Dear Parishioners of OLM, Although you may have seen me around the parish the last couple of weeks, you may still be wondering who “the seminarian” is. I’d like to take a moment to formally introduce myself, and to express my thanks for being able to spend the summer here in Ashland. My name is Joshua Keatley, I’m twenty-five, and am currently…

Dear Parishioners, Thou shalt not steal. Bishop Joseph Tyson, the retreat master during our clergy retreat two weeks ago, talked about the spiritual and corporal works of mercy and how the church organized and explained them in the Catechism of the Catholic Church under the Seventh Commandment which is “Thou shalt not steal.” He said that our failure to feed the hungry,…

Dear Parishioners, Almost two months ago I joined the Y and I am so glad I did. I joined mainly to play volleyball. Playing the sport again after so many years is really fun. It is interesting how sometimes players will show up ready to play even if they have injuries – fingers taped because they are broken; neck and back pain…

Dear Parishioners, I believe I have already shared with you during a homily how I love seeing toddlers at church. Seeing them at church means their parents are at church leading their family to grow in faith as they come to worship our Lord. For me, those toddlers are a sure sign of hope for the kingdom of God here on earth…

Dear Parishioners, Today, as a Church, we are celebrating our God, a God that can never be explained fully and therefore can never be fully understood. We are celebrating the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Reflecting on this important feast that we are now celebrating, I am reminded of a story about St. Augustine. He wrote a…

Dear Parishioners, Today is a very special day not only because it is Pentecost Sunday – the birthday of our church – but also because today our young brothers and sisters who have been preparing for the last several months will finally receive Jesus Christ in the Eucharist as they have today their First Communion. I am sure most of us can…

Dear Parishioners, The celebration of Mother’s Day is one of the most special days that we celebrate worldwide. All of us have mothers – biological or adoptive. Our mother was our first home as we developed inside her womb. Our mother’s embrace was the first embrace we experienced when we were born. Our mother was our first source or nourishment as we…

Dear Parishioners, May is the month of Mary and that is the reason why there are so many Marian devotions during the month of May. May Crowning is one of them. It is a tradition in the Catholic Church wherein we crown our Blessed Mother with flowers. The crown of flowers signify her virtues and through her intercession we pray that we…

Dear Parishioners, I love you. A few days ago, we celebrated a memorial Mass for a parishioner who had the wonderful habit of saying “I love you” to everyone. It reminded me of my call to be an instrument of love to all the people that I minister to as a priest of God – I do what I do because I…

Dear Parishioners, I would like to share with you a reflection I had during one of our daily Masses. The Gospel is about Jesus Christ as the Bread of Life. Some time ago, after the celebration of the liturgies of Holy Week, I took some days off to be with my brother priests and relax. We were having some beer as we…

Dear Parishioners, Now that we are in the Easter Season on our way to Pentecost, I would like to thank all those who helped in the preparations for the celebrations during the Lenten Season leading to the Easter Triduum and Easter Sunday. In my reflections and prayers after the celebrations during the Holy Week, I was led to appreciate the many volunteers…

Dear Parishioners, “Peace be with you.” I was reflecting on this message of Jesus Christ to his disciples and I realized how connected God’s peace is with his mercy. We all know that God is merciful but we tend to take for granted the peace in our hearts that flows from his mercy. The disciples who were feeling abandoned and hopeless were…

Dear Parishioners, HE IS RISEN ALLELUIA!!! A Russian poet once said “Love is not love if it has no future.” Reading that line from the poet in the light of what Jesus Christ has done for us, it is so true. What Jesus revealed to us during his passion was His love for the Father and for us. Now, His resurrection shows…

Dear Parishioners, Today we officially enter Holy Week as we celebrate Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord. We have begun the holiest of all weeks in our liturgical calendar and I hope that we all go through this week mindful of what God has done for us out of His great love for us. Again, let us not take for granted the…

Dear Parishioners, We are on the home stretch! After this coming week we will be celebrating the Holy Week. I am sure that I am not the only one saying, “It seems like we just celebrated Christmas!” Time flies so fast and if we are not very conscious about it, we might miss out on very important moments of our journey to…