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 the joy of the Resurrection!  Today is also Divine Mercy Sunday.  Heeding the call that our risen Lord gave to St. Marie Faustina Kowalska in the 1930’s, the Church decreed on 23 May 2000 that “throughout the world, the Second Sunday of Easter will receive the name Divine Mercy Sunday, a perennial invitation to the Christian world to face, with confidence in divine […]

Alleluia!  Our Lord is risen and offers us new life!  We certainly need to hear this message this year as we find ourselves surrounded by suffering and death.  The Paschal mystery proclaims that Jesus, truly man – the son of Mary – really died on the cross and then overcame death as he rose on Easter. The resurrection of the body, the central mystery of Easter, is an essential Christian doctrine.  As the apostle Paul declares so clearly: “[I]f the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If […]

“Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.”  (Mt 21:9).  On Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, we are called to join with our Lord, Jesus Christ, as he makes a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and then suffers derision and mockery, scourging and finally crucifixion because he comes to offer a new way of life and claims to be who he truly is – the Son of God.  This week is, indeed, what we Christians call it: […]

The Season of Lent is given to use every year to recognize and admit how we have drifted away from God and then to turn back to him as we prepare to accompany his son through his suffering, death and Resurrection.  It is a time to focus again on the eternal life God promises us rather than remain caught up in pursuing momentary pleasures here on earth.

Lent always falls during spring – after all, that’s what the word “lent” means – and this is, for most of us, a very […]

On Tuesday, 17 March, all parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Philadelphia received the following two announcements:

ARCHBISHOP NELSON J. PÉREZ ANNOUNCES THE SUSPENSION OF
ALL PUBLIC MASSES IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA
EFFECTIVE AT NOON TOMORROW

Today, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced that Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez has suspended all public Masses in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia effective at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18th and until further notice.  Last week, the Archbishop dispensed the faithful from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass.  Both decisions were made in response to the growing […]