This week Minta (Araminta) Brown and I are finishing up the last week of our Called and Gifted small group meetings. Called and Gifted deals with biblical charisms. They propose the idea that one can identify at least 25 biblical charisms. The course helps people discern what their anointed charisms are.
Why bother with the course? People who exercise their charisms often find the experience powerful, mystical, and dynamic. They become channels of God’s love, grace, mercy, and healing. They find great enjoyment. They frequently experience less burnout. They get an idea about why God made them in the first place.
Why is a course like this important? It has been almost 60 years since the close of the Vatican Council II. The Church has a long way to go in fully implementing the Council's vision of the church. This is especially the case with the laity's role in that mission.
One problem is where the Church has invested over the past 60 years. The Church has devoted enormous effort, time, and money to religious education. This has been primarily for children. Until recently, little to almost nothing, has gone to the formation of adult lay members of the church.
First, let us define what formation is. Many think we’re talking about catechesis or religious instruction. That is a component of formation is much bigger. It is all-encompassing. It is a holistic approach to living a full, joy-filled, satisfying Christian lifestyle. To do this, a follower of Jesus Christ needs a Catholic lifestyle architecture or a structure.
Learning about our faith is a component. That would be the intellectual part of Formation. Jesus Christ had a mind. Yet, Jesus Christ was fully human. Thus, he also had a body. Formation involves Catholic anthropology. It needs to include accountability for a healthy human lifestyle. This would mean a Christian approach toward diet, exercise, health, friendships, and entertainment.
Formation has to have a religious and spiritual component as well. This includes regular and consistent reception of the sacraments of Confession and Communion. It involves meeting regularly with someone. This person acts as a spiritual guide, mentor, or accountability partner. Consistent, regular daily prayer is an absolute and essential non-negotiable component of formation.
Finally, this formation needs to be oriented toward the world. Human, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions are foundational elements. Yet, they have a target. They aim at having the followers of Jesus exercise effective charity in the world. Thus, formation needs to have a pastoral component.
Catholic anthropology and a program for lay formation is not a new idea. It has been around even before the Second Vatican Council. Called and Gifted can be part of a fully integrated, Catholic formation program for a lay Christian. Why hasn’t lay formation been emphasized or even proposed to most of our laypeople? I’ll go into that next week.
Fr. Charles Zlock
Calling all Parents, Grandparents & Guardians
Jesus is saying:
“Let the children come to me and do not prevent.
them, for theirs, is the Kingdom of God.”
Registration for St. Raymond’s Religious Education Program (PREP) for the 2023 - 2024 sessions will
begin soon. The program is open to all students who do not attend a Catholic School and are entering grades Kindergarten through 7 th. Children who have not received the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism,
Reconciliation, Holy Eucharist, or Confirmation)
should attend these classes. Scripture tells us to “Train
up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old, they shall not depart from it.” The faith formation
that a child receives starts in the home and is the
greatest gift that a parent can give and our PREP
classes are designed to assist you in the process of
imparting the Catholic Faith in your child. PREP
sessions are free of charge and will begin on September 17, 2023. Stay tuned for the revised format and time of classes.
Mother Mary Lange declared venerable by Pope Francis
The Afro-Cuban American foundress started the first order of Black Catholic nuns in the United States.
NATE TINNER-WILLIAMS June 22, 2023 . 8:56 AM 3 min read
Raised in Cuba after fleeing the island of San Domingo (Hispaniola) as a child, Lange immigrated to Baltimore and founded the Oblate Sisters in 1829. Despite her clear call to consecrated life, she had been prevented from joining any existing congregation due to rampant anti-Black racism among White American Catholics.
Named the first Black superior general in U.S. history, Lange led the new order as it dedicated itself primarily to education, teaching in Black Catholic schools and also performing domestic work. Their operations later expanded across the country, and also into the Caribbean and Central America.
Following her death in 1882, Lange became the third African-American sainthood candidate when her cause was opened by Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore in 1991, granting her the title “Servant of God.” As of 2022, there were chapters of her sainthood guild in 16 countries around the world.
As part of the process for her sainthood cause, Lange’s remains were exhumed and examined before being reinterred in the Oblate Sisters’ motherhouse chapel in Baltimore in 2013. The sisters celebrated the ten-year anniversary of the event on June 3.
