News - June 2025 RSS Feed

This weekend we observe the Solemnity of the Martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul. The co-patrons of Rome and pillars of the church, these two great apostles bore witness to the nascent Christian faith in Rome through their executions at the hands of theRomans. Peter was crucified -- upside down, as he was not worthy to die in the same manner as did Jesus -- at the Circus Vaticanus around the years 67-69. His remains are today under the altar of the great basilica that bears his name. Saint Paul was beheaded, within the same time frame, on the Via Appia in accord with his status as a Roman citizen, and is buried in the crypt of St. Paul Outside the Walls (of Rome) just off the Appian Way in Rome. His remains were only rediscovered there in the past thirty years. The red vestments we wear this weekend are in commemoration of their martyrdom. Read more.

A most blessed Corpus Christi Sunday to everyone. This weekend we observe the solemnity with a Eucharistic procession at the11:00 am Mass. It is also ten years ago this feast day that we inaugurated the Our Lady of Victories Adoration Chapel here at the parish. Read more.

This is Trinity Sunday. The notion of the Trinity probably confuses most of us, as the very nature of the Trinity is complicated and known only through the discernment of revelation. The Doctrine itself is best defined by the First Council of Nicaea (325). You will be hearing more about this Council during the year, as it is now 1700 years since the Emperor Constantine the Great convened a church council in Nicaea (modern Iznik, Turkey) to address some important theological questions. The matters at hand focused on the nature of Jesus and then consequently the nature of the Trinity. They were not, contrary to Dan Brown and his fiction writing, creating new doctrines, rather they were focused on coining the specific terminology and language in order to understand and explain those doctrines. Read more.

Happy Pentecost. This weekend we celebrate this feast, the commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. We see the work of the Holy Spirit at work in the life of the Church, guiding and directing us along the path of both evangelizing the world and in renewing and invigorating the faithful. The church exercises ministry in each and every age and place under the power of the Holy Spirit. As we try to both proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, and now seated at the Right Hand of the Father as Lord of Heaven and Earth, we do so with great peril. The world has never wanted to hear the Gospel. In many parts of the old world, the Faith has grown stagnant, and in many places in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, the church suffers from a lack of vocations and insufficient support. Yet, the church grows -- the number of people baptized increases, and the faith is passed on to the next generation. Read more.

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. It certainly still feels strange to celebrate this Solemnity on Sunday instead of Thursday, but that is the decision of the bishops in New Jersey, and so it goes. Read more.