Category: From our Pastor:

      January 22, 2017, marks the 44th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision when the Supreme Court ruled that state laws banning abortion are unconstitutional. The court maintained states’ rights to regulate abortion in accord with protection of the health of the mother and protection of the life of the child. The court also…

      As we finish the Christmas Season this weekend I am thinking about the continuation of the story of Jesus’ infancy. The story does not end with a birth, a visitation from the Magi, and a presentation in the Temple. Mary and Joseph are gifted with the great responsibility to nourish, protect, and teach Jesus who…

      First of all, Happy New Year!! May the New Year bring new opportunities of grace and enlightenment to your life and to the lives of your loved ones. A new year presents a chance for renewal and growth. May you take advantage!       Second, thank you to all of you…

      Each Friday after the 12:05 Mass we have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament followed by the devotion to Our Mother of Sorrows, then Benediction. This devotion has been prayed at our parish since the 1940’s. It requires just over 20 minutes and we finish by 1:00. There are between 20 and 35…

      ANNIVERSARY:  Let us remember that on December 12th, 2016, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the parish community will celebrate its 25th anniversary since the Spanish-speaking Catholics were welcomed into the parish family. In 1990 Norbertine Fr. Harvey Toonen and others approached then pastor, Ken DeGroot, in order to ask if…

       November and December are full of special days and celebrations: All Saints, All Souls, Thanksgiving, (Fr. Andy’s Birthday – 11/30) Advent, Immaculate Conception of Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Posadas, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, etc. There are many events occurring during too few days. We are not able to reflect upon the…

      My final destination in Spain was Madrid. We arrived on Saturday and found a hotel near the Plaza España. We attended Mass at a nearby parish and we were out in less than 40 minutes! No music, short homily, and no young people. Not far from there we visited the sites of…

      In the city of Zamora we visited the cathedral where a Norbertine bishop is buried –Bernardo Conde y Corral. He was Bishop of Zamora from 1863-1880 and a Council Father at Vatican I. He is buried in the transept, just to the right of the sanctuary beneath one of the earliest Romanesque…

     While in Spain I travelled on and near roads that lead to Santiago de Compostela. I did not make a pilgrimage to this holy site, but I have walked upon some of the historical routes. These routes are marked with a scallop shell on signs, on the path itself, and on buildings. These…

       I will share more about my time with the Norbertine sisters in Spain, but first, I would like to raise everyone’s attention to our under-performance in parishioner financial support in relation to our parish budget expectations.       Our budget is relatively simple. Parishioners are expected to support the personnel and the activities…