Parish Information

Joining the Parish

New Parishioners are always welcome. Census forms can be found in the vestibule of the churches. Simply fill one out and drop it in the collection basket.

Planning a Baptism

The birth of a child brings joy to the family. Through Baptism, that child is joined to the family of God, which brings great joy to the church. Parents seeking Baptism are asked to contact the parish office.

contemplating marriage are asked to contact the parish office and set up an appointment with Fr. Ken

before making any other plans for their wedding. This appointment should take place at least one year before the contemplated date.

Our Parish Intercessory Prayer

Group provides prayers for anyone

in need throughout the parish. Mary Ann Magda is the Coordinator and can be reached at 570-655-1218.

Outreach to the Homebound

Sr. Madonna SSCM, assisted by our dedicated EMOCs, provides Sacramental care to the elderly, homebound and hospitalized. If you, or someone you know, are homebound or in need of a pastoral visit, please contact Sr. Madonna.

Anointing of the Sick

The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick may take place at any time, especially if one is seriously ill. Please contact the parish office to set up a time for Fr. Ken to visit.

Funeral Preparations

The loss of a loved one is a particularly difficult time for those who are bereaved. Our parish community collaborates with local funeral directors in assisting families during their time of grief.

Bequests to the Parish

Please Remember St. Andre Bessette Parish with Memorial gifts at the time of death or with a bequest in your will. Make a return to the Lord for all the good He has given you.

May 29, 2016 SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

The institution of Corpus Christi as a feast in the Christian calendar resulted from approximately forty years of work on the part of Juliana of Liège, a 13th-century Norbertine canoness, also known as Juliana de Cornillon, born in 1191 or 1192 in Liège, Belgium, a city where there were groups of women dedicated to Eucharistic worship. Guided by exemplary priests, they lived together, devoted to prayer and to charitable works. Orphaned at the age of five, she and her sister Agnes were entrusted to the care of the Augustinian nuns at the convent

and leprosarium of Mont-Cornillon, where Juliana developed a special veneration for the Blessed Sacrament.[3]

She always longed for a feast day outside of Lent in its honor. Her biography reports that this desire was enhanced by a vision of the Church under the appearance of the full moon having one dark spot, which signified the absence of such a solemnity.[4][5] In 1208, she reported her first vision of Christ in which she was instructed to plead for the institution of the feast of Corpus Christi. The vision was repeated for the next 20 years but she kept it a secret. When she eventually relayed it to her confessor, he relayed it to the bishop.[6]

Juliana also petitioned the learned Dominican Hugh of St-Cher, and Robert de Thorete, Bishop of Liège. At that time bishops could order feasts in their dioceses, so in 1246 Bishop Robert ordered a celebration of Corpus Christi to be held in the diocese each year thereafter on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.[7][8]

Hugh of St-Cher travelled to Liège as Cardinal-Legate in 1251 and, finding that the feast was not being observed, reinstated it. In the following year, he established the feast for his whole jurisdiction (Germany, Dacia, Bohemia, and Moravia), to be celebrated on the Thursday after the Octave of Trinity (one week later than had been indicated for Liège), but with a certain elasticity, for he granted an indulgence for all who confessed their sins and attended church "on a date and in a place where [the feast] was celebrated".[9]

Jacques Pantaléon of Troyes was also won over to the cause of the Feast of Corpus Christi during his ministry as Archdeacon in Liège. It was he who, having become Pope as Urban IV in 1264, instituted the Solemnity of Corpus Christi on the Thursday after Pentecost as a feast for the entire Latin Rite, by the papal bull Transiturus de hoc mundo.[3][10] The legend that this act was inspired by a procession to Orvieto in 1263 after a village priest in Bolsena and his congregation witnessed a Eucharistic miracle of a bleeding consecrated host at Bolsena has been called into question by scholars who note

problems in the dating of the alleged miracle, whose tradition begins in the 14th century, and the interests of Urban IV, a former Archdeacon in Liège. Though this was the first papally imposed universal feast for the Latin Rite,[11] it was not in fact widely celebrated for half a century, although it was adopted by a number of dioceses in Germany and by the Cistercians, and in 1295 was celebrated in Venice.[12] It became a truly universal feast only after the bull of Urban IV was included in the collection of laws known as the Clementines, compiled under Pope Clement V, but promulgated only by his successor Pope John XXII in 1317.[12][13]

