Religious Education - Children
Catechist BlogAre You the One Who Is to Come?
In today’s Gospel we hear John the Baptist asking Jesus, are you the one who is to come, or are we to look for another? Some have been concerned about these remarks because they seem to suggest that John the Baptist had doubts about Jesus. It is suggested that John...
Father and Son
In today’s Gospel Jesus takes an example from everyday family life: “A man had two sons…”. One son started in disobedience, “I will not,” but ended in obedience, “afterwards he changed his mind and went.” The other son right away answered, “Yes, Father,” but never...
Welcoming at Christmas
The days of Christmas are quickly approaching, your shopping isn’t finished (…. maybe not started!), the end-of-year activities at work are reaching deadlines, the tree is not up, the kids have a school Christmas play tomorrow night (… “Mom, is my costume ready?”…what...
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
From our first reading: “Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day, and they shall be his people, and he will dwell among you” (Zech 2:15) When I was in Kenya, I remember the first time I saw local artwork portraying Jesus, Mary, the Holy Family. The...
Busyness
There is a lot going on this week: nation remembers Pearl Harbor, the church remembers St. Ambrose, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the Season of Advent continues. We all are getting busy about many things and our list of things to do just gets a little...
Come To Me
Today the Lord calls all to be part of his life, to center our lives in him. In the midst of all of life’s difficulties, setbacks, and tragedies, we often feel crushed. With Jesus as our center, we find rest. A life centered that way is full of joy. When Jesus says...
Each One Is Important
There are several lessons in today’s Gospel reading: The love of God is an individual love. Like any parent, each person in the family is important, each child. The parent will do all that is necessary to protect and save the child. So too with God. Every single one...
St. Francis VOICE Ministry – December 2022
On Sunday, December 4, 2022 parishioners from St. Francis of Assisi Parish attended a VOICE Assembly in Reston, VA to advocate for additional funding for new and desperately-needed mental health Crisis Receiving Center in Prince William County (PWC) and increased...
Forgiveness
Who can forgive? Of course, all of us can forgive one another but at times we find forgiveness difficult if not impossible. Who can forgive sins? The answer, of course, is God alone can forgive sins so when Jesus proclaims, “your sins are forgiven” some scribes and...
Two Blind Men
In today’s Gospel two blind men cry out to Jesus; they want to be healed: “Son of David, have mercy on us!” Their cry for healing has long been a part of our liturgy. At the beginning of the Eucharist, we cry out: “Lord have mercy (Kyrie eleson), Christ have mercy,...