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St. Mary’s is a Catholic school community that strives for academic, emotional, and spiritual growth for all students.
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ST. MARY’S SCHOOL
Small Classes
Our 10:1 teacher to student ratio provides individualized attention with staff that are dedicated to each and every student’s success.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH & VALUES
SMS instills faith formation and values and provides many community activities and field trips outside of school.
Academic EXCELLENCE
Passionate teachers use creative lessons to inspire students to achieve beyond their expectations
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- THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by to grab a meal served by our 8th graders and their families after the conclusion of Mass!! Our 8th graders are raising money for their class trip and it’s going to be a MAGICAL one! 🏰💫✈️Thank you to Jeff and Kristi Stevens of Stevens Farms for sponsoring our meal today. Without your generosity none of this would be possible!The kiddos were so excited to see so many supporting them. They were eager to jump in and help - from greeting, serving, bagging up plates to go, making drinks for our friends who fellowshipped while they ate to even taking out the trash. We feel as if this was an overwhelming success and will be doing it again! Keep your eyes peeled if you’re interested in our students serving you lunch soon! • There were a few meals left once we were finished. There was a donation made for them but they wanted to have them delivered to others in town. Our students stopped by the police department and the nursing home to share the love. Thank you to that generous donor - what a beautiful example of living a life of virtue. 💜
+JMJ+SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONSfor Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion26th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Sunday, September 27th, 2026The First Reading - Ezekiel 18:25-28Thus says the LORD: You say, "The LORD's way is not fair!" Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die. But if he turns from the wickedness he has committed, he does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.Reflection In context, we discover that the people of Israel whom Ezekiel addresses have adopted a kharma-like concept that one’s fate in life was already determined by the righteousness or wickedness of one’s parents. Thus they quoted a proverb: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” The people of Israel were using this concept to explain their current political, economic, and military setbacks as divine punishment for the faults of the previous generation. “We are experiencing the results of our parent’s behavior.” What is surprising to our modern sensibilities is that this supposed arrangement of reality was considered right and fair by the people of Israel. When Ezekiel tries to preach personal accountability, that each individual receives the punishment or reward for their own actions, the people complain: “Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?” (Ezek 18:19). In fact, it is the doctrine of personal accountability—each judged for his own sins or merit—that the people rebel against when they say: “The Lord’s way is not fair!” What seemed unfair to the people of Israel was particularly the idea that a wicked person could repent, turn to God, and in this way gain life and escape destruction. The possibility of repentance and salvation seemed to be a scandal. The oracle of Ezekiel proclaimed in this Sunday’s Mass is a wake-up call for us to stop blaming other people, particularly the previous generation, for the problems we are in—specifically, our spiritual problems. Ezekiel calls us to take responsibility for our actions, to repent of our sin, to turn to God and receive life.Adults - Is there someone you tend to blame for your problems? How can you address this?Teens - Why is it often hard to take responsibility for our own actions?Kids - How can you work to not blame others for your problems? Responsorial- Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 R.Remember your mercies, O Lord.Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;teach me your paths,guide me in your truth and teach me,for you are God my savior.R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.Remember that your compassion, O LORD,and your love are from of old.The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not;in your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O LORD.R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.Good and upright is the LORD;thus he shows sinners the way.He guides the humble to justice, and teaches the humble his way.R. Remember your mercies, O Lord. Reflection This Psalm calls us, the readers to reflect on the mercy and faithfulness of God. How has God been merciful in your life?The Second Reading- Philippians 2:1-11Brothers and sisters: If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others. Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Reflection - Paul calls us to a participation in the “Spirit” which is characterized by “compassion and mercy.” This is the Spirit of the God who is eager to welcome back the sinner who repents, irrespective of his previous sins or those of his parents. We are called to imitate the selflessness of Christ, who never grasped anything for himself or was jealous of his own privileges, like the first workers from last week’s Gospel. In Christ's perfect and gratuitous gift of himself, even to the point of death, we see God’s abounding mercy perfectly demonstrated. Yet in Christ’s exaltation and glorification at the right hand of the Father, we see God’s justice perfectly displayed, since it is only just that Christ’s self-emptying should be answered with such honor. In this way God’s mercy and justice embrace. -How can you be merciful as Christ is merciful?The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 21:28-32Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not, 'but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, ‘but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him." Reflection Here we are faced with two groups that correspond to the two groups described by Ezekiel in the First Reading: virtuous ones who turn away, and wicked ones who repent. The tax collectors and prostitutes who are entering the Kingdom of God correspond to the son who refused to go into the vineyard at first, but afterward did. The Pharisees correspond to the son who promised to go work, but did not. It’s important to emphasize that the “tax collectors and prostitutes” of whom Jesus speaks are those who repented and changed their lifestyle at the preaching of John the Baptist! Jesus is not saying that their previous lifestyles are compatible with the Kingdom of God. The Pharisees Jesus reprimands were people who had been trained in virtue from their youth, and gave lip service to the principles of morality expressed in the Scripture, but were skilled at finding legalistic loopholes that would permit a lifestyle of self-indulgence, even at the expense of others. Not every Pharisee was like this, however. Jesus indicates that the repentance of notorious public sinners (the tax collectors and prostitutes) should have been a sign of the authenticity of the ministry of John in the eyes of the Pharisees. They should have recognized the principle that “by their fruit you shall know them.” The fruits of repentance brought by John authenticated his ministry. Mother Church is raising her voice at us this Sunday to wake up and not be like the Pharisees. How not to be like a Pharisee? Don’t leave Mass thinking the Gospel wasn’t speaking about you. Maybe we haven’t practiced extortion or or equally heinous sins, but Jesus’ standards are much higher than this, and He knows our hearts. We too, must repent. The Good News is the “mercies” of God, that in order to forgive the repentant, he gives himself completely for us and to us, having taken on the form of a man, then the form of a slave, then the form of bread.Adults - What do you need to repent of in your life? Teens - Who do you know that is a good example of true repentance? Kids - Why is it important to live in the way Jesus teaches?LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! - However, we are still on earth, and while we are the door of God's mercy is wide open to us. If in the past we said, "I will not go into your vineyard", we still have time to reverse that sinful decision. Not only can we with God's grace turn over a new leaf, but we can completely wipe out the sinful pages of our life's story written up to now. We answered the call to God's vineyard by accepting baptism and membership of His Church. If we have grown lax in our fervor and refused to do the tasks allotted to us, we still have time, thanks to God's mercy and patience, to put things right. Today, look into your conscience and see how much of your past life you have given to God and how much you have kept for yourself. If you were called tonight to render an account to the Lord, would the balance sheet be in your favor? Is your corner of the vineyard producing abundant crops, or is it perhaps filling up with weeds, briers and brambles? If the latter, then we will say a heartfelt "Thank you, God, for not calling us to judgment today. We will begin right now to understand our sinful past, so that our corner of your vineyard will be in good order when you do call us. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy. God grant that we shall never abuse it." -Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.