St. Theresa of The Child Jesus Church

08/29/2026

08/28/2026

Image & Caption by Sanctified Souls™
"Saint Augustine of Hippo became one of the greatest minds the Church has ever known, but before he became bishop, saint, and Doctor of the Church, he was a son being prayed home. His mother, Saint Monica, carried him before God through years of wandering, praying through his ambition, his restless searching, his rejection of the faith she loved, and every road that seemed to take him farther from Christ. She could not force his conversion. She could love him, pray for him, and entrust him again and again to the mercy of God. Her tears became one of the hidden threads running through Augustine's story until grace finally reached the place in his heart that argument alone could never touch.

When Augustine surrendered to Christ, all that restless longing finally found its home. The man who had searched through philosophy, pleasure, success, and human wisdom would write the words that have echoed through the Church for centuries: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." Augustine became a priest, Bishop of Hippo, theologian, preacher, and Doctor of the Church whose writings on grace, love, sin, freedom, and the human heart continue to shape Catholic thought. Yet woven into that immense legacy is the faith of a mother who believed that God was still working in her child long before she could see the fruit.

We can see here a reflection of Mary. Saint Monica teaches us something about the persevering love of a Christian mother, and Our Lady shows us that motherhood brought into Christ reaches even farther. At the Cross, Jesus gave Mary to the beloved disciple and, through him, to us: "Behold, your mother." We are her children now. She carries our wandering hearts with a mother's love and continually points us toward her Son. When we are restless, when we have strayed, when we are searching everywhere for the peace only Christ can give, we remain children beneath the mantle of a Mother whose entire desire is to bring us home to Him.

The Church honors Saint Augustine on August 28th, one day after the feast of his mother, Saint Monica."

08/27/2026

Tonight: Bishop Schlert will celebrate the annual Mass for the Memorial of St. Monica at Queenship of Mary Church. A buffet dinner will follow.

08/27/2026

Image & Caption by Sanctified Souls™
"Saint Monica’s life was marked by tears, but they were tears of love, poured out before God like an unceasing prayer. Married to a pagan husband and mother to a restless son, she bore the weight of sorrow and disappointment with patience, never ceasing to hope in Christ.

Her perseverance became her greatest offering. Year after year she prayed for the conversion of her son, Augustine, refusing to give up even when all seemed lost. She followed him across continents with a mother’s love and a saint’s endurance, believing that God’s mercy was greater than any wandering. At last, her prayers were answered, her son became not only a Christian, but a doctor of the Church, proof that no tear shed in faith is ever wasted.

The Church honors Saint Monica on August 27th. She is the patron of mothers, wives, and all who pray for the return of loved ones to the faith. Her life reminds us that God gathers every sigh, every prayer, every tear, and in His time brings forth fruit beyond imagining. In Saint Monica we see the triumph of patient, steadfast love, the kind that reflects the mercy of God Himself."

08/24/2026

Coffee & Choir!
📅 Sunday, September 6
⛪ After All Sunday Masses
📍 Friendship Hall
Stop by for coffee, light refreshments, and fellowship with members of our Music Ministry!

08/24/2026

Image & Caption by Sanctified Souls™
"Saint Rose of Lima gave her heart entirely to Christ, and from that love grew a life of extraordinary prayer, sacrifice, and mercy. Born in Lima in 1586, she became the first canonized saint of the Americas, showing a young Church that holiness could blossom in the New World. Her beauty earned her the name Rose, but she desired above all to become beautiful in the eyes of God.
She lived much of her spiritual life quietly within her family home, creating a small place of prayer in the garden where she spent long hours with Christ. Her penances were severe, yet her devotion always poured outward into love of neighbor. Rose worked with her hands to help support her family and opened her home to the poor and sick, caring for them personally. Prayer became charity; contemplation became service. Her little garden in Lima became both cloister and mission.
Rose understood deeply that love and the Cross belong together. “Apart from the Cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.” She carried suffering willingly because she longed to share everything with Christ, even the wounds of His Passion. Her hidden life would eventually make her beloved far beyond Peru, and today she is honored as a patron of Peru, Latin America, the Philippines, gardeners, florists, and those ridiculed for their faith.
On her feast day, may Saint Rose remind us that holiness can grow exactly where God has planted us: in our homes, our work, our families, our gardens, and the quiet sacrifices no one else sees. May we learn from her to give Christ our whole hearts and allow that love to overflow into the lives of those around us. Saint Rose of Lima, pray for us."

08/24/2026

Eat Burgers! Change Lives! 🍔❤️

On Sunday, September 13, enjoy a meal at Red Robin and help support the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) USA Province Mission Office and its Water4Life Project!

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are a Catholic religious community of priests, brothers, and sisters with the USA Province Mission Office based in Center Valley. Through their missions, the MSCs serve communities in need around the world.

The Water4Life Project helps provide clean, safe drinking water to families and communities in need. Funds help support wells, water systems, and other life-changing resources that bring hope, health, and dignity to those in need.

How to Participate

Sunday, September 13
📍 Red Robin - dine in or takeout, anytime that day
🍔 20% of qualifying food sales will be donated to the Water4Life Project

Simply mention the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart fundraiser when ordering at any of the four participating Red Robin locations, and 20% of your qualifying food purchase will be donated to support the mission!

Want to support the mission directly?
You can also donate to the Water4Life Project at:
givebutter.com/mscwater4life

08/22/2026

Image & Caption by Sanctified Souls™
"Today the Church celebrates the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, eight days after the Assumption. Mary reigns as Queen of Heaven and Earth because her Son is the eternal King. The woman who gave her fiat at Nazareth, carried God beneath her heart, and stood faithfully beneath His Cross now stands crowned beside Him in glory.

Mary is the Queen Mother of Christ’s Kingdom, our Mother and our intercessor. For centuries the Church has called her Regina Caeli, Queen of Heaven, Queen of Angels, Queen of Martyrs, Queen of Peace. She carries the prayers of her children before the throne of the Son she first carried within her womb.

And our Queen knows the ordinary weight of human life. She knew uncertainty, exile, motherhood, grief, waiting, and the terrible sorrow of Calvary. The woman crowned among the stars is the same Mary who pondered everything quietly in her heart. We can place our families, our fears, our unanswered prayers, and the people we love into her motherly hands.

“Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope.” Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, pray for us, remain close to us, and lead us always to your Son."

08/20/2026

"Love Jesus Back"
Family Holy Hour
For children of all ages!

📅 Tuesday September 8th
🕕 6:00 PM

Presiding will be Fr. Brendon Laroche, Pastor of St. Ursula Parish.

Come spend time with Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament, thank Him for His great love, and pray for those who do not yet love Him in return.

🍲 A potluck dinner will precede the Holy Hour🕊⌛

📍 St. Theresa Church, Hellertown
🍽️ Potluck Sign Up: tinyurl.com/4t34wr58

This evening of prayer and fellowship is sponsored by the St. Monica Ministry of the Diocese of Allentown.

08/19/2026