Patience is a key Advent virtue, and one for which our culture is especially ill-suited. Christmas music fills the air waves since before Thanksgiving. You may well attend a Christmas party by this weekend. Relatedly, technology has diminished our ability to be patient. Texts are more efficient than calls, and who in the world sits down to write a letter to a friend or...

Advent blessings! When I meet with couples for marriage preparation, I will sometimes ask them when it was that they began to prepare for marriage. They will likely respond by referring to the date they got engaged or when they first discussed marriage while dating. The answer is surprising, though: they first began preparing for marriage when they were little kids. It started with seeing how their parents...

The Solemnity of Christ the King, which is the closing Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year, points back to the beginning of creation. Adam and Eve were created with royal dignity. God tells them in Gen 1:28, “have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” In other words...

Praise God for the beautiful weather we had last Saturday that allowed over 200 of us to make the walking pilgrimage in this Jubilee Year of Hope to St. John Neumann Parish. It was awesome to process down Montgomery Village Ave. praying the rosary as passengers in cars waved in recognition. On Sunday we celebrated our...

If you are reading this on Saturday morning, I invite you to join us on our parish pilgrimage in this Jubilee Year of Hope today at 12:00pm. We will meet by the CVS at Montgomery Village Center located at 19201 Centerway Rd. in Montgomery Village. From there we walk two miles to St. John Neumann Parish to pass through the holy doors and gain...

St. Therese of Lisieux said before her death, “I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth.” She had a great desire to see the salvation of all people, as do all the saints. As we celebrate All Saints Day on Saturday and All Souls Day on Sunday, we give thanks for the saints in heaven and the souls in purgatory for offering their...

If you have any feedback on the Ministry Fair, please contact me at FangmeyerJ@adw.org or at (301)990-3203 x 207. I saw and heard that the Pantry, Choirs, Legion of Mary, Sacristans, and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion all received new volunteers. I heard from Sembrando Para Cristo, Virtus, the Catholic Women’s Association, and Programa San Juan Diego that the Fair was a positive opportunity to...

As I was doing some research on Marian apparitions this past week, I was struck by the descriptions of various visionaries on seeing the Blessed Mother. All of them were awestruck by her beauty. They give effusive descriptions of her clothing, her facial expressions, her movements, and...

I recently heard a great analogy that highlights the importance of confession. Often when you visit a website, a little box appears on the screen asking if you’ll accept the “cookies” associated with your activity on the site. Because you’re in a hurry, you often just click “Accept,” and move on. The buildup of all these cookies hampers our internet browsing over the course of time. It is recommended...

“Increase our faith”. Have you prayed these words? The apostles prayed to Jesus in these words, as recorded in today’s Gospel. Did you think of their conversation with Jesus as a prayer? I want you to pray so that you “surpass the merits and desires” of your heart because God will “give what prayer does not dare to ask” (as the Collect Prayer to begin this Sunday’s Mass). Jesus meant this when he said...

Thankfully, many of us are aware of the dangers of drugs, alcohol, pornography and other addictive substances and materials. We have seen first-hand their ravages in our lives or those of family and friends. Are we aware of the dangers of wealth...

After 135 years sitting at 10 Desellum Ave., the Fr. Meyer House will be demolished this week. The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur were the first from St. Martin’s to live in the house. Some lifetime residents of Gaithersburg may even remember the Sisters in their black and white habits crossing the road to St. Martin’s School each morning. After the Sisters left in the 1960’s, Fr. Meyer...

A very happy birthday to St. Martin’s Catholic School! The oldest Catholic parochial school in Montgomery County celebrates 100 years of education this year. This Friday, Bishop Roy Campbell celebrated a special all-school Mass with the school community. Then on Saturday, we welcome (or if you’re reading this on Sunday, welcomed) back Bishop Brennan to...

Why would God permit this? Why didn’t he intervene to stop it? We ask these types of questions after terrible tragedies like the one at Annunciation Parish and School in Minneapolis. It’s well and good to say that God didn’t do it and that he didn’t will it. Yet, it happened...

School is in session! What ever happened to the good ol’ days when school began after Labor Day? With our young ones heading off to their first day of kindergarten, middle or high school, or confidently strutting onto a college campus, it’s a good reminder for us...

There is a story told of St. Teresa of Avila that she was travelling to a certain place, and she had an unfortunate accident by falling to the ground from her carriage or from her horse. She instantly complained to the Lord about her misfortune, which occasioned his response, “Do not complain daughter...

As I write this article, I am doing some "simple" maintenance on my car. I follow the right steps and use the right tools, but it's still a slow job. Most of my daily jobs, which I do on a computer, are fast. Once I know what to do, the job is quick and easy. This is an advantage of modern technology. But beyond the digital world, in the real world, most jobs...

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”...

In this Sunday’s first reading Qoheleth laments, “For what profit comes to a man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun? All his days sorrow and grief are his occupation; even at night his mind is not at rest.” The technological revolution of the past century has promised us...

My first memory of prayer is with my mom. I am about three years old. She kneels at my bedside after I am tucked in. Together we pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be. After, we ask God to bless Mom and Dad, my brothers and sisters, the rich and the poor, the sick and those who are lonely. In all, it takes maybe three or four minutes. But in that short time, I learn...