Blogposts

VOTE LIFE 2020

10-28-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

13 Things every Catholic Voter Should Know Before the November Election. Read Voter Guide from LifeSiteNews here.

Special Notice for the Month of November

10-28-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

This year due to the pandemic, you can gain a plenary indulgence for the faithful departed on any eight days during the month of November by devoutly visit a cemetery and, even if only mentally, pray for the faithful departed; [Note: one plenary indulgence for each day, if the usual conditions are met listed below. The eight days chosen do not have to be consecutive. This indulgence is exclusively for the benefit of souls in purgatory. You can also gain a plenary indulgence for the faithful departed on November 2, All Souls Day by piously visiting a church or oratory and prayer the Our Father and the Apostles Creed. May you have a blessed November praying for your departed kin and friends.

READ MORE

From the Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of New York

10-27-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

Join us in praying the Divine Mercy Novena in these nine days leading up to the election. Tune in live on Facebook to pray with us on the last day, Nov. 3rd, at 3:00PM.

Other Ways to Pray

  1. Liturgy suggestions leading up to an election
  2. Nine Ways to Pray as a Faithful Citizen
READ MORE

Christ the King / Viva Cristo Rey

10-25-2020Weekly Reflection

Sunday, the last Sunday in October, is the original feast of Christ the King on the date established by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Quas Primas. The traditional liturgy of the Church maintains this original date while the ordinary-form liturgy celebrates the feast on the last Sunday of the Church year.

Pope Pius XI: Therefore by Our Apostolic Authority We institute the Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ to be observed yearly throughout the whole world on the last Sunday of the month of October—the Sunday, that is, which immediately precedes the Feast of All Saints. Pius XI’s intention, as can is to emphasize the glory of Christ as fulfillment of His earthly mission, a glory and mission visible and perpetuated in history by the saints.

READ MORE

Avoid and Defeat the Planned Parenthood Mentality in this Election

10-18-2020All

Much ink is being spilled about Ruth Bader Ginsberg as a model and heroine if not a “secular saint.” She was a fervent supporter of Planned Parenthood and abortion despite Planned Parenthood’s racist past and present. An element of that racist past is exemplified in a quote from Ginsberg below that the media does not usually refer to. Sadly many claiming to be Catholic also have embraced the Planned Parenthood mentality which includes candidates running for public office in the upcoming election.

READ MORE

The Great Feasts of October

10-12-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

The theme for October is honoring our Lady and her Rosary; hence in October we have the great feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary originally Our Lady of Victory established to celebrate our Lady’s intervention in the victory at Lepanto over the Ottoman Empire, seeking to overrun Europe and supplant Christianity.  Prior to that there are the feast days of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus and St. Francis of Assisi two very beloved saints.  Not as well-known and popular is St. Bruno the founder of the Carthusian monks on October 6.  He has the famous saying: The Cross stands while the world changes. 

READ MORE

A Reminder about Freemasonry

10-11-2020Weekly Reflection

The Church has always rejected Freemasonry. It is alive and well in our world and is international in its reach. It is part of a current globalism, the movement to subvert the sovereignty of individual countries with a so-called new world order ruled by oligarchs, power-elites, whose rules don’t apply to them. One of the reasons Freemasonry is rejected is that it is a pseudo-religion. God is simply the Grand Architect of the Universe a form of deism. Deism accepts a notion of God as having nothing to do with this world, who does not intervene in this world or with human beings. Freemasonry gives religious symbols alien meanings and promotes naturalism, the view that only the things of this world count and there is nothing beyond this world. Religion in freemasonry is totally private and can be whatever you want, hence there is no truth in religion and all religions are the same. Brotherhood is based solely on human concerns and endeavors not on God or His Revelation. The pivotal Church teaching on Freemasonry is Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Humanum Genus,(The Human Race)

READ MORE

How do I avoid an addiction to social media? I am more of a geek, can I serve God on my computer?

10-11-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

Attention techies, computer geeks, and all users of technology: your patron saint, a fifteen-year old!

Many saints would have jumped at the chance to have an instant way to communicate God’s Truth with millions of people. Today we are privileged to have that sort of communication at our finger tips via the internet, so how can Catholics take advantage of it? One young computer geek who is now on his way to canonization illuminates the way ahead for us, with the wonderful example of his life. Carlo Acutis may have only been 15 when he died, but he lived a life of holiness and took advantage of his skills with computers to tell people about God, by creating a comprehensive catalogue of Eucharistic miracles.

Learn more at www.ctsbooks.org/carlo-acutis-saint-digital-age/.

The Mystery of Halloween: How It Reverted Back to Paganism

10-08-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

There are mysteries about Halloween. Why is it like it is? Is there really an occult underpinning? Does it have any supernatural ramifications? One little-known fact is that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses -- his rejection of Catholic teaching -- on the door of the Wittenberg church on October 31, 1517. Those theses led of course to breaking away from the Catholic Church as Protestantism was born, soon itself to splinter into dozens of Protestant denominations. A former monk and priest, Luther preached not only against the sale of indulgences and corruption in the Church (which were real), but also against the Mass, the meaning of Holy Communion, the Pope, and saints as intercessors with Jesus.

READ MORE

The Jewish feasts of Passover, Yom Kippur, and Christ

10-04-2020Weekly Reflection

According to the plan of our Lord the Catholic religion is the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham and the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. This is exemplified by the fulfillment of two major Jewish feast days: the Passover and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. We hear the Passover recalled during Lent and this involved the deliverance of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt and to be brought to the Promised Land. Christian commentary views this as also pointing to the deliverance of the human race, Jews and Gentiles, from the slavery to sin and set on the road to the Promised Land of intimacy and friendship with God in the life of heaven. The crossing of the Red Sea and the passing through its waters is seen as a sign of baptism, the entry-point of this deliverance from sin.

READ MORE

The Closing of the Regional School and the Empty School Building

10-01-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

The closing of the St. Paul the Apostle Regional Catholic School has caused much pain, sorrow, anger to the administration, teachers, and staff of the school and the parish families including the clergy of the parish which is very understandable. A number of things need to be pointed out:

  • In the autumn of 2013 St. Paul the Apostle School ceased to be a parish-school and became a regional school. This means that the parish no longer ran the school. This was taken over by the regional school system run by the Archdiocese.
  • READ MORE