November 30, 2025

November 24, 2025

Dear Friends,

 

This very weekend we begin with one another a new liturgical year with the Season of Advent!

 

Our themes traditionally celebrated each Sunday of Advent are Hope, Peace, Joy and Love!  This Sunday we focus on Hope anticipating Jesus’s coming and the hope he provides.   The readings call out to us to be ready to meet the Lord! He may come when we least expect so let’s not put off to tomorrow what we should be addressing today! Most of us express how quickly time passes and certainly these four weeks of Advent will pass all too quickly (at least for me ) and Christmas Day will be right before us. Our days are shorter, and night comes before us so fast.

 

Let us acknowledge this time of change, a new season of Advent, and the Christmas Season around the corner not miss what we have right before us in the present moment. May we pace ourselves, best we can, to appreciate the prayerfulness and wonder of these Advent days.

 

All parishioners should have received by now a postcard from your Staff highlighting Advent opportunities being offered by our parishes. I hope you can take advantage as many of these sacred moments possible to make these days blessed in your journey to the birthday of our Lord.

 

So, we begin on a note of Hope! The next three weekends we will reflect on the Peace of Christ that that brings to the world relational peace to all, Joy focusing on the birth of Jesus, and Love, centering on God’s love for all humanity and our responsibility to show love to others.

 

I will be away this first Sunday of Advent. This very weekend I will be presiding at the funeral of my dear friend, “brother”, Jerry Koen. Friends and family will gather at Saint Mary Star of the Sea Parish in Beverly, Massachusetts. This is where I met Jerry, his beloved wife Sally, and five sons in 1981. God blessed us with forty plus years of friendship, being family to one another and all those moments every family experiences.

Like my reflection above about Advent, these days and years have all gone by too quickly for me. They are filled with gifts of love that I will be ever grateful for today and for as long as I might live.

 

Many years ago, another very dear friend gifted me with a book I have never forgotten. It is entitled, “The Precious Present.” It is a good reminder along with this weekend’s scriptures to keep ourselves focused and present to the precious present of this very day. Jerry and Sally have given me this even having me “live in their home” (mi casa, su casa) for decades. They and our faith in Jesus have blessed us to know our eternal home is where one day we shall reside forever. God’s peace to you Jerry as you are now reunited with Sally.

Thank you for all your love.

 

Friends, enjoy your “Precious Present”.

Blessings,

Father Rob 

 

You might also like

Father Rob's Weekly Message

March 22, 2026

March 17, 2026
Dear Friends, For three weekends now we have been engaged in the Gospel of John, reflecting upon the Samaritan woman at the well, the man born blind, and this weekend, Jesus raising Lazarus!!! These three passages from sacred scripture are some of my most beloved. To drink the water Jesus offers and to have never to thirst again…I pray to accept His gift. To reflect and pray our Lenten theme, “Change of Heart” and recognize where I need to continually open my eyes, widen my vision, and become more like my Lord among the people I live among, …is the sight I desire. To know the life I seek is the journey with Jesus that leads me to salvation…is a grace that encourages my mind, heart, and spirit to keep the pace with Himself who walks beside me. How far have you and I come since Ash Wednesday? How are your “hearts” doing? Any hardness becoming softer? Any realizations where we can love more? A week from now we will be taking steps alongside Jesus into His/Our Holy Week. I hope you will plan on joining our parishes for all the liturgical opportunities planned. Check your postcard mailed to you before Lent began, our website, weekly email, and bulletin for times and locations of our services. And do pray for our Catechumens and Candidates that will be fully received into the Roman Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. I really hope you will come to the Easter Vigil and support these wonderful individuals. Blessings to all, Father Rob

