THIRTY-THIRD
SUNDAY in ORDINARY TIME
NOVEMBER
18, 2007
(M -
Memorial, A - Anniversary)
6:45 WALTER WASSELL--M
req. by Albert A. &
Kathleen Wassell
9:00 SPECIAL INTENTION for the LIVING:
GEORGE
PRITCHARD
req. by Arleen M. Nick
Clingerman
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20
6:45 DANIEL WYLIE--M
req. by Albert A. &
Kathleen Wassell
9:00 JOSEPH P. SWIFT, SR.--M
req. by the Swift Family
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21
PRESENTATION
of the BLESSED VIRGIN
6:45 ANN WASSELL--M
req. by Albert A. & Kathleen Wassell
9:00 MSGR. KENNETH
O’CONNELL--A
reg. by the Parish
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22
CECILIA,
virgin, martyr
THANKSGIVING
DAY
9:00 HELEN
MARA NUGENT and JOSEPH NUGENT--M
req. by Maura & Richard
Conannon
CLEMENT, pope, martyr
COLUMBIAN, abbot
MIGUEL PRO, priest, martyr
9:00 ANTIONETTE LEONE--M
ANDREW DUNG-LAC and COMPANIONS, martyrs
9:00 CHARLOTTE and
MALACHY CONCANNON--M
req. by Maura & Richard Concannon
5:30 CHARLOTTE MC NEIL--A
req. by the Family
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER
25
7:30 LAWRENCE
A. RIGANO, SR.--M
req. by Jane Rigano & Family
9:00 ANTHONY
and JOSEPHINE BUCCI--M
req. by the Family
10:30 KAREN
SMILLIE--A
req. by Margaret DePaolo
12:00 FRANK
and LAURENCE ANTONIOLI— M
req. by the Family
5:00 FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE PARISH
PRAYERFUL
REMEMBRANCES
Your prayers are requested for
the sick at home, and in the hospitals, especially: Caroline Medico, Robert O.
Walcovy, Bill Sabia, Rev. Robert Gannon, Beth Hersh, Judy Kelly, Maria Leal, Charles Donovan, Msgr. Joseph
Boyd, Joey Mileti, Patricia Kuhr, Theresa Astorino, Dotty Doherty, Joan
Porrazzo, Lenny Cavalieri, Jenna
Mussolini, Teresa Civetta, Frank Maiola, Aileen O’Brien, Ed Lenard, Pam Hissey,
Tricia Eigo, Skylar Bahrenburg, F. Peter O’Hara, Alice Nasta, Mildred Traub,
Mary & Tony Fraioli, Hank Lawlor, Sarah Butler, Mimi Cosgrove,
Kristen Long, Patrick Lamont, Elizabeth Kim,
for our service men and women at home and abroad; for the faithful
departed, and those who have no one to
pray for them; and for the honored dead of the Armed Services.
SUNDAY COLLECTION
Last week’s collection (11—11—07)
$10,406
Attendance: 964
The parish of Saints John and Paul thanks you for
your support. We are grateful to our parishioners who use our envelope system.
If you wish to receive Church support envelopes, please call the Rectory at
834-5458.
BAPTISM
PREPARATION for PARENTS of INFANTS
To arrange for a
Baptism, please call the rectory and you will be given an appointment with one
of the parish priests.
Water in
the Word
Baptismal
Preparation Session Schedule
All sessions are
offered on the following Saturday mornings from 10 AM – 11:30 AM. Please call
the rectory to attend. The
date for the next class
is: December 1st.
10:30 AM
MASS MUSIC NOTES
“Give Me Jesus” is an
exquisite choral setting of a beloved traditional spiritual. Appropriate for
worship throughout the year, we are particularly reminded of today’s Responsorial
Psalm.
FOOD BANK
NEWS…
The Food Bank was
started at Sts. John & Paul in 1980. In 1983, we adopted Sacred Heart
Parish, Mt. Vernon and since then have been buying them hundreds of turkeys
and/or hams for all holidays, thanks to your financial help.
We give food to: the
CAP Center in Mamaroneck for their bimonthly grocery bag distribution, Sisters
of Life when they call us for help with a needy family and of course, local
families. During the holidays we help Fr. Groeschel stock his helves and buy him
some hams for his holiday distribution in the South Bronx. We also help Abraham
House in the South Bronx.
Thanksgiving Day at the
9 AM Mass, Fr. Groeschel will again return to thank us for our continued
support. It’s a wonderful way to start your Thanksgiving Day so bring your
families, a food item and your checkbooks since the collection is for the Food
Bank.
If you tune into
channel 68 EWTN on Sunday nights @7PM, you can see Fr. Groeschel – Live from
St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers. If you wish to be a part of the audience, call:
632-3743
Have a wonderful
Thanksgiving!
FAMILY
MASS
Family Masses are held
on the first and third Sundays of the month. The theme for this week’s Mass is
“What’s Really Important?”
LARCHMONT-MAMARONECK
INTERFAITH THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION
Date: Tuesday, November 20th, at 7:30 pm
Place: Beth Emeth Synagogue, 2111 Boston Post Road
Please bring a non-perishable food item as a Thanksgiving Offering. Our
collection will be distributed to those in need by the Franciscan Friars of
Larchmont.
