Father Kris Stubna's Blog

Saint Ignatius of Loyola was a man destined for fame and glory.  The youngest of 11 children, his parents dedicated him to the service of the Church, a customary practice at the time.  But Ignatius had other ideas and soon was trained for the knighthood, for battle and triumph.   God had other plans.  He was wounded severely when a cannonball tore apart his leg.  It was during his convalescence that he began to read in earnest the life of Jesus and the lives of the saints.  Reportedly he had a vision of the Blessed Mother with the child Jesus and his conversion led to a life dedicated to God and the Church.  Soon he was giving away his wealth to the poor, living on the kindness of others, and deepening a life a solitude and prayer.   Ignatius writes that those were the happiest days of his life.  He experienced true peace and great joy in his decision to give himself over to God completely. He undertook the study of philosophy and theol...

This has been a disturbing, disheartening and frightening few weeks for Catholics – as it should be for people of all faiths.  A series of arson and vandalism attacks have been sustained by Catholic Churches and their property across the United States.   Many people probably know nothing about this troubling trend in our country because the media outlets have been eerily silent.   Why do hear nothing about these insidious attacks on our deeply held faith beliefs and traditions?   Even the Ancient Order of the Hibernians, the United States' oldest Irish association, has questioned the "deafening media silence" over the attacks and whether the media "has double standards of newsworthiness when intolerance targets Catholics." On July 10, the Diocese of Brooklyn announced that a statue of the Virgin Mary at Cathedral Prep School and Seminary in Queens had been attacked. According to the Catholic Register , security footage shows "an indi...

As a seminarian I had the joy of visiting Mount Carmel   - the biblical place where the prophet Elijah dwelt and where devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel began.   Her feast day is today, July 16.   Mount Carmel rises 1,742 feet above sea level and towers above Israel’s Mediterranean coastline.  It was here where Elijah prayed to God for the salvation of Israel, which was suffering a terrible drought at the time.  He continued to pray and sent his servant up the mountain several times to look for rain.  On the seventh try, Elijah’s servant returned with good news.  “Behold a little cloud arose out of the sea like a man’s foot” (1 Kings 1:44).  Soon thereafter, torrential rains fell upon the parched land and the people of Israel were saved.  Elijah saw the cloud as a symbol of the Virgin mentioned in the prophecies of Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14).  The hermits who lived on Mount Carmel followed Elijah’s example and prayed for the advent of ...

Today is a day of great joy for all of us in the Greenfield, Hazelwood, and Oakland communities.  We have been on a journey these past several years with our gazed focused on one goal: to join our four parishes together into one community of faith.  Today marks both the culmination of that process and a new beginning.  Saint Paul Cathedral parish begins its service today to the faithful in our three neighborhoods and to all of God's people in our communities. We bring with us all the history, legacy, tradition and faith of our ancestors and all that has gone before us.  Our roots will always be honored and treasured.  But we have the wonderful opportunity of beginning something new.  Nothing in life stays the same.  Change is always difficult but brings with it many graces and blessings.  We must now work together as one parish family to serve the faithful in our three neighborhoods:  Greenfield, Hazelwood and Oakland.  I invite eve...