Archives for October 2016

The Pot of Gold drawing will take place on Tuesday, November 1st at 7:00 PM instead of Monday, October 31st.

We hope that all have a happy and safe Halloween!

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is sponsoring an eight day pilgrimage to Fátima and Lourdes to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the apparition of the Blessed Mother. The journey, led by Reverend G. Dennis Gill, Director of the Office for Divine Worship and Rector of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, will feature several towns and shrines throughout Portugal, Spain, and France.

The pilgrimage will include adoration in Saint Stephen’s Church in Santarém, Portugal, the site of the miracle of the Bleeding Host; Mass at the Capelinha, built over the oak tree where Our Lady appeared five times to the three shepherd children: Lúcia, Jacinta, and Francisco; a visit to Aljustrel where the Angel of Fátima appeared; and Valinhos where Our Lady appeared in August 1917; a tour of the Atlantic coast, beaches, and markets of Nazaré; a visit to the Gothic Cathedral of Santa Maria de Burgos in Burgos, Spain; a tour through Loyola as well as various other locations connected with Saint Ignatius; and a guided tour of Saint Bernadette’s home; and a visit to the healing waters in Lourdes, France.

Pilgrims will leave Philadelphia Monday, June 5, 2017 and return Monday, June 12, 2017. Registration for this pilgrimage is due by March 22, 2017. Interested parties may call Canterbury Pilgrimages and Tours, Inc. at 1-800-653-0017. An informational flyer is also pilgrimage to this message. Please consider sharing this material broadly in your parish communities. Thank you.

A number of items which remain from the St. Joseph the Worker school and convent buildings will be made available to parishioners who might be interested in having them.  All items are available free of charge.  Those interested must be prepared to load and transport the items.  Items include teacher and student desks, chairs, tables, VCRs, books, and other miscellaneous items.

Some items which are too large to bring out to the parking lot include several sofas, a Kenmore electric range, two small home organs, an electric recliner, a manual recliner, and a dining room set with a hutch and six chairs.  Anyone interested in these items should contact the rectory office at 215-946-4040.

Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has released a video statement inviting all Catholics to take time in these final weeks leading up to the presidential election to deeply reflect on the founding principles of our republic and the Gospel truths.

The video also directly addresses public officials in calling them to respect the rights of people to live their faith without interference from the state. Archbishop Kurtz’s video statement is available here https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5ae-aRj7fHFaE81aEw3bUdKSTg/view.

Thank you to all those who attended Sunday night’s Youth Group Meeting! It is going to be a great year!

This fall, the Youth Group will host Trunk or Treat at 3PM on October 30th, then meet again on Wednesday, November 23rd for a service project!

The SFC Youth Group is for all parishioners in grades 3 to 8.  The mission is to inspire the young people of the Parish Community to a life-long relationship with Jesus Christ.  They learn this through the friendships made during service projects and social events throughout the year. All are welcome and volunteers are always needed to help at these Youth Group-sponsored events.  Safe Environment clearances are required in order to volunteer with Youth Ministry.  The rectory staff is available to assist volunteers in obtaining these clearances.

The following is a statement  from Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in regards to Archbishop Chaput’s most recent column, “About Those Unthinking, Backward Catholics.”.,

His statement, “The Gospel Serves the Common Good, Not Political Agendas,” which was released this morning, can be found below.

A statement from Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky

President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

WASHINGTON—At this important time in our nation’s history, I encourage all of us to take a moment to reflect on one of the founding principles of our republic – the freedom of religion. It ensures the right of faith communities to preserve the integrity of their beliefs and proper self-governance. There have been recent reports that some may have sought to interfere in the internal life of the Church for short-term political gain. If true, this is troubling both for the well-being of faith communities and the good of our country. 

In our faith and our Church, Christ has given us a precious gift. As Catholics, we hold onto our beliefs because they come to us from Jesus, not a consensus forged by contemporary norms. The Gospel is offered for all people for all times. It invites us to love our neighbor and live in peace with one another. For this reason, the truth of Christ is never outdated or inaccessible. The Gospel serves the common good, not political agendas.

I encourage my fellow Catholic brothers and sisters, and all people of good will, to be good stewards of the precious rights we have inherited as citizens of this country. We also expect public officials to respect the rights of people to live their faith without interference from the state. When faith communities lose this right, the very idea of what it means to be an American is lost.
 

Politicians, their staffs and volunteers should reflect our best aspirations as citizens. Too much of our current political discourse has demeaned women and marginalized people of faith. This must change. True to the best hopes of our founding fathers, we are confident that we can and will do better as a nation.

Don’t Stay Home – Congress is the legislative check on the President

This November, people across the nation will be voting in the 2016 General Election for the next President of the United States. Americans are concerned for the well-being of the nation and have an important decision to make when choosing who will next take on the Oval Office. Pennsylvanians too have offices up for election that will have an equally important impact at the state level.

The General Election offers the opportunity for Pennsylvanians to vote for their next U.S. Senator, U.S. Congressman, Attorney General, Auditor General, State Treasurer, State Senator (for half the state), and State Representative.

What role do these offices play in the well-being of Pennsylvania? We have created a list of the offices up for election, the responsibilities they hold and what impact they can have. Look for more information in the coming weeks on the role these public offices play and how, depending on who fills those offices, they can positively or negatively affect Pennsylvania.

We’ll start with Congress.

Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government and it is comprised of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each state elects two senators to represent them in the Senate and a number of representatives, proportional to their state’s population, to represent them in the House. As the legislative branch, U.S. Senators and Representatives are in charge of making and passing federal laws that touch upon all aspects of U.S. domestic and foreign policy. These legislators introduce the laws signed or vetoed by the President, and can also support or oppose the President’s agenda for the country.

U.S. Senators provide advice and consent on executive nominations and treaties, as well as conduct oversight of all branches of the federal government. Their advice and consent extends to Presidential nominations of Supreme Court Justices. Currently there is a vacancy for a Supreme Court Justice. The Senate will be responsible for holding a hearing for any Justice nominations made by the President. Senators will vote for or against nominations, and once confirmed by the Senate are appointed to the Supreme Court. Because Supreme Court Justices have life tenure in the highest court in the U.S., the appointing of a constitutional justice is crucial to the future of the United States. Supreme Court Justices have the last say on what is and what isn’t constitutional.

U.S. Representatives introduce bills and resolutions, pass federal laws, offer amendments and serve on committees. Each state has a number of representatives proportional to their state’s population. Pennsylvania currently holds 18 representative seats in the U.S. House. These representatives have the power to support or oppose bills that will eventually head to the President’s desk, and to introduce the Federal budget, but constituents have the power to select which representatives they’ll put into that position of power.

Take Action!

1. Visit www.PaFamilyVoter.com to get your free personalized ballot so you know where the U.S. Senate and U.S. House candidates stand on the issues important to you.
2. Order printed Voter’s Guides for your church.
3. Vote on Tuesday, November 8th!

In the next email we’ll discuss the state row offices (Attorney General, Auditor General and State Treasurer)…

Pennsylvania Family Institute

23 N Front Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101

717-545-0600 | pafamily.org

2016 General Election Voter’s Guide: pafamilyvoter.com