Dear Parishioners & Guests, The great celebration of Holy Week and the Easter Triduum often brings visitors to our parish. If you are one of them, I extend to you a warm welcome on behalf of all the parishioners of St. John, “the Mother Church of Jackson.” For over 150 years, the steeples of this church … Continued
Dear Parish Family, Today, “Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord,” begins the holiest week of the year! Do you observe it as such, or is it about the same as every other week? If it is, it’s not too late to make this year’s different. Carve out the time necessary to enter into … Continued
Dear Parish Family, You will notice something a little bit different with our altar servers. Do you remember when Mark Martin, our seminarian intern, was here last year before he went into his first year of sem-inary? A number of you commented how good he was in helping the other younger servers in guiding them … Continued
Dear Parish Family, A major part of Lent is almsgiving. At the Masses I celebrated last Sunday, I explained our parish Lenten project in further depth, explaining the specific ways we are endeavoring to “welcome the stranger,” “comfort the afflicted,” and “feed the hungry” with the alms placed in our “House of Mercy” by the … Continued
The parable of the prodigal son is called “the greatest short story in the world” (Charles Dickens), “the gospel of the gospels”, “the gospel of the outcasts,” and the “parable of the prodigal Father.” The prodigal son story has moved great artists like Rembrandt; composers like John Newton (amazing grace) the golden voiced man Ted … Continued