Devotion to the Sacred Heart is part of Catholic faith in the Incarnation of the Lord, the truth that the Son of God possesses a real human nature and loves us deeply with it.  It became popular thanks to the efforts of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-90), a French Visitation nun who received visions of Our Lord, who asked her to tell the world about his love and the joys and sorrows of his Heart.  It is celebrated in a special way during the month of June, and on the first Friday of each month throughout the year.

Those of you who have heard Eric talk before will know that you’re in for a talk that will not only be informative, but also will provide lots of great food for thought and meditation.  I hope you will be able to join us for his presentation, which will follow our usual Scripture sharing, beginning at 7:30 pm.

I hope you will be able to join us for Krishan’s talk, which will follow our usual Scripture sharing, beginning in church at 7:30.

I also want to draw your attention to a couple of events coming up towards the end of the month.  The first is “musical Oratory”, which we celebrate on the Tuesday close to St Philip Neri’s feast day.  This is a very informal occasion on which to share your talents — instrumental, vocal or otherwise — with Secular Oratory, to celebrate the spirit of our holy founder.  If you are able and willing to participate this year, please let me know soon so that we can plan the evening’s program.

The other event is our annual celebration of Pentecost Sunday.  This is always a day on which we pay special honor to St Philip, remembering Pentecost 1544, when he received a special vision and gift of the Holy Spirit into his heart, which changed his whole life.  Our 11:30 Mass that day will be celebrated by Msgr Andrew Wadsworth, a priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster (UK), who currently serves as the president of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, based in Washington.  Mass will be followed by a reception in the school hall, to which you are warmly invited.   Pentecost falls on May 27, which is Memorial Day weekend this year, but I hope that many of you will be around that weekend and will be able to be with us.

Ian’s topic will be “How the Holy Spirit Relates to the Moral Life.”  I am sure you will enjoy this presentation, which will follow our regular Scripture sharing in church, which begins at 7:30 pm.

Looking forward to seeing you this evening.

Holy Thursday:
Mass of the Lord’s Supper begins at 7:30 pm
Adoration at the altar of repose continues until 11:00 pm

Good Friday:
No morning Mass
Church opens at 8:00 am for prayer at the altar of repose
Commemoration of the Passion of the Lord at 2:00 pm (includes Holy Communion)
Church closed after the liturgy

Holy Saturday:
No Mass during the day
Church closed during the day
No vigil Mass for Sunday at 5:30 pm
Easter Vigil begins at 7:30 pm

Easter Sunday:
Regular Sunday schedule
Mass at 8:00, 9:30 and 11:30 am

Also, we will be showing Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of the Christ, in our school auditorium, on Good Friday at 7:30 pm.  As some of you know, we have a full-size movie screen in our school hall, so this will be quite a moving experience if you are able to attend.

Finally, one of our Secular Oratory members, Krishan Thadani, will make his profession of faith and be received into full communion with the Catholic Church at the 9:30 Mass on Easter Sunday morning.  At that time, he will also receive the sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion.  I’m sure you will join me in congratulating Krishan, and will keep him in your prayers over the next few days.  If you are able to attend the 9:30 Mass, I know he’d be grateful for your support on such an important day.

Know that you are in my prayers during the Paschal Triduum.  May God bless you and yours with many graces during this sacred time.

In the eighth chapter of his Gospel, Saint Mark relates a miracle that Jesus works in Bethsaida, where he heals a blind man by spitting into his own hands and then touching the man’s eyes.  Before he works the miracle, though, Jesus takes the man out of the town, which had seen many of Jesus’ miracles but had refused to believe in him.

Now, the way that we visualize this scene makes all the difference.  I don’t know if you’ve ever walked with a blind person, but there’s really only one way to do it that works.  Jesus couldn’t have pulled the man along behind him, and he couldn’t have pushed him along either . . . he would have had to walk beside the man, allowing him to hold on to his arm, and Jesus would have had to adjust his pace to the speed at which the blind man was able and willing to walk.  Along the way, Jesus would have had to reassure the man about where they were going, whether the path was clear, and, most importantly, that he (Jesus) was trustworthy and had the man’s best interests at heart.

This is how Jesus approaches us when we are blinded by our sins — he comes to us where we are, and leads us to where we need to be, but at the pace that we are able to move.  He gives himself to us patiently and perseveringly, and will do everything he can to reassure us that the path is safe, that we are secure with him, and that if we give ourselves to him, then things will turn out well for us.

So, we can and we should approach the Sacrament of Healing with confidence and trust, not with fear.  It’s not always easy to be honest and humble with God, with ourselves and with the priest — but the end result is real healing that comes from real contact with the Lord.

I hope we’ll see you this evening at Secular Oratory.  In the meantime, know that you are in my prayers.

The story of the Annunciation is told in the Gospel according to Saint Luke (1:26-38) and is a foundational moment in our life of faith.  It is the moment of the Incarnation, when the Word of God becomes Flesh, and begins to dwell among us, all because Mary says “Yes” to the Lord’s plan for her.  Matt’s talk will take a look at the Gospel story and the feast, and how our liturgical celebration of this mystery teaches us important truths about Our Lord, Our Lady, and ourselves.

If you’ve heard Matt give presentations before, you know you’re in for a treat.  If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, be sure not to miss it tonight.  The talk follows our usual Scripture sharing, which starts in church at 7:30.

Hope you can make it tonight.

Jesse O’Shea is going to give a talk tonight at Secular Oratory on “The Irish, Catholic, Philadelphia Experience”, which will include a brief history of the Irish in Philadelphia (including a certain member of the Irish Catholic community you may know!) and their impact on Church and civil society.  Expect some jokes, some beer, some music and, as Jesse tells me, “all-around good craic”  (it’s not a dirty word: look it up!).  His talk will begin after our usual Scripture sharing and social, which starts in church at 7:30.

Hope to see you tonight!

Also, I wanted to let you know that our parish St Patrick’s Day dinner and dance is coming up this Saturday, March 3, and that we still have lots of tickets available.  The party starts at 6:30 and goes until midnight in our school auditorium.  Tickets sell for $30 in advance and $35 at the door, and include a full buffet (roast beef, ham and cabbage, potatoes, green beans, and homemade desserts), unlimited draft beer, and set-ups for whatever other BYOB you may wish.  Sean Fleming will provide live dance music, including classic Irish tunes and covers of Motown classics, U2, Springsteen, The Proclaimers, The Ramones, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and much more.  Tables of ten are available, and “priority seating” near the dance floor can be arranged upon request if you act quickly.

This annual event is one of the largest fundraisers for our parish and school, and I strongly encourage you to join us, and to bring as many friends and family as you can.  Please contact me as soon as possible to reserve your tickets.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

So, bring your sweetheart (it really is a cheap date), or your lonely heart (we’ve got free beer and lots of single folks), and come hear about the beheading that started it all.

Hope to see you tonight.

When the Blessed Mother appeared to Saint Bernadette Soubirous in the grotto known as Massabielle in February 1858, she told her “I am the Immaculate Conception” and told Bernadette to ask the parish priest to build a shrine there in her honor.  As a sign of her identity and her desire to obtain God’s grace for those who would be devoted to her, Our Lady instructed Bernadette to dig in the ground, where she would find a spring of water.  The miraculous spring that flowed from the spot where Bernadette dug is still flowing, and generations of pilgrims (some 200 million have visited since 1860) have reported physical and spiritual healings after bathing in its waters.

Mickey visited the shrine recently, and will share his experiences with us.  I hope you will be able to join us for this interesting talk.