Religious Education - Children
Catechist BlogJesus’ Lament
As Jesus arrives at the holy city of Jerusalem he weeps and laments over the city, its fate and how some Jewish religious leaders have led it astray. He laments over the coming fate of Jerusalem: “As Jesus drew near, he saw Jerusalem and wept over it, saying, “If...
St. Cecilia
November 22nd is the feast day of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music and musicians. She is one of the most famous of the Roman martyrs with her name being recounted in the Litany of the Saints. She is also a saint, for whom her story was passed on in oral...
What is Your Priority?
Ten years ago, when I was attending classes at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, CA, one of my professors shared with us that when Franklin Roosevelt was president, he preferred attending a little church called St. John. It bothered him that tourists...
Church and State
“Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Mark 12:17). We have all heard this famous saying of Jesus. At first Jesus seems to call for an equal distribution of things: give Caesar his due and God his due. But Jesus’ saying is a...
St. Elizabeth of Hungary
The gospel today is in celebration of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. In her short life, Elizabeth manifested such great love for the poor and suffering that she has become the patroness of Catholic charities and of the Secular Franciscan Order. The daughter of the King of...
Tax Collectors and Sinners
In today’s Gospel Jesus says to a tax collector, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” This man was both a tax collector and a sinner. In Jesus’ time tax collectors were viewed as sinners because they supported the occupying force, the...
Evening Prayer in Our Deanery
The Arlington Diocese is divided up into seven regions called deaneries. Deanery V includes the parishes of Prince William County and the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park and Fauquier County. Bishop Burbidge has asked that each Deanery celebrate Solemn Evening...
Compassion
The gospel today is Luke’s account of the blind man on the roadside who cries out: “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” The underlying word is eléos – I don’t know why they translate it as “pity” – the meaning is “to show mercy,” indicating a response roused by an...
Thanksgiving Blessings
On behalf of the Friars and staff here at St. Francis I wish all of you a blessed Thanksgiving. The feast of Thanksgiving reminds all of us of the importance of moments of gratitude; the value of seeing what is good and right in our world. Let our Thanksgiving be a...
The End is Near!
Do you live in the past, in the present, or in the future? Some of us like to remember the “good old days” but then we remember that not everything was good in the past. Some of us like to live in the future, tomorrow, tomorrow. Jesus wants us to live in the...