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19 / 20 JANUARY Saint Joseph Parish Saint Francis deSales Parish |
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Tuesday, 29 January 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at St. Joseph's 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at St. Joseph's 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at St. Francis deSales' |
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THE SANCTUARY LAMP at St. Joseph Church is offered, during
the week of 27 Jan - 03 Feb, in loving memory of Ann Fanok Mangan,
at the request of her sister, Mary Fanok Piccioni. MASS AT SIMON KRAMER INSTITUTE The monthly Mass will be held at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, 28 January, at the Simon Kramer Institute, New Philadelphia. All are welcome to attend. If you have any questions about this Mass - how to get there or anything else - call the Rectory. After the Mass, there is the opportunity to venerate the first-class relic of St. Pauline Visintainer, patron saint of all who suffer from chronic illness, in particular from diabetes. St. Pauline is a model of patient and self-sacrificial endurance of pain and contradiction. |
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Frank J. Chiplonia Joseph J. Generella Sr. Lindsey M. Jefferson Anthony J. Chillemi Jr. Karyn Strokelitus Chillemi James J. Mengel Joseph A. Mikos Remo E. Piccioni Vincent J. Baiocco Jr. |
Jeanette Ciorlanti Chalinsky Rosemary Ayello Spiess Christine M. Trapani Talan L. Peiffer Carolyn Moyer Spirko Lisa Trabosh Brinich Joseph J. Chipriano Alexander A. Morris |
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A young man tells his mother
he's fallen in love and is going to get married. He says, "Mom, just for fun, I'm going to bring three women to the house for you to meet and you try and guess which one I'm going to marry." The mother agrees. The next day, he brings three beautiful women into the house. They sit down on the couch and chat with the mother while the young man waits outside. When they leave, he says, "Okay, Mom, guess which one I'm going to marry." She says, "The one in the middle." He says, "Mom, you are absolutely amazing! You're right! How did you know?" Says his mother: "She's the one I don't like." |
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THROATS, BLESSING OF Please bring your throat with you to Mass next weekend (2 / 3 Feb). We will be blessing throats after each of the weekend Masses. If you don't have time to come up the aisle for the blessing, just leave your throat in the pew. We will bless it and you can pick it up at your convenience |
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SAINT JOSEPH PARISH: GOD'S
FROZEN PEOPLE The last couple of weeks, people have been coming out of St. Joseph Church and shaking hands with me and saying things like: "Hey, man! Cool! Really cool, man!" And, like an idiot, I've been saying back to them, "Thank you! Gee, thanks! Thanks a lot!" Some people said (at least it sounded like they said): "Shiver my timbers, man! Really cool!" And I would say, "Thank you, my man. Give me five!" And I would high-five them. You see, I thought they were referring to me personally. I kind of liked it that they thought that I was so cool. I figured they liked the homily or the biretta or maybe both. Then reality dawned. Someone took me aside and explained it to me. He said that the people were not referring to me or to the homily or to the biretta. They were referring to the church. They were saying that the St. Joseph Church building is cool - like really cool, like cold actually, and that they were shivering! So, I figured we had to correct this problem. So, I furrowed my brow and fiddled around with the thermostats and I asked our custodian to fiddle around with them too - but it didn't seem to help. So, we called the company that services our heating and air-conditioning. They sent a man down on Friday (25 Jan) and he analyzed the problem and fiddled around up in the loft and he explained the problem to me - I pretended to understand what he was saying - and he said he would be back on Saturday (26 Jan), which he was and he fiddled around some more up in the loft and he explained some more of the problem to me - and again I pretended to understand what he was saying - and he said he would be back with a part on either Monday (28 Jan) or Tuesday (29 Jan). He said that we were in good shape for the weekend, as far as heat is concerned. So, I am hoping that no one, as he or she exits the church this weekend, will have any complaints about the church being cold. However, if you do feel cold, please let me know. I can always arrange to give you a private homily about hellfire, guaranteed to put some heat in your bones. |
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Vatican Newspaper Article Says Catholics Should Receive Communion Kneeling and on the Tongue by John-Henry Westen Although it may seem a little
strange, there is a definite battle being waged within the Catholic
Church. It is the same "culture war" being waged by
secular moderns against those who uphold traditional morality,
