2025 archive of Messages From Father Steve
The Third Sunday of Lent March 23, 2025
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 3/21/25
My childhood best friend was Xander Price. He was the fastest runner in school, an excellent baseball player and Jewish. Though his family wasn’t intensely religious, I felt totally at home with them despite our religious differences. Everything about their Judaism seemed to undergird and strengthen my own experience ... Read More »
The Second Sunday of Lent March 16, 2025
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 3/15/25
St. Thomas Aquinas said that friends share three things: time, possessions and secrets. For example, how do I know if you’re my friend? Well, let’s say we’ve been to Mexico together, you’ve tried my shaky attempts at pasta carbonara, and you know what ridiculouscostume I wore in a music ... Read More »
The First Sunday of Lent March 9, 2025
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 3/07/25
We have now entered the Holy Season of Lent with the themes of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. In today’s Gospel Jesus is tempted after he had fasted for 40 days. Recently, I met with the Faith Formation children from our Spanish Community, to discuss the importance of Lent. When ... Read More »
The Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time March 2, 2025
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 3/01/25
As you should know, the holy season of Lent begins this Wednesday, March 5 and continues for 40 days. Please see inside for the times and locations of Masses, Liturgy of the Word Service and distribution of Ashes. May I invite you to join us as we prepare to ... Read More »
The Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time February 23, 2025
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 2/22/25
One of my favorite new singers/songwriters is Noah Kahan. I’m a little biased because, like me, he is originally from Vermont. In a fine song entitled “Stick Season,” he sings of his hope to “cancel out the darkness I inherited from dad.” This lyric articulates his painful recognition of ... Read More »
The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time February 16, 2025
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 2/14/25
I craved four things as a teenager: success in sports, food, fun and the attention of popular people. However, I noticed that as I acquired them, I was more unsatisfied than before. So, I’d strive even more energetically, achieve more, and the sense of emptiness was greater still. These ... Read More »
The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 2/07/25
My parents’ garage is full of old junk that no longer serves any purpose in my life. As a 46-year-old man, I admit that’s pretty lame. Either due to my sentimentality or laziness (or both, probably), I just couldn’t get myself to throw things away. But a ew days ... Read More »
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord February 2, 2025
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 1/31/25
What is the secret to sharing in God’s power to overcome our difficulties? Mary teaches us this in the prophecy of her pierced heart. This Sunday, the old man Simeon prophecies that when her son faces opposition, Mary’s soul will be pierced by a sword. The seemingly pointless agony ... Read More »
The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time January 26, 2025
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 1/24/25
A young couple in my parish told me they were expecting their second child, a baby boy. I knew that their five-year old only child Emma had been desperately wanting to be a big sister for years, so I said, “Emma must have been so happy when you told ... Read More »
The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time January 19, 2025
Posted by Nancy Carrizales on 1/17/25
A friend invited me to an invitation-only wine-tasting event. There were over two hundred varieties of wine. Having no idea how to approach such a massive selection, I wandered aimlessly among the tables, sipping this and that. At the end of the evening my friend asked if I had ... Read More »