Dear Parishioners,

We are reading from Acts of the Apostles during the Easter season, both in our first reading at daily Mass and at Sunday Mass. This weekend we hear about Peter and the apostles being arrested for the first time by the Sanhedrin. This occurred right after Pentecost when Peter was preaching in the public square. Caiaphas and the religious authorities were not happy, arrested Peter and the apostles, and dismissed the Christians after warning them not to do this again. Peter disobeyed the directive. He went back to preaching and then actually started performing miracles. This led to his second arrest. On this occasion he was miraculously freed from prison by an angel. He did not go and hide, but immediately went back to the public square and started preaching again, which led to his third arrest. He was released by the Sanhedrin, after being flogged, and again warned to desist. He did not. Peter would be arrested in Jerusalem one last time by Herod, before his final journey to Rome where he would eventually be captured, arrested, and executed.

    One can compare the two paths that Peter/the apostles and Caiphas/the sanhedrin take. Both begin with fear. Caiaphas is afraid Jesus is going to take their nation away by forcing the Romans to intervene, and also afraid that Jesus will upend his authority and the entire order. He acts out of this fear and convinces Pilate to crucify Jesus. Peter is afraid for his own safety and security and he denies Jesus. The apostles all flee. But Jesus comes to Peter and the apostles after the Resurrection and gives them the Holy Spirit. He does not do this with Caiaphas. And now their paths diverge. Peter, as we see in these accounts from the Acts of the Apostles, is filled with courage and then generosity and then charity and magnanimity and then wisdom. Caiaphas is filled with jealousy, cynicism, anger, greed, foolishness, and more fear.

    When we are close to God and filled with the Holy Spirit, we “progress,” if you will, in the virtues. Our faith is strengthened. We become more peaceful, more kind, more generous, more of a unifying force. When we are not close to God, we give into fear, anger, despair, unkindness, and we become a divisive force. Peter grew. Caiaphas diminished.

    We see such great signs of growth around us now. Trees and flowers are blossoming, days are getting longer and warmer, baby animals are being born. May we too be filled with the Holy Spirit and grow spiritually.

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After discussing with Fr. John and the staff, we have decided to move the time we offer for the Sacrament of Reconciliation to Thursdays at 5pm. This means we will not have confessions on Tuesdays or Saturdays at OLR. Thank you for your understanding during this time of transition. This is temporary and we hope to bring back expanded confession times in the near future. 

Yours in Christ,

Fr. James Wallace

For the past several years, confessions have been offered 3 days of the week here at Our Lady of Ransom parish. Last year at this time, we had three available priests and they alternated taking on the sacramental responsibility one day per priest per week.

With the loss of two of our three priests, we are down to one priest to absorb the sacramental needs of our parishioners and visitors from other parishes.

For the time being, beginning the Week of May 4, we are reducing our offering of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation to one day each week.

That day will be THURSDAYS from 5:00 – 6:00 pm.

Please make careful note of this change.

This day was chosen because of the availability of confessions in local nearby parishes on Saturdays and other days of the week. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

This is a temporary adjustment to our schedule, we hope to bring back the prior schedule once our new pastor is installed early in 2026.

Thank you for your understanding.