Church Bulletin

The Easter Season is a time of hope. Hope is not, of course, the same thing as optimism. Optimism is a personality trait, a way of seeing the world. But hope is something deeper and lasting. Hope is a theological virtue infused in our hearts through Baptism. Hope gives us the vision of looking beyond the vicissitudes of this world, and instead set our hearts on the true goal of our lives: eternal life with God and the communion of saints. By participating in the sacraments, through prayer and service to others, we take hold of that hope and allow it to dawn more fully in our lives.

This Easter Season is often a great sacramental time, and this year is no exception. Mr. Fred Liu, a senior at Penn, was baptized, confirmed, and received first Holy Communion here at the Easter Vigil.

Happy Easter! On this greatest of all feasts, we run with Peter and John to the empty tomb, we encounter Jesus in the garden with Mary Magdalene, and we experience the presence of the Risen Lord who comes to us and says “Peace be with you.”

On this solemn day when we recall the Entrance of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, his own city, and his death on its outskirts a few days later, we unite to him all the sorrows and difficulties of our lives: the coronavirus pandemic which has afflicted us in so many ways, those who are sick and suffering in our families, those in our city who suffer from violence and discrimination.

What is neat about the Lenten fast – even in its current form of meatless Fridays – is the fact that we all do it together. It is a distinctive mark of Catholic culture and life. And in this world which flattens so much of culture into marketable and quantifiable pieces, we should try to emphasize those unique aspects of Catholic life as best we can.

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, our parish has been chosen to participate in Catholic Leadership Institute’s Next Generation Parish program. This is a two-year process in which parishioners work with consultants from CLI to craft and implement a pastoral plan designed to make and form disciples of Jesus Christ.

“The Lord has freed you from your sins: go in peace.” These words are often spoken by the priest at the end of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (also called “Confession”). The Samaritan Woman in the Gospel of John encountered Jesus at the well and experienced his transforming mercy and love...

As we continue on our Lenten journey, the Gospel presents us this Sunday with the event of the Transfiguration of our Lord. This privileged glimpse of the Divinity of Christ shining through his humanity was given to Jesus’ closest collaborators – Peter, James, and John. He was revealing to them who he truly was and strengthening their hearts to endure his coming passion and death. It was not Jesus who changed, exactly, but rather the eyes of the apostles. They were able to glimpse for a fleeting moment what was veiled under Jesus’ ordinary appearance.

In the Gospel, we hear how the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by Satan. That same Holy Spirit strengthened our Lord to resist those temptations and remain completely faithful to the Father’s mission for him...

In just a few days, Ash Wednesday will be upon us, and with it, the season of Lent. Who could imagine last Ash Wednesday that we would be in lockdown just a few weeks later, and that we would have yet to fully re-emerge a year after that! Covid-19 has even changed our usual way of distributing ashes: the presider will only say the traditional exhortation once, instead of for each person, and the ashes will be distributed via sprinkling on the head rather than tracing a cross on the forehead. This is actually the standard practice in much of Europe.

As I write this letter, I am watching the snow and sleet blanket our little corner of the city. I am reminded of snow days as a child, excitedly sitting by the radio to hear amid a litany of numbers eight magic words: “All Philadelphia public and parochial schools are closed.”

Saint Francis de Sales did not just give good advice. He put that advice into practice in his own life. He counseled others in doing the same, through his preaching, writing, spiritual direction, and through his leadership as a priest and bishop. He also did it by being a trusted friend to many men and women.

Last week marked six months since my arrival as parochial administrator of Saint Francis de Sales Parish. They have indeed been six happy months, even in the midst of so much that is abnormal about our current age! I am grateful to God for the privilege of serving as your parish priest.

The Season of Christmas concludes today with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. I hope that these days have been a moment of grace for all of us.

The parish where I grew up in South Philadelphia is Epiphany of Our Lord. The beautiful church, where I celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving after ordination, is at 11th and Jackson Streets. At some point, the parish adopted a motto that would appear on various documents and even in a mosaic over the entrance. It was this: “Seeking the Light...Sharing Him.”
That is what this wonderful feast of Epiphany is all about, and really what our
Christian lives are all about.

Each Advent, we as Catholic Christians prepare our hearts to welcome with joy the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord. This Advent - perhaps more than ever - we are intensely aware of our absolute need for God, who shows us his face through his Son, Jesus Christ. It seems so much about our world has changed since last Christmas. Yet the one unshakeable truth is the fact that, as Saint John writes in his Gospel, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

The liturgy of the Third Sunday of Advent calls us to rejoice because the Lord is
near. Even if we may sometimes feel like our lives are very difficult, or that the world’s challenges are too big, we must rejoice all the more not in our own efforts, but in the coming of Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, which we will celebrate in just a couple of weeks.

As we continue on our Advent journey, we will pause this week to celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary