Question of the Week
What do the visitation of baby Jesus by the wise men, the wedding feast at Cana, and the Baptism of Jesus have in common?
The Year of Our Lord 2026
We begin a new year with gratitude for the many blessings of 2025, and we pray with hope for an openness to the blessings God will give this year. Our annual report will come out soon, recapping the many good things going on at St. Thomas. There is some regularity in the yearly events that go on here. Like our ancestors whom God directed to celebrate regular feasts throughout the year, the Catholic Church has developed an annual liturgical calendar. We end the Christmas season this Sunday with the Baptism of Jesus. It is a hinge feast connecting Christmas Time and Ordinary Time that is considered an epiphany like the visit of the wise men to Bethlehem or the wedding feast at Cana. Each of these events revealed Jesus to the world as the Messiah, the Son of God.
This year, Ash Wednesday is February 18. We will be offering the Metanoia Series again, which was filmed in the Holy Land. Metanoia means “change of mind” but is meant to convey what happens to a person after meeting Jesus. The history of our lives is altered after meeting him. In some sense, there is a BC (before Christ) and an AD (anno Domini, meaning “in the year of our Lord,” or after meeting Christ) for us all!
Holy Week begins this year on March 29 with Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. The great Paschal Triduum begins Thursday, April 2, with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This three-day celebration will culminate in the twilight hours of April 4 as we celebrate the Easter Vigil Mass. Sometime after Easter, I will be offering a Bible study on the Book of Revelation.
Those are some of the upcoming spring feasts. Here are the dates for other liturgical feasts:
- Easter Sunday: April 5, 2026
- The Ascension of the Lord (Thursday): May 14, 2026
- Pentecost Sunday: May 24, 2026
- The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ: June 7, 2026
- First Sunday of Advent: November 29, 2026
Also this year, we will be continuing our five-year Stewardship for Saints & Scholars capital campaign. We have now gone past the $1.8 million diocesan goal. All the gifts now come back to support the educational efforts at St. Thomas School. Praise to the Lord!
I also will be re-forming our Parish Pastoral Council, the Cemetery Committee that helps manage our parish cemetery, and the Building and Maintenance Committee that helps oversee and manage our parish grounds and buildings. We also have a great Finance Committee that does amazing work in overseeing the work of stewardship, budgeting, and fiduciary oversight.
Our baptism into Christ joins us to him and empowers us to go on mission. I pray we all experience a deepened love for Jesus and desire to join in the good work of spreading God’s kingdom. We need your help here!