It’s summer once again. With summer comes lots of sunshine, warm temperatures, and the Saint James Annual Parish Festival. That’s right, our Parish Festival is right around the corner!

This years Annual Summer Festival will be held on August 5, 6, and 7 on the grounds of Saint James School. The tremendous support and cooperation from our faithful parishioners has allowed us to make past festivals a great success. It is because of that support that we expect this year’s festival to be a huge success as well.

Too often, many of us go through Holy Week as if it were any ordinary week. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Holy Week is above any ordinary week, during which we recall Christ's sacrifice for us. His death on the cross and triumph over death made eternal reparation and atonment for our immesurable sins. A recent email that has been circulating around the Internet sums up Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross and the price Jesus paid for our sake.

Lent offers us all a very special opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and to deepen our commitment to a way of life, rooted in our baptism. In our busy world, Lent provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon our patterns, to pray more deeply, experience sorrow for what we've done and failed to do, and to be generous to those in need. By doing these things, it also provides us with a way to look to the future and how we can follow God's will and teachings more closely. What are some things you can do during Lent?

Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.

—Genesis 3:19

These words, recited by the priest during the Imposition of Ashes, remind us of our mortal nature and that one day we will return to the earth - ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We receive ashes on our foreheads, on Ash Wednesday, as a sign of repentance. They remind us that we are to turn away from sin, pick up our cross, and follow the Lord.

On November 27, 2011, the First Sunday of Advent, Catholics across the United States and other English-Speaking countries will notice a change in the wording and phrasing of the Mass. Pope John Paul II announced a revised version of the Roman Missal, known in Latin as the Missale Romanum, during the Jubilee Year 2000. Since that time, bishops from across the globe have been laboring to create a new translation that is more faithful to the Latin original, dignified for use during the Mass, and easily understandable by the faithful.