Our Lady of Grace Parish

05/18/2026

Fr. Dan's Homily - May 17, 2026

My sister Margaret always had a flair for the dramatic; in fact, we nick-named her Sara Bernhardt, after a famed, old-time, actress. Today, we would probably call her a drama queen. She was laying on the couch doing nothing and she said aloud: “What am I going to do with my life?” My mother, who was within ear-shot responded: “For heaven’s sake, get off the couch and do something.” My sister gave her characteristic eye roll and turned over facing the back of the couch.

On this feast of the Ascension, we read the Gospel account known as the “Great Commission.” This was the last instruction given by the Risen Lord to the disciples before He ascended into heaven and His directions are clear and direct: “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.” In clear and direct language, the Lord commanded us to act. So, if your laying on the couch, “get off the couch and do something.”

Mark Twain once remarked that there are basically two kinds of people in the world: the doers and the talkers. Perhaps we are among the many people in this world who seem obsessed with endless dreaming, formulating plans, making resolutions—and nothing ever happens. We may talk with great determination about some future time, about what we are going to do when we graduate, or get our first job, or get a raise, or get married, or retire. And nothing ever happens. We can seem to never “get off the couch” and make our dreams come true.
Much is the same even in the long history of Christianity. There have been proclamations, writings, and fierce debates about the Christian message. Often there is more energy spent in doctrinal disputes than in actually spreading the Word of the Lord. It is a truism that there has always been more interpreting the Gospel than living it. Will any of the councils, dissertations, and arguments over theology ever compare to the effect of the life of people like St. Francis or Mother Teresa in carrying out the mission of the Lord?

The story is told of a man who asked the question, “What is the devil?” Before anyone could reply, the man supplied his own answer. “The devil,” he said, “is not a huge monster with horns and a harpoon tail and a wicked glitter in his eye. No, the devil is inertia, doing nothing, following the lines of least resistance.”

Christianity is not a philosophy or a debating society. Jesus never encouraged the founding of academies or study groups. Christianity is fundamentally a religion of action: living out Jesus’ message of justice and love. It prospers when it nurtures others through witness of loving actions. As my mother was fond of saying: “love is what love does.” We evaluate ourselves as Christians not by our study of the message of Jesus, but by acting on it. We flower as Christians not by being learned in the teachings of the Lord, but by actively living them in what we say and do. There is work to be done in the Lord’s vineyard and we are to get up off the couch and “get on with it.”

Some reflection questions. Do you call yourself Christian because of what you believe or because of what you do? Are you a doer or a talker when it comes to the practice of your faith? Do you understand love as an ideal or as a practice? Jesus calls you and me to join Him in the spreading of His good news, are we ready to get off the couch and get on with it?

Fr. Dan

05/14/2026

05/12/2026

Fr. Dan's Homily - May 10, 2026

Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers, grandmothers, step mothers and others who offer motherly support in a loving way. Charles Dickens taking a line from the Book of Exodus, wrote about God visiting punishment on the next generation for the sins of their fathers. Dickens asked why God didn’t say something about the blessings that God sent on the next generation for the virtues of their mothers. A good point! An overworked mother wrote into a newspaper that the quickest way to get her children’s attention is to sit down and look comfortable. A Jewish proverb says: “God couldn’t be everywhere, and therefore He created mothers.”

Love is on our minds and hearts today as we recall the love of our parents, specifically the love and dedication of our mothers. Love is also in the readings for today. Phillip reveals God’s love through His power to heal and change us. Our second reading, enjoins us to be ready to give to others the reason for our hope. Our hope is rooted in the love we have found in Christ. In today’s Gospel, as Jesus gathers with His disciples at the Last Supper, He focuses His remarks on love through Gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord then tells them that He is leaving them for a time; but that He would send them another Paraclete, a Greek word which is hard to translate. It means basically someone who will support you, stand up for you or stand by your side to help you. Thus, it is translated as “Advocate,” “Helper,” “Comforter,” “Intercessor,” “Mediator,”. The Holy Spirit helps us to know that Jesus has not really left us at all.

