Today I offer for your reflection the four and fifth priority submitted by the Church of North America – the Catholic Church of the United States and Canada – to the agenda of the Roman Synod of October 2023. Priority Four: Addressing the unity and communion of the Church in the midst of various kinds […]
Reflection from Father Steve – May 28, 2023
The North American Catholic Church – Catholics from the United States and Canada – offer five priorities to be discussed at the October Roman Synod. Last week I wrote about the first of the five. The second priority: The Church has the challenge of welcoming those who feel excluded from participation in the life of […]
Reflection from Father Steve – May 21 2023
Beginning in 2021, Pope Francis called the universal church to prepare for a Synod, a month long meeting in Rome during October 2023. Synods have been gatherings of selected bishops, representing the whole church, coming together, and with the Pope, undertaking a reflection on current issues facing the Church; and discerning what the response to […]
Reflection from Father Steve – May 14, 2023
For many centuries in the West, Christianity has to a large extent determined and shaped culture and society. Culture is the way a person inhabits his/her world. Culture structures all the components and dimensions of human existence. All people live on this earth, but they do not inhabit the earth in the same way. Thus, […]
Reflection from Father Steve – May 7, 2023
In the face of a culture of secularism, consumerism, economic inequality, diminishment of the value of human beings – especially those who are different from me – and the list goes on, the stance of the Church must not be preaching about or idealizing a bygone past – the golden age of a Church of […]
Reflection from Father Steve – April 30, 2023
May 1st is International Labor Day. Throughout the world people celebrate the gift and value of work. In light of that, on May 1st the Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. Since 1881, and Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical letter, On the Condition of Human Labor, the Church has celebrated the worker and […]
Reflection from Father Steve – April 23, 2023
During the Easter Season, the 50 days between Easter Sunday and Pentecost, the Gospel according to John and the Acts of the Apostles are the scripture readings at Mass. The Acts of the Apostles is the second volume of a two-volume work, the first of which is the Gospel according to Luke. In the Gospel […]
Reflection from Father Steve – April 16, 2023
Sixty years ago, Holy Thursday, 1963, Pope John XXIII issued his final teaching to the world. The letter he wrote is called Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth. On establishing universal peace in truth, justice, charity and liberty). John knew he had an inoperable cancer and had no more than three months to live. In […]
Reflection from Father Steve – April 9, 2023
I have so many memories from childhood of the events surrounding the Feast of Easter. In those days the Lenten fast and abstinence from meat was observed each day. Before Ash Wednesday dad would go to the Pioneer Sausage Company on Rice Street and buy an 18-inch long hard salami. He would hang it from […]
Reflection from Father Steve – April 2, 2023
This is the week called “Holy” in which we observe, as the ancients said, “The days of Awe.” Today we begin with Palm Sunday, or as it is now called, the Second Sunday of the Passion. The central piece of this celebration is the commemoration of Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the proclamation of […]
Reflection from Father Steve – March 26, 2023
Next weekend begins Holy Week, the most solemn week in the life of the Church; the week in which we are invited to walk deeply in the mystery of God’s love and mercy made manifest in the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. I encourage you to try and set some time aside to pray […]
Reflection from Father Steve – March 19, 2023
This Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Lent, marks the halfway point in the Lenten Season. Maybe this is a good time to reflect a bit on my observance of the Season, and if needed to make a midcourse correction. Lent is a period of conversion, of serious preparation for a new way of thinking. From […]
Reflection from Father Steve – March 12, 2023
This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of the election of Pope Francis – in many ways an historical milestone- the first Jesuit to be elected Pope; the first Pope from the Southern hemisphere; the first Pope to carry the name Francis. Pope Francis is the first Pope to be ordained a priest after the Second […]
Reflection from Father Steve – March 5, 2023
Note: The use of GS and a number points to the paragraph in the council document on the Church in the World Today. GS refers to the Latin title of the document, Gaudium et Spes (Joy and Hope). The final months of the Second Vatican Council were given to crafting a document reflecting the vocation […]
Reflection from Father Steve – February 26, 2023
In January I was encouraged to write something about what I am reading. Reading has been a significant part of my life since childhood. As an elementary school child I begged my dad to take me with him when he went downtown on Saturday mornings to do some business; I asked him to drop me […]
Reflection from Father Steve – February 19, 2023
This Wednesday, February 22nd is Ash Wednesday – the beginning of the Season of Lent 2023. Ash Wednesday Liturgy is at 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM. Lent is the annual opportunity for each of us to look at our Christian lives; and make some adjustments in our religious practice or attitudes. Mostly the season is […]
Reflection from Father Steve – February 12, 2023
Continuing from last week: The second paragraph of the Introduction of the Vatican II teaching on the Liturgy focuses on the Eucharist – our weekly gathering at the altar. Once again, my comments are found in the italic script. Fr. Steve For the Liturgy, “through which the work of our redemption is accomplished”, most of […]
Reflection from Father Steve – February 5, 2023
As we approach the Season of Lent and strive more fully to enter into the celebration of the Eucharist, in which the very presence of the death and resurrection of the Lord is found, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on the principals found in the introduction of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy […]
