St. Matthew's Sunday 5:30pm Mass on May 15 will be celebrated by Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, in honor of the beatification of John Paul II. All are most welcome to attend this celebration of the pope who reigned for almost 27 years. John Paul II is the subject of Cardinal Wuerl's new book, The Gift of Blessed John Paul II, which explores the spiritual and pastoral wealth of John Paul's writings.(View more on the life and pontificate of John Paul II.

Sunday, May 15 is the 48th World Day of Prayer for Vocations. In his message for this day, Pope Benedict XVI reminds us of the role of prayer in producing vocations: “Vocations to the ministerial priesthood and to the consecrated life are first and foremost the fruit of constant contact with the living God and insistent prayer lifted up to the ‘Lord of the harvest’, whether in parish communities, in Christian families or in groups specifically devoted to prayer for vocations.” Let us pray for all religious, priests and seminarians, and especially for our Archdiocesan seminarians who will be ordained on June 18 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the the Immaculate Conception!  continue “Mass in Honor of Beatification of John Paul II” »