A young couple in my parish told me they were expecting their second child, a baby boy. I knew that their five-year-old only child, Emma, had been desperately wanting to be a big sister for years, so I said, "Emma must have been so happy when you told her the news." "Actually," they said, "she burst into tears. She wanted a baby sister!" How often in life God wonderfully fulfills our desires, and we are sad because we don't approve of the way He does it. We want to control the gift and the delivery method.

Happy Sunday,

I hope everyone had a good week. I am out until the end of January taking some vacation before gearing up for Lent. It feels like the Christmas season just ended (which it did) and now we're thinking about Lent (or maybe just me). In any case, the liturgical year continues to gain speed. This year during Lent, we will once more have a parish mission. We are pleased to welcome Fr. Michael Niemczak from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. He currently works at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon. The mission will be a similar format to last year with identical talks in the morning and evening from March 24-26. We hope you can join us.

Happy Sunday,

This Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord and with this celebration the Christmas season comes to a close. After we have celebrated the Holy Family and Epiph- any, the Church skips to the adulthood of Jesus to meditate on His baptism. For us, baptism cleanses us of original sin and any sin we had already committed. Jesus did not have original sin nor any other sin, so why is He baptized?

Happy Sunday,

A very happy New Year to everyone! I hope it was a good week and you were able to enjoy the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, as well as ring in the New Year. While we celebrated the liturgical New Year a month ago with the beginning of Advent, we now begin a new calendar year which once more gives us fresh eyes and energy to approach the coming 12 months. I pray that each of you has been able to enjoy the Christmas season and hopefully get a bit of rest.

Happy Sunday!

I hope everyone had good Christmas celebrations with family and loved ones. This week we have a special Mass schedule for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. This is a Holy Day of Obligation. Tue, Dec 31, there will be a Vigil Mass at 5:30pm at SFdA. On Wed, Jan 1 there will be Mass at 10:00am in English and 12:15pm in Spanish. As you know, throughout the year there are various solemnities which we observe as Holy Days of Obligation. On these days the Church asks us to attend Mass as we would on Sunday.

Happy Fourth Sunday of Advent!

While today is indeed the 4th Sunday of Advent, Christmas Eve is just two days away. It’s a quick transition from Advent to getting the Church prepared for Christmas. Luckily, we have a wonderful core of volunteers who help clean, decorate, sacristan, lector, distribute Holy Communion, and much more. Thank you to everyone who help things go so smoothly!

Happy Sunday!

Thank you to everyone who attended the Lessons and Carols Concert this past Friday to support the restoration of Nativity. I am grateful for the momentum we are building, especially as we anticipate its 100th anniversary in 2030. The parish of Nativity was around before, but this will be the anniversary of the church building. On that note we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2026.

Happy Sunday!

It’s been awhile since I’ve had an opportunity to write a letter for the bulletin! It’s been great being back after my retreat and Thanksgiving. Thank you so much to everyone who kept me in your prayers. This Sunday, though it is December 8th, we will celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent. Monday, December 9th, will be the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and it IS a Holy Day of Obligation. We will have four Masses: 6:30am at OLG, 8:15am at SFdA, 12:15pm at SFdA, and 5:30pm at SFdA.

When I was a young priest, about one year after ordination, I was called to the hospital to anoint a dying mother of three young children. She had a painful, terminal cancer. After celebrating Last Rites with her, I said, “Don’t be afraid.” She looked me square in the eye from her hospital bed and said, “Oh Father, I am in a lot of pain, but I am not afraid. Something wonderful is about to happen.” A few days later she died.

When I was a young boy in Burlington, Vermont, my dad had a good friend named Phil who owned a sporting goods store. I loved sports, so meandering the treasure-filled aisles was an unmitigated joy. One afternoon, we were shopping for a baseball glove. Dad said to me, “Hey Johnny, see that man who just walked into the store? That’s Phil.” I remember being fascinated and a little terrified. I recall thinking, “That man right there is in charge of everything in this store!”

I recently moved into a new neighborhood. On my first evening I went grocery shopping and could not find my usual favorite Greek yogurt. Strangely, my heart started to race. All the losses of my previous life hit me. So many of my old friends, habits, comforts, and predictable experiences had fallen away. There I stood, a grown man, crying like a little boy whose world was falling apart in the dairy aisle.

Once at an evening Mass as a poor college student, the collection basket was fast approaching, and I only had a ten-dollar bill. I was planning on using that to buy my favorite Chipotle burrito that night for dinner. Should I keep the money? Who would know if I did? If I gave it away, what would I eat? Would I be okay? I kissed my future burrito goodbye, dropped the money in the basket, and winced. But strangely, the rest of the Mass I felt more engaged than usual. I had skin in the game. I left the Mass excited to see how God would take care of me. And he did, in amazing ways.

Happy Sunday,

It’s good to be back in the U.S. after our parish pilgrimage. It was a beautiful opportunity to visit Holy Sites around Italy. I offered Mass regularly for our whole parish community in Rome, Assisi, and San Giovanni Rotundo (where Padre Pío lived). While it’s good to be back, unfortunately, I will be on the move quite a bit in November.