Messages from the PPC

Message from Phil Murray, PPC

| St. Charles Borromeo

Hello! I’m Phil Murray. I serve on the Parish Pastoral Council and have been a St. Charles Borromeo parishioner since 1984. Yes, I know that is longer than more than a few of you reading this have been alive. And I can say that what we are all now going through is the strangest time in my life, both as a person and a Roman Catholic Christian.

This Sunday at our Online Community Mass at 11:15 AM, we will be particularly remembering all those who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and especially those who have suffered and died. Many have been also impacted by the suffering of relatives or friends. The pain has not been distributed uniformly, but as it is now estimated that 25% of City residents would test positive for the virus, we can be sure that our St. Charles Borromeo family has been affected. (I will especially be praying for a long-time employee—forty years plus—of my co-op who is recovering, and for his twin sister who died.) Others of us may be feeling increasingly down as the enforced separation and the disruption of daily routines continue. And, there is the economic hardship being experienced by so, so many people and families. Continue reading “Message from Phil Murray, PPC” →

Messages from the Pastor

Good Shepherd Sunday – Seeking the Hope Within

| St. Charles Borromeo

The Good Shepherd, c. 300–350, at the Catacombs of Domitilla, Rome (Wikipedia)

Fourth Sunday of Easter
1 Peter 2:20B–25
May 3, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the entire world to a standstill. This has caused considerable dislocation in every area of every society and has provided an opportunity to re-evaluate attitudes and world views. With the Internet, spokespeople for every philosophy and religion, new and old, have emerged to take advantage of this situation. Many of these are charlatans and huskers, but some intelligent and reasonable views have been raised. One of these is about the oldest: Stoicism.

We looked at the Stoics by comparing their view of fate with that of the great Jewish sage Ben Sirach. Fate was irresistible and unchangeable and the question for the Stoic is how to approach the inevitable. A Stoics facing the pandemic first ask, “Is what is happening to me under my control?” The Stoic answer is that the existence or non-existence of the disease, who will or will not contract it, and who will or will not die is simply not under our control. In the words of the great Stoic philosopher Epictetus: “I should be indifferent to things beyond my control. They are nothing to me. —Discourses 1.29.24.” Continue reading “Good Shepherd Sunday – Seeking the Hope Within” →

News

Reflections on Matthew’s Gospel from Our Confirmation Class

| St. Charles Borromeo

While staying at home, the St. Charles Confirmation Candidates of 2020 have continued to prepare for the sacrament. Their latest assignment was to read the Gospel of Matthew and to reflect on it. One part of this work was to find a passage in the Gospel that would speak to having faith during our current crisis. Here are some of their thoughts:

Come to me,
all who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me;
for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(Mt. 11:28–30)

I chose this passage because it shows how Jesus is always there for us to give us rest and to help us find peace spiritually, which can be incredibly helpful during times of hardship like this. –Nicholas N. Continue reading “Reflections on Matthew’s Gospel from Our Confirmation Class” →

Homilies

3rd Sunday of Easter – Fr. Gribowich Homily

| St. Charles Borromeo

Good afternoon, everyone – I think it’s past, no it’s not past noon yet, right? That’s good morning everyone, and it’s great to be, of course, here with you again. Hopefully you can hear us all right. I know that this still gets a little complicated when we’re trying to balance moving so many different moving parts here, with the video and everything. But it’s great to be here with you, even though it’s virtual.

So today, we hear the great story of the discovery of Jesus on the way to Emmaus, and the story makes me think of a lot of things, but I think perhaps it particularly makes me think about coming from Pennsylvania, actually from Allentown. There’s a town close by called Emmaus, and of course the town is used in light of the biblical reference, and so there’s different places that are kind of named after the biblical town. So for example, there’s a religious goods store and they call the store The Way to Emmaus, and then there is a store that sells running shoes and other types of things and they call it the Run-Inn, so I-N-N like the inn where Jesus stayed with these disciples, and whenever I’d like to go home to Allentown, I like to stop into Emmaus, because I do go to the Run-Inn because that’s where I’ll buy my running shoes and I’ve been doing it for years, because I was teaching at Central Catholic High School in Allentown for many, many years and working with the track team and the cross-country team, and we would always go there to buy our running shoes. So I still go there every now and then when I’m back home, and I like going there picking out my shoes and then right when I bring them up to the counter to pay for them I’ll just kind of slightly say oh you know I used to work for Central Catholic and then BOOM, that’s when the eyes open up and like oh you worked for Central, we’ll give you a discount and so it’s a nice little perk that we have. Well going to the Run-Inn, where you get a Central Catholic discount even though I’m not even working in there anymore. Continue reading “3rd Sunday of Easter – Fr. Gribowich Homily” →

Events, Front Page

Sunday Online Community Mass – 11:15 AM EDT

| St. Charles Borromeo

Please join us online for our weekly Online Community Mass for the Third Sunday of Easter on 4/26 at 11:15 AM EDT. [Zoom dial-in info removed from website for security reasons]