May 31st, 2026

GROWING IN FAITH QUESTIONS

Adults: How real is God’s love in my life?
Teens: If you truly believed God deeply loves you, what would change about how you see yourself—or the choices you’re making right now?
Kids: What is a time you felt God’s love for you?

THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN

THIS WEEKEND'S LAY MINISTERS

Focus
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish….  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.


One-Minute-Homily
> OBSERVE. You can almost always tell when two people are “in love”. This is especially true with young lovers or new lovers, because it is obvious that they are acting differently. To be connected, to be responsible, to love and be loved changes how we are and how we act.
> LEARN. In today's Gospel, John says God loves the world; in other words, God has entered into a relationship with Creation. To realize that we are immersed in this relationship shapes how we are and how we act -- and therein lies what we call salvation.
> ACT. The challenge of being Christian is to believe that we--and the people around us--are loved; to believe this will make us more caring, more responsible, more understanding, more forgiving—in other words, it will change how we act, because love always changes how lovers act.
> REMEMBER. Eating with others is always a sign of relationship; in the Eucharist eating is a living sign of our relationship with the God-Who-Loves-Us, present in the Body of Christ.


For Additional Reflection or Discussion
> Question for Children: How do you know that someone loves and cares about you?
> Question for Youth: Human relationships teach us a lot about our relationship to God.  What are you learning about relationships?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: We have a tendency to equate relationship to membership, but do we embrace the diversity and differences inherent in all relationships?


Learn More
• Read Sunday's readings here
• Read a commentary on Sunday’s readings here
• Explore the cultural context of the Gospel (click Historical/Cultural Context)
• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here
• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective

May 24th, 2026

GROWING IN FAITH QUESTIONS

Adults: Do I allow the Holy Spirit to guide my life?
Teens: If you weren’t afraid, how would you live your faith differently—and what’s one small step you could actually take this week?
Kids: Being a peacemaker is a way to take good care of our relationships with family and friends. What is one way you can be a peacemaker with friends and families?

THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN

THIS WEEKEND'S LAY MINISTERS

Focus

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked where the disciples were...Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "…Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

One-Minute-Homily

> OBSERVE. True forgiveness is not a transaction or a “deal”; it is not a contractual agreement based on specified conditions, even sorrow or repentance. It is a gift, freely offered and freely received.  I can forgive you even if you are not sorry; even if you don’t deserve it.

> LEARN. It’s not by accident that the church chose this Gospel for the feast of Pentecost.  Mercy is the ultimate characteristic of the God revealed to us in Jesus Christ and the source of all the other gifts of the Holy Spirit.  People experience this mercy when it is extended to them; they don’t when it is withheld.

> ACT. God offers mercy freely to each of us; we are forgiven.  The mission of the church is to accept it and to offer it freely and unconditionally to others--to seek what civil society calls restorative justice and the church’s sacramental tradition calls reconciliation.

> REMEMBER. "Peace be with you," we say to one another at Mass; it presumes we are willing to freely accept and to freely offer forgiveness.

For Additional Reflection or Discussion

> Question for Children: Can you think of a time when someone forgave you for something you did?

> Question for Youth: As we grow up, forgiveness becomes more challenging because people assume we are "old enough to know better."  Do you find it more difficult to receive and give forgiveness?

> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: What conditions do we or our faith communities place on forgiveness?  Do people experience God's peace as forgiveness freely given without conditions?

Learn More

• Read Sunday's readings here

• Read  a commentary on Sunday’s readings here

• Learn more about the cultural context of the Gospel:

  > Click “Historical Cultural Context”

• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here

• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective

May 17th, 2026

GROWING IN FAITH QUESTIONS

Adults: Before I die, what do I need to let go of from my life?

Teens: Jesus sends His disciples out instead of doing everything Himself. What do you think He might be asking you to take responsibility for in your faith?

Kids: What is one thing you can do to this week to show others Jesus lives in your heart?

THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN

Focus

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “…Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit….  And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

One-Minute-Homily

> OBSERVE. Although we often deny, repress, or ignore it, doubt is always part-and-parcel of human commitment--and faith.  If the truth be told, we are never completely sure; honest doubt is what keeps us from surrendering to fanatical passion or blind obedience.

> LEARN. In today's Gospel, Matthew notes that at the end the apostles worshiped Jesus but they had doubts--from here on they would live by faith, which Paul says is “the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.”  Faith is a response to things we cannot know for sure.

> ACT. As Christians we are challenged to act with prudence and humility; faith distinguishes us from radical political and religious movements which become dangerous because their judgments are based on what they claim is absolute certainty.  This is the crucial difference between ideology and faith.

