From the Pastor: 1.31.10

FROM THE PASTOR: January 31, 2010 Jesuit communities often have well-stocked shelves of paperback novels – castoff light reading from past and present generations of bibliophile priests and brothers.  Our community is no exception, and that is how I come at present to be reading Susan Howatch’s novel, Mystical Paths (Ballantine, 1992).  Mystical Paths is the fifth novel in her “Church of England” series; and while the C of E is not the Roman Catholic Church, life at the parish level is not that different. In the following passage, Nick Darrow (the...

Homily: 1.31.10

Fr. Dan Ruff, S.J. – Pastor Old St. Joseph’s, Philadelphia 4th O.T. (C) – 1-31-10 – 5:30 p.m. Vigil, 9:30 a.m. I am betting that this morning[evening], people may actually remember the second reading.  The passage we heard from Paul’s first Letter to the Corinthians today must be one of the most famous and memorable in the entire Bible.  If you have been to a wedding or two in the last few years, odds are that you heard this famous “love” reading at least once.  When I ask brides why they choose the passage for their weddings, they usually tell me,...

Homily: 1.24.10

Fr. Dan Ruff, S.J. – Pastor Old St. Joseph’s Church, Philadelphia 3rd Sunday in OT-C – 1-24-10 Ah, Corinth!  The town that put the “pay” in “pagan”!  When Paul arrived in the year 51, some 18 years after the death and resurrection of Christ, Corinth had a lot to recommend it.  The city was strategically situated on the narrow isthmus which joins southern Greece to the northern mainland; and it was young and dynamic.  As a crossroads for the Mediterranean, it was international in character, comparatively wealthy, and open to new ideas.  Paul was,...

From the Pastor: 1.24.10

FROM THE PASTOR: January 24, 2010 Old St. Joseph’s is a place of many miracles; but we sometimes fail to notice them.  That is because they are often “ordinary” miracles.  The late Fr. Horace McKenna, S.J., a famous “apostle of the poor” in the MD Province, used to like to speak about “slow miracles” as well.  I want here to reflect a bit, with gratitude, on one of our “home-grown” miracles that is both ordinary and slow – namely, the regular coming together in friendship of educated, middle-class parishioners with our guests in the parish Outreach...

Homily: 1.17.10

Fr. Dan Ruff, S.J. – Pastor Old St. Joseph’s Church, Philadelphia 2nd Sunday in OT (C) – 1-17-10 – 11:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m. “Epiphany” as a noun means “appearance” or “manifestation,” especially of a deity.  The word can also refer to a flash of insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, often in the middle of an ordinary, everyday experience.  The example that comes to mind is the famous one of Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree and watching in apple fall to the ground; as he begins to ponder the falling of the apple, he...

From the Pastor: 1.17.10

FROM THE PASTOR: January 17, 2010 In an unguarded moment last summer, I agreed to give a day of recollection at the seminary in Baltimore where I formerly taught presiding and preaching.  The proposed subject was a day on “The Priest as Teacher/Preacher.”  I was flattered to be remembered and thought of; and January seemed such a long way away at the time!  I’m sure I will somehow come up with something to say by the time I need to say it.  Meanwhile, I thought I might kill two birds with one stone by using this column to share the current state of my thinking...

Homily: 1.11.10

Fr. Dan Ruff, S.J. – Pastor Old St. Joseph’s Church – 6:30 p.m. Feast of the Baptism of the Lord – 1/11/10 A southern Preacher was conducting a baptismal service one Sunday afternoon down by the river when a drunk stumbled along.  As the assembled faithful stood watching, the drunk lurched forward into the water and stood teetering beside the Preacher.  Turning and looking the tipsy man in the eye, the minister asked: “Mister, Are you ready to find Jesus?”  The drunk looked back and said, “Yes,Preacher. I sure am.”  So the minister...

From the Pastor: 1.10.10

FROM THE PASTOR: January 10, 2010 Unbelievably, the much anticipated holidays have come and gone.  As I write this during the Octave of Epiphany, I am aware that most stores have already banished all their “Holiday” decorations to make room for Valentine cards and candies.  Around the parish, it seems oddly quiet after the flurry of liturgies, homilies, and social events.  And for me, at least, the reality of the long winter ahead sets in.  (It doesn’t take much imagination, given the frigid arctic air mass which has joined us for the next week or two, coupled...

Vocation Awareness Week: 01.09.11 to 01....

Vocation Awareness Week will occur January 9-15, 2011 with a Gathering for Young Men with Cardinal Justin Rigali scheduled on Friday, January 14, 2011 at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. The evening will include interaction with seminarians and priests of the Archdiocese; candlelight procession; night prayer and reflection by Cardinal Rigali and refreshments. For more info and to reserve your space for this evening, please contact the Vocation Office at 610-667-5778.

From the Pastor: 1.03.10

FROM THE PASTOR: January 3, 2010 The word Matthew uses is “magi” – the same word from which our own word, “magic,” is derived.  The term suggests that they were philosophers and astrologers (hence, their attention to the stars); and they were also most likely “seers” who were regarded as having more than natural knowledge.  “From the East” would intimate that they came from Persia; hence, they were certainly “gentiles.”  As a result, their attendance on the birth of Christ is seen as a manifestation that his earthly mission is to all peoples of...