In March, the Oblates reported that they had received notice from the Vatican that Lange’s positio, the official document detailing her life and work, had been approved. It was originally sent to the Vatican in late 2019 and was subject to a final review this year by dicastery officials before she could be declared venerable.
With Thursday’s new decree, Lange’s is the first of seven African-American sainthood causes to move forward in nearly four years, since Fr Augustus Tolton was declared venerable in 2019. Lange is now one of four African-American venerables with Tolton, Mother Henriette DeLille, and Pierre Toussaint.
Students at St. Augustine School in Washington D.C. dressed in habits for Negro History Week with an Oblate Sister in February 1946. (Oblate Sisters of Providence)
No African American has ever been beatified in the Catholic Church, which usually requires Vatican approval of a miracle brought about by the sainthood candidate’s intercession. Canonization also requires a miracle, part of an overall process that can take centuries and is known to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Lange’s cause, now more than 30 years old, has represented for many Black Catholics a sign of the importance of Black women religious, and of Black Catholic education—with the Oblates being best known for their flagship school in Baltimore, St. Frances Academy.
Since Lange’s death, the sisters have ministered across the United States and overseas, and continue to educate Black children in churches and schools while spreading the legacy of their saintly foundress.
“Docile to Grace, she carried out a work of evangelization and cultural and Christian formation of the African American population in the United States of America, especially of children,” her dicastery biography notes.
“Along with love for her people, she nurtured a deep love for the Lord and made herself available to the action of the Holy Spirit, abandoning herself to God's will with heroic faith.”
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
New podcast from OSV will center Black Catholic voices
The new show will premiere later this month, featuring 17 guests interviewed by Black Catholic religious sister Josephine Garrett.
June 19, 2023 . 9:45 AM
2 min read
A new podcast from Our Sunday Visitor will premiere later this month featuring Black Catholics interviewed by Sr Josephine Garrett, CSFN, a nationally known African-American religious sister serving in Tyler, Texas.
“Hope Stories with Black Catholics,” the latest offering in the OSV Podcasts lineup, was announced by Garrett earlier this year; a 30-second teaser was released on June 8. The new show will feature guests from around the country sharing “extraordinary stories of hope hidden within the ordinary lives we lead,” according to a description on the OSV website.
“Sr. Josephine sits down with friends and family to share stories of pain, struggle, consolation, and joy that encourage even the most downhearted to participate in the hope of Jesus Christ more fully.”
Known as a speaker and writer covering issues related to mental health, spirituality, and youth/young adult ministry, Garrett has been a vowed member of the Italy-based Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth since 2015. This followed her upbringing in Houston, a career in banking, and her conversion to Catholicism in 2005. Since entering religious life, she has served in her congregation’s vocations ministry and is currently a Catholic school counselor.
Garrett is also one of the most popular Black Catholic figures in the online sphere, boasting of roughly 24,000 followers across social media, and tens of thousands of views on various featured videos with the likes of OSV, Ascension Press, and the Word on Fire Institute.
She has also written for OSV and says her newest collaboration with the organization has been a fulfilling venture with a diverse array of interlocutors.
“It was a huge honor to serve as an interviewer and receive the stories of 17 Black Catholics from all over the nation who minister and serve in our Church as married, single, deacon, religious, priest, and even a bishop,” she told BCM.
“They are all gifts to the Church, their stories of faith and hope are beautiful, and I hope the listeners will be inspired by them.”
As indicated by its title, the podcast follows the theme of hope—a long-term focus for Garrett, who wrote on the topic for OSV in 2021, in an op-ed encouraging Black Catholics to be bold in passing on their legacies.
“We need to tell these stories so that the whole story is complete and has a voice in the places where there was not previously a voice. It is a part of participating in the hope of Jesus that we may be one,” she wrote.
“A key to unlocking the discernment on how we are each called to participate, I think, also lies in the treasure and talent of our stories. But we have to look at them in hope, no matter how painful.”
Garrett is also the author of an upcoming book entitled “Hope: An Invitation,” which will be available in paperback in early October. Like the podcast, it is being released by OSV, one of the largest Catholic publishers in the world.
