Hello St. Mary Magdalene,

Happy Lent! As we begin this Lenten journey I pray that the Lord will guide you through your disciplines and lead you closer to Him. Lent is a powerful time to draw closer to the Lord and journey with Christ throughout His time in the desert, fasting, praying, and making intentional sacrifices so that God’s Providence would be more apparent to us in our daily life. Traditionally the Church recommends three practices for Lent that help us to mortify ourselves spiritually and physically: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular and important holy days in the liturgical calendar. Ash Wednesday opens Lent, a season of fasting and prayer. Ash Wednesday takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday, and is chiefly observed by Catholics, although many other Christians observe it too. Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting.

Saint Valentine, officially known as Saint Valentine of Rome, is a third-century Roman saint widely celebrated on February 14 and commonly associated with "courtly love." Although not much of St. Valentine's life is reliably known, and whether or not the stories involve two different saints by the same name is also not officially decided, it is highly agreed that St. Valentine was martyred and then buried on the Via Flaminia to the north of Rome.

Also known as Agatha of Sicily, is one of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs of the Catholic Church. It is believed that she was born around 231 in either Catania or Palermo, Sicily to a rich and noble family. From her very early years, the notably beautiful Agatha dedicated her life to God. She became a consecrated virgin, a state in life where young women choose to remain celibate and give themselves wholly to Jesus and the Church in a life of prayer and service. That did not stop men from desiring her and making unwanted advances toward her. However, one of the men who desired Agatha, whose name was Quintianus, because he was of a high diplomatic ranking, thought he could force her to turn away from her vow and force her to marry.

Later this week (Thursday February 2nd) the Church celebrates the Presentation of the Lord, a feast with deep scriptural and ritual roots. Ritually, this feast, prior to the Second Vatican Council, marked the end of the Christmas Season and was known as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Eucharistic Adoration was not something that I had been exposed to, even growing up Catholic, regularly attending Mass on Sundays and having attended Catholic Grade School.

Having been a parishioner here at St. Mary Magdalene for nearly 19 years, I have been blessed to spend time with the Lord routinely over the last 5 or so years in the Adoration Chapel. I have chosen the early morning hours of 1am on Sunday mornings, mostly because of my hectic last minute work travel schedule.

Christ is born to save us and we are filled with joy. I pray that Christmas may fill you with great joy and that your celebrations with family and friends may be safe and life giving. Today God’s great gift to us is made manifest as we now can see Him face to face in Christ made flesh. We now join Mary in that beautiful gaze on her newborn son; a look of tenderness and love that we never want to end as God looks back at us. How beautiful and tender a gaze to look into the eyes of the newborn Christ and see God staring back. Christ already makes a gift of Himself to us as He enters into our brokenness and sin in order to set us free.

Eucharistic Adoration, from my personal experience, is truly a glimpse of Heaven in this Earthly life. I felt a tug in my heart that Jesus was calling me to draw closer to Him. Adoration has been a tangible way for me to do just that.

My time in Adoration each week allows me to renew my sense of purpose and a visible reminder that I am loved beyond all measure. It is a time of respite away from the chaos of daily life, a time of reflection of joys and sufferings. It has also given me dedicated time to quiet all the noise that our hurting world wants to impress upon me.

Eucharistic adoration is an incredible gift and I am so pleased that we have perpetual adoration; it has transformed this parish (and all of us) in ways we will not see fully until the other side of eternity. For me, adoration was not something I experienced until college as part of an overnight event the Newman Center was putting on for Lent. I remember going and not knowing what to expect and/or do during that hour. Turns out, Jesus knows what to do and He led me through this hour and left me desiring more. Unfortunately, there was no perpetual adoration at that time and so this desire to adore Jesus in the Eucharist would go unfulfilled until seminary. That’s when I was able to daily make a holy hour with Jesus; something that’s now the foundation of my life and daily routine.

A close up of the cherubim angels whose intercession helps our prayers ascend to the Father. These are installed above the Crucifix at the top of the rafter.

A close up photo of the St. Gabriel mural. Note the herald's trumpet as his identifying feature. This is installed to the upper right of the Crucifix.

A close up photo of the St. Michael mural. Note the spear as his identifying feature. This is installed to the upper left of the Crucifix.

In Genesis 3, we read the account of the Fall, the moment Original Sin corrupted the human condition and wounded our relationship with God; Adam and Eve grasped for what belongs to God alone and, as they reached out to take the fruit, they told God they didn’t need Him, that we’d rather do things our way. This grasping at what belongs to God alone is the root of all sin, a lack of trust in the Providence of God.

Hello St. Mary Magdalene,

It is a tremendous joy to be back in our newly renovated sanctuary and I truly thank you all for your prayers, support, and patience to help bring us to this point. This is part of a series of articles I’ll be writing about what’s next for our parish. Today, I wish to take some time to give an overview of what you’ll see in the coming months when our mural work is installed this winter (2022). This is custom made mural work that will fit our spiritual charisms and the physical space in a captivating way.

What does it mean to follow Jesus? The Gospels show us that Jesus called each person individually, recognizing the things that stood in the way for each. He looked into the person's heart and saw the true desires of the person standing before him.

Happy solemnity of Corpus Christi! Today we celebrate as a Church the gift of the Eucharist, the Body of Christ (Corpus Christi), in a special and particular way. Specifically, it also provides the chance to reflect on the role and prominence of the Eucharist in our life. For me, this feast holds a special significance as nine years ago (2013) my first Masses as a priest was for this solemnity. Thus, each year I find myself reflecting on the words of the Second Vatican Council: that the Eucharist is the “fount and apex of the whole Christian life” (Lumen Gentium, 11). What, though, does it mean to say that the Eucharist is the fount and apex of Christian life?