March 15, 2026

March 10, 2026
Dear Friends, Our parishes have a wonderful group of individuals who are well on their way to be fully accepted into the Catholic Church at our Easter Vigil. These individuals recently went to Sacred Heart Cathedral to celebrate the Rite of Election. During this celebration of prayer Bishop Matano acknowledged each Catechumen and Candidate. Last weekend these sisters and brothers of ours celebrated their First Scrutiny. For parishes, like ours, who have candidates for the OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults) and OCIC (Order of Christian Initiation for Children) there are three Scrutinies as part of their prayerful preparations. All three Scrutinies are connected to the weekend Gospel. The purpose of these Scrutinies is to purify the hearts and minds of the Elect, helping them to turn away from sin and toward a deeper, more intimate union with Christ. These are moments of intense prayer for protection and spiritual strength. The Third, Fourth, and Fifth weekends of Lent, our liturgies are tied to specific Gospels that highlight Jesus’ power to heal and transform. Last weekend we met the Samaritan woman at the well. She encountered Jesus as Living Water. This weekend, we have the healing of the man born blind. This Gospel proclaims Jesus as Light of the World. Next weekend, we witness Jesus raising Lazarus from death. Here Jesus is recognized as Resurrection and Life! All three of these Scrutinies are not only meant for the Elect, but also for us as well. We are invited to participate in these rites to reflect on own life-long need for conversion and to renew our commitment to living a Christian life. This is a prayerful and blessed time to have a “Change of Heart” in preparing for Easter! May we continue to pray for our OCIA and OCIC sisters and brothers in their final preparations: Jake & Kate DiOrio, Devon Forrest, Ellen & George Gardiner, Lila & Vance Gilroy, Rosemary Kinney, Abigael & Haleigh LaRocca, Josh Miller, Sarah Moore, David Rivera, Quinn Thrash and Michael Soltow. And, let us remember one another too in prayer as our family of faith grows! Blessings to everyone, Father Rob

March 8, 2026

March 3, 2026
Dear Friends, Reflecting upon, and examining our lives, we are now into our third week of Lent addressing where a change of heart is being invited of us. Two Sundays ago, we encountered the devil tempting Jesus in the desert. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert. The Spirit of God remained with Jesus for these forty days. The devil tempts Jesus, but the Lord will let anything come between him and his father. Last Sunday we had the passage close to our hearts of the Transfiguration of Jesus. This “mountain top” vision was a powerful prayer experience for Peter, James, and John. These invited men coming to this moment have now seen Jesus for who He really is! It makes me recall what “mountain top” experiences have I seen? How has my vision been able to see the Lord for who he really is and bring it to the depths of my existence? This Sunday, our first reading from the Old Testament has the Israelites in their desert complaining because they do not have water to drink. Grumbling to Moses they question, where is God in all this? Moses calls out to God and God provides. He instructs Moses to go strike the rock and water will be provided. Indeed, it comes forth, God is ever present to the people. Their hearts will change for the time being. And on this very weekend we meet the Samaritan woman at the well. There Jesus sits and waits for this individual. Jesus speaks to her with kindness and patience. She listens to him, asks questions, and responds to his invitation to drink the water he’ll provide that will never make her thirsty again. She was ready to move from material needs to spiritual (Change of Heart). The third week of Lent is before us. How have you been doing with temptations, prayer on mountaintops and knowing God is present to you providing what is lasting, Have you been seeing changes in your heart for the good? Are you feeling and recognizing a deeper invitation to be closer to Jesus? Moses struck a rock and water came forth. How is God striking our hearts this lent. What is coming forth from ourselves? Is there life giving water that satisfies our spiritual thirsts? Is there still any hardness of our hearts attached to material temptations that we really need to address and be honest about with God? We still have weeks ahead of us before Holy Week. Let us pray together that we will make the most of this time for a blessed Easter. I ask you in your prayer to also remember our sisters and brothers who will become one, holy, catholic, and apostolic among us at the Easter Vigil! They are a beautiful group of people. How blessed we are to have them share faith among us and for us to do the same for them. To a “Change of Heart” and continued blessings, Father Rob