IN THE PARISH

Helpful Information

Join the Parish

Anyone wishing to register for membership in the parish is asked to fill out a registration form and drop it in the collection basket.

Request Prayers

Our INTERCESSORY PRAYER MINISTRY provides prayer for anyone in need throughout the parish. Contact MARY ANN MAGDA at 570-655-1218 or make your intention known on our parish website at www.standrebessettewb.com

Remember your Parish

Your parish serves you faithfully throughout your life. Please remember your parish with a memorial gift or a Bequest in your will. Make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for you.

SACRAMENTAL PREPARATIONS

Anointing of the Sick

The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick may take place at any time, but, sadly, too many families wait until the last minute to call the priest to anoint their loved ones. If someone in your family is seriously ill, preparing for surgery, or suffering a prolonged illness, please contact the parish office to arrange a time for Fr. Ken to visit. IN THE CASE OF AN EMERGENCY—or if Fr. Ken is unavailable to visit immediately, we will contact the first available priest to celebrate the Sacrament of Anointing with your loved one.

Funeral Preparations

We collaborate with the local funeral directors in arranging the times of the funerals. Please be aware that there is an additional fee for funerals on Saturdays imposed by most cemeteries

in the area.

Baptismal Preparations

Parents of newly born infants may call the parish office to arrange a time for the Baptism of their child. Baptisms are celebrated, for the most part, on any Sunday, with the exception of the season of Lent.

Wedding Preparations

Couples contemplating Marriage are asked to contact the parish office at least one year prior to the contemplated date of marriage, before making other plans.

Weekend of November 25-26

SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING GIVING TREE No Faith Formation

Tuesday, November 28

5:30 pm Choir

Thursday, November 30

Noon—Exposition 5 pm—Vespers

Friday, December 1

FIRST FRIDAY 8 am Mass 6 pm Confessions 6:30 Sacred Heart Devotions 7:00 pm Mass

Weekend of December 2—3

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT Clergy Collection Dues Envelope GIVING TREE 9:15 am Faith Formation

November 26, 2017 Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King

The Feast of Christ the King brings the Church calendar year to a close. Next week begins Advent, and we will start a new liturgical year.

Why do we end the year with the notion of Christ the King? Why do we place this feast here? What’s the point?

The feast has several levels of meaning. By calling Christ our King we are making a statement that Jesus is the Lord of our lives. It means that we place Christ first, and that we serve the Lord Jesus with the allegiance of our

hearts, minds, and bodies. We belong to

Christ, who rules us.

In addition, to claim Christ as our King means that we are members of his

kingdom. Through our baptism we are called to the community of faith, the Church, and we possess an inheritance that is ultimately not of this world. We are citizens who have a responsibility to work together – for this world and the world to come.

Furthermore, the King will come at the end of time to call His faithful people home to heaven. We believe that the

world will end on a future, unknown day

(and once again, let me stress it is an UNKNOWN date…). This feast reminds us that in the end we belong to one home or the other, one Lord or another.

Finally, to say that Christ is our King

reminds us that all our power, strength, hope, and direction come from Him. The skills and talents we possess are from the King (who made us). The forgiveness we cherish is from the King (who died for us). The life of the Holy

Spirit which sustains us was sent by the

King (who asked the Father on our

behalf).

Therefore, to claim Christ as our King is to make a statement about who we are. As followers of this King we offer our lives in

service to the one who is our Lord. We

make this King our first priority in all things, and we look upon Jesus Christ as both the beginning and end of our existence.

This is a good time for us to search and prepare our hearts. As this Church year comes to an end we begin to make ourselves ready for the Lord who comes to us, that he might find us alert and watchful for his arrival. May we renew our

allegiance to Christ our King so that he will rule us with mercy, grace, and love.

The Liturgical Council will meet on

Wednesday, December 6 at 10:00 a.m. in the Fr. Murgas Conference Room.

The Pastoral Council will meet on

Thursday, December 7 at 6:30 pm in the Fr. Murgas Conference Room.

The Parish Social Justice Council

will meet Thursday, December 14 th at 6:00 p.m. in the Fr. Murgas Conference Room

The Finance Council will meet on

Thursday, January 18 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 November

Coffee

ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCILS

PARISH MINISTRIES

PARISH COMMITTEES

The Development Committee

will meet on Monday, December 4th at 6:00 pm in the Lower Meeting Room of the Parish

Office.

