Prayer intention cards are located at the gift tables at both Our Lady of Peace Church and Notre Dame de Lourdes Church. These prayer intentions will be carried by a group of seminarians who will be participating on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Upstate New York, as well as the Shrine of Ste. Anne de Beaupre in Quebec, and St. Joseph Oratory in Montreal. You are free to fold your intention slip and leave them in the intention box, drop them in the collection basket during Mass, notify the rectory, or bring them to the rectory office. The pilgrimage is scheduled to commence on Monday 10 August. Thank you, and we thank our seminarians for their very thoughtful reminiscence of our intentions. Blessings.
Notre Dame de Lourdes School has been designated as a School of Distinction by the Archdiocesan Office of Catholic Education. This designation is in recognition of the notable achievements at our parish school for the past school year. We congratulate our school administration, faculty, and school board for their dedication to our school and for the quality of Catholic education offered to our students. NDDL – where our children will excel!
The Mass Book of the 2027 Liturgical 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 liturgical 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.
” He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection in mind; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus, he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin.” –2 Maccabees 12:43-46
Saturday 15 August is the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven. Since this solemnity is celebrated on a Saturday this year there is no obligation to attend Mass for the Holy Day. The 8:30 Saturday morning Mass at Notre Dame de Lourdes will be a celebration of the Assumption. The 4:30 evening Mass on Saturday 15 August will be the anticipated Mass for Sunday of the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm and has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.” – Luke 1:46-55
Our parish dates to 1922 and four years ago we celebrated our centennial with Mass and a Eucharistic Procession. So, as we continue in the decade of the twenties of this century, we look forward to celebrating more significant dates in our parish’s history, such as 19 November 1927 with the groundbreaking for the parish center – our original Church. Its replacement, our current Our Lady of Peace Church building was nearing completion this time seventy years ago. Groundbreaking for our Church commenced on 8 December 1954. On 12 August 1956 the cornerstone was placed and on Wednesday 15 August 1956, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady, the first Mass was celebrated at our current church. The church predates the changes dictated by the Second Vatican Council so adjustments to the sanctuary of the Church were made a decade later.
Our parish has a beautiful connection to the Solemnity of the Assumption. A stained-glass window on the St. Joseph side of our Church, second from the front, celebrates the Assumption of Our Lady. It was also on the Solemnity of the Assumption, 15 August 1959 that ground was broken for the Our Lady of Peace School. So much history to celebrate, and we give thanks to God for our faith-filled ancestors who have established such a strong spiritual foundation here in Ridley.
Mass Readings and reflection questions for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle “A” – 2 August 2026
Isaiah 55:1-3 – For what are you thirsting in your practice of the faith? / For what are you spending your money? How frequently do you buy bread, or use your wages for what satisfies? / At Easter, we are given the opportunity to renew our covenant with God. Four months later, what aspects of the covenant could use some of your attention?
Responsorial Psalm 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18 – R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs. – Do you recognize how the Lord answers all your needs? / How compassionate are you toward all the works of the Lord? / With what level of frequency do you call upon the Lord?
Romans 8:35, 37-39 – Do you feel separated from the love of Christ? What is causing the separation? How can the gap be bridged? / Why do we face anguish over things that have been overwhelmingly conquered? (Like the trepidation felt when the Eagles were beating the Chiefs 34-6 with only a quarter to go in the game.) How do you handle the hauntings of the past?
Matthew 14:13-21 – How do you respond to the death of family, friends, and associates? How is today’s second reading from Romans comforting in those moments? / What is the significance of the Offertory procession at Mass? Have you ever brought up the gifts? / With what would you have fed the crowd? / What words of blessing do you offer before eating? / In your relationship with the Holy Trinity, what fills you with satisfaction? / With twelve wicker baskets full of fragments how can we encourage more people to come to the feast? / Compare and contrast this reading with today’s first reading and psalm.