Weekly insight and thoughts from Fr. Damian Zuerlein
Pastor’s Letter 4.5.20
Dear Friends, I am not sure if you had a chance to see the special prayer and blessing for healing that Pope Francis gave last week. It is entitled Urbi et Orbi and is available online. There were powerful images of Pope Francis walking through St. Peter’s...
Pastor’s Letter 3.29.20
Dear Friends, Some parishioners have been asking, “if I live by faith, then I should not feel any anxiety, right?” Then they continue on to say that they have anxiety over the current crisis and begin to doubt their faith. This doubt of their faith simply...
Pastor’s Letter 3.22.20
Dear Friends, I am back from my travels to New Zealand! I had a great visit with my nephew Jason and he was a terrific host. He took Fr. Boes and me on many hikes through the spectacular beauty of the mountains of New Zealand. If any of you watched the Lord of the...
Pastor’s Letter 3.15.20
Prayers for the World during the Outbreak of the Coronavirus To you, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our tribulation. Through that charity which bound you to the immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which you embraced the Child Jesus, we...
Pastor’s Letter
Dear Friends, The first Sunday of Lent we are offered the temptation of Jesus in the desert as our gospel. It is a moment in Jesus’ life that may strike many people as odd. Why does Jesus have to go through this? Why do any of us have to go through temptations? C.S....
Pastor’s Letter 2.23.20
Dear Friends, Lent starts on Wednesday. That is the day Catholics and a few of our Protestant brothers and sisters go walking around with black smudge marks on their foreheads. You know, we call it Ash Wednesday. So, let me repeat what I have said the past few years...
Pastor’s Letter 2.16.20
Dear Friends, On this weekend when many people are celebrating Valentine’s Day, I am on a quick trip (I will be back on Monday) to Guatemala to meet with the Huehuetenango leadership team to do planning for our summer mission trip and to do a bit of long range...
Pastor’s Letter 2.9.20
Dear Friends, As you may have seen on the news or in newspapers, our parish has been asked by the Archdiocese to take on Holy Family Parish. The decree for the amalgamation was issued on January 22 and is effective April 20, 2020. The principal motive for the decree...
Pastor’s Letter 2.2.20
Dear Friends, Each year, a liturgy of great solemnity and beauty takes place in every cathedral church in the world. At that liturgy, the Chrism Mass, the Archbishop blesses the oils, which are to be used during the ensuing year in the administration of the...
Pastor’s Letter 1.26.20
Dear Friends, You hear in the second reading this Sunday the urgent plea of St. Paul to the people of Corinth: “that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.” It is a...
Pastor’s Letter 1.19.20
Dear Friends, In September of last year, Pope Francis issued a directive making next Sunday - The Sunday of the Word of God. Recalling the importance given by the Second Vatican Council to rediscovering Sacred Scripture for the life of the Church, Pope Francis...
Pastor’s Letter 1.12.20
Dear Friends, The Sunday after Epiphany, we celebrate the baptism of Jesus and we bring the Christmas season to an end. You may recall that the Catholic Church has been retranslating all her rituals. This process started a number of years ago and is almost complete....