it is pro-life vs. pro-choice. But within the Catholic Church
the same battle is fought along liturgical lines, and the publication
in the Vatican newspaper of an article calling for Catholics
to receive Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue is telling. |
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The majority of the faithful
have since adopted the practice of standing and receiving communion
on the hand. However, some traditional Catholics, often derisively referred to as "pre-Vatican II" Catholics have held to the practice of communion kneeling and on the tongue. Those same Catholics are often the most vociferous defenders of life and family within and without the Church. While many valiant Catholic activists who work in the pro-life and pro-family battles receive communion in the common fashion, they nonetheless respect the right of those who wish to receive communion kneeling and on the tongue. Not so for those within the Church seeking to get the Church in line with the times. Certain Church leaders, priests and even bishops who are zealous in their attempts to modernize the Church have gone so far as to attempt to enforce modernism by refusing communion to those who kneel for communion. One prominent example of such was Orange County Florida Bishop Tod Brown who was caught on video last year refusing communion to a woman who was kneeling. Brown is also known for refusing in 1994 to back an Idaho measure to deny homosexuals special privileges. Explaining his actions he said the law "would contribute to attitudes of intolerance and hostility in Idaho directed at homosexual citizens and is potentially discriminatory." In Brown's diocese there has been considerable intolerance toward Catholics who kneel for communion and some traditional Catholics have been asked to leave the diocese. Another prominent example was the denial of communion to Virginia House of Delegate member Richard Black by Arlington's St. Thomas More Cathedral Rector, Fr. Dominic Irace in 2002. Black was one of the strongest defenders of life in the legislature. As Delegate Black left the Cathedral, Fr. Irace loudly called him a "conservative idiot." (see coverage: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/oct/02101001.html ) |
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These types of situations caused
the Vatican to react rather strongly in 2002. Jorge A. Cardinal
Medina Estévez, the head of the Vatican's Congregation
for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, which
addresses liturgical matters, wrote a bishop about reports received
of a priest denying communion to faithful because they were kneeling.
The Cardinal called such denial "a grave violation of one of the most basic rights of the Christian faithful," and directed the bishop to investigate the case. The letter said that the Vatican regards such abuses of the faithful as very grave. The letter said, the Congregation, if such actions are verified, "will regard future complaints of this nature with great seriousness, and if they are verified, it intends to seek disciplinary action consonant with the gravity of the pastoral abuse." (see the letter: http://www.adoremus.org/Notitiae-kneeling.html ) Despite this letter from the Vatican, the suppression of kneeling remains strong. The article in the Vatican newspaper advocating kneeling however signals a sea change. Those who kneel have a champion in Pope Benedict who prior to his elevation to the pontificate wrote of kneeling and its tie to culture in his book 'The Spirit of the Liturgy" (Ignatius Press, 2000) "There are groups, of no small influence, who are trying to talk us out of kneeling," wrote then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. "'It doesn't suit our culture', they say (which culture?) 'It's not right for a grown man to do this -- he should face God on his feet'." Cardinal Ratzinger continued: "The kneeling of Christians is not a form of inculturation into existing customs. It is quite the opposite, an expression of Christian culture, which transforms the existing culture through a new and deeper knowledge and experience of God. Kneeling does not come from any culture -- it comes from the Bible and its knowledge of God . . . The Christian Liturgy is a cosmic Liturgy precisely because it bends the knee before the crucified and exalted Lord. Here is the center of authentic culture - the culture of truth. The humble gesture by which we fall at the feet of the Lord inserts us into the true path of life of the cosmos." |
