Weekend of March 13-14

Dear Friends,

I am very happy to officially welcome Deacon Tim Lynch, who will be with us one weekend per month beginning this weekend. Deacon Tim is a Mayfair native (who hails from Saint Matthew’s!!), who lives with his family in Chalfont, Bucks County, and is a member of Saint Jude Parish. He was ordained a deacon in 2011, and has ministered primarily at Saint Jude Parish since then.

As I mentioned to you last weekend, Deacon Tim’s part-time assignment with us in something of an experiment. If it works well (which I am very confident it will), other parishes in the Archdiocese who have multiple deacons will share one of their deacons with parishes who have none. Here at Saint Timothy’s, Deacon Tim will, at this point, assist and preach at two Masses one weekend per month, and will celebrate the baptisms that same Sunday (if there are any baptisms). He and I are both eager for him, in time, to expand that ministry. I know you join me in extending to Deacon Tim a warm Saint Timothy’s welcome.

Please join us this week as we celebrate our annual Triduum in Honor of Saint Joseph, from Tuesday, March 16^th through Thursday, March 18^th at 7:00 each evening. Each evening’s services include the Triduum prayers, a homily, and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Our own Father Buck will be the preacher for all three evenings. Please plan on joining us as we pray in a special way to this extraordinary saint, whom we invoke as the patron of the universal Church, as he cares for us in so many of our particular needs. I believe it is especially timely that we pray to Saint Joseph in this Triduum as we find ourselves still (one year later!) in the grip of the Coronavirus pandemic. Saint Joseph is a powerful and attentive saint to all who call on him. Pope Francis has designated this year as the Year of Saint Joseph, so it is especially significant that we celebrate this Triduum in this, his year of grace. Do join us for all three evenings, and bring a friend!  (The Triduum will be livestreamed.)

Looking ahead at our Lenten calendar, I remind you that on Tuesday, March 23^rd at 7:00 P.M. in the lower church, we will be celebrating our annual Lenten penance service. As always, a number of kind priests will be here to celebrate the sacrament with us. Please plan on joining us as we prepare for Easter by receiving the great sacrament of God’s peace and mercy.

I remind you:

• In addition to our regularly-scheduled daily Mass at 8:30, there is an extra Mass celebrated each week on Wednesday at 7:00 P.M., followed by confessions;

 

• Stations of the Cross every Friday evening at 7:00;

 

• Stations of the Cross most Thursdays of Lent with our school children at 2:00 P.M., which will be livestreamed (please see our parish Facebook page for more details);

 

• our Lenten adult faith formation program, which is held every Monday of Lent at 7:00 P.M. in the Rectory; this year’s topic is Catholicism: The Pivotal Players, Part II; we will be using the acclaimed video series of the same name by Bishop Robert Barron as our starting-point for discussion each week, as we discover more about several important figures in Church history (e.g., Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Dorothy Day, and Flannery O’Connor) and their relevance to the Church today;

 

• Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament every Wednesday from 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 NOON in the lower church, with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament celebrated at 12:00 NOON.

I once again respectfully remind you to please consider your gift to the 2021 Catholic Charities Appeal, if you have not already given your gift. My goal as your pastor is for every household and/or every wage earner in the parish to make a sacrificial gift to this year’s Appeal. Every gift to the Appeal --- no matter how large or small ---  goes a long way in assisting the Archdiocese in carrying out the corporal works of mercy, especially among those most in need. If you didn’t receive a Catholic Charities envelope directly from the Catholic Charities office, envelopes are available at the doors of the church. Your donation may be placed in this envelope and mailed directly to the diocesan office. I would prefer that you NOT put them in the collection basket, but mail them directly to the office yourself. I thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart for your generosity to the 2021 Appeal, which really funds the most important work we do as a Church in this great Archdiocese.

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

Love and prayers,

Father Olivere