Current - Church of Saint Mary

5.24.26 Bulletin

What is preventing you from using the gifts that the Lord has given you through the Holy Spirit? John writes that Jesus breathed on his disciples Easter night and gave them power to teach, heal, and forgive beyond their fears and regrets: Luke would describe it as a roaring wind or tongues of fire…and don’t we need that same impulse today? And notice that the young are responding. We wear red to celebrate the birthday of the church and the 200th anniversary of St. Mary on the Lower East Side teaching, healing, and forgiving.

5.17.26 Bulletin

Seventh Sunday of Easter

This week the Capuchin brothers of the Province of St. Mary of New York and New England meet in chapter to elect new leadership and to continue in the footprints of Jesus Christ as did our beloved Father Francis of Assisi. We thank you for praying for us! This week we celebrate the 200-year anniversary of the Church of Saint Mary following those same footprints that brought so many faithful followers to the City of New York.

5.10.26 Bulletin

Sixth Sunday of Easter

How do you envision the Holy Spirit – fire, wind, or a dove? Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, the very inner life that He and the Father have for each other. This Advocate always leads to unity and not division despite the many distortions and divisions of the past 2000 years.

5.3.26 Bulletin

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Who calmed your fears and showed you love as a child? It was my mother who first embodied that confidence to walk forward with courage in the way, the truth, and the life, even with the situation bleak and the odds against us.

4.26.26 Bulletin

Fourth Sunday of Easter

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. That is quite a statement that admits to our being weak and defenseless sheep that depend on our ability to follow a trustworthy guide.

4.19.26 Bulletin

Third Sunday of Easter

Christ has risen! Truly He has risen! Notwithstanding our inclinations and pet projects, our one mission on this earth is to proclaim that the Christ was sent among us, was crucified, but then raised again, and is present in the breaking of the bread, AKA the Eucharist

4.12.26 Bulletin

Divine Mercy Sunday

On this Octave of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated since the year 2000 by Pope St. John Paul II, of happy memory, we hear the familiar story of Thomas who though not present initially, and judged to be a doubter, comes to the greatest profession of faith in the New Testament, “My Lord and My God.”

4.5.26 Bulletin

Easter Sunday

Alleluia, Jesus is risen! The Prince of Peace gives us hope amid our suffering that beyond Jellybeans, bunnies, and video games, the resurrection of Christ Jesus challenges the way we organize our lives and world.

3.29.26 Bulletin

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

Keep these next 8 days Holy with us. Today, I encourage you to learn how to make a palm cross and display it in your home.

3.22.26 Bulletin

Fifth Sunday of Lent

When I was a child, I remember hearing the words of the Prophet Ezekiel, “oh my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them,” echo through the church at the Stations of the cross. Those words would stop me in my tracks and cause me to wonder.

3.15.26 Bulletin

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Too often we feel that we are inadequate to the task at hand in this life. Perhaps we “see” so many talented people doing amazing things with the gifts with which they are blessed.

3.8.26 Bulletin

Third Sunday of Lent

A simple conversation at the well with an unlikely person, a pariah in her community, causes the Samaritan woman to begin to share her testimony of the Messiah, Christ Jesus who engages her and challenges her to live a moral life.

3.1.26 Bulletin

Second Sunday of Lent

Our holy Father, Pope Leo has invited us this Lent on a journey like that of Abram in Genesis, to leave our personal comfort zones and to listen to the truth of reality through God’s word especially opened to us when we fast for then we hunger and thirst for justice.

2.22.26 Bulletin

First Sunday of Lent

Solanus Casey, OFM Cap writes, “Blessed be God in all his designs”: From the beginning, God the Father planned to rescue us from the triple concupiscence of sin: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, that goes before the fall.

2.15.26 Bulletin

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sirach writes, “Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.” The decision for or against a good deed occurs long before the act deep within the human heart. Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets through his incarnation and resurrection inviting us to become new creations, a beacon of hope in the world.

