Jesus came to heal the whole person, body, and soul.
This weekend at all of the Weekend Masses at St. Raymond, we will celebrate the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. I am looking forward to providing this important blessing to our parish community. I would like to share with you the teaching from the "United States Catholic Catechism for Adults."
In the Church's Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, through the ministry of the priest, it is Jesus who touches the sick to heal them from sin – and sometimes even from physical ailment. His cures were signs of the arrival of the Kingdom of God. The core message of his healing tells us of his plan to conquer sin and death by his dying and rising.
The Rite of Anointing tells us there is no need to wait until a person is at the point of death to receive the Sacrament. A careful judgment about the serious nature of the illnesses is sufficient.
When the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given, the hoped-for effect is that, if it be God's will, the person be physically healed of illness. But even if there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the Sacrament is a spiritual healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit's gift of peace and courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or the frailty of old age.
Fr. Jeff
Congratulations to our young people who received the sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday, November 6, 2022.
BINGO IS CANCELED!
Due to low sales, Bingo scheduled for 11/12/22 in St Raymond School Hall is canceled. The Promoter (not St Raymond) will refund tickets that were purchased.
St. Charles Borromeo Seminary Appeal 2022-23
The St. Charles Borromeo Seminary Appeal 2022-23 begins the weekend of November 5 -6. Envelopes are mailed and are also in the back of the church. Your contribution is a faithful investment in the future of our Church.
How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? How are they to hear without a preacher, teacher, or catechist?
Our Religious Education Program is in need of volunteer Catechists and classroom aides. If you are willing to share the faith that was handed on to you with our young people, please contact Arleen Daniels for more information. 215-549-3760.
Advent Life Groups- Remember that Jesus is the reason for the season! St. Raymond Advent Life Groups meet the weeks of November 13th through December 22nd. Day and evening meetings are held throughout the week at St Raymond and via Zoom. During 90 minutes, experience Jesus through prayer, scripture, and reflection. A more spiritual you is the best gift that can be given! Fliers are available for information, including meeting dates, places, and times. Please register in advance. Contact Minta Brown at 610-329-7256 with any questions.
Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick:
On the weekend of Nov. 12th and 13th, the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick will be administered at the Saturday 5:00 pm and Sunday 8:00 am and 10:00 am Masses. Parishioners are invited to be anointed who meet the following criteria: a chronic illness (cancer, diabetes, arthritis, lupus, diseases of the heart, lung & kidney etc.) undergoing treatment for a disease/illness or living at a very advanced age. If you qualify and desire to receive this Sacrament, signup sheets are available on the desk in the rear of the church, or you must call the rectory no later than Nov. 7th. No names will be accepted after this date. Should you have any questions, please call Fr. Jeff or Arleen Daniels at 215-549-3760.
Handcrafted Olive Art Straight From The Holy Land To Saint Raymond Church
Bethlehem Olive Wood Arts products will be available for purchase at all Masses during the weekend of November 19th and 20th. Olive wood art direct from Israel will be offered. Products include Christmas gifts, crosses, jewelry, and figurines. Everything is hand carved and, at first, glance seems to be made of dead wood. Once you combine a closer look and a little faith, you can hear our art pieces narrate the story of our faith and our Savior, Jesus Christ. All proceeds will benefit Bethlehem Arts.
Thanksgiving Food Bags are available in the rear of the church as well as envelopes for monetary donations. Food donations can be left in the vestibule of the Church or dropped off at the Rectory. Monetary donations can be placed in the Sunday collection basket or dropped off at the Rectory. Please have your contributions in prior to Sunday Nov. 20th. If you or someone you know are in need of a Thanksgiving Food Basket, please contact the Rectory Office at 215-549-3760.
Supported by the Office of Black Catholics (215) 587-3541 Join us on Facebook and Instagram
11/10/2022 Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, Pope, and Doctor of the Church History has so far conferred on just two popes the title of “Great,” and today’s saint is one of them. Leo the Great’s origins are obscure, so nothing is known with certainty about his early life. He was, though, ordained into Holy Orders and rose to prominence as a papal advisor in the 420s. He corresponded with imminent theologians and acted as a papal emissary before he was elected Bishop of Rome in 440. Leo was a pope’s pope. He expanded the power and influence of the papacy at every opportunity. The Church’s earliest theological tradition rooted Rome’s primacy in the double martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul in the eternal city. No other city could claim to have been sanctified by the blood of two martyrs. Pope Leo, however, emphasized what was to become a more dominant argument for papal supremacy—that the pope’s authority is not rooted merely on the historical fact that Peter and Paul died on roman ground but on the theological fact that the Bishop of Rome occupies the Chair of Saint Peter. By word and action, Leo repeatedly taught that the pope’s power was unequaled and without borders, that the pope was the head of all the world’s bishops, and that every bishop could have direct recourse to the pope and not just to the local archbishop, in disputed matters. Pope Leo also enacted a more aggressive papal role, directly overseeing and enforcing discipline over bishops, and intervening in and settling disputes. The Catholic Church is not an international federation of dioceses, after all. It needs a strong center of gravity to ensure that centrifugal forces do not unwind the universal church into a galaxy of independent national churches united in name only.