With the assurance that we are loved and will never be left desolate, the question remains: How do we connect with the supportive presence of Jesus? Better, how responsive are we to His Presence? If Jesus is faithful and present, do we turn to Him in faith? Do we ever meditate on His Presence within us? When we need help and advice, do we turn to the Counselor dwelling within? Are we confident talking to Jesus about our needs and fears? And when we pray, do we ever silence ourselves long enough to listen expectantly to what He may have to say to us?

There is a second step in evidencing the gift and this is where Jesus presses us—gently, but unmistakably. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (Jn. 14:15). In the Gospel of John, love is never abstract or merely internal. It is expressed, lived, embodied. To love Christ is to follow Him, and to follow Him is to act.
The nineteenth-century philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, once described the Church as a gathering of well-fed geese. Each week, he said, they listen to a sermon about how they have been given wings and are meant to fly. And each week, they leave, satisfied with the thought of it, and waddle home—intending, perhaps, to fly one day, but never do anything to make that happen.

To follow Him is to act. That action is rarely dramatic. It appears in ordinary moments—the decision to forgive when it would be easier not to, in the willingness to serve when no one is watching. In the quiet choice to place another person’s need ahead of our own. Obedience not in grand gestures, but in small, faithful decisions that accumulate over time. Faith takes shape in action, and action is the place where God is made known, where people are transformed, lives changed, communities stirred—and more than that, a way in which our relationship with God becomes real for us. Our faith is not a test to be passed. It is an invitation into a way of life in which love is expressed not in intention alone, but in action.

Fr. Dan

05/07/2026

Fellowship Socials at St. Anne are back!

Join us for our kickoff gathering on June 2 from 12:00–3:00 PM
We’ll be planning out the season together, so come ready to share ideas for games, activities, and fun. Bring a snack or dish to share and enjoy a great time of fellowship. All are welcome!

Upcoming Dates: June 2 • June 16 • June 30 • July 14 • July 28
(We meet every other Tuesday through October)

Come connect, laugh, and build community
We can’t wait to spend the season with you!

05/06/2026

ANNUAL BABY CLOTHES COLLECTION
is now underway. New and gently used clothing from newborn sizes through 3T, as well as other baby items, are needed to help mothers and babies who are having a hard time providing for the essentials. Monetary donations are also welcome.

There will be a Pak-n-Play in the vestibules at St. Agnes and St. Anne to leave your donated items, from Mother’s Day (May 10) to Father’s Day (June 21)

05/05/2026

K of C 8043 will be hosting a Blood Drive

Saturday, May 8, 7:00am-1:00pm, St Agnes site.

Walk-ins welcome

05/04/2026

Fr. Dan's Homily - May 3, 2026

In the old day the curriculum of University studies demanded a balance, no matter what your specialization or career path. I remember having to take Calculus even though I was a Literature Major. Needless to say, it wasn’t my favorite class. We had a teacher who had a monotone delivery that induced sleep. One of shining lights in the class, decided to make things more interesting, so he brought a cap gun to class (not a real gun, that’s feature of today’s classrooms). He fired it about halfway through the hour. Everyone jumped out of their seat and started laughing. Professor Baumann was undisturbed and unflappable. He simply said: “Michael, put that away.” And he continued in his usual monotone. Whenever I hear this Gospel reading: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” I think of Father Baumann. He exuded this deep-seated hope and trust in God, no matter what the circumstance. He took to heart, Jesus’ words. I knew that I wanted that more than anything; especially more than calculus.

In today’s gospel, Jesus not only exhorts His disciples to have untroubled hearts, but He helps them know how to find the way there. The setting is the Last Supper and the disciples have plenty good reasons to be distressed. Jesus has been speaking of going away and of being handed over and of being denied by two of His closest friends. The disciples are confused and anxious. Where is He going and how can they know the way to be with Him? “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

Most of us know what it is to live with a troubled heart. We worry about what is coming. We replay what has already happened. We try to solve tomorrow before it arrives. We reach for control where there is none to be had. There are moments that cannot be managed. Moments when the question is no longer, “What will happen?” but “Why is this happening?” The question rises in the face of illness, in the shadow of loss, in the quiet aftermath of something that cannot be undone.

