Divine Mercy Sunday
Ministry Schedule April 14/15
Second Sunday of Easter — Divine Mercy Sunday Saturday Vigil, April 7, 2018 4:00 p.m. P Anthony Vigliotti (John & Arlene Ball) Sunday, April 8, 2018 8:00 a.m. P Pro Populo 9:30 a.m. C Paul & Sophia Bizik (Daughter Joan & family) 11:00 a.m. P Rosalie Barli (Michael & Lorraine Kelly & family) Monday, April 9, 2018—The Annunciation of the Lord 9:00 a.m. P Month’s Mind Richard Brumley (Parish family) 7:00 p.m. C Agnes Skobel (St. Cecilia Christian Mothers) Tuesday, April 10, 2018 7:30 a.m. P Month’s Mind Joseph Borsody (Parish family) Wednesday, April 11, 2018 8:00 a.m. C Pauline Pahula (John & Crystal Plock) Thursday, April 12, 2018 7:30 a.m. P 71st Wedding Anniversary Dorothy Ferenci (Family John, Jack & Debbie) Friday, April 13, 2018 7:30 a.m. P Deceased Members of Illar Family (Family) Saturday, April 14, 2018 8:00 a.m. C Month’s Mind Katherine Klawiter (Parish family)
Third Sunday of Easter Saturday Vigil, April 14, 2018 4:00 p.m. P James R. Carroll, Sr. (Wife & children) Sunday, April 15, 2018 8:00 a.m. P Pro Populo 9:30 a.m. C 52nd Wedding Anniversary Rose Urick (Husband Russell Urick) 11:00 a.m. P Corradino & Harriet Durkin Bonasorte (Family)
EM: Server: Lector: EM: Server: Lector: EM: Server: Lector: EM: Server: Lector:
Saturday, April 14 — 4:00 p.m. St. Peter C-Sr. James Ann C-Patty Craig H-Gloria Wheeler Jolena Quarzo Carmella & Gina DeFlippo Roxann Zidek Cantor: Megan Behary Sunday, April 15 — 8:00 a.m. St. Peter C-Cora Lent C-Mark Moncheck H-Margaret Peters Skyler & Andrew Frazee David Ziglear Cory Anne Dolan Cantor: Samantha Ziglear Sunday, April 15 — 9:30 a.m. St. Cecilia Carl DellaPenna Jr. Carl DellaPenna Nancy Sebeck Caleb DellaPenna Anthony DellaPenna Clara Medlock Sunday, April 15 — 11:00 a.m. St. Peter C-Rich Eadie C-Tracy Eadie H-Larry Franks III Sadie & Lacey Harvey Addison Gregory Ron Barry Cantor: Nicole Dainty
Collection Report St. Peter Church 3/25/18 ADULT ENVELOPES (249) .................... ….. ...$3936.00 STUDENT (13) ......................... …………….. ....... $28.00 MONTHLY (10)…………………………… ........... $415.00 LOOSE…………………………………….. ........... $512.00 CANDLES………………………………................ $210.00 UTILITY............................................................... $335.00 ACCENT ............................................................... $10.00 EASTER FLOWERS ........................................... $200.00 TORNADO RELIEF ............................................ $113.00
St. Cecilia Church 3/25/18 ADULT ENVELOPES (93) ................................$1966.00 STUDENT (6) ......................................................... $7.00 LOOSE.................................................................. $38.00 CANDLES ............................................................. $73.00 MISSIONS ............................................................ $20.00 HOLY LAND ......................................................... $10.00
Our Deepest Sympathy
Our parish family mourns the loss of parishioners Charles Britvich, Sophia Duratz, Phyllis Feick, Walter Novinsky, and Margaret Swinker. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.
The Historic Church of St. Peter Sanctuary Lamp Anthony Vigliotti
by Ted & Barb Gera
Baby Bottle Campaign Underway to Support Center of Hope
The Partner Parishes will participate in a Baby Bottle Campaign in support of the Center of Hope’s mission to provide assistance to expectant mothers who are in need. Baby bottles will be distributed to all interested in helping at the weekend Masses April 14-15. Families who decide to help can put their spare change in the bottles and return them on the weekend of Mother’s Day, May 12-13. Wendy Rozgony, Director of the Center of Hope, will speak at all the Masses on April 14-15 to explain all the services provided to expectant mothers. Please consider lending your support to this wonderful organization. These are the services the Center of Hope provides free of charge: Pregnancy tests; education on pregnancy, adoption, abortion and parenting; child development education; 24-hour hotline; peer counseling; abstinence and STD education; clothing and furnishings for infants and toddlers; post-abortion counseling, support, education and support groups; assistance in developing decision-making skills; life skills training; resources for adoption, childbirth classes, medical care, legal assistance, housing, community and social services; ongoing counseling and support through pregnancy and beyond.
"Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed." Doesn't that maxim of our faith speak to all of us? We come each Sunday to give praise, recognition and love to our God whom we’ve never seen. Many of us have had a powerful experience of the Lord’s presence in our lives. However, we are often reluctant to share an account with one another. The disciples, following Pentecost, boldly proclaimed their experience and belief that Jesus was the Resurrected Son of God. Our witness to this truth should be our life’s objective. Yes, we gather each Sunday as a community of believers, of one heart and of one mind, but not as that first community: those who lived in Jerusalem and “believed,” who would sell their property and lay the proceeds at the feet of the Apostles so that what they held in common might be shared with all. At this time in human history, the Catholic Church alone consists of 1.1 billion Christian believers throughout the world. It's a universal Church. If we include the other Christian denominations, the total would be well above two billion (current estimates are between 2.3 and 2.4 billion). It would be impossible for us to gather and share in common as they did in those early days in Jerusalem. But the point is: St. John wrote these words in order that we might come to believe. We are believers and we gather as a community of faith. We come to the Eucharistic Table each Sunday in order that we might receive, literally, the body and blood of Christ. Our belief is that we receive the bread of heaven as a gift in order to be strengthened as disciples of Christ. Our faith is nourished and nurtured through this gift of his love. However, like all people, even Peter, the night the Lord was arrested; like Thomas, who had difficulty believing unless he saw, we have our moments. Sometimes we're at the bottom in terms of our belief. We're not on the crest of the wave; we have gone down into the trough. All need the gift of faith so that we might lose our way but always be restored to belief. You probably remember the passage from Scripture in which the Lord helped the man whose son was possessed by a demon. Before Jesus healed the son, the father said, "I do believe; help my unbelief." That's true for all of us. Our faith needs to be continually fed. We need constant reminders of the Lord's promises and experiences of his presence. When the Lord is manifesting his presence to us, it's easy to believe. But when we're facing the troughs of the waves, when we're approaching the bottom and difficulties seem to be mounting, barriers getting higher, it's so much more difficult. Do not fear! Down through the centuries, the two millennia since the Lord returned to the Father, he's given us great witnesses: first, those radical believers who literally gave their lives professing their belief in Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Son of God. The stories of the saints’ radical witness to Jesus throughout the centuries are awe-inspiring. Modern stories of faith can be inspirational. Some of you who read the book or saw the movie, Heaven is for Real, know the story is such an example. A four-year-old child had a near-death experience. He saw not only Jesus, but the Father and Blessed Mother, along with his own family members from earlier generations. But when we read those accounts, when we hear the stories of the saints, we are touched; we're moved in that moment, and our belief is strengthened. When we hear of amazing examples of heroic, self-sacrificing love such as the Athletic Director Christopher Hixon from the Parkland High School shooting, we are deeply moved by the love of God that was made manifest. When Christopher heard of the ongoing attack against the students in another building on campus, he rushed to the danger. Unarmed himself, he confronted the shooter and almost disarmed him before his own death. When Christopher’s family laid him to rest, they etched this epitaph on his marker stone: “If not me; then who.” He lived his life powerfully reflecting Jesus’ model of sacrificial love until the end. In addition to his family’s two biological children, one of whom has Down syndrome, they had taken others into their home to raise, sacrificially giving their lives so that others might live. Perhaps you remember the Sermon on the Mount from chapter five of St. Matthew’s Gospel in which Jesus instructed us through the Beatitudes. The teaching relates directly to this Sunday’s celebration of Divine Mercy: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” The saints and many others not officially canonized powerfully lived Christ’s Mercy. The most powerful devotion that came out of the last century is indeed "Divine Mercy." Pope John Paul II, in 2002, established this solemnity for the universal Church, to be celebrated always on the second Sunday of Easter. The Lord’s providential hand moving through human history always makes me think—not of "coincidences," but