Blessings to all of you this Memorial Day Weekend. This week we honor those who gave their lives in service to our country to preserve our God-given freedoms that promote human dignity and development.

The Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord which we celebrate this weekend draws us deeper into our Lord's mystical and Eucharistic presence with us. Matthew's Gospel concludes with Jesus' parting words to His disciples: "Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

It is with great sadness that we mourn the death of our beloved "Coach" Mare Von Lindern who passed away unexpectedly on May 2. Coach Von Lindern loved St. Mary School and Parish.

This Fifth Sunday of Easter we open our hearts to know Jesus as "the way and the truth and the life." Jesus is not a way to God, or a truth to be believed, or a path of life to follow. He is the way, truth, and life - not merely one among many other options.

I am excited to welcome Deacon Duckhyun (Fabian) Han as our next parochial vicar! Deacon Fabian will be ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, May 20 and begin his four-year assignment with us starting in late June at St. Mary Chardon and St. Patrick Thompson.

Listen to the words of longing expressed by the disciples on the road to Emmaus. "Stay with us, Lord" and "Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke to us on the way!"

St. John Paul II named the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday when he canonized St. Faustina Kowalska on April 30, 2000. Divine Mercy is more than a pious devotion of the Church.

Happy Easter, and a warm welcome to all who are visiting this weekend. The Lord is risen! Today, Christ rose victorious from the grave and conquered our ancient foes of sin and death.

The readings today for Palm Sunday and throughout Holy Week invite us to journey to the Holy Land where the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus took place. Whether or not you've made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, we all have a special connection to that place where our Lord lived, died, and rose again from the dead.

The Gospel for this Fifth Sunday of Lent concerning the raising of Lazarus from the dead is the third "scrutiny" Gospel. The past two weeks, we heard the first and second scrutiny Gospels with the Samaritan woman at the well and the healing of the blind man. These three Gospels are geared not only to us who are already living the Catholic life, but also toward those in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults who are seeking to be baptized this Easter.

This Fourth Sunday of Lent teaches us the importance of seeing as God sees. We all have narrow vision due to being finite human beings with a limited perspective.

This Third Sunday of Lent, we hear about Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. This woman went to the well at noon (in the heat of the day) precisely because she didn't want to meet anyone there.

As we listen to the Gospel account of the Transfiguration of Jesus, we are met with some of the most intimate words of encounter between God and man.

As we begin our Lenten journey, our Church provides us with many spiritual riches to pursue in our liturgy and in our Scriptures. We have 40 days of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving set before us.

Continuing His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us to love our enemies and not seek revenge on those who have hurt us. If this were easy, Jesus wouldn't need to tell us to do these things!

We continue to hear from Jesus' rich teaching of the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. In this part of the sermon, Jesus proposes a radical transformation of how we think about laws and commandments.

Jesus affirms that we are salt of the earth and light of the world. You and I matter! We are capable of changing the world and reclaiming it for our Lord through the working of the Holy Spirit in us.

We hear the Beatitudes which begin Jesus's foundation teaching. Jesus would have preached this sermon many times, to great crowds on mountain, hillsides, plains, and even from the Sea of Galilee.

On Tuesday, January 31st, Bishop Edward Malesic invites the faithful of the diocese to join him at 7:00 PM for a virtual meeting.  He, along with members of the Keeping the Faith steering committee, will present the strategic plan for our beloved Catholic elementary schools.

We celebrate Sunday of the Word of God this Third Sunday of Ordinary Time. Every year, this weekend becomes a renewal of our commitment to celebrate, study, and spread the Word of God throughout the year.