On Sunday, September 29th, we held our Annual Fall Picnic, made special this year as we gathered as a parish family back at the Church.  It succeeded again in its primary goal of socializing with our faith community and it was made possible by each and every one of you. 

Thank you to ShopRite, once again, for their generous food donation of hot dogs, hamburgers and rolls.  Thank you to Carol & Antonio Rocha for picking up the items and delivering them to the Church. (Read more…)

Sunday, October 6th, we celebrate Respect Life Sunday.  As Catholics, we are encouraged to promote the dignity of all human life from conception until natural death.  We are called to promote the Gospel of Life, and protect and cherish the lives of the elderly, the physically and mentally challenged, and the unborn.  We should never forget that God is the Creator of all life, and all life is precious in His sight.

Pope Francis strongly criticized a “throwaway culture” that places too little value on human life. (Read more…)

Jesus, Our Lord and Savior, is also our Teacher.  Throughout His public ministry, through His example, He taught us much about the need for prayer.  Jesus often prayed for others, including His Apostles.  Following the example of Jesus, Pope Francis has also focused on the need for prayer.  He has often spoken about the power of prayer.  Some of his comments about prayer made during his homilies and reflections have been summarized in the publication “Pope Francis Quotes About Prayer.”

They include the following:

1.  (Read more…)

An old Monk once told me that the spiritual life is like an oil lamp.  The flame is prayer.  The oil that keeps the flame going is spiritual reading.  If the oil runs out, so does the flame.

Often, a priest is asked: “Father, why is my prayer life such a drought?  I feel like I’m just reciting empty words.  What am I doing wrong?”  The first questions I would ask are: “What do you feed your life of prayer?  (Read more…)

Mary!  A name so lofty, in the regal majesty of its sound and meaning – Mary, Maria, Miriam!  It is a name as familiar to us as the name of our Mother, as the bells of the church, as the peaks of the mountains which send their friendly greetings to the valleys below.  Mary!  A thousand times we have prayed, sung, wept this name, in good and evil days. Millions of women are called by that name and it weaves a golden thread around even the plainest woman.  (Read more…)

This Friday, September 6th and every first Friday of the month, our St. Catherine of Siena Parish, with unrestrained joy, celebrates the Real Presence of Jesus Christ during the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  We begin at 3pm and end with Benediction at 7pm.

A great part of our parish’s vitality is the adoration of our Eucharistic Lord. How many graces have come from that Adoration! Of course what makes it possible are the people who commit to spending one hour a month with our Lord. (Read more…)