Care for the Sick

by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B.  |  01/26/2025  |  A Message from Our Pastor

Dear Parishioners,

Among Christianity’s greatest concerns and most effective ministerial activities has been the care of the sick. This has been a consistent quality of our faith since the earthly ministry of Jesus precisely because it mirrors the priority that he himself placed on healing those who were ill whether of body, mind, or soul. We know that one of the most dreaded and harmful effects of sickness is that it marginalizes individuals – relegating them to the fringes of a society or culture. There they are frequently ignored or forgotten altogether which is why the phrase, “out of sight, out of mind,” is, unfortunately, aptly descriptive. Jesus, as part of his divine mission he received from his Father, was to restore unity to creation and to re-unite those who, for whatever reason, had been forced to the fringes of life and the void of non-existence.

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The Jubilee Year

by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B.  |  01/19/2025  |  A Message from Our Pastor

Dear Parishioners,

By now, most Catholics are aware that Pope Francis has announced that 2025 will be a Jubilee Year for the universal church, with the theme “Pilgrims of Hope.” Some might wonder, what exactly is a “Jubilee Year” in the Catholic Church? Essentially, it is a year designated with the specific purpose of re-establishing a proper relationship with God, one another, and all of creation. This custom has ancient roots in the history of Israel and can be found in various places in the Old Testament, for example, Leviticus 25. The people of Israel celebrated these jubilee years every 50 years to re-align themselves with the covenant relationship that God had established with them. There was a strong emphasis on mercy and forgiveness. Legal debts were absolved. Broken relationships were to be healed. Even the earth was brought into this jubilee year by having its farmland lie fallow to rest and be restored after years of providing harvests.

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Welcome to 2025

by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B.  |  01/12/2025  |  A Message from Our Pastor

Dear Parishioners,

I wish all of you a blessed New Year filled with peace, promise, and good health. At the dawn of each new year, many of us make bold declarations such as, "I know this is going to be a good year," or "This new year has got to be better than the last one." While hope springs eternal, we all know that every year has its share of blessings and challenges, both of which are somewhat relative depending on individuals. Nonetheless, we place our trust in God, believing that throughout the next 12 months, we will experience God’s abiding presence in both the blessings and the challenges as we ultimately pray, with Jesus, "not my will, but yours be done."

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The Feast of the Epiphany

by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B.  |  01/05/2025  |  A Message from Our Pastor

Dear Parishioners,

Today the Church celebrates the Epiphany of the Lord. In times past, this feast was consistently observed on January 6 (when most of the world continues to observe it), thus completing the 12 days of Christmas. The 12th day is actually Jan. 5, the eve of the Epiphany, because the greatest solemnities in the Catholic Church begin the evening before. The biblical narrative of the Epiphany, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12, and the various symbols and customs that have emerged from this story speak to the human heart on multiple levels of invitation.

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