> REMEMBER. We may teach people about the Real Presence, but in the end it is the perception that “I am with you” that brings them -- and us -- to the Eucharist.

For Additional Reflection or Discussion

> Question for Children: What do you do when you are not sure about something? 

> Question for Youth: Growing up is filled with uncertainty.  Are you comfortable with doubt or does it paralyze you?  Does faith help you be humble and prudent?

> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Can we acknowledge the doubt which goes hand-in-hand with faith?  Do our faith communities act with prudence and humility in a way that validates people’s imperfect faith?

Learn More

• Read Sunday's readings here

• Read a commentary on Sunday’s readings here

• Learn more about the cultural context of the Gospel:

  > click on Historical Cultural Context

• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here

• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective

May 10th, 2026

GROWING IN FAITH QUESTIONS

Adults: How much do I trust the Holy Spirit?
Teens: Jesus connects love with action. What’s one concrete way you can show your love for God this week—not just say it?
Kids: The Holy Spirit helped the apostles and helps you, too. What help do you need right now?
Ask the Holy Spirit!

THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN

Focus
Jesus said to his disciples: "...I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth.... I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.”


One-Minute-Homily
> OBSERVE. Orphans are persons who are stranded, disconnected from family or community, alone and unattached.  Orphans have no one to protect them or advocate for them--a condition often imposed on children and adults alike by social and economic systems which stress the autonomy and independence of the individual.
> LEARN. Jesus assures us that we are not meant to be orphans, alone and unattached.  Over and over, Jesus assured the disciples that he would not abandon them.  He and the Father continue to be present with us in the Spirit, who is our Advocate, who inspires and protects us. 
> ACT. Love is the Spirit which unites the Father, Jesus and us, just as it unites parents and children; it’s a presence and bond which transcends time and space.  We are challenged to love others, to protect and advocate for the most vulnerable—for the orphans of any age who are stranded and disconnected from the social or church community.
> REMEMBER. The Eucharist expresses and creates this relationship; gathered around the table, we are connected, attached, united in love.


For Additional Reflection or Discussion
> Question for Children: Do you know or can you imagine what it would be like not to know and see your parents?
> Question for Youth: During adolescence, our relationship to our parents begins to change much as Jesus' relationship to the disciples changed.  How do you experience this changing relationship to parents and family?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: How and why do we feel like orphans in the faith community?  What attitudes, customs, or rules make others feel like orphans in our families, communities or parishes?


Learn More
• Read Sunday's readings here
• Read a commentary on Sunday’s readings here
• Learn more about the cultural context of the Gospel
• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here
• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective

(compiled by Dave Cushing)

May 3rd, 2026

GROWING IN FAITH QUESTIONS

Adults: How faithfully do I walk the way of Jesus?
Teens: Jesus says, “I am the way.” Where in your life are you trying to figure things out on your own instead of actually following Him?
Children: Jesus gives and does many things for the people who believe in him. What is one thing
he gave/did for you?

THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN

Focus

In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.  ...I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me...."

One-Minute-Homily

> OBSERVE. Although every individual is unique, each of us also reveals to others something about the family, ethnic group, nationality or religion to which we belong.  When people meet us they also meet our mothers and fathers, our aunts and uncles, our siblings too.

> LEARN, Jesus says we can know who God is and what God is like by knowing him--Jesus reveals God to us; he and God are one.  There is a place for each of us in the Father’s Kingdom because the Father’s love transcends time and space, human limitations and conditions.

> ACT. By living as the Body of Christ on earth, each of us--and the families and faith communities to which we belong--can reveal the eternal God to others. People can encounter and experience God’s mercy and love in us, if only imperfectly, when we believe and act as Jesus did.

> REMEMBER. Eucharist reveals to us a God who desires to share his love and care by gathering the family around the table where we are nourished by word and sacrament.

For Additional Reflection or Discussion

> Question for Children: When and how do you act like Jesus?

> Question for Youth: When and where are you most challenged to "act like Jesus would"?

> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Do we and our faith communities reveal the same God Jesus revealed to us -- or a God shaped more by human values, perceptions, conventions and fears?

Learn More

• Read Sunday's readings here

• Read a commentary on Sunday’s readings here

• Learn more about the cultural context of the Gospel

• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here:

• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective

(compiled by Dave Cushing)

April 26th, 2026

GROWING IN FAITH QUESTIONS

Adults: How secure am I in the Lord?

Teens: How can trusting Jesus change the way you face fear or pressure? 

Children: Jesus is the Good Shepherd who calls his sheep by name. Who are his sheep?

THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN

Sunday's Responsorial Psalm: "The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want"

Focus

So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

One-Minute-Homily

> OBSERVE. When we encounter difficult times or face important decisions, we often confide in a close friend--someone who knows us, who cares about us, and desires the best for us; someone we can trust to be honest but understanding.

> LEARN. Using the example of a good shepherd, Jesus says he is the good friend and protector we can confide in.  Unlike the thief, we can trust that the Good Shepherd desires the best for us; we can depend on him to guide and protect us.

> ACT. If we listen carefully to God's advice in Scripture, the wisdom expressed in church teaching, and what we have learned from our own experience and that of others, we can depend on a well-formed conscience to guide and protect us and those who confide in us for support.

> REMEMBER. The Eucharist reveals to us a God and a community who desire the best for us; we can depend on their guidance and protection.

For Additional Reflection or Discussion

> Question for Children: Who cares for you and protects you?

> Question for Youth: Because our relationships are shifting and changing at this age, it is sometimes hard to know whom to trust.  Who are the people you can trust?  Does your list include the Lord?

> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Do we experience the faith community as a place where people care about us?  Are we people others can depend on to be honest and understanding?

Learn More

• Read Sunday's readings here

• Read a commentary on Sunday’s readings here

• Learn more about the cultural context of the Gospel

• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here

• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective

(compiled by Dave Cushing)

April 19th, 2026

GROWING IN FAITH QUESTIONS

Adults: How does the Eucharist touch my life?
Teens: How can the Eucharist help you feel closer to Jesus in your everyday life?
Children: Have you ever seen Jesus? Where did you see him?

THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN

Focus

[On] the first day of the week, two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,…  Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him…. As they approached the village...they urged him, "Stay with us...." So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him.

One-Minute-Homily

> OBSERVE. We don’t normally eat with strangers; we feel uncomfortable about eating with someone we don't know, don't like, or don't trust.  Eating together-- “breaking bread”--is usually a very personal and intimate sign of a relationship between people who know and love each other.

> LEARN. Although the disciples were probably impressed with the wisdom Jesus shared along the road to Emmaus, they recognized him in the breaking of the bread -- a simple but profound act of sharing among friends.

> ACT. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we know God in the people who befriend us and the people we befriend.  It is in our relationships that we come to experience a personal and intimate relationship with the God revealed to us in the breaking of the bread—a God who knows, likes, trusts and loves us.  The challenge, of course, is that there are no strangers around God’s table.

> REMEMBER. Whatever else we experience at Eucharist, nothing should overshadow or contradict the experience of breaking bread with all of our brothers and sisters.

For Additional Reflection or Discussion

> Question for Children: Who do you eat food with?  How do you feel about the people you eat with?

> Question for Youth:  Think about your friendships; in the process of becoming adults, we befriend a lot of strangers in the hope of finding one who can embody God’s love, care for us.

> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Are we growing in our appreciation for how much God knows, likes and loves us?  Does our attitude and behavior at and outside of Eucharist reveal God's love and care to others?

Learn More

• Read Sunday's readings here

• Read a commentary on Sunday’s readings here

• Learn more about the cultural context of the Gospel

• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here

• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective

(compiled by Dave Cushing)

Divine Mercy Sunday

April 12th, 2026

GROWING IN FAITH QUESTIONS

Adults: Do I trust in Jesus’s mercy? 
Teens: When have you struggled with doubt like Thomas? 
Children: Mercy means forgiving someone who has done something wrong and deserves not to be forgiven. Why does God want us to give mercy to others?   

THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN

THIS WEEKEND'S LAY MINISTERS

Focus

On the evening of that first day of the week...Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.... Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with them….  He said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands...and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Now a week later...Jesus came...and stood in their midst.... ...[H]e said to Thomas, "…See my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving….”  Thomas...said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

One-Minute-Homily

> OBSERVE. "Show me." The truth is, we are all a little skeptical about taking anyone at their word these days, especially if we have been deceived or misled by someone--or an institution--we trusted.  We are likely to demand evidence that we can accept “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

> LEARN. So-called “Doubting Thomas” often gets a bad rap because he demanded no more than what had already been given to the rest of the disciples, but he becomes an example for us who demand more proof than faith can provide.

> ACT. The things we believe in are not things that can be “proven” in the conventional sense--like God's unexplainable mercy. Our faith is based more on intuition than proof, and on the witness of others, particularly the first disciples, whose faith encourages us to believe what we can only hope is possible.

> REMEMBER. When we take the Eucharist into our hands, we cannot see Christ; we believe in his presence because we have sensed it, experienced and encountered it, in the Body of Christ around us.

