Eat at Chili's Today: Monday Sept. 26

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All the profits made through the

Chili's franchise

today will be donated to St. Jude's Children Hospital.
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A delicious way to help children.


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Today is the feast of Saint Matthew

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St. Matthew, one of the twelve Apostles

is the author of the first Gospel. This has been the constant tradition of the Church and is confirmed by the Gospel itself. He was the son of Alpheus and was called to be an Apostle while sitting in the tax collectors place at Capernaum. Before his conversion he was a publican, i.e., a tax collector by profession. He is to be identified with the "Levi" of Mark and Luke.

His apostolic activity was at first restricted to the communities of Palestine. Nothing definite is known about his later life. There is a tradition that points to Ethiopia as his field of labor; other traditions mention of Parthia and Persia. It is uncertain whether he died a natural death or received the crown of martyrdom.

St. Matthew's Gospel was written to fill a sorely-felt want for his fellow countrymen, both believers and unbelievers. For the former, it served as a token of his regard and as an encouragement in the trial to come, especially the danger of falling back to Judaism; for the latter, it was designed to convince them that the Messiah had come in the person of Jesus, our Lord, in Whom all the promises of the Messianic Kingdom embracing all people had been fulfilled in a spiritual rather than in a carnal way: "My Kingdom is not of this world." His Gospel, then, answered the question put by the disciples of St. John the Baptist, "Are You He Who is to come, or shall we look for another?"

Writing for his countrymen of Palestine, St. Matthew composed his Gospel in his native Aramaic, the "Hebrew tongue" mentioned in the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Soon afterward, about the time of the persecution of Herod Agrippa I in 42 AD, he took his departure for other lands. Another tradition places the composition of his Gospel either between the time of this departure and the Council of Jerusalem, i.e., between 42 AD and 50 AD or even later. Definitely, however, the Gospel, depicting the Holy City with its altar and temple as still existing, and without any reference to the fulfillment of our Lord's prophecy, shows that it was written before the destruction of the city by the Romans in 70 AD, and this internal evidence confirms the early traditions.


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We Remember: God Bless America

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The first recorded death at the Trade Center:

Catholic Priest: Father Mychal Judge:

Pictures taken in July, 2011, of the rebuilding:

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Let's return to work.

Sunday, September 4 ... ... Are You Wicked?

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One of the most successful musicals playing on Broadway these days is a prequel based on what happened before the events of the movie: The Wizard of Oz. The name of the musical is Wicked.

It's a great title reminding us of the Wicked Witch of the West. It is both foreboding and nostalgic.

We don't use the adjective "wicked" to describe anyone very often. Rarely do we call politicians or felons or tyrants "wicked". And when we do it sounds vaguely archaic.

SO .... who are the "wicked ones"?

They are the ones who choose not to love.

To keep ourselves from a fate far worse then melting like the Wicked Witch of the West, we need to love more often, care more often, be there more often. All for others.

The forces of love and faith are far greater than any wickedness that may be around us.

This is both comforting and challenging.
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