Pastor's Message
On behalf of the pastoral staff I warmly welcome you to our Catholic Church family, where you have many opportunities to grow spiritually.
As did our Patron, Saint Peter Damian, we too strive to encounter the risen Christ, the author of all life, in Holy Sacraments, Sacred Scriptures, personal and communal life. In Christ, we see human brokenness and His divine power to heal and save us. Christ is truly the center of our life as is the Eucharist, His real presence.
Through Lifelong Faith Formation, in all stages of life we reach out to grow our Catholic faith in a holistic and comprehensive way. We appreciate our human, physical, emotional and intellectual being, reaching to the core of our true self - spiritual being. Our faith does not end with Baptism, First Communion or Confirmation. It is a journey for our entire life.
We are deeply grateful to our parishioners for sharing their time, talent, and treasure. Working together is a blessing from God. You are greatly appreciated and loved.
In the spirit of Jesus’ Gospel, all of us are welcoming new families who have moved into our area. If you have been away you are invited to rediscover the Catholic Church. It might be difficult but we understand. If you want to explore our faith you can enjoy many opportunities to do so. You can complete your Sacraments of Initiation, or be prepared for adult baptism. We have a friendly and exceptional environment for youth with Elementary or Junior High Faith Formation. Or maybe, if you are just participating in the Mass as a guest from time to time, please say “Hi” to us.
We are glad you are coming our way. Try to browse our parish website for more information, send us an email, call our parish office, or meet us in the lobby of the Church. Please consider joining our parish and exploring our vibrant ministries.
In a special way, I want to emphasize the rapidly growing ministry of High School Faith Formation lead by Jackie Del Re. There are over one hundred teenagers participating. I am proud of them and their families. They bring so much enthusiasm, extraordinary talents, and exuberance. Teen Band is awesome. Teen Mass is engaging. Teens All In is exciting. No wonder they call themselves T.R.U.T.H. YOUTH.
Our pastoral staff works as a team and realizes the great potential we all have to bring about the Kingdom of God. Our resolve is strong.
As we work together according to God’s call, let us enjoy life to the fullest; a life of gratitude and praise, a life of service and dedication, a life Christ won for us.
Your brother,
Fr. Walter
Our logo expresses not only our parish mission statement, but also the four pillars of Christian faith, which are presented in a modern way. It encompasses the four basic truths of Catholic Catechism and the four commissions Parish Pastoral Council guides.
Obviously, all four overlap, as it ought to be. Every one of them stands somehow independently, yet complements each other. At no point are they separated. They effectively lead us to experience the fullness of the Catholic faith. We have to engage ourselves in regular celebration of the Eucharist, serving others, learning about the faith, and sharing time, talent, and treasure.
This logo includes many meanings that are part of the Catholic Church. First of all, four different colors represent the seasons of the liturgical year. It reflects Advent and Lent, Christmas and Easter, Pentecost and Martyrs Feasts, and Ordinary Time. In the center, we behold the Cross; of which St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1Cor. 2:2).
At the same time it depicts the sign of salvation and the resurrection of all. Finally, our logo exemplifies bliss of eternal life, a mystery of God’s love without beginning and end, beyond our understanding and comprehension, at which we totally and unconditionally surrender.
We are not in charge. God is in charge. To the Most Holy Trinity belongs all heaven and earth, visible and invisible realities. To the Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, glory and praise forever and ever.
