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SOLD OUT!!

Epiphany is running a trip to the SIGHT & SOUND THEATRE in LANCASTER, PA on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1ST.

WE LEAVE ON A COMFORTABLE COACH BUS AT 2:00 SHARP!

DINNER AT SHADY MAPLE FARM
7 pm Show THE MIRACLE OF CHRISTMAS

10 pm RETURN TO EPIPHANY
COST: $200/ PERSON
PLEASE CONTACT CINDY AT THE RECTORY 215-334-1035

Today’s Scripture

Friday, December 1, 2023

We all know and believe that
Jesus will “come again in glory
to judge the living and the
dead.” We affirm that belief
each week when we pray the
Creed. But it is possible that we have not thought
deeply enough about the meaning of this final
Judgment. For example, we know that God is
infinitely merciful. But in today’s Gospel, Jesus
welcomes some people into his eternal Kingdom, but
others go off to eternal punishment. It is hard for us
to understand fully how God’s mercy can go together
with eternal punishment, but we can understand it
partially. Today’s Gospel passage can help us. When
Jesus addresses the first group of people, the ones
entering heaven, he says to them: “Come, you who
are blessed by my Father…” But when he addresses
the second group, the ones entering eternal
punishment, he says to them: “Depart from you, you
accursed.” Notice how the blessing received by the
first group came from God (“blessed by my
Father”), but the curse received by the second group
did not (“accursed”). The second group purposely
and freely chose to live their earthly lives
egocentrically. They didn’t enter into a friendship
with God, because they didn’t want the lifestyle of
love and self-giving that goes with it. For their entire
lives they resisted and rejected God’s many
invitations – the voice of conscience, the teachings of
the Church, the example of believers, the lives of the
saints, the beauties of creation. They freely chose to
live separate from God. Now, after lives like that,
would it be merciful for God to force them to spend
eternity in his presence? No – it would be cruel. Hell
is not God’s creation; it is the creation of those who
feely and consistently choose to live without God.

 

Please pray for our sick that they may receive God’s healing strength: Teresa Morone, Albert Ferranti, Marisa Della Pia, Dom Dinella, Sarah Wallace, Marie Devlin, James Curci, Susan and Frank Addis, Eileen McClain, Grace Jones, Brian Ligato, Danielle Peters, Marie and Hugh Quigley, Geraldine DiDonato, Pam Casey, Gerri Liberato-Abbott, Louie DiBruno, Michael Cornaglia, Sr., Karen Specht, Angel Scorza, Tom and Linda Sammaritano, Sister Peg, Stephanie Sinex, Shawn Keefe, Maria Dattilo, Ashleigh Leone, Tommy Van Horn Jr., Fr. Casey, Mary Young, Rose Campolongo, Landon Reid, Vickie Ann Owens, Annette Slattery, Anna Musolino, Joann Auld, Pat Kennedy, Sr. Francine OSF