Reflection from Father Steve – January 29, 2023
I am writing this while shut down by the Christmas freeze and blizzard. Like the shelter in place of the pandemic, being stranded because of weather is frustrating and advantageous. Frustrating because you are stuck and cannot go where you want to go; advantageous because you have time and opportunity to do things around the […]
Reflection from Father Steve – January 22, 2023
Since the time of the First Vatican Council the practice in the church has been to see the leadership in the faith resting with the pope and through him with the bishops. Dioceses were seen as “branch offices” of the Vatican and bishops were the local “branch managers”, the representation of the pope. Meanwhile voices […]
Reflection from Father Steve – January 15, 2023
This Monday, January 16th, marks the annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it is known as MLK Day. Those younger than 65 years old have no personal recollection of Dr. King and the dynamic force he brought to the “cry for civil rights.” Dr. King was not a politician, neither was he a […]
Reflection from Father Steve: Examination of Conscience – January 8, 2023
Some have asked for a copy of the examination of conscience at the Penance Service on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. It is found below. Fr. Steve Adrian Examination of Conscience Can you set aside your need to be in control? Can you stop being judgmental, intolerant, and self-righteous? Can you let go of the […]
Reflection from Father Steve – January 1, 2023
We say “goodbye” to 2022 and “hello” to 2023. The past year has been a difficult year for many; it has also been a time of joy for some. I know I can learn something about living in 23 from my experiences of 22. I keep a notebook, a kind of daily diary—just a few […]
Reflection from Father Steve – December 25, 2022
Years ago when people talked of simple living and ecology they championed “Small Is Beautiful”. In some ways the Feast and Season of Christmas celebrates God’s dwelling among us in the small and the beautiful – in a condition a busy and commercial driven world at best disregards and at worst doesn’t even see. How […]
Reflection from Father Steve – December 18, 2022
Next Sunday, December 25th is Christmas Day, the Feast of the Birth of the Son of God. Christmas worship will take place on Christmas Eve, December 24th at 4:15 PM. A service of carols takes place before Mass. On Christmas Day, December 25th the Mass of Christmas is at 10:15 AM, preceded by a service […]
Reflection from Father Steve – December 11, 2022
Next Sunday, December 18th at 2:00 PM we will celebrate our annual Advent Communal Reconciliation. This service is offered twice a year, once now before Christmas and in the spring of the year before Easter. Also each day from December 19th through Friday, December 23rd Private Confessions will be available in the Chapel. The Sacrament […]
Reflection from Father Steve – December 4, 2022
The Christmas Season begins at various times in various places. In northern Europe the Christmas Season begins on the Feast of Saint Martin, November 11th. This time of preparation for Christmas is known as ”Saint Martin’s Lent.” In southern Europe the Christmas Season begins on the Feast of Saint Nicholas, December 6th or the Feast […]
Reflection from Father Steve – November 27, 2022
This weekend we begin a new Church year with the opening of the Season of Advent. Advent is, in part, a kind of “new year” celebration for the Church. In the last weeks of “the old year” and the first weeks of ”the new year” the liturgy of the Church focuses on the final coming […]
Reflection from Father Steve – November 20, 2022
Thursday, November 24th is Thanksgiving Day. This is the closest we have to a “national holy day”. The holiday was celebrated on the last Thursday of November since President Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation of “a national day of Thanksgiving and praise.” Each year it was up to the President to issue a proclamation to announce the […]
Reflection from Father Steve – November 13, 2022
Next weekend, November 19th and 20th, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick will take place at both the Saturday afternoon Mass and the Sunday morning Mass. The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is from ancient times. In the Letter of James we read that a person who is ill should call […]
Reflection from Father Steve – November 6, 2022
A few weeks ago I received an invitation to attend an Eagle Scout Court of Honor. Over the years I have received such invitations regularly. This invitation was really special. This Court of Honor was given for two young women – the second and third girls in the city of Saint Paul to have achieved […]
Reflection from Father Steve – October 30, 2022
Day of the Dead, also known as Dia de Muertos in Spanish, is a Mexican holiday where beloved family members that have died come to visit the living and reunite with loved ones. Although it may be perceived as a somber holiday, it’s actually a grand celebration with music, food and vibrant decorations. Each year, families set […]
Reflection from Father Steve – October 23, 2022
Next weekend is Halloween weekend, a time anticipated by children and prepared for many weeks in advance. I went to Sam’s Club this month to buy the candy treats I will offer the visitors this year. The celebration of Halloween has a strong religious origin. The English are fond of contractions. The word is the […]
Reflection from Father Steve – October 16, 2022
On October 16, 1962 photos taken from a US spy plane conclusively showed the installation of Soviet missile sites in Cuba capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to the United States. 90 miles from the coast of the USA the Soviet Union’s missiles are readied for launch. Thus the Cuban Missile Crisis! Time magazine’s correspondent […]
Reflection from Father Steve – October 9, 2022
October 11th is the Feast of Saint John XXIII. This grandfatherly figure was a revolutionary. He desired to see the Church become a significant presence and voice in a rapidly changing world. On the evening of January 25, 1959, following the Solemn Vespers on the Feast of Saint Paul, he simply announced that it was […]
