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09 / 10 JUNE Saint Joseph Parish Saint Francis deSales Parish |
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6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at St. Joseph's 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at St. Joseph's 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at St. Francis deSales' |
| THE SANCTUARY LAMP at St. Joseph Church is offered, during the week of 17 - 23 June, in loving memory of Samuel J. Spleen, at the request of his five sons. |
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IF YOU HAVE ALREADY DONE SO THANK YOU! IF NOT, PLEASE DO SO. PLEASE DON'T FORGET! DO IT FOR THE LOVE OF JESUS AND FOR THE POOR! |
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Elizabeth A. Mohan Mary Gerace Pilo Joseph Robert Riotto Thomas J. Bracey Vincent A. Gargano Anthony J. Maccarone Margaret Farenish Puddu Steven S. Kheloussi Benjamin Panichello Albert J. Yackenchick Sr. |
Craig M. Lazarchick Frank J. Mattera Joseph H. Negrello Rosemarie Tranquillo Hall Julia Civitarese Mazzuca (!) Anthony A. Pilo Mark C. Deysher Stephany M. Hauptly James V. Messina Marion Perry Orff |
| (!) - Born in 1916, Mrs. Mazzuca will turn one and ninety on 23 June. May God bless her with the peace that He alone can give. |
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(not to be confused with Honor Rolaids) Cody A. Blankenhorn / 8th grade / All Saints
/ 1st honors |
In memory of Angeline Merlino Angelisanti United Metal Receptacles Corp. Evelyn Drucker Ziegler Anthony and Karen Pilo Veronica J. Kevy Dan and Darla Arrison Dominick and Anna D'Alessandro Bill and Justine Crolic Schuylkill Training & Technology Center Michael and Rosalie Sukeena |
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Some reflections of a theological
nature, THE FACTS |
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as noted above, is a terrible
offense against human dignity. But, even worse than the first
hypothesis, artificial insemination does away with any semblance
or even possibility of an inter-personal relationship. [We hesitate
to say anything positive about garden-variety fornication, but
will go out on a limb to say this much: At least fornication
by mutual consent does not violate the primary principles of
the natural law and it does leave open the possibility of a truly
human relationship.] In the case of artificial insemination via
an anonymous donor, the two persons involved are using their
bodies as if they were mere machines. By doing so, they commit
a grievous offense against God's will and against human dignity. This leaves a question: What
about the child? What about the little boy named Samuel David
Cheney? What is his worth? What is his status in the eyes of
God? |
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fully certified member of the
human species. He received from God the right to life at the
very moment of his conception, even if his conception took
place in a petri dish! It is God's will that Samuel David
Cheney be holy and that he go to heaven. Further question: Well, gee whiz! If the child is so "100% okay", as you seem to say, can't we just draw the conclusion that "all's well that ends well" and declare that the manner and the circumstances of his conception (whatever they were) are all morally irrelevant? Answer to the "further question": Don't be ridiculous! Of course we can't! Response to this answer: Well, now, you have hurt my feelings! How dare you say that I am "ridiculous"? Response to this response: I apologize! Forgive me! Sometimes I get a little carried away. You are definitely not "ridiculous". You are wonderful and smart and good. Let's be friends again, okay? Now, back to where we were! Let's affirm a basic principle, viz. A good end (outcome) does not necessarily justify the means towards that good end! For example: I am the father of three children. My wife and I got a little careless, had a little too much to drink and "made" a fourth pregnancy. We don't want a fourth child. Why not? Because I want all of my children to graduate from college - not just any college but good colleges, i.e. prestigious colleges, so that they will get to make the right connections, know the right people and move in the right circles. I stay close to my financial consultant. He tells me that, considering my age and earning potential and the volatility of the market, there is no way I would be able to guarantee a fourth child the same opportunities that I can just barely guarantee the first three. So, for reasons of fairness and prudence, my wife and I are going to abort this fourth pregnancy. This is a loving |
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decision on our part. Do you
have any problem with that? Do you think this would be morally
acceptable? For example: I am a married man and my wife and I have no children. Qualified gynecologists assure the two of us that my wife is infertile but there is no evidence that I am infertile. My wife would like to adopt but I do not want to bring a stranger's child into my home. I decide, with my wife's consent, to contract with a woman to pay her $25,000 to become pregnant with my child. I do with this woman what a man would do in order to bring about a pregnancy. Not only that, but I am successful in doing so! Do you think this would be morally acceptable? |
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One could do a similar
moral reflection on
another piece of reproductive news that came our way recently.
