For unto us a child is born

Advent is a time of anticipation. We wait, marking the passage of time with our Advent candles, counting the days. Drawing closer to Bethlehem. This year has felt more Lent than Advent, but it has been a time of waiting, a year of mandated patience.

VIDEO: Giving thanks and praying for all of you — A new message from...

Bishop Olmsted urges us to keep our loved ones close to our heart this Thanksgiving, and offers up some practical tips to help prepare our hearts and minds to welcome the Lord as we enter into the Season of Advent.

Guest Commentary: How to approach the McCarrick report

The release of the McCarrick report is a significant undertaking and milestone for the church. We fervently pray that its release will begin the healing so desperately needed by the universal and American church and that it will help restore faith in members of the hierarchy and the greater institutional church.

VIDEO: Bishop Olmsted reflects on the value of a Catholic education

Catholic schools are a great gift for our young people and their parents. Growing up, Bishop Olmsted went to a small country school with just a few students — and he and his family were the only Catholics! It was a good community and he has wonderful memories, but when he experienced Catholic education, upon entering the seminary, he was amazed at the richness of the Catholic intellectual heritage began to realize how much he had missed.

VIDEO: The Rosary, weapon for peace

In this new message, Bishop Olmsted tells us that when we pray the Rosary and spend time in the presence of Jesus and Mary, we grow in freedom from selfishness and become freer for the worship of God and love of our neighbor. While struggling against constant attacks by the Evil One, we look with hope to the Redemptive suffering and death of Jesus, and find ready assistance in the intercession of His Beloved Mother.

VIDEO: Being Healthy, Smart and Holy in the New School Year – A Message...

Watch and Like this message from Bishop Olmsted as we prepare to resume in-classroom learning, and be sure to Share it with your family and friends!

Bishop Olmsted Appeals on Behalf of the Suffering People of Lebanon

Life is never easy in Lebanon. In addition to COVID-19, the city of Beirut has suffered an explosion that has changed the lives of thousands.

Communion in a time of farewells

The present moment, defined by a pandemic and a growing awareness about disturbing dynamics in our society that cut human lives short, demands that we talk about farewells, and do so with Catholic faith.

Post-graduation lessons from the plague year

It seems as if there are two kinds of graduation narratives for what happens after young collegians toast each other, flip their tassels and head out to take on the world.

Pentecost: Know forgiveness, know peace; no forgiveness, no peace

“Peace be with you,” Jesus says in the Gospel reading for Pentecost Sunday (Jn 20:19). Peace — as in harmony, or even as in a lack of noise — is not exactly plentiful these days. Certainly not in an election year, when cacophony seems to be the (dis)order of the day.