Next Sunday, 21 October, I will celebrate the Sunday Mass at St. Martin de Porres, our sister parish. It is always a pleasure to take part in their lively celebration and I invite you to join me there! This year will be special because it is the 25th anniversary of this parish. Don’t be fooled, though; the parish has a long history – almost as long as ours. Allow me to explain. The church was originally called St. Columba, founded in 1895 (two years after our parish was founded) by Irish Catholic immigrants who had settled there. This parish thrived for many decades but, like so many areas in our Archdiocese, this area has undergone significant change in the past century. As the neighborhood changed, St. Columba parish was combined with two other parishes: St. Mary of the Eternal (a nearby Italian National parish that had been founded in 1911 and closed in 1976) and Corpus Christi (another nearby parish founded in 1912 that closed in 1987). These three parishes became St. Martin de Porres Parish in 1993. Today, it is an energetic community of believers who provide a beacon of hope to all in their neighborhood. For those of you who are not familiar with St. Martin de Porres parish, it is a faith-filled, predominantly African American community in North Philadelphia that is proud of its Catholic faith and eager to share it with others.
Our relationship with this parish began in 1991, in response to a call from Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua (who was then the Ordinary of our Archdiocese) to parishes in more affluent neighborhoods to join a partnership with a “sister parish” in the inner city for mutual benefit. For the past 27 years, our parish has enjoyed a special relationship with our fellow Catholics who live around 24th Street and Lehigh Avenue in Philadelphia and join with them this year in celebrating the 25th anniversary of their parish!
We also continue to have strong ties with St. Martin de Porres Independent Mission School which was born out of the parish school. Facing closure due to decreased enrollment and financial troubles, St. Martin de Porres Parochial School became an independent Catholic school in 2011 under the management and financial responsibility of Friends of St. Martin de Porres. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which had worked closely with this newly-reconfigured school at its foundation, continues to provide curriculum support. The school currently has an enrollment of 498 students from kindergarten to eighth grade. Although only about 10% of the students are Catholic, 80% of its graduates attend Catholic high schools. The school has done so well, in fact, that it continues to be a model for the 14 other Independent Mission Schools that have been established throughout the Archdiocese. And, much of its success is due to the courageous and farsighted leadership that a handful of our parishioners have provided – along with their outstanding financial support – and the generous financial assistance that our parish continues to provide throughout the year.
Those of you who are familiar with the neighborhood of 24th and Lehigh know that most of the people living there have rather limited financial resources and face many challenges as they try to raise their families. And, although they live just 20 miles from us, they live in a culture that is different from ours in so many ways. Additionally, although they are fellow Catholics, they also express their faith in ways that are unfamiliar to some of us, especially in their music, which is often rather lively. So, our ongoing relationship with them enriches both us and them in many ways as we share our lives and faith experiences. Next Sunday, members of our adult choir, led by Jeremy Triplett, will join the St. Martin de Porres choir in leading the congregation in song. Mrs. Beth Stone, our parish St. Martin de Porres coordinator, has arranged to have a bus leave from our school parking lot at 9:00am; it will return there after we enjoy some refreshments with the St. Martin de Porres parishioners following the 10:00am Mass. Last year, about 30 parishioners joined me; I hope that even more will come this year! If you would like to reserve a seat on the bus, please contact Beth Stone at bethclarestone@yahoo.com. I hope you can join me as we joyfully share our faith with the members of our sister parish!