A Summary of Porta Fidei
from Benedict XVI
Let’s consider what the Holy Father has in mind for this special Year. He published an Apostolic Letter (a “motu proprio data”) entitled Porta Fidei on October 11, 2011, to announce and shape the Year of Faith. In it, he made these points, using these or similar words:
- The “door of faith” (Acts 14:27) is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church. People cross that threshold when the word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by transforming grace. To enter through that door is to set out on a lifelong journey of faith. (#1)
- I have often spoken of the need to rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ. (#2, #3)
- Therefore, I have decided to announce a Year of Faith. It will begin on October 11, 2012, the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and it will end on the Solemnity of Christ the King on November 24, 2013. (#4)
- I have also called together the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, and the theme will be “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.” They will meet in October, 2012. So this will be a good opportunity to usher the whole Church into a time of particular reflection and rediscovery of the faith. (#4)
- It also seemed to me that timing the launch of the Year of Faith to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council would provide a good opportunity to help people understand that the texts bequeathed by the Council Fathers, in the words of Blessed John Paul II, “have lost nothing of their value or brilliance. They need to be read correctly, to be widely known and taken to heart as important and normative texts of the Magisterium, within the Church's Tradition.” (#5)
- “The Church, ‘like a stranger in a foreign land, presses forward amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God’, announcing the cross and death of the Lord until he comes (cf. 1 Cor 11:26). But by the power of the risen Lord it is given strength to overcome, in patience and in love, its sorrow and its difficulties, both those that are from within and those that are from without, so that it may reveal in the world, faithfully, although with shadows, the mystery of
its Lord until, in the end, it shall be manifested in full light” (Lumen Gentium 8). (#6)
- The Year of Faith, from this perspective, is a summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord. In the mystery of his death and resurrection, God has revealed in its fullness the Love that saves and calls us to conversion of life through the forgiveness of sins (cf. Acts 5:31). (#6)
- For Saint Paul, this Love ushers us into a new life: “We were buried ... with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). Through faith, this new life shapes the whole of human existence according to the radical new reality of the resurrection. (#6)
- Today, as in the past, Christ sends us out to the highways and hedgerows (Luke 14:23) of the world to proclaim his Gospel to all the peoples of the earth. (#7)
- We want to help everyone be more able to speak about his or her faith when appropriate. This is also a good time to renew our love for the liturgy, especially the Eucharist. (#9)
- We also want everyone to rediscover and profess our basic Catholic beliefs, to celebrate, live, and pray them. (#9, #11)
- But Saint Luke teaches that knowing the content to be believed is not sufficient unless the heart, the authentic sacred space within the person, is opened by grace that allows the eyes to see below the surface and to understand that what has been proclaimed is the word of God (cf. Acts 16:14). (#10)
- But this won’t be a purely private matter. Faith is both personal and communal. We will also come together with each other in our parishes in order to achieve these goals. (#10)
- There are also many people who, while not claiming to have the gift of faith, are nevertheless sincerely searching for the ultimate meaning and definitive truth of their lives and of the world. We want to help these people! This search is an authentic “preamble” to the faith, because it guides people onto the path that leads to the mystery of God. We have an inborn hunger to encounter God. To this encounter, faith invites us and it opens us in fullness. (#10)
- In this Year, then, the Catechism of the Catholic Church will serve as a tool providing real support for the faith, especially for those concerned with the formation of Christians, so crucial in our cultural context. (#12)
- During this time we will need to keep our gaze fixed upon Jesus Christ, the “pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:2): in him, all the anguish and all the longing of the human heart finds fulfillment. The joy of love, the answer to the drama of suffering and pain, the power of forgiveness in the face of an offence
received, and the victory of life over the emptiness of death: all this finds fulfillment in the paschal mystery. (#13)
- The Year of Faith will also be a good opportunity to intensify the witness of caring for those who are vulnerable, hungry, and in need of justice. Faith without charity bears no fruit. Through faith, we can recognize the face of the risen Lord in those who ask for our love. “As you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). (#14)
- May this Year of Faith make our relationship with Christ the Lord increasingly firm. Let us entrust this time of grace to the Mother of God, about whom we say, “Blessed is she who believed” (Lk 1:45). (#15)
When I was studying spirituality in summer 2012 I found great quotes we all can reflect on. Fr. Walter
"There are two ways to live your life... One is as though nothing is a miracle; the other is as though everything is a Miracle.”
Albert Einstein
“We cultivate a very small field for Christ, but we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements but a heart that holds back nothing for self.”
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne
“Kindness has converted more people than zeal, science, or eloquence.”
Bl. Teresa of Calcutta
“We know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life. We know that he gives us every grace, every abundant grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.”
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
“Our sins are nothing but a grain of sand alongside the great mountain of the mercy of God.”
St. John Mary Vianney
“If you wish to draw the Lord to you, approach as disciples to a master, in all simplicity, openly, honestly, without duplicity, without idle curiosity. The Lord wants souls to be simple and pure. Indeed, you will never see simplicity separated from humility.”
St. John Climacus
“If you are healthy and rich, alleviate the need of the one who is sick and poor; if you have not fallen, help the one who has fallen and lives in suffering; if you are happy, console the one who is sad; if you are fortunate, help the one who has been bitten by misfortune.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus
“As you esteem yourself, so must you consider your neighbor. If you love yourself because you love God, you will have the same love for your neighbor. As for your enemies, esteem them not for what they are but for what they may one day become.”
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“It is very essential in the spiritual life to have a simple eye; that is, to be ready to accept and to judge favorably all that is not evidently bad.”
Francoise Blin De Bourdon
“I have given everything to my Mater: God will take care of me. The best thing for us is not what we consider best, but what the Lord wants of us!”
