Saturday, 16 December
Vigil of Sunday
4:30 p.m. - GUY LUPPINO
(anniversary of birth)
by his wife, Kathryn , and family

Sunday, 17 December
3rd Sunday of Advent
7:45 a.m. - JOHN KLEMA
by Andy and Clare Alfonsi
10:45 a.m. - AGNES OWENS
(anniversary of birth)
by her daughter, Kitty Owens DiCello

Monday, 18 December
Late Advent Weekday
12:05 p.m. - JOSEPHINE MOTTA
by the Mazzuca family

Tuesday, 19 December
Late Advent Weekday
12:05 p.m. - LEO M. PLUSWICK
(anniversary of birth) by his wife, Rose Marie
7:00 p.m. - ANTHONY J. LUPPINO
by his sister, Mary Anne

Wednesday, 20 December
Late Advent Weekday
12:05 p.m. - FRED GENNERELLA
by his brothers, John and Bruno

Thursday, 21 December
St. Peter Canisius, priest, doctor (OptMem)
12:05 p.m. - ANTHONY J. MANZO
by his wife, Cecelia, his daughter, Joanne, and his granddaughter, Sandra
7:00 p.m. - JOSEPH A. PALKO
by his niece, Patti Feeley Garland

Friday, 22 December
Late Advent Weekday
12:05 p.m. - NORMA SHOPE BEHRENS
by Barbara Sciarrone Kasper and family

Saturday, 23 December
St. John of Kanty, priest (OptMem)
8:00 a.m. - JESSE and ELIZABETH KRIZNO
by Cecelia, Joanne and Sandra
Vigil of Sunday
4:30 p.m. - ALBERT J. LAPLACA
(37th anniversary) by his wife, Julia, and family

Sunday, 24 December
4th Sunday of Advent
7:45 a.m. - LENA TRANQUILLO PICCIONI
by John and Frances Weiss
10:45 a.m. - ANDREW, FLORENCE and THOMAS FEELEY
by their daughter / sister, Patti Feeley Garland
Vigil of Christmas
4:30 p.m. - BARBARA SWANTNER CESCON
by her husband, Joseph, and children

Saint Joseph Parish
$1,697.00 from the envelopes and $90.00 from the plate. Thank you.
When one deducts from the sum of these two figures, $1,787.00 the parish's weekly financial obligation to the Diocese, i.e. assessments, $358.85 plus the weekly premiums for property and liability insurance, $149.20, the sum of which is $508.05, plus its weekly obligation to All Saints School, $987.21, the sum total of which is $1,495.26, one sees that $291.74 of this collection is available for operating the parish.

Saint Francis deSales Parish
$94.00 from the envelopes and $83.85 from the plate. Thank you.
When one deducts from the sum of these two figures, $177.85 the parish's weekly financial obligation to the Diocese, i.e. assessments, $55.15 plus the weekly premiums for property and liability insurance, $56.72, the sum of which is $111.87, plus its weekly obligation to All Saints School, $197.44, the sum total of which is $309.31, one sees that ($131.46 of this collection is available for operating the parish. This is a deficit!

A RETIRED PRIEST OF THE DIOCESE was killed in an automobile accident in Carbon County this past Wednesday (13 December). The funeral Mass will be celebrated tomorrow (Monday) in his home church, St. Mary's in McAdoo.
The sudden death of Monsignor Stephen T. Forish prompts newspapers to focus on allegations never proven in a court of law that are devastating to his reputation. I remember, about ten years ago, that I wrote to him and later spoke with him about one of the allegations. I assured him of my fraternal friendship and good wishes. I told him that I would pray for him for a just outcome. He thanked me cordially.
Do I know for certain that the allegations against him were untrue? No, I do not know that for certain. Is it possible that they were true? Yes, I suppose it is possible. Is it possible that the allegations were not true? Certainly it is possible that they were not true.
Let us keep a few things in mind:
Sexual sin is intolerable, most of all in a priest. If a priest commits sexual sin, he is committing a sacrilege and imperiling his salvation. If he commits that kind of sexual sin that violates children, he must be permanently removed from public ministry.
A priest, like any person, is not guilty before the law unless he publicly admits that he is guilty or is proven to be guilty by evidence that is incontrovertible.
Even if guilty, the priest, like any person, needs the compassion and prayers of the Catholic community. We desire the salvation of every human being, without exception.

All of us would do well to pray for Monsignor Forish and for other priests, both living and dead, who have been pulled down into the mire by allegations of scandalous behavior, whether or not these allegations were true.
We would also do well to remember the good things that these priests have done. I remember Steve Forish as one of the brightest and most eloquent champions of the Pro-Life movement I have ever met. I wish him well in eternity. May God forgive him "whatever sins he committed through human weakness".

ON PAGE 19 OF THE 15 DECEMBER EDITION of the Pottsville Republican, there is a feature article about a six-year-old boy named Daniel Kerner who suffers from Batten disease. Earlier this month, doctors transplanted stem cells from aborted babies into his brain in a desperate bid to reverse, or at least to slow, the progress of the disease.
The article includes a large color photo of Daniel and his father. It is a tender scene. The father holds the boy in his arms and kisses his forehead. It is a beautiful and touching photo.
How could anyone not wish the best for the little boy?
How could anyone not give his approval to the medical technology that make such an operation possible?

