Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Parish Family & Friends,

If you were to walk into the parish office at noon on a weekday, you might notice a slight pause in the day’s busyness. Phones are momentarily unanswered, emails left in draft. Why? Because recently the staff has taken up the practice of praying the Angelus together at noon. It’s a simple but powerful tradition, and one I’d like to commend to you.

The Angelus is an ancient devotional prayer that recalls the Annunciation, the moment when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced she would bear the Son of God. It’s traditionally prayed at three points throughout the day: 6 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m. These brief moments are meant to sanctify the day and draw us back, again and again, to the mystery of the Incarnation: that God became man and dwelt among us. This mystery lies at the heart of our faith, and the Angelus helps keep it there in our daily lives.

You’ll notice on the cover of this week’s bulletin a well-known painting by Jean-François Millet titled The Angelus. It depicts a man and woman pausing from their work. Having heard the bells of the church (note the small, humble church in the background), they stop to pray the evening Angelus. There’s no angel in sight, at least not visibly, but their posture and the stillness of the moment point to something beyond the canvas. That’s the beauty of the Angelus. It doesn’t interrupt life so much as refocus it.

We live in a world always pushing us toward the next task, the next appointment, the next notification. The Angelus is a gentle invitation to stop and remember that everything in our lives is oriented toward a deeper reality: the Word became flesh, and that changes everything. Whether you’re able to pray it at the traditional times or simply once a day, I encourage you to consider taking up this practice in your own home, workplace, or school. Perhaps it becomes your prayer of grace before your midday meal.

It only takes a few minutes, but it can reframe your whole day in light of God’s

presence with us. Let’s be people who remember, even in the middle of work,

that “the Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,” and everything changed.

Peace,

Fr. Kennell

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