Welcome Dr. Joyce Chen
A native of Taiwan, Dr. Joyce Chen is delighted to serve as the new Organist/Choir Director at St. Katherine of Siena. Dr. Chen is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Historical Musicology and Interdisciplinary Humanities at Princeton University, working on her dissertation, “Musica Experientia/Experimentum: Acoustics, Aesthetics, and Artisanal Knowledge in Seventeenth-Century Europe,” which explores the intersection between science, music, and aesthetics involving instrument making, sensory experience, and the development of acoustical theory. For this project, Dr. Chen has spent a total 6 months (from August 2020 – Summer 2021) working as [...]
SAINT CHARLES BORROMEO SEMINARY ANNUAL APPEAL
St. Charles Borromeo Seminary opened once again this fall for the education and formation of 148 seminarians from 11 (arch)dioceses and six religious congregations, including Allentown, Harrisburg, Lincoln, NE, Trenton, NJ, as well as dioceses in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam! We are blessed to have 65 of the seminarians preparing to become priests in our archdiocese. Founded in 1832, our seminary has provided excellent priestly formation for our archdiocese, (arch)dioceses around the country and, indeed, worldwide. I am very proud of our seminary and grateful for the outstanding preparation [...]
THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year B)
Deuteronomy 6:2-6 This Sunday, we will hear from the Book of Deuteronomy. It is again clear that this reading was selected to complement the gospel reading this Sunday, which also speaks of the great commandments. This reading is taken from the section in the Book of Deuteronomy that presents the law that Moses relates God has presented to his people. They are to continue to follow this law as they enter into the Promised Land. After presenting the Ten Commandments, and recalling how God had given them to the [...]
MISSION SUNDAY and STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY
“Go, make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19). After Jesus overcame death by his Resurrection, he did not just return to heaven to sit at the right of the Father. Before ascending to the Father, he commissioned those who had come to believe in him to make disciples, that is, others who would come to believe in the one, true God and his son, Jesus, who came to save us. That is the ongoing mission of the Church; we are the [...]
THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year B)
Jeremiah 31:7 - 9 This Sunday, we will hear from the prophet Jeremiah. As is usually the case, this passage was clearly chosen to prepare us for the Gospel. It contains an oracle of consolation regarding the restoration of Israel, which is fulfilled in Jesus. Since it has been a while since we heard from the prophet Jeremiah, let’s quickly review the “who, what, when, where, why and to whom” of this book. Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry in 627BC during the reform that King Josiah initiated and ended it [...]
TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Year B)
Isaiah 53:10 - 11 This Sunday, we will again hear from the Book of the prophet Isaiah. It is from chapter 53 so we recognize that it is from deutero-Isaiah, which dates to the time of the Babylonian exile. We will hear two verses from the last of four “Servant-of-the-Lord” also known as “Suffering Servant” oracles. Because he fulfilled the divine will by suffering for the sins of others, the Servant will be rewarded by the Lord. I invite you to read from 52:13 to fully understand the two verses [...]