The “Hope Stories” podcast is available now on all major streaming platforms, and the first full episode will be released later this month.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
Special collection 7/2 = Campaign for Human Development
7/10 Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist Information Session ( 7:00 PM in the Church)
7/16 hospitality
7/22, 7/23 = World Mission Appeal: Pallotine Missionaries will be present
7/29 and 7/30 = Monthly Prayer Team after Mass (always last Sunday)
Please extend congratulations to the following who shared their good news:
Trina Morris-Graduated from 1st Grade
Anala Paris Boyd-Graduated high school and will be attending Widener University on a full Scholarship.
Wes Matthews-Graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He will be attending Harvard Divinity School in the Fall.
Eli Matthews-Graduated from Devon Prep. He will be attending Case Western Reserve University in the Fall
Ma’Lan Rose-Graduated from the 5th Grade at Excelsior School of Philadelphia.
Gabrielle Daniels-Graduated from Cheltenham High School
Corrine Chapolini-Graduated from Waldron Mercy Academy. She received the Matt Brannau Award for Leadership. Also, an award for Character & Sportsmanship. She will attend Merion Mercy Academy in the Fall.
Alexis Therese Sharp-Received her MastersMaster of Education & Special Education from Cabrini University.
Emily Ruzicka- Received her Masters of Public Health at Temple University
Opportunities to Reflect, Renew & Restore
Cranaleith Spiritual Center, 13475 Proctor Rd, Phila. Pa 19116
Gaelic for “sanctuary of trees,” Cranaleith offers serene and rejuvenating space to those who wish to reflect on what matters deeply in their lives, renew their spirit for life and work, or restore themselves from life’s traumas. Individuals and groups are invited to participate in retreats and other programs offered in a spirit-rekindling environment of well-being, respect, and harmony. Cranaleith is a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of Mercy. For program, information log on to, www.cranaleith.org
CALLING ALL SINGERS!
As more people have returned to in-person mass, we’ve had lots of questions about joining the choir at St Raymond. If you’d like to become a part of this amazing ministry, please reach out to our Director of Music, Kenny Arrington, at Tua20523@temple.edu so that he can set up a time to meet and conduct a voice assessment to determine where your voice may fit. We’re looking for people who are moved to Praise God through song, are humble, patient, and able to commit to attending weekly practices and singing for our 10:00 mass.
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!
Congress XIII (2023)
Announcing the Congress Theme
“Write the Vision: A Prophetic Call to Thrive”
July 20-23, 2023
The Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
201 Waterfront Street, National Harbor, MD 20745
2023 Eucharistic Congress
Saturday, July 8 – Sunday, July 16
Event: Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Our Annual Parish Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel begins on Saturday, July 8th, at the 5 PM Vigil Mass. For nine consecutive evenings, we will honor Our Lady with devotion and prayer. Throughout the Novena, which will take place at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Doylestown, speakers will lead us in prayer, psalms, meditations, devotions, and preaching.
Location: Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Doylestown.
Our Parish Website:www.ourladymtcarmel.org
Monday Evenings, 8 PM
Event: Virtual World Mission Rosary
Join hundreds of people throughout the Archdiocese who have regularly been praying the ROSARY LIVE! United in this most powerful prayer, we ask for the miraculous intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary to hear our intentions and renew our Catholic faith as we pray in unity for our brothers and sisters in mission lands worldwide. On Mission Mondays, we pray the World Mission Rosary, created by Venerable Fulton Sheen, in which we offer each decade for one of five Mission areas, including the US.
Location: Use this Zoom link to join each Monday: https://zoom.us/s/494480541
More Info: Sponsored by the Pontifical Missions Societies (phillymissions.org)
Tuesday, July 4, 2023, Independence Day, 8:00 am Mass
Attention Ladies
Catholic Women’s Conference
Sat. Oct. 28, 2023
Registration Information Packets are located on the desk at the rear of the church. Please
complete the pink form and return it to the basket provided to ensure that you are registered for the session of your choice. Please note you may only select one session.
Sign up early- the event fills up quickly!
Please log in to find out what is going on around the Archdiocese of Philadelphia
https://www.phillyevang.org/