Pastor Rev. Robert L. Ruston

Sts. Gregory & Barnabas Parish Welcome to 

120 Boltz Street 408 Luzon Avenue

Johnstown, PA 15902

Phone: 814-536-6818

Office Hours: Monday - Friday

8:00AM - 12:00PM

Visit us on the WEB!

www.ssgregbar.org

Join us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/groups/SSGregoryBarnabas/

Reconciliation: Per Bishop Bartchak—No confessions are permitted at this time.

EMAIL: stsgregbar@dioceseaj.org

United In Christ MISSION STATEMENT

As Catholic Christians, we will live to serve God and each other. And do His will as one family united in Faith. We will teach, serve, and be an example to the youth of the parish that they will come to a full understanding of Christ and His plan for their lives. We will nurture the gifts and talents of all parish members and use them wisely for the glory of God. We will compassionately implement the Spiritual and Corporal works of Mercy for those in our Parish, Diocese and throughout the world. Through the celebration of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, we affirm our Communion with Christ and each other. All are welcome.

2 S E A 19, 2020

Families and the Gospel April 19 Second Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday John 20:19-31 “Whose sins you forgive, are forgiven” means the grudges we carry only make us miserable. The Kingdom of God begins in your home where children learn the paths to peace promised in to-day’s gospel through merciful and forgiving demonstrations by their parents.

AS OF 4/1/2020 The Diocese has cancelled All weekday and weekend Masses and the church is

locked un l further no ce.

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MASS SCHEDULE (Mass Stipend $10)

Richard Huss—Birthday 4/12 by Children, Grandchildren, Great Grandchildren

Anne Bizjak by Knights of Columbus—George Cveykus

No Intention

No Intention

No Intention

Edgar Freidhoff—Birthday by Ray & Debbie Washington

View Diocese Sunday Masses

On ABC 23 or via the link below.  If you scroll down the main page you will see previous masses and other videos from the diocese.  Please 

tune in for you Easter Sunday Mass 

h ps://www.dioceseaj.org/   

St Benedictonline Masses  h ps://stbenedictchurch.org/  

 

Prince Of Peace Online Masses h ps://www.popnc.net/  

Do you know someone who needs pray-ers? Please contact Debbie Washington at 536-3616 or dlwashi@hotmail.com to place a name on the parish Prayer Chain! Boxes for requests are also located in the vestibules of our worship sites.

PRAYER CHAIN

Ryan Wood, Army; CDR. Nathan S. Brezovic, US Navy; Fr. Frantisek Hal-ka, Army; Lieutenant Colonel David Dietz, Army; Petty Officer Tony Pinkas, Navy; PVT Neisner Tyler, Ar-my National Guard, Fort Leonard Wood Missouri (Neisner being deployed to Afghanistan Jan 2020). Please contact the parish office (536-6818) if we need to add or re-move any of our military personnel from this list. Thank you.

PRAYERFUL REMEMBRANCE FOR

ALL SERVING IN THE MILITARY

HOSPITALIZED

Divine Mercy Sunday: By Tony DeGol—Proclaim! History is repeating itself for Father Leo Arnone. His devotion to the Divine Mercy of Christ dates back to his seminary days, and he celebrated that devotion privately until 1999. When Faustina Kowalska was canonized in 2000 and Pope John Paul II established the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday, Father Arnone joined other Catho-lics around the world in public celebrations. This year, because of the coronavirus pandemic, he is once again observing the devo-tion privately. “Our prayers take us to the mercy seat of Christ, and we can always do that from wherever we are,” said Father Arnone, who is among the pastors who typically spon-sor a public Divine Mercy Novena each year beginning on Good Friday and/or a Holy Hour on Divine Mercy Sunday. The observance is based on the devotion to the Divine Mercy that Saint Faustina re-ported as part of her encounter with Jesus. According to her diary, Jesus said that any-one who receives Holy Communion on that day and goes to Confession that day or near that day will be completely forgiven of all sins and the punishment that would accompany them. The Church grants a plenary indulgence with the recitation of pray-ers. The image associated with the Divine Mercy of Christ is based on Faustina’s vision of Jesus clothed in white with two rays coming out of him. Under the image are the words “Jesus I Trust in You.” Because of the extraordinary circumstances this year, Bishop Mark is assuring the faithful that they can still receive the graces of Divine Mercy Sunday by reciting a Spiritual Communion Prayer and an Act of Contrition with a promise to receive Communion and go to Confession as soon as possible. These challenging times are truly and opportunity to trust in the Lord’s Mercy, Father Arnone stressed. “We continue to remember the teachings of Faustina to utilize our prayers to trust in His mercy to help us through this,” he added. “As we continue our celebration, be confident this will pass like so many other things. Christ always comes into our lives when we need Him most, and He will secure our safety and hopefully by the end of it, maybe we are a little more devout in our personal devotion.” Editor’s Note: Father Arnone shares more thoughts on the devotion to the Divine Mercy on the April 19 edition of Proclaim! TV at 10:30 a.m. on WATM ABC 23.

EVERYDAY STEWARDSHIP Give Yourself Completely The early days of the first Christian community were not easy by any measurement. Jesus had been executed, and his disciples had to be discreet so as not to meet a simi-lar fate. Jesus was now risen, but the truth of his resurrection was not accepted by all. However, the depiction of that early community in Acts 2:42-47 would lead someone to believe it was the opposite situation. We are told of community life where people lean on each other and share great joy. They ate and prayed together, and many won-ders and signs were occurring to lift the community and bear witness to the power of Jesus Christ. They were disciples living out their faith, and it was their strong sense of stewardship that made all this possible in the face of threatening Roman and Jewish powers. Today, we find the Church in a new turmoil. Increasing secularism, abuse scandals, and a lack of true fidelity place us once again in a time that is not easy. A friend of mine likes to say that any challenge of sin we encounter in the Church has its origin in a lack or misunderstanding of the stewardship way of life. We create our burdens by not using our gifts wisely and by turning inward selfishly. Could we use the story in Acts of the early Church to help us today? If we begin with the decision to give of ourselves completely to God and His people, will we become agents of change? There is only one way to find out. —Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS ©LPi

On Lighter Side…

Home in Heaven A pastor and a taxi driver both died and went to heaven. St. Peter was at the pearly gates waiting for them. “Come with me,” said St. Peter to the taxi driver. The taxi driver did as he was told and followed St. Peter to a man-sion. It had everything you could imagine, from a bowling alley to an Olympic-sized swimming pool. “Wow, thank you,” said the taxi driver. Next, St. Peter led the pastor to a rugged old shack with a bunk bed and a little old television set. “Wait, I think you are a little mixed up,” said the pastor. “Shouldn’t I be the one who gets the mansion? After all, I was a pastor, went to church every day, and preached God’s word.” “Yes, that’s true,” said St. Peter. “But during your sermons, people slept. When the taxi driver drove, everyone prayed.” ©LPi