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2025 Christmas Celebration Schedule

Christmas 2019

The schedule of Masses on the weekend of December 20-21 and December 27-28 will be the regular schedule at both parishes.

CHRISTMAS MASSES AT SAINT JOSEPH CHURCH
December 24, 2025 – 5pm (Carols begin at 4:30pm) (Mass will also be livestreamed on our website and Facebook page)
December 25, 2025 – 10am

CHRISTMAS MASSES AT PRESENTATION B.V.M. CHURCH
December 24, 2025 – 7pm (Carols begin at 6:30pm)
December 25, 2025 – 8am

SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD – a Holy Day of Obligation
December 31, 2025 – 5pm Mass at Saint Joseph Church
January 1, 2026 – 10am Mass at Presentation B.V.M. Church

CONFESSIONS
Saturday, December 20, 2025, 4pm-5pm at Presentation B.V.M. Church
Tuesday, December 23, 2025,10:30am-11am at Presentation B.V.M. Church
Saturday, December 27, 2025, 4pm-4:45pm at Presentation B.V.M. Church

All Saints Day 2025

All Saints Day at Saint Joseph, Cheltenham, 1998

The Solemnity of All Saints, November 1, 2025, falls on a Saturday this year. Therefore, it is not a Holy Day of Obligation. There will be an 8am Mass on Saturday, November 1 at Presentation BVM Church for All Saints Day.  There will be no Vigil Mass on Halloween, Friday, October 31.

Solemnity of the Assumption Mass Schedule

Assumption_Guercino

This Friday, August 15, 2025 is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a Holy Day of Obligation.

The Mass schedule at Saint Joseph Church will be as follows:
Thursday (Vigil) – 5pm
Friday – 10am.

The Mass schedule at our twin parish, Presentation BVM Church, will be as follows:
Friday – 6:30am and 7:30pm.

“Preserved free from all guilt of original sin, the Immaculate Virgin was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory upon the completion of her earthly sojourn.  She was exalted by the Lord as Queen of all, in order that she might be more thoroughly conformed to her Son, the Lord of Lords and the conqueror of sin and death.” (Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, 59)

“The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s  Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.”  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 966)

Holy Week and Easter 2025 Schedule

April 13 – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
9:15am Stations of the Cross at St. Joseph Church
10am Mass* and Blessing of Palms at St. Joseph Church

April 14 – Monday of Holy Week
10am Mass at St. Joseph Church

April 16 – Wednesday of Holy Week
10am Mass at St. Joseph Church
10:30am Stations of the Cross at St. Joseph Church

April 17 – Holy Thursday
5pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper at St. Joseph Church
St. Joseph Church will remain open until 9pm
(7:30pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper at Presentation BVM Church)

April 18 – Good Friday
St. Joseph Church will be open 12 noon until 4pm for private prayer.
7:30pm Solemn Service of the Lord’s Passion at St. Joseph Church
(3pm Solemn Service of the Lord’s Passion at Presentation BVM)

April 19 – Holy Saturday
4pm-5pm Sacrament of Reconciliation at Presentation BVM
5pm Blessing of Easter Foods at Presentation BVM
8pm Solemn Easter Vigil at Presentation BVM

April 20 – Easter Sunday of the Lord’s Resurrection
10am Mass* at St. Joseph Church
(8:30am & 11:30am Mass at Presentation BVM)

*Please note: the Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday Masses from St. Joseph will be livestreamed on the parish’s website and Facebook page. 

There is a sign-up sheet available on a table in the Church Hall for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Holy Thursday evening and Good Friday afternoon.  Please consider signing up for a time slot (or two) so that the Blessed Sacrament will not be left alone during this solemn time. The Blessed Sacrament will be reposed in the side room near the organ.

The bishops of the United States prescribe, as minimal obligation, that all persons over 14 years of age are gravely obliged to abstain from meat on all Fridays of Lent .  All persons over 18 years of age and up to the beginning of their 60th year are gravely obliged to fast by limiting themselves to a single full meal on Good Friday, while the other two meals are to be light.

Funeral Notice: Gerard Costello

Please pray for the soul of parishioner, Gerard Costello, who died on January 17, 2005. Jerry was the husband of Molly and the father of Patrick (St. Joseph School, Class of 2002) and the late Gerard.

