Little Flower Catholic Church Blog

Join us at Little Flower Catholic Church at 6pm on December 11th for our Advent Penance Service. We will have six priests available to hear confessions, and they will remain in the church as long as people are still coming. Sin is to the soul what disease is to the body and forgiveness is the Divine operation that heals. Advent is a beautiful time to receive the Sacrament of Penance, as we prepare our souls

On the heels of our beautiful parish celebration of St. Thérèse, our Patroness, we arrive today at the feast of All Saints and the beginning of November! These indeed have been days of great joy for our parish family. First and foremost, the saints (and especially St. Thérèse) remind us that happiness and fulfillment are within reach for all God’s children.  Since St. Thérèse promised to spend her heaven doing good on earth, let us

“For me, prayer is the heart’s impulse, a simple gaze towards heaven.” -St. Thérèse When I was in High School, I saved up my money to see a movie with my younger sister on the weekends.  One day, I saw an advertisement for movie simply called “Thérèse”.  At the time, I had no idea what the movie was all about; it just looked vaguely religious.  So I went and found out that it was the story of Thérèse

The Rite of Christian Initiation of adults (RCIA) is a process developed by the Catholic Church for prospective converts to Catholicism  who are above the age of infant baptism. Candidates are gradually introduced to aspects of Catholic beliefs and practices.   The ideal is for there to be an RCIA process available in every Roman Catholic parish.  Those who want to join an RCIA group or class should aim to attend one in the parish where they live.   For those

Dear Parishioners of Little Flower, As many of you have already heard, I was recently accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee.  This decision was a long time in coming.  However, it is important to note that this step is one of discernment as I pursue this potential calling.   Thank you for your support throughout the years, especially in the many ways you have helped to show Christ to our young people during these past

Hello! We hope that everyone is preparing for a fun summer. Your children have worked very hard all year and are excited summer is finally here. The Little Flower VBS team is also excited to announce and invite you and your children to our VBS event!  Vacation Bible School is June 24th to 28th from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm, and our 2019 theme is “ROAR: Life is Wild, God is Good”!  This epic African adventure is sure

Please take a moment to watch Bishop Bill’s address to the diocese by clicking here. After serving 18 months as Bishop, he shares his insights on some challenges and opportunities that we are currently facing. We encourage you to share the video with your friends, fellow parishioners and through social media.

Time is an important concept in the Christian life.  In the beginning was the Word. God created the world in 7 days.  The book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament is a meditation on the meaning of our time and God’s time.  In the book of Revelation God reminds us that he is “The Alpha and the Omega . . . the beginning and the end.” (Rev 22:13).   As we come the end of another

Dear Little Flower parish, Peace! When I made my first pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2000 (which was the Jubilee Year), I had the chance to concelebrate at the mass of Saint Pope John Paul II. I was also fortunate to see places connected with our Savior. I stood in silent wonder at the River Jordan where our Lord was baptized, contemplating the value and significance of that moment. Since ancient times, Baptism has

We wanted to take a moment to introduce the nursing ministry here at Little Flower Catholic Church, their history, and how you can benefit from the generosity of these skilled nurses. Beginning in the early 90’s as “Parish Nurse Ministry” In the late 1990s, Cindy Castellano RN introduced a program called Parish Nurse Ministry through Sacred Heart Hospital with Father Holley’s approval.   Cindy was the first Coordinator and she had four founding members –

We invite the entire parish to the Passion Play this Friday, March 22nd at 7PM in the school cafeteria to meditate on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his great love for us all. When I was in the third grade at Little Flower School, my teacher, the late Mrs. Ruth Stewart, described the liturgies of the Holy Triduum by saying that these special rites “reenacted” the key moments from the final hours of the

Dear Friends, The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary reflect on moments in the Passion of Christ that we will recall during this season of Lent (the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, the Crucifixion and Death), but through the heart of Our Lady. Much like the Israelites in the desert, or the fleeing disciples of Jesus on Good Friday, we are tempted to withdraw from struggle,

