St Matthews Roman Catholic Church

Happening this Sunday!

Sunday's Eucharist Adoration was beautiful. Thank you to everyone that attended throughout the day. It is very humbling to sit in silence and just be in the presence of the Eucharist.
If you have not been, please consider joining us in the future.

Also, our May Rosary Walk was the perfect afternoon to take a walk with our fellow Parishioners and Pray the Rosary together. Thank you to all who participated.

Here are some photos from Holy Thursday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday.

Thank you to everyone for being a part of St. Matthew Parish. We are truly Blessed this Easter Season. ✝️

Here is our schedule for Holy Week. God Bless you all

Please join us this Wednesday! ✝️

Lots of opportunities to get involved with your fellow St. Matthew parishioners this month as we journey through Lent together!

Lots of great things happening at St. Matthew Parish in Conshohocken this month! You can find more details by checking out the weekly bulletin on our website: https://stmatthewparish.com/

Lots of events and ways to engage with our parish community this week, check them out!

Beautiful photo from midnight mass, thanks Chris Dieckhaus

Reminder for tonight's and tomorrow's Christmas mass schedule. A Blessed Christmas to all!

Thanks to everyone who came out for the blessings and lighting tonight! ✝️

Join us this Sunday at St Matthew Parish!

We are looking forward to Lessons and Carols on Sunday the 17th! Thanks to James Griffin for the beautiful flyer design. If you are interested in helping out, we have a rehearsal tentatively scheduled for Wednesday at 7 pm. More details forthcoming. If you would like more information, email us at [email protected].

Welcome to December and the Advent Season!

Calling all Youth Group - join us this Sunday for our Christmas Card Social! If you / your children have not participated in youth group before, this is a great way to get into the Christmas spirit and meet some other youth in our parish.

For planning purposes, please RSVP by end of the day friday to [email protected]

Yesterday's harm reduction outreach was a huge success, as we were able to distribute over 100 winter care kits to those in need of housing. These kits are crucial to helping individuals stay warm and healthy during the cold winter months. Each kit contains essential items such as gloves, a knitted hat, hand warmers, snacks, hygiene, and first aid items.

We couldn't have achieved this without the generous support of St Matthews Roman Catholic Church Youth Group, , .snacks, I Support the Girls and Bombas SocksTheir contributions have made a significant impact on the lives of those who are struggling in our community. We are incredibly grateful for their kindness and generosity.

We are so thankful for the opportunity to serve and show love to those in need. The support we've received is a testament to the power of and the impact that can be made when we come together for a common cause.



Thank you to everyone who has supported our mission. Your kindness has made a tangible difference in the lives of those who need it most.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good

Please join us for a Thanksgiving mass tomorrow at 9am

Welcome to the Month of the Holy Rosary ✝️

✝️

It's that back to school time of year and we are wrapping up PREP registration. Don't forget to register your child using the link below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSHeX68gHVEbR-Dy-5Pd9Ih5eroUaOePErjcACPcYLtDX4jA/viewform

Please reach out to Gina with any questions at [email protected]

Please join us for our next pancake breakfast on Sunday June 18th sponsored by the Conshohocken Knights of Columbus! Advanced orders are strongly encouraged and can be made through the Knights of Columbus Council site here: https://kofc1603.org/fathers-day-breakfast

Director/Coordinator of Religious Education - Conshohocken, PA PLEASE NOTE: FOR THIS POSITION YOU SHOULD NOT APPLY VIA THIS SYTEM BUT RATHER SUBMIT YOUR RESUME DIRECTLY TO THE PARISH OR AGENCY AS LISTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POSTING (HIGHLIGHTED IN RED), OTHERWISE YOUR APPLICATION MAY NOT BE SUBMITTED TO THE APPROPRIATE PARTY. THANK YOU. St. Matthew, Conshohock...

Happening on Monday evening

He is not here, He is Risen!

A joyous Easter to you all!

2 opportunities to share a meal with your St. Matthew parish community this week!

On Wednesday March 8th, we have the Poor Man's Supper at 6pm in the Parish Center Hall. There is no cost, however we will be accepting a free will donation.

On Friday March 10th, we will have a fish dinner from 4:30 - 6:30 at the parish hall. Adult meals are $8, Childrens meals are $5. Tickets are requred and you can pre-order through the following link: https://stmatthewfishdinner.rsvpify.com/?securityToken=c0i2z3mrt62LqkL8NkLSZn3iiMlWnFxrKiRnKycTiVVvJdYilOUq22J4VeOMKcy7ffG3AawGSx0XQLqBfGxvpuxaEVut9kI314lRNrJozmooUm1bNTt1re7CCWEVBR6a

Hope to see you out one or both nights this week. God bless!