While the institution of the Eucharist is celebrated on Holy (Maundy) Thursday, the liturgy on that day also commemorates Christ's washing of the disciples' feet, the institution of the priesthood and the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. So many other functions took place on this day that the principal event was almost lost sight of. This is mentioned as the chief reason for the introduction of the new feast, in the Bull "Transiturus." For this reason, the Feast of Corpus Christi was established to create a feast focused solely on the Holy Eucharist.[4]

The hymn Aquinas composed for Vespers of Corpus Christi, Pange Lingua or another Eucharistic hymn, is also used on Holy (Maundy) Thursday during the procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the altar of repose.[15] The last two verses of Pange Lingua are also used as a separate hymn, Tantum Ergo, which is sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. O Salutaris Hostia, another hymn sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, comprises the last two verses of Verbum

Supernum Prodiens, Aquinas' hymn for Lauds of Corpus Christi. Aquinas also composed the propers for the Mass of Corpus Christi, including the sequence Lauda Sion Salvatorem. The epistle reading for the Mass was taken from Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11:23-29), and the Gospel reading was taken from the Gospel of John (John 6:56-59).

When Pope Pius V revised the General Roman Calendar (see Tridentine Calendar), Corpus Christi was one of only two "feasts of devotion" that he kept, the other being Trinity Sunday.[16] In that calendar, Corpus Christi was celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.[17] The feast had an octave until 1955, when Pope Pius XII suppressed all octaves, even in local calendars, except those of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost (see General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII).

From 1849 until 1969 a separate Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ was assigned originally to the first Sunday in July, later to the first day of the month. This feast was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969, "because the Most Precious Blood of Christ the Redeemer is already venerated in the solemnities of the Passion, of Corpus Christi and of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and in the feast of the Exaltaton of the Holy Cross. But the Mass of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ is placed among the votive Masses".[18]

ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCILS

PARISH COMMITTEES

The Young at Heart Committee will not meet in June. The next scheduled meeting is July 20th at 1

p.m. in the Fr. Murgas Conference Room

The Parish Social

Justice Council will

meet in the Fr. Murgas

Conference Room June 9

at 6:00 p.m.

The Development

Committee will meet on

MONDAY, June 13th at

6:30 pm in the Fr.

Murgas Conference

Room.

The Pastoral Council

will meet on Thursday,

June 16th in the Parish

Office Meeting Room.

This will be the first

meeting for new

members of the parish

council.

The Liturgical Council

will meet on Tuesday,

June 21 at 7 p.m. in the

Fr. Murgas Conference

Room

The Finance Council will

meet on Thursday, July

21 at 6:30 p.m. in the

Fr. Murgas Conference

Room. All members of

the Finance Council are

asked to plan to attend.

Food for June

Peanut Butter

If you missed the Pilgrimage to Danville, there will be another Jubilee Year Pilgrimage to the Holy

Doors of St Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton on Saturday June 4th. Reservations may be made through the parish office at 570-823-4988 by Wednesday of this week.

The American Legion Auxiliary will be selling Poppies and Crafts this weekend in our vestibule. We ask all parishioners to support the work of the Auxiliary who assists disabled Veterans and their families.

Valeria Snitko will be on hand with the traditional poppies and a sampling of her patriotic and seasonal arts and crafts. All proceeds go to support the work of the American Legion Auxiliary Disabled Veterans Program.

Please be generous to those who generously gave for you.

Fr. Joseph Adonizio will be

celebrating his 60th Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood on Sunday,

June 5th, 2016 at 2 p.m. at St. Joseph Marello Parish 237 William St., Pittston, PA (The former Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church).

All parishioners are invited to attend the

Mass and reception which will follow. RSVP to our Parish Office (570 –823-4988) by this Sunday.

May 29, 2016 SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

Loaves & Fishes

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while

serving in the country's armed forces. The holiday, which is observed every year on the last Monday of

May, originated as Decoration Day after the American Civil War in 1868, when the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois, established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers.[3] By the 20th century, competing Union and Confederate holiday

traditions, celebrated on different days, had merged, and Memorial Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service

The Mass to honor our fallen heroes will be at 9 am on Monday. Fellowship

will follow in the parish hall.

Congratulations Graduates Next Sunday at the 11 am Mass, we will honor three parishioners who will be

graduating from our local high schools:

Karen Hilenski James Rushton

Matthew Shorts. We extend best wishes to them as they begin a new

phase of their lives.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERNCE?