2.8.26 Bulletin

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

After the beatitudes last week, the gospel says: You are salt, light, and a city on a hill! Jesus is calling you and me to flavor our world, to help others see, and to serve as guideposts to others. The need is great today as we are pushed to treat others as objects, while our social skills wane, and artificial intelligence begins to replace authentic interpersonal relationships.

2.1.26 Bulletin

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Do you want to be happy? The world is full of people trying to sell us something that promises to make us happy, but it never lasts. In contrast, St. Matthew has a 5-page recipe for happiness and joy that lasts forever called the Sermon on the Mount.

1.25.26 Bulletin

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Zebulun and Naphtali, though meaningless names to us today, are two of the lost tribes whom God used to save his people from the powerful Midianites in the book of Judges chapter 7. There the Lord instructed that in the middle of the night, they surround the enemy, smash clay pots, light the torches and thus rout the overwhelming foe.

1.18.26 Bulletin

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Church doesn’t have a mission; the Church is a mission. Isaiah the prophet writes: It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

1.11.26 Bulletin

The Baptism of the Lord

Most of us received baptism before we can remember, and so take it for granted. St. Proclus from the 5th century writes, Come, consider this new and wonderful deluge, greater and more important than the flood of Noah’s day.

1.4.26 Bulletin

The Epiphany of the Lord

The Epiphany or manifestation of Christ to the world is celebrated on the 12th day of Christmas, when we exchange gifts following the example of the Magi in Matthew’s gospel. Traveling from the East, they followed a star and placed their gifts at the feet of the child king only to return to their lands with truth to enlighten their paths.

12.28.25 Bulletin

Feast of the Holy Family

Our psalmist writes, “Blessed are those who fear the Lord”. The word fear might be better replaced by the word awe: Blessed are those who stand in awe of the Lord. It is a sense of awe that strikes us as we consider God becoming one of us in Christ and submitting himself to his human parents, Mary and Joseph.

12.25.25 Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 2025

200 Years of Christmas at St. Mary’s

12.21.25 Bulletin

Fourth Sunday of Advent

As our Advent time of waiting for Christ draws to a close, the church gives us Matthew’s account this year of how the incarnation came about through the line of David. Though not a king, Joseph, unlike Ahaz in the first reading, hears the word of God and trusts in Him.

12.14.25 Bulletin

Second Sunday of Advent - Gaudete Sunday

We find it difficult to wait, like a farmer awaits the precious yield of the soil. We like immediate results. John the Baptist who called us to conversion last week, now wonders aloud from a prison cell whether Jesus is the long-awaited Christ.

12.7.25 Bulletin

Second Sunday of Advent

Repent and believe, cries the Baptist! Though we naturally shy away from change, even the cells in our physical bodies that die change completely every seven years. How much more ought we engage life-giving change in our eternal spiritual lives?

11.30.25 Bulletin

First Sunday of Advent

We have just celebrated Thanksgiving with family and friends as we kick off the holiday season. These four weeks of Advent are a time of waiting for the Lord who came 2000 years ago, who will come for each of us, and yet, challenges us by coming each moment of every day.

11.23.25 Bulletin

Jesus Christ King of the Universe

100 years ago today, Pope Pius XI proposed Jesus Christ King of the Universe as the last Sunday of the liturgical year. After the experience of the Great War, now known as World War I, he noted that Christian nations had thrust Jesus Christ out of their personal and political lives.

11.16.25 Bulletin

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

The ominous tones of the readings point to the end of the liturgical year, for indeed next week is the Feast of Christ the King, the One of whom Malachi writes will arrive with healing in his rays.

11.9.25 Bulletin

Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

Today we celebrate the dedication of the first legally built church, commissioned in Rome after the edict of Milan decriminalized Christianity, called the basilica of the Most Holy Savior also known as St John Lateran.

