The south transept of St. Bernadette Church is dedicated to St. Joseph. As part of the beautification project of our Church, a large original oil painting has been commissioned for its south wall. It will be a depiction of the Holy Family in their home in Nazareth.

To say that Nazareth was a humble, back-water place is an overstatement. It was a small hamlet of about 150 families and was founded by descendants of the royal family of King David. It is located in northern Galilee approximately 20 miles west of the Sea of Galilee. We can appreciate a bit of Nazareth’s poor reputation by Nathanael’s comment when Philip tells him of Jesus’ hometown. Nathanael replies, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). However, Nazareth was just a little over 3 miles from the large, bustling Greco-Roman city of Sepphoris, one of the capital cities of the Galilee district.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his recent Apostolic Exhortation Veneremur Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling, Bishop Olmsted offers practical and concrete suggestions for how to pray before Our Eucharistic King in adoration.

Bishop Olmsted writes: “Make a ten-minute visit to the tabernacle in a church or chapel on the way back from work, on the way to a family gathering, or even on the way to a simple daily errand. It’s not about the length of time spent; it is about the faith, hope, and love with which you spend those moments in the Lord’s presence.

Apparitions of Our Blessed Mother Mary to St. Bernadette

As part of the beautification project for St. Bernadette Church, a large original oil painting has been commissioned for the north transept. It will be a depiction of one of the apparitions of Our Blessed Mother Mary to St. Bernadette in the grotto of Massabielle on the outskirts of Lourdes. Lourdes is a small town nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenes Mountains in the southeast corner of France.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his recent Apostolic Exhortation Veneremur Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling, Bishop Olmsted explained the importance of “wasting time” with Our Lord in Eucharist Adoration.

Bishop Olmsted writes: “The expression “waste time in front of the Lord” should be understood only through the lens of love, of which the saints are constant reminders. Blessed Charles de Foucauld wrote in the presence of the Eucharist: “What a tremendous delight, my God! To spend over fifteen hours without having anything else to do but look at you and tell you, ‘Lord, I love you.’ Oh, what sweet delight.” True, this impressive duration of time may have been an extraordinary gift to this holy man and hermit. But the faith and love he bore in his heart for the Eucharist is a supernatural gift available to every one of us, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit to those who ask.”

St. Kateri Tekakwitha
Native American and consecrated virgin

Nicknames are generally silly, entertaining names given to people by affectionate relatives or friends. It’s rare to hear an enviable one. But “Lily of the Mohawks?” Now, that’s an elegant nickname. This is the nickname of St. Kateri Tekakwitha. Orphaned at the age of four, she was raised by her uncle, the chief of the Mohawk village. When priests came to the village, Kateri was drawn by their teachings, and converted at the age of 19, heedless of the anger of her relatives. Because she refused to work on Sundays, she was denied meals that day. Finally, a missionary encouraged her to run away to Montreal, Canada, to practice her faith freely. She followed his advice, and lived a life of extreme prayer and penance, taking a vow of virginity. She was beatified in 1980 and canonized on October 21, 2012.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his recent Apostolic Exhortation Veneremur Cernui - Down in Adoration Falling, Bishop Olmsted wrote beautifully about the powerful impact Adoration of Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament has in a person's life. Our Saints desire for us to fall in love with Our Eucharistic King.

American Saint, Frances Cabrini once said, “I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him.” This seemed to be the conviction of all our American saints who founded hospitals, grade schools, churches, universities, leper colonies, orphanages, missionary outposts, soup kitchens and more. In order to remind others of the goodness of God and Christ’s redeeming, so many saints, canonized or not, functioned as building blocks of our country. Catholics, in other words, have played a huge part in American history.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his recent Apostolic Exhortation Veneremur Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling, Bishop Olmsted wrote so beautifully about the powerful impact Adoration of Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament can have in a person’s life. I want to share some of his thoughts with you because I want you to fall deeper in love with Our Eucharistic King and to make Him the Lord of your life.

Over the past nine weeks, we’ve been exploring the various aspects of our current renovation project. Ultimately, the purpose of this project is to facilitate a closer relationship for each of us with Jesus Christ and His Church. Perhaps nowhere in the church is that relationship with Christ more clearly expressed than in the Altar of Sacrifice.

Last week we explored the progression of the pilgrimage from Baptism in the font up the center aisle to the Holy of holies, the Sanctuary itself. You will recall that the Sanctuary is the “nerve center” of the church, the focal point at which heaven and earth meet at each and every Mass.

You’re invited to pray for our Church and Country. On Tuesday, June 29th, we will celebrate the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. During this Mass it is appropriate for us to ask for the intercession of these two holy Saints, praying for our country as we approach Independence Day and also our beloved Church, that we may serve as a remedy and balm for the many wounds and divisions that we are currently experiencing in our country. As our Pledge of Allegiance bids us, may we remain “one nation under God.”

This week we turn our attention from the beautiful stained glass windows to the walls and the floor. Back in part 3 of this series, we learned that the nave is the main body of the church apart from the sanctuary. It is the area where the people, the liturgical assembly, sit, kneel, stand, process, listen, sing, and pray at Mass, and where they may come pray in adoration and devotion outside Mass. The word “nave” stems from the same Latin root as “navy” and “navigation,” and it recalls the ancient symbol of the “Ship of the Church” or “Barque of St. Peter,” the vessel that keeps us safe from the waters of chaos as we make our pilgrim way toward heaven.

Happy Father’s Day

As we celebrate Father’s Day this year, the Church gives us the Gospel account of the Storm on the Sea of Galilee. While Jesus and His Apostles were crossing the Sea, He was so exhausted from teaching, that He fell into a deep sleep in the stern of their boat. A bad storm suddenly arose and the Apostles, some of whom were seasoned fisherman, feared that they were all going to drown. They awakened Jesus, and He immediately calmed the winds and the waves, and then He reprimanded the Apostles for their fear and lack of trust in Him. Even though He was asleep in their boat, He was still with them, and they should have had no cause to be afraid.

This week we take a short break before we begin our tour through the stained glass windows to recap some of the main points of our parish beautification project.

The main reason our church building, or any Catholic Church building for that matter would have strive to have beautiful architecture, inspiring art and colorful windows, is to enhance what is already happening in the Sacred Liturgy. Our renovation aims to renew our experience of Holy Mass, and leads us to encounter Jesus Christ and His Church through the Liturgy and liturgical art.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

During June, we celebrate not only the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11th, 2021 but we honor His Most Glorious Heart all month long. Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary during the octave of the Feast of Corpus Christi during the year 1675, during this apparition, he told her the following message:

Last week we looked at the first four of our new murals currently being painted for the ceiling, and we learned that the overall theme of the set of eight murals is finding Jesus through Mary. This is done through eights Biblical scenes from Mary’s life, portrayed in bright, rich color and shape. As with all the murals, they are meant help raise our minds to heaven in all its multicolored splendor, drawing us toward greater union with God and his Church.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

According to Bishop Olmsted’s Apostolic Exhortation Veneremur Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling, “We cannot speak of the Eucharist without being confronted by its awesome mystery… Whether your faith in the Eucharist is strong or weak, whether you consider the Church your Home or you have recently decided to disassociate, or even if you have no faith at all, my sincere hope is that a true “Eucharistic amazement” will be ignited within you.”