From the Archbishop

En el calendario de la Iglesia sólo se celebran tres cumpleaños: el de Jesús (Navidad), el de María (8 de septiembre) y el de Juan el Bautista (24 de junio). A Juan se le honra de esta manera, ya que tuvo el papel otorgado por Dios de anunciar que el Mesías había llegado.

There are only three birthdays celebrated in the Church’s calendar: the birth of Jesus (Christmas), the birth of Mary (Sept. 8) and the birth of John the Baptist (June 24). John is honored in this way since he had the God-given role of announcing that the Messiah had come.

"My heart is broken.” With these words Pope Francis reacted to the slaughter of 19 little children and two teachers at a school in Uvalde, Texas. The images on television and social media were heart wrenching. We witnessed parents, grandparents and other loved ones overcome with grief as they gathered at the school, their children suddenly and senselessly snatched out of their lives by a violence as incomprehensible as it was barbarous. The cruelty of what these families have to endure is beyond description.

There’s so much darkness in the world – the darkness of sorrow, of broken hearts, of failed dreams, of illness, of loss of loved ones. The darkness is real, but so is the Light. In the midst of the worst of darkness, the light of Christ shines forth.  This is the message

Several years ago I read an article by a survivor of a World War II Nazi concentration camp. One of the things she stated has stayed with me. She said that, among other things, the concentration camp taught her that evil often looks very normal.