Dear Friends,
Last Sunday, our Sacred Music Concert was simply outstanding. My heartfelt gratitude to all the musicians involved who led us through the music into a place of quiet, reflection and solitude with our Eucharistic Lord. A very profound thank you to Elizabeth Calabro for her tremendous effort in visioning, planning, organizing, and executing this very special moment for our parish family. May Jesus Christ be praised!
On this Super Bowl Sunday, I am away on a short vacation, to a slightly warmer and sunnier part of the country. Will be cheering on the Eagles to go all the way! It should be an exciting game. Our readings are intriguing this weekend. From the first, the Book of Sirach, a Wisdom literature volume, we read, “Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.” Think about how much has been given into our hands. How do we choose? What do we choose? Our world is very complicated for sure, but God does not abandon us.
I can’t recall exactly but either for my First Communion or my Graduation from Eighth Grade, I received a gift of the Miraculous Medal. I am sure that many of you also have one. I have worn a Miraculous Medal, I believe, non-stop ever since. Our Lady is such a powerful intercessor for us. She is our Mother who desires to bring us to her most Blessed Son, Jesus, our Savior.
We are so fortunate to have here in Philadelphia, the Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Germantown. Our Lady herself designed the medal which she revealed to Saint Catherine Laboure in Paris, France. In her second apparition Our Lady asked that the medal be struck in accord with the vision she gave to Saint Catherine. Almost immediately, the medal brought forth miracles upon miracles and elicited much devotion.
The words around the image of our Lady, “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee” acknowledge Mary’s Immaculate Conception. This appearance of our Lady occurred twenty-four years before the dogma was proclaimed by the Pope (1854) and what our Lady confirmed to Saint Bernadette at Lourdes, four years after that. The small medal became known as the miraculous medal because of all the favors and graces granted to so many people. An image of the statue and the medal are enshrined in our Cathedral Basilica as well as at Germantown.
The perpetual novena in honor of our Lady of the Miraculous Medal has been prayed by countless people around the world and in many parishes of our Archdiocese. It is short, focused and uplifting. I invite our parish family to pray it often, even daily. Our Lady never disappoints. For more information and for a downloadable copy of the novena prayers, go to https://miraculousmedal.org/worship-and-prayer/perpetual-novena/ . I placed an order with the Basilica Shrine for printed copies of the novena as well which should arrive shortly. We will place them in Church.
God bless you, God love you,
Monsignor McCulken
