We thank Father Brien Gomes for his recent visit with our parish and for his presentation on behalf of the Pontifical Missionary Societies. Information about Father’s diocese of Sylhet, Bangladesh as well as the envelopes to support this missionary activity will be available at both of our Churches through the month of July. Thank you again for your generous support and prayers for the Church’s missionary activity.
A reminder that we will have a planning meeting for our annual Christmas Bazaar on Wednesday 16 July at 6pm in the Father Nall meeting Room (second floor of the OLP Parish Center). All are most welcome to attend.
Our parish community dates to 1916 when the world was still amid the horrors of the First World War. For seven years our parish was a missionary parish. Finally, in 1922, having obtained the necessary number of souls to form a parish community, then Archbishop Dennis Dougherty established us as the Parish of Our Lady of Peace. That Marian title, the archbishop, and the time frame are all significant.
From the outset of the War in 1914 and continuing through the reconciliation efforts that followed the armistice, Pope Benedict 15th was an advocate of peace. While the Vatican was officially neutral the Pope’s efforts at peace were looked at with suspicion and his many efforts were frequently rebuked. Finally, on 5 May 1917 – an Octave that preceded the first apparition at Fatima, Pope Benedict entrusted the world under the intercessory concern and love of the Blessed Mother – declaring Mary as the “Queen of Peace.” This title was then added to the Litany of Our Lady.
But Pope Benedict was not finished. In 1918 he commissioned a statue “Hail, Queen of Peace” to be placed at the Roman Shrine of St. Mary Major on the Esquiline Hill of Rome. The beautiful marble statue features Our Lady with the Child Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Our Lady is seated with her hand extended in an expression of peace that she wishes to share with her adopted children. The Infant Jesus is standing on his Mother’s lap with his right hand extended ready to cascade an olive branch that he tenderly holds. The Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, is at the foot of the statue. The Dove has its wings extended ready for flight and to share the gift of the olive branch whenever our Savior sends it on its mission.
The statue also features the gaze of Our Lady not looking out into a vast unknown distance but looking downward to the individual who is praying to her, seeking her intercession, seeking the gift of peace. In this sense the person who gazes at the statue is not a passive observer but becomes the fourth character in this work of art. It is the responsibility of this unseen and ever-changing fourth character to receive the gift of peace and to spread it, to share it in the same way that the Good News of the Sacred Scriptures is to be received and shared. The ever-changing unseen character becomes the evangelist of peace.
This evangelist of peace is called and sent to bring hope and reconciliation, to bring healing, toleration, and respect. It is the responsibility of every evangelist of peace to acknowledge differences yet to treasure the inherent dignity of every individual. The evangelist of peace promotes justice, shares resources with the disadvantaged, and trusts in the power of interdependence and understanding thus promoting the common good.
Cardinal Dougherty established our parish in June of 1922, a year after he was consecrated as a Cardinal by Pope Benedict 15th. Having been designated as the Archbishop of Philadelphia and then named as our Archdiocese’s first Cardinal – both through the appointment of Pope Benedict 15th– it was natural that Cardinal Dougherty would one day establish a parish dedicated to Our Lady under the title of Queen of Peace that was so dear to the heart of Pope Benedict.
Thus, Cardinal Dougherty becomes the unseen fourth character, the evangelist of peace, who receives the olive branch of peace from the arms of Jesus and through the Paraclete sends the olive branch to rest upon a community of believers. Cardinal Dougherty entrusted this olive branch to Ridley Township, to this community of believers whom he believed would have the fortitude to be evangelists of peace.
Through Sacred Liturgy, the wisdom of Cardinal Dougherty, and the strength of character that Pope Benedict 15th saw in us a century ago, we are all called to be that unseen fourth character, to be evangelists of peace. We take to heart the words spoken at Mass: “Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles: Peace, I leave you, my peace I give you. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will. Who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
The peace of the Lord be with you always.