Category: Archived

Get Ready

Posted on by Father Cioppi

A refelction on the readings for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

I’m glad everyone survived the cold snowy weather we had last weekend.  It sort of crept up on us.  If you’re like me you probably thought: “How bad can this be; it’s only October. The leaves on the trees are still green and the lawn needs to be mowed at least once more.  Where did this winter weather come from?” Three inches of snow, downed tree branches all over the yard, no power for 8 hours and an indoor temperature of 59 degrees:   SURPRISE!  I wasn’t at all ready for it.  I should have been better prepared.  Well, maybe next time.

Today’s gospel of the wise and foolish virgins is Jesus’ way of telling us we need to be prepared for “the last things” of our life. If we’re not, they’ll catch us off-guard like an early autumn snowstorm.  This is not the first warning we received from Jesus telling us we need to be ready.  The daily scripture readings during the past month have told us what happens to guests who aren’t ready to join the king for his son’s wedding.  They get dealt with harshly and are barred from the banquet.  Likewise, the servant who knew his master’s will but neglected to make the necessary preparations was severely beaten for not being ready upon his masters’ return. Continue reading “Get Ready” →

Praying for a happy heart!

Posted on by Father Cioppi

The Readings of today’s Mass always present a challenge for parish priests because it lays out attitudes that are dangerous for our pastoral ministry. No priest ever submits to ordination with the idea that he will become a Pharisee and yet all of us know or have experienced priests who sometimes act like Pharisees and intentionally or not drive people away from the Church.

This morning I would like to share some thoughts on priesthood as it is for the majority of men who serve us in the parishes of our Archdiocese.

As you may know, diocesan priests upon their ordination take three promises: celibacy, faith and obedience.

My father called me one day after watching a program on TV about why the Church should do away with celibacy. He asked me if I thought perhaps this was a good idea. I responded somewhat curtly to him by saying, ‘you know, has anyone asked a celibate person what they think about being a celibate. The media always seems to ask those men who have abandoned their vows but never those who live it faithfully and joyfully.

I took the promise of celibacy because I have been called by God to live as a celibate person for the sake of the Kingdom of God. I have been called to give witness to the reality of heaven and I do so joyfully.

Has it been easy, like marriage, yes and no. But the thing that makes it possible is work and prayer and more work and much more prayer. I make my celibate life available for God to complete His work.

All the priests I know, my friends that is, are good men; they are disciplined in prayer and in their practice; they are sensitive to doing their work well; they love people and families, they love serving the parish. You are my family in other words. As your parish priest, I am married to you and I live each day trying to be a better witness to the Truth in King of Prussia.

Am I perfect? NO. Who is? But like you I depend on your prayers as you depend on mine that together we might be perfected in the life of the Christ we love.

Priests take the promise of faith that means we need to study the doctrine of the Church, come to understand it and find ways to make it relevant in today’s world. It is not a simple task to reach three generations of people all at once!

Priests are expected to be faithful to the Catechism no matter what the consequences and we do it with joy!

Priests take the promise of obedience to their Bishop. Obedience is difficult if you don’t constantly, day by day, surrender your will to Christ’s. Yes, all of us have a bit of pride in us and it can get in the way. We pray for humility and for the grace to submit to another’s will.

So, what makes a priest’s life happy?

Seeing you all here this morning! Receiving and giving the sacraments, especially confession and Mass; helping someone die well; teaching young people to open their hearts to Christ and just being with parishioners and seeing them happy – that really completes our lives.

None of us here want to be Pharisees. We want to be righteous before God and each other. So we need to pray for one another and have courage.
If there is one Scripture passage from this Sunday’s readings that best describes a priest’s feeling for the people he serves it would be this:

“With such affection, I share the Gospel of God and also my very self with you, so dearly beloved have you become to me.”

You are good people who deserve a chance for true happiness in this life and in the life to come. So I want to leave you with this message:

Do not be afraid to be yourself before God. He loves you and desires to be with you. Dare to hare that love with others. We can’t go to heaven alone, we need others to help us. Ask for help. It will bring you much happiness and an abundance of spiritual joy!

May God bless you and your dear families, Amen!

A Legacy of Love

Posted on by Father Cioppi

The Scripture readings for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary time can be summed up in one word: LOVE!  Not the kind of love we see on TV or in the movies– that sort of love seems to be so contrived and temporary.  The love we hear of today is much simpler and also much more demanding: It’s the total giving of our self in the love of God and of our neighbor.  That love is profoundly human, a love that is an image of God’s love for us.

Jesus did not ask us to love with half of our heart, a dash of our soul and part of our mind.  No, he commands us to “Love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind…and your neighbor as yourself.”  That is the unselfish kind of love that is simple enough to talk about but so difficult to put into practice.  To truly love God and our neighbor always demands that we take a risk of giving of our inner most soul to someone else in order to love them as fully and completely as God loves us.

Rachel Beckwith was a child who understood that type of self-giving love.  She put all of herself into showing others what it means to love your neighbor as yourself.  At just 5 years old Rachel asked her mother if she could cut off her long hair and send it to “Locks of Love” to be made into wigs for cancer patients.  After her first haircut she vowed to grow her hair long again and donate it again so others might find some comfort in her gift –- and that’s just what she did. Continue reading “A Legacy of Love” →

Receiving Holy Communion

Posted on by Father Cioppi

The celebration of the Mass is the center of the whole Christian life for the Church and all of its faithful.  By virtue of our Baptism each of us is called to an active and conscious participation in the celebration of the Eucharist. We most often achieve this when we join together as the assembled people of God in praying the prayers of the Mass, raising our voices to God in song, and actively listening to the Word of God in the proclamation of the Sacred Scriptures.

