The Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Parishlife The Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - JUNE 16, 2024

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Mission Statement

The Roman Catholic Parish of St. Monica, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Stephen of Hungary opens its doors to embrace all in our community.

We strive through worship, hospitality, and service to receive those seeking a spiritual home.

In the midst of diversity of thought, lifestyle, nationality, economic status, and age, we endeavor to live as a community of faith. We invite you to join our family: a family seeking to know and love Jesus Christ!

Parish Staff

Pastor: Rev. Donald C. Baker .................... frdcab@stelmo79.org Parish Manager: Jennifer DeSpirito................jdespirito@stelmo79.org Sacristan: Pedro Pizarro..........................ppizarro@stelmo79.org Administrative Assistant: Gladys Tejada........gtejada@stelmo79.org Pastoral Associate: Taryn Tonelli.............ttonelli@stelmo79.org Pastoral Associate: Maryann Tyrer..........mtyrer@stelmo79.org Plant Manager: Guillermo Vanegas...gvanegas@stelmo79.org Music Director: John Zupan.....................jzupan@stelmo79.org

Mass Intentions

Saturday, June 15, Vigil 5:30 PM - Charles Salvatore Grasso Sunday, June 16, Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time 8:00 AM - William Mitchell 10:00 AM - Chris Wagner 12:00 PM - All Parishioners 5:00 PM - Mr. Albert Blain and Mr. Oge Bellevue Monday, June 17, Weekday 12:00 PM - Katherine Reyes (Birthday/Living) Tuesday, June 18, Weekday 12:00 PM - Roseann Hens Betz Wednesday, June 19, Juneteenth 9:00 AM - Priests of St. Monica’s Thursday, June 20, Weekday 12:00 PM - Istvan Csiki Friday, June 21, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga 12:00 PM - Jerry O’Donoghue Saturday, June 22, Weekday 12:00 PM - Janis-Jones Terins

Weekend Associate: ...........................Rev. Anthony Ciorra, IVD Weekend Associate: ..................................Rev. Edward Beck, CP Wedding Coordinator: Debbi Burdett....dbweddingsnyc@gmail.com

Mass Schedule

Daily Mass: Mon - Sat, 12:00 PM Saturday Vigil: 5:30 PM Sunday: 8 AM, 10 AM, 12 PM, 5:00 PM Confessions: Saturdays at 5:00 PM* (*or by appointment)

Contact

Church Address: 413 East 79th Street, New York, NY 10075 Parish Center: 406 East 80th Street, New York NY 10075 Tel: 212-288-6250 Fax: 212-570-1562 Email: info@stelmo79.org Parish Office Hours Monday & Wednesday..............................9 AM - 4 PM Tuesday & Thursday ................................. 9 AM - 7 PM Friday ......................................................... Closed Saturday ................................................10 AM - 2 PM Sunday ....................................................... Closed Closed for Lunch Weekdays from 1 - 2 PM

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stelmo79.org

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@stelmo79

Prayers for the Sick

Anthony Anello Jairo Vanegas David Coleman Louis & June Monico Elizabeth Majestic Sheila Dunn Bryan Saavedra Nieves Lopez Mary Humphrey Robert Estrada Marjorie Stamburg Pearl Silverman Dr. Vittorio Palmieri Maria Simanca

Patricia Marino Besnik P. Desiree Amato Parks Maurine Lynch Rosemary Keating Neil O’Carroll Harry Rabinowitz Marylin Atkinson Jerry Schwegman Judith Farber Mary O’Connor Lynch Danielle Boros Michael Reilly Marcelle Ferrier

and all those ill and victims of military activities

Prayers for the Deceased James Ivers and the victims of the landslide in New Guinea

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament Every Friday after the 12:00 PM Mass until 3:00 PM in the church and live online Devotions Miraculous Medal on Mondays after Mass in the church and live online

Weekly Readings & Observances Readings for the week of June 16, 2024

Sunday: Ez 17:22-24/2 Cor 5:6-10/Mk 4:26-34

Monday: 1 Kgs 21:1-16/Mt 5:38-42 Tuesday:

1 Kgs 21:17-29/Mt 5:43-48

Divine Mercy

Wednesday: 2 Kgs 2:1, 6-14/Mt 6:1-6, 16-18

Every Friday at 3:00 PM in the church and live online

Thursday:

Sir 48:1-14/Mt 6:7-15

Friday:

2 Kgs 11:1-4, 9-18, 20/Mt 6:19-23

Saturday:

2 Chr 24:17-25/Mt 6:24-34

Vespers (Evening Prayer) Every Friday at 5:10 PM in the chapel and live online

Next Sunday: Jb 38:1, 8-11/2 Cor 5:14-17/Mk 4:35-41

Sacrament of Reconciliation Saturdays at 5:00 PM or by appointment

Observances for the week of June 16, 2024

Anointing of the Sick

Sunday:

The Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Every third Saturday of the month after the 12:00 PM Mass

Monday:

Weekday

Tuesday:

Weekday

Baptisms & Marriages Please call the rectory office for more information.

