My dear parishioners, our nation is like a beautiful cultivated vineyard being abandoned to ruin. Everywhere, violence and predation. Unproductive, tormented citizens. Scorn of our history and cherished institutions. Hatred of religion. Vicious rioters screaming for reparations. A flourishing victim class. Children attacking parents. Ruthless teacher unions abusing families and students. Political elites exploiting immigration to perpetuate their power. Corruption on all sides...

My dear parishioners, the deeply spiritual St. Gregory of Nyssa did not waste time or words when he said, “the goal of a virtuous life is to become like God”. How are we transformed? “NOW THE Lord is the Spirit", writes the Apostle Paul, and "...and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” [2Cor 3:17]

My dear parishioners, I give you the joy of our savior’s resurrection from the dead! In each of our lives, there comes a time when we meet God unexpectedly. We encounter him in an entirely new way. An experience like this is unusual because of its intensity, its simplicity, its compression of human past, present and future into an exalted present moment...

My dear parishioners, on this Passion Sunday, it will do us good to reflect that suffering is both very personal as well as universal, a sorrowful fact of life in every age and culture. Suffering shatters the powerful strongholds of individual human pride as well as the hubris of mighty nations...

Grace and Peace in the Lord’s Name! My dear parishioners, Lent is a season of grace, a time to grow in the knowledge and love of God.  Every Catholic is given the opportunity to approach the Lord of Glory as he passes by.   As Catholics, God calls us to echo Moses' words of assent, Here am I Lord! and to peer more perfectly through the window of our hearts and be reconciled to Christ crucified. A Christian, ever thirsting for the “spring of water welling up to eternal life”  [Jn 4:14]  must drink from the fountain of grace and mercy flowing from the heart of the Lord of Glory.