Nowhere was Leo’s authority exercised more clearly and successfully than at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The Council consisted of six hundred bishops from the Eastern Roman Empire, with a handful from Africa. Leo sent three legates from Italy who were treated with all honor and respect as representatives of Peter’s successor. They read out loud to the Council Fathers the “Tome of Leo” on the Incarnation. The pope’s words laid out, with force, clarity, and eloquence, that Jesus Christ had both a divine and a human nature “without confusion or admixture.” When the legates finished reading, the bishops’ common response to the pope’s words was “This is the faith of the fathers; this is the faith of the apostles…Let anyone who believes otherwise be anathema. Peter has spoken through the mouth of Leo.” The Tome of Leo from then on became the teaching of the Catholic Church. If Christ were not truly man, or not truly God, the babe in the manger would be just another child whose birth was no more worthy of celebration than that of Julius Cesar, Gandhi, or Marco Polo. Pope Leo the Great saved Christmas.
In 452 Pope Leo entered the history books when he rendezvoused with Attila the Hun in Northern Italy, convincing him not to sack Rome. While outstanding as an effective and practical leader, Pope Leo is most known for the concision, depth, and clarity of his sermons and letters, for which he was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1754. He was the first pope, after Saint Peter himself, buried in Saint Peter’s Basilica. His remains lie under a beautiful marble relief sculpture of his famous meeting with Attila.
11/11/2022 Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, bishop
Martin was born to pagan parents in present-day Hungary but desired to become a Christian from a young age. His father resisted his son’s holy desires and obliged Martin to follow in his footsteps and serve as a soldier in Rome’s Imperial Guard. Martin was serving in France when the most iconic moment of his life took place. Martin was slowly approaching the city gates of Amiens on horseback one cold winter evening. A half-naked man shivered on the ground, begging for help. No one stopped. No one helped. So Martin, clad as a soldier, pulled the cloak from his back, drew his sharp sword from its scabbard, and sliced his cloak in two. The poor man’s skeletal frame was covered with just half of the cloak. That same night, when Martin fell asleep, he had a dream. Jesus appeared to him clad in the cloak and said “Martin, still a catechumen, covered me with this garment.” Upon awakening, Sulpicius tells his reader, “Martin flew to be baptized.” Martin subsequently befriended one of the great men of Gaul of that era, Saint Hilary of Poitiers, who ordained him into minor orders. After various apostolic adventures, Martin was chosen as the Bishop of Tours in 372. In his twenty-five years as bishop, Martin was zealous and jealous for the House of the Lord. He aggressively tore down pagan temples, which he understood to be dedicated to demons. He traveled incessantly and was untiring in evangelizing the people of the countryside of Gaul and in founding churches. Martin also developed a reputation as a miracle worker and prophet. He cured the eye problems of Saint Paulinus of Nola, Saint Augustine’s good friend. By the time of his peaceful death, Bishop Martin of Tours had a well-deserved reputation for holiness.
11/12/2022 Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr
Josaphat was born in Ukraine but grew to manhood working a trade in Vilnius, Lithuania. In his late teens, he felt called to be a monk, so he rejected an offer of marriage and joined a monastery in Vilnius in 1604. Josaphat’s austerities, intelligence, and prayerfulness made him a natural leader, and he was duly ordained a deacon and priest and earned a reputation as an effective preacher.
But it was a historic decision by Orthodox religious leaders, about ten years before Josaphat became a monk, that would bend the arc of his life and eventually lead to his death. Saint Josaphat was brutally attacked by a mob, his head was cleaved by an axe, and his body was dumped into a river. Josaphat was beatified in 1643 and canonized in 1867. In the twentieth century, Josaphat’s remains were brought to Rome and buried under the altar of Saint Basil in St. Peter’s Basilica.
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 https://nbccongress.org
Philadelphia Black Catholics
DID YOU KNOW ???
The first documented baptism of an African American in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was in 1743.
Saint Peter Claver Parish was founded in 1886. Saint Peter Claver Church was dedicated in 1892 and is considered the “Mother Church for Black Catholics in the Archdiocese of
Philadelphia.”