CALENDAR
of EVENTS for the WEEK
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18th:
8:00 AM GYM: Parish Blood Drive
9:00 AM CH: Family Mass
10:10 AM SCH: Religious Education classes
12 Noon GYM: Basketball
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19th:
3:00 PM GYM & O.S. AUD: PSPA
4:00 PM GYM: Basketball
7:00 PM AUD: Play practice
TUESDAY,
NOVEMBER 20th:
9:00 AM AUD: PSPA Fundraiser Meeting
3:00 PM GYM & OUTSIDE AUD: PSPA
3:00 & 8:00 PM AUD: Choir
4:00 PM GYM: Basketball
6:00 PM RMR: Cub Scouts
6:00 PM AUD & SCH CONF RM: Cub Scouts
7:30 PM: Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration, Beth Emeth
8:00 PM CH: K of C Fourth Degree
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21st:
10:30 AM SARAH NEUMAN: Service followed by Mass
4:00 PM GYM: Basketball
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22nd:
THANKGIVING DAY
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd:
4:00 PM GYM: Basketball
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24th:
9:00 AM GYM: Basketball
RELGIOUS
EDUCATION NEWS…
CONFIRMATION
Confirmation will be on May 17, 2008. Schedules for preparation and
registration forms will soon be distributed in all religious education and
school classes. For private school students, the schedule and the form are
available online at Catholic-Church.org/sjp (revised this week) or by mail if
you call our office. Our first meeting will be on Tuesday, November 27th,
for both the Confirmation candidates and their parents.
ADVENT
PROJECT
The SRA (Religious
Ed’s parent organization) is planning an Advent Project for the parish on
Sunday, December 2nd, the First Sunday of Advent. Please join us in
the auditorium at 1 pm to make Jesse Tree ornaments and to receive candles and
special prayers for your Advent Wreath (sold again this year by the Salesians
beginning November 18th) and a gift of a beautiful Advent calendar
to commemorate this special season together as a Catholic family. All ages are
invited. The Women’s Guild will kindly be providing treats for you while you
work on your Jesse Tree!
NEEDED for
BREAKFAST RUN
As you know the Youth Group of our parish along with adult chaperones
participate in a Breakfast Run once a month. The Run is in need of certain
items: packages of new men’s t-shirts size XT, men’s underwear sizes 36 – 38,
men’s white socks, and backpacks. There is a box in the hall between the school
and the church labeled BREAKFAST RUN. Please place the items there.
The next Breakfast Run will be on SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2nd.
NEW ALTAR
SERVER MEETING
All students in grades
5 thru 8 who are interested in training to be an altar server, please come to
an informational meeting on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27th, at 3:15 PM in
the auditorium. Fr. Brian will discuss the training schedule and the commitment
involved. Please consider participating in this special ministry. If you have
any questions or cannot make the meeting, please call Roberta Ronan at 834-1052
ADULT
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
The gym will be
available on Tuesday evening’s to all interested in playing 3 on 3, half court
basketball. It’s fun, fast and a great workout. NO age limit on the far end.
Over 18 on the near end!
Call Byrne Sleeper
381-9142 (home), 924-0730 (cell) or email: bsleeper@verizon.net.
ADULT
EDUCATION
Classes for Adults on
the Catholic Catechism produced by the American Bishops will continue on
Tuesday evenings at seven-thirty in the Rectory Meeting Room. The next class
will be on NOVEMBER 27th. Come and enjoy coffee, fellowship, and
faith sharing. Bring copies, if you have them. If not, they will be provided.
RCIA
Preparation for Adults
to be received into the church or complete their Sacraments of Initiation of
the Eucharist and Confirmation will commence in November. Please register as
soon as possible with Nancy in the rectory.
FR.
BEBEDICT GROESCHEL’S ANNUAL GIFT COLLECTION for NEEDY CHILDREN
If you would like to
provide Christmas gifts for the children of one of the needy families which Fr.
Benedict knows in the Bronx, please send an index card with your name, address,
phone number and the number of children you wish to buy presents for to Cathy
Hickey, 9 Bishop Pl., Larchmont, NY 10538, or call her at 834-6907. We
recommend 3 presents for each child and will send names and ages of your
children by December 6th with instructions for delivery to Fr.
Benedict at Trinity Retreat in Larchmont.
LISA
Fr. Pomposello will
discuss the recent best selling book “The Secret” on LISA (our own parishioner,
Lisa Manning’s TV show) on channel 75 this Thursday, November 22nd,
at 8:00 PM. The show will be rebroadcast throughout the upcoming month.
FRIDAY
NOVEMBER 23rd
There will be NO 6:45
AM Mass. the school, Religious Education office and the Parish Office will be
closed.
