Father Roch Raible, OFM Cap was my high school earth science and biology teacher. Father Roch loved nature. He was one of the foremost experts on the ecology of Western Pennsylvania and was consulted as an expert by universities and […]
When I moved to Saint John’s Church in 1991 from Cleveland, I was astonished to see that Center City was a vibrant downtown–attractive to businesses, residents, students, shoppers and tourists. I was familiar with downtown Pittsburgh and Cleveland; but I […]
I have been associated with Saint John Church since 1991, though for most of that time I was a resident in the friary with work elsewhere. I don’t remember in those years a time when a bishop came to […]
I have in my office pictures and statues of my favorite saints. When I pray in my office, I call to mind my heavenly heroes. I pray for their intercession and I try to imitate them. One of my favorite […]
Holy Week and Easter are early this year. On average, Easter is in April about 75% of the time and in March only 25% of the time. We begin Holy Week this Sunday, March 24, which is Palm Sunday. Once […]
Sunday is the feast of Saint Patrick and during the Saint Patrick weekend there will be a lot of partying and drinking. Many people do not even know that Saint Patrick is a Catholic saint, a fourth century missionary bishop. […]
I haven’t seen it for a while, but I remember in the past seeing signs on televised sporting events that said “John 3:16”. The sign holders hoped that those seeing the signs would be curious enough to look up the […]
Why do we pray, fast and give alms for Lent? The true focus of Lent is conversion and repentance. If we are distant from God, we pray to grow closer. We are called to be merciful, so we give alms […]
On February 10-11, we had our monthly second collection for Saint John’s debt reduction. The collection was $626. However, our debt is $646,036. This is a substantial reduction from the original debt. In fiscal year 2021-22 we paid $100,000; in […]
Last year was the 800th anniversary of Saint Francis’ creation of the first Nativity scene at Greccio in 1223. In December, our Saint John’s Secular Franciscan fraternity marked the Greccio anniversary with a prayer ceremony in our lower church. In […]