Notre Dame de Lourdes School begins the 2026/2027 school year with organizational meetings this week. We welcome our students back for the new school year beginning on Tuesday 1 September. Our school looks nice and spiffy with flooring upgrades to the library and Stream Lab on the second floor. Thank you to our Notre Dame de Lourdes Alumni Association and thanks to all who generously offer their resources, time, and energy to keep our school in such beautiful condition.
PREP (Parish Religious Education Program) registration continues. PREP registration may be completed online. The initial PREP session is scheduled for Tuesday 29 September.
“Let us pray… Lord our God, in your wisdom and love you surround us with the mysteries of the universe. Send your Spirit upon our students and fill them with your wisdom and blessings. Grant that they may devote themselves to their studies and draw ever closer to you, the source of all knowledge. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.” – From the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The Parish census and block collection information will be mailed to all our parishioners in mid-September. The letter will contain financial statements, information about the upgrades that have occurred at our campuses during the past year, as well as the upgrades and changes awaiting us in the next year.
One of these changes regards the Our Lady of Peace Convent building, on the space where “Our Lord was first tabernacled and dwelt among his people.” – from The Our Lady of Peace Parish 25th Jubilee Commemorative Book of 1947.
With the expansion of our OCIA program (The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults), the diverse needs of parish religious education programs, the reemergence of a parish youth ministry, and the need for meeting spaces that allow for various groups to share a building simultaneously, it became evident that the former convent must be utilized as the location to serve adequately the needs of our parish. Thus, we have envisioned the Prince of Peace Spirituality Center to be established on the space where the Most Blessed Sacrament and the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord were consecrated for the first time.
The rooms of the Center will be based upon themes related to the Sisters of St. Joseph, their history, their legacy of service to our parish and the Church, and the people of faith who have inspired them or made their ministries possible. Most notably among these are…
- St. Joseph, as the Guardian of the Redeemer was given the great responsibility to care for God’s precious treasures – the Blessed Mother and the Son of God.
- Our Savior, the Prince of Peace, who in Mark 6 is referred to as the carpenter while Matthew 13 names Jesus as the carpenter’s son.
- Father Jean-Pierre Medaille, SJ, a missionary in southwest France, in 1646 he first organized a small grouping of women – The Little Design – who were to be members of a religious community – the future Sisters of St. Joseph. Father Medaille tasked them with circling the city, finding the needs of the day and addressing them.
- Mother St. John Fournier who was one of the original six sisters who immigrated from France to the United States in 1836.
- Philadelphia Bishop Francis Kenrick in 1847 first welcomed a group of four Sisters of St. Joseph, including Mother Fournier, to begin their ministry in the city. Bishop Kenrick noted that these Sisters were “ready for any good work.”
- St. John Neumann in 1852 recommended the current Chestnut Hill site as a Motherhouse for the Sisters of St. Joseph, as well as land in southcentral Pennsylvania as a mission for the Sisters.
- Mother Miriam Carmel, SSJ who served as the first principal at Notre Dame de Lourdes School.
- Sr. Denise Clifford, SSJ who served as the final principal at Our Lady of Peace School.
The dedication of various rooms under the patronage of these individuals assures that the self-emptying love of service to God and neighbor will continue to flourish in us and through us.
We are grateful for the presence of the Mission Youth Philly members whose activities, and “Holy Huddles” on our campus at Our Lady of Peace has served as a reminder of the global outreach of our faith and the call to respect the inherent dignity of every person who is made in the Image and Likeness of Christ. Their ministries included Bible studies, and bringing the love and mercy of Christ to the impoverished, most notably along the streets of Kensington. Their Holy Week Missions have provided us with an uplifting glimpse of the future of an Apostolic Church. God bless them most abundantly as they continue their outreach ministries.
Mass Readings and reflections for the 21st Ordinary Sunday (Cycle A) – 23 August 2026
Isaiah 22:19-23 – Shebna was the steward of the royal household. His behavior indicated a lack of trust in the Lord. Thus, Eliakim’s promotion signaled the importance of trust in God over political alliances. When have you given your robe or sash to another? How did that feel? When have you received another’s robe or sash? / Who in your life is a peg fixed in a sure spot?
Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 6, 8 – R. Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands. – What strength do you need God to build up in you? / Does the Lord see you? Is this close up or from afar? / Have you ever forsaken the work of God’s hands? Do you know others who have done so? What grace is necessary to stay connected to the work of God’s hands?
Romans 11:33-36 – What does inscrutable mean? Why does St. Paul describe God’s judgments as inscrutable? How would you describe your judgments? / The celebrant, at the conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer prays: “through him, and with him, and in him, O God almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, forever and ever.” These words are called the doxology. St. Paul uses very similar words to close this passage. What is the purpose of a doxology? Why does the Eucharistic prayer close with a doxology? Why does this passage close with one?
Matthew 16:13-20 – Compare and contrast the Gospel with the First Reading, and with the Epistle from St. Paul. / Who do you say that the Son of Man is? What does it mean to you that Jesus is the Christ? / Do you trust that the Church is a Rock and that nothing will prevail against it? Why do people doubt that the things entrusted to St. Peter also apply to his successors?