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia hosted in the Third National Black Catholic Congress in 1892.
Father Augustus Tolton, the first recognized African American Catholic Priest, offered High Mass at Saint Peter Claver Church in 1892.
The first African American Priest ordained for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was Father Rayford Emmons in 1974. He was also the first Pastor named in 1987 of Saint Elizabeth Church.
The first African American priest to receive the Papal Honor of ‘Monsignor” was Monsignor Albert Norrell in 1991.
The first African American Catholic Permanent Deacons were ordained in 1982, Deacon Edward Purnell was one of them.
Sister Theresa Maxis, an African American woman, help established the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters.
Sister Juliana Haynes, SBS, was the first and only President / Mother Superior of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, founded by Saint Katherine Drexel of Philadelphia.
The following African American lay leaders have received Papal Honors: William Collins,
Robert James, Ethel Billings, Donald Baker, Deacon William Bradley, Trudy Jackson and
Frances Bowman, Deacon Edward, and Mrs. Barbara Purnell
Saint Ignatius Church in West Philadelphia is one of the four original African American Catholic Churches in Philadelphia. The others were: Saint Peter Claver (12th & amp; Lombard), Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament (Broad and Fairmont), Saint Catherine (Penn St in Germantown) Saint Cyprian Parish was the first African American Parish founded by an African American Pastor in 2000 by Monsignor Federico Britto.
The Office for Black Catholics was founded by Cardinal Krol in 1980.
The Saint Peter Claver Center was founded by Cardinal Bevilacqua in 1995.
The Knights of Peter Claver were founded in 1976 at Most Precious Blood Church.
Eight African American men have been ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
The following Parishes have had African American Priests as Pastors: Saint Elizabeth (Fr. Rayford Emmons) Saint Carthage (Msgr. Albert Norrell) Saint Ignatius (Msgr. Federico Britto) Saint Cyprian (Msgr. Federico Britto) Saint Philomena (Msgr. David Benz) Saint Therese (Fr. Stephen Thorne and Msgr. David Benz) Saint Martin de Porres (Fr. Stephen Thorne and Fr Addisalem Mekonnen )
News from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Friday, November 18 – Sunday, November 20
Event: Sisters in Christ – Reclaiming Sacred Rest
We are pleased to have Jeannine Peters, Heather Makowicz, Nicky Verna and Jillian Buhl as our retreat leader team! The event includes Mass, Adoration, Conferences, and much more! Join us as we Reclaim Sacred Rest in so many ways!
Location: Malvern Retreat House, Family Life Center, Malvern PA
More info: Registration is required for this event.
December 2 - 4, 2022
Event: Sister-To-Sister Weekend Retreat for African/Black Catholic Women. Sister-To-Sister Weekend Retreat is an annual event for Catholic and non-Catholic Women, who want to spend some quality time and to deepen her relationship with God. More Info: Flyer - Arrival Time: Friday @ 4:30 PM - Departure Time: Sunday after 11:00 AM Mass; Cost: $110
Friday, December 2 – Sunday, December 4
Event: Traditional Men’s Retreat with Jeff Cavins (in person and virtual option)
We are pleased to welcome back Jeff Cavins, Bible teacher, speaker and host of “Life on the Rock” on EWTN to lead this weekend retreat for men of all ages and backgrounds. This retreat will include Mass each day, talks by Jeff, adoration and time for personal reflection.
Location: Malvern Retreat House, 315 S Warren Ave, Malvern PA
More info: Registration is required for this event. Contact the retreat house at 610.644.0400
(Discount is available if you need it)
To register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdu0yXfWIPqOAFn7mgIIUAbCE1IfEEdXmir2ZmqvoplboaqTQ/viewform?usp=pp_url
Friday, December 9, 2022 – 7pm-9pm
Event – Multi-Cultural Benefit Concert
Location - Holy Innocents Church - 1337 E. Hunting Park Avenue, Philadelphia
More Information - This free-will donation multi-cultural benefit concert will showcase the talents of our diverse parish while raising funds for the Young Adults attending World Youth Day. There will be praise and worship in different languages, raffles, and refreshments! Please see the flyer for more information. Ample free parking available!
Attention! Attention!
Men of St. Raymond
Save the Date March 4, 2023
Man Up Philly 2023 will be here before you know it. Please reserve the date on your calendar. More Information to follow in the months to come.
Let's bring people back to the pews.
We ask parishioners to sign up to answer a question about their faith and why they worship at St. Raymond. After the interview, we would like to post it on Social Media and play it before Mass.
Can you help?
Does it sound like something you can do?
Call the office and let us know.
( We would like the interviews to air by November 19th)
