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♦NEW MASS SCHEDULE♦ |
♦NEW MASS SCHEDULE♦ FULL DETAILS HERE - please review before attending Mass. COVID-19 Message from Bishop UPDATE May 30, 2020 Follow us on:
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Independence, Freedom & Sacraments
Dear OLPH,
Last week, we celebrated our patroness, Mother Mary, 101 years under her title as Our Lady of Perpetual Help. This weekend we celebrate our Independence Day, 244 years ago, liberated from foreign rule and then committed to rule ourselves… which has not proven an easy task. Just across the river in Philadelphia, delegates from the thirteen original colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” I have always loved the sound of that trifecta; it just rolls off the tongue.
And these first representatives agreed, or at least acquiesced, that as far as allocating representation by population in this new republic, a black man would be counted as ⅗ of a white man. Black men could only vote when the 15th amendment finally passed in 1870, although in practice some regions discouraged it. Worse still, the cause for women’s suffrage arced along a much longer trajectory and would not arrive nation-wide until the 19th amendment in 1920. It has been a long road fighting for that liberty Jefferson penned so eloquently. These past months offer clear evidence that we’ve got room for improvement when it comes to race, but also when it comes to freedoms.
The Journey Towards Fullness
Dear Parish Family,
Happy Feast Day! There are many titles for our Lady. 101 years ago the Catholics of this parish chose to place themselves under Mary’s loving protection with her title as: Our Lady of Perpetual Help, also sometimes called Mother of Perpetual Help. The image depicts Mary cradling baby Jesus while one sandal falls from his foot. On either side of the pair, a pair of angels show the young Lord the instruments of torture and crucifixion by which He shall make his end, and for all of us, a new beginning in grace. The original can be found in Rome in the Church of Saint Alphonsus Liguori.
I have shared with you about my first encounter with the image. As a deacon in 2008, Fr. Sig and I travelled to Rome. He had been there more than 15 times and took me around. We visited church after church absorbing a bit of the magic and the mystery that makes Rome such a special place. I didn't know she was going to be there before going in. After praying before the sacred image, I bought a poster and had it framed. Presently, she hangs in my dining room, inspiring and comforting me. Over these past two years, I have been happy and privileged to be your pastor.
The Mercy of the Father
Dear Parish Family,
Last week we celebrated Mass together for Corpus Christi, the Feast Day of the Body and Blood of Jesus; we also began a Message Series on the Sacraments. We have long been without the Most Blessed Sacrament as a parish family and so it seems important to name and deepen the object of our yearning. We hunger for the Sacraments because they are the powerful ways that our heavenly Father bestows his grace upon us.
Last week Tertullian taught us that “the flesh is the hinge of salvation.” It sounds even better in Latin: caro salutis cardo. Now we can appreciate the play on words: caro, carnis (flesh) and cardo, cardinis (hinge, pivot, axis). The Latin shows Tertullian as a clever teacher developing a phrase that sticks in the brain. From caro we get carnivore or carne in Spanish. From cardo we get cardinal, as in cardinal virtues - the “pivotal” virtues.
The Sacrament of Sacraments
My Dear Family,
I am delighted to welcome you back to church this weekend. Today we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, or the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus, so it is a perfect weekend to gather again and celebrate the Sacrament of Sacraments, to gather around the altar and be fed by the beautiful gift our Lord left us, Himself.
This week we are unfolding a new Message Series. Remember, a message series strives to link homilies one to another by a common theme. Over the next four weeks we shall center on the Sacraments - those beautiful gifts of grace Jesus left His Bride the Church as super channels of his gifts, graces and blessings.
