SCCR Parish Blog

Below are the homily notes for today's Mass  (6th Sunday of Easter soon).  Here is the YouTube video version (7 minutes). Sixth Sunday of Easter [A] – May 17, 2020 “I will not leave you orphaned” Now that we are in mid-May and approaching June, this is often a time of transition.   Lots of graduations happening – transitions from high school or college into the work world, young people looking for new jobs, perhaps making the transition from childhood to adulthood, from dependence to a newfound independence.   This year of course adds a level of confusion to that transition, and some disappointments, with all the fear and uncertainty about the health pandemic, including cancellations of cherished graduation ceremonies. But the transition happens just the same.   Since I have a big family, I have some of those transitions going on with my own nieces and nephews. It’s a little bit like that in the Gospel.   Jesus is preparing His Apostles for the bigge...

From the good people at Magnificat devotional magazine, here are the Scripture readings, prayer and reflections for this Sunday, May 17th , the 6th Sunday of Easter, for use at home to make a spiritual communion.  The reflection is from a Vietnamese cardinal who was imprisoned for years and brutally treated by the Communist government, Venerable F rancis X avier N guyễn V ăn T huận

The parish weekly newsletters for this week (May 14th) and last week (May 7th) are now available online. .

The parish staff, volunteers and I are busy working on the plan for the restarting of public Masses in the parish beginning on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25th. All registered parishioners will receive a postal mailing on this soon with more details and a Mass reservation request form .  ( Here's the full text of that letter ). For those who choose to return to Mass (attendance at Mass is temporarily optional, by authority of the Archbishop), please read that letter over carefully to minimize the confusion over the new Mass procedures and to insure you are prepared for the changes needed while this epidemic persists. Please note that some of the Mass times will change temporarily, due to the additional time needed for special procedures and that you will have to arrive early.   Please make sure that you check the parish calendar (on the website at the link, or the My Parish app on your phone) to confirm the correct Mass time before you come. We do not yet have a way to sign...

Here's a brief video of the remote blessing I offered today for our parish mothers. May Our Lady continue to intercede for them as we honor them today.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati will be blessed with three new priests to serve the people of our local Church next Saturday, May 16th. Archbishop Schnurr will ordain these men at a Mass limited to the ordinands, some immediate family members, and a few priests who have helped form them in their path to the priesthood Read about them in this Catholic Telegraph article .  Please pray for them, that they will be good and holy priests throughout their lives and that the Holy Spirit may grant them many gifts to help them save souls. [Photo above has seminary rector Fr. Anthony Brausch on the left with Archbishop Schnurr and the three new priests]

I am including my homily notes for today's Mass (5th Sunday of Easter and Mother's Day, below). It is actually two short homilies back to back, each about 5 minutes long. Here's the YouTube video of those homilies .  Part I of the homily (reflection on the Gospel) ends at about 5:24.  Part II of the homily (Mother's Day reflection) begins about 5:25.  You are welcome to listen to either or both. I'll have a separate posting of a very short video with a Mothers' Day blessing for my parishioners who are mothers.  I offered that remote blessing after morning Mass today.  As usual, the Sunday Mass intention was for the people of St. Peter and St. Mary parishes. Happy Mother's Day! =================== Fifth Sunday of Easter [A] – May 10, 2020 (Mothers’ Day) As we wait patiently for the reopening of public Masses, I want to talk a little bit about both the Gospel and Mothers’ Day.   In recent times, the Church has encouraged the faithful to ...