Join us this Advent for our Advent Missions! The Advent Missions in English will take place on Sunday, December 7 and Monday, December 22 and 7:00pm.

Las Misiones de Adviento en español se llevarán a cabo el martes 15 de diciembre y el miércoles 16 de diciembre a las 6:00 pm.

"From Fragmentation to Fullness: The New Birth of Christ in Us.”

Fr. Diego Menniti
December 7, 7:00pm

Fr. Diego Menniti, a priest of the Archdiocese of Catanzaro-Squillace (Calabria, Italy), was ordained on June 27, 2015. He pursued his philosophical and theological studies in Calabria before earning a Licentiate in Social Moral Theology with a specialization in Bioethics (S.Th.L.) in 2016.

Recognized for his leadership, he was appointed by the Regional Catholic Bishops Conference to oversee the Preparatory Year at the Pontifical Regional Seminary “S. Pio X” of Catanzaro during the 2017-2018 academic year.

Fr. Menniti deepened his expertise in bioethics internationally, earning a Master of Arts in Bioethics from Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles, California) in 2020, followed by a Doctorate in Bioethics (D. Be) from Loyola University Chicago in 2023. His doctoral research integrates theology, bioethics, and contemporary ethical challenges, solidifying his authority in the field.

Since April 2024, he has been serving at St. Kilian Catholic Church in Mission Viejo, in the Diocese of Orange, California.

Fr. Menniti is fluent in Italian, English, and Spanish, with reading proficiency in Classical Greek and Latin. His academic and pastoral work reflect a commitment to ethical discourse, theological scholarship, and the moral formation of both clergy and laity.

 "The True Meaning of Christmas: The Birth of Jesus and the Origins of the Season"

Dr. Michael Barber

December 22, 7:00pm

Michael Patrick Barber is Professor of Sacred Scripture and Theology. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and publications, including, The Historical Jesus and the Temple: Memory, Methodology, and the Gospel of Matthew (Cambridge University Press, 2023; with a Foreword from Dale C. Allison, Jr.) and Paul, A New Covenant Jew: Rethinking Pauline Theology (Eerdmans, 2019), co-written with Brant Pitre and John Kincaid (with a Foreword from Michael J. Gorman).

He is an active member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Catholic Biblical Association. In addition to his teaching and academic research, Dr. Barber has written public-facing works, most recently, The True Meaning of Christmas: The Birth of Jesus and the Origins of the Season (Augustine Institute Press, 2021; Foreword by John Cavadini). For more about his work, see his page on Academia.edu. He also writes for the website, TheSacredPage.com, and can be found on Twitter (@MichaelPBarber).