This is certainly an exciting time in the Church, isn’t it!?! We have a new pope and he’s an American with local roots. As I’m sure you have all heard, he studied right down the road at Villanova University. He may even have come to Mass here! We rejoice and pray that God will give him the strength to be the Good Shepherd who leads the entire Catholic Church ever closer to God.
And, it’s also very exciting for us here in the local Church of St. Katharine of Siena […]
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers of the parish and the mothers of all our parishioners! We all know how important our mothers have been to us as we grew up and so we join with our nation in honoring them today. Mother’s Day is not part of the Church’s liturgical calendar. In fact, liturgical directives state that “this secular observance must in no way diminish the primary focus of Sunday as the celebration of the paschal mystery.” Yet, this national holiday allows an opportunity to […]
It’s so good to see you children who are about to receive Holy Communion for the first time, all dressed up and excited. I’m delighted that so many members of your family are here, as well, and I hope you know that all of us – everyone here at Mass – is praying for you as you take this important step in being even more a part of our worshiping community. We have this wonderful tradition here in our parish of celebrating First Holy Communion at the regularly scheduled Sunday […]
As we continue experiencing a rather unusual time in the Church between the death of Pope Francis and the election of a new pope, allow me to provide you with a step-by-step overview of how the Church operates during this time. Over the 2,000 years of its existence, the Catholic Church has developed laws, regulations and protocols to order its life; the time of the sede vacante (vacant seat) and the upcoming conclave are no exception. This period of time has been regulated over the past 30 years by the […]
“Peace be with you.” Three times in today’s Gospel, we hear the risen Lord assure his disciples with these comforting words: “Peace be with you.” And, although this greeting of peace, “Shalom,” was a common expression among the Jewish people of his day – as it still is today – it had taken on a much deeper meaning for the followers of Jesus who had just gone through three days filled with anything but peace. It made them remember our Lord’s words of encouragement to them just a few days […]
HAPPY EASTER! As we bring the Octave of Easter to its conclusion, know that I have kept you in my prayers all week, that you may experience ever more fully the joy of the Resurrection. Today is also Divine Mercy Sunday. How appropriate it is to celebrate our Lord’s mercy as we say farewell to Pope Francis whose years of ministry as our Holy Father were highlighted by his preaching on mercy both in word and deed. Who can forget the first Good Friday that he celebrated as pope. Rather […]
So, when did the apostles know? This question seems inevitable in meditating upon Jesus’ Resurrection and the fullness of joy it brings. The gospel readings give us important hints. During last night’s vigil Mass, we heard a passage from the Gospel of Luke where we heard that, after Peter ran to the tomb and saw the burial cloths alone, he went home amazed at what had happened. Did he really know yet? In the gospel passage from John that we heard today – we heard about that the other disciple […]