THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA PLANNING STUDY SURVEY RESULTS
You may recall that everyone throughout the archdiocese was recently invited to participate in a planning study survey. This was the latest chapter in the ongoing initiative that Archbishop Nelson Peréz introduced in the spring of 2023 to plan for the future of our archdiocese. At that time, Abp. Peréz sent to all the priests of the archdiocese a book entitled From Christendom to Apostolic Mission and asked us to read and reflect on it in preparation for a series of meetings to discuss his vision for our archdiocese. Since […]
SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; …and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Can you imagine the wheels turning in the minds of that first audience who heard the message that we just heard in today’s Gospel. His disciples, faithful Jews, were probably familiar with the manna and quail that God sent his people in the desert; we heard about that in today’s first reading. But wait, what? Did he […]
THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST
“Jesus said to the crowds: ‘I am the living bread come down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.’” (Jn. 6:51). Last week, we explored the central mystery of the Church as we celebrated the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Today, we celebrate another important mystery of our faith: the magnificent gift of the body and blood of Christ given to us to remind us of his continued presence in our […]
TRINITY SUNDAY
John 3:16 – the first verse of the gospel passage we just heard – is a very popular Bible verse. You see the numbers on T-shirts and on billboards, especially if you drive through some of the states to our south. Sometimes you even see the verse: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” It is, indeed, a very popular slogan. And, when we really listen to it with open hearts, […]
MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS/TRINITY SUNDAY
MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS
Last Monday, Pope Leo XIV promulgated his first encyclical letter. Entitled Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence, it acknowledges familiar concerns about AI, including job insecurity, manipulation of information, privacy violations, ideological bias, autonomous weapons, and a futuristic vision of an “enhanced human being.” But Pope Leo identifies a deeper danger: that human beings may begin to see themselves and others as projects “to be optimized” (§112). The title, Latin for “magnificent humanity,” points to the document’s teaching that no […]
PENTECOST SUNDAY
We all know that Pentecost marks the birthday of the Church. Birthdays are a time of celebration and recognition of our beginnings. They are times to reflect on our identity: what makes us who we are. Our readings today reveal important aspects of who we are as a Church.
In the first reading, we hear the Holy Spirit described as a strong driving wind that fills an entire house. Imagine the power of this moment. It is inescapable and full of energy. With a noise like a strong driving wind, and […]
PENTECOST SUNDAY
PENTECOST SUNDAY
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. (Acts 2:1-4)
With this dramatic description, we […]