In today’s gospel Jesus shares The Beatitudes, a teaching that forms the foundation of Christian living. Our Catechism contains a section called, “Our Vocation to Beatitude,” and helps us navigate to the desire for happiness.  It says, “This desire is of divine origin:  God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw…

Before the newness of the New Year wears off, I want to focus on new ways to renew ourspiritual lives. I’ll be unpacking today’s readings and look at how we as individuals and as acommunity can grow closer to God and get his help to liberate us from sin. Last year I asked my son…

Happy New Year!  Today we celebrate, “The Epiphany of the Lord.”  “Epiphany,” comes from the word, “Reveal.”  God reveals Himself to us, especially the Gentile people, who mostly of us are descended from, through his Son, Jesus Christ.  During this feast, we remember the Magi, the wise men, known for “Looking up,” focused on the…

Today is Gaudete Sunday, a word that means “Rejoice!“  As we enter the third week of Advent, we change the colors on the advent wreath and our vestments as we move  from the penitential purple to a more joyful rose.  This always reminds me of Fr. Howard, God bless his soul, he always said, “It’s…

We are blessed, in our modern age, to have at our fingertips modern video content fromBishop Baron, Fr Mike Schmitz, and others. But today, as we celebrate the Solemnity of OurLord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, I want to go back in time and discuss a book, written inthe 1600s, by Brother Lawrence, a…

“Life” and “Love” are two similar words in our language. The quality of our life is directlyrelated to the amount of love in our relationships. When Jesus is asked which are the greatestcommandments, he tells us, love your God and love your neighbor. Our love for God helps usto love others, because God knows our…

Today I want to focus on a key word from today’s gospel and shed some light on its translation.  Jesus, embraces a child and says, “Whoever RECEIVES one child such as this in MY name RECEIVES ME…”   THIS biblical translation uses the word “receives,” a word that is pivotal to the core message of…

After 20 years at St. James, I’ve developed a keen sense for how we are known as a parish.  I believe we have a warm and welcoming community and that we are very active in our outreach ministries.  We also have a unique church architecture that requires study to fully understand.  The scallop shell is…

Over the past several weeks, we have experienced the high points of the Liturgical Calendar.  We’ve walked with Jesus through His Passion and death, Resurrection and Ascension into heaven.  We’ve received the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and celebrated the birthday of the Church at the feast of Corpus Cristi.  In all of…

As students complete another school year, we celebrate Pentecost, a time to reflect on the Holy Spirit, a kind of graduation gift given by Jesus to his disciples and to all of us.  The disciples have travelled with Jesus many, many miles and have overcome countless obstacles, healed the sick, and spread the gospel.  They…