Ah, yes!
Do you see how we are manipulated by the media?
Please consider the following:
GEORG AUGUST WELTZ was one of twenty-three medical doctors who were defendants in the Nuremberg trials after World War 2.
Dr. Weltz was accused of carrying out medical experiments on non-consenting human beings.
The prosecutor asked him if he had not taken the Hippocratic Oath.
He acknowledged that he had taken the Oath.
The prosecutor referred the defendant in particular to that portion of the Oath that reads as follows:
"I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury or wrongdoing. Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course."
The defendant responded as follows:
"The Hippocratic Oath is an honorable historic document, which, however, does not altogether fit present times. A medicine based on the principle of non nocere [do no harm] is a very impoverished medicine, and we are unfortunately not in a position to carry on medicine on that simple principle today."
It is my contention and it is the teaching of the Catholic Church that it is profoundly immoral directly to kill a human being at any stage of his or her life, even if it is foreseen that, by doing so, some benefit can accrue to another human being.
Anyone who believes that it is morally acceptable to kill an unborn child and then to utilize organs or cells from the body of that unborn child in order to try to effect a cure in some other child or adult is no better than the Nazi doctors who did medical experiments on Jews and on persons whom the Nazi culture considered unfit or sub-human.
Anyone who says that it is morally acceptable to benefit from the unjust deaths of others is really no better than a Nazi.
But someone will say, "Don't you have any heart? Just look at the picture of Daniel's father holding his son in his arms and kissing him! Now tell me you don't want that boy to get better!"
To which I say, "Well, then, let us apologize to the Nazi doctors who experimented on human beings. No doubt they were motivated by some noble purpose! Do you not think so?"

In last weekend's bulletin, we noted that the seasonal art work painted on the windows of the Pottsville PO was devoid of any Christian words, symbols or imagery.
Chanukah, Kwanzaa and various non-descript secular imagery were featured, but nothing about the birth of Jesus, and no mention of the word "Christmas".
On Monday morning someone alerted me to the fact that there had been some re-painting and that a Nativity scene had been added, together with the word "Christmas".
I had to check this out with my own eyes!
And so, this past Monday, I drove up North Centre Street, parked my car outside the PO and was delighted at what I saw: a nicely drawn and painted illustration of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the stable. Nearby, there was the word "Christmas".
What more could anyone ask?
All Christians have reason to be grateful to those who were instrumental in bringing the true meaning of the season to the friends and patrons of the Pottsville PO!
I could pretend not to know who these persons are, but I would rather not pretend.
So, in the hope that I am not embarrassing them, I'll mention their names:

Ronald J. Mercuri, who is the honorable Postmaster of Pottsville and a member of St. Joseph Parish. It was at Ron's initiative that the Nativity scene was added.
John V. Mercuri, who is a college student, an artist and a nephew of the Postmaster. John is a member of St. John the Baptist Parish, but he got his start at St. Joseph Parish. His Uncle Ron drafted him to supplement the artwork done by the PAHS Sketch Club.

All's well that ends well!
I'm glad it worked out this way.
It helped to illustrate the message of Advent, which is that the Lord is coming and that we had all better take notice, get serious, get our acts together, and

GOD BLESS BISHOP BRUSKEWITZ!
In case the name Fabian Bruskewitz is not familiar to you, you might want to know that he is the Bishop of Lincoln (NB) and is considered by many to be the premier example of intestinal fortitude in the American hierarchy.
Ten years ago Bishop Bruskewitz announced the excommunication of the members of CALL TO ACTION, which is probably the leading Catholic dissident group in the USA.
The excommunication was appealed to Rome.
Rome does not move quickly on such matters. ["The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine" is what I was told when I was a kid in Most Precious Blood School in Philadelphia.]
However, just a few days ago the Vatican announced that it had upheld the excommuniction!
For which I say: PRAISE THE LORD!
Bishop Bruskewitz also excommunicated Catholics who are members of the following groups:
Catholics for a Free Choice; Planned Parenthood; the Hemlock Society; the Freemasons; the Society of St. Pius X; St. Michael the Archangel Chapel; Job's Daughters; DeMolay; Eastern Star; Rainbow Girls. (Job's Daughters, DeMolay, Eastern Star and Rainbow Girls are part of the Freemasons.)
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, writing to Bishop Bruskewitz, said that the action imposing excommunication on these groups was "properly taken,"
Membership in these groups is "totally incompatible with the Catholic faith," said Cardinal Re in his letter, dated 24 November.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT EXCOMMUNICATION
A few times I have heard some non-practicing Catholic tell me that he was "excommunicated once upon a time by Father So and So". I always hasten to tell the person that "Father So and So" did not have the authority to excommunicate him. Declarations of excommunication are beyond the pay grade of any priest. A Catholic is excommunicated in one of two ways: (a) by decree of the Pope or the diocesan Bishop; (b) automatically according to certain violations specified in Canon Law. Procurement of an abortion is an example of the latter.
If you think you might ever have been excommunicated, talk to your parish priest about it in confidence. He will help you to be recommunicated.