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I am a number of years removed from being a teenager, but from what I remember about the experience, and what I can cobble together from what modern day youths tell me, there are two primary social concerns that drive kids in the modern age. The first is the desire to have fun virtually all the time, which, by the way, is exhausting to even think about for me nowadays. The second is an overwhelming desire to fit in. Nobody wants to feel socially isolated by others. There are certainly those who are socially isolated by choice, but that’s another issue entirely. Click on title for full column.

I wouldn’t say that I come from a particularly musical background, but I do love music. In addition to the handful of instruments I play poorly, I also find myself whistling and/or singing virtually all the time in the office. You can ask the wonderful parish staff, as those poor folks are subjected to it almost constantly. In fact, one of the benefits of living on my own in the rectory is that I can loudly serenade my cat with made up songs without anyone else judging me condescendingly. Click on title for full column.

For event registration, please register at EventBrite.com and search on Mardi Gras Bunco in Wyoming, Ohio. Click on title for full event information.

The ebb and flow of parish life is truly a beautiful thing, even when passing through these dreary winter months when I spend my free time thinking about the glorious possibility of one day being old enough to retire and spend January and February ministering as a priest in Miami or someplace where 50 degrees is considered freezing. Because of the weather, flu season, and probably other factors of which I am unaware, there is a fairly steep increase in anointings and sick calls during the winter. But even though Fr. Lambert, the deacons, and myself see an uptick in hospital and home visits, it seems to me that there are still some misunderstandings about when, and to whom, the sacrament of the anointing of the sick should be administered. Click title for full column.

Parish Offices All Parish offices will only be closed if there is a Level II or III snow emergency declared by the city or county. Regularly scheduled weekday Masses  St. Matthias and St. James weekday Masses will not be cancelled. OLR weekday Masses will be cancelled only if there is a Level III snow emergency. Weekend Masses All weekend Masses will be held as scheduled. Masses will only be cancelled for a severe storm. We will make every attempt to post such cancellations on our website and local TV and radio stations. Please travel with caution and always put your safety first in the event of severe weather conditions. Church law does not require Catholics to fulfill the obligation to attend Mass if doing so endangers their health and wellbeing, or the health and wellbeing of others.

This Tuesday, January 22 Deacon Steve Ryan will be giving an overview of the seven Sacraments.  We will then take the following three weeks to explore these sacraments in greater detail. January 29 we will look at the Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation & Eucharist. February 5 we will look at the Sacraments of Healing: Reconciliation & Anointing of the Sick. February 12 we will look at the Sacraments of Service: Matrimony & Holy Orders. Please join us as we investigate our faith Tuesday evenings beginning at 7:00 pm at St. James of the Valley. Come to any or all of them and learn more about what it means to be Catholic and to live out our faith. Everyone is welcome!

The older I get, the more I realize that everything I am is either completely from my mom or completely from my dad. There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of a mixture of the two when it comes to my characteristics and traits. I look quite a bit like my mom (just one of the reasons I keep this very masculine beard; for differentiation purposes) but my facial expressions and mannerisms are very much my dad’s. Click on title for full column

Beginning on January 15 we will be starting a series on what it means to be Catholic. We will meet at St. James of the Valley from 7:00 to 8:00 pm in the Media Room. The topics will be publicized in the bulletin and on Flocknote. Come to any or all of them and learn more about what it means to be Catholic and to live out our faith. Everyone is welcome! Our first two topics will be: On January 15, Fr. McCullough will be sharing about Mary and the Saints. Why do we as Catholics view our predecessors in faith different than our Protestant brothers and sisters.   January 22, Deacon Steve Ryan will be giving an overview of the seven Sacraments.   Please join us as we investigate our faith Tuesday evenings beginning at 7:00 pm at St. James of the Valley.

He did it for me…. The celebration of the solemnity and the season of Christmas left in my mind this thought: Whatever Jesus did, He did it not for Him but for me. During my fifteen years of priesthood, I realize that the celebration of each solemnity, feast and ordinary Sunday as well as daily Mass and prayers have a special message to me for each day. I strive to deepen each prayer and celebration with prayer of meditation and contemplation that open the mind and the spirit of the faithful to the understanding of the mystery celebrated and to the Holy Spirit who gives new life of grace in Christ. While loneliness and solitude for a priest can be challenging, I have come to find that only prayer of the heart consoles me, comforts me and helps me build a strong relationship with Jesus as I learn to speak with him in the circumstances of each day. I am still learning to elevate my prayer to the level where I see that each moment of my life is a moment of prayer. Click on title for full column

Recently I was discussing medieval Catholic literature with some friends because, you know, I’m so cool and that’s the kind of thing cool kids talk about. One of the things we discussed was how saturated with Catholicism the worldview of the authors of that period truly was. Everything in the characters’ lives was centered around the Church and the liturgical life. Even the references to calendars and dates were structured around the liturgical seasons and major feast days. Nowadays if you told someone that you were going to plan a party sometime in Michaelmas or were celebrating the Octave of Christmas, they might have you committed. Even telling people that the “Twelve Days of Christmas” are the days after December 25 and not before, they might accuse you of out and out heresy. Click on title for full article.

