All Saints Parish Homilies and News

  “A Good Guy.” Professor Barbara Weiden Boyd Recalls Former Classmate Pope Francis: By Tom Porter, published in the Bowdoin College newsletter. The recent death of Pope Francis I stirred memories for Bowdoin Winkley Professor of Latin and Greek Barbara Weiden Boyd * , who recalls the kind and thoughtful man she got to know nearly forty years ago as a student in Germany. Bowdoin Professor Boyd met "Jorge Bergoglio" - Pope Francis I, when he was a priest who was among students studying to learn the German language.  Boyd writes: “My acquaintance with Jorge Bergoglio dates back almost forty years, to when we were students together in an intensive German-language program in Germany. He was a kind if reserved classmate in a group of about ten students; only after a week or two did an Italian classmate, now my dearest friend, discover that Jorge was a priest. But, mainly, he was a hard-working student of German, studying like the rest of us, and enjoying the small talk that was ou...

I decided to re-read the sermon given on January 21, 2025, by Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, at the Washington National Cathedral, when she addressed Donald Trump on the first day of his 2025 administration. I blogged about her sermon at the time, reported by me at this link here.  I am delighted to provide this transcript below. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde icon by William Hart McNichols After watching the beautiful funeral litergy for the now laid to rest Pope Francis, delivered by the eloquent Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, in Rome  (at Saint Peter's Basilica), Dean of the College of Cardinals, I knew how both the Cardinal, as an echo to Pope Francis, and Bishop Budde were giving Donald Trump the same message, now delivered in more or less 3D-Stereo.   In fact, the entire world, Christians and people of all faiths as well as those who do not practice any religious tranditions, heard both of these highly educated and enlughtened people of God speak to the need for compa...

Dear Portland Maine Catholic Parishioners, Pope Frances266th occupant of the throne of Saint Peter (b. December 17, 1936 d. April 21, 2025)   - Jorge Mario Bergoglio "Who am I to judge?" On behalf of the parish clergy and staff, we mourn with you on this solemn day. We wanted to share Bishop Ruggieri’s message he sent early today and to let you know that you are welcome to come to the following churches tomorrow during business hours to pray in silence for our Holy Father. St. Mary’s Church 8-4:30 St. Charles Borromeo Church 8-4:30 Our Lady Queen of Peace Church 9-2 The Adoration Chapel at St. John’s Community Center will also be open from 5am-4pm Tuesday. A Message from Bishop Ruggieri on the Passing of Pope Francis My Dear Brothers and Sisters,  The sad news of our Holy Father Francis’ sudden death has saddened me.  Following the reports of his recent hospitalization and slow recovery, I saw his resilience in making the great effort to be present to the Church bot...

Have you ever seen a person come back to life? A beautiful Easter Message! 🦋 Echo opinion by David French published in The New York Times: I don’t mean literally. The Easter miracle of nearly 2,000 years ago✝️ is not so easily replicated.  We don’t have the power to physically raise the dead. Instead, we Christians have faith that death is nothing more than a temporary separation from the people we love. The pain we feel at a funeral is a pain of absence, not the pain of permanent loss. No, I’m talking about something else — the resurrection and redemption when we see a person who is lost to darkness return to the light. It’s the dazzling smile when a young woman gets her one-year coin at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, or it’s in the tears of joy when an estranged husband and wife finally embrace again after repentance and forgiveness. It was a simple call, one that pastors have made countless times in countless churches. Often they’re ignored. The congregation sings its fi...

The Migrants Novena is a way to be in communion with those who have migrated from their land of origin and seek safety and security in a new land. As Holy Mother Church calls us to welcome the stranger among us , we are also called to empathetically share in their plight. During this novena, we pray to our loving and merciful God, who told us from the beginning: “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:34); but we also pray for the intercession of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants. Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850 – 1917) Compassionate Caregiver; Patron Saint of Immigrants. Caring for others was fundamental to Mother Cabrini’s sense of mission; which she began with a profound sense of caring for orphans, for the poor and for immigrants . To her this would have been the highest expression of charity and a true im...