1st Sunday of Lent

Maria Hayes • March 26, 2025

Back in January, I was away for 12 days. The first 7 days were just time away. I took a little road trip, which included stopping by some cathedrals, churches, & chapels as well as other historical & cultural sites. One chapel I visited & prayed at was the Saint Anthony's Chapel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is known for housing the largest collection of relics outside the Vatican, containing more than 4500! While I’m not the biggest relic’s buff in the world, it was an interesting place to pause & pray – not just with “so great a cloud of witnesses”, but literally “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Cf Heb 12:1).

The second, and arguably much more important, part of my time away was spent on retreat at the Passionist Monastery of St Joseph in Whitesville, KY. The Passionist nuns are a group of cloistered women religious whose whole life is dedicated to and organized around Prayer & Praise of God, so as to grow in personal holiness and to lift up the whole Church for universal holiness. As their name suggests, the Passionist have a particular devotion to Christ’s suffering & death upon the Cross – His Holy Passion. I’ve been blessed to retreat with the Passionist nuns each year now for the last 6 years. Canon law states that bishops, priests, and deacons “are equally bound to make time for spiritual retreats” (Canon 276.2.4). The Church binds, that is, requires, us ministers to set aside dedicated time to spend in prayer with God each year. This is on top of the many other forms of prayer we engage in daily, such as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, meditation, and devotions.

Retreats are not vacations, even while retreats most certainly include getting added rest – spiritual as well as physical – and stepping back from typical daily responsibilities. Yet, they are so importance that the Church actually embeds the clerical right & responsibility to an annual retreat in the Code of Canon Law. Including it in Canon Law also has the added purpose of reminding (insistently!) bishops, priests, and deacons just how important such dedicated time of Retreat with God is, if we are going to minister well for Christ and the Church. I look forward to my annual time of retreat, and I can’t imagine missing it.

I bring up retreats because bishops, priests, and deacons are not the only ones who can benefit by dedicated & intentional times of prayer & Godly encounter. I realize a week of silence at a monastery might not be everyone’s calling, but growing in holiness & relationship with Jesus most certainly is. And yet, it will look differently according to one’s particular vocation and state in life. I do know some laity who make retreats to monasteries, but such persons tend to be the exception rather than the rule. Yet, it is the idea of a universal call to holiness, the need for dedicated time for prayer, and the need to step back from daily pursuits so as to encounter God in some new way, that encourages many parishes to host Parish Missions. A Parish Mission is a kind of retreat for the whole parish family. It is better structured to accommodate the busy life of laity who can’t necessarily step away for multiple days at a time, but who still want to grow in their faith in a sustained way. Rather than just silent personal prayer, Parish Missions are typically a series of spiritual talks or sermons on a certain aspect of the Christian life typically given by a visiting priest or spirit filled lay person.

This week, Holy Family is hosting a 3-night Parish Mission titled: Led by the Spirit with speaker John Beaulieu. Mr. Beaulieu serves Franciscan University, Steubenville, OH as the Director of Evangelization and Formation. He is going to empower us to bring the Holy Spirit more fully into our lives, especially in this blessed season of Lent. While you are not obligated by Canon Law, I do hope you take advantage of this Blessed Opportunity to join us each night, Monday to Wednesday @ 6:30p in the church with an open heart to receive some spiritual rest and renewal.

Lenten Adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist

didn’t sign up? Don’t worry. Just Show up & Pray!

Nothing Less than saints for the Holy Family of God.

Holy Family, Led by the Holy Spirit, Pray for us.

