Our Faith on the Road feature this week brings me back home. St. Therese Lisieux located near Homestead PA is my home parish. This is where I received my catechetical education. More importantly, this is where I first received the Lord in Holy Eucharist for the first time and where the Lord confirmed His Holy Spirit upon me. This is home for me. After five decades, even with the many changes that have come to the church and to myself, so much is still the same.
The shy, little boy who sat in these pews forty years ago is gone but still hidden deep within. As I sat here for Mass, I recollected on my first Communion and Confirmation, I saw exactly where I had sat when I received both of these great Sacraments. The boy who received these Sacraments had no clue of the meaning nor value of either. He knew nothing about how critical they would become to the man to come in thirty years and now more so nearly fifty years after receiving my Lord that first time. The man still doesn’t understand the power of these Sacraments but I’m learning and relying more upon each day by day.
The pastor and deacon are great. St. Therese is alive with activity and community from the pastor’s hard work. Come and see!
Save the date for the upcoming Praise Nation PGH Festival of Praise. It is on Saturday, December 10 at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, St. Therese Church (1 St. Therese Court, Munhall, PA 15120). Watch the Praise Nation page for information on this and other events – https://www.praisenationpgh.org
Beautiful memories! 🙏