My Dear Friends,

July 31st is the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He was a Spaniard and a soldier. It was while recuperating from an injury that St. Ignatius began reading the lives of the saints. The more he read of the saints, the more he fell in love with his Catholic faith and his desire to become a saint himself. The Jesuits were famous for missionary work and educational work throughout the centuries. Jesuit priests traveled to India, China, Japan, Africa, Mexico, South America, North America and even the Soviet Union. Many Jesuits have been declared saints.

As human beings, we are both spiritual and corporeal. We are body and soul. This makes us unique in all creation. No other physical creature -- plant or animal -- possesses an immortal soul made in God's image and likeness. Like the distinction with plants and animals, angels have an entirely different sort of existence. Angels are pure immortal spirit, and they have been so since the moment of their creation. While they may take on an appearance of a body in Biblical history, they are not a body like we are. Angels are neither male nor female, despite the art we often see.

As the result of the Fall, human beings experience death. Our souls are temporarily separated from our bodies. However, we do not become something other than human. Every Sunday in the Creed we profess "I believe in the resurrection of the body." As Jesus was united with his body on the third day, so, too, will we be united with our bodies at the end of time.

My Dear Friends,

On July 25th, 1968, fifty years ago, Pope Paul VI promulgated an encyclical that started a revolution in the Catholic Church; a revolution that has change the face of our church ever since. On that day, he issued the encyclical Humane Vitae, which reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s teaching on the morality of regulating births. Bishops, priests, nuns and other lay theologians, as well as prominent lay Catholics, took out a full page ad in the New York Times excoriating Pope Paul VI and questioned papal authority. These priests, the most famous being Fr. Charles Curran, a moral theology professor at Catholic University of America, argued that artificial means of birth control were licit and fell under the role of conscience for Catholics, Pope Paul VI did not get the full support of bishops and priests to uphold the teaching that artificial birth control was sinful.

Joachim and Anna are the parents of Mary, the mother of Jesus, yet there is absolutely no biblical reference to them whatsoever. So where do we get their names, and what is their story?

The many images we have of God help frame our relationship with Him. Have we ever imagined Jesus so deeply moved with emotion and engulfed with pity for us? We often are sheep without a shepherd who are lured by the emptiness of worldly attractions and superficial desires. We become lost.

Sin is a deliberate thought, word, action, or omission contrary to God's law. Since the beginnings of the Church, sin has been distinguished by its gravity. "Grave matter" is traditionally defined by the Ten Commandments. If a person commits a grave sin with full knowledge of the action's evil and with the complete consent of their will, this is a mortal sin. The effects of mortal sin are grave - the loss of sanctifying grace, which can be restored by a fresh outpouring of God's mercy in the sacrament of Reconciliation.

For many, becoming holy may not be seen as a desirous goal. We are all called to be holy but maybe not in the way we often imagined. Holiness is nothing more than doing ordinary things with great love and faith.

My Dear Friends,

Many of you will be seeing my friend, Father Maciek Pawlowski, at Masses and hearing confessions for the next three weeks. He is visiting from Poland, where is a Diocesan priest. He and I were ordained deacons together in 2005, and the following year, since we both wanted to be ordained in our home parishes, we were ordained two weeks apart in 2006. I was ordained on April 28th, and Father Maciek was ordained on May 13th. We were both members of the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers) entering around the same year and attending seminary together in Washington DC. He has been here on two other occasions, last year and also in 2015.

My Dear Friends,

On July 8th, 1984, I was visiting my grandmother in Petersham, Massachusetts, when I received word that my older brother, Michael, had passed away due to complications from Lupus. He was 23 years old. I was a little over two weeks away from my 15th birthday. I was home in Watertown the week before when he was rushed to the hospital because of pain in his shoulders. I remember that final week of his life vividly, and I still remember when my brother Frank came to pick us up from Petersham and bring us home. Needless to say, it was a long ride home. Death is a reality that no one can escape. Most of us have lost a loved one, and if we haven't yet, we surely will sometime. Despite this reality, and the evil of death, we know by our faith in Jesus Christ that death is not the end.

Another term for the Sacrament of Confession is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We go to this sacrament not only to confess our sins, but to be reconciled with God. Of course, this begs the question, "If I can pray to God on my own, why can't I be reconciled to God on my own?" In the seven sacraments, we recognize the importance of community. Sacraments like Baptism or Matrimony happen in the context of the wider church to remind us of the communal impact of our lives. We are not alone in our walk of faith!

