Please note that starting January 1, 2012 Holy Mass will be celebrated Sundays at 11:30am.

New and gently used items in good condition items. Cake and bake goods for sale. Tables are for rent: $15 each. Polish & American Food available – eat in & take out. Come, and support St. Valentine’s Parish.

That’s why our heart is with them now, our loved ones who have taken leave of us. There is no substitute for them; there are no others who can fill the vacancy when one of those whom we really love suddenly and unexpectedly departs and is with us no longer. In true love no one can replace another, for true love loves the other person in that depth where he is uniquely and irreplaceably himself. And thus, as death has trodden roughly through our lives, every one of the departed has taken a piece of our hearts with them– and often enough– our whole heart. Many people have asked me to tell them about heaven and the afterlife. I sometimes smile at the request because I do not know any more than they do. Yet, when one young man asked if I looked forward to being united with God and all those who have gone before me, I made a connection to something I said earlier in this book.

In his book “The gift of peace: personal reflections,” Joseph Bernardin wrote about those who have died:

The first time I traveled with my mother and sister to my parents’ homeland of Tonadico di Primiero, in northern Italy, I felt as if I had been there before. After years of looking through my mother’s photo albums, I knew the mountains, the land, the houses, the people. As soon as we entered the valley, I said, “My God, I know this place. I am home.” Somehow I think crossing from this life into eternal life will be similar. I will be home.

May I suggest that each of you do the following during these days of November:

Spend some time reflecting on those who have been close to you, who have died, and are now with the Lord. Slowly read this scripture passage — Wisdom 3:1-3: “But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace.” Remember one person close to you who has died. Bring this person’s image into your mind’s eye. As you remember his or her life, imagine the Lord Jesus escorting the person into heaven at the time of death. Finally, imagine this loved one waiting for you. Know that when your time of passing comes, the Lord and your loved ones who have gone before you will escort you into the kingdom of heaven. End your short remembering with this prayer: Lord, you are the resurrection and the life. You promised that whoever believes in you will never die. Lord, through the power of your rising, help me believe in my own resurrection. Amen.

May we spend our earthly pilgrimage filling our minds with the thoughts of heaven, so that when we finally cross over into eternal life, the images we see may not be foreign or strange. Let us pray that we, too, may be able to say: “My God, I know this place. I am home.”

Anyone wishing to submit the names of departed family or friends “WYPOMINKI” to be read and prayed for at our All Saints and All Souls Day Services are asked to return the envelope with the names which has been sent to your homes or give a list of those you would like remembered in prayer to Father Krzysztof.

Schedule for the Holy Days:

Sunday – October 30, 2011

8:00 a.m. – Polish language Holy Mass/Msza Święta & prayers for our deceased, “Wypominki”
9:30 a.m. – High Holy Mass & prayers for our deceased, “Wypominki”
2:00 p.m. – Prayers for our dearly deceased will be held at Parish Cemetery in Andalusia, PA.

We will have games, raffles, music, and plenty of family fun. A full menu of Homemade Polish Foods is available including pierogi, kapusta, kiełbasa, and gołąbki. We will have hotgogs, hamburgers and all your picnic favorites. You can even pre-order pierogi for your Wigilia table. Take out orders are available.

Requested donation of $5 per adult. Kids under 12 free. No donation for those requesting a take-out order only.

For more information please contact the parish office at 215-535-4978 or 215-632-1816. Thank you.

Serdecznie zapraszamy na Piknik Rodzinny, 18 wrzesieńa 2011, godz. 13.00 – 19.00.

Piknik odbędzie się w Park św. Walentego w Andaluzji (875 Mill Road, Filadelfia, PA 19020).

Na pikniku czeka nas wiele atrakcji dla całych rodzin!!! Nie może zabraknąć Ciebie i Twojej Rodziny na tym wydarzeniu!!!

Po informacja prosimy dzwonic do plebania na 215-535-4978 lub 215-632-1816.

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Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of our preparation period. The journey begins with contrition, owning up to our sin and brokenness, and evaluating the state of our relationship with God. Ash Wednesday, by its very name, reminds us of our mortality. We are created from dust, and to dust we shall return. Therefore, when we pass on to the other side and we stand before God, we may be asked to give an account of our lives.

Ash Wednesday, March 9th, Holy Mass with the blessing and distribution of ashes will take place at 12 (noon) and 7 p.m.

Fasting and abstinence – we have to eat only one full meal and 2 small ones. Of course meals have to be meatless. (on Ash Wednesday & Good Friday and all Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent).

Lent is a season of the Christian year whose name comes from the Latin for “lengthening of days.” Lent is for preparation, a journey of preparing our souls to encounter the amazing mystery of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Easter can never mean quite as much without the journey through Lent.

Lent compels us to return to Christian discipline and to make time for genuine spiritual care for ourselves. Lent is a time to center our thoughts on God and to remember that we are spiritual people on a physical journey. What stands in your way of a closer walk with our Lord Jesus?

During these days of Lent, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus. Let us support each other in our joys and sorrows, and in the challenges we face. Remembering the words of Psalm 46, “God is our refuge and strength ….a very present help in times of trouble.”

Let us turn to the Lord, our refuge and strength. Let us walk together in peace and love.

We will be meeting at 7 p.m. on Friday nights during Lent for a special Lenten Devotion – The way of the Cross. (Droga Krzyzowa). All are invited, so please join us.

Special All Souls Day services will be held as follows:

• In church on Sunday, November 1st at 8 and 9:30 AM.
• At the Parish Cemetery in AndalusIa, 875 Mill Rd., Bensalem, PA on Sunday, November 1st at 2 PM.

All services will include a reading of the Rote of the Departed/Wypominki.