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OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN, not OUR MOTHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN: A Reflection for Father's Day |
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Think of the Prodigal Son parable. We all know that the father in the parable represents God and that the two sons represent two distinct kinds of sinners - the in-your-face kind and the passive-aggressive kind. But notice that there is no mother in that parable! There are: one father, two sons, one servant, plus a reference to some fair-weather male friends of the younger son, plus a reference to some shady ladies of easy virtue, but there is no mother in the parable, nor any woman who exercises any significant role in the younger son's life. Why not? Well, if we were to re-write the parable so that there was no father on the scene but only a wealthy widowed mother, then the younger son would have to have gone to his mother and asked her for the share of the estate that was coming to him. What would she have done? She would not have given it to him! She would have cried and made him feel guilty that he was thinking of walking out on her and his brother after all that she had done for him, and how could she have raised such an ungrateful boy? and how could he be doing this to her after she had carried him nine months inside of her and changed his diapers and nursed him through the whooping cough? and he would be sorry someday when she was dead and she didn't want to hear anymore of this nonsense and she was going to make him some nice chicken soup with matzoh balls and he should slurp it up like a good boy and get those silly ideas of moving away from home out of his head once and for all and that's the end of that! As a result, the kid would not have gotten his share of the estate. He would have just hung |
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around the farm and done his work begrudgingly,
if at all. Eventually he would have started drinking. He would
have wound up a hopeless alcoholic, probably would have gotten
into a knife fight with his brother and killed him one day when
he was drunk as a skunk. As a result, there never would have
been any Parable of the Prodigal Son - and we would all
have been the poorer for it! Glenn Stanton makes this observation: "Go to any playground and listen to the parents. Who is encouraging their kids to swing or climb just a little higher, ride their bikes just a little faster, throw just a little harder? Who is yelling, 'Slow down, not so high, not so hard!'? Of course, fathers encourage children to take chances and push limits, and mothers protect and are more cautious." Jimmy Akin writes: "If our spirituality has taught us to think of our relationship with God primarily as one of loving, nurturing union and to think of God as one who, like a mother, is quick to intervene and comfort his distressed children, then we are likely to be surprised and disappointed.... God, in these situations, does not seem to be a nurturing comforter.... God is not quick to swoop us up, comfort us, and make it all better, because that is not what fathers tend to do. To be sure, fathers will intervene if their children get into situations that are truly over their heads, but they are much more likely to let the child 'sweat it out' a bit, learn to 'stand on his own two feet,' and even 'burn his fingers' in order to learn his lesson. This is much more how God seems to treat us in times of crisis: We get the help we need to get through the situation, but we don't usually get waves of comfort and consolation and miracles to smooth our path." God loves as a father loves. To conceive of God as, in effect, a mother - as someone who quickly "makes it all better" - is a great way to lose one's faith and wind up an atheist. |
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I snuck into the Cathedral
of SS. Peter and Paul on the Ben Franklin Parkway in my home
town of Philadelphia one midnight this past week. I needed to
have a word with the bishop of my childhood days. I made a hurried
genuflection, proceeded towards the front of the church and then
down, down, down into the crypt where the deceased Eminences
and Excellencies are awaiting Judgment Day. |
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Then there came forth from the tomb such a piercing
scream and such a trembling of the foundations that it seemed
to me that the mighty edifice of the Cathedral itself would come
tumbling down. "I want the names, Edward! Give me the names! Pronounce them to me." "Yes, Eminence, I have the names written down. I shall read them to you." "Voting NO, which means that they opposed the resolution, are the following souls: Carol Campbell; Joan L. Krajewski; Jack Kelly; Brian J. O'Neill; Juan Ramos; Frank Rizzo; Marian Tasco; Anna C. Verna." "Prosper them, O Lord" whispered the voice from the tomb. "And the others?" demanded his late Eminence. "I want the other names!" Pausing so as to catch my breath, I continued: "Voting YES, which means that they supported the damnable resolution, are the following souls: Jannie L. Blackwell; Blondell Reynolds Brown; Darrell L. Clarke; Frank DiCicco; W. Wilson Goode Jr.; William K. Greenlee; James F. Kenney; Donna Reed Miller; Daniel Savage. "I shall remember these names, Edward. Trust me, I shall remember these names! In the presence of God Most High shall I remember them. When He comes to judge the living and the dead, I shall remember them. Those who murder the innocent and those who approve shall know the wrath of God!" "And what has Justin done, Edward? Has he excommunicated any of these traitors? Has he led the flock in procession to blow trumpets, to march around the City Hall, to pull down the ramparts, to seek redress?" "Eminence, if I'm not mistaken, he has issued a statement of disapproval!" Then came such a scream that I thought I would die! "A statement of disapproval?" shrieked his Eminence. "My God, my God, why hast Thou abandoned us? Why hast Thou abandoned the Church of Philadelphia? Oh Lord my God, has it come to this? A statement of disapproval?" And then I awoke, which is good, because this dream was starting to take its toll. |
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SAINT FRANCIS deSALES CHURCH %20Jan%202007/abu076.gif){kind=small}
Saturday, 16 JuneVigil of Sunday 6:00 p.m. - GILDA APPOLLONI MADEIRA by Alice Brennan and family
Sunday, 17 June11th Sunday in Ordinary Time 9:15 a.m. - EDWARD W. KULL by his wife, Barbara, and family 12:15 p.m. - MIKE DUNBROWNEY Sr. by his daughter, Nancy Dunbrowney Haag
Monday, 18 MayWeekday 10:00 a.m. - FRANCES MAZZUCA GARDNER by her mother, Julia
Wednesday, 20 MayWeekday 10:00 a.m. - POOR CHILDREN OF THE WORLD by Shirley Losch Recla
Friday, 22 JuneSt. Paulinus, bishop; St. John Fisher, bishop, martyr and St. Thomas More, martyr (OptMems) 10:00 a.m. - ISABEL OLECHNOWICZ CARUSELLA re-scheduled from 8 June
Saturday, 23 JuneVigil of the Birth of St. John the Baptist 6:00 p.m. - PAUL W. DRUCKER by Joseph T. Cescon and family
Sunday, 24 JuneBirth of St. John the Baptist 9:15 a.m. - DOMINICK J. D'ALESSANDRO Jr. by his mother and father 12:15 p.m. - Blessings on NORMA MERCADO by John J. Krizno |