It seems that Jesus is always facing some kind of opposition. Today, those from his native place amaze him because of their lack of faith. We oppose Jesus as well. It is not easy to be challenged and realize our great need to change. We grow comfortable with ourselves and our surroundings and resist change. We become defensive when the wisdom Jesus utters asks us to leave ourselves and our concerns and think more about others. We lack faith in God, faith in ourselves, and faith in one another. We are asked to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord and allow ourselves to be stretched. Jesus knows what he is talking about.

Do we really believe this?

God does not rejoice in our demise or our destruction. Rather, He made us in His image and desires that we have life. He also desires that we be healed and know His loving touch. There is great power in an embrace. The touch of another can heal wounds and restore life. There is also power in faith. Faith can turn us toward the truth and turn us toward God. God can profoundly change how we see Him, ourselves, and one another. God desires that we turn toward Him and be healed of all that wounds and binds us so that we can be free and enjoy the fullness life. Reach out and share your faith with someone this week so that they can receive God's life-changing embrace.

How can we show Jesus to others today?

There is always a struggle between culture and religion, and part of that struggle is politics. To be politically correct means that you must embrace the secular virtue of the moment so that you are "enlightened," "sensitive," "aware," and, most importantly, "open-minded." Unfortunately, common sense can be sacrificed in the race to be "PC."

My Dear Friends,

This weekend we have completed our first year as St. John Paul the Great Parish. It has been one year since our new name. I can honestly say, as your pastor, that I am very proud of you.  The resilience and the patience and the hard work that so many of you have exhibited as we became one parish was amazing. We have taken a very sad situation and, through much prayer and sacrifices, we have been able to come together as one church community. This is a testament to you and your love for the Catholic faith and for the Blessed Sacrament, the source and summit of our faith.  You are to be commended for your willingness to make this work. Our Catholic Church in Torrington will only become strong and full of life when we can come together in a spirit of love and fellowship, putting aside our differences and focusing on what unites us. What does unite us? First and foremost, unity is found in the Blessed Sacrament. We come together as brothers and sisters in the Lord to worship Him at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We have eight Masses every weekend, as well as a daily Mass Monday through Friday.

As we celebrate today's feast, we are reminded that God creates and fashions each one of us with intent and purpose. We are not random accidents. We are special creations and wonderfully made. Each of us brings a unique twist to the one shot at life that we are given. As people of faith and children of God, we are asked to use our specialness to announce God's kingdom. Each of us reveals a unique part of God's face. Each day presents opportunities to communicate our faith to others and to reveal God's mercy. We have the means to point the way to Christ.

How can we show Jesus to others today?

The date set for John the Baptist's birth only came into existence once the date to celebrate Jesus' birth was set. Evidence shows that by the middle of the fourth century Christians were celebrating the birth of Jesus around December 25. No one at that time knew when Jesus was born, but the date seemed to be selected to counter the Roman festival to the sun god.Once December 25 had been selected for the birth of Jesus, a number of other dates could be set, using the biblical evidence at hand. When the angel appeared to Mary and she conceived, her cousin, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, was in her sixth month.

My Dear Friends,

I get asked frequently by some people to either give suggestions for book titles or even to let people know what I am currently reading. I usually read five books at a time. Currently, I have Padre Pio’s Letters Volume II by my bedside, along with the current novel that I am reading, Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations. I am also reading a collection of Pope Benedict’s homilies, Teaching and Learning the Love of God: Being a Priest Today, and Pope Francis’s most recent Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exultate. The fifth book I am currently reading is a collection of essays compiled by Father Robert Araujo, SJ, Slaying the “Spirit” of Vatican II with the Light of Truth. I am also re-reading Cardinal Alfons Stickler’s little treatise, The Case of Clerical Celibacy: Its Historical Development and Theological Foundations.

As you can see, I love to read, and I have an extensive library of theological works as well as fiction and non-fiction (historical and/or biographical) works. The most recent books that I did finish in the last two months are; Edward Sri’s book, Who am I to Judge? Responding to Relativism with Logic and Love; Daniel Mattson’s, Why I Don’t Call Myself Gay: How I Reclaimed My Sexuality and Found Peace; a compendium on marriage called, Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church; Katherine Galgano’s, The Devil Hates Latin; a compendium put together by John Rao, Luther and His Progeny: 500 Years of Protestantism and Its Consequences for Church, State, and Society; and Pope Benedict’s, Last Testament; In His Own Words.

