We begin on Sunday the week that we appropriately call Holy Week, when our Lord Jesus, the Holy Son of God, comes to Jerusalem where he is first hailed as the Son of David, and the Prophet and then is tried as a criminal in a sham trial orchestrated by the Jewish leaders, only to be scourged and crucified. For the Jewish leaders of his time, it was just to get rid of a trouble maker. But, as I hope you have come to learn, this was all part of […]
PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS (PART III)
On Thursday, the Parish Pastoral Council will meet with the candidates who were nominated to fill the four Council positions that will become vacant in May. Almost 30 parishioners were nominated and I want to take this opportunity to thank those who submitted nominations and to encourage those who were nominated for the Council to prayerfully consider this call to serve our parish in this unique ministry. It is, indeed, an important one as the Pastoral Council offers me invaluable insight and counsel in the […]
1 Samuel 16:1b, 6 – 7, 10 – 13a
This Sunday, we hear the very interesting account of the selection of David to replace Saul as king of Israel. First of all, we remember that 1 Sam is part of the Historical Books of the Bible, presented in its final edited form probably at the end of the 7th century BC. It is called Samuel because it focuses on Samuel, the last judge of Israel, who was called by God to anoint both the first and second kings of Israel. The […]
Exodus 17:3 – 7
This Sunday, we hear the well-known account of God providing water from the rock for the disgruntled Israelites in the desert. As we recall from the first 14 chapters of this book, they had escaped the Egyptians and had spent a little over a month in the desert before they complained about having no food. In chapter 16, we hear them complain about having no food and how God provides them with manna and quail (cf. 16:1 – 3, 13 – 15). Then, they moved on to […]
Ever since missionary priests accompanied the Spanish conquistadors in the 15th century, the Catholic faith has spread throughout Latin America. Many of the people are faith-filled but the needs in this region of the world are great and can often seem insurmountable. For more than 50 years, the annual Collection for the Church in Latin America has been a way for Catholics in the United States to unite more closely with our brothers and sisters in faith throughout Latin America and the Caribbean through supporting diocesan pastoral catechetical and family […]
Nominations for Our Parish Pastoral Council – part II
As I noted in last week’s Parish Bulletin, it’s time to elect four new members for our Parish Pastoral Council. As you consider who to nominate, allow me to provide a little more information on the purpose and role of a Parish Pastoral Council. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia Rationale, Principles and Guidelines for Parish Pastoral Councils, the document that I mentioned last week, offers a good summary:
The general function of the Parish Pastoral Council is to advise the Pastor in those pastoral […]
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 […]
“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 […]
Sirach 15:15 – 20
We don’t often hear from the Book of Sirach. It is always the first reading on the Feast of the Holy Family but, other than that, we only hear from this book two or three times over the course of the year. It is one of the very last books of the Old Testament. If you look in your Bible’s Table of Contents, you will find it listed under The Wisdom Books. It is, in fact, an excellent example of Wisdom literature, filled with moral teachings. It […]
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 […]