The Young at Heart Committee

HOLIDAY GATHERING Wednesday, December 6th 5 pm at the Anthracite Inn,

Scott St. Wilkes-Barre

FAITH SHARING

St. Andre’s Faith Seekers with

Michael Boris will meet at 6 pm

on Monday December 4 in the Fr. Murgas Meeting Room of the Parish Office.

Disciples of the Spirit of Jesus

with Sr. Madonna will meet on Saturday, December 9 at 10:30 am in the Fr. Murgas Meeting Room of the Parish office. There is still room in this group for anyone desiring to join.

Sharers on the Journey with

Christ with Rosemary Shedlock will meet on Monday, December 11th at 2:00 pm in the home of Elaine Snyder.

Loaves & Fishes

November 26, 2017 Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King

CATHOLIC SOCIAL

SERVICES HOLIDAY HELP

Distribution Dates and Times

Food Distribution will take place at St. Vincent de Paul Kitchen, 39 E Jackson St., WB on Monday, December 18th from 10:30 AM – 2 PM and 4 PM – 7 PM

Toy Distribution will take place at Our Lady of Hope Parish, 40 Park Ave, WB on Monday, December 18th from 10 AM – 2 PM and 4 PM – 7 PM

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Waterson

GIFT CARD RAFFLE!!!

Because of the generosity of our parishioners, we were able to cover the needs of our recent Toy Bingo and can offer another chance to spread holiday Cheer.

AND THE PRIZES ARE:

First Prize Second Prize Third Prize

$400 Value $225 Value $110 Value

$50 - Anthracite Café $30 - Chacko's $25 - Walmart

$45 - Movies 14 $25 - Wegman's $25 - Toys R Us

$30 - Chacko's $25 - Patte's Sports Bar $25 - Wegman's

$25 - Julie's Cozy Café $25 - Grotto Pizza $15 - Norm's Pizza

$25 - Applebee's $25 - Toys R Us $10 - Rodano's

$25 - Olive Garden $25 - Friendly's $10 - Rodano's

$25 - Grotto Pizza $25 - Julie's Cozy Café

$25 - Patte's Sports Bar $25 - Longhorn Steakhouse

$25 - Toys R Us $20 - Huns Café 99

$25 - Toys R Us

$20 - Toys R Us

$20 - Toys R Us

$20 - Longhorn Steakhouse

$20 - Huns Café 99

$20 - Dukey's Café

Tickets will be sold beginning this weekend

$1.00 each 6 for $5.00

13 for $10.00 30 for $20.00

Final drawing will be December 17 after the 11:00AM Mass.

Great gifts or stocking stuffers.

Our Parish Giving Tree has been set up. Please take a tag from the tree, purchase the present requested, wrap it with the tag attached and return it to the tree. Gifts presented to our giving tree go to parishioners, the

Bennet House Boys, and our homebound. We will also be collecting gloves, scarves and hats. These may also be placed in the box provided.

We will also be collecting Toys for Tots for Catholic Social Services. These toys may be placed, unwrapped in the box provided for that purpose

All Gifts and Donations must be in by DECEMBER 10th!

THE LITURGY

Liturgical Music: Questions and Answers

November 26, 2017 Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King

At one point we sang just 4

hymns: the Entrance, Offertory,

Communion, and Recessional.

Why have things changed? The “Four-Hymn Mass” began long before the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, as part of the old “Low Mass,” the “silent” Mass in which the priest did all the prayers quietly in Latin while the congregation went about their own devotions.

In the 18th century in Germany, Poland and other countries, the custom began of singing songs in the people’s language during Low Mass, and by the late 19th century this was standard in those areas. Songs were written that mirrored the various parts of the Mass.

Later, in the 1940s, in North America and Northern Europe, the Dialogue Mass developed – still a Low Mass, but with the people responding in Latin to the prayers of the priest, as the servers had done previously. It was at this time that the “Four Hymn Mass” began, with real hymns that made sense for the beginning of Mass, the Offertory, the Communion (now that lay people were encouraged to receive Communion regularly at Mass). The hymn at the end, or the recessional, was borrowed from Protestant practice. There has never been a song officially ending the Roman Rite Mass.

