Weekly Reflections

This weekend’s Gospel is the familiar parable of the sower and the seed. This is one of the rare times in Scripture when Jesus explains one of his parables. Jesus describes the action of the sower (God) who scatters seed (the Gospel message) in all types of soil (our hearts). The sower’s actions can be […]

Greetings, brothers and sisters: Today we find ourselves on the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, and you may have noticed that our first reading includes details that remind us of Palm Sunday: “Look, your king comes to you… humble, riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” It might seem surprising […]

Every Sunday, we sing the Gloria at the beginning of Mass. It is one of the oldest hymns in the Church. Its origin is firstly scripture: Luke 2:13 reads: “And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest and on earth […]

One More Reminder Yes, I have just advertised this again in the bulletin…lol. It is that important. Have you taken time to nourish your marriage lately? Or, maybe you have been together for years or decades and are planning to spend the rest of your lives together but have not yet been joined in the […]

Catholic Retreat Opportunity for Couples Have you taken time to nourish your marriage lately? Or, maybe you have been together for years or decades and are planning to spend the rest of your life together but have not yet been joined in the Sacrament of Marriage. I would like to take a moment to advertise […]

Reflection on the Introduction ofMagnifica HumanitasEncyclical Letter by Pope Leo XIV Hurry up!…Time is ticking…Time is money…Get a move on it! Ahhh, how can we send people to space but we can’t get the DMV (or whatever it may be) operating more quickly. We know we live in a fast-paced society. If we are not […]

Did you Know… The Catholic Church has been on the forefront of conversations regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI). Our Catholic Church has been talking with scientists on the subject of Artificial Intelligence for more than 10 years. In 2016, the Vatican formally began discussions on AI when it launched the “Minerva Dialogues”. It brought together theologians, philosophers, […]

I would like to share a prayer written by a priest friend of mine for Pentecost (The priest wishes to remain anonymous, so I will not share who wrote the prayer). It has been a nourishing prayer for me, and I hope it is for you as well. Happy Pentecost!!!! Holy Spirit enkindle in my […]

Great News! ¡Buenas noticias! I am so happy to inform you again that our finances continue to move in the right direction. While we are still in the negative, we are very close to being in the black. I have great hope that we will at least break even from our Sunday offertory (collection) this […]

We pray in a special way for the gift of mothers this Sunday. Below, I share with you the Mother’s Day Blessing prayer I will pray at the end of Mass. Good and gracious God,We thank you for the gift of Motherhood, brought to perfection in our holy mother, Mary. Bless all mothers who, by […]

God is so good to us. I would like to follow up from last week’s homily about placing our trust in Jesus one hundred percent of the time. He faithfully journeys by our side, and our invitation is to respond with faithfulness as well. God is enough. He is the deepest desire of our heart. […]

Let God’s graces flow! This past weekend, on Sunday, April 19, at the 10:00 AM Mass, twenty-one wonderful youth and young adults received the Sacrament of Confirmation at our parish. Below is a picture of them. May they faithfully rely on the Holy Spirit in their daily lives and joyfully give thanks to God and […]

Many of my priest friends and mentors have shared with me how joyful it is to celebrate Easter (especially the Easter Vigil) as pastor. After celebrating my first Easter as pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, I completely agree. It was such a privilege and a joy to celebrate the Easter Triduum (Holy Thursday, […]

HAPPY EASTER!!!! We are still in the octave of Easter. Jesus’ resurrection has so much grace, goodness, power, and love that it cannot be contained in one day. We, as Catholics, celebrate 8 days (an “octave”) of Easter joy which then flows over to 50 days of joy in the Easter Season until Pentecost on […]

Happy Easter!The Tomb is empty!Jesus Christ has Risen. He has risen indeed!Heaven is opened for us and eternity with God is our hope! While our 40-day Lenten journey has ended, our 50-day Easter journey now begins to Pentecost. On your 50-day Easter journey, I would like to give you a gift, and a challenge that […]

A scripture scholar whom I had as a professor in seminary once asked us seminarians during class, “What is the best bible?” We responded with different bible translations and publishers, and he kept replying to all our responses with “Maybe”. Getting a bit frustrated, we finally asked him, “Is there actually a best bible?” We […]

Remember these “elect” in the photo from last week? To refresh your memory, at the Rite of Election at the Cathedral of St. Jude two weeks ago, the Catechumens officially “elected” to receive their Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) and the Bishop officially recognized their decision and blessed their journey forward. I have some […]

Last weekend at Mass, we offered a special prayer during the prayers of the faithful that said the following: For those preparing to enter the Church at Easter who will come forward today for the Rite of Election, that they be blessed in these days of preparation, we pray to the Lord. The Rite of […]

Before I entered seminary to be a priest, I never knew that all priests make an annual retreat. It is actually required by Church law that every priest make an annual retreat, and it is for a very good reason. I have definitely needed and greatly benefited from every retreat I have made as a […]

Lent is a beautiful season of renewal, inviting us to prepare our hearts for the joy of Easter through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Among these practices, fasting from food and abstinence from meat hold a special place in the life of the Church. They are not merely rules to follow, but spiritual tools that help […]

As I continue unpacking the Catholic Ministry Appeal, please allow me to tell you a little about our diocese, the Diocese of St. Petersburg. Our Diocese covers five counties: Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus. Our diocese is comprised of 74 parishes, 5 missions, one shrine, more than 13,000 students registered at 46 Catholic schools […]

For this week and next week, I take a break from articles about our parish’s history to speak to you about the beautiful ministries of the Catholic Ministry Appeal. The Catholic Ministry Appeal is a diocesan appeal that helps proclaim the gospel and perform spiritual and corporal works of mercy on a large scale throughout […]