Summer Plans for Our Parish

It has been just three weeks since our school has closed for the summer and the parish facilities have quieted down considerably.  I miss seeing and hearing our children in the classrooms, corridors and schoolyard – they are so full of life and vitality!  We all know how fortunate we are to have such a vibrant school and I want to take this opportunity to thank our principal, Bud Tosti, and the entire school staff for keeping our school open and in-person this past year; both our students and their […]

2021-07-09T15:39:42-04:00July 10th, 2021|

UNDERSTANDING TRUE FREEDOM BEFORE GOD

“Where did this man get all this?  What kind of wisdom has been given him?  What mighty works have been wrought by his hands?” (Mk. 6:2b)

As we celebrate Independence Day this weekend, we rejoice in the freedom God has provided all of us in this country as the result of a hard battle against an oppressive and unjust regime.  We hear throughout the gospels that God’s love is to be shared equally with all people, especially the abandoned, the forgotten, the neglected and the oppressed.  After Jesus removes an unclean […]

2021-07-02T09:00:02-04:00July 3rd, 2021|

Go Back to Mass – Bishop Barron Video

I’m delighted to see so many of you returning to church for Sunday Mass; it’s so important for us as faithful individuals and as a community of faith!  For the few of you who have not yet returned, I offer you this short but very informational video from Bishop Robert Barron.  I hope it will inspire you to join us in person and look forward to seeing you in church!  Msgr. Brouwers

2021-06-29T11:02:10-04:00June 29th, 2021|

USCCB Press Release

As you have probably read or heard on the news, the U.S. bishops have been engaged over the past several months in a sometimes heated debate regarding the Eucharist and who should be receiving it.  Abp. Jose Gomez, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, provided a press release last week; it includes a statement from him and Q and A on the issue.  Although it appears to me to be a bit of damage control and an attempt to rewrite the story, I offer it for your reflection.  Msgr. […]

2021-06-25T13:46:17-04:00June 25th, 2021|

FAREWELL AND GOD BLESS MSGR. CARROLL

You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4)

Seventeen years ago, Msgr. Carroll retired as pastor of St. Hilary of Poitiers parish, Rydal, PA, and Msgr. Jagodzinski invited him to come here as a senior priest.  This is a designation given to a priest who has reached the age of 70 and is able to continue serving but is no longer required to be involved in administrative duties.   Five years later, having reached the canonical retirement age, Msgr. Carroll chose to stay here, celebrating Sunday and […]

2021-05-29T11:39:59-04:00May 29th, 2021|

THE MOST HOLY TRINITY (Year B)

Deuteronomy 4:32 – 34, 39 – 40 

We have returned to Ordinary Time, that is, time ordered according to God’s plan for our salvation.  As we do so, the Church has offered us over these next two Sundays the opportunity to reflect on two very important aspects of our faith: the Blessed Trinity and The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  These are two fundamental beliefs that inform everything else we believe about God.  This Sunday, we focus on the mystery of the Holy Trinity.  As we read in the […]

2021-05-28T14:18:44-04:00May 28th, 2021|

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 from today’s first reading, we […]

2021-05-22T07:34:00-04:00May 22nd, 2021|

PENTECOST SUNDAY (Year B)

 On this, Pentecost Sunday, we come to the end of the Easter Season as we celebrate the birth of the Church and hear an exhortation of how we are to live as the Church.  Different readings are prescribed for the Vigil Mass than for the Mass on Sunday and that there are options for both sets of readings.  I will reflect on the readings for Sunday that I will use at the Masses I will celebrate.  I don’t know which readings Fr. Waters and Fr. Reilly will use, so don’t […]

2021-05-20T19:46:13-04:00May 20th, 2021|

THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD

As they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.  While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.  They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?  This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”  (Acts 1:10-11)

This past Thursday, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Ascension of […]

2021-05-14T11:56:07-04:00May 15th, 2021|

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY AND FIRST COMMUNION

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.  And, during this ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we become even more aware of the essential role mothers play in our homes in ways that we may have taken for granted in the past.

Mother’s Day has a very long history; allow me to offer a little background.  The earliest tributes […]

2021-05-07T12:58:11-04:00May 8th, 2021|
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