News - January 2012 RSS Feed

Catholic Schools Week is celebrated in the U.S. every year beginning on the last Sunday in January. This year’s festivities run from January 29 to February 5, and the celebrations in our eight parish schools include everything from science fairs and spelling bees to special lunches and treats for the students.

Deacon Kevin Bellot began his ministry at Seelos House in St. Lucia this month, and is scheduled to become Father Kevin this summer! We’re inviting friends of the Redemptorists to share in the celebration by giving a gift today in his honor .

Time is running out to submit entries for the 2nd annual St. John Neumann Essay Contest! This year’s theme is "Why is it important to learn about and live my faith?" and the entries must be received by February 13 to be considered.

We started this National Vocations Awareness Week with our annual retreat at the St. John Neumann Shrine in Philadelphia. Eight men joined us for a weekend of prayer and reflection. The retreat ended with a special Mass marking St. John Neumann’s feast day.

Fr. John Murray, a Redemptorist mission preacher and former pastor in the Baltimore area, was a guest on The Drew Mariani Show on Relevant Radio January 9. Fr. Murray was invited to tell the miraculous story of his recovery from a paralyzing fall in August 2010.

What is a Redemptorist mission? It’s like a parish retreat. A time to step away from the busyness of life and focus on what’s really important — our relationship with God, with ourselves, and with each other.

As we mark National Vocations Awareness Week, January 8-15, we invite you to join us in praying for an increase in vocations to the Redemptorist way of life: Provident God, you spoke your dream of plentiful redemption in Jesus Christ.

The Redemptorists at St. Peter the Apostle Church/Shrine of St. John Neumann were honored to welcome Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput as the celebrant of the 12:15 p.m. Mass on Neumann’s feast day, January 5.

St. John Neumann prayed these words — "O God, give me holiness!" — on his ordination day in 1836, and lived them until his death on a Philadelphia street corner this date in 1860. Today we celebrate the feast of this humble man who became the fourth bishop of Philadelphia and the first male American saint.

“How can this be?” are the first words of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Bible. In other words, Mary questioned. She investigated. She used her intelligence. She explored the true meaning of the Angel Gabriel’s words that she was “full of grace.” What a wonderful example Mary is to us of the 21st century.