After the reforms of Vatican II, we began to implement the decisions of the world’s bishops about the liturgy, and to sing the Mass, not just sing hymns at Mass. The Mass text itself is sung, and hymns may be sung at particular points. Thus, in a given Mass, we may sing the Entrance or Gathering Song (a psalm or hymn), the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Responsorial Psalm, the Gospel Acclamation, the Intercessions. At the Preparation of the Altar and the Gifts, we may sing a psalm or a hymn, or we may listen to choral or instrumental music, or we may just have silence. The entire Eucharistic Prayer may be sung by the priest, but with the people always singing the Sanctus (Holy), the Memorial Acclamation and the Great Amen. We may sing the Lord’s Prayer and its conclusion (the doxology), the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), and during Communion a psalm or responsorial song. There is an option for a song of praise after Communion. At the end of Mass, no song is mentioned anywhere in the liturgical documents. It has become the custom in the USA to sing something at this time. This is outside the time of Mass itself, after the final dismissal.

Why have things changed? Over several hundred years, our understanding of the Mass has changed from a private prayer of the priest which people must attend without outward participation, to the most important act of the Body of Christ, gathered together

to give thanks to God, to hear God’s Word, to respond in song, to join themselves to the sacrifice of Christ, and to receive the Body and Blood of Christ.

The “Four Hymn Mass” was one brief portion of our journey to recovering the liturgy of the early church in a way that makes sense for people today.

Why don't we sing during the

collection?

It is, of course, possible to sing during the collection, but think of what happens when we do. People fumble with envelopes and wallets and money as we ask them to pick up a hymnal. Hymns are meant to create unity of prayer, but that is not what happens when we try to do something else while we sing. At the same time, the corporal, book and chalice may be placed on the altar, and the presider may move to the altar. In some places, the gifts of bread and wine are brought forward while the collection continues. All these things going on at once hardly meet the liturgical mandate that the rites be simple, unencumbered, and understandable.

Immediately following the Intercessions, or after the Profession of Faith if catechumens and candidates have been dismissed, the collection begins. As the baskets reach the last pews, vocal or instrumental music begins and the altar is prepared. This allows us more silent time, and frees us from picking up hymnals while we prepare our collection. Following the standard set by our bishops, music is to "accompany and celebrate the communal aspects of the procession."

Our church documents tell us that the purpose of singing during the procession with the gifts is to “accompany and celebrate the communal aspects of the procession.” So we don’t sing till it is time for the procession to begin.

As we become more active participants in this rite – through the giving of gifts, and the use of our sight, our hearing and our whole

bodies – our belief that we ourselves are truly part of the Eucharist deepens and grows ever stronger.

What role does music serve to

accompany liturgical actions? The church teaches that music, particularly sacred song, is an integral part of the liturgy, not something tacked on. Think about the purpose of the various songs at Mass. The gathering or entrance song accompanies the gathering of our hearts and minds into the beginning of the liturgy, as well as the entrance of the sacred ministers. The Kyrie (Lord, have mercy) accompanies our recognition of the mercy of God, whose forgiveness is always available to us. The Gloria (Glory to God) accompanies the turning of our hearts and minds to the praise of the Holy Trinity.

The gospel acclamation accompanies the movement of the Book of Gospels from the altar to the ambo and prepares us to hear the proclamation. Sung intercessions accompany the raising of our needs to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.

We sing at the procession of the gifts to “accompany and celebrate the communal aspects of the procession,” according to the Roman rules for the celebration of Mass. We sing the Sanctus (Holy), the Memorial Acclamation and the Great Amen to focus our great thanksgiving, the Eucharistic Prayer, as an act of all God’s people.

The Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) accompanies the breaking and distribution of the Bread of Heaven and Cup of Salvation. The communion song, according to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, “is to express the communicants’ union in spirit by means of the unity of their voices, to show joy of heart, and to highlight more clearly the ‘communitarian’ nature of the procession to receive Communion.”

There are also songs that stand on their own: the responsorial psalm, a proclamation of the Word of God; the Lord’s prayer when it is chanted; the song of praise after communion.

Why we don't sing Christmas

carols during Advent? For the same reason we don’t sing “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, Alleluia!” during Lent. We are waiting. We are preparing. We are getting ready for the feast. It is not yet time to shout and celebrate. That time will come, and we’ll be ready for it.