My Dear Friends,

Today is Father’s Day, and like Mother’s Day, it seems that one day a year to honor fathers just does not cut it.

Fathers, as well as mothers, are so important for the life of a child. Yes, there are many families that a father or a mother are missing, for a variety of reasons, but a father and a mother together, which image Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church (Ephesians 5), stand as an image for the love that God has for each and every one of His children. In the Book of Genesis, it is stated that God created man in His image, male and female He created them. In the image of God is the coming together of a man and a woman, a complimentarity that is fruitful when new life comes forth from this union.

My Dear Friends,

Today's Gospel talks about Jesus' mother and brothers. Until only recently (the 18th Century), most of the faithful, (the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, as well as many of the early Protestant communions), have understood that the "brothers" mentioned in this passage are really cousins or kinsmen of the Lord. There is no word in Aramaic or Hebrew for the relationship of cousin (or nephew or step brother as well). When the New Testament was written in Greek, the Gospel writers use the term "adelphoi" to describe the relationship between Jesus and His "brothers", who are more likely cousins or other relatives to the Lord. In the early Church, there was a belief that they might be half-brothers of the Lord, children of St. Joseph from a previous marriage, which is why in some pictures St. Joseph is portrayed as an old man.

My Dear Friends,

Today is the Feast of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, commonly known in its Latin words, Corpus Christi. We make up the Body of Christ, as members of the Catholic Church, for we are the Body and He, Jesus Christ, is our Head. As the Body of Christ, we become the eyes, ears, mouths, hands and feet of Jesus Himself on this earth. We all have a role to play in the Church, as parents, as priests and deacons, as parishioners, and, indeed, as those seeking God with a sincere heart. For the Body of Christ is open to all.

My Dear Friends,

Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday. The Trinity is a central dogma of our Christian faith; one God and three Persons. When we say the words, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are calling upon the very name of God. He has revealed Himself to mankind as a Trinity of persons, but that revelation as Father, Son and Holy Spirit demands the faith that what we know of God is He is one. That is why when we baptize someone we baptize in the very name of God, by calling upon Him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is a relational term as opposed to functional terms such as Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. These functional terms were popular in the 1980's and in some Christian denominations still are popular because they do away with "sexist" masculine terms for God.

My Dear Friends,

Today we commemorate the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Pentecost Sunday, fifty days after Easter and our Lord's Resurrection, the Holy Spirit, promised by our Lord to His Apostles, is commonly called the birthday of the Catholic Church. It is the culmination of the nine day novena of the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary, beginning when Jesus ascended into Heaven. At the end of this novena, and with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles were given the courage and the strength to begin their ministry. Indeed, they were given the gifts of the Holy Spirit beginning with the ability to speak in tongues.

My Dear Friends,

Today in the secular world we celebrate Mother's Day. Setting aside one day a year for mothers does not seem like enough. Thankfully, in our church, we honor and celebrate mothers every day as we honor our Blessed Mother by praying the daily rosary. The months of May and October also serve to recognize our Blessed Mother. And we also have three holy days of obligation set aside for our Blessed Mother as well as countless feasts and memorials throughout the liturgical year. Honoring our Blessed Mother is important for she is the one who said "yes" to God in order to bring forth the Savior of the world. Mary is both virgin and mother. Mary's life of virtue is exemplary, and it is due to her life of virtue and the fact that she is co-redemptrix and mediatrix that we receive many graces through her intercession.

My Dear Friends,

This Thursday is the Solemnity of the Ascension, a Holy Day of Obligation. A Catholic must go to Mass either on the vigil on Wednesday night or on the Holy Day itself on Thursday. The Church gives us Holy Days as a gift. In the Catholic Church, the Holy Days of Obligation are the following; Christmas; Epiphany; Ascension; Corpus Christi; Mary, Mother of God; Immaculate Conception; Assumption; St. Joseph; Sts. Peter and Paul; and All Saints. These Holy Days are not meant to be burdensome. The truth that these Holy Days point to or enlighten is offered to us so that we may grow in our spiritual life and our love for Jesus Christ.