Sunday, November 30, 2014

Pastor's Corner, November 30, 2014

Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Today we begin a new liturgical year and the season of Advent. If this day did not fall on a Sunday, the Church would be celebrating the feast of St. Andrew, Apostle. St. Andrew is a great model of holiness and evangelization and (I don’t just say this because he is my patron saint) the world needs more Andrews!
Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter and was the first to be called by Christ to be a disciple. Exactly for this reason the liturgy of the Byzantine Church honors him with the nickname: Protokletos which means “the first called.”
Andrew was very apostolic. As we learn in the Gospel of John (1: 40- 42), the day after Andrew meets Jesus he runs to his brother to tell him the good news that they have found the Messiah. Later in the same Gospel, a little boy comes to offer some bread and fish and Andrew brings him to Jesus. Toward the end of Jesus’ earthly life some Greeks come to see him. They first come to Andrew and then he and Philip lead them to speak with Christ.
The life of this apostle makes clear the importance of following Christ and that a natural result of our discipleship is to bring others to Christ. This is why the world needs more Andrews.
In Christ,
Msgr. Baker

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thursday, November 27, 2014, Thanksgiving Day, Mass is at 9 AM ONLY
Friday, November 28, 2014, Mass is also at 9 AM ONLY. 

While we usually think of the first Thanksgiving as being a feast between Native Americans and the early Puritan settlers, thanksgiving celebrations took place much earlier. An “acción de gracias” was first celebrated on what is presently American soil on September 8, 1565 in St. Augustine, Florida. It was a day of thanksgiving between the Native Americans and Spanish settlers and it included the celebration of Mass. Another similar “Thanksgiving” celebration took place on April 30, 1598 in Texas when Don Juan de Oñate declared a day of Thanksgiving and it too included the celebration of Mass.
Believe it or not, Squanto, the Native American man who mediated between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans, was a Catholic. He had been a slave of the English but was freed by Spanish Franciscans and received baptism as a Catholic.
There is so much for which we need to give thanks. Remember, the Mass is the great act of thanksgiving any human being can make. At Mass we offer up the fruit of the earth (bread), vine (wine) and the work of human hands as symbolic of our very lives. We give thanks to God by offering ourselves and He transforms our meager offering into His own Body and Blood as our spiritual nourishment. 

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Pastor's Corner, November 23, 2014

Dear Parishioners and Friends,
This past week we received some exciting news. It has been confirmed that Pope Francis will definitely visit Philadelphia in September 2015 for the World Meeting of Families!
This is what Archbishop Chaput has announced: “Detailed plans for Pope Francis’ visit have not yet been finalized and are expected to be released in spring or summer of 2015. However, it is expected that the Holy Father will visit Philadelphia September 25 – 27, 2015 to participate in the closing events of the Eighth World Meeting of Families. These events include the Festival of Families, an intercultural celebration of family life around the world, which would be held on Saturday, September 26, and a Papal Mass to be held on Sunday, September 27. Both of these events will take place on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in the heart of Philadelphia and will be open to the public.”
Also, there is a wonderful program called “HomeStay” which supports families from around the world attending the Meeting. Since hotel accommodations in Philadelphia will be limited, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is working with “HomeStay” to provide an affordable housing alternative for our visitors. Do you have a spare bedroom, rental property or second home within 120 miles of Philadelphia? Would you share it in exchange for a moderate, daily fee? For more information, please visit the World Meeting of Families website: http://www.worldmeeting2015.org
In the future I hope to announce some other ways that we as a parish will be participating in this exciting event.
In Christ,

Msgr. Baker

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Tree Service

As some of you have noticed, the large tree in the back parking lot has been taken down. A few years ago we had it trimmed and they told us that it was rotting on the inside and that we may have to take it down the next time it needed service. This past winter, a number of large branches fell to the ground but, praise the Lord, they did no damage to a car or worse land on one of the children of the school. Moreover, this past winter the water from the back parking lot was not draining properly. Over night it froze, causing us to close the lot on Sunday for safety reasons. When investigated, it was determined that the roots of the tree were part of the problem. I know this tree has been a source of beauty and shade for so many parishioners and school children over the long years of its life. It is a shame that we have to take it down but I hope everyone can understand that it needed to be done for safety reasons. 

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Pastor's Corner, November 16, 2014

Dear Parishioners and Friends,
As we are coming to the end of the liturgical year, the Scripture readings speak to us of the end times and death. We should never be afraid of death. As St. Josemaria Escrivá once wrote, “Everything can be put right... except death. And death puts everything right” (Furrow, 878). The Bible is a book about death. It tells us of the inevitability of death as a result of Original Sin and the hope that is offered by Christ who suffered, died and rose so that we might be free from the lasting effects of death and rejoice forever in heaven.
It is not a bad idea to consider our own death. Am I prepared if God would call me home to Himself this very night? Am I in the state of grace, ready to be judged by Christ? Do I have everything ready for my family and friends in case of my death? Do I live my life as though today was the last day of my life? If so, I think we would all live a bit better!
At the very moment of death the Church teaches that each of us will receive our eternal retribution in our immortal soul, in what we call the “particular judgment” whereby we will either enter directly into heaven or after some time in purgatory or enter into the everlasting damnation of hell. As St. John of the Cross once wrote, “At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.”
In Christ,
Msgr. Baker

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Pastor's Corner, November 9, 2014

Dear Parishioners and Friends,
This past week all the priests of the Diocese of Allentown gathered for our annual Priest Convocation. It was a wonderful week in which we learned more about how to be an effective preacher. We had time to pray together, grow in friendship and priestly fraternity and rest. It was a wonderful time to be renewed in our vocation as priests.
Looking around the room, however, I realized that the clergy in the diocese are aging. We need to encourage more young men to consider a call to the priesthood. All of us can be a “vocation director” in the sense that we can and should encourage young men to consider a vocation. A simply and sincere invitation to someone you know might be the exact things God wants to use to call someone to the priesthood and it might be the exact thing the young man was waiting to hear. I like the ICNU method. We can say something like this: “John, I see in you (ICNU) the qualities that would make a good priest. I want you to think and pray about it.”
If we want more vocations to the priesthood and religious life, we need to ask. Does not Our Lord in Matthew 9: 38 say, “Beg the master of the harvest to send laborers in to the vineyard”? Ask, invite and watch the grace of God work!
In Christ,
Msgr. Baker

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Pastor's Corner, November 2, 2014

Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Today we celebrate All Souls Day. We pray for all the souls in purgatory with the great confidence born of faith that our prayers assist those who are being purified of the temporal punishment due to sin and have the certain hope that they will one day enter heaven.
Purgatory is a very consoling doctrine. It is a state of final purification after death and before entrance into heaven for those who died in the state of grace but were only imperfectly purified. Purgatory is the final cleansing of divine mercy which makes a soul able to enter into the joy of heaven.
The Church bases Her teaching on Tradition as contained especially in the Councils of Florence and Trent and also on certain scriptural references that speak of a cleansing and purifying fire such as 1 Corinthians 3: 15 and 1 Peter 1: 7.
We also base our understanding and teaching of purgatory on the constant practice of praying for the dead which was evident even in the early Church. This is why it is so important that we pray for the dead and especially have Holy Mass offered for the souls of the deceased. St. Padre Pio said, “More souls of the dead from Purgatory than of the living climb this mountain to attend my Masses and seek my prayers… The souls in Purgatory pray for us, and their prayers are even more effective than ours, because they are accompanied by their suffering. So, let's pray for them, and let's pray them to pray for us.”
In Christ,
Msgr. Baker