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Perhaps you have figured out by now that I like statistics concerning our neighborhood, Market East. A few weeks ago, in this column I reviewed the statistics provided by the Center City District. According to my reading of those statistics, Market East compared with the pre-pandemic time, has more residents, fewer workers and shoppers and lots of visitors and tourists. About 20% of the stores are empty and that’s not changing. That’s also my assessment from living here and pastoring Saint John Church.

I recently looked at US Census bureau statistics and found some interesting facts about the 19017 zip code. The US Census Bureau summarizes our demographics with this statement:

The people living in ZIP code 19107 are primarily white. The number of people in their late 20s to early 40s is extremely large while the number of middle aged adults is extremely small. There are also an extremely large number of single adults and an extremely small number of families. The percentage of children under 18 living in the 19107 ZIP code is extremely small compared to other areas of the country.

We have lots of young adults, few children and few families. Because we attract many tourists and worshipers from all over the region, we have a congregation that is diverse. Overall we see few families with children but we do have lots of young adults.

17,600 people live in our zip code, but Saint John’s outreach goes much beyond those who live here. Our zip code’s median age is 31 years old; given the paucity of children, this means that we have lots of neighbors in their 20s.

The Archdiocese is inviting us to think about how to evangelize in our neighborhood. While we have the unique opportunity to reach visitors, workers and shoppers, we still have to outreach those who actually live here. Young adults are mobile and don’t usually stay in a neighborhood for more than a few years. Nevertheless, these are our neighbors now and we want to announce to them the good news of Jesus Christ.

Please join us for the discussion of the Archbishop’s pastoral letter on evangelization on June 29. The Archdiocese does not have a program or template for evangelization in Center City. The Archbishop and his advisors are looking to us for our ideas and input. I also don’t know what we should do, so I too am looking for ideas from our parishioners and friends.

Archbishop Perez’s Pastoral Letter

Our Archbishop has written an important letter asking everyone in the Archdiocese to think about and plan for evangelization. We need to study and talk about his initiative.

1. Read the Archbishop’s letter. It can be found at trustandhope.org.
2. Attend a study/discussion session on the letter on Sunday, June 29, after the 10:30 AM Mass in our Saint John’s Parish Center. It will be led by Deacon James O’Neill.

Second Collection for Saint John’s Debt

Even though we are in the midst of a capital campaign to do essential repairs, we still need to make a payment on our debt to the Archdiocese at the end of our fiscal year (June 30). Our second collection this weekend (June 21-22) will be for our debt payment. Please be generous.

Capital Campaign Update as of June 2

Large Gifts $625,000
Estate $100,000
Historic Preservation Fund $ 50,000
Smaller Gifts $237,854
Pledges $20,000

Total $1,032,854

The amount of pledges decreases as pledges are paid. The project may cost as much as $1.4 million, so we are still in need of your help!

Brother Luke Kim, OFM Cap

Brother Luke is a deacon, slated for priesthood ordination in 2026. He is assigned to Saint John Church and Friary to serve here as deacon and to prepare for priesthood. Brother Luke was born in 1978 in South Korea. He majored in violin in college and worked as a musician. At the age of 38, he began to discern a call to religious life and entered Capuchin formation at the age of 39. He studied philosophy and theology at the Catholic University of America and received the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree in May, 2025 and was ordained a deacon the same month. We welcome Brother Luke to Saint John’s and look forward to receiving his ministry as deacon for at least the next year.

Estate of Donald E Williams

I received notice this week that Mr. Williams, a deceased member of the Secular Franciscan Order at Saint John’s, left Saint John Church 20% of his estate, a total of $17,802.24. Please pray for eternal rest for Mr. Williams. Please consider remembering Saint John Church in your own will and estate planning.

Mass Intentions

It has long been a pious custom in the Catholic Church to offer Masses for the living and the dead. Of course, the benefits of the Mass are infinite since it is a re-experiencing of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In every Mass, Jesus is truly present and we enter into His once and forever offering of Himself to the Father. Yet, Catholics still offer Mass for certain persons and individuals. The customary offering for Masses is $10 which is an offering toward the support of priestly ministry. At Saint John’s for many years, we have also accepted $5 offerings, “unannounced Masses”, which have been typically sent to dioceses in poor countries.

Effective August 1, we will no longer accept unannounced Masses. $5 offerings are not sufficient, even in poor countries. Besides, it costs Saint John Church $50 every time we wire Mass money to India or Africa. And sometimes we don’t have enough announced Masses to satisfy the 3 Masses that we offer each day at Saint John’s. Because we have many Masses during the week, we have the capacity to satisfy the pious desire of our people to offer Masses for intentions and individual persons. We encourage people to offer Masses for their intentions, but beginning August 1, all Masses will be announced and we ask for at least a $10 donation.

This week ...

From the Pastor' Desk