We are planning a parish listening session on the sexual abuse crisis after the 11 AM Mass on Sunday, January 13, 2019.

On August 19, instead of preaching on the daily readings at Mass, Fr. Daly read excerpts of Cardinal Sean’s statement regarding the most recent exposure of clergy abuse through the PA Grand Jury report released on Tuesday, August 14 and spoke about it in the context of OLOS.  Following the Mass, parishioners gathered to share in fruitful discussion about the statement, the trifecta of abuse current scandals in the church (McCarrick, St. John’s Seminary, PA Grand Jury Report) and the appropriate response of the laity.  Click here for notes from the homily and the conversation.

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It's not always easy to come up with a weekly topic. This week I thought I might share with you excerpts from a book I just finished. It' s called: " In Praise of the Useless Life" and is written by a Trappist monk named Paul Quenon. A monk's perspective might seem odd in a world where we all seek to make our lives useful if not meaningful. However, as the introduction points out "...there may be a monk's candle inside every one of us, one that we can keep alive even in the midst of our hectic, stressful, imperfect days in the world."

"Man' s unhappiness," as Paschal said, "springs from one thing alone, his incapacity to stay    quietly in one room."

"The Holy Trinity, in Greek theology, is described as a perichoresis, a circle dance."

"The mind needs application to work; memory is a kind of mental muscle that can easily      atrophy. In our culture, memory goes largely underutilized. Only a couple of generations ago, people could recite long poems or songs."

"Faith" ..."is like Jacob wrestling in the night with someone he cannot name. Faith means to be that much engaged with God. Doubt is part of faith, not something to be excluded. Without doubt, there may be no real engagement at all, just a placid piety that masks the faith but is simply an evasion. Doubt is sometimes the fruit of love, a love that seems thwarted."

"...solitude. It counts for much in life as a refuge and a place to find strength when life gets complicated and busy. It is a matter not of seeking special spiritual experiences but of dwelling quietly on the horizon of the absolute."

SEXUAL ABUSE SCANDAL

After the 11:00 AM mass this weekend there will be a listening and feedback session on the current sexual abuse scandal. Please join us.

GRAND ANNUAL COLLECTION
 
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~Fr. Frank