Pastor’s Corner

Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp, The Gospel for this twenty-ninth Sunday presents us a controversial issue regarding duty toward religion and state. The Pharisees plotted this question to trap Jesus: “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”  A simple yes or no answer would have answered the question. Instead, Jesus…

Read More

Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp,We begin this second week of October with a Gospel reading from the 28th Sunday (Mt 21:33-43), which presents us different responses from the invited guests to the wedding of the king’s son. To explore the depth of the Gospel, we need to look first from the perspective of the king.…

Read More

Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp, The Second Reading of this Twenty Second Sunday from Saint Paul brings to our attention an issue regarding respect for the human body. In this short scriptural passage to the Romans, Paul elaborates on this issue by saying: I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,to offer…

Read More

Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp, August is here. For Saint Polycarp, we have seen a month of priestly service from Fr. Francis; two weeks of our seminarian-intern, Eddie; and the arrival of Fr. Jaime. For me, I am grateful to the presence and support of Fr. Francis, who has been working so hard during his…

Read More

Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp, The Gospel message for this Fifteenth Sunday offers us Jesus’ teaching on the reception of the word of God, through a beautiful parable on mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven, which contains the image of the sower, the seed, and the various types of soil or ground in which the…

Read More

Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp,  This weekend marks the last weekend that Fathers Luis, Nicolaus, and Sister Jessica are with us: They have been with us and we love them. We love their pastoral approach and zeal, their homilies, their smiles, and distinct laughter, and most of all their friendship with us in Christ. The…

Read More

Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp, Happy Pentecost! May the Holy Spirit fill your heart with love. According to scriptures, the celebration of Pentecost or the coming of the Holy Spirit occurs ten days after the Ascension of the Lord Jesus. This Solemnity of Pentecost marks the birth of the Church, in which the first group…

Read More

Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp, This weekend, we are celebrating the Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus. Originally, this Solemnity falls on a Thursday of the Sixth Sunday of Easter, which is forty days after the celebration of Easter. However, due to work, most dioceses in the U.S have transferred this Solemnity to Sunday, so…

Read More

Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp, Easter greetings and blessings to all. As we enter into the second Sunday of Easter, which is also known as the Divine Mercy Sunday, we are presented with a Gospel account on the Risen Christ who appeared to the disciples. The Gospel of John recounts the event by saying that,…

Read More

Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp, Happy Easter! Christus resurexit ~ Christ is risen! Easter celebrates Jesus’ rising from the death: His rising from the death means that He defeats the greatest enemy that threatens us, His children. No longer does death has power over us. This is what Saint Paul preached to the Corinthians, “And…

Read More

Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp, Lenten greetings in the Lord Jesus Christ. On this Second Sunday of Lent, Holy-Mother Church offers us a beautiful Gospel story of the Transfiguration, in which Jesus took Peter, James, and John up to a mountain and He transfigured before their eyes. This story of the Transfiguration contains some deep…

Read More

Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp, This weekend, Holy Mother Church celebrates the solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord. According to the Church’s liturgy, this solemnity marks the end of the Christmas Season and begins the liturgical Season of Ordinary Time. The Gospel of Matthew for this solemnity recounts the encounter and the conversation of…

Read More