While the heart of the celebration of the Eucharist is the Eucharistic prayer, the consummation of the Mass is found in Holy Communion.  It is through the reception of Holy Communion that the people of God, purchased by Jesus for the Father through His paschal sacrifice, are joined together as members of the mystical body of Christ. In and through the Eucharist we share the “one life of the spirit”  as we fulfill Our Lord’s command to eat and drink His Body and Blood and thereby share in his eternal life. Continue reading “Receiving Holy Communion” →

The Eucharist – The Real Presence of Jesus Christ

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We learn from sacred scripture that Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven. The presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist is real; not just a symbolic representation of his presence, but the true presence of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through His institution of the sacrament of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday, Jesus shares the physical reality of himself with us. The real presence of his body and blood in the Holy Eucharist is true food and true drink that feeds us and nourishes us throughout our lifetime. Continue reading “The Eucharist – The Real Presence of Jesus Christ” →

COME, FEEL THE HEALING POWER OF GOD

Posted on by Father Cioppi

“By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priest, the whole Chrch commentds those wo are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them.  And indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely niting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ.”  LG 11

The Church believes and confesses that among the seven sacraments there is one especially intended to strengthen those who are being tried by illness, the Anointing of the Sick.  The sacrament of the Anointing is given to those who are seriously ill by anointing them on the forehead and hands with the Oil of the Sick which has been blessed by the Bishop at the Cathedral on Holy Thursday.  He prays: “Through this holy anonting may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.  May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.”

The Anointing of the Sick is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death.  This Sacrament strengthens those who are in need of healing in body, mind or spirit.  It is for those who are preparing for surgery, for those who have a chronic illness and for the elderly who are fragile of health because of age.

Like all sacraments the Anointing of the Sick is a liturgical and communal celebration, whether it takes place in the family home, a hospital or church, for a single sick person or a group.  It is very fitting to celebrate this sacrament within the Eucharist.

The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects:

  • The uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and the good of the whole church.
  • The strengthening, peace and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age
  • The forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance.
  • The restoration of health, if it is conductive to the salvation of his soul.
  • The preparation for passing over to eternal life.

The Anointing of the Sick completes our conformity to the death and Resurrection of Christ, just as Baptism began it. Come, feel the healing power of God.

Signs of Our Faith and Salvation

Posted on by Father Cioppi

Last week I mentioned that the Rite of Baptism in the Catholic church makes rich use of signs, symbols and sacramentals to help us better understand and build our faith. Sacramentals are sacred signs that signify the effects of the sacrament which makes use of them.  Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way the sacraments do. Rather, they are used to prepare us to receive the grace of the sacrament and to fully incorporate that grace into our life.  In Baptism, for instance, we use the sacramentals of water, sacred oils, white garments and light to help us focus on God’s saving grace received though the sacrament.

As Baptism is a sacrament of salvation, the first sign used in the Rite is the sign of the cross. After beginning the Rite with it, the priest or deacon traces the sign of the cross on the forehead of the person being baptized.  He then invites the parents and godparents to do the same. This action recalls Christ’s death and resurrection and the redemption it brought to us through his saving cross.  Acting in the name of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, this symbolic action claims the person being baptized in the name of Christ and the Christian community. Continue reading “Signs of Our Faith and Salvation” →

What Have You Seen This Week?

Posted on by Father Cioppi

On September 8th, I had the privilege of being present at the Cathedral for the installation of our new Archbishop Charles Chaput. There is really only one word that I can use to describe it and that is awesome.   For me, it is good to experience all of that pomp in liturgy once in a while.  It takes a lot of energy to pray like that. 

This is a new era for us in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It is really hard to describe this experience, The Cathedral was electric – you could feel the excitement and the love of the Church as we moved through the Liturgy. If you would like to get a feel for this installation, click on the following link to hear the homily given by the Archbishop “live”. Take the time to listen and look. Once you do this, you may know why I am at a loss for words.  Let us pray for him as he begins his time with us. What have you seen this week? Archbishop Charles Chaput\’s Installation Homily

Beginning a New Life in Christ

Posted on by Father Cioppi

Every once in a while we have the opportunity to attend the baptism of a niece or nephew, the child of a close friend or perhaps a new addition to our family.  It’s a special occasion and one that doesn’t happen every day. It’s an occasion to be celebrated, not only by the family of the child, but by the entire Christian community, the church.

The Rite of Baptism in the Catholic church is a beautiful celebration.  It’s one that is rich in symbolism and in the use of sacramentals that call our attention to the saving grace we receive from God.  Understanding the basic form and purpose of Baptism helps us better appreciate how important this sacrament is to our salvation.  It also helps us recognize the presence of God in and throughout our life.

Baptism is one of the three sacraments of initiation (along with Confirmation and the Eucharist) by which we are brought into the life of the church.  It is through Baptism that we are born into a new life in Christ and begin to live a new life with God and his church. But why do we need to be born into this life in Christ?  Why is Baptism even necessary for us? Continue reading “Beginning a New Life in Christ” →

The Source of Life-giving Grace

Posted on by Father Cioppi

This past weekend we recalled the tragedy that befell our country ten years ago.  The images of that fateful day rekindled feelings of sadness and loss.  They also urge us to seek a more complete healing within our community and renew our hope for the future.

Getting through difficult times in our lives would be overwhelming if it were not for the presence of God’s grace in our life.  His grace is the invisible reality of his free and loving gift by which he offers us a share in His life and makes known his will for our salvation.  It is in our response to God’s gift of grace and love that we find hope and consolation. Continue reading “The Source of Life-giving Grace” →