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Dear Friends,
As we gather this weekend to celebrate the Eucharist, we find July slipping in to August, and, quite naturally, our minds are beginning to turn toward the opening of school, which is about five weeks away.
In light of the fact that school will be beginning in just a few weeks, I take this opportunity to remind you of our wonderful Blessed Trinity School. We have a fine school, with a very healthy enrollment, and an excellent faculty who are very committed to the mission of the Church. Our school is second-to-none in every way, including a challenging academic program designed to meet the needs of all our students, and an array of co-curricular and extra-curricular clubs and activities. We are very blessed, and have much for which to thank God!
Many of our classes are full for the upcoming school year, but we do have some openings in a few grades. If you have a child, or know of a child, who would benefit from a superior Catholic education, please call our school office (215-338-9797) to speak with our Principal, Mrs. Maureen Pfeiffer, about registering. If you do have a child, please don’t hesitate in calling---the spots are filling quickly, and once a grade is closed you will be placed on a waiting list! Mrs. Pfeiffer or a member of our staff would also be very happy to give you a tour of our school buildings, and to answer any questions you may have about Blessed Trinity.
I also remind those parents whose children do not attend Catholic school of your obligation to ensure that your children are educated in our Catholic faith. Our Parish Religious Education Program (P.R.E.P.) exists for this purpose. From September through May, classes are held every Wednesday afternoon, from 4:30 to 6:00 P.M. Children in Grades K through 8 who do not attend Catholic school should attend. Mrs. Cheryl Kirschman, our devoted Coordinator of Religious Education, and our dedicated PREP faculty, provide an excellent learning environment for our children to learn about the faith. If you have not enrolled your child in our PREP for the 2022-2023 school year, please call the rectory as soon as possible to do so. This is especially important if your child needs to receive the Sacraments of Penance, Eucharist, and/or Confirmation. Should you have any questions or concerns, please call the rectory and Mrs. Kirschman would be happy to answer them.
I once again call to your attention the ad in this bulletin regarding Christian Initiation for Adults. This process will be beginning in the fall. This journey of faith is for those adults and young adults who have never been baptized, those who were baptized in another Christian denomination and would like to be received into the Catholic Church, and those who were baptized Catholic but never were catechized and/or never received the sacraments of Eucharist and/or Confirmation. If you know of anyone who falls into any of these categories, please encourage them to call the Rectory to speak with me so that they can begin this journey and be received into the Church at Eastertime.
This weekend we welcome Father Daniel Bowen, who is representing his religious community, the Order of Our Lady of Mercy, more commonly known as the Mercedarians, which is the religious community our Mission Co-op collection is benefitting this year. Father Bowen is the Parochial Vicar at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in the Overbrook section of the city, which is staffed by the Mercedarians. Father will give the homily at all the Masses this weekend, and our collection will directly benefit the good work of the Mercedarians. You will notice that the envelope for the Mission co-op collection is undated, so many of you already made your contribution to this annual collection. If you did not yet make your donation, I would ask you to use that envelope for this important collection. As always, I ask you to be as generous as possible as we help others to proclaim the Gospel which we ourselves have received and accepted.
Monday, August 15th, is the great summer feast of Our Lady, the Solemnity of the Assumption. Our Mass schedule for this feast day is as follows: 6:30 and 8:30 A.M., 10:00 at Saint Bartholomew’s, 12:05 Noon, and 7:00 P.M.
I remind you that I would like to begin again the taking up of the collection at the weekend Masses by ushers, as opposed to everyone placing their donation in the baskets which are positioned in various points in the church. In order to do this, of course, we need ushers, especially since our faithful crew of ushers has been depleted for various reasons. I would ask any man or woman of high school age or older who may be interested in being an usher at any of our weekend Masses, to please call the rectory or see me before or after Mass. I would like to have a meeting with all of our ushers before we set a date to begin taking up the collection in this manner once again. Stay tuned within the next few weeks for the date and time of that meeting. If you have any questions, please see me in church or call the rectory.
Know that you and those you love are daily remembered in my Mass and my prayers.
Love and prayers,
Father Olivere