Padre’s Points to Ponder

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, This weekend, our parish bids farewell, at least for now, to our pastoral year seminarian, Jonathan Webster. As his assignment among us comes to a close, I want to offer a word of heartfelt gratitude for the tremendous gift he has been to our parish family this past year. … Continued

Padre’s Points to Ponder – 5/8/26 Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, This weekend, as the Church celebrates the 6th Sunday of the Easter season, the nation has set this weekend aside as a special celebration of motherhood.  There’s a line from the Gospel that always jumps out to me when I think about moms … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, There is a quiet crisis described in this Sunday’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Not a crisis of persecution, nor of doctrine…but a crisis of charity. The widows are being overlooked in the daily distribution.  Something so simple and practical has become a point of tension in … Continued

Padre’s Points to Ponder – 4/24/26 Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, The image of Our Lord as the Good Shepherd is one of my favorites. With such incredible and unexpected kindness, Jesus takes the wayward and wearied lamb upon His shoulders, and brings it home. The 4th Sunday of the Easter season is always dedicated … Continued

Padre’s Points to Ponder 4/17/26 In recent days, ridiculous comments by the President about Pope Leo XIV have circulated widely in the news and across social media. The Holy Father is being interpreted through a political lens, praised or criticized as though he were a head of state first and a spiritual father second, but … Continued

Padre’s Points to Ponder – 4/10/26 On this Second Sunday of Easter, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast given to the Church through the mystical experiences of St. Faustina Kowalska and officially established for the universal Church by Pope John Paul II in the Jubilee Year 2000. At first glance, it might seem almost … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in the Risen Christ, The strife is o’er, the battle done.  Christ is risen as He promised.  Happy and Blessed Day of the Resurrection to all of you! As we celebrate this most central mystery of our faith, the Vatican has recently announced the date and time for the celebration of … Continued

Padre’s Points to Ponder – 3/27/26 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Now that we have arrived at Palm Sunday, Holy Week is upon us.  The week is the heart of the Church’s liturgical year. In these sacred days, we are drawn into the saving mysteries of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Each liturgy offers … Continued

A New Vision for Confirmation in the Archdiocese of Atlanta Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, In the coming years, the Archdiocese of Atlanta will gradually introduce some changes to how the Sacrament of Confirmation is celebrated and prepared for in our parishes. While the most visible change will eventually be the age at which … Continued

From Darkness to Light: the Scrutinies Begin Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, This weekend at our 10:30am Mass we begin an annual sacred and powerful “moment” in the life of our parish and the Church: the Scrutinies for those preparing to enter the Church through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA). What … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, This letter is primarily written for our Catholic School families, but might be of interest to the wider parish community. As our Catholic school families are aware, each year the Archdiocese requires that parents submit a parish verification form to the pastor for each student they are seeking to … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Every year, Lent arrives with its familiar call: pray more, give more, and fast. Yet for many Catholics, fasting can feel like the most confusing part of the season. Why does the Church ask us to give up food, pleasures, or comforts? Is God impressed when we suffer? Does … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Ash Wednesday is this week, the start of our Lenten journey.  The ashes will remind us that we are sinners, and the cross traced on our foreheads with those ashes will remind us that we have a savior. We will be most blessed to host a powerful 3-night Parish … Continued

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, With the arrival of February, the holy season of Lent is now almost upon us. Once again, we will place ashes on our foreheads and be invited and challenged to walk with the Lord into the desert. It happens every year, and yet Lent is never meant to … Continued

The Most Catholic Response to the Immigration Situation You’ll Find Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I was writing my article for this weekend on the topic of a Catholic response to the unraveling immigration situation plaguing the nation.  In my research, I came across Archbishop Hebda’s recent statement.  As Archbishop of St. Paul and … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, A few years ago, the late Pope Francis declared the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time to be “Sunday of the Word of God” in an Apostolic Letter called Aperuit Illis. That title mean “He opened to them,” in reference to St. Luke’s telling of the Lord opening the minds … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, The Christmas season has come to a close and a new season of Ordinary Time has begun. It is easy to misunderstand the meaning of this new season as unspecial, routine, or uneventful, but in the life of the Church, Ordinary Time is anything but “ordinary”. The word ordinary … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, As the Christmas season comes to a close, we begin Ordinary Time with the tremendous (and luminous) mystery of the Baptism of the Lord, a moment of salvation history absolutely loaded with significance and grace.   Three things happen when a person is validly baptized: 1) All sin is forgiven, … Continued

The Humble Place God Chose to Reveal Himself On this Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, I invite our eyes to be drawn to the quiet, tender scene of Bethlehem once more: Mary, Joseph, and the Child Jesus gathered together in the humble shelter of a manger. It is an image of peace and … Continued

Padre’s Points to Ponder – 12/26/25 Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ, MERRY CHRISTMAS!  Christ is born in Bethlehem, the King of Kings, Emmanuel, the Messiah, the Word of God “now in flesh appearing”.  He is the cause of our joy and our hope, He is the source of faith and love. During this Christmas … Continued