of "God instances" such as John Paul II being called home to the Lord on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday, April 2, 2005. How appropriate! For, indeed, the Lord's mercy is so broad, so deep, that it's beyond our comprehension. There is nothing that we can do in the way of sin, of failure, of falling, of our limitations, that can separate us from the love of God and the mercy that's so readily available for those who do believe and who ask for that mercy. Some individuals, such as Saint Pope John Paul II and maybe even Christopher Hixon, experience a higher level of holiness. But it is up to the individual to respond, to say, "Yes, Lord, I hear your call, and I will be that instrument of your mercy and your love." Or others who say, "Lord, I hear your call, but I'm about the business of living; I'm not going to respond." What St. Faustina, who received the devotion, said was that the Lord also shared with her that this special call to holiness that we hear has not only the benefits that go with it, but it also has responsibilities. All of us who gather each Sunday for Mass must have heard that call of holiness in our lives. For those who are adherents to Divine Mercy reflect it in the way we live, praying the Chaplet each day; we try to be instruments of the Lord's mercy in this world; we have been called in a special way to respond, to live it out in our encounters with members of our families, with people at work, in the broader world. We would not be gathered each Sunday if not. So, in effect, we are responding, and we are receiving the benefits of the gift of holiness. The benefits are many, but most effectively we can express them in the fact that we are able to enter into this Feast that the Lord made possible today, to enter into that joy—not a joy that's Pollyannaish, not a joy that means there are no problems in our life because, indeed, there are difficulties and crosses that each of us will experience. The difference is that, having experienced the mercy of Jesus Christ, his presence within us, we are able to say that "yes" wholeheartedly, to experience the response of his love in each person we encounter and to share that love with them.
Parish Social Hall/Rec Center Feasibility Study Personal Interview Results Released by Kearns & Associates
As referenced in last week’s bulletin, we have included responses to the feasibility study conducted by Kearns & Associates in the fall of 2017. The feasibility study was conducted in two phases. Initially, almost 50 individuals from The Historic Church of St. Peter parish, chosen at random, were personally interviewed. Then, on the weekend of Sept. 9-10, an in-pew survey was conducted in which 267 parishioners responded. This week’s bulletin contains the results of the personal interview portion of the study. Next Sunday’s bulletin will include the results of the in-pew survey responses. This material is being presented in preparation for the Parish Social Hall Assembly in the church on the evening of April 18. As noted last week, the Vicar General, the Director of Finance, the Director of Development, and diocesan engineers will be in attendance to make presentations. It is very important that we have a good representation of families from the parish at the gathering. Please arrange your schedule so that you’re able to be in attendance. We look forward to the church being filled on the night of April 18. Question: A fundraising campaign is being organized to help fund the new multipurpose parish activity center. What is your general reaction to these plans? Very Favorable 87.76% Favorable 12.24% Unfavorable 0.00% Question: Do you think, in general, parishioners will support these plans? Yes 95.92% No 0.00% Unsure 4.08% Question: What is your reaction to a $750,000 capital campaign? Favorable 61.22% Unfavorable 4.08% Unsure 34.69 Question: Would you support the campaign with a financial pledge? Yes 95.92% No 4.08% Question: Can you think of any reason why The Historic Church of St. Peter should not have a capital campaign? Yes 0.00% No 100.00%
St. Cecilia Flea Market Next Weekend
St. Cecilia’s flea market in the church social hall is set for next weekend. For information, please call Cece at 724-970-5641 or Pam at 724-255-7663. Dates and times for the flea market: Friday & Saturday, April 13-14: 10 a.m.—7 p.m. Sunday, April 15: 10:30 a.m.—2 p.m. Coffee and Doughnuts This Sunday After Mass at St. Cecilia Hall
St. Cecilia Christian Mothers will host coffee and doughnuts in the social hall at St. Cecilia Church this Sunday, April 8, 2018, following the 9:30 a.m. Mass. Please plan to join us for refreshments and fellowship!
Christian Mothers Meeting Scheduled for April 11 A meeting of the St. Cecilia Christian Mothers is set for Wednesday, April 11, 2018, at 6:00 p.m., in the church social hall. New members are always welcome! For questions or more information, please call Cece at 724-970-5641 or Pam at 724-255-7663.