11.2.25 Bulletin

All Souls Day

Remembering our loved ones on this celebration of All Souls Day, reminds us of the greatness of our God who would use you and me, to remember and pray for those who have gone on ahead of us and await the kingdom.

10.26.25 Bulletin

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Last week in Luke’s travel narrative, we learned that we ought to pray and not lose heart. This week Jesus uses the beloved and faith-filled Pharisee and the despised tax collector to warn us to neither think of ourselves as righteous, nor despise others as inferior to us.

10.19.25 Bulletin

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Do you ever find that irritating interruption returns you to what the Lord intends? We have our plans for each day of the week, and then the Lord sends us someone needing attention, who stops us from completing our task to help them.

10.12.25 Bulletin

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

As the harvest is gathered and the weather turns colder, we give thanks to God for the fruits of the earth and the many benefits of life that we often take for granted. But how about giving thanks to God that we even exist?

10.5.25 Bulletin

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart.” When bad things happen, we might think that we are forgotten, or somehow outside of God’s will for us. But suffering comes to all. We can choose to go through suffering and learn, or we can stomp our feet and become resentful, indignant, and mean spirited towards others.

9.28.25 Bulletin

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Time keeps on slipping into the future,” says an old song. The God of Abraham calls you and me to a covenant that not only puts God first but also calls us to notice and care for the poor and needy. Like the rich man, we can be too preoccupied to take the time to notice who is at our doorstep.

9.21.25 Bulletin

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The parable of the dishonest steward reminds us that we must put first things first. Knowing that his service was coming to an end, he started to plan for the future, stretching the boundaries of what was acceptable, to accomplish his goal. Jesus gives him credit for doing just that.

9.14.25 Bulletin

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Many Christians are worried about worshiping graven images and idols, but the scriptures today show something different. Perhaps in a desire to hide our worship of idols we rail against images like the cross and statues of saints. What or who do you really worship?

9.7.25 Bulletin

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Are you “all in” as a Catholic Chrier Him to your mother, father, brothers, sisters. He says my yoke is easy and my burden light; but that only happens when you put the Lord first in your life.

8.31.25 Bulletin

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our identity and dignity as human beings is based on our creation in the image and likeness of God. In humility we acknowledge that we are dust of the earth filled with the breath of God that gives us intrinsic value, based not on what others think of us or the number of “likes” we receive from others.

8.24.25 Bulletin

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

To the question, “Will many people be saved?” Jesus responds, “strive to enter through the narrow gate.” To strive means to make great efforts to obtain something. Do you make great efforts to hear the word of God and act on it?

8.17.25 Bulletin

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The author of Hebrews describes us as running a race and if you are lagging: #1 Remember that you are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses; we call it the Communion of Saints.

8.10.25 Bulletin

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

What is faith? Beyond intellectual assent, faith means putting your trust in God into action that changes everything. Abraham, in a foreshadowing of Jesus’ sacrifice on Mount Calvary, has Isaac carry the wood up the mountain, who then lays down his life on that firewood, as a sacrifice.

8.3.25 Bulletin

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Once every three years we hear the parable of the rich fool, who is selfishly concerned only with himself, and focuses on what does not last. Our sinful tendencies need instruction and discipline that come through spiritual practices. If you were to die today, what would matter most to you and your loved ones?

7.27.25 Bulletin

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

What’s in a person’s heart? You and I can never know another’s motivations, but the Lord God, who outside of space and time, does. God knows what we need and even our destiny.

7.20.25 Bulletin

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Henry Nouwen writes that hospitality means primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy.

7.13.25 Bulletin

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Doing the right thing seems difficult; Moses in Deuteronomy says that it is already written in our hearts. It’s not a matter of greater knowledge nor of our will power, but only desire. What do you desire more than life itself? If the Lord God is your desire, you will love him, and that love will change your behavior.

7.6.25 Bulletin

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

As we celebrate the freedom of Independence Day, we acknowledge that there is no greater freedom than that of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We become a new creation as we share the peace and mercy of the gospel with those around us.

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