During Advent, we dwell with the prophets of old who yearned for God’s coming. Though, of course, Emmanuel is already with us, we take the time to reflect on what it means to wait for the fullness of God’s coming. The kingdom of God is among us – but not yet fully realized. That’s up to us. So now we consider the whats, hows and whos of our participation in the coming of God’s reign on earth.

We wait for Jesus coming in history. We wait for Jesus coming to us as we assemble and pray. We wait for Jesus coming to us in the proclamation of the scriptures. We wait for Jesus coming to us in Holy Communion and all the sacraments. We wait for Jesus coming for each of us at the end of our lives. We wait for Jesus coming in glory at the end of time.

After more than three weeks of quiet, reflective waiting, we are ready to shout:

“Joy to the world! O come, all ye faithful! Hark, the herald angels sing!” But until then, we anticipate with delight what we know will come on December 24, in the middle of that Silent Night, Holy Night.

IN THE DIOCESE

Notice Regarding the Sexual

Abuse of A Minor

It is the policy of the Diocese of Scranton to report any allegation of sexual abuse of a minor to law enforcement. If you are a victim of sexual abuse, you are encouraged to immediately report the matter to law enforcement. If any priest, deacon, religious, lay employee or volunteer of the Diocese of Scranton has cause or reason to suspect that a minor has been subjected to any form of abuse, including child sexual abuse, the matter will be reported to law enforcement. In accordance with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services Law, reports of suspected child abuse should also be made immediately by phone to the 24 hour Child Abuse Hotline (ChildLine) at 1-800-932-0313 or electronically at www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis. It is also the policy of the Diocese to adhere to all civil and state regulations. To this end, the Diocese is equally committed to adhering to the norms of the Code of Canon Law and to upholding the tenets of the USCCB Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which includes supporting victims of sexual abuse in their pursuit of emotional and spiritual well-being. As such, information regarding an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor should also be reported to the Victim Assistance Coordinator, Mary Beth Pacuska at 570-862-7551 or to Diocesan Officials, including the Vicar General, Msgr. Thomas M. Muldowney, V.G. at 570-207-2269.

To Commemorate the Founding of the Diocese of Scranton on March 3rd, 1868, a year-long

series of special liturgies, celebration and events will begin next month on the First Sunday of Advent (Dec. 3, 2017) and conclude on the Feast of

Christ the King (November 25, 2018). The

Primary Commemoration of our Sesquicentennial Year will be marked with a major liturgical celebration in Scranton at the Cathedral of St. Peter and also at every parish throughout the

Diocese on the Weekend of March 4th, 2018. Other events have been scheduled throughout

the 11 counties of the Diocese to highlight various churches, institutions, and sites of historical significance.

DIOCESAN CERTIFICATE IN LAY MINISTRY 2018

The Office for Parish Life encourages parish leaders to consider application for the Diocesan Certificate in Lay Ministry for January 2018.

The Diocesan Certificate in Lay Ministry is a ministry formation program designed to equip and advance the servant leadership capacities of individuals serving their parish in areas such as :

and others. Through Independent online study with the

University of Dayton’s Virtual Learning Community

for Faith Formation, as well as regional skills workshops and opportunities for prayer and reflection, Diocesan Certificate candidates enrich their knowledge base, while also learning practical tools for effective parish ministry in their faith communities.

The Office of Parish Life anticipates welcoming new candidates into the Diocesan Certificate in Lay Ministry Program in the New Year. Prospective Candidates are encouraged to contact Kitty Scanlan, Coordinator for Lay Ministry Formation

at 570-207-2213, or by email at Kitty-Scanlan@dioceseofscranton.org for application

information materials, and application submissions.

Holy Redeemer High School proudly presents

Friday, December 1st Saturday, December 2nd

7:00 pm Reserved Seating

Seniors—$9.00 Adults—$10.00 Students $8.00

Call 570-829-2424

to reserve your tickets.

Pastoral Council Director of Religious Education

Liturgical Coordinator Catechist

Parish Staff Volunteer Ministry

Holy Redeemer

High School

Placement/Scholarship Test for interested Public/Private School 8th graders

Saturday,

December 9, 2017

8:30 am.

