This is certainly an exciting time in the Church, isn’t it!?!  We have a new pope and he’s an American with local roots.  As I’m sure you have all heard, he studied right down the road at Villanova University.  He may even have come to Mass here!  We rejoice and pray that God will give him the strength to be the Good Shepherd who leads the entire Catholic Church ever closer to God. 

And, it’s also very exciting for us here in the local Church of St. Katharine of Siena […]

It’s so good to see you children who are about to receive Holy Communion for the first time, all dressed up and excited.  I’m delighted that so many members of your family are here, as well, and I hope you know that all of us – everyone here at Mass – is praying for you as you take this important step in being even more a part of our worshiping community.  We have this wonderful tradition here in our parish of celebrating First Holy Communion at the regularly scheduled Sunday […]

“Peace be with you.”  Three times in today’s Gospel, we hear the risen Lord assure his disciples with these comforting words: “Peace be with you.”  And, although this greeting of peace, “Shalom,” was a common expression among the Jewish people of his day – as it still is today – it had taken on a much deeper meaning for the followers of Jesus who had just gone through three days filled with anything but peace.  It made them remember our Lord’s words of encouragement to them just a few days […]

So, when did the apostles know?  This question seems inevitable in meditating upon Jesus’ Resurrection and the fullness of joy it brings.  The gospel readings give us important hints.  During last night’s vigil Mass, we heard a passage from the Gospel of Luke where we heard that, after Peter ran to the tomb and saw the burial cloths alone, he went home amazed at what had happened. Did he really know yet?  In the gospel passage from John that we heard today – we heard about that the other disciple […]

Can you imagine being invited to a friend’s house for dinner and, as you prepare to dig into the first dish, your friend gets up, grabs a towel, a water pitcher and basin and offers to wash your feet.  What would you think and how would you feel?  For the people of Jesus’ time, it was customary to have the household servant wash the dust off the feet of guests as they entered the house.  It was refreshing for the guests after they had walked hot, dusty roads to their […]

As you know, every year, we hear a different Gospel version of the Passion; this year we heard it from the Gospel of Luke.  Scripture scholars call this Gospel the Gospel of Mercy since it so often depicts Jesus teaching and showing God’s mercy.  Today’s passion account is filled with examples of Jesus reaching out in mercy and compassion as he is suffering his own passion.  Allow me to point them out to you so we can reflect on them together. 

The first example of mercy we hear in today’s […]

Like many of the prophets before him, Jesus’ life and ministry was tied to the Temple in Jerusalem.  It was there that Jesus was presented by Mary and Joseph when he was just forty days old.  It was there that he held priests and scribes spellbound when he was twelve years old.  It was there that he was drawn to worship and teach especially during the Jewish High Holy Days.

Today we hear of one particular visit to the Temple during the Feast of Tabernacles, the ancient Jewish feast held at […]

It may have slipped your mind, but we are in the midst of the Jubilee Year initiated by Pope Francis last Christmas Eve.  You will recall that the theme of this Jubilee Year is “pilgrims of hope.”  In the decree that announced the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis called us to be tangible signs of hope for our brothers and sisters, especially those who experience hardship of any kind.  I’m sure we all know someone who could use a renewed sense of hope.  The pope’s decree that inaugurated this Jubilee Year […]

I was delighted to learn on Friday that so many of you have already filled in and submitted the Disciple Makers Index survey that opened in our parish and in parishes throughout our archdiocese on Ash Wednesday.  This DMI survey, which we first conducted in 2018, has helped us as a parish understand how we can better grow in our relationship with Jesus and as a community of faith lead each other to our final destiny: heaven.  Like all parishes, our primary mission is to draw everyone to God.  Today’s […]

“The devil made me do it!” We sometimes hear that quip when someone has been caught doing something wrong.  Unfortunately, we don’t usually take it seriously – that is, the idea that the devil can tempt us to do something.  In fact, I suspect that most of us don’t even think very often about the devil.  And, yet, every year on the first Sunday of Lent, we hear the account of the devil tempting Jesus.  And, just as he tempted Jesus, he tempts us.  So, let’s examine this account.  It […]