St. Andrew the Apostle Rel Ed - Gibbsboro / Voorhees

06/13/2024

"One just puts one foot in front of the next, and does the best they can, and try to let love live through you," Jesuit Fr. Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries tells NCR after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

05/15/2023

Please have your child make a small Mother's Day card for the Blessed Mother. Bring it with you to Mass.

05/14/2023

Happy Mothers Day to all mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, foster mothers, mothers-in-law, aunts, older sisters, teachers, mentors, and everyone who has been like a mother to us!

05/10/2023

Where does the time go? We have completed another wonderful year of Religious Education at St. Andrew's. This year saw many changes in the program including the addition of a monthly Children's Mass and a complete revision of all of our lessons.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to all of our Catechists and volunteers who willingly share their faith with the children. We would not have a program without you.

Stay safe and have fun! We will see you in September!

05/06/2023

What a Beautiful Day!

Congratulations to our First Holy Communicants on receiving this precious Sacrament. Thank you parents for all you have done to get your children to this point!

Thank you to our second grade Catechists Ms. Josie and Ms. Candace, and Ms. Tese and Mr. Jim. Also thank you to our volunteers Karen and Bridgette who took this lovely photograph of the children with Monsignor.

Enjoy the rest of your very special day!

05/04/2023

I was once dismissed by a creative writing teacher for my love of all things Star Wars.

“There’s no nuance in those stories,” he claimed, waving his hand about. “The villains are all wearing black. It’s called the dark side of the Force. You’re either evil or you’re good. What kind of story is that? How do the characters grow and change?”

I was in high school at the time, attending a weeklong writing workshop, highly impressionable and hoping to learn how to turn my fantasy stories into real-life, paper-and-bound books.

Clearly, we were off to a bad start.

But a lot of time has passed since that fateful day — and I’ve done a lot of thinking and writing on spirituality and Star Wars — and honestly, I don’t think that guy actually saw any of the movies.

Take the scene from "Empire Strikes Back" when Yoda sends Luke into the cave on the swamp planet, Dagobah. Luke is apprehensive, uncertain, and cautiously wanders into the dark and shadows. What is he supposed to learn here? What is the old green Jedi master trying to teach him?

Luke turns a corner and who should appear but our nemesis, a vision of Darth Vader. And yes, he – the villain – is wearing black.

Our hero wastes no time. That blue laser sword ignites to parry its red opponent, and Luke swings it at Vader. Clash! Buzz! Zip! Sparks fly as Luke strikes Vader’s helmet.

Success! Luke has struck down this vision of darkness. Our hero – clad in white – has defeated the villain cloaked in black. It turns out that creative writing teacher was right and — WAIT, WHAT’S THIS?!

Vader’s helmet rolls across the cavern floor and EXPLODES, revealing not the face of a monster but that of Luke himself.

If you’ve seen the original Star Wars trilogy — and if you haven’t, I mean, c’mon, spoiler alert for the 40-year-old film, "Return of the Jedi" — then you know that the resolution to this supposedly cut and dry, dark versus light story isn’t the defeat of Vader. Luke has his chance to strike the villain down, but he doesn’t take it.

Instead, he learns from that experience in the cave. He learns that, in fact, the fulfilment of his own so-called destiny isn’t as obvious as beating the supposed villain. He doesn’t take a life; he saves it. He recognizes that even in this archetypal villain, good remains.

In his rules for discernment, St. Ignatius of Loyola writes:

“It is a mark of the evil spirit to assume the appearance of an angel of light. He begins by suggesting thoughts that are suited to a devout soul, and ends by suggesting his own. …he will endeavor little by little to end by drawing the soul into his hidden snares.” (SE 332)

I’m no Jedi — and I bet you aren’t one, either. But still, we find ourselves casting about in a world marked not by clearly defined signposts, one leading to the light side and the other to the dark, but instead a world muddled with gray and nuance and crying out for discernment.

Before we swing our own proverbial lightsabers at the foe we’ve identified in front of us, we might do well to pause, to pray, to wonder with God if we’re not instead being invited to participate in the work of redemption.

To wonder if our own ongoing efforts to slash and burn and beat back those who stand in our way is in fact not a trick of the evil spirit.

So, this week, whether or not you’re celebrating Star Wars Day on May the Fourth — and for the record, I definitely am — I invite you to pay closer attention to the spirits at work in your own life, the pull of the dark side and the light.

What might you learn in the depths of your own inner cave?


In God's peace,




Eric Clayton

Deputy Director of Communications

Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States

[email protected]

04/19/2023

Parents, Teachers, Catechists…

04/10/2023

04/09/2023

HE IS RISEN! ALLELUIA!

Religious Ed Wishes All of Our Families a Beautiful and Blessed Easter!

04/07/2023

Our model of the City of Jerusalem. We use this to show our Religious Ed Students where the sacred events of Holy Week took place.

04/06/2023

Our model of the Cenacle, or Upper Room, used to teach the Religious Ed Students about Holy Thursday.