I write to you to you today from Cathay Pacific flight 831 en route from JFK to Hong Kong. It is a 16 hour flight and I just read Pope Francis’ latest Encyclical, Delexit Nos (He loved us). It is about Catholic devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was a popular devotion for Catholics of bygone times. There are countless parishes named for the Sacred Heart and most churches have a statute of the Sacred Heart. Jesus, depicted with His heart outside of His body, surrounded by fire and with a crown of thorns, is an image that we see in just about every Catholic Church. In both our upper and lower churches, we have images of the Sacred Heart.

The Sacred Heart devotion was popular, but is it still relevant? In his encyclical, Pope Francis discloses the amazing richness of this devotion. I recommend that you read it. Here are a few highlights that I gleaned from it:

1. Devotion to the heart of Jesus is as old as the Church. Pope Francis masterfully summarizes the ancient fathers of the church who spoke of the heart of Jesus. Scripture attests to the immense love of Jesus and this love is revealed as Jesus died on the cross for us, and particularly when the lance opened his chest and blood and water flowed. The heart of Jesus is an ancient metaphor for the love of Jesus. And this devotion is also modern. More recent saints, like Saint Therese of Liseux (who is quoted extensively in this document) understood that the Sacred Heart represents Jesus’ unqualified commitment to us.
2. Only humans have hearts; God in His divinity has no heart. Devotion to the heart of Jesus is devotion to the human Jesus who loves us with a human heart, with human emotions and sentiments. God chose to become human and in Jesus, God loves us with human emotions.
3. The Sacred Heart represents the forgiving compassion of Jesus. However, if we love Jesus, we must love and forgive others. The heart of Jesus is an assurance of the love of Jesus for us and a challenge to love and forgive others.
4. Traditionally, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus involved “reparation”, offering sacrifices to console Jesus who suffered for human sin. Some people find it absurd that our 21st century sacrifices console Jesus who died in the first century. However, Pope Francis says that because the love of Jesus crucified is timeless, our interaction with the crucified Jesus is real and at all times active and present; Jesus died at one moment in time, but the love that motivated him is present in all times, even in the future, including our own time. Therefore, our acts of reparation can be said to comfort Jesus in His agony, even though His agony is in the past. However, the Pope goes on to say that the best reparation for sin is to love others, to sacrifice for others and to evangelize by telling others of the love of Jesus for them.

I can’t do justice to this magnificent encyclical in a few lines here. But I share with Pope Francis a wish that people would meditate on the love of Jesus symbolized by His Sacred Heart.

October Count of Sunday Attendance

Every year in every church in the Archdiocese (and in most other dioceses across the USA), parishes are asked to count how many are at Mass. October is seen as a “typical” month. It is not summer, when many people are away on vacation (or at a vacation site parish, when many visitors are present); it is not winter when bad weather may lessen attendance; and it is not a holiday season when attendance is higher. It is considered typical.

Saint John Church had a significant increase in Mass attendance. In 2023, the average Sunday attendance was 358; in 2024, the average Sunday attendance was 432. I looked at my bulletin message in 2023 about our October count and at that time, I expressed a wish that our 2024 number would exceed 400. My wish came true! About 50% of the Saint John’s congregations are visitors and the October numbers were perhaps exceptionally higher this year because of several large October conventions. Nevertheless, Saint John’s Sunday Mass attendance is trending higher; the same is true for weekday Mass.

In 2023, the average Sunday attendance at Holy Redeemer was 246. In 2024, the average attendance on three Sundays (we did not count the third Sunday when we had the Eucharistic procession), the average attendance was 309.

Both churches staffed by the Capuchin friars of Saint John Friary are seeing an increase in Mass attendance. Given these numbers, on an average Sunday, 741 people attend Sunday Mass at Saint John and Holy Redeemer churches.

Gospel of Luke Zoom Class

Begins December 4, 7- 8:30 PM. Last year, retired Villanova Scripture Professor Paul Danove, offered a weekly class on the Gospel of Mark. The class was well received. This year, beginning December 4, he will teach the Gospel of Luke. If you wish to receive zoom invitations each week to the class, please email Fr. Tom below.

Saint Charles Seminary Collection

On the weekend of November 23-24, we will have the annual collection to support seminary education at Saint Charles Seminary. Our future diocesan priests are trained at Saint Charles. Future permanent deacons and lay leaders also study for graduate theology degrees. Saint Charles is an important institution which trains many people for various forms of service to the Church and it deserves our support.

Over the past few years, the Archdiocese made a courageous and wise decision to leave its beautiful campus in Wynnewood with its massive buildings and beautiful chapel, to downsize and relocate to the campus of Gwynedd Mercy University in Lower Gwynedd. The seminary is dedicated to the prudent use of resources.

On November 23-24, a seminarian will speak at all Masses and you are encouraged to make a generous donation to support training of our future leaders.

This week ...

From the Pastor' Desk