ABVM PARISH COMMUNITY

  KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS RELIEF EFFORTS IN MAUI It is my pleasure to serve as chaplain for the Knights of Columbus St. Pius X Council 3858.  Their causes are good and just and they and the Women’s Auxiliary are a great help in many parish events.  Recently I was pleased to receive an email that was sent to all the members by the Supreme Knight.  I reproduce it here for your edification.  It was very moving to learn about what the Knights are doing in Hawaii to help those who have been hurt by the devastating fires.  It makes me proud to be part of this organization.  The Knights of Columbus were founded in 1882 under the leadership of a parish priest, Blessed Father Michael McGivney.  The purpose was to promote men’s loyalty to the Catholic Church at a time when they were being tempted to join secret fraternal organizations which often promoted anti-Catholic views.  It provided a place for fellowship, encouraged patriotism, and allowed the men to effectively care for the needs of hurt

  THE FAITH, ZEAL AND PERSEVERANCE OF MOTHER SAINT FRANCES CABRINI This weekend we welcome Father John Burger, SSC who is a priest of the Missionary Society of St. Columban, whose members are known as the Columban Fathers.  The Pontifical Mission Societies of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, with the endorsement of Archbishop Pérez, ask parishes to sponsor a missionary for a weekend in the summer so that he or she can make an appeal on behalf of their apostolates which do so much good.  Those whom they serve are poor.  Without our help they could not accomplish so much.  The Church in the United States is in large measure the fruit of the faith and work of many missionaries who came to the United States to serve immigrants who had left their homeland to find a better life here.  In fact, the first citizen of the United States who was canonized came to America as a missionary.  Mother Frances Cabrini was born in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano in Italy on July 15, 1850.  As a young girl she r

  THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY AND HOPE IN A TROUBLED WORLD On Tuesday we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation, with Mass at 8:15 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.  In honor of our 150 th anniversary celebration, which we initiate with this feast, we will enjoy breakfast in the Parish Life Center following the Mass.  The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed in the chapel at 9:45 a.m. Pope Pius XII issued the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus (“The Most Bountiful God”) on November 1, 1950.  It defines the dogma of the Assumption of Mary into heaven, body and soul.  A dogma is a divinely revealed truth declared as such by the highest teaching office of the Church, such as an ecumenical council or the Pope himself.  As divinely revealed truth, it is infallible and all Catholics are bound to believe it. In the beginning of the Constitution Pope Pius XII indicates that “our pontificate is weighed down by ever so ma

  THE FATHER’S CONSOLATION The more that we learn about Jesus’ relationship with his Father, the more we learn about our own relationship with the Father, through him.  Jesus came into the world to reveal the Father, who is hidden from us, “for no one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known” (John 1:18).  Jesus’ purpose in revealing the Father was that all who believe in him might come to know the Father, almost as he knows him.  Jesus summed up this purpose in his closing prayer at the Last Supper: “O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you; and these [the apostles] know that you have sent me.  I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:25-26).  By their ministry after the Ascension the apostles and their collaborators made known the teachings and life of Jesus.   They taught from their own experience a