This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. I spoke about Lent in my bulletin column last week I will say just a bit more about almsgiving, one of the main things that we are all called […]
This Wednesday, February 22, is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Ash Wednesday is traditionally the biggest day of the year at Saint John’s. During the past few years of Covid restrictions, the numbers coming for ashes, Mass and prayers […]
The Center City District on its website offers the following interesting statistics comparing Center City Philadelphia in 2019 (pre-pandemic) to the end of 2022: In 2022, overall pedestrian volume was 73% of what it was in 2019. In 2022, office […]
At our January parish council meeting, we reviewed our year to date (July 1-December 31) financial report. Here are some highlights of the six month comparison between the current fiscal year (2022-23) and last fiscal year (2021-22): Ordinary income (collections, […]
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 […]
Christian Unity Octave I mentioned in my bulletin column last week that we are in the midst of the Christian Unity Octave. The Octave (January 18-25) is a lament that Christians who were supposed to be one church, one body, […]
Dr. Martin Luther King: On Monday, January 16, our nation marks the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King gave his life for the equality of all people, especially of African Americans whose history in the United States began […]
Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the visit by the Magi, the wise men, to the infant Jesus. These visitors were not Jews; they represent the nations. In Matthew’s Gospel, the Magi are the first witnesses to […]
Happy New Year! What will 2023 be? Who knew on January 1, 2020 what 2020 would turn out to be? We are still reeling from the Covid pandemic that upended our world and our lives in 2020. The future is […]
There are disturbing signs in the world—war in Ukraine, the ongoing threat of terrorism, inflation and a likely recession, homelessness and substance addictions and the never ending tragedy of abortion. In our own personal lives, we also struggle against sin […]