Saints Peter and Paul Parish of Lehighton

09/07/2026

8:00 AM

09/06/2026

10:00 AM

09/06/2026

7:45 AM

09/05/2026

4:00 PM

09/05/2026

St. Teresa of Calcutta, known worldwide as Mother Teresa, is one of the most recognizable saints of modern times. Her life of radical charity and service to the poorest of the poor continues to inspire people of all faiths and backgrounds.

Named Agnes at birth in 1910, she grew up in Skopje in North Macedonia. She felt called to religious life and joined the Sisters of Loreto, later traveling to India, where she taught at a school in Calcutta for two decades. She became known as a dedicated teacher and later served as the school’s principal.

In 1946, as she traveled by train, she experienced what she later described as a “call within a call.” She felt Jesus inviting her to leave the convent school and serve Him among the poor and destitute in the streets of Calcutta. After a period of discernment and approval from Church authorities, she left the Sisters of Loreto and began her new mission.

Four years later, she founded the Order of Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation devoted to serving “the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers.” The sisters lived among the poor, offering care and support with dignity, love, and spiritual comfort.

One of her most significant works was establishing a home for the dying destitute called Nirmal Hriday (Pure Heart), where those who had been abandoned on the streets were given care, companionship, and the opportunity to die with dignity. Mother Teresa often described this work as “doing something beautiful for God.”

Although she experienced prolonged periods of spiritual dryness, she remained faithful to her mission and exemplified compassion and joy in serving the most vulnerable. As her global recognition grew, she received numerous honors. She was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Yet she was humble, pointing attention away from herself and toward Christ present in the suffering.

St. Teresa of Calcutta died on September 5, 1997, and was canonized in 2016. Beginning with twelve recruits, her Missionaries of Charity grew to five thousand nuns and 450 priests serving in 138 countries worldwide.

https://ewtnmission.com/dailysaint/st-teresa-of-calcutta/

09/05/2026

Saturday, September 5

GIRLS SOCCER
at Lourdes Regional, 11am

09/05/2026

09/05/2026

WHO CAN BAPTISE?
WHAT MAKES A BAPTISM VALID?

Many Catholics assume that only a priest can baptise.
That is not quite correct.

The Catholic Church has a fascinating teaching on who can administer Baptism, and it becomes especially important when there is an emergency.

1. WHO NORMALLY BAPTISES?
The ordinary ministers of Baptism are the bishop, priest and, in the Latin Church, the deacon.

This is why Baptism is ordinarily celebrated by a priest or deacon in the parish community according to the Church’s approved liturgical rite.
But there are circumstances in which someone else may baptise.

2. WHO CAN BAPTISE IN AN EMERGENCY?
Here is the part that may surprise you:
In a case of necessity, ANY PERSON can baptise, even someone who is not baptised.

The person must have the proper intention: they must intend to do what the Church does when she baptises.
So, in an emergency, Baptism is not dependent upon the minister being a priest, Catholic or even a Christian.

Why does the Church permit this?
Because Baptism is necessary for salvation and the Church desires that no person be deprived of the sacrament because an ordinary minister is unavailable.

3. BUT HOW IS IT DONE?
For a baptism to be valid, the essential rite involves true water and the Trinitarian baptismal formula. Canon 849 states that Baptism is validly conferred by washing with true water together with the proper words.

The person baptising pours water on the candidate’s head or immerses the candidate and says:
“I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

The person baptising must also intend to do what the Church does in Baptism.

4. DOES THAT MEAN ANYONE CAN JUST START BAPTISING PEOPLE?
No.
The Church distinguishes between what is valid and what is proper or lawful.
Outside a case of necessity, Baptism should be celebrated according to the Church’s established liturgical norms, and the ordinary minister is the bishop, priest or deacon. Canon 861 also provides for a catechist or another person designated by the local ordinary to baptise when an ordinary minister is absent or impeded.

So the Church’s teaching about emergency Baptism is not permission for people to bypass normal parish arrangements.

It is a provision for genuine necessity.

5. WHAT ABOUT BABIES?
For infant Baptism, the normal Catholic process involves preparation of the parents and godparents, together with the proper celebration of the sacrament.

In an emergency, however, the essential requirements for validity still apply.
And if an emergency Baptism has taken place, the parish should be informed so that the Baptism can be properly recorded and the other rites and pastoral requirements can be attended to.

THE BIG SURPRISE
So, who can baptise?

Ordinarily:
BISHOP → PRIEST → DEACON

In certain circumstances when an ordinary minister is absent or impeded:
A DESIGNATED CATECHIST OR OTHER PERSON

In a genuine case of necessity:
ANY PERSON WITH THE RIGHT INTENTION
Even an unbaptised person.

That is one of the clearest examples of how seriously the Church takes the sacrament of Baptism.

REMEMBER THE ESSENTIALS
WATER
TRINITARIAN FORMULA
PROPER INTENTION

But don’t reduce Baptism to a formula.
Baptism is the gateway to the sacramental life, through which a person is freed from sin, reborn as a child of God and incorporated into the Church.

A QUESTION FOR YOU
Before today, did you know that even an unbaptised person can validly baptise someone in a case of necessity?

And more importantly:
Would you know what to do if you ever found yourself in a genuine emergency where a priest or deacon was unavailable?

Be Prayerful. Be Inspired.
© Catholic Dailies

09/05/2026

At his general audience Aug. 26, Pope Leo XIV reflected upon Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council’s document on liturgy, offering his most detailed catechesis yet on the liturgical reforms implemented by Pope Paul VI and the so-called Novus Ordo.

His comments have now been parsed from several quarters looking for clues as to what direction he will go when it comes to the contentious issues swirling in the so-called “liturgy wars.”

I think the overall message he delivered is typical of his style so far. His words are cautious but clear, making it known that the Catholic Church is not going to veer under his watch in any direction that will undermine its unity. Nor does he give any indication that big changes to liturgical practice are in our future. As such, like so much else in this young pontificate, there is a calmness in his remarks that I think is deliberately chosen to send the message that folks need to back away from the liturgical cliff and start thinking in more sober ways.

Read more at ncregister.com