Fr. Jim's Blog

I have gotten a few reports that our parish Fire It Up Retreat is off to a good start. Unfortunately, because of other business, I couldn't be with them this weekend. I was able to produce six teaching videos and they are using those in light of my absence. I encountered numerous obstacles in making the videos but I finally got them done. I will post them below. The talks are done in sets of 2. Here are the first 2 talks. Here are talks 3&4 Here are talks 5&6

Greetings! It has been quite a while since I have written an update. That is usually a sign that I have been keeping very busy. My brother and his family were guests last weekend. My nephew was participating in a basketball tournament. They won 2 games and lost 2 games. My nephew and his teammates were quite a bit smaller than some of the other teams. Still, they did a good job and I am glad I was able to watch a couple of his games. My Aunt and Uncle came down on Martin Luther King Jr Day to watch their last game and then we went to lunch. Tomorrow is my Uncle's birthday. The big 69! Happy birthday Uncle Bob. Life in the parish and school have been very busy.  Last night I attended the Celebration of Light dinner for the Fulcrum Foundation. We are sure blessed to have the Fulcrum Foundation which supplies scholarships every year to help make Catholic Schools more accessible. My parents arrived on Thursday evening for a visit. My mom is helping me cook for the Thai Food Dinne...

I have posted the homily for this past weekend's Mass. You can listen to it by clicking here.

The homily has been posted for the 3rd Sunday of Advent. You can listen to it by clicking here.

I enjoyed the retreat I conducted this past weekend. It was also great to see a few faces from my old parish. I came home and found out that one of the pipes in the church broke during the Spanish Mass. It made a huge mess so we had Mass last night in the gymnasium as well as this morning. I sure hope things will be back up and running for Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration on Thursday. I have recorded the homily and it is available here. Have a great day!

Here is a great documentary on Mountain Lions I watched on Monday evening. The last part where the cougar they were tracking stands its ground and hisses is incredible. I wouldn't want to mess with it. Stalking the Mountain Lion | Nat Geo Wild : Casey Anderson sets out to track one of North America’s most elusive predators: the Mountain Lion.

Pope Francis has written a new Apostolic Exhortation titled EVANGELII GAUDIUM. He wastes no time getting to his point which is that the world is turning more and more cold and hardened in heart because people are rejecting God. We will never have a peaceful society where everyone can enjoy his/her rights and where we can look out for the most poor and vulnerable unless we see that our fundamental problem is a God problem. Here are the first three paragraphs of the document:  THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew. In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come. The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation a...