Dear Men of Little Flower Catholic Church, The Men of Saint Joseph movement has been around for a while.  It was the brain child of a parish priest who wanted to get men, primarily young men with families, involved in a process of spiritual growth.  A process and a devotion that they could use to help them become better husbands and fathers over time.  The challenge was how to reach men that were already very busy with

Dear Little Flower Family, With excitement, I am pleased to present the names and biographies of the 12 parishioners you have nominated as candidates for our Pastoral Council. As you know, we have not had a Pastoral Council in the parish since the 90’s, so the formation of this advisory council is both long overdue and greatly anticipated. Through the “yes” of those nominated, the clergy will gain a better pulse of what is happening

Dear Parishioners of Little Flower, We recently brought eight members of P.A.C.K., our Parish Youth Group, on a service trip to help those affected by Hurricane Michael. After driving the 2.5 hours to Panama City, the focus of the day was simple: to be onsite at St. Dominic Catholic Church and help those affected, and still struggling, from the immense damage caused by the recent Hurricane Michael. The eight youth of the parish that went were

Dear Little Flower Parish Family, Since we all can’t get enough of election season, now seems an appropriate time to form a new Pastoral Council for Little Flower. Canon Law, which dictates the governance of the Church, states that each bishop may legislate the formation of a pastoral council for parishes in his diocese (CIC, can. 536). Bishop Ricard promulgated such norms for all the parishes of our diocese in January 2004. Upon my arrival,

The St. Teresa Mission, now serving about 250-300 families per month, had a humble origin. Our initial response to the needs of our local brothers and sisters was serving donated clothing from the trunk of a car on parish grounds. The arrival of Msgr. Crawford in the 90’s was the impetus for a building structure and formal process to help the needy. Now, in 2018, the Mission not only offers clothing, shoes, household goods, but food

Dear St. Therese Festival 2018 Committee Heads and Members, Volunteers, Entertainers, Sponsors, Donors, School Administrators, Parents and Students, Parishioners and guests, Peace of Christ! We wish that this letter finds you in the best of health.  Here’s to express to you our sincerest gratitude for the wonderful Festival which we spent together last 21st October 2018.  The festive occasion beckoned for the get-together.  It was a joy that parishioners and families spent such quality time

On October 14th, 2018, the Little Flower Citywide Pro-Life Committee hosted its annual Alpha Center Baby Shower and Fundraiser. We collected donations throughout the month of September. We would like to thank all of our generous donors. Because of you, we were able to donate about 3,000 diapers, 24 Pack n’ Plays which can be used as cribs, hundreds of baby clothes/items and several hundred dollars in monetary donations – 100% of donations were given

Dear Friends, Update: October 17th The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee in collaboration with Catholic Charities of NW Florida are seeking volunteers. As you may know, two-thirds of the diocese was majorly impacted by Hurricane Michael. We are in need of 50 volunteers, seven days a week, for several months to help with distribution at St. Dominic Catholic Church to assist in distributing water, basic supplies and unloading trucks. The water and supplies mentioned are going directly to

Dear Parishioners and Guests of Little Flower Catholic Church, Peace of Christ! This is to respectfully inform you that the Little Flower Catholic Church and School in Pensacola will celebrate its first ever St. Thérèse Festival on Sunday, the 21st of October 2018.  We will be very honored if you can celebrate with us the feast of our patroness, St. Thérèse of the Little Flower.  There will be religious activities both in the church and in

There is a story of a little girl and, much like other Catholic kids her age, she grew up in a Catholic home, learning her prayers and devotions, and went to her religion classes at her parish Church. She really understood at a young age the goal of what Catholic education is really about: that we are in a relationship with a loving God and the goal of life is to become holy, to be

Peace of Christ! Sometime in August, Fr. Matt requested me to spearhead the the first ever St. Thérèse Festival in October 2018 for the benefit of the church and school. Somehow this gesture gave me an impression that he trusts my pastoral experience in Texas.Even if there are only 2 limited months to prepare for this big event the vision of the church has encouraged me to do better knowing that my pastor and the

Peace of Christ! I’m extremely grateful to Fr Matthew Worthen, Pastor of Little Flower Catholic Church, for sharing with me his plans and visions for the parish. He is so inspiring and so encouraging. I pray that in my simple capacity as parochial vicar I may be able to assist him fulfill those endeavors, visions and plans. I feel so elated when he assigned me to take care of the RCIA program for the parish.