Coming up soon, please join us for this community event

A Reflection for the First Sunday of Lent 2-26-2023

On this first Sunday of Lent, we are reminded of the many struggles that confront us in life. We are all subject to temptation. We are all in need of divine help and strength to get through the day.

Our model here is Jesus, Himself. St. Matthew tells us that immediately after His baptism, Jesus faced a critical struggle with Satan over how He would carry out His mission. Satan remains a fascinating and disturbing figure in the pages of Sacred Scripture and in our culture.

He has many different names: Lucifer, Mephistopheles, Prince of Darkness, Beelzebub, the Evil One. Images of Satan vary, a red-robed, horned, and hoofed creature with a forked tail and a pitchfork being the most common image we often see.

Satan is never described like this in Sacred Scripture. Certainly, life would be easier and more simple if evil were always readily recognizable. What the Bible does tell us is that the devil, (I prefer the evil one), takes on disguises and hides where we least expect.

Satan is real. The reality of evil cannot be simply reduced to human sin and error. Evil is not just in a person’s mind and heart. It is social, systemic, even cosmic. Yet, the power of evil is restricted by our free will.

This important fact is evident in the temptations of Jesus in today’s Gospel.

Satan says to Jesus – ‘You’ve fasted for 40 days. You’re hungry. You’re about to start your mission. You owe it to yourself to get your strength up. So, create bread.’

Jesus gives us an example how to respond to such temptations in our own lives.

Yes, He was physically weak, but He had the presence of mind not to think of Himself. The purpose of His life was not to make life easy but to obey His Father’s will and to serve the men and women and children He came to save. So, using His free will, He refused Satan’s temptation.

‘OK,’ says Satan, ‘If You’re going to be a popular teacher, You’ve got to impress the crowd so that they will listen.’ But Jesus’ mission wasn’t to draw attention to Himself. It was to point to His heavenly Father. His miracles were not part of a publicity machine. They were a divine gift to be used for Divine honor and people’s benefit.

Having failed twice, Satan tries again. His final card was to ask Jesus – ‘What’s in this for You? Do it my way and I’ll give You anything You want.’

This final temptation of Jesus is also ours: Think of #1, do well for yourself; forget everyone else. Jesus’ message here is that we do better for ourselves by doing more for others and by working for the things of Our Heavenly Father, things Yahweh, in the pages of Sacred Scripture, thinks most important like forgiveness, justice, peace, reaching out to the poor and disenfranchised generously.

You know, our first parents, Adam and Eve, were not content with their humanity. They wanted to be like Our Heavenly Father. Jesus, by contrast, emptied Himself of divinity and became quite content to be a human being like us. He accepted His humanity and lived a life of self-giving love.

In doing so He showed us how we should never lord it over others but should serve them.

Whatever Lenten resolve we make, some time along the way we will be tempted to give up. Our human weakness will kick in. We need the discipline of Jesus, the grace of Our Heavenly Father, and the impulse of the Holy Spirit, so that we can focus on the true meaning of life as exemplified in the life of Jesus.

The same temptations that Jesus faced are present in our lives, too. Our hunger for power and success can lead us down the wrong road making us do things counter to the Gospel.

Our desire to draw attention to ourselves causes unnecessary worry about what everyone thinks of us. Our Heavenly Father knows our heart and our intentions. That is reward enough.

There is something in the human heart that is not quite right. That something is the inclination to repeat Adam and Eve’s sin - the sin of arrogance that says, “ I want to be God.”

This sin can destroy us if we let it. Our only hope is to use our gift of freedom and, like Jesus, say “no” to this temptation.

Let us pray that everyone here will use these sacred 40 days of Lent to become better than we are now and promise ourselves that we will not settle in our lives for anything or anyone less than Jesus, our Savior.

Lent is a time to acknowledge our sinfulness but also a time to appreciate Our Heavenly Father’s goodness to us.

Saint Paul put it well: As grievous as sin may be, how much more did the grace of Our Heavenly Father and the gracious gift of His Son, Jesus, overflow for all of us!

In Corde Christi,
Fr. Tom

If you are looking for resources to help enhance your Lenten journey, there are some great options for all of us at St. Matthew. All of the resources below are free to you.

1) Formed - Formed is a website that you are able to use to enrich your Faith through video and movie resources. There is a section for Lent specifically.

2) Go Forth - is a source for you to receive weekly text messages and action steps to deepen your relationship with Jesus from Archbishop Perez.

3) Amen - Amen is an app for your phone to help with Prayer, Meditation and Scripture.

We have an account set up for Formed and Amen through the Parish, just look for St. Matthew Parish, Conshohocken when registering.

God Bless you all this Lent