Earth Day had me praying in thanksgiving for God’s beautiful gift of creation, so manifest at this time of year. St. Francis of Assisi is so often associated with nature and the created world, and our Pope who took his name has made the care of creation one of the hallmarks of his papacy.  

In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the Easter season is always the time for the Annual Catholic Appeal, and so as we continue to celebrate the joy of Christ’s resurrection during these days, I am asking for your prayerful support and pledge for the Annual Catholic Appeal, whose theme this year is “For the Life of the World.”

This year, for the first time ever, the Great Preacher Award will be given not to an individual, but to a group, and that group is the St. Margaret of Scotland Music Ministry!

Happy Easter! Our Easter season lasts for 50 days, and today is the Octave Day of Easter, the eighth day, also known as Divine Mercy Sunday.

The Lord is risen!  Alleluia! Happy Easter to all! Christians are filled with joy this day to see Jesus Christ victorious over the powers of sin and death. Let us take hope from this day, especially when life overwhelms us, especially when the events in our world overwhelm us, and let us always remember that life will be victorious.

As we enter into this Holy Week, we focus on the sufferings of Jesus: his betrayal, his trials, his beatings and whippings, his being mocked and misunderstood, his carrying of the Cross, and his painful death on that Cross.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! This day always comes during Lent, but this year it is a Sunday, offering us a weekend of celebration and merriment. But who was St. Patrick, really?

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Lent, also known as Laetare Sunday. Many folks know this as one of two Sundays where rose (or a deep pink) is the proper liturgical color (the other being the Third Sunday of Advent, or Gaudete Sunday.)  So, what’s Laetare Sunday all about?

Welcome, March! We know that some days in March can be as cold as deep winter, a few are as warm as springtime, and many of the days are stormy. This struggle against winter during March is a strong sign of the season of Lent.

This year, our Parish Lenten Project is for the benefit of the St. Joseph Housing Initiative. Each Lent, every Catholic is asked to take up some form of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and our Parish Lenten Project is an opportunity for us to do that collectively as a parish family, praying, sacrificing, and giving for the good of this valuable Catholic ministry which serves families in need right here in our local community.

This week Fr. John is including a recent letter from Archbishop Rozanski regarding a new evangelization program for our parish.

Lent begins this Wednesday, February 14; are you ready? Amid our Mardi Gras and Valentine’s Day celebrations these days, faithful Catholics should also be looking forward to Lent and preparing now. After all, anything worth doing well is worth preparing for!

This past Saturday, February 3, was the Feast of St. Blaise. St. Blaise was a physician, the bishop of Sebaste…

Today is the beginning of Catholic Schools Week, a week set aside to celebrate Catholic education in our nation, and to celebrate our own parish school in particular. This year’s theme is “Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community.” I want to encourage all our parish family to join in this celebration by supporting and praying for our parish school!

This Sunday, the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, was designated the Sunday of the Word of God by Pope Francis in 2019. Consequently, the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study, and dissemination of the word of God.

It is still January, which means many of us have made, kept, or struggled with New Year’s Resolutions.  Since we should strive to be better each day of the year, here are some “New Year’s Resolutions for Absolutely Everyone”, courtesy of Fr. James Martin, SJ.

It is a long-standing tradition of the Church to announce the Date of Easter and the other moveable feasts of the Liturgical Year on the Feast of the Epiphany. So, on this Epiphany Day, the traditional announcement is offered here.