We are very happy to welcome Fr. Alberic Lazera, O.S.B. to our Little Flower Catholic Church and School family here in Pensacola, FL. We know many of you have already had the opportunity to meet him, but we asked him to share a bit about his journey with us, and how God has brought him here for ministry. Monastic Calling I am Fr. Alberic Lazerna, OSB and I belong to the Benedictine Order. It was

The Parish Religious Education program provides formal religious instruction and formation for the children of Little Flower Parish who do not attend a Catholic day school. The program seeks to form the children into faithful Disciples of Christ. The program hopes to encourage participants to have a personal relationship with Jesus, a love of the scriptures, an understanding of the creed, an ability to make good moral decisions, active participation in the sacramental life of the

PACK stands for “People Aiming for Christ’s Kingdom” and is the high school ministry of Little Flower Parish, open to all teenagers from the ninth through twelfth grades. During the school year, we generally meet most Sundays at 5 PM. The agendas for our meetings vary greatly but usually incorporate prayer, catechesis, and fun games. Our activities are not limited to Sunday nights, however. We host a variety of social events such as bowling nights,

Dear Little Flower Parish, My name is Chris Holcomb, and, as most of you know, I am the youth minister here at Little Flower. My family have been members of this parish for thirty years, and I grew up in Pensacola, graduating from both Little Flower School and Catholic High School. After studying mathematics and theology at Spring Hill College in Mobile, I returned to Pensacola as a youth minister at Holy Spirit Parish before

Today is a great day of celebration! Fr. Matthew Worthen is celebrating seven years of priestly ministry for the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. A little bit about his history… Fr. Matt Worthen was ordained a priest of the diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee in 2011. His first assignment was at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart where he served with both Msgr. Michael Reed and then later Fr. James Valenzuela. He first arrived at Little Flower Catholic Church in the

Here at Little Flower Parish we have a community of thirty-five of our young folks supporting us in the ministry of Altar Server. Included in that number are boys and girls in the third grade all the way through high school. Many began their service just after receiving their first Holy Communion and have faithfully served well into their high school years. We see them at every weekend and special liturgy we celebrate as a parish,

When I recently asked some of our youth why they attend PACK, the answer I received over and over again was that they wish to grow in their faith. Luke Lonergan said, “I come to youth group for group-based soul-searching.” Alyssa Pham emphasized that it’s fun but also provides an opportunity to grown in her faith whereas Jarrett Tindall enjoys participating in his faith life. Perhaps Nancy Cruz puts it best: “PACK is a place

Dear Brothers and Sisters, It is easy for me to say that this parish community has welcomed me in a manner far greater than I expected and has always supported me in the many ministries in which I’ve been involved.  Additionally over the past two years I have, together with Father Matt and some parish representatives, participated in what is known as “The Amazing Parish” process. As a small leadership group we have participated in two

The ministry of Sacristan at Little Flower Parish is a busy one, an often invisible one, but a crucial one. Every liturgy is made possible by the preparation and planning that happens behind the scenes by our faithful parishioners and volunteers. Let’s hear a little about Al and Lou, sacristans at Little Flower. Al came into the Catholic Church in 2011 through the RCIA process. A Methodist by birth, Al remembers his preparation for his

It is my great honor to announce that Bishop Bill Wack recently sent me a letter naming me Pastor of Little Flower Church and School. After a year and a half assigned here, it brings me great joy to know that I will be here for another six years. This promise of stability, along with your continued prayers and help, gives me great hope that the parishioners of Little Flower will continue to be formed as Missionary Disciples of