Weekend of February 25-26, 2023

Dear Friends,

            On this First Sunday of Lent, we enter with Jesus into the desert, and we hear the familiar story of his temptations by Satan. The devil, in his cunning and arrogance, dares to tempt even the Son of God, and even though he obviously fails, he leaves Jesus somewhat battle-worn.

            The temptations of Jesus remind us of just how hard the devil works in our world and in our lives. He “prowls like a roaring lion,” as Saint Peter reminds us, “looking for someone to devour.” If we are honest with each other, we would have to admit that the devil is everywhere in our world. Wherever there is loneliness, despair, crime, heartache, prejudice, meanness, guilt, addiction, abuse, and anything else that is dark or negative --- the list could go on and on --- Satan is present, and, more than that, is the source of the darkness and the negativity.

            Sometimes, it is easy to think that the devil is going to win the fight between good and evil, between light and darkness. It could seem to us, at various times, but especially when we are going through a particularly dark period in our lives or struggling with something that seems especially bad, that the darkness, no matter what it is, will win out over the light. As people of faith, however, we must never forget that we are rooted in the light, and that the light is within us and all through us. This light, of course, is the light of Jesus, Himself. We refer to Jesus as the “Light of the World” because we believe His light is the source of all light in the world. We also believe that the darkness will never, ever be able to extinguish His light. Rooted in the light of Jesus, we need to be convinced that, like Jesus, we will conquer over Satan once and for all. Let us root ourselves in that light as well as in our faith, especially as we enter, with Jesus, into the desert of Lent.

            Once again, I call your attention especially to the following with regard to Lent here at Saint Timothy:
 

• In addition to our regularly-scheduled daily Masses, there will be an extra Mass celebrated each week at Saint Timothy’s on Wednesday at 7:00 P.M., followed by confessions;

 

• Stations of the Cross every Thursday evening at 7:00 at Saint Bartholomew’s and every Friday evening at 7:00 at Saint Timothy’s;

 

• a Triduum in Honor of Saint Joseph, which will be celebrated from Monday, March 13^th through Wednesday, March 15^th at 7:00 P.M.; each evening’s services include the Triduum prayers, a homily, and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament; Father Andrew Auletta, a classmate of Father Lane and a friend of both Father Lane and myself, who is the Parochial Vicar at Saint Joseph Parish in Downingtown, will be the homilist;

 

• our Lenten adult faith formation program, which will be held every Monday of Lent at 7:00 P.M. in the Rectory. This year’s topic is The Passion and Resurrection Narratives of Jesus. We will be exploring the gospel stories of the passion and resurrection of Jesus, which are at the core of our Christian faith, revealing the nature of God, the person of Jesus, and the path of every disciple; 

-           Archbishop Perez has designated the weekend of March 10-11 as Reconciliation Weekend in the Archdiocese. Certain parishes throughout the five county Archdiocese will be offering the Sacrament of Penance, and the priests of each region (or deanery) will be going to those churches to hear confessions. In our deanery Saint Matthew Parish has been designated as the church where confessions will be heard on this Reconciliation Weekend. Confessions will be heard at Saint Matthew’s on Friday evening, March 10 from 1:00 to 4:00 P.M. and from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. and on Saturday, March 11 from 9:00 A.M. to 12 Noon. Father Lane and I will both be hearing confessions, along with the other priests of our deanery, at various times on both of those days;

Please remember your Little Black Books, your Lenten quarter folders, and your Rice Bowls, all of which are available at the church entrances.
           
            Know that you and those you love are daily remembered in my Mass and my prayers.

                                                                                    Love and prayers,
                                                                                    Father Olivere