Our kids are asking: If God is all-good and all-powerful, then why is He allowing so many people to suffer in natural disasters?

(Part 2 of 2)

Part 1: Before you can talk to your child, you have to find peace in your own heart

Part 2: Talking to Your Child about Natural Disasters

This piece by Focus on the Family (a non-denominational Christian ministry) offers many helpful insights and tips for parents.  They cover much of what I had planned to say, so I encourage you to check out their article.

I will add to their reflections that your child wants to talk to you, and you don’t have to have all of the right or perfect answers to get the conversation started.   Here are some suggestions: Continue reading “Catholic Parenting: Talking to Your Kids about Natural Disasters (Part 2 of 2)” →

Deacon Greg Maskarinec’s Homily for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?  As many as 7 times?  Jesus answered, “I say to you, not 7 times, but 77 times.”  Some of us might be thinking, “I’ve already forgiven my brother 75 times.  Only 2 more to go and I’ll never have to forgive him again!”

Well, I have some bad news.  Other versions of the Bible translate Jesus’ words as “70 x 7 times”.  Let’s see, 70 x 7 is 490 which means I have to forgive my brother 415 more times!  Yikes, that’s a lot of forgiving!  I have 3 brothers.  Does that mean 490 x 3 times?  Thank God he didn’t mention anything about having to forgive sisters!

But the news is even worse.   You see, when Jesus said that we must forgive our brother 77 times, what He really meant is that there must be no limit to our forgiveness.  Why?  Why must we forgive without limit?  Because being created in the image and likeness of God we are to love, to be merciful and to forgive as God does.   like the King in today’s Gospel who forgives the debt of a servant who could never pay him back, the servant is expected to treat those who are in debt to him in the same way – with forgiveness.  There is to be no limit to our forgiveness of others because there is no limit to God’s forgiveness for us. Continue reading “Forgiveness: A Life-Giving Gift” →

MTC Regional Catholic School is gearing up for another GREAT school year!

Not only is enrollment strong and higher than last year (285 students, including 86 new children enrolled this summer!), but MTC is also celebrating a win as the “Best Grade School” in the 2017 “Best of MontCo” Awards hosted by Montgomery Media, The Times Herald, and The Reporter.

Congratulations to Principal Christine Pagan and her hard-working team who have led the MTC school community to these exciting milestones.  Our prayers are with you in the upcoming school year!

*Mother Teresa Regional Catholic School is the “combined” regional school uniting the two parish schools formerly known as Mother of Divine Providence (King of Prussia) and St. Teresa of Avila (Trooper).

 

Deacon Greg Maskarinec’s Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

I have a confession to make.  When people ask me about the call to become a permanent deacon, I usually don’t tell  hem the whole story.  I do tell them that it was about 20 years from my first thoughts about becoming a deacon until the time I entered formation.  What I don’t tell people is why it took 20 years for me to decide to enter into the diaconate program.  One of the main reasons…I was afraid.  You see, as a lector I was always nervous.  So when the question of becoming a deacon arose so did thoughts of having to get up in front of the entire church…to chant…to proclaim the Gospel…to peach!  For someone who was nervous lecturing the thought of chanting and preaching was terrifying! Continue reading ““Do Not Be Afraid”” →

Several parish teens travelled to the “Steubenville Youth Conference” this summer! These summer events host over 50,000 Catholic teens annually, and center around praise, worship, and awesome speakers encouraging teens to become intentional disciples of Christ.

Thanks to everyone who supported our trips!

Pictured: several youth groups from Philadelphia at the Steubenville NYC conference.