St. Josephine Bakhita
“Lord, give me patience in suffering and grace in everything, to make my will conform to thine, so that I may truly say, ‘Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’”
St. Thomas More
“How many people are hidden martyrs for Christ each day, confessing the Lord Jesus with their deeds!”
St. Ambrose
“You will accomplish more y kind words and a courteous manner than by anger or sharp rebuke, which should never be used except in necessity.”
St. Angela Merici
“There were six stone jars in Cana of Galilee containing water used for ritual ablutions; there are also ‘six stone jars’ of purification found in a soul which, motivated by love, converts from vice to virtue: contrition, confession, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and sincere forgiveness.”
St. Anthony of Padua
“God is the living light in every aspect. From God all lights shine. Therefore, we remain a light that gives off light through God.”
St. Hildegard of Bingen
“Just as Christ appeared before the holy apostles in true flesh, so now he has us see him in the sacred bread. Looking at him with the eyes of their flesh, they saw only his flesh, but regarding him with the eyes of the spirit, they believed that he was God. Aw we see bread and wine with our bodily eyes, let us see and believe firmly that is is his most holy body and blood, true and living. Our Lord is ever present among those who believe in him.”
St. Francis of Assisi
“Let us speak the truth in our hearts and not practice treachery with our tongues, so that by pouring forth charity more and more in our hearts, the Spirit of truth may teach us recognition of all truth.”
St. Bede the Venerable
“I find my consolation in the one and only companion who will never leave me, that is, our Divine Savior in the Holy Eucharist.”
St. Damien Joseph De Veuster
“In every human being has been sown the seed of the ability to love. Welcome this seed, cultivate it carefully, nourish it attentively and foster its growth by going to the school of God’s commandments with the help of God’s grace.”
St. Basil the Great
“By nature, each one of us is enclosed in our own personality, but supernaturally, we are all one. We are made one body in Christ, because we are nourished by one flesh. As Christ is indivisible, we are all one in him.”
St. Cyril of Alexandria
“Christ prays for us, prays in us, is prayed to by us. He prays for us as our Priest, prays in us as our Head, is prayed to by us as our God. We recognize our voice in him and his in us.”
St. Augustine of Hippo
“Do not judge by appearance nor by the opinions of others, for the Judgments of God are very different.”
Bl. John Marin Moye
“What other life can there be without knowledge of the Scriptures, for through these Christ himself, who is the life of the faithful, becomes known. What food, what honey can be sweeter than to learn of God’s wise plan, to enter into God’s sanctuary and gaze upon the mind of the creator, and to rehearse the words of your Lord, which are full of spiritual wisdom!”
St. Jerome
“God does not command us to live in hair shirts and chains, or to chastise our flesh with scourges, but to love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves.”
St. Charles of Sezze
“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of humankind. That is what love looks like.”
St. Augustine of Hippo
“We can believe what we choose. We are answerable for what we choose to believe.”
Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman
“There are many kind of alms, the giving of which helps us to obtain pardon for our sins; but none is greater than that by which we forgive from our heart a sin that someone has committed against us.”
St. Augustine of Hippo
“If suffering did not occur, how would endurance be achieved? Suffering plants the vine of endurance, endurance brings forth the grape of proof that we have stood the test, and this proof produces the wine of hope, and hope makes the heart rejoice because it beholds the happiness that is to come as if it were at hand.”
St. Theoleptos of Philadelphia
“Faith, like active prayer, is a grace. For prayer, when activated by love through the power of the Spirit, renders true faith manifest – the faith that reveals the life of Jesus.”
St. Gregory of Sinai
“Do not be depressed. Do not let your weakness make you impatient. Instead, let your serenity of your spirit shine through your face. Let the joy of your mind burst forth. Let words of thanks break from your lips.”
St. Peter Damian
“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”
St. Francis De Sales
“To ourselves, we seem many, but to God we are very few. We distinguish peoples and nations; to God, this whole world is one family.”
Minucius Felix
“True peace is born of doing the will of God, and bearing with patience the sufferings of this life, and does not come from following one’s own whim or selfish desire, for this always brings, not peace and serenity, but disorder and discontent.”
Bl. Pope John XXIII
“Mary, God formed the Word in you as a human being, and therefore you are the jewel that shine most brightly, through whom the Word breathed out the whole of the virtues as once from primary matter God made all creatures.”
St. Hildegard of Bingen
“Be sure to show to your neighbor the same love which God has shown towards you… God will pardon your many crimes for the one offense you forgive your neighbor; God will be long-suffering with you in return for a little patience shown towards others; God will reward you with abundant riches for the small alms you bestow. Strive earnestly, therefore, to keep the law of charity, for that is your life.”
St. John of Avila
Johann Tauler, the 14the-century mystic, once said: “The Holy Spirit has two workings in us. The first is emptying. The other is filling the emptiness.”
It is very paradoxical: it takes greatness to become little, strength to become weak, wisdom to embrace the folly of the cross. It is the distinctive logic of the gospel: the first shall be last, the last first.
“Simple faith is both the cause and the effect of wisdom in our soul. The more faith we have, the more we shall possess wisdom. The more we possess it, the stronger our faith. Without seeing, without feeling, without tasting, and without faltering.”
St. Louis-Marie De Montfort
“The creation is beautiful and harmonious, and God has made it all just for your sake. God has made it beautiful, grand, varied, and rich. God has made it capable of satisfying all your needs, to nourish your body, and also to develop the life of your soul by leading it towards the knowledge of himself – all this, for your sake.”
St. John Chrysostom
“Open your heart so that the word of God may enter it, take root in it, and bear fruit there for eternal life.”
St. John Mary Vianney
“Since you speak of peace, all the more must you have peace in your hearts. Let no one be provoked to anger or scandal by you, but may they be drawn to peace and good will, to kindness and concord, through your gentleness.”
St. Francis of Assisi
“The truly righteous are set apart from the world because they produce the fruits of grace in their actions.”
St. Clement of Alexandria
“In Greek, the root meaning of repentance is not the confession of a sin but a change of mind.”
Tertullian
“Our Lord and Savior lifted up his voice and said with incomparable majesty: ‘Let all people know that grace comes after tribulation… Without the cross they can find no road to climb to heaven.’”
St. Rose of Lima
“Let prayer arm us when we leave our lodging. When we return from the streets let us pray before we sit down; let us not give our body rest until our soul is fed.”
St. Jerome
“Nothing must be rejected by Christ’s true disciples in their obedience, however hard and difficult it may be; rather it must be grasped with enthusiasm and with joy, since if obedience is not of this kind, then it shall no be acceptable to the Lord.”
St. Columban
“The spirit of the world is restless, and wishes to do everything. Let is leave it to itself. Let us have no desire to choose our own paths, but walk in those which God may be pleased to prescribe for us.”
St. Vincent De Paul
“The simplicity of the children of the good God: there is no other way to keep the soul in peace.”
St. Julie Billiart
“Patience is most perfect when it is least permeated by cares and worries. If the good Lord wishes to prolong the hour of trial, do not complain and look for the reason but remember always that the children of Israel had to remain forty years in the desert before reaching the Promised Land.”
St. Pio of Pietrelcina
When we don’t take suffering into account we have nothing to say. The Gospel is always shallow when put across by people who hear only about happiness and success – all things bright and beautiful. “Those who have not suffered,” said Blessed Henry Suso, “what do they know?”
“Humility is the mother of many virtues because from it obedience, fear, reverence, patience, modesty, meekness, and peace are born. One who is humble easily obeys everyone, fears to offend anyone, is at peace with everyone, is kind with all.”
St. Thomas of Villanova
“How loving and gentle Jesus is with us, and especially with poor sinners whom he came upon earth to seek out in a visible manner, and whom he still seeks in an invisible manner every day.”
St. Louis-Marie De Montfort
“If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.”
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
“Charity is that with which no one is lost, and without which on one is saved.”
St. Robert Bellarmine
“If you know how to forgive, you prepare for yourself many graces from God. As often as I look upon the cross, so often will I forgive with all my heart.”
St. Faustina Kowalska
“To love God as God ought to be loved, we must be detached from temporal love. We must love nothing but God, or we love anything else, we must love it only for God’s sake.”
St. Peter Claver
“Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother: Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.”
St. Clare of Assisi
“All of us are united with Christ inasmuch as we have received him who is one and indivisible in our bodies. Therefore we owe our service to him rather than to ourselves.”
St. Cyril of Alexandria
“If the works of God were such s might be easily comprehended by human reason, they could not be called wonderful.”
Thomas A Kempis
“Actions speak lauder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak.”
St. Anthony of Padua
“When shall we cast ourselves undeservedly into the arms of our most loving Father in heaven, leaving to God the care of ourselves and of our affairs, and reserving only the desire of pleasing God, and of serving God well in all that we can? ”
St. Jane Frances De Chantal
“I come from God; hence, I belong to God. I am destined for God, who is not only my creator and my master, but also my last end. Thus my end is to know God, to love God, to serve God.”
St. Ignatius Loyola
“Go ahead! Courage! In the spiritual life one who does not go forward goes backward.”
St. Pio of Pietrelcina
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"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."
President Ronald Reagan