To Register, contact the

Guidance Office at

570-829-2424

CANTOR WORKSHOP Saturday, January 13, 2018 9 am—2 pm Kings College Chapel Wilkes-Barre, PA

Join Liz Powell and Nancy Valtos as they share helpful pointers to assist Cantors, accompanists and other liturgical musicians in their ministry of leading sung worship. This workshop is open to all music ministers.

November 26, 2017 Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King

FOR OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE

Love God with Your Everything by Jason deRouchie

www.DesiringGod.org

Love. There are few things so universal and yet so challenging. Love for God. “The most important” commandment, says Jesus (Mark 12:29–30), and one that both the old and new covenants portray as necessary to enjoy God’s sustained favor.

“To love God is to enjoy God’s sustained favor.”

As Moses asserted, Yahweh “keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,” but he “repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them” (Deuteronomy 7:9–10). Similarly, Paul declared that “all things work together for good” only for “those who love God . . . who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Some have tagged the Supreme Command of Deuteronomy 6:5 the “all-command,” because of the three-fold “all” — “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your

might” (ESV). There is no room here for divided affections or allegiance. As Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). If indeed there is one God who stands supremely powerful and valuable (Deuteronomy 6:4), this demands a supreme and total loyalty from you and me, a loyalty that starts with the heart.

Loving with All Our Heart

While surprising to some, the old covenant recognized that a spiritual relationship with God begins from within, with a proper disposition toward the preeminent Savior, sovereign, and satisfier. From the heart “flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23),

and without one’s will, desires, passions, affections, perceptions, and thoughts rightly aligned, the life of love is impossible.

Therefore Moses calls Israel to “know . . . in your heart” that God disciplines like a father his son (Deuteronomy 8:5). He urges God’s people to “lay it to heart” that there is no God besides Yahweh (Deuteronomy 4:39–40) and to ensure that his words “be on your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:6), thus anticipating the miraculous heart-work that the new covenant would realize (Jeremiah 31:33).

Loving with All Our Soul

Along with our hearts, we are called to love Yahweh with all our soul. In the first five books of the Old Testament the “soul” refers to one’s whole being as a living person, which includes one’s “heart,” but is so much more. For example, in Genesis 2:7 we are told that “Yahweh God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his

nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living [soul] creature” (Genesis

9:5).

“Love God with your passions, hungers, perceptions, and thoughts.”

Elsewhere, corpses are called “dead souls,” which simply means the person, once alive, is now dead (Leviticus 21:11), and Yahweh promises that his “soul [i.e., his being] shall not abhor” all who follow his lead (Leviticus 26:11). In light of these texts, it seems Moses starts with a call to love God from within and then moves one step larger saying that everything about us as a person is to declare Yahweh as Lord.

So we are to love God with our passions, hungers, perceptions, and thoughts. But we are also to love him with how we talk, and what we do with our hands, and how we utilize our talents, and how we react to challenges — our entire being is to display that we love God.

Loving with All Our Might

What then is the meaning of loving God with our “might”? The word translated “might/strength” in Deuteronomy 6:5 usually functions as the adverb “very” in the Old Testament (298x). The noun version occurs in Deuteronomy and in only one other place, which itself is just an echo of our passage. In 2 Kings 23:25 we are told that King Josiah “turned to Yahweh with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might.”

So if the word usually means “very,” what would it mean to love the Lord will all our “very-ness”? Interestingly, the Greek translation of this word is “power.” The Aramaic translation is “wealth.” Both of these may actually be pointing in the same

direction, for the strength of a person is not simply who he is, but what he has at his disposal. Think with me: If Moses’s call to love Yahweh starts with our heart and then moves out to our being, could not our “very-ness” be one step bigger and include all our resources (see Block, Deuteronomy, 183–84)?

This means that the call to love God is not only with our physical muscle, but with everything we have available for honoring God — which includes our spouse, our children, our house or dorm room, our pets and wardrobe and tools and cell phones and movies and music and computers and time.

Whole-hearted, Life-encompassing Allegiance to God

So are we on target reading it this way? The context of this passage would suggest we are. Deuteronomy 6:6–9 stress that treasuring God’s oneness and uniqueness needs to be personally applied to our lives (Deuteronomy 6:6, 8). It needs to impact

relationships (Deuteronomy 6:7), and what goes on at home and in the work place (Deuteronomy 6:9).

“The Bible calls us to wholehearted, life-encompassing, community-impacting, exclusive commitment to our God.”