ARMED FORCES DAY Third Saturday in May The Day to appreciate Americans currently serving in uniform

VETERANS DAY November 11th The day to honor Americans who once served in uniform

MEMORIAL DAY Last Monday in May The Day to honor Americans who never got to take the uniform off.

Congratulations Fr. Michael Drevitch on your Ordination to the Priesthood.

May the Good Shepherd guide you all your days.

Amoris Laetitia

Pope Francis

Chapter 2: The Experiences

and Challenges of Families

31. The welfare of the family is decisive for the future

of the world and of the Church. Countless studies have

been made of marriage and the family, their current

problems and challenges. We do well to focus on

concrete realities, since “the call and demands of the

Spirit resound in the events of history”, and through

these “the Church can also be guided to a more

profound understanding of the inexhaustible mytery of

marriage and the family”.8

THE CURRENT REALITY OF THE FAMILY

32. “Faithful to Christ’s teaching we look to the reality

of the family today in all its complexity, with both its

lights and its shadows...Anthropological and cultural

changes in our times influence all aspects of life and

call for an analytic and diversified approach”.9 Several

decades ago, the Spanish bishops noted that families

have come to enjoy greater freedom “through an

equitable distribution of duties, responsibilities and

tasks”; indeed, “a greater emphasis on personal

communication between the spouses helps to make

family life more humane”, while “neither today’s

society nor that to which we are progressing allow an

uncritical survival of older forms and models”.10 It is

also evident that “the principal tendencies in

anthropological-cultural changes” are leading

“individuals, in personal and family life, to receive less

and less support from social structures than in the

past”.11

33. On the other hand, “equal consideration needs to

be given to the growing danger represented by an

extreme individualism which weakens family bonds

and ends up considering each member of the family as

an isolated unit, leading in some cases to the idea that

one’s personality is shaped by his or her desires,

which are considered absolute”.12 “The tensions

created by an overly individualistic culture, caught up

with possessions and pleasures, leads to intolerance

and hostility in families”.13 Here I would also include

today’s fast pace of life, stress and organization of

society and labor, since all these are cultural factors

which militate against permanent decisions. We also

encounter widespread uncertainty and ambiguity. For

example, we rightly value a personalism that opts for

authenticity as opposed to mere conformity. While this

can favor spontaneity and a better use of people’s

talents, if misdirected, it can foster attitudes of

constant suspicion, fear of commitment, self-

centeredness and arrogance. Freedom of choice makes

it possible to plan our lives and to make the most of

ourselves. Yet if this freedom lacks noble goals or

personal discipline, it degenerates into an inability to

give oneself generously to others. Indeed, in many

countries where the number of marriages is

decreasing, more and more people are choosing to live

alone or simply to spend time together without

cohabiting. We can also point to a praiseworthy

concern for justice; but if misunderstood, this can turn

citizens into clients interested solely in the provision of

services.

34. When these factors affect our understanding of

the family, it can come to be seen as a waystation,

helpful when convenient, or a setting in which rights

can be asserted while relationships are left to the

changing winds of personal desire and circumstances.

Ultimately, it is easy nowadays to confuse genuine

freedom with the idea that each individual can act

arbitrarily, as if there were no truths, values and

principles to provide guidance, and everything were

possible is permissible. The ideal of marriage, marked

by a commitment to exclusivity and stability, is swept

aside whenever it proves inconvenient or tiresome.

The fear of loneliness and the desire for stability and

fidelity exist side by side with a growing fear of

entrapment in a relationship that could hamper the

achievement of one’s personal goals.

____________________________

8 John Paull II, APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION Familiaris Consortio (22 November

1981), 4 AAS 74 (1982),84

9 Relatio Synodi 2014, 5

10 SPANISH BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE, Matrimonio y familia (6 July 1979), 3,

16, 23

11 Relatio Finalis 2015, 5

12 Relatio Synodi 2014, 5

13 Relatio Finalis 2015, 8

May 29, 2016 SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

This Week’s Finances

Expenses

May 19-25, 2016

Administration 446.50

Parish Assessment

-0-

School Assessment

-0-

Clergy Residence

-0-

Liturgy 343.25

Religious Education

600.00

Social Justice 600.00

Operation & Maintenance

451.00

Parish Debt -0-

Insurance -0-

Taxes -0-

Diocesan Collections

-0-

TOTAL EXPENSES THIS WEEK

$2,440.75

+

General Fund Recapitulation

General Fund Previous Balance

$12,270.46

+ Income this week

5,657.48

- Expenses this week

-2,440.75

Balance Forward

$15,487.19

Income

May 22, 2016

In Church Mailed In

Loose 159.48 -0-

Sunday Offering 3,306.00 1,462.00

Easter -0- 100.00

Ascension 10.00 17.00

Easter Flowers -0- -0-

Dues 93.00 266.00

Debt Reduction 22.00 72.00

Initial Offering -0- -0-

TOTAL PARISH

COLLECTION

$3,590.48 $1,917.00

Our Weekly goal for our Total Parish Collection is

$7,500.00.

