Dear Friends in Christ,

“When the Church cares for the sick, it serves Christ himself in the suffering members of his Mystical body. When it follows the example of the Lord Jesus, who “went about doing good and healing all” (Acts 10:38), the Church obeys his comment to care for the sick (see Mark 16:18) (Prot. No. 1501/72, Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship)

The Catholic Church teaches that anointing of the sick is one of the seven sacraments instituted by Christ. It is mentioned indirectly in Mark 6:13 and specifically commended to the faithful by James the apostle: “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” (James 5:14-15)

Dear Friends in Christ,

From July 10^th to July 13^th, I was privileged to attend the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology Conference in Wheeling, WV. The theme for our week was “Journey to Holiness.” Our speakers included Dr. Scott Hahn, Dr. John Bergsma, Dr. Ralph Martin, Dr. Lawrence Feingold, and others. About 250 priests attended from 38 states. There was also a U.S. priest who came from Vladivostok, Russia, and a British priest from the Diocese of Leeds. It is always so very special to be with brother priests and to learn from sound Biblical theology. There’s no doubt but this conference will help me to be a better priest.

Dear Friends in Christ,

So, here’s my story….or part of my story…I have been blessed over the years to be able to travel, first through the U.S. Army, later through my business and then as a priest. I have travelled to about 35 countries around the world. I have been blessed to be in Rome and other parts of Italy four times in my life, twice as a Protestant and twice as a Catholic, but never as a priest. And since Italy is one of my favorite countries, I really want to go back to Italy again, but this time as a priest.

Dear Friends in Christ,

For a Christian, strength is found in weakness. Our teacher is Jesus Christ, and he wants us to learn from Him to be meek and humble of heart. The world may brush the simple aside and call them ignorant, but Jesus’ prayer to his Father teaches us to value the greatness of the little ones among us. God himself chose them to be preachers of His Holy Gospel.

Dear Friends in Christ,

We had an exciting event last Thursday in the life of our parish and school! Bishop Fabre was here and blessed and led the groundbreaking for the STEM Center at Saint Mary Help of Christians Catholic School. It was moving to see students from the school out there with hardhats breaking ground as well! What a marvelous and incredible event for our parish and school! Here are some critical details about our new Center.