News - November 2025 RSS Feed

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving week with your loved ones, and now the quick rush to the Christmas Season is underway. This weekend we observe the First Sunday of Advent, and the inauguration of the new liturgical year. We are now in Year A of the Sunday readings and Year II of the weekday readings. Our Sunday Gospel readings this year are primarily from Matthew’s Gospel, which means we will hear some more long didactic segments and many of the familiar rhythms upon which the liturgy was built. Matthew’s Gospel has a comfortable home in the Liturgy, and its use of Judaic expressions and images connects us deeply to the practices of Jesus and the early church.

A most blessed Thanksgiving week to all! I hope all travel safely and enjoy time with family and friends during this wonderful holiday. I also remind you to pause and focus on the “why” for this holiday. More than turkey, parades, and football, is we are centered on “giving thanks” to almighty God for life, our freedoms, and the many blessings bestowed upon us, our country, our family, and those whom we love and serve. Mass will be celebrated on Thursday at 9:00 am.

This weekend we celebrate the Diaconal Ordination of Anthony Cullen. A native of Brooklyn, Deacon Anthony, along with his wife Annie and children Brendan and Lily, have been members of St. Benedict Parish for the past decade and Deacon Anthony has been employed by St. Benedict School as Campus Minister and full-time teacher of religion there since April 2024. He has been engaged in numerous ministries of the parish, and has taken on the responsibility of recruiting and training the altar servers and the lectors. He now is entitled to exercise the fullness of the diaconal office: preaching the homily; assisting at the altar; baptizing catechumens; and witnessing marriages. Deacon Anthony will continue to perform the appropriate offices of burial for the faithful outside of Mass. We are happy to have him join the ranks of the clergy here for our diocese and in our parish. Please remember Deacon Anthony in your prayers.

Yet again this weekend we interrupt the cycle of Ordinary Time on Sunday to celebrate a significant feast day, but this one is more confusing to understand, the celebration of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. Officially this church is called Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of All Churches in Rome and in the world. As the cathedral for the Diocese of Rome, it is the cathedral seat of the Bishop of Rome, Pope Leo XIV.