The early Church knew something of this as well. In the Acts of the Apostles, we hear of a community under strain—complaints, tensions, uncertainty about how to move forward. And yet they do not unravel. They respond with clarity, shared responsibility, with trust that God is still at work among them. And in the first letter of St. Peter, we are reminded that we are being built, “like living stones,” into something greater than ourselves. Our lives are held within a larger purpose, even when we cannot see its full shape.

So, what’s holding us back from having an untroubled heart? Is it a future you are try to control? A past you cannot release? A question that has no clear answer? A fear that keeps returning again and again? We all have something. Perhaps, the call of the Gospel is to begin, slowly, to release. Let go and Let God.

There is a beautiful story from the Second World War of a young girl who fled into hiding during the N**i occupation of Warsaw. She found shelter in a cave outside the city. Alone, cut off from everything she knew, she lived there until the end of her life. Before she died, she scratched words into the wall of that cave: “I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining. I believe in love, even when I do not feel it. I believe in God, even when He is silent.”

That’s not certainty. That is trust. Not the absence of questions—but the decision to remain, even without answers. Perhaps, that’s what Jesus is asking of us still. Not that we understand everything. Not that the way will always be clear. But that we release what we were never meant to carry.


Fr. Dan

04/20/2026

Fr. Dan's Homily - April 19, 2026

We all know and read about religious figures who write books or tell the story of their conversion on television. They are very public, almost professional Christians. But there are millions of people whose names will never be known to the media to whom the Lord is just as close, just as near. That’s why I love this Resurrection appearance, we only know the name of one of them and we don’t hear about them after this incident; two ordinary people, like us, and the Lord comes to them.

I think this is the first point of the Emmaus story, that the Risen Christ is near to all of us, every single Christian, because we are important to Him. As St. Peter reminds us in the second reading, we are all ransomed by His very blood. The Emmaus story teaches us that the Risen Christ can join us wherever we are. The “where” of the Emmaus story is a nameless road, any and every road where we are, any point on the road of life as a child, teenager, young adult, parent or senior citizen.

The disciples are on a journey of faith and Jesus meets them where they are, as they are. That’s the second critical point of this narrative. Jesus listens to their expectations, hopes and disappointments, and only after they have expressed the reality of their situation does Christ open the Scriptures to them.

Every Sunday we embark on the road to Emmaus. There is never any point of coming here pretending to be different from how we actually feel and who we are. God sees the heart and mind and wants to meet us in the midst of our life. The Lord wants to listen to us before He wants us to listen to Him. This thought blows my mind, as we used to say! I am reminded of my father’s dictum to us kids: “Listen before you speak.”

After the Lord listens He will speak, but we have to become quiet and listen closely to God’s Word. Once we begin to appreciate that the Lord comes to us through His Word, we will be less inclined to rattle off our prayers mechanically. We will be more aware that the words we speak to God in prayer mean something. We shall say them more slowly and reverently.

The story of the Emmaus disciples is not unlike our own story. There has been a time in our life—perhaps several times—when our relationship with Jesus got smashed into pieces. Perhaps we even stopped walking with Jesus for a while. But then came a grace-filled day when we met someone—a friend, a spouse, or even a stranger. And through that person’s example Jesus spoke to us again—as He spoke to the two Emmaus disciples. And it was through that person’s example that we returned to Church, and our eyes were opened and we recognized Jesus once again, in the breaking of the bread.

The Gospel reminds us that there are many people today, like the Emmaus disciples, who are experiencing emptiness even though their lives may be successful. Today’s Gospel invites us to be for these people what the “stranger” in the Gospel was for the two Emmaus disciples. If Jesus is to speak through us today to people who no longer walk with Him, it will not necessarily be through our words, but through our love, our kindness, and our forgiveness. For in this world of skepticism today, people are not looking primarily for words, but compassion, concern, kindness, and forgiveness. Words can come later.

Fr. Dan