This means that the covenant love we’re called to must be wholehearted, life-encompassing, community-impacting, exclusive commitment to our God. And this God is our God only because he has now revealed himself to us in the person of his Son. This kind of love we should have for him doesn’t exist apart from love for Jesus — for Jesus and the Father are one (John

10:30).

This truth means that every closet of our lives needs to be opened for cleaning, and every relationship in our lives must be influenced. This call to love God this way destroys any option of being one person at church and another person on a date. What you do on the internet needs to be just as pure as what you do in Bible-reading. The way we talk to our parents needs to be as wholesome as the way we talk to our pastors.

There needs to be an authentic love for God that starts with God-oriented affections, desires, and thoughts, that permeates our

speaking and behavior, and then influences the way we spend our money and how we dress, and drive, and our forms of entertainment. Whether we’re eating or singing, jogging or blogging, texting or drawing, love for Yahweh — the one true triune God — is to be in action and seen.

November 26, 2017 Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King

LOCAL EVENTS

The Wyoming Valley Barbershop Harmony Chorus

"A Joyful Christmas" Sunday, December 3 at 7:00 p.m.

at Sts. Peter and Paul Church,

13 Hudson Road, Plains PA. 18705.

"Tickets are $5.00 each

and can be purchased at the door or by calling Jim Morpeth (570.822.9756)

or Brian Clark (570.825.3233).

Santa" is expected to visit during the performance and to wish everyone a "Merry Christmas!"

FEAST OF ST. NICHOLAS Sponsored by

The Slovak Heritage Society of NEPA

DECEMBER 3, 2017 2:00pm

OUR LADY OF FATIMA PARISH CENTER

134 S. Washington St. Wilkes-Barre, PA

Come join us for a wonderful

afternoon of singing Slovak

Christmas Carols and Sharing

Christmas Memories.

Hospitality will follow.

Keep Christ in Christmas

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2017

5 pm

Luzerne County Courthouse

Corner of W. North St.

and N. River St.

Join us for Carol Singing

by Candlelight

at the Nativity Scene The Lighting of the

Courthouse Christmas Tree

will follow at 5:30 pm.

All are welcome to join us in Keeping CHRIST in CHRISTmas

University Chaplain Offers Talks About Finding God

Rev. Rick Malloy, S.J., University of Scranton chaplain, will lead a series of discussions this Advent season about finding God. The evening talks are presented free of charge and open to the public. A voluntary offering to support the Friends of the Poor will be collected at the sessions.

Tuesday, December 5th— “Finding God in Catholicism’s Recent Controversies and Consolations”

Wednesday, December 6th — “Finding God in Pope Francis’s Recent Teachings”

Thursday, December 7th — “Finding God in Christmas Movies (Old and New).”

All the discussions begin at 7:30 p.m. and will take place in the PNC Auditorium of the Loyola Science Center on the University’s campus.

Fr. Malloy joined the University community in 2010 and became Chaplain in 2014. He is the author of three books: “A Faith That Frees” and “Being on Fire: Top Ten Essentials of Catholic Faith,” both of which won Catholic Press Association awards; and the recently published “Spiritual Direction: A Beginner’s Guide.”

For information on the discussions, email richard.malloy@scranton.edu or call the University’s Office of Campus Ministries at 570-941-7419.

November 26, 2017 Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King

6th Annual Christmas Cookie Walk

Saturday, December 16th 10 am—1 pm Exaltation Holy Cross Parish

Buttonwood, PA

This event is being sponsored by the Youth Ministry of Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church, Buttonwood, Hanover Township.

Cookie Containers may be purchased for $9.00 and filled with Christmas cookies of one’s choice.

Cookie Platters will also be available

for sale at $35 each.

For more information, for tickets, or

STEWARDSHIP

St. Francis of Assisi and Church Renewal Francesco Bernardone, at prayer in the ruined church of San Damiano, hears the voice of God calling him to rebuild the church which is in ruins. Looking

about, Francis sees what a formidable task this will be. What does he know of masonry, or carpentry, or architecture? Without pondering this lack of knowledge and expertise too much, Francis sets out to do what he has heard. He will rebuild the Church of

San Damiano.

