I just arrived back from Ireland today and it was a bittersweet experience. Bitter because of the nature of the trip—to preside at the memorial service for my brother Paul so all our family and friends back there could gather and mourn the loss. Sweet because it was good to be back in Ireland surrounded…
What can be said of 2021? It was a tough year for all of us for sure and yet it was also full of grace and light. As Charles Dickens once said, it was the best of times and the worst of times. That is certainly true for many of us—2021 was a great year…
Recently when I visited the students in our school classrooms, one of the children asked me what was my favorite season of the liturgical year? I immediately said it was Christmas. I explained that it is not only because I love to decorate my home with lots of Christmas trees and lights, but also because…
As I write this bulletin article, my room is full of cards, flowers and baked goods from families and parishioners of St. Simon Church and School. Also, my inbox is full of countless emails. The outpouring of love since the loss of my brother, Paul, and my spiritual director, Fr. Dave, has left me speechless.…
They say that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” In my experience, that is so true. If we do not want to see beauty, we will NOT see it. Even if we do want to see beauty, it is hard enough to see it! Yet we ought to try hard to see the…
As you already know this week has been a difficult week for me. On Monday night my mentor-friend and spiritual director, Fr. Dave Ayotte, died after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer. Then on Tuesday afternoon, after a 6+ month battle with pancreatic cancer, my closest brother and best friend, Paul died. It was the…
I hope you had some quality time with family and friends over the Thanksgiving holidays celebrating the many gifts we share as a nation, as families and as a community. It has been a strange and difficult year with the pandemic lingering longer than anyone would have guessed and the long-term effects of this pandemic…
Last week at all Masses, the Finance Council presented the financial report for the year ended June 30, 2021 and it was also sent via email to all parishioners. It is important that we all read the financial update carefully and be aware of the great work we have accomplished in the last year in…
As you might remember from the retreat on the Eucharist we just completed that one of the important aspects of the liturgy of the Eucharist is music. It is not just an optional element but a constitutive element of the whole liturgy. While we have four processional songs (gathering, preparation, communion, and recessional) music is…
On Tuesday night, we concluded our retreat, Living the Eucharist: Circle of Life. We reviewed the four previous movements of the Gathering, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the Sending Forth. Then we focused on the challenges that come from these sessions especially in light of the pandemic and the…