Christmas in July thank you! A huge thank you to all who donated to our Christmas Bazaar through the “Christmas in July” giving trees. Your generosity is very much appreciated. This is a great start in making our Bazaar this year the best one yet! Be on the lookout for additional trees in the Fall at both of our churches. Our next meeting for the bazaar is on Thursday, August 20th at 6pm in the Father Rees Meeting Room at the OLP Parish Center. Hope to see you all there. Should you have any questions, any additional donations, or even ideas, please contact Donna Lane at 610-574-7870 (cell). Enjoy the rest of your summer. God bless you and thank you again!
The Mass Book of the 2027 calendar year will open at the Rectory on Monday 5 October at 9:30 am. Mass intentions are $10. There is a limit of five Mass requests during the first week of the Mass Book opening. There are still Mass intentions remaining for the current year. Please come to rectory office (Monday through Friday, 9am-4pm) if you would like to schedule Masses to be celebrated during 2026. Thank you.
“I rejoiced because they said to me, ‘We will go up to the house of the Lord.’ And now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem, built as a city with compact unity. To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, according to the decree for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. In it are set up judgment seats, seats for the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May those who love you prosper! May peace be within your walls, prosperity in your buildings. Because of my relatives and friends, I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’ Because of the house of the Lord, our God, I will pray for your good.”– Psalm 122
St. Charles Borromeo Seminary begins its new academic year this Thursday 20 August. Blessings to our seminarians as they begin this new year. We are grateful to the seminarians for remembering us in their prayer intentions and we will remember them and their intentions as well. The website of the archdiocesan Vocation Office is heedthecall.org. The website contains prayers, discernment resources, and an introduction to our seminarians. The following prayer for vocations is from their website. Blessings!
Let us pray: O God, Who chose the Apostles to make disciples of all nations and Who by Baptism and Confirmation has called us to build up Your Holy Church, we earnestly implore You to choose among us, Your children, many priests and religious who will love You with their whole heart and will gladly spend their entire lives making You known and loved by all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. – From the Litany for Vocations
The Collegiate Fall Semester: I read an article recently about the resurgence in requests for Blue Books. Apparently, many places of higher education have returned to the tried and true and are using the allotted two-hour examination period as an opportunity for students to write about their understanding of a semester’s worth of material. Oh, the memories! With that surveyor of subjectivity in mind Colleges and Universities will also begin their Fall Semesters presently. Blessings to our young parishioners who are returning to campus or beginning their collegiate studies, and blessings for their educators and the preponderance of Blue Books.
It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that should be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the church’s mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything. This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow, we water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything, and there is a liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future that is not our own. – Archbishop Oscar Romero
Mass Readings and Reflections for the 20th Ordinary Sunday (Cycle A) – 16 August 2026
Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 – The Lord’s justice is about to be revealed. What will that justice look like? / Do you consider yourself among those who will be brought to the Lord’s holy mountain? Why or why not? / What is your house called?
Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 – R. O God, let all the nations praise you! – What are the things that you can do to make the Lord’s name known upon the earth? / What is equity? Why does the Lord rule us by that standard? / What is ‘fear of the Lord’? Why is it a Gift of the Holy Spirit? How long will it take for the ends of the earth to fear the Lord?
Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 – With what aspect of your ministry, or of your faith, do you glory in? / Why is St. Paul trying to make the Jews jealous? Is this the sole purpose for his ministry? Have you ever acted with an ulterior motivation? / Do you trust that God’s mercy endures forever? How long does your mercy endure?
Matthew 15:21-28 – Why did Jesus not speak to the woman? Does Jesus ever refuse to speak with you? Do you ever refuse to speak to him? / How great is your faith? / Spiritually and sacramentally speaking, are you eating from the table or are you getting by on the scraps? / These readings focus on the universality of the message of God. Are you living your life practicing the universality of God’s message?