Weekend of January 6-7, 2024

Dear Friends,

We celebrate today the great feast of the Epiphany, when the newborn Christ was made manifest to the people of every nation, represented by the magi who came to worship him, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This great Christmas feast is yet another reminder to us of Emmanuel, God-with-us. As we honor the Lord, who is born in our hearts over and over again, we ask him to make us bearers of his light to a world that so desperately needs him.

            I would like to take this occasion to thank you all for your generosity in our Christmas collection. The sacrifices that were so evident in your contributions are appreciated by me, as your pastor, and are certainly not unnoticed by God. This is one of the most important collections of the year, and so I want you to be sure that your generosity is not only appreciated but very necessary for the upkeep of our parish. The total for the Christmas collection will be reported in the bulletin within the next few weeks, since envelopes for Christmas are still being received by the parish office.

            Thanks are also extended to all those who made donations for Christmas flowers in memory of their loved ones. The beauty of both of our churches during this holy season is a credit to all of you. Your envelopes, upon which you wrote the names of your beloved deceased, have been placed next to the tabernacle in both churches, where they remain close to the heart of Jesus and are remembered in our prayers and in the celebration of Mass, especially during this holy season.

            Finally, I would like to sincerely thank all those who so generously sent cards, gifts, and treats to the Rectory for Father Lane, Father Noone, Ralphie, our wonderful staff, and me. Your generosity is truly overwhelming.

            This Sunday evening, January 7, at 7:00 P.M. in Saint Timothy’s upper church, we will be gathering for our re-scheduled Christmas Lessons and Carols. You will recall that this event needed to be rescheduled as a result of our power outage on the weekend of December 16-17. Lessons and Carols is a wonderful celebration, which includes readings of the Christmas season from Scripture and other sources, as well as the singing of the beautiful hymns and carols of the season. It will be a great opportunity for us to gather to celebrate Christmas one final time as a community of faith, in order to carry the spirit of this blessed season within our hearts throughout the coming year. Please join us, and bring a friend!

            Since the last time I wrote to you, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has been blessed with the announcement of three new auxiliary bishops: Bishops-elect Keith J. Chylinski, Christopher R. Cooke, and Efren V. Esmilla. Bishop-elect Chylinski spent a summer at Saint Timothy’s while a seminiarian, and both Bishops-elect Cooke and Esmilla were assigned to Saint Martin of Tours Church, as Parochial Vicar and as Pastor, respectively. We congratulate these fine priests on their appointments as bishops, as we pray that God will give them the strength and the perseverance to carry out their ministry in the Name of Jesus.

            The Church’s season of Christmas always ends on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which is normally celebrated on the Sunday after the feast of the Epiphany. Because of the way Christmas fell this year, however, the feast of the Baptism will be celebrated this coming Monday, January 8^th. When we gather, then, for Mass next Sunday, we will have already begun the Church’s Ordinary Time.

            Know that you and those you love are daily remembered in my Mass and my prayers.

                                                                                    Love and prayers,

                                                                                    Father Olivere