St Mary's Church, Swormville

Consider this… Christ is Risen! Several years ago, there was a credit card commercial that had the tagline; ‘What’s in your wallet?’ On Easter Sunday I think the question ...

“My God, My God! Why have you abandoned me?” These are haunting words in our readings of this Palm Sunday. There is so much depth on so many levels that is conveyed by these ver...

We continue to journey through Lent as Holy Week quickly approaches. In the Gospel today we hear Jesus speak to the woman caught in adultery. He is filled with love and mercy and ...

We often call the Gospel reading from this weekend the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and this is indeed a representative journey of homecoming, offering great hope for us even when...

We continue on our journey in Lent, and in the Gospel today, we hear about the importance of repentance and producing good fruit in our lives. I think we produce good fruit when w...

I remember in Canon Law Class in the seminary reading an excellent article entitled, “Shared Responsibility in Ecclesial Decision-Making” by Robert Kennedy. Summarily put, the pr...

Today we welcome Deacon Steve Schumer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Charities of Buffalo to speak to us on behalf of the Catholic Charities appeal. This year...

Can you believe we are about to start the season of Lent?!?! It always sneaks up on us so fast as these winter months go by in a blur. I’ve always found that many people find th...

When I was in high school one of my friends gave me a desk sign with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Mark of a Man” quote— “The mark of the man of the world is absence of pretension. H...

This weekend (not coincidentally I think, the weekend closest to Valentine’s Day), we celebrate World Marriage Sunday. Lived out, Marriage mirrors the self-giving love of Jesus C...

I recently met a religious sister who was visiting St. Mary’s with her aunt. She was from the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (S.O.L.T.), and is currently ministerin...

This week we celebrate our Catholic School and the work of Catholic Education! I was recently reading an excellent article published by Fordham entitled, “Why Catholic schools ha...

This past week, Fr. Bryan, Fr. Ryan, and I went on a mini-retreat for a couple of days together. All three of us love to ski, and although the weather has not been particularly g...

So, although we are keeping the spirit of Christmas alive and the hope and joy that brings us, we are now back officially in Ordinary Time… Some fun trivia for us here: the origin...

Consider this… ‘I am a Disciple’, by Baptism. Before I jump into the topic of Baptism, I want to take a moment to thank so many people who have made our Christmas celebration...

Happy New Year to all of you. As we begin the New Year with the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, we recognize her role in bringing Jesus into the world to save us. She gave us...

Merry Christmas and Happy Feast of the Holy Family! Last year in my column for Christmas and the Feast of the Holy Family, I spoke about a different Christmas. In it I mentioned h...

On this last Sunday of Advent we hear the final half of the Annunciation story, where Mary goes to her cousin Elizabeth and John the Baptist leaps in Elizabeth’s womb at the sound...

It’s Gaudete Sunday!! I hope you are rejoicing a little more this week than usual, especially after our Parish Mission and Day of Mercy. The question everyone in the Gospel was as...

This weekend we welcome Fr. Eugene O’Reilly to St. Mary’s to lead us in our parish mission. As we begin our three-year celebration leading up to our 175th anniversary, there is no...