Hopefully the bitter cold is behind us and the promise of spring comes early. This week we do indeed hit the midpoint of Winter -- February 2 -- as we observe the Solemnity of the Presentation of the Lord. At that Mass (Friday 9am) we will bless all of the candles that are used for Masses in the coming year. Read more.

It sure feels like winter out there these past few days. All things considered, it is nice to see snow, especially as we had no significant snow over the past two winters. I recall that several years ago when Father JM was speaking with his then three-year old niece in the Philippines she asked him what snow felt like. He told her to “go to the kitchen, open the freezer, put your hand inside, and leave it there.” I think that was great advice. When it’s 14o outside, even the freezer is warmer! Read more.

With the Christmas Season over and all of the lights and decorations stowed, the darkness and starkness of winter has finally set in. We are now on that road to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten Season in just a few weeks time. Ash Wednesday is, as you heard chanted in Epiphany Chant of Moveable Feasts, on February 14th. As there is a popular secular holiday celebrated that day (based on the legends around another saint of the church) you should consider making those Valentine plans on a date other than the 14th as it is a day of fasting and abstinence. Read more.

As I write this letter there are predictions of some nasty weather this weekend, so I am not sure how many of you will be reading this in the bulletin! It is winter after all, and we haven’t had a significant snowfall in 23 months, so I guess we are due anyway. Read more.

Here we are, at the end of 2023. It has been a year of many blessings for our parish, yet this year we experienced some significant losses and tragedies. This is true of any year. Of course, but somehow it seemed more poignant this past year. Red more.

Happy Fourth Week of Advent! The Christmas festivities begin in less than twenty-four hours. I hope that you do not have too much wrapping, and especially shopping, to do in the meantime. This is a hectic time of the year, and it seems to have just flown by. Read more.

This is it -- one more week and we are at Christmas Eve. It seems that December has just flown by. Read more.

We certainly were fortunate to have the best night of last weekend for our annual Christmas Tree lighting festivities. A huge thank you to all who attended and to those who work so hard to make sure that everything runs so smoothly here. The memorial tree project of the Knights of Columbus also helps to beautify our property and celebrate the advent and Christmas seasons. At the tree lighting Santa Claus made a surprise visit and we are happy that Santa has taken the time to come back to our church this weekend for breakfast and to visit the children and their parents. Please feel free to say “hello” to the jolly old elf this weekend after the 8 and 9:30am Masses. Read more.

This weekend we begin a new liturgical year and our preparations for the Christmas Season ahead. I do not think that I am alone in noting that it seems that this year many homes were fully decorated and lighted before Thanksgiving. Given the starkness of this time of the year -- the days drawing ever shorter and the leaves all but gone -- I am a huge fan of anything that illuminates the darkness. I am also not one of those who shuns the celebration of the Christmas holiday during Advent. We have already experienced the joy of the Incarnation of the Word at the first Christmas. Our preparations for the secular holiday should not serve as a hindrance to our need and ability to spiritually prepare ourselves for the Holy days and season ahead. We do have many opportunities for spiritual preparation for the Season. Read more.

I trust that everyone had a safe, enjoyable, relaxing, and “thankful” Thanksgiving. There are so many things in our lives that we have to be thankful for, that setting aside one day to do so seems terribly inadequate. Fortunately, we have the great gift of being able to offer Thanksgiving each and every day as we celebrate and receive the Eucharist. The word itself means “thanksgiving.” Read more.

A most blessed Thanksgiving week to everyone. I pray that each and every one of us has the opportunity to spend time with our family -- biological or choice -- over this coming week. I will be heading to PA to spend some time with my Mother this week, and anyone else who is coming to her house for the day. Read more.

The opportunity to attend the Forty Hours devotions was an inspiration and encouragement in faith for those who were able to attend some or all of the services, or to just spend that quiet time with the Lord. Read more.

This is our Forty Hours week, and I hope that you will be able to join us for some of the celebrations we have planned for the next three days. A complete schedule is posted in the bulletin and can also be found on line. Bishop O’Connell will be here on Tuesday for the closing Mass and Father Dan Kirk is here Monday for the evening service. On Sunday we open with Franciscan Friar of the Renewal Father Mariusz Eugene Koch. Read more.

Next weekend we open our Forty Hours Observance here. I have offered some history and insight into what this is and what it means for us. We are doing this in conjunction with the Period of Eucharistic Revival here in the American Church and as we have not had a parish mission since the onset of the pandemic, this is a good way to reinvigorate that time of renewal and revival for our parish. Read more.

In two weeks we will celebrate the Forty Hours devotion. This long-standing tradition in the life of the church was popularized here in the US by Saint John Neumann when he was the Bishop of Philadelphia. Forty Hours is a focused period of Eucharistic adoration, serving as a time of retreat and reflection for a parish. This is a tradition that I grew up with in Pennsylvania and am happy to bring it here for this time of the Eucharistic Revival. There is a complete list of parish focused prayer times and other events for the Forty Hours devotion available in the bulletin. Periods of parish public prayer is punctuated with the extended times of adoration. Read more.

On 17 April 2003, Pope (now Saint) John Paul II wrote an encyclical letter entitled: ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA (“The Church draws her life from the Eucharist”). As we continue our preparation for forty hours, I offer the following reflection from the sainted pope on the importance of adoration. Read more.

A blessed holiday weekend to everyone. It is nice to take a respite once in a while from our busy schedules. Certainly the students and teachers in all of the schools need a little break to regroup and catch-up. Read more.

We had a nice weekend last weekend, too bad the rain took out the Saturday evening entertainment. We will have to reschedule the band and the activities for another time. Congratulations to the winners of the parish 50/50 raffle. Thank you to all who participated.

We are celebrating our Family Fun Weekend this weekend, sadly the weather does not appear to be cooperating with the full activities, but hopefully we are able to generate some fun (and raise some money for the school) out of the process. Read more.

This weekend we observe Catechetical Sunday. This is an opportunity to say “thank you” and to bless and acknowledge the many catechists who serve our parish community. Because of the structure of our faith formation program: the summer sessions; the all-year session; the Confirmation year program; the school religion classes; adult programs and the other sacramental preparation sessions, we have many volunteers and professional staff involved in faith formation. This weekend we will celebrate and bless them in their work and ministry. We owe much to the hard work and deep commitment of Nancy Arkin (Director of Faith Formation), Ciro Saverino (Confirmation Program and Youth and Young Adult Ministry) Lori McCahill (School Religion Coordinator and Marriage Minister) Loretta Assini (Administrative Assistant) and Margaret Roddy (Sacrament Coordinator). We are still looking for a part-time assistant to Nancy in the Faith Formation Office. See the bulletin for more details. Read more.