~ Fr Jeremy M. Gries

18th Sunday In Ordinary Time- Letter from Abbi Harbeson, DMO

By Carolyn Kannapel • July 29, 2026

How Do You Share the Gospel? This weekend, the Holy Family Evangelization Team hosted an Evangelization Crash Course for the leaders of the ministries of our parish. This morning of training and learning was an awesome opportunity to remind our leaders of the Gospel mandate: “Go and make disciples of all nations…” And that mandate is not just for those who lead or volunteer for our ministries here at Holy Family. The Great Commission applies to each of us. As baptized Christians, we have taken on the role of sharing the Gospel with the world, just as Jesus commanded His disciples in Matthew 28 before He ascended into Heaven. For many of us, that command is overwhelming. Our minds may jump to the fear of what it means to share the Gospel with another. Perhaps we think that we must memorize Scripture or understand the Catechism and all of the Church’s teachings before we can evangelize. Allow me to remind you that is not the case. While we must immerse ourselves in Scripture and Tradition, these are meant to aid us in our discipleship, not to be prerequisites for it. The simplest way to evangelize? Live! The Catechism of the Catholic Church sheds light on this reality: “Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, ‘that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life .’ For lay people, ‘this evangelization…assumes a specific character and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world’” (CCC 905.) The Church herself tells us that while the mandate to share the Gospel is an incredible and necessary responsibility, its efficacy is dependent on the ordinary. This makes the task much less daunting! How do you live the “ordinary”? How do your day-to-day activities and responsibilities represent the Gospel? How can you make the Gospel more present in your daily life? This week I hope you will think of each moment–your drive to work, your grocery store run, your office, your coffee date with a friend, dinner with your family–as an opportunity to share the Gospel. No quotations of Scripture or a lesson on morality needed. Instead, LIVE the Gospel. Mother Mary, the first evangelist, pray for us. In His Joy, Abbi Harbeson, Director of Mission and Outreach

Parishioner Joseph Marguet Passes Away

By Carolyn Kannapel • July 29, 2026

Joseph Isadore Marguet, 94, passed away peacefully on July 2, 2026, at The Villages at Silvercrest in New Albany, Indiana . Born February of 1932, in New Albany, Indiana , Joe was the eldest child of Joseph and Esther Marguet, followed by his beloved siblings, Frank ("Frankie") Marguet and Miriam (Mimi) Paris. New Albany was home for most of his life and remained the community he loved deeply. Please join us at 11 a.m. on August 8, 2026, to celebrate Joe's long and full life with a Catholic mass at Holy Family Church, 129 W Daisy Ln, New Albany, IN 47150. Doors open at 10 a.m.

Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

By Carolyn Kannapel • July 22, 2026

PASTOR’S NOTES for 26 July 2026 – Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

By Carolyn Kannapel • July 15, 2026

Pastor’s Notes for 19 July 2026 – Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Tuesday Apologetics

By Carolyn Kannapel • July 14, 2026

As Catholics, we often get asked questions about why we believe what we believe. People are searching for the truth, and sometimes this comes out as an argumentative question. As Catholic Christians, it is important that we know our faith, not only so we can defend it but also so that we can put it into practice in our daily lives. Join us on the second Tuesday of each month after Mass for Apologetics in the Cafeteria. We will dive into a “common questions” topic, looking at Scripture and the Catechism. Join us for our first Apologetics Session on Tuesday, August 11, from 6:45 to 7:45 pm in the Cafeteria . Our topic is the Three A's: Which one's which? (the Annunciation, the Ascension, and the Assumption). No RSVP is required . Contact Kristina Seipel at the parish office or kseipel@holyfamilynewalbany.org with questions. August 11 - Three A's: Which one's which? (the Annunciation, the Ascension, and the Assumption)- presented by Ryan Albers September 8 - LGBTQIA+: What the Church Teaches - presented by Fr. Jeremy October 13 - The Lord's Messengers: The Role of Angels - presented by Julie Benning November - "Have You Been Saved?": A Catholic Response - presented by Abbi Harbeson No need to sign up; join us for the presentation and discussion!

Grow Your Appreciation of the Mass

By Carolyn Kannapel • July 14, 2026

Grow Your Appreciation of the Mass Have you ever wanted a deeper understanding of the Mass? Why do we do what we do at the Mass? Join us for a six-session exploration of the Liturgy with Bishop Robert Barron. Together we will uncover why we pray and act as we do at Mass, how the liturgy lifts us from the brokenness of the world into the worship of Heaven, and how God’s call meets our response in every moment of the celebration. Together, we will also gain a clearer understanding of the Eucharist as our intimate union with the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. This series will equip you to participate more fully, consciously, and actively in the “source and summit” of the Christian life Join us on Wednesday nights, 6:30-7:30 p.m. from August 19 through September 23, 2026 , in the Day Activity Center to fall more in love with The Mass. Sign up online by August 9 . Please complete one registration per person. There is no fee. Contact Kristina Seipel with questions at kseipel@holyfamilynewalbany.org or 812-944-8283, ext. 4.