Communion for the Homebound: If you know of anyone who cannot attend church because of illness/age and would like to have communion brought to them, please contact the parish office for arrangements.

Wednesday: Weekday Thursday:

Weekday

Friday:

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

Saturday:

Weekday

Next Sunday: The Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Baptism Announcement On June 16 at 1:30 PM, we will be baptizing:

Robert Kane Hesch and

Vivienne Coco Vaux Hesch children of Christopher Hesch and Kara B. Kosiewski

Please join us in congratulating this family as they celebrate their children’s new lives in Christ!

Please join us in congratulationing these families as they celebrate their children’s new lives in Christ!

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Upcoming Parish Events The Senior Ministry will hold it’s final luncheon of the season on

Friday, June 21 from 1-3 PM. Join us for an afternoon of delicious food and entertainment. Please

RSVP by calling the parish office at 212-288-6250.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The Parish Green Team will hold a meeting on

Wednesday, June 26 at 6:30 PM in the parish center.

Topics include planning our parish

reen

air for the fall Season of

Creation, a prayer walk in Central Park and visit to the Asia Society’s Coal -

ce photography and video e*hibit on climate change and creative

solutions. We will also discuss the latest climate action advocacy efforts in our community and how we can help. All are welcome!

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Quotes

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Home means f mily, “ a feeling of comfort, ease, an h ppiness. ”

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The Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time K-8 Religious Education and Preparation: • Registration for next year is now open online at stelmo79.org. Take care of this before the summer to have one less thing to deal with in the fall! Please remember that two years of religious education are required prior to First Communion and Confirmation.

Adult Sacraments of Initiation (RCIA): •

Have you ever considered becoming Catholic? Or are you a baptized Catholic who has not yet celebrated First Communion or Confirmation? You and your questions are warmly welcomed! Come and share the journey with others. Please contact Maryann Tyrer to discuss the process!

Adult Faith Formation Opportunities: • •

Adult Faith Formation and Theology Thursday will resume meeting in the fall.

Our “Group of Guys” Men’s Faith Sharing Group meets every Tuesday at 12:00 PM in the parish center, and all men are welcome to join.

"The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.”

-Gordon Granger, Union General, June 19, 1865

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Living Our Faith

Living in God’s Time We talk about having time, making time, and wasting time.

We spend time, kill time, and count time. Time flies and time heals. It appears that “time” is quite the companion on our human journey!

The Church also speaks in a special way about time, using two words coined by the ancient Greeks. Chronos is clock time—as we indicate in the word chronological. It’s the seconds, minutes, hours, and years of our lives.

Kairos is a different kind of time. Kairos speaks about the quality of time. It’s what we mean when we speak of the “right time,” the “perfect time,” or an “opportune time.” It could be a rich moment or an extended period of clarity and presence. Many of us have had experiences that were so crystalized that we felt as if time stood still. That’s kairos!

As Christians, we believe that the universe is pulsing with the grace of God. When we speak of “God’s time,” we use the word kairos.

It is the “fullness of time,” as mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Galatians (4:4–7), and what the Second Letter of Peter references with the statement “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day (2 Peter 3:8).

Kairos is the space in which the temporal and the eternal meet. When we are swept up in prayer, when we are no longer checking our watch. When we are fully in the moment, we are in the sacred time of kairos.

A wise Benedictine scholar and professor regularly asked his students, “Are you an openness, or a closedness?”

Upon hearing this, the students became a bit testy, and not just because the sentence sounded odd. They wondered what it meant to live as an “openness.” Some of the students began thinking about the question, and one began observing stunning sunrises that had gone unnoticed on her long drive to class. Another found himself stopping and looking at the beautiful, small gardens that peppered the campus.

As Christians, we believe that the universe is pulsing with the grace of God. We only have to stop and see to begin expanding our experience of sacred time. In Mark 8:18, Jesus

When we live in God’s time, we are able to take in what the divine has presented to us.

asks all of us, “Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear?” What are you not seeing? Hearing?

Sensing? Feeling? Have a conversation with your children about how you “spend” your time. Do you rush a lot as a family? Do you make time to sit and have an evening meal, lingering and talking for a while? If time was truly something precious and sacred, how would you spend it differently? Let your inquiry into sacred time be rich. Our God-in-time will be with you!

Text by Trish Sullivan Vanni. Art by Gertrud Mueller Nelson. © 2016 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 3949 South Racine Avenue, Chicago, IL 60609; 1-800-933-1800; www.LTP.org. Pastoral Liturgy® magazine. July/August 2016, www.PastoralLiturgy.org.

This page may be downloaded for personal or parish use. The copyright notice must appear with the text.

It also may be downloaded at www.pastoralliturgy.org/resources/LivinginGodsTime.pdf.

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Looking ahead to June 23, 2024: The Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time It’s simple. Read the Gospel for next Sunday slowly, reflecting on the story it tells. Consider the questions asked each day. What conversion of heart, mind, and life might the Lord be asking of you at this moment? Reflect on how you might live out God’s Word each day.

