Dear Saints,

We just had our Back to School Night at the parish school. Parents walked the halls, sat in their children’s classrooms, and heard from teachers about the year ahead. Even if you weren’t there, it’s a moment for the whole parish to reflect. As a ministry of the parish, OLMC School and LGA are one of the ways our community hands on the faith and helps form the next generation.

That has me thinking about this Sunday’s Gospel. Jesus tells us plainly: “You cannot serve both God and mammon.” The warning isn’t only about money. It’s about priorities. Where is our energy directed? What do we, as a parish, want to value most?

Back to School Night is a concrete reminder of what matters: not just academics, but the deeper work of forming young people in pursuit of truth, goodness, beauty. That same work belongs to every member of the parish. Each of us, in our own way, helps to set the tone for what we treasure and what we pass on.

This new season is a good chance to take stock. Our mission as a parish is clear: to put Christ at the center, so that worship, formation, and service all flow from him. If we keep that focus, everything else finds its proper place. If we lose it, we risk being scattered and distracted. Let’s continue to be trustworthy in the “little matters,” so that together we may be entrusted with the greater work of making Christ known in Boonton and beyond.

Christ’s Peace,

Father Daniel

δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