THE
PASTOR’S COLUMN
The Catholic Church in America is rejoicing
in the prospect of a spring visit by Pope Benedict XVI. Having accepted the
invitation of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Holy Father will
meet with the nation’s leaders in Washington, D.C. and then come to New York to
close our Bicentennial celebrations. I am sure that someone will advise him
that he will be the last pope to celebrate the Eucharist in the Yankee Stadium
of yore. Many I am sure are looking forward to his visit to Saint Joseph’s
Seminary in Yonkers as well.
This might be a most appropriate time to
recall the history of this man of deep spirituality and great learning. As most
people know, Joseph’s childhood was effected by the schemes of the barbaric
Nazis which destroyed the social fabric of Germany and its neighbors. The
Ratzinger family was forced to move from place to place because of their
fidelity to their church. In Milestones, the future pontiff wrote: “No
one doubted that the church was the focus of all our hopes. Despite many human
failings, the church was the alternative to the destructive ideology of the
brown rulers; in the inferno that had swallowed up the powerful, she had stood
firm with a force coming to her from eternity. It had been demonstrated: The
gates of hell will not overpower her. From our own experience we now know what
was mean by ‘the gates of hell’, and we could also see with our own eyes that
the house built on rock has stood firm.”
At the conclusion of the war, the Ratzinger
brothers continued their studies and were ordained in the Freising Cathedral on
June 29, 1951. He was quickly caught up in the world of scholarship as a
university professor. He was popular not only with his students who valued his
clarity of thought but also with ecclesiastical authorities who noted his
perceptive analysis of various fields of philosophy and theology. Having gained
notoriety by lecturing widely and writing extensively, he was invited by the
German bishops to be a periti (expert) at the Second Vatican Council. He
was very positive on what could be accomplished in that venue. He wrote
extensively about collegiality among the bishops for the sake of the communion
of the faithful. He stressed the need to open up the mind and hearts of men by
utilizing modern terminology in understanding Sacred Scripture and Tradition.
He hailed the progress in liturgical reform. Later on however, he recognized
that there took place substantial misuse of words and spirit of the efforts of
John XXIII and Paul VI and the bishops who produced the decrees and
constitutions of Vatican II. In the Ratzinger Report, he opined: “It is
time to find again the courage of non-conformism, the capacity to oppose many
of the trends of the surrounding culture, renouncing a certain euphoric post-councilor
solidarity…I am convinced that the damage we have incurred in these twenty
years is due, not to the ‘true’ council, but to the unleashing within the
Church of latent polemical and centrifugal forces; and outside the Church is
due to the confrontation with a cultural revolution in the West: the success of
the upper middle class, the new ‘tertiary bourgeoisie,’ with its
liberal-radical ideology of individualistic, nationalistic and hedonistic
stamp.” This quote serves as a partial response to those who think that the
Holy Father has gone on to contradict his positions taken during the 60’s at
the Council itself and in subsequent writings. Unfortunately, as he states many
of the legitimate hopes of ecclesiastical leaders and theologians were
subverted by inadequate propositions which failed to recognize the centrality
of divine revelation and the significance of apostolic tradition.
In his position as perfect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger sought to guide
the development of understanding the church’s dogmatic positions and moral
stances. He never desired to do this in a vacuum. He sought to engage his
colleagues in the world’s universities as well as dialogue through an extensive
bibliography of theological writing. As John L. Allen, Jr. wrote in his
biography: Pope Benedict XVI: “The bottom line for Ratzinger: ‘Theology
is never simply the private ideas of one theologian.’ The church is the ‘vital
milieu’ for the theologian; it is the church, in fact, that makes theological
activity possible. Thus for the theologian, there are two traits that are both
sine qua non: the first, a methodogical rigor that is part and parcel of the
business of scholarship; second, ‘inner participation in the organic structure
of the church.’ Then comes Ratzinger’s favorite image: ‘Only in this symphony
does theology come into being.’ Ratzinger acknowledges there will be tensions
between theologians and the magisterium, but sees these tensions as healthy as long
as each side sees its functions in ‘intrinsically ordered to that of the
other.” (283)
When he assumed the Chair of Peter, Benedict
XVI did not forget the above precious sentiment. One of the first people
invited to the Apostolic Palace for a meeting was the theologian Hans Kung. The
two former periti of the Council spent hours dialoging about the differences
between their world views. At the conclusion of their time together both
expressed satisfaction and the desire to continue the substantial exchange. In
this action as well as many others, our Chief Shepherd has shown us the manner
in which true evangelization takes place. He has throughout his reign engaged
in conversation with ecumenical leaders, interfaith representatives, and
governmental officials to stress our need for recognizing each other’s dignity
and the need for human communio.
Truly we are grateful for this momentous
visit by the Bishop of Rome. And this Thursday we will express our thanks for
it as well as for so many other divine gifts at our annual Thanksgiving liturgy
at 9:00 A.M. We hope all will attend and bring food to the sanctuary for
eventual distribution. As has been a tradition since I came, each family will receive
bread to be broken at their feast, praying the blessing enclosed. Finally, do
not forget the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Interfaith celebration on Tuesday evening
at 7:30 at Beth Emeth Synagogue.
It is my wish that this season will bring
all true peace and joy. Please know you are always in my prayers as I hope I am
in yours.
Jesus vivat,
Fr. Brian