Even Damp Weather Couldn’t Dampen Spirits of 12 Parishioners On Pilgrimage to Holy Sites in Washington, D.C., April 3-4, 2018 Eleven hardy souls joined Fr. Tim and braved the damp weather to tour several holy sites in Washington, D.C., April 3-4. Among the places they visited were the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (at right), the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, Saint John Pall II National Shrine and the Museum of the Bible.
Prayer List Amelia Dascenzo Ann Jaworowsky Beatrice Kloock Bill Snodgrass Brian Tomecsko Bruce Wells Carol Ashton Charlotte Katko Cheryl Furlong Cody Tylka Craig Alessio Cynthia Illar Daryl Hall David Ballant
Deb Donna Fletcher Donna Hill Donnie Dru Vojacek Ed Balchon Elaine Helsel Eleanor Dando Fr. Bob Conley Fred Gnus George Lisac Harry Booker Harry Sheehan HeatherBeth Powell Helen Mendish Irene Franks J. A. Jackson Hodge
James Illar Janet Booker Janice Ritsko Jean Bohna Jenny Ropejko Jerry Zalek Jim Belice Jim Famularo Joe Angell Joe Shashura John Hlatky John E. Jenkins Jonathan Wallowicz Josephine Lagina June Robinson Karl Hennig Kathy Kim Harvey
Kinzley Marie Grooms Laura Cherban Lillian Baroni Lisa Chancey Luella Sholl Matilyn Baumgrad Matthew DeSimone Melissa Bell Mike Dorobish Mike Fedutes Mike Stump M. V. Nancy Jenkins Patty Volek Robert Atz Robert Franks Robert Stringert Robert Sunny
Sam Basile III Sarah Corebridge Sherri Zias Shirley Mae Mislo Stanley Sobek Susan Rountree Sylvia Walinski Veronica Stringert Virginia Conaway V. V. Wanda Burns William Gabonay
Partner Parishes Recap Holy Week 2018 in Pictures
Is Fr. Tim checking to see what the Easter Bunny might have left him in his Easter Basket?
RCIA catechumen Beth Ann Durst was baptized by Fr. Tim during the Easter Vigil services at The Historic Church of St. Peter. Welcome to the parish and to the Church, Beth Ann!
Partner Parishes of Historic Church of Saint Peter 300 Shaffner Avenue St. Peter Brownsville, Pennsylvania 118 Church Street & Brownsville, PA 15417 Saint Cecilia Church 1571 Grindstone Road O: 724-785-7781 Grindstone, Pennsylvania
#770350
H: 724-785-7604 Parishes in the Diocese of Greensburg C: 724-984-6983*** “Pennsylvania Charitable Trusts”
Contact: Shannon Sealy MESSAGES:
Mailing Address: Partner Parishes of St. Peter & St. Cecilia 118 Church Street Brownsville, PA 15417 Phone: 724-785-7781 Fax: 724-785-0844
Pastor: Rev. Micah E. Kozoil; Sr. Priest Active: Rev. James Petrovsky Office Manager: Mrs. Virginia Galway: Music Ministry: St. Peter: Daniel Kovacic; St. Cecilia: Eric Blanda Religious Education Coordinator: Mrs. Anita LaMendola: Youth Ministry: Patty Columbia Mass Schedule: Saturday Vigil 4:00 P.M. (EST); 5:00 P.M. (DST) (St. Peter) Sunday Morning 8:00 A.M. (St. Peter); 9:30 A.M. (St. Cecilia); 11:30 A.M. (St. Peter) Reconciliation: Noon to 12:30 p.m. St. Peter: 1st & 3rd Saturday St. Cecilia: 2nd & 4th Saturday Sacrament of Baptism Contact the parish as soon as you know that you are expecting a child. Sacrament of Matrimony Those entering into Marriage must contact the pastor at least one full year in advance of the wedding Sponsor Certificates You must be registered and active in the parish at least 4 months to receive a certificate. Please don’t come at the last minute! Sexual Child Abuse If you have a concern about sexual abuse of a child or young person by anyone in a parish or diocesan position — clergy, volunteer or paid staff — please contact Bishop Brandt’s delegate for matters of sexual misconduct. He may be reached at 724-837-0901 Ext. 221