This Friday, February 3, is the feast of Saint Blaise. Saint Blaise is well known in some cultures because he is associated with the healing the throats. The actual story of his life and death are not completely documented. He was a martyr and a real person. According to tradition, he was reluctant to serve as bishop of Sebaste in present day Armenia, but when the people pleaded with him, he accepted the office, knowing that it was dangerous to serve in public ministry. Sure enough, he was arrested and condemned to death in the early 4th century. On his way to his martyrdom, he encountered a boy dying from choking on food lodged in his throat. He recovered when Blaise prayed for him. Since that time he is associated with healing of throat ailments.

There is a custom in some places to bless the throats of people on the feast of Saint Blaise. The prayer of blessing is:
Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God protect you from illness of the throat and all other evils.

Jesus healed and healing is the preeminent sign of the presence of the Kingdom of God in the New Testament. On the feast of Saint Blaise, we celebrate Jesus who healed and with Saint Blaise, we pray for the blessing of good health. We will offer the blessing of Saint Blaise at all of our Masses on Friday, February 3.

Jack’s Yacs
Our next event is Thursday, February 2: Jack’s Yacs will sponsor a meal for people in the Frankford neighborhood.

Our young adults hope to give the people who come to the event a small bag with helpful toiletries: shampoo, hand sanitizer, tissues, chap sticks, dish soap, etc. If we get more than we need, we can leave the items at the Padre Pio Prayer Center for the women and children’s program. There will be boxes in the upper and lower churches to collect these items.

For more information on these and other opportunities, please contact Father Tom.

Firefighters’ Mass
Firefighters’ Mass Plan mark your calendars for Saturday, February 18 at 10 AM for the thirteenth annual Firefighters’ Memorial Mass at St. John’s. Volunteers are needed to help in the preparation of chili, cornbread muffins and cookies. Contact Carolyn at (267) 881-8794 or email

Cash donations are also needed and welcome.

For details please visit this post.

Debt Reduction collection
Our second collection next weekend, January 28-29, will be for the reduction of Saint John’s debt. We have made great progress in paying down our debt, but we still owe more than $800,000. Please be generous.

CatholicPhilly.Com
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia maintains an excellent and informative online Catholic news site. And it is possible to receive weekly emails with important local, national and international Catholic news. Go to CatholicPhilly.Com to sign up.

Archbishop Perez wants to text you
Beginning February 22, Archbishop Perez is going to send a weekly text inviting the Catholics of the Archdiocese to be “missionary disciples” who invite others to learn about the Good News about Jesus. To sign up for the Archbishop’s texts on your phone text go forth to the number 84576.

Holy Redeemer Chinese Catholic School Open Houses
If you know families with school age children, encourage them to consider Holy Redeemer School. Holy Redeemer is private Catholic school that teaches Chinese language and honors Chinese culture. The school is open to children of all races and religions. Holy Redeemer is a safe school and its students have superior academic achievement. Open houses will be held on February 20 and March 16. Check out the school web site at holyredeemerschool.org or contact Father Tom.

Holy Land Pilgrimage, September 26-October 5, 2023
The parishioners of Holy Redeemer have asked me to organize a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the land of Jesus and of the Bible. I have made arrangements for the trip from September 26-October 5. The pilgrimage will be bilingual with messaging in English and Chinese.

I warmly welcome Saint John's parishioners and friends to the pilgrimage. However, we need at least 20 people to sign up by giving a $100 refundable deposit and committing to the pilgrimage before February 13. If you want to go, please let me know as soon as possible. For more information, see the Saint John’s website.