Messages From Father Steve
The First Sunday of Advent December 3, 2023
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 12/02/23
Lately I’ve been listening to a science-based podcast on healthy daily living. The host frequently discusses the wide range of health benefits of sleep. So, each night I’m trying to get more, and better, slumber, and it’s helping me feel energized. So, why in the worldshould we follow Christ’s ... Read More »
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe November 26, 2023
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 11/25/23
In May 2023, for the first time in almost three quarters of a century, a monarch was crowned in England. A few days later a friend of mine scoffed, “What a waste of time and energy! What is the point of a king?” I’m a proud American who wants ... Read More »
The Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time November 19, 2023
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 11/17/23
When I was a kid, I hated playing Monopoly because my siblings and friends always seemed to win. But worse was how it happened. Scared to risk my fake money on buying properties, I’d hold on to it. My opponents hungrily bought up the various real estate squares on ... Read More »
The Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time November 12, 2023
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 11/10/23
Lately I’ve been enjoying the deep meaning of Eastern icons. I love how they express a tapestry of meaning in a way that can surpass the written or spoken word. Today’s parable of the ten virgins from Jesus is a good example. Try googling “wise and foolish virgins icon” ... Read More »
The Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time November 5, 2023
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 11/03/23
Last Easter season a new convert to Catholicism at my parish asked me with a grave tone in her voice: “Why do we call priests ‘father’ if Jesus says, ‘Call no man on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven’?” Thinking myself clever, I ... Read More »
The Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time October 29, 2023
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 10/27/23
In our secularized culture, we all struggle with belief in God, at least to some degree. An atheist man named Robert Bridges once wrote to his friend, the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, asking how he could possibly learn to believe in God. Hopkins pithilyresponded: “Give alms.” Would that ... Read More »
The Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time October 22, 2023
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 10/20/23
With little more than a year until the United States’ national elections, I find myself feeling, like many Catholics, both dread and energized. Dread, because our democratic republic can be a messy endeavor and campaigns a long, nasty, and unedifying slog; energized, because hope for positive societal change can ... Read More »
The Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time October 15, 2023
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 10/14/23
I confess that I have a soft spot for the scary things Jesus says because they are usually ignored. But there’s gold in them thar hills, if we have courage to look. This week Jesus gives us a terrifying warning in his parable about the king who gives a ... Read More »
The Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time October 8, 2023
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 10/07/23
Jesus’ parables are much stranger than most people realize. This week is an attention-getting example. He tells the religious leaders a parable about a completely absurd situation. Blood-thirsty and insane tenants violently abuse and kill the servants of their landlord. Inexplicably, the owner keeps sending them more victims of ... Read More »
The Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time October 1, 2023
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 9/30/23
A life-long Catholic friend of mine recently mumbled to me, “I can’t stand all these converts to the faith. They’re always rocking the boat.” It surprised me because he is dedicated to evangelization, and yet he struggles with openness to new Catholics. It made me realize how easily I ... Read More »