“Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Today’s readings, which present sermons from both Moses and our Lord, are very challenging, aren’t they? The law of our land seems so often to be an expression of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” – but we hear our Lord, Jesus, tell us that this is not good enough. He calls us to take no revenge and cherish no grudge against anyone. We hear Moses […]
It’s been a strange and unusually warm winter, hasn’t it? With the exception of a few extraordinarily frigid days, it’s felt more like spring than winter. Some of you may still be looking for that one, major snow storm but, ready or not, spring is fast approaching. Liturgically, Lent – which means “spring” – is almost here; it starts this week with Ash Wednesday. Just as the natural world is reawakened and renewed every spring, each year, the Church, in her wisdom, offers us this liturgical Season of Lent, a […]
“If you trust in God, you too shall live; he has set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.” Of course, fire burns and destroys; water gives life. Using this very powerful imagery, we hear Sirach in today’s first reading instruct the people of Israel – and us – to trust in God and keep his commandments, for they – and we – will be saved by doing so. Before us are life and death, good and evil, Sirach says. Whichever we choose shall […]
“As often as you did it for one of my least brothers, you did it for me” (Mt 25:40). For the past 65 years, Catholic Charities Appeal has provided assistance for over 12 million people throughout the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. As you can well imagine, this assistance is particularly important at this time while we all face the effects of ongoing inflation. The needy are particularly affected as they struggle to feed their families, care for their aging parents and grandparents and educate their children with special needs in a […]
As you can tell from the color of my face, I just returned last night from my annual winter get-away, much needed after the busy Christmas season here at our wonderful, very active parish. While I was enjoying the sun at the beach in San Martin, I read a new biography of our patron saint, Catherine of Siena. It’s an excellent, critically-written work by Don Brophy, a former editor of the Paulist Press. I highly recommend it. In it, you will read about the many metaphors that St. Catherine used […]
National Catholic Schools Week is an annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. Now entering its 49th anniversary year, it is an opportunity for us to recognize the importance of Catholic education and formation and to celebrate our school that has instructed and formed our children for over 100 years. Our school has enjoyed a strong reputation as an outstanding Catholic elementary school ever since it opened in 1916. It was originally founded to ensure that the Catholic children in this area would receive both an excellent education […]