4th Sunday of Easter

Maria Hayes • May 20, 2025

Christ has Risen, as He said He would, Alleluia!!!

 “Many Catholics underestimate the power of hell and the possibility they may end up there", says pastor and author Msgr. Charles Pope. He said 21 of the 38 parables in the Gospels are about hell (often referred to as Gehenna)... “Nobody loves you and me more than Jesus, and yet nobody spoke of hell more than Jesus,” he told Raymond Arroyo on his EWTN television show The World Over on Thursday…

“Jesus warns that many are on the wrong path. And we’ve got to stop and make a decision and be more urgent about this thing in our life,” he said. “And if I can say one thing about the Church today, we don’t have any sense of urgency. Everyone [assumes] ‘The deal is done; who needs to be saved? We’re already — it’s already taken care of.’ And that’s not true.” Even many daily Mass-goers reject hell, he said which he chalked up to what he called “a cultural trend where I think we’ve reduced love to mere kindness.” It’s possible for people to go to hell because people are free to choose God or to reject God, he said. “You can’t force someone to love you. And that’s why there’s a hell,” said Msgr. Pope, “It’s not about an angry God trying to keep people out of heaven, but rather a deeply loving God who is very reverential of our freedom, and He stands at the door and knocks. He doesn’t barge in.” “And we have to recover a sense that we have a decision to make, whether we really want to be with God in heaven one day — the real heaven, not a made-up one”… “But the ones I’m worried about,” he continued, “are the defiant, who shake their fist against the Church and the teachings of Scripture and say, ‘Look, I will not be told what to do. I’m going to celebrate my lifestyle, celebrate my abortion, celebrate a lifestyle that God calls an abomination,’ whatever, or celebrate greed or violence. ‘And I don’t think there’s anything wrong. I don’t need forgiveness.’” Msgr. Pope said a lack of urgency about salvation afflicts not only laypeople but is “among the clergy and bishops,” too. “We’re all distracted by minor worldly things and souls are being lost. And it’s like, ‘You need to make everybody feel nice and feel included.’ But what if they’re going to hell?” Msgr. Pope said.

A second reason to emphasize what’s at stake in the spiritual battle for heaven and against hell, he said, is that without the battle for heaven, “there’s also no joy.” “If you don’t know the bad news,” he said, “the Good News is no news.”

[Msgr. Charles Pope is a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington and the author of a new book called The Hell There Is: An Exploration of an Often-Rejected Doctrine of the Church, published by TAN Books and available at EWTN Religious Catalogue. < https://www.ncregister.com/news/msgr-charles-pope-new-book-on-the-doctrine-of-hell >]


 

The quoted article excerpts above may seem like a very strange topic for a Pastoral Notes in the wonderful & glorious season of Easter! We are supposed to be rejoicing in Christ’s Victory. His vanquishing of death itself. Why speak of hell now in the season of Easter? Precisely because Christ’s suffering, death & resurrection was to open up the “narrow way” that leads to heaven (Mt 7:14). His victory & resurrection makes Heaven possible. Yet, this possibility requires more than His promise. It requires our purpose & choice. It requires us choosing the narrow way in our life. We indeed rejoice in Christ’s Resurrection, but we must see in that Resurrection also the call to make needed & necessary changes & choices in our life in the present, today, Now!

It is said, “A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” Our journey to heaven started with Christ’s first step on the Road to Calvary. Will you take up your cross and follow Him? This is the only way that leads to heaven. Jesus is the only ‘Way, Truth & Life” (Jn 14:6).

 

Nothing Less than saints for the Holy Family of God.

Holy Family, Living Resurrection Glory on the Path to Heaven, Pray for us.

~ Fr Jeremy M. Gries

Parishioner Mary Lopp Passes Away

By Carolyn Kannapel • August 24, 2026
Mary Ann Lopp, who was born on the 11th of May, 1937 in Corydon, Indiana, gently passed away on August 22, 2026 at Harrison Healthcare, with her family by her side. She worked for several years as a cafeteria worker for South Harrison Community School Corporation at South Central School. She was a lifelong and dedicated member of St. Peter’s Buena Vista Catholic Church and, later in life, attended Holy Family Catholic Church. She enjoyed tending to her garden, traveling, and going dancing at the Wagon Wheel. Above all, she adored her family and treasured the time she spent with them. She was rarely without her camera, always ready to capture the special moments and memories she shared with those she loved. Visitation will be held on Saturday, August 29, 2026, from 9:30 AM until 11:30 AM at Gehlbach & Royse Funeral Home (318 East Chestnut Street, Corydon, Indiana, 47112). A Mass of Christian Burial will follow, starting at 1:00 PM at Holy Family Catholic Church (129 West Daisy Lane, New Albany, Indiana, 47150).

Parishioner Janet Krininger Passes Away

By Carolyn Kannapel • August 21, 2026
Janet Therese (Dallmann) "Noni" Krininger passed on August 18, 2026, at the age of 91. She was born September 2, 1934, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to the late Arthur and Rose Schelp Dallmann. She was in the graduating class of 1952 of the old Holy Rosary High School in Louisville with classmates still meeting monthly. Janet was a longtime resident of New Albany, a member of Holy Family Catholic Church.  Visitation will be held at Kraft Funeral Service, 2776 Charlestown Rd, New Albany, Indiana 47150, on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm. A Funeral Mass will be held at Holy Family Catholic Church, 129 W Daisy Ln, New Albany, Indiana 47150, on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, at 11:00 am. Final resting place will be at Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery in New Albany.

Parishioner John "Lester" Clemons Passes Away

By Carolyn Kannapel • August 21, 2026
John “Lester” Clemons, 90, passed away on Tuesday, August 18th, 2026. John found joy in the simple things in life. He enjoyed fishing, playing cards, gardening, antiques, and collectibles. He would never miss a good yard sale and was also an avid Kentucky Wildcat fan. Above all, he cherished the time he spent with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11:30 a.m., on Tuesday, August 25th, at Holy Family Catholic Church- New Albany, 129 W Daisy Lane, New Albany, IN 47150 with burial to follow in Louisville Memorial Gardens West Cemetery. His visitation will be from 2- 7 p.m. on Monday, August 24th, Ratterman Southwest, 4832 Cane Run Rd., Louisville, KY, 40216. There will also be a viewing from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday before procession to Holy Family Catholic Church.

We Are Hiring!! - Director of Campus & Youth Ministry

By Carolyn Kannapel • August 20, 2026
Director of Campus & Youth Ministry

Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time

By Carolyn Kannapel • August 19, 2026
Pastor’s Notes for 23 August 2026 – Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time

Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

By Carolyn Kannapel • August 12, 2026
Pastor’s Notes for 16 August 2026 – Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Magdalenes Fall 2026 Registration

By Carolyn Kannapel • August 10, 2026

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