Weekly insight and thoughts from Fr. Damian Zuerlein
Pastor’s Letter 10.9.22
Dear Friends, Our Jewish brothers and sisters have just completed one of the most important periods in the Jewish calendar. Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year began on September 25th, followed ten days later by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (October 5). Many Jews...
Pastor’s Letter 10.2.22
Dear Friends, Here are the conclusions from the local input which are now presented to the United States Bishops and which will then be sent to Rome in preparation for the Synod on the Church: I. ...
Pastor’s Letter 9.25.22
Dear Friends, This letter continues our summary of the results of the listening sessions and responses to the questionnaire done in the archdiocese in preparation for the Synod on the Church. This summary was sent to the United States Bishop’s Conference for inclusion...
Pastor’s Letter 9.18.22
Dear Friends, Let me continue from last week with summarizing the results of our local input to the Synod that Pope Francis called. The Synod was called to reflect on the Church itself. There were several areas where participants felt the Church needed to offer...
Pastor’s Letter 9.11.22
Dear Friends, You may recall that Pope Francis asked the entire Catholic Church to enter into a process of reflection as part of a synod on the Church itself. Each diocese was to engage their people and then to submit their results to their national church who in turn...
Pastor’s Letter 9.4.22
Dear Friends, This weekend, we celebrate Labor Day as a nation. It has been an official federal holiday since 1894. The bishops of the United States, in honor of this day, have often reflected on the importance of the gift of work and the dignity of all workers. Pope...
Pastor’s Letter 8.28.22
Dear Friends, Prior to Covid we offered the Eucharist under both kinds, the Body and Blood, at all of our weekend Masses. During the pandemic, for obvious reasons, the Archdiocese asked us to stop the distribution of the chalice and to limit Communion on the tongue....
Pastor’s Letter 8.21.22
Dear Friends, Over the past thirty years, we have seen report after report describe the loss of religious faith among people in the United States. Reports continue to proclaim the increase in the number of “nones”, those who have no religious affiliation. That steady...
Pastor’s Letter 8.14.22
Dear Friends, Ready or not school starts again this week. Teachers have been roaming around the campus the past week preparing their classrooms and their spirits. It has probably been too warm for students to start feeling the excitement of a new school year, but they...
Pastor’s Letter 8.7.22
Dear Friends, Our second reading this weekend is a brief portion of Chapter 11 from Hebrews. That chapter gives us a beautiful testimony as to how faith was lived out by the great ones of the Old Testament. It challenges us to have that same kind of faith. The Jesuit...
Pastor’s Letter 7.31.22
Dear Friends, This past week, Pope Francis has been on a pilgrimage to Canada and to visit the Indigenous people of Canada to make amends for the role the Catholic Church played over the years in the horrible treatment of native peoples. Hopefully you were able to...
Pastor’s Letter 7.24.22
Dear Friends, On this weekend where the Santa Lucia Festival is taking place on our doorstep, I think it is good to reflect on a consistent teaching of Pope Francis. That is the teaching that we as disciples of Jesus have to be people who create a culture of...