Of all the treasured traditions in my family, the ones that surround our celebration of Christmas are probably my favorite. The pumpernickel and sausage “hanky-pank” appetizers on Christmas Eve, fighting with my cousins over the rarest pieces of beef tenderloin at Christmas dinner, making risotto with my mom; they’re all near the top of the list. I’m sure there are non-food related traditions as well, but since we’re talking about family, it’s safe to assume that if we’re together, we are probably eating. <>Click title for full column.

Christmas Eve, Monday, December 24 St. James of the Valley 3:00 pm & 5:00 pm Our Lady of the Rosary 4:00 pm St. Matthias the Apostle 4:30 pm & Midnight  Christmas Day, Tuesday, December 25 St. Matthias 9:00 am Our Lady of the Rosary 10:00 am St. James of the Valley 11:00 am Mary, Mother of God, Monday, December 31 St. Matthias 4:30 pm Mary, Mother of God, Tuesday, January 1 Our Lady of the Rosary 9:00 am St. James of the Valley 11:00 am

Third Sunday of Advent Gaudete Sunday As years go by, I realize that at the beginning of the third Sunday of Advent there is a shift in my way of thinking and praying. I am now getting used to thinking that there is no Christmas without snow. At the middle of the month of December, I always remember a friend who came to me after Mass a couple of years ago and gave me an envelope with a stipend to pray for her intention that there might be snow at least on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. She said that without snow, there would be no joy for her family since all her children and grandchildren were coming home for Christmas. It seemed to make no sense to me, since where I grew up there was never snow at all, I never heard anyone worried about it, and I took snow as a sign of very bad weather. But I prayed for her intentions and, praise to God, there was so much snow. I don’t know if it is because of my prayers or not. That is not the point anyway. Click on title for full column

Celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a Mass entirely in Spanish. Wednesday, December 12 at 6:30 pm at OLR. Reception to follow.

Given my almost preternatural lack of mathematical skills, it probably surprises some that I have always loved statistics. Perhaps the only stats that I enjoy more than old baseball stats are the hypothetical stats that only God would know. How many times have I sneezed in my life, who scored more points in pickup basketball games between me and my dad; you know, the really important things. Towards the end of seminary, I started wondering how many vocation talks I must have given to high school and junior high classes. Conservatively, it must have been over a hundred. In virtually every one of those talks, we talked with the kids about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Whether they wanted to be star athletes, musicians, or business people, there was one thing that was universally true: no one wanted to be mediocre. CLICK TITLE FOR FULL COLUMN

Immaculate Conception Masses (Holy Day of Obligation) Friday, December 7 St. James of the Valley, 7:00 pm Saturday, December 8 St. Matthias, 8:00 am Our Lady of the Rosary, 9:00 am

The WWPR Advent Reconciliation Service is tonight, Wednesday, December 5 at7:00 pm at St. James of the Valley.

There are many great things that make me excited for Advent every year. The extra candles, the somewhat more somber, stripped down liturgy, and perhaps my personal favorite: the awesome purple chasuble that I don’t get to wear near often enough. But there’s another shift that happens every year in Advent, and that is the transition Gospels we hear from week to week. We have completed our trek through the Gospel of Mark, and we now begin a year with St. Luke. Click title for full column.

Please remember that Giving Tuesday is coming up soon, and you have the opportunity to support your parish's funding goal through the #iGiveCatholic campaign. Your gift can be given online or brought in to the parish offices today through Tuesday, November 27th. Click title for full article

One of the things that has changed the most since my youth is our methods of communication. I remember sending cards and letters, using a landline (which ran the risk of one of your siblings listening in on the other phone), and the early days of email when people didn’t check it every twelve seconds. One of the major changes in virtually every form of communication we use is how quickly we receive the information other people want us to have. I say all that because the deadline for this bulletin was a week earlier than usual due to Thanksgiving, and I want to talk about a situation that could change dramatically in the ten days between when I write it and when you read it. Click on title for full article