News - June 2018 RSS Feed

Dear friends in Christ,
Today the Church celebrates the 13th week of Ordinary Time, but in our country it’s also the beginning of a long Independence Day celebration. Given that July 4 falls midweek this year, we have extra time to thank God for the gift of our freedom and all the men and women who have served our country to win that freedom (and those who continue to do so on our behalf throughout the world today). Many have fought and died to safeguard the way of life we enjoy. Let us not forget the great sacrifices that have been offered on our behalf, while remembering the ultimate sacrifice and true freedom we have in God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Deacon Jack Alexander, director of Adult Faith Formation at Christ the Redeemer, recently walked the Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James. He shares his story of journeying to Spain with 15 other pilgrims to venerate the remains of St. James the Apostle, who made his way to Spain to spread the Gospel. St. James is the brother of St. John and was the first apostle to be martyred. Read Deacon Jack's reflection.

Dear friends in Christ,
Merry Christmas! ... Huh? While it’s true that we are in the middle of summer (or rather the start of it since the solstice was just this past Thursday), today in the Church we get a bit of the Advent and Christmas seasons as we mark the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. This is one of the feast days of the Church that, if it were to fall on a Tuesday or Thursday, you probably wouldn’t think twice about. But since it falls on a Sunday this year, it gets special prominence and that’s a good thing. Ordinarily the Church observes the day of a saint’s death as his feast, because that day marks his entrance into heaven. To this rule there are two notable exceptions, the birthdays of Blessed Mary and of St. John the Baptist. Allow me to let the great St. Augustine tell us the reasoning behind this celebration.

Dear friends in Christ,
Happy Father’s Day to all our dads this weekend. I pray that your family will celebrate your presence in their life by giving you the greatest gift a dad could ever want –complete control of the TV remote for one day! Seriously, we honor all of our fathers, both the living and deceased, today and thank them for the gift of life they provide. Let us call upon the patron saint of all husbands and fathers, St. Joseph, to watch over and intercede on behalf of all of them. And let us not forget the wonderful gift of life that grandfathers, adopted fathers, stepfathers, foster fathers and godfathers offer their children. May God bless them all!

Dear friends in Christ,
Greetings from Ireland! Our group of 54 parishioners is in the middle of our pilgrimage to the Emerald Isle and while we are missing our friends back at CtR, we are enjoying this beautiful and faith-filled country. We will try to bring some of the cool weather home with us!

Dear friends in Christ,

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, or as we more commonly call it, Corpus Christi Sunday. The Eucharist is the life of the Church and today we call to mind the great gift of Christ’s own body. When Christ surrendered his spirit on the cross, water and blood flowed from his side and the great outpouring of the Body and Blood was made complete. We celebrate that gift every time we gather at the table of the Lord.