I was 16 years old on a youth group retreat in the mountains. One night, I opened my heart to the message being proclaimed: that God so loved the world that He sent His Son for us. Later, I lay under the pine trees and looked up at the countless stars. They seemed different. No longer cold, distant balls of chemical reactions, they appeared as an expression of God's love, as if He were giving those stars directly to me. The truth of God sending His Son changed how I saw the whole universe.

"He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (John 20:22-23)

For those of us who go to confession regularly, there is often a familiar frustration: "Why do I keep confessing the same sins?" It can feel like a loop, cleansed but unchanged.

Happy Sunday!

Fr. Michael leaves this weekend for the parish pilgrimage to Ireland. Please keep them in prayer for safe travels and a fruitful pilgrimage! This week, on Monday, our school will celebrate the 8th grade graduation. It's hard to believe that another school year is drawing to a close. On Thursday, we'll have our kindergarten promotion and the last day of school for everyone will be on Friday. I want to offer a special word of gratitude to our principal, Mrs. Thompson, and her incredible faculty and staff. This was Mrs. Thompson's first year as principal, and she did a wonderful job.

Happy Sunday!

This Sunday in our second reading we hear from the first letter of St. Peter, "Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence ... " This beautiful passage always strikes to the heart.

We generally approach life with the question, "What can this do for me?" We try a new workout, a low-carb diet, intermittent fasting, or a new career path, hoping it will make us healthier, stronger, happier. The assumption is that if I invest in this, I'll eventually reap some benefit, or I won't do it.