My Dear Parishioners,

This week we observe “Word of God Sunday.” This observance was instituted by Pope Francis to encourage an ever-greater devotion to Sacred Scripture.

Our First Reading fits nicely into this theme. Ezra the Scribe and Priest was assigned to lead the people back to the Promised Land from the land of exile in Babylon. When they returned, they lacked a king and much of what was left behind had deteriorated or was destroyed, including the Temple. What they still had were the Scriptures and the Law of Moses. The Torah gave the people a sense that God was still with them and also gave them a sense of identity as a nation.

One way we can grow in our devotion to the Sacred Scriptures is by spending some time, each day, with our daily Mass readings. We can do this whether or not we attend daily Mass. Along with printed resources such as Magnificat and Word Among Us there are many on-line resources such as usccb.org and ewtn.com. Along with the readings, many of these resources also offer some commentary on the Scriptures or the Saint of the Day. We remember that time spent with the Scriptures is time spent with God, and the more time we spend with God, the more we must love Him.

A couple of weeks ago I was blessed to join some 200 other priests at a conference on the Jubilee Year of Hope. This Jubilee Year will help us accomplish three goals: the remission of sins, a restoration of inheritance, and a deeper incorporation into the Body of Christ.

The restoration of inheritance is a spiritual restoration that follows remission of sin. The restoration we seek is a restoration as a child of God and an heir to Heaven. This restoration comes through the Sacraments, especially through Baptism and Confession.

In order to help us enter more deeply into the Jubilee Year of Hope and to receive its benefits, we will start having Saturday morning Confessions immediately after Saturday morning Mass and Novena, from about 8:30-9:00. This will start Saturday, February 1. Please do take advantage of what the Jubilee Year of Hope offers.

A few updates on projects around here.

  • Our security cameras are up and running and soon we will have the ability to remotely access the cameras.
  • The dusk to dawn lighting project in the grassy area between the two parking lots is on hold because of the weather. Hopefully things will warm up a bit and the project will get Completed.
  • You may or may not be aware of this, but the parish owns the house at 31 Poplar Rd—the green house with the siding that is coming off. The house was originally purchased under Fr. Grant. The house now needs a considerable amount of work both inside and outside. So, we have started the process with the Archdiocese to divest ourselves of the house. This process will take a few months, and we are planning on using the proceeds from the sale on other projects around here.

Some news from the Archdiocese.

Archbishop Perez has issued a Pastoral Letter on future Pastoral Planning in the Archdiocese. He is developing this Pastoral Plan with the assistance of the Catholic Leadership Institute of Malvern, PA.

The Archbishop writes in his letter: I want to embark on a new form of pastoral planning by asking a new question, “Where does the Church need to be and how?” We need to inspire a pastoral change of heart that focuses on those who are absent (from our pews) and that aligns our collective efforts across parishes, schools, and charitable ministries to listen, rebuild trust, and invite people home. He also adds: When I became Archbishop, the second question at my introductory press conference was, “Will you close parishes?” My answer then, and now, is the same: I didn’t come here to close parishes; I came here to build up the Church of Philadelphia. This is a great consolation to all, and certainly we all agree that we need to be creative in calling others back to the practice of the Faith.

The full text of the Archbishop’s letter can be found at trustandhope.org. We are also providing some copies on the tables around the church.

At trustandhope.org there is also a list of information sessions around the Archdiocese. I have also extended an invitation to have an information session here at our parish. I am still waiting to see if they will.

Since the Archbishop’s plan is still in its early stages, there are many details still to be worked out. As such, I really cannot answer specific questions, so it is best to ask specific questions of those who are helping to develop the plan, and again, those questions can be asked at trustandhope.org or at one of the information sessions.

This Friday, January 31, is the Feast of St. John Bosco, and so we wish our friendly neighbors in Hatboro a very Happy Feast Day.

Let us continue to lay siege to Heaven for ourselves, our loved ones, our deceased, our service personnel, and our country.

St. Joseph, Patron of the Church and our Patron, pray for us!

Fr. Michael J Pawelko, Pastor

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