Fr. Greg

An incredibly hot topic that I have received questions about recently is that of the Church’s stance on immigration, which I admit, I needed to do some research into. Regardless of what side of the aisle you may find yourself, we can all admit that we are in need of reform. In my research, I found that the best and most concise response was actually from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, entitled Catholic Elements of Immigration Reform.

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of this annual appeal that funds many important ministries of the Archdiocese.  Our Archdiocese is made up of 21 counties and includes 107 parishes and 181,000 Catholics – ACTS supports 43 ministries and programs that we could not do alone as a single parish. These programs benefit our parish and thousands of others in our Archdiocese!

Happy New Year, everyone! This is Fr. Greg here. I’d love to do this column spot weekly, and I used to do that, but as it seems my schedule only gets busier as time passes, recently I delegated if off to Fr. Andrew. However, from time to time, I will jump in like I’m doing now.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the Jubilee Year that we are in the midst of. As a followup to that article, today we will focus on the Holy Doors and the granting of Indulgences in this Holy Year.

This past Fall, Fr. Greg gave me a list of projects and things to do in the coming months. Some of them were quick items and several of them were longer term projects. One of them was very exciting: recruit Religious Sisters to come and teach in our grade school and to work in our parish. Having religious as a part of parish life is such a great gift! We already have two communities that attend our parish that I am sure all of you have seen: the Medical Sisters of St. Joseph and the Sisters of St. Anne. Many of them serve and work as Nurses at Villa St.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.

Merry Christmas to you all! Perhaps my favorite Christmas hymn is “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. I’m not sure why, but I find it peaceful and moving. The lyrics of the refrain go as such:

O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight

In today’s column, we will be looking at the beauty of the O Antiphons. A great tradition in the Church that many might not know about, but offer some beautiful opportunities for reflection.

Upcoming on December 12th is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This apparition of Our Lady in Mexico City is very close to my heart. In fact, I have made a pilgrimage to the Shrine to see the Tilma twice. Seeing the Tilma in person does not compare to seeing a copy of it. There is such a palpable presence of Our Lady that one cannot doubt the authenticity of this miracle. With this feast day rapidly approaching, here are 9 fun facts!

This next week begins Penance Service week here in Johnson County. With that happening, I think it would be great for us to examine how to make a good confession, and best practices in the confessional.