Grace and peace be with you in our Lord Jesus Christ.It is with great joy that we welcome you to the celebration of the Holy Mass. As you gather not only as students but as those discerning, studying, and preparing for service in Christ’s Church, remember that the altar stands at the very heart of your formation. Here, learning becomes prayer, and knowledge is transformed into wisdom through the grace of God.Your time at SFGD is not merely academic—it is deeply spiritual. Each lecture, each reading, and each moment of study finds its true purpose when rooted in the worship of Almighty God. In the Holy Eucharist, you are nourished, strengthened, and conformed more fully to Christ, whom you are called to serve.Be assured of our prayers for you as you continue in your formation. May the Lord guide your minds in truth, your hearts in holiness, and your lives in faithful service to His Church.Welcome, and may this Holy Mass be a source of grace, renewal, and deep communion with God.In Christ’s service,++ MARK

Beloved in Christ,Today, the Church sets before us two luminous passages of Holy Scripture—one from the First Epistle of Saint Peter, and the other from the Gospel according to Saint John. Together, they reveal both who we are and where we are going. They speak to our identity as the people of God, and to the only path by which humanity may come to the Father.Saint Peter tells us: “Come to Him, a living stone, rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.” And our Lord Himself declares: “Let not your hearts be troubled… I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”These are not abstract theological claims. They are the very foundation upon which your life—and mine—must stand.<hr><h3>I. Christ the Living Stone</h3>Saint Peter calls Christ the Living Stone. This is a striking image.In the ancient world, a stone was something fixed, immovable, foundational. Yet Peter dares to say this stone is alive. Why? Because Jesus Christ is not merely a teacher of wisdom or a memory preserved in history. He is the risen Lord—alive, active, reigning.And yet, Peter reminds us: He was rejected.Rejected by the builders. Rejected by the religious authorities. Rejected by the world He came to save.And here is the uncomfortable truth: the world has not changed. Christ is still rejected today—not always with nails and a cross, but with indifference, with relativism, with the quiet exile of God from public and personal life.But God’s judgment overturns the world’s verdict. The stone rejected by men becomes the cornerstone—the very one upon which everything else depends.And this leads us to a profound question: Upon what is your life built?Is it built upon shifting cultural values? Upon personal success? Upon the approval of others? These are sand, not stone.Only Christ is the cornerstone that does not move.<hr><h3>II. You Are Living Stones</h3>But Saint Peter does not stop with Christ. He goes further—astonishingly further.“You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house.”You are not spectators in the Church. You are not passive recipients. You are living stones.Each baptized soul is taken, shaped, and placed by God into a spiritual temple—a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Him through Jesus Christ.This means your life has purpose beyond what the world can see.Your prayers matter. Your faithfulness matters. Your suffering, united to Christ, matters.In an age that often reduces human beings to consumers or statistics, the Gospel restores your dignity: you are part of something eternal.And Peter goes even further:“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people.”Notice the language: chosen, royal, holy, belonging to God.This is not pride—it is vocation.You are chosen not for privilege, but for mission: “That you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”The Church exists to proclaim—to declare—to make known the glory of God.So let me ask you plainly: Does your life proclaim Christ?Not merely in words—but in how you love, how you forgive, how you endure, how you live.<hr><h3>III. “Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled”</h3>Now we turn to the Gospel.Our Lord speaks these words on the night before His Passion. The shadow of the Cross looms large, and the disciples are afraid, confused, uncertain.And Jesus says: “Let not your hearts be troubled.”He does not say this because circumstances are easy. He says it because He is trustworthy.“Believe in God; believe also in Me.”Here is the heart of Christian faith: trust in the Person of Jesus Christ.He goes on: “In My Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you.”This is not poetic metaphor alone. It is a promise.Your life is not a meaningless journey toward nothingness. It is a pilgrimage toward a prepared place—a home in the presence of God.And Christ Himself prepares it.Think about that: the same Lord who formed the heavens is preparing a place for you.<hr><h3>IV. “I Am the Way”</h3>Thomas, in his honesty, asks the question many are afraid to voice:“Lord, we do not know where You are going; how can we know the way?”And Jesus gives one of the most definitive statements in all of Scripture:“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”Not a way. Not one option among many. But the way.In an age that prizes pluralism and resists exclusivity, these words confront us.Christianity is not merely a philosophy. It is not simply moral teaching. It is not one path among many spiritual options.It is a Person—Jesus Christ.To know Him is to know the way. To reject Him is to remain lost.This is not arrogance; it is revelation.And it places upon the Church—and upon each of us—a solemn responsibility: to bear witness to Christ clearly, faithfully, and without compromise.<hr><h3>V. “He Who Has Seen Me Has Seen the Father”</h3>Philip asks, “Lord, show us the Father.”And Jesus responds with a gentle but firm correction:“He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”Here is the fullness of divine revelation.God is not distant, abstract, or unknowable. He has made Himself known in the face of Jesus Christ.If you want to know what God is like—look to Christ.Look at His mercy toward sinners. Look at His compassion for the suffering. Look at His authority over evil. Look at His sacrifice upon the Cross.This is the heart of God.<hr><h3>VI. The Greater Works</h3>And then comes a statement that almost seems too great to comprehend:“He who believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do.”How can this be?Not greater in power than Christ—but greater in scope.Through the Church—through you—the Gospel goes forth into all the world. Lives are transformed, souls are saved, the Kingdom expands.Christ works through His Body.Which brings us full circle: you are living stones in that Body, called to participate in His mission.<hr><h3>Conclusion: Come to the Living Stone</h3>Beloved,We stand at the intersection of identity and destiny.You are living stones—chosen, holy, set apart. And Christ is the way—leading you to the Father.So come to Him.Come to Him in faith. Come to Him in repentance. Come to Him in the Holy Eucharist. Come to Him not once, but daily.Build your life upon the cornerstone that cannot be shaken.And then go forth—not as those who are lost or uncertain—but as those who know the Way, who live in the Truth, and who share in the Life.

ALMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith. THOU shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.

Almighty ever-living God, constantly accomplish the Paschal Mystery within us, that those you were pleased to make new in Holy Baptism may, under your protective care, bear much fruit and come to the joys of life eternal. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

A READING FROM ST. PETERS FIRST EPISTLE<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" class="text-primary underline" href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1peter/2?4">1 Peter 2:4-9</a>Beloved: Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it says in Scripture: Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame. Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and A stone that will make people stumble, and a rock that will make them fall. They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny. You are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.THE WORD OF THE LORDTHANKS BE TO GOD &nbsp;

THE HOLY GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ACORDING TO ST JOHNGLORY BE TO THEE O LORD<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" class="text-primary underline" href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/14?1">John 14:1-12</a>Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way." Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him." Philip said to him, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these because I am going to the Father."THE HOLY GOSPELPRAISE BE TO THEE O CHRIST &nbsp;

I BELIEVE in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible: And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God; Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God; Begotten, not made; Being of one substance with the Father; By whom all things were made: Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, And was made man: And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried: And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures: And ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of the Father: And he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the Prophets: And I believe one Catholic and Apostolic Church: I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins: And I look for the Resurrection of the dead: And the Life of the world to come. Amen.

ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men; We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, By thought, word, and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty, Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, And are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; The remembrance of them is grievous unto us; The burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, Forgive us all that is past; And grant that we may ever hereafter Serve and please thee In newness of life, To the honour and glory of thy Name; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lift up your hearts. We lift them up unto the Lord. Let us give thanks unto our Lord God. It is meet and right so to do

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, Lord God of, hosts, Heaven and earth are full of thy glory: Glory be to thee, O Lord Most High. Amen.

OUR Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

ALMIGHTY and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee, for that thou dost vouchsafe to feed us who have duly received these holy mysteries with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us; and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, which is the blessed company of all faithful people; and are also heirs through hope of thy everlasting kingdom, by the merits of his most precious death and passion. And we humbly beseech thee, O heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

The North American English Rite Catholic Church Bulletin