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COMMENT ON THE ARTICLE Veteran members of St. Joseph Parish will remember that, when I became pastor of St. Joseph Parish (June of 1986), I initiated the practice of kneeling for Holy Communion. As I recall, I did not initiate the change on my first weekend. I figured that would be too much too soon. So, I waited for the second weekend. There was no communion rail at that time. So, we utilized some kneeling benches that we placed in the center, where the communion rail used to be. Later on, I found an old communion rail that was in storage in the parish hall. It had been used in the parish hall (so I am told) many years ago when the church was being renovated. I had this rail scraped and painted and installed in the church. That is what we have been using ever since. When I became pastor of St. Francis deSales Parish (June of 1989), I initiated the same practice. In that parish, since there was no old abandoned communion rail accessible, I simply placed kneeling benches front and center - and that is what we have been using ever since. As everyone knows, no one is obliged to kneel for Communion at either St. Joseph Church or St. Francis deSales Church. If you want to kneel, kneel. If you want to stand, stand. We believe in the freedom of the children of God. That is a sound liberal principle and God knows that I aspire to be known as a liberal, i.e. as liberal as I can possibly be without surrendering Faith or Morals (or sanity). There are certain things that I believe in with all my heart. Some of these are: %20Jan%202007/abu076.gif){kind=small} I believe in One God in Three Persons. I believe in the Incarnation of the
Son of God. I believe in the One, Holy, Catholic
and Apostolic Church. I believe in the virtue of my mother. I believe in the Substantial Presence
- Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity - of Jesus Christ in the Holy
Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine. I believe that God is pleased when
we kneel to receive Him - although, if we insist on standing,
He can deal with it. God puts up with a lot. |
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Next Sunday 3 February 2008 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall This is the time of year when we all need a steaming platter of spaghetti and meatballs, so that we don't go bonkers from the cold and the gloom of Winter, so that we maintain an even keel, so that we don't slip into the slough of despond. Spaghetti and Meatballs served in the St. Joseph Parish Hall is the Great Antidote to Seasonal Affective Disorder and All Kinds of Depression. If you don't believe me, ask Andy DeStefano! |
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FIRST FRIDAY of FEBRUARY 1 Feb 08 Mass at StFdS: 10:00 a.m. Mass at StJos: 12:05 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. Holy Hour at StJos: 7:00 p.m. |
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SOME CURRENT HONORABLES
WE KNOW ABOUT AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO THE
KIDS OF THE PARISHES |
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The Law (of Moses) moreover enjoins us to bring up all our offspring, and forbids women to cause abortion of what is begotten, or to destroy it afterward; and if any woman appears to have so done, she will be a murderer of her child, by destroying a living creature, and diminishing mankind. Flavius Josephus Flavius Josephus - more commonly known simply
as "Josephus" - was a Jewish historian, one of the
most famous historians of all time. He was born in AD 37 and
died in AD 101. |
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A TIDBIT FROM THE PRO-LIFE
MARCH ON 22 JAN I met Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) at the Pro-Life March and shook hands with him. I said, "Dr. Paul, it's a privilege to meet you. May God bless you." Congressman Paul is enjoying some nationwide attention due to his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President. I was happy to meet him. He is a good man. His pro-life record and his pro-life rhetoric are excellent - better than that of any other candidate, as far as I can tell. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a snowball's chance of being elected President. More's the pity. |
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Mary Vittemberghi Messina Esmeralda Vittemberghi Adams Olimbia (Lee) Piccioni Spleen Emidio Piccioni Andy and Loreta DeStefano John and Joanne Plaxa |
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HONOR OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK, we are happy to welcome the children of the choir
of All Saints Catholic Elementary School to the 4:30 p.m. Mass
at St. Joseph Church today (Saturday, 26 Jan). They will lead the singing at the Mass. We are proud of our local Catholic elementary school and are happy whenever our parishioners entrust their children to this school. |
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SAINT FRANCIS deSALES CHURCH Saturday, 26 JanuaryVigil of Sunday 6:00 p.m. - ANTONIA FILIPPINI by Chris and Teresa Mercuri Sunday, 27 January3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time 9:15 a.m. - Rev. BROCARD CONNORS, O. Carm. by Joseph T. Cescon and family 12:15 p.m. - KATHLEEN POHRONEZNY by Nancy Dombrowny Haag Wednesday, 30 JanuaryWeekday 10:00 a.m. - PATRICK N. CARUSELLA by Eileen Poslosky Friday, 01 FebruaryWeekday 10:00 a.m. - ROSE VOTTA DiMARCELLO by Ferdinand and Susan DiAmbrosio Saturday, 02 FebruaryVigil of Sunday 6:00 p.m. - ANGELO GIARDINO by Rosina Mercuri Sunday, 03 February4th Sunday of Ordinary Time 9:15 a.m. - ELIZABETH DUNMOYER MARKO by Helen Wychunas Heimbaugh 12:15 p.m. - WILLIAM E. BRENNAN by his brother, Vincent, and his sister, Anne |