A visitation will take place at the William R. May Funeral Home, 354 N. Easton Rd., Glenside, on Friday, March 7, 2025 from 4pm to 8pm.   A visitation will also take place at St. Joseph Church, Cheltenham, on Saturday, March 8, 2025 from 9:30am to 10:45am followed by Jerry’s Funeral Mass at 11am.

The Funeral Mass will also be livestreamed at facebook.com/stjoescheltenham and stjoescheltenham.org/costello

Click here for the obituary.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.
May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Lent Begins Wednesday!

The penitential season of Lent begins this Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025 and lasts until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025.

The bishops of the United States prescribe, as minimal obligation, that all persons over 14 years of age are gravely obliged to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent.  All persons over 18 years of age and up to the beginning of their 60th year are gravely obliged to fast by limiting themselves to a single full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, while the other two meals are to be light.

All the faithful are encouraged at attend Mass and to receive the Most Holy Eucharist daily, to use frequently the Sacrament of Penance, to undertake spiritual reading, especially the study of the Sacred Scriptures, and to attend parish Lenten devotions and Lenten educational programs.

Ashes will be distributed on Ash Wednesday at the 10am Mass at St. Joseph Church, also, at the 6:30am and 7:30pm Mass and 1pm Scripture Service at Presentation BVM Church.

We will pray the Stations of the Cross at St. Joseph Church on Sundays at 9:15am and Fridays at 10:30am.  Stations of the Cross will be prayed at Presentation BVM Church on Tuesdays at 7:15pm and Fridays at 1pm (not March 7).

The Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the Presentation BVM Adoration Chapel on Monday afternoons from 2pm until 5pm.

Videos explaining various topics related to the Catholic faith will be shown after the 10am Sunday Mass in the Parish Community Room.

All are encouraged to participate in the annual CRS Rice Bowl, which has aided countless hungry persons here in our Archdiocese and throughout the world.

You can sign up for FREE daily and weekly Lenten reflections at the following sites:

FORMED Daily Lenten Reflections

Dynamic Catholic’s Best Lent Ever!

Relevant Radio

EWTN

Word on Fire (Bishop Barron)

Pray More Retreat

Ascension Press

CANCELLATIONS on Monday, January 20, 2025

On Monday, January 20, 2025, due to the snow and below-freezing temperatures:

  • the Presentation BVM Rectory office is closed
  • the 10am Mass at St. Joseph Church is canceled
  • the Young at Heart Luncheon at Presentation BVM is postponed to a future date to be announced
  • Adoration usually held on Mondays between 2pm and 5pm in the Presentation BVM Adoration Chapel is canceled

10am Mass on Monday, January 5, 2025 is canceled

Due to the prediction of snow, the 10am Mass at St. Joseph on Monday, January 5, 2025 has been canceled. There will be a 6:30am Mass on Monday at our twinned parish, Presentation BVM Parish, Cheltenham. Eucharistic Adoration in the Adoration Chapel at Presentation that usually takes place from 2pm until 5pm on Mondays has been canceled.

November 28, 2024: Thanksgiving Day

ThanksgivingWe set aside Thanksgiving Day to thank God for all the blessings that He has bestowed on us, our family and our country.  Mass will be celebrated on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2024 at Presentation BVM Church, Cheltenham, at 8am.

GEORGE WASHINGTON’S THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION
City of New York, October 3, 1789

WHEREAS it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and

WHEREAS both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me: “to recommend to people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many single favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

NOW THEREFORE I do recommend and assign Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November next, to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.

All Saints Day – 2024

PLEASE NOTE: The Holy Day Vigil Masses at St. Joseph are now at 5pm.

all-saints-1998Friday, November 1, 2024 is All Saints Day, a Holy Day of Obligation.  Masses at Saint Joseph Church will be on Thursday, October 31, 2024 at 5pm and Friday, November 1, 2024 at 10am.

Masses at our twinned parish, Presentation BVM Church, will be at 6:30am and 7:30pm on Friday, November 1, 2024.

(Photo: All Saints Day at Saint Joseph, Cheltenham, 1998)