I apologize for the fact that we have not had printed Sunday bulletins for the past two weekends. As most of you know, our bulletin publisher, John Patrick, who is located in Trenton, NJ, experienced major flooding and damage to their plant, resulting in the destruction and/or disrepair of much of their equipment. We are keeping them, and all those directly affected by Hurricane Ida and the other recent storms and tornadoes we’ve experienced, in our prayers. I thank you for your patience and understanding in these extraordinary circumstances.
We had a beautiful celebration last Sunday for Sister Bea McElrone at the 9:15 Mass and afterward at the breakfast reception in the gym. As those of you who attended know, it was a wonderful way for us to celebrate the 29 year ministry of Sister Bea here at Saint Timothy’s. On hand were many of Sister’s family members, as well as many of our current parishioners, as well as a number of former parishioners, many of whom collaborated with Sister in many different ways in the myriad ways she ministered to the needy over the years. It was only right that we would take this moment in time to thank God for the gift of Sister Bea to our parish family, and to thank Sister herself for the beautiful gift of self which she so generously shared with us, especially with the poor and those who were most in need.
As many of you know, Sister has been changed to Saint Joseph’s Villa in Flourtown, which is the retirement residence for the Sisters of Saint Joseph. We will share Sister’s address with you in the near future. As I said in my letter last week, Sister leaves us for the Villa with her heart and hands very full after an active ministry of over sixty years. We send her forth with our undying gratitude and with all our love, for all she has been and done in our midst. Our sadness at her leaving is brightened by the reminder, for her as well as for us, that she will always be a part of our Saint Tim’s family. We look forward to her visiting us on special occasions and on ordinary days. Levick Street will always be home to Sister Bea.
Many have asked if we will be continuing the great work of Sister Bea, which is so desperately needed, especially in our world and our parish and our neighborhood today. We will be continuing Sister’s work, albeit in a different way. You will be hearing in the upcoming weeks about the way our outreach to those who are most needy among us will continue.
We celebrate today Catechetical Sunday, on which we celebrate and honor all those who, in various capacities, assist us in spreading the Good News of Christ through Saint Timothy’s Parish and Blessed Trinity School. Those we honor today include our school teachers, our PREP catechists, and our RCIA team members. All of these good folks work hard to spread the love of God to everyone, as should we all, but their particular ministries call them to make the spreading of that same Good News an integral part of their discipleship. At some points in their ministry, in certain circumstances and at particular moments, their great work may seem unappreciated and pointless. Our celebration today reminds them that they are, indeed, very appreciated, and that the work that they do week after week (and, for our teachers, day after day) is essential to the life of the Church and to its essential mission, given by Jesus himself, of spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
I am very happy to officially welcome back to school all of our young people who are students, from Pre-K to college. Our prayer is that this school year is filled with many blessings for you, and that you will learn much and continue to grow into the person God created you to be. We welcome back in a special way the students of our own Blessed Trinity School. I always tell you how blessed we are in our parish/regional school, and that is so very true, as we continue to grow and make our school the very best Catholic school in the city, and perhaps even in the Archdiocese! The blessings continue in this new academic year, as we begin school with about 440 children, which is, as you know, an unbelievably great enrollment in this day and age. We are blessed indeed! Our superb principal, Ms. Linda Milewski, and her fine faculty and administration work hard each day to ensure that our children receive the very best of educations, in a true Christ-centered place of learning.
We welcome back as well the students of our parish religious education (PREP) program. These young people come to classes every Wednesday afternoon to learn about our Catholic faith from our dedicated PREP teachers and our Director of Religious Education, Mrs. Cheryl Kirschman, who is the best of the best. May their new academic year be a blessing, as they learn about God’s love, the great gift of the Church, and prepare to receive the sacraments.
This weekend we will be taking up a special second collection for the hurricane victims of Haiti. Please be as generous as you can as we assist our sisters and brothers who have been directly affected by the devastation of these natural disasters.
We have resumed our weekly Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Exposition takes place every Wednesday morning in the lower church, from after the 8:30 Mass until 12:00 Noon. Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is celebrated at Noon. If you are able, do come and spend some time with our Eucharistic Lord.
Know that you and those you love are daily remembered in my Mass and my prayers.