Weekend of January 29-30, 2022

Dear Friends,

            We offer our blessing and congratulations to our second grade school children and second level PREP students who received the Sacrament of Penance for the first time this past Thursday evening. We pray that the grace and mercy that they received and will continue to receive every time they receive this great sacrament of peace will fill their hearts and lives with the reality of God’s great love for them. I ask you to pray for these dear children as they prepare to receive their First Holy Communion this coming May.

            We begin today Catholic Schools Week. This annual observance is a good opportunity for us to give thanks to God for the existence of our Catholic schools, especially here in our Archdiocese, which enabled so many of us to receive our grounding in the faith. We are also reminded of the many sacrifices parents and guardians make, many right here in our own parish, to send their children to Catholic school and, thus, to provide them with the best of a faith-based education. Catholic Schools Week also provides us a chance to give thanks to God for our own Blessed Trinity Catholic School. Ms. Linda Milewski, our Principal, and our dedicated faculty and staff, provide a wonderful environment of learning for our children. Our school enjoys a very stable enrollment, which is a great blessing, especially in light of the fact that in so many places Catholic school enrollments are diminishing. We are blessed, as well, in having one of the finest schools in our Archdiocese, and this fact is recognized by many professionals, including our own archdiocesan Office of Catholic Education. God is good! Our 9:15 Mass this Sunday is the official kick-off to Catholic Schools Week, and is a good opportunity for us, as a parish family, to celebrate the important gift of Catholic Education.

            This Wednesday, February 2^nd, we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas. On this fortieth day after Christmas, we celebrate the event of Mary and Joseph bringing the Child Jesus to the temple so that he could be presented, according to the Law of Moses. It was on this occasion that the ancient Simeon took Jesus in his arms and proclaimed him the “Light of revelation to the nations, and the glory of [God’s] people, Israel.” At the 8:30 Mass on Wednesday, as part of the liturgy, we will bless the candles that will be used in church and in the sacred liturgy for the coming year. Blessed candles will also be available for you to take home with you that day. If you have any candles at home, especially that you use for prayer or for the celebration of the sacraments, please bring them with you to church on Wednesday to be blessed. I cordially invite everyone to join us for the Solemn Candlemas Mass on Wednesday at 8:30.

Next weekend we will be welcoming the Little Sisters of the Poor, who will be visiting us to make their annual appeal. I remind you of the great work the Little Sisters do in serving the elderly at Holy Family Home in West Philadelphia. The sisters perform their great ministry worldwide, without any financial assistance from the government. They depend solely on the providence of God and the generosity of good people like ourselves. I ask you, as always, to be attentive to the sisters’ message and to be as generous as you possibly can.

Because this coming Thursday is the Memorial of Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, who is the patron of those suffering from ailments of the throat, we will be blessing throats at the 8:30 Mass on Thursday as well as at all the Masses next weekend.
           
Know that you and those you love are daily remembered in my Mass and my prayers.

                                                                                    Love and prayers,
                                                                                    Father Olivere