Posted on Feb 1st, 2011

Human Dignity and “the issues”

This week let us reflect on the dignity of the human person.  This dignity is rooted in the book of Genesis, where we read that when God created the human person, that “God saw that it was good.”  The human person is the essence of good, because our creator is all goodness.  In this week’s bulletin you will read several pieces that point to and uphold the dignity of the human person, in essence our innate...

Posted on Jan 18th, 2011

Why Read the Old Testament?

Have you ever wondered why as Catholics we still “bother” to read the Old Testament?  After all we have the New Testament, the story of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and the founding of the first Christian communities.  What else do we need? The text of the Old Testament is important for several reasons beyond the fact that it is part of the Catholic Canon of Scripture.  We cannot fully understand the...

Posted on Jan 3rd, 2011

World Day of Peace 2011

Of the various titles borne by the calendar date Jan 1 perhaps the most important is “World Day of Peace.”  This designation was given to the first day of the new year in 1968 by Pope Paul VI.  Once again Pope Benedict XVI continues the tradition of delivering this, the forty-fourth message of hope in this tradition, as he embraces the theme of Religious freedom, calling it “the path to peace.” In his...

Posted on Dec 20th, 2010

God is Close

Earlier this month an internet news service from Rome quoted Pope Benedict as saying in an Advent homily, “Advent is a pressing invitation to us all to allow God to enter ever more deeply into our lives, our homes, our neighborhoods, our communities, that we may have light amidst so much darkness and so much daily fatigue.” Now that Christmas has arrived we can find ourselves still searching for the gift...

Posted on Dec 15th, 2010

The Newborn Prince of Peace

Earlier this month an internet news service from Rome quoted Pope Benedict as saying in an Advent homily, “Advent is a pressing invitation to us all to allow God to enter ever more deeply into our lives, our homes, our neighborhoods, our communities, that we may have light amidst so much darkness and so much daily fatigue”. Now that Christmas has arrived we can find ourselves still searching for the gift...

Posted on Dec 14th, 2010

“Invitation Sunday”

No doubt that you know that today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent.  Did you also know that today is Invitation Sunday?  You won’t find “Invitation Sunday” listed in the missalette, yet this is an important day for our parish community.  Three weeks from now our parish will sponsor a program called Awakening Faith.  Awakening Faith is a simple process comprised of six sessions on basic elements of our...

Posted on Dec 1st, 2010

Welcome One Another

In the weeks to come you will be hearing quite a bit about a new faith formation opportunity for adults that will be offered at St. Julie’s in January.  This program, called “Awakening Faith,” was developed by the Paulist Fathers for use in Catholic parishes.  “Awakening Faith” is a six week program that encourages Catholics to deepen their connection to or to reconnect with Christ through their parish...

Posted on Nov 22nd, 2010

The Art of Welcome

Chances are, just a few days ago many of you either welcomed someone into your home to celebrate Thanksgiving, or vice versa.  No doubt a good deal of preparation was involved to assure that everyone felt welcomed, appreciated and full of gratitude.  Your small or maybe not so small gathering of family last Thursday is in reality a microcosm of the Body of Christ.   There is much to learn by reflecting on the...

Posted on Nov 15th, 2010

Hey There!

Welcome!  Hello!  Hey there!  These are all expressions that communicate how happy one person is to see another.  Take a moment, if you will, to think about how you feel when you are greeted with one of these expressions (or a something similar).  Think too about the body language which typically accompanies these words of greeting.  A smile, a wave, shoulders relaxed, arms uncrossed, maybe even extended,...

Posted on Nov 10th, 2010

Given

As we continue to encounter the spiritual wisdom found within the pages of “Life of the Beloved,” we come upon a fourth way of being, which our parish book group author Henri Nouwen teaches we become as a part of the process through which you become that which you already are, Beloved, accepting truth that you are precious in God’s eyes. In previous weeks we have focused on what it means to become chosen by...