For Additional Reflection or Discussion

> Question for Children: What do you "believe" in that you cannot see?

> Question for Youth: As we grow, we begin to "test" the truths others have told us; what truths are you "testing" right now?

> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Have we placed our faith in the kind of proof which, in the end, is not convincing because it tries to prove too much -- like the certainty of human justice instead of the mystery of God's mercy?

Learn More

• Read Sunday's readings here

• Read a commentary on Sunday’s readings here

• Learn more about the cultural context of the Gospel

• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here

• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective

(compiled by Dave Cushing)

Easter Sunday

April 5th, 2026

GROWING IN FAITH QUESTIONS

Adults: How do I experience New Life in Jesus? 
Teens: Where in your life do you most need hope right now? 
Children: What is the true reason we celebrate Easter?

THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN

Focus

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb...and saw the stone removed. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved.... So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.... When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in...and he saw and believed.

One-Minute-Homily

> OBSERVE. In the midst of tragedy and loss, it is often hard to imagine that things will ever be OK, much less better.  And yet our experience shows that often times we look back on difficult situations as times of growth and grace.  Sometimes things turn out better than we could hope.

> LEARN. Confronted with the crucifixion and death of Jesus, surely his followers must have wondered how things could ever be OK.  Only gradually did they realize that what came out of his death was resurrection -- a new kind of, and everlasting -- life.  That's the nature of what Christians call "the Paschal (or Easter) Mystery."

> ACT. The challenge to us as followers of Jesus is to imagine -- and believe -- that something better is possible, in spite of the pain and suffering we and our loved ones experience in this life.  The “new normal” will be something totally new and far from just normal; it can reshape how we live here and now if we are willing to believe and to hope.

> REMEMBER. We literally get a taste of this new life -- the Easter Mystery -- every time we participate in the Eucharist.

For Additional Reflection or Discussion

> Question for Children: Can you think of a time when you were surprised by something very good?

> Question for Youth: People say "no pain, no gain." Can you think of ways in which you have experienced that fact in your own life?

> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Do people recognize us as persons of hope and trust -- as persons and communities who believe in the Easter Mystery?

Learn More

• Read Sunday's readings here

• Read a commentary on Sunday’s readings here
• Explore the cultural context of the Gospel

• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here

• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective 

(compiled by Dave Cushing)

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion
MARCH 29th, 2026

GROWING IN FAITH QUESTIONS

Adults: How do I stand in relationship to the Cross? 

Teens: Imagine standing at the foot of the cross and realizing Jesus chose to suffer out of love for you personally. What would you want to say to Him — and what do you think He would say back to you? 

Children: When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, the people cheered for him, but later they shouted at him. Why is it sometimes hard to be a friend of Jesus?

THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN

Focus

The disciples…brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them, and [Jesus] sat upon them.  The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and strewed them on the road. The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out and saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is the he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.... One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.”

One-Minute Homily
> OBSERVE. We often invest our hopes and dreams in people who turn out to be someone less than we expected.  And sometimes we agree to be the person who others demand or expect us to be, even if that isn’t the person we really are or want to be.
> LEARN. The crowds who greeted Jesus on his entrance into Jerusalem got the story half right – he was indeed the Messiah they were longing for, but not the kind of Messiah they expected.  Disappointed by the truth, they would soon enough be shouting “Crucify him!”
> ACT. Often enough in this world, we are tempted to sacrifice our integrity in return for acceptance, success, influence or security.  As it was for Jesus, our challenge as disciples is to be the persons we have been called to be, not the persons other people expect us to be. 
> REMEMBER. Week after week, the Eucharist reminds us of our true identity, the persons we are meant to be—the Body of Christ.

For Additional Reflection or Discussion
> Question for Children:  Do you ever pretend to be someone different than you really are?
> Question for Youth:  Adults have a lot of expectations for young people; do you struggle to be the person you really are?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: When and how have we sacrificed our true identity for success, or acceptance, or security?

Learn More
• Read Sunday's readings here
• Read a commentary on Sunday’s readings here

• Learn more about the cultural context of the Gospel

• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here
• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective

(compiled by Dave Cushing)

Adults: Before I die, what do I need to let go of from my life?
Teens: Jesus sends His disciples out instead of doing everything Himself. What do you think He might be asking you to take responsibility for in your faith?
Kids: What is one thing you can do to this week to show others Jesus lives in your heart?Adults: Before I die, what do I need to let go of from my life?
Teens: Jesus sends His disciples out instead of doing everything Himself. What do you think He might be asking you to take responsibility for in your faith?
Kids: What is one thing you can do to this week to show others Jesus lives in your heart?