From Our Pastor

 What does it take to make 7.5 million meals?  That’s how many meals were served to hungry people in the Greater Philadelphia area by the various agencies funded through the Catholic Charities Appeal last year.  You may not notice them, but these hungry people are in every county, town, parish and neighborhood.  The Catholic Charities Appeal is the largest fundraising initiative in the archdiocese and, as you can well imagine, this assistance is particularly important at this time as we all face the effects of ongoing inflation.  The needy are [...]

 In March 2023, Archbishop Peréz sent to all the priests of the archdiocese a book entitled From Christendom to Apostolic Mission and asked us to read and reflect on it in preparation for a series of meetings to discuss the future of our archdiocese.  Since then, the archbishop has met with us priests as well as the permanent deacons and the leadership of a variety of Catholic institutions in the archdiocese.  On 5 January, he sent a letter to all of the faithful of the archdiocese.  His letter begins very [...]

In the Book of Exodus, we read about the Lord striking down “every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh sitting on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn of the animals” (Ex. 12:29). Pharaoh then called Moses and told him to “leave my people at once, you and the Israelites!  Go and serve the Lord as you said” (Ex. 12:31).  As they left Egypt, God commanded Moses: “Consecrate to me every firstborn; whatever opens the [...]

“After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Lk 3:21-22).  On this, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we hear God the Father declare that Jesus, the son of Mary is, indeed, His Son as well.  And, He is well pleased with him.  Shortly after his baptism, [...]

“See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory.” (Isaiah 60:2).  As we continue our celebration of the Christmas season with the celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord, we all need to hear these words of encouragement and assurance of God’s presence.  With the ongoing unrest worldwide and even in our own country, we all feel - in some way - to be covered in darkness with thick clouds covering us.  But, Jesus Christ, the [...]

“As long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord.” (1 Samuel 1:28). As we continue our celebration of the Christmas Octave on this feast of The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, this Sunday we hear readings at Mass that are about just that: family.  They are accented by dedication to the Lord, and faith and trust in God with an openness to His will.  In our first reading from 1 Samuel, we hear Hannah, the mother of Samuel, dedicate her only son - whom she [...]