This will ensure the financial stability of our parish.

Diocesan and Other Collections These are charitable collections that go directly to the

Diocese and do not impact our operating budget.

Clergy Collection -0- 15.00

Peter’s Pence -0- 63.00

TOTAL DIOCESAN COLLECTIONS

-0- 78.00

TOTAL SUNDAY

COLLECTION -0- 78.00

Other Income This income is in addition to our regular income and

contributes toward the operating budget.

Candles 72.00

Perquisites -0-

Rent -0-

Miscellaneous -0-

TOTAL OTHER

INCOME 72.00

TOTAL INCOME

GENERAL FUND

THIS WEEK $5,657.48

Mass Attendance

May 21-22, 2016

People In-Church Collection

Average Offering

per person

4:00 p.m. 147 1,409.78 9.59

5:30 p.m. 63 717.00 11.38

8:00 a.m. 86 844.50 9.82

11:00 a.m. 69 619.20 8.97

Total 365 3,590.48 9.84

Monthly Diocesan Bills (July 1, 2015– June 30, 2016)

Title Amount Billed Amount Paid Balance

Parish Assessment 34,730.42 34,730.42 -0-

Assessment for Schools 59,434.83 59,434.83 -0-

Insurance 22,720.00 17,844.48 4,875.52

Clergy Pension 6,600.00 6,600.00 -0-

Clergy Medical (BC/BS) 14,663.00 14,663.00 -0-

Post Retirement Fund 5,200.00 5,200.00 -0-

Clergy Care and Wellness Fund (In addition to the Monthly

Collection)

9,732.00 9,732.00 -0-

BALANCE 153,080.25 132,407.36 4,875.52

Votive Offerings

Offered by In Memory of

Sanctuary Lamp

Bread and Wine

John S. Sitar Carol & John Sitar

Your Gift to God

May 21-22, 2016

>$100.00 1

$100.00 1

$76-99 0

$75 2

$51-74 1

$50 10

$26-49 8

$25 10

$21-24 1

$20 45

$16-19 1

$15 15

$11-14 2

$10 111

$6-9 15

$5 56

< $5 30

Total Used 309

May 29, 2016 SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOO OF CHRIST

For all Catholic men and women, families and young people troubled by the many afflictions of modern life, discover the greatest source of spiritual and temporal help, graces and blessings for those who truly love the Sacred Heart of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and practice His requested Devotion with the essential prayers and acts, including the “First Friday” and the “Nine Fridays” promises.

“And He showed me that it was His great desire of being loved by men and of withdrawing them from the path of ruin into which Satan hurls such crowds of them, that made H im form the des ign o f manifesting His Heart to men, with all the treasures of love, of mercy, of grace, of sanctification and salvation which it contains, in order that those who desire to render Him and procure for Him all the honor and love possible, might themselves be abundantly enriched with those divine treasures of which this Heart is the source.

He should be honored under the figure of this Heart of flesh, and its image should be exposed…He promised me that wherever this image should be exposed with a view to showing it special honor, He would pour forth His blessings and graces. This devotion was the last effort of His love that He would grant to men in these latter ages, in order to withdraw them from the empire of Satan which He desired to destroy, and thus to introduce them into the sweet liberty of the rule of His love, which He wished to restore in the hearts of all those who should embrace this devotion.”…. “

The devotion is so pleasing to Him that He can refuse nothing to those who practice it.”

-Revelations of Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Personal Attitudes Needed for the Successful Practice of the Devotion:

A true love of Jesus Christ and His

Sacred Heart, the source of His excessive mercy, help, graces and blessings.

Special respect for, and veneration of,

the Blessed Sacrament.

A desire to make Reparation for the

neglect, indifference and ingratitude of

the majority that results in Jesus Christ

being left alone, abandoned and forgotten on our altars, never visited to offer consolation for such neglect, though He has given us the miracle of His Divine Presence in the Blessed Sacrament as a supreme gift to us in His desire to be always with us.

The Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

For those who have the above attitudes and desire to faithfully practice the Devotion, Our Lord Jesus Christ has made special promises:

I will give them all the graces necessary

in their state of life.

I will give peace in their families and will

unite families that are divided.

I will console them in all their troubles.

I will be their refuge during life and

above all in death.

I will bestow the blessings of Heaven on

all their enterprises.

Sinners shall find in my Heart the source

and infinite ocean of mercy.

Tepid souls shall become fervent.

Fervent souls shall rise quickly to great

perfection.

I will bless those places wherein the

image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored and will imprint My love on the hearts of those who would wear this image on their person. I will also destroy

in them all disordered movements.

I will give to priests who are

animated by a tender devotion to my Divine Heart the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.

Those who promote this devotion

shall have their names written in my Heart, never to be effaced.

I promise you in the excessive

mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence: they will not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their Sacraments. My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment. (The Nine Fridays must be made in honor of His Sacred Heart, meaning, practicing the devotion and having a great love of His Sacred Heart. They must be on the first Friday of the

month for nine consecutive months, and Communion must be received.)

Necessity for Devotion to the

Sacred Heart of Jesus

Unfortunately, the religious fervor of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, during which the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was widely practiced by all Catholics in the U.S., and elsewhere in the world has been dissipated in our society by the materialistic pursuit of other than spiritual goals by the vast majority of laity, with, among other things, the consequent loss of interest in and practice of the Devotion in the Churches and by many (but not all) of the clergy.

To receive the graces and blessings of His 12 Promises, which He wishes you to have, try at all times to do the following:

LOVE HIM, fervently

PRAY TO HIM, constantly

TRUST HIM, in everything

VISIT HIM, frequently

RECEIVE HIM, as often as possible

He always keeps His Promises, if you do your part.

May the fervent and heartfelt recitation of these prayers and adoption of these practices bring a shower of graces and blessings to you and your families, and bring you ever closer to the total conversion to His Heart of Love that He wishes for us all.

The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

May 29, 2016 SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

Ninth Week in Ordinary Time May 30—June 5, 2016

Day and Date Time Intention Offered by Events of the Week

Monday, May 30 Weekday

9:00 a.m. Those who died in service

to our country PARISH

MEMORIAL DAY

Parish Office Closed

9:00 am Mass

Brunch following Morning Mass

Tuesday, May 31 Visitation of the BVM

8:00 a.m. Joseph Pringle Jr. Friends at St. Andre

Bessette

5:30 p.m. Choir

Wednesday, June 1 St. Justin, Martyr

8:00 a.m. Parishioners Pastor

Thursday, June 2 Sts. Marcellinus & Peter 8:00 a.m.

John S. Sitar and Ann Marie Tarnoski

John & Carol Sitar

10 am ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Noon—5 pm Adoration of the

Blessed Sacrament

5 pm Vespers and Benediction

8:00 a.m. Edward Lisofsky Mary Alice Kane FIRST FRIDAY

8 am Mass

6 pm Confessions

6:30 pm Devotion to the Sacred Heart 7:00 pm Mass

Friday, June 3 SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS

7:00 pm. Men of the Sacred Heart MOTSH

Saturday, June 4 Immaculate Heart of Mary

NO Morning Mass Scheduled 9 am Pilgrimage to Scranton

Confessions 3 p.m

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Vigil 1 4:00 p.m. Capt Bernard Zajkowski Family

11 am Graduates’ Mass

Clergy Collection

Vigil 2 5:30 p.m. Nicholas Stefanoski The Evans Family

Sunday 8:00 a.m. Josephine Melman Frank & Camille Glazenski

Sunday 11:00 a.m. Parishioners Pastor

Liturgical Ministries

May 30, 2016 Memorial Day

Servers Lectors EMOC

9 a.m. Ted Harowicz Andy Katsock AJ Kondracki

June 5-6, 2016 Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

4:00 p.m. Ted Harowicz Joe Boris Ted Harowicz

5:30 p.m. John Morris Richard Morris

Sr. Kate Morris Elaine Klukoske

8 a.m. Nicholas Kreidler Andy Katsock Ted Harowicz

11 a.m. Sr. Tina Josh Price Robert Dunsmuir

Sr.

AGNUS

DAY The Lectionary Comic Strip

by Pastor James Weitzman