MARK 4: 35 - 41

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.”

Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

Monday, June 17 Which words or phrases caught my attention? Which comforted or challenged me? What conversion of mind and heart might God be asking?

Tuesday, June 18 Even in the presence of Jesus, with the memory of his words fresh in their minds, the disciples doubted.

Like them, we all have doubts and questions for Jesus. But am I actively listening for his answers?

Wednesday, June 19 Reflecting on a time when I felt overwhelmed by a situation beyond my control, how did I respond? As I read this passage today, how might this story inform my response in future similar situations?

Thursday, June 20 Jesus asks his disciples, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” What do I think Jesus is trying to teach through this question?

Friday, June 21 Consider the disciples’ response after Jesus calms the storm. How does their reaction change once they witness Jesus’ power over nature? What would be my reaction if I were sitting in the boat?

Saturday, June 22 Reflect on moments when I have doubted God’s presence or power during turbulent times. How can this passage encourage me to trust in God’s sovereignty and provision, even amid uncertainty?

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JUNE 16, 2024 The Man Behind the Curtain Few films are fixed more firmly in my childhood memories than The Wizard of Oz. This fantasy, based on the early 20th century novels of L. Frank Baum is about a girl named Dorothy Gale and her attempts to return to her home in Kansas after being spirited away to a fantasy land called Oz. The film premiered in 1939, and in the 1960’s was still shown every year on TV. I was thrilled by the drama, laughed at characters, and for years could not get past the part about the flying monkeys – they were too terrifying!

I eventually screwed up the courage to watch the entire film, where Dorothy vanquishes the Wicked Witch. She returns to the Emerald City and presents her trophy, the witch’s broomstick, trembling before the image of the Great and Powerful Wizard. Surely now he would send her home! But her dog Toto has found someone behind a curtain, working levers and speaking into a megaphone. When discovered, the man thundered into the megaphone, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!” But it is too late. The great and powerful Wizard of Oz is revealed to be a simple showman, blown to Oz years before in his circus balloon.

While The Wizard of Oz is no longer shown yearly on TV, our fascination with it has not faded. There have been TV adaptations, the prequel, Wicked, is one of the longest running musicals on Broadway, and it will appear as a feature film this Christmas. The story still speaks to us.

And if it does to me, it is when Toto reveals the wizard’s identity. For we all know that moment well: when the powerful politician is shown to have clay feet, the virtuous cleric is shown to be a sinner, the brave general is shown to be a coward. When the person we admire and adore turns out to be just like the rest of us.

For many that moment came a few weeks ago when Nora O’Donnell interviewed Pope Francis on CBS News.

There are few human institutions which still carry as much mystery and respect as the Papacy. Catholics believe that the Pope is the Vicar of Christ. Infallible on matters of faith and morals, he is the head of one of the few absolute monarchies left, and his life is wrapped in ritual and religious ceremony.

And yet, when Nora O’Donnell interviewed him, he revealed himself to be . . . an 87-year-old male. He seemed to contradict positions he was thought to have held and closed the doors to things such as a female diaconate, which he himself opened. The hope so many felt was dissipated with a single interview.

People were crushed. But should we be surprised? If there has been one person who has done more to lift the curtain concerning the papacy, it is Francis. He has stepped out and shown us that the man behind the curtain is not a wizard, an angel, or a saint, but a man. And as men and women age, they can become set in their ways, misspeak (as he did to a group of bishops about LGBTQ people in the Church, using an Italian slur for gay men), and contradict themselves.

Many people focused on what he said. And that is important. Catholics are bound to take what the Pope says as normative to the faith and life of the Church. But we should also focus on what he did. Amidst the chorus of bishops screaming, almost since the start of his papacy, “pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!” Pope Frances has demystified the papacy. By stepping out from behind the curtain, he has challenged the Church to rethink its understanding of not only how it teaches but what it teaches.

That has ramifications not only for how we understand the person, but also what he teaches. There is the tendency to see everything the pope says as definitive and binding forever (“Creeping infallibility” a professor of mine once called it). But in fact, Church teaching changes. Doctrine develops. There was a time in the Church when slavery was morally acceptable, capital punishment permissible, and lending money at interest was considered a sin. Now slavery is a moral evil, capital punishment is condemned, our entire economy is built on lending money at interest and even the Vatican runs a bank!

I know that for many, change is happening too slowly. They have given up hope and threaten to leave. Others would argue change should not happen at all. They have lost faith in the “liberal” hierarchy and threaten to leave.

Many still stay, but despair in seeing a rebirth of the Church they were taught to love and respect. I hear that. If it is difficult for you, imagine how it is for priests!

Nevertheless, the papacy of Francis proves that the Church is still capable of surprise. He is not the savior, but through him our Church, used to moving slowly, is challenged to adapt to the pace of the modern world. We just can’t let the flying monkeys frighten us. We must screw up our courage and watch the rest of the story. Like the Wizard of Oz, there is always more to come.

– Father Baker

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