To do this, he begins gathering stones along his way. When this proves ineffective, he begins to beg for stones from the people of Assisi. They think he

has gone mad. Here is the rich son of Pietro Bernadone walking the streets of Assisi and begging for stones to rebuild a ruined church! Even his family was a wit’s end about him. Surely his experience in Perugia has caused this madness! Francis was undaunted.

Since he had been raised in a life of indulgence at which his every need was met by his father, Francis saw a

solution to his dilemma. How often had Pietro told his son that everything he had was his? Francis went into his

father’s storehouses, chose the best linens and silks he could find, sold them, and used the money to purchase building materials to rebuild the church at San Damiano. Francis’ problem was solved!

When he discovered what his son had done, Pietro flew into a rage. The Thief! The Madman! The Lunatic! He would have to pay for what he had done! He dragged his son before the magistrate.

He belittled him for his thievery. After

all Pietro had done to provide a home, to indulge his every whim, this was the repayment he received—that his son should steal from him and give the money to rebuild the church at San Damiano.

Since this was a “church” matter, the magistrate referred Pietro to the Bishop of Assisi, Bishop Guido. He would have to decide how best to receive restitution from Francis for his “extravagances” at San Damiano.

Pietro wasted no time. He dragged his son to the Bishop’s house and berated him once more before the astonished

Bishop. No doubt, Bishop Guido had been appraised of Francis’ supposed lunacy.

He had been the talk of Assisi for months. But now the good bishop was confronted with an irate father demanding restitution from the church for an action that was neither appointed by the bishop nor approved by the bishop. Francis had acted

independently and on his own. The father would have to deal with this

matter himself. Pietro was furious! He wanted restitution and he wanted it now. His crazy son had stolen from him and used the funds to build a church,

therefore the church should reimburse his loss! In the midst of all this, Francis had remained quiet and detached. He seemed not to be present. But slowly, he began to disrobe. He took off his

waistcoat and tunic. He removed his shoes, trousers and stockings. He even removed his undergarments, so that he was standing before his father, the

bishop and the entire town of Assisi stark naked!

Very calmly, Francis folded his clothing. He walked over to his astonished father, still standing before the bishop. Very carefully, he spoke: “Until this moment, I have called Pietro

Bernadone my father and all that I have you have given me. I return it to you, along with your name. From this day forward I will only say ‘My Father, who art in heaven.’”

The entire town of Assisi was reduced

to silence at this spectacle. The Bishop immediately covered Francis with his own cope—both as a protection for his

modesty and as a sign that Francis was now under the protection of the Church. His father had no more claim against him. Pietro, still furious and

unsatisfied, simply walked away. The bishop took Francis into his house and dressed him in the garb of the Order of Penitents, gave him his blessing and sent him on his way. Francesco Bernadone was finally free of

everything that held him bound. He was free to follow the call of God to

rebuild His Church. Like Francis, many people think that the process of Parish Renewal begins

by adding programs and projects to an already busy schedule. They are mistaken. Too often “busy-ness” is seen as a sign that renewal is occurring, when, in all actuality, this “busy-ness” only leads to “burn out” among those parishioners who are truly

active. Francis believed he was called to rebuild the church at San Damiano with

brick and wood, mortar and stone, when God was truly calling him to rebuild the Universal Church. But

before Francis could attend to that grand task, he had to undergo a conversion within himself. He had to “let go” of everything he knew and believed of the world and step out in faith into the vast unknown, trusting

only that God would lead him. A Scary Proposition indeed! For any Parish renewal to be effective and lasting, every parishioner needs to begin a journey of personal conversion.

We each need to leave our

preconceived notions of what it means to be church behind and step out into the great unknown, trusting that God will show us the way. As we begin a new Liturgical season next year, we will engage ourselves in

just that process. The future of our parish is dependent upon each one of us coming to terms with all that God is asking of us. If we want the parish to thrive, then we have to begin building it stone by stone. We are the stones of

the church. We are the people of God.

November 26, 2017 Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King

FINANCES

INCOME

EXPENSES

November 18-19, 2017 November 16-22, 2017

PARISH COLLECTION Administration 380.40

In Church Mailed In Clergy Residence 39.99

Loose 223.51 -0- Liturgy -0-

Offering 3,868.00 447.00 Religious Education -0-

Holy Days 10.00 5.00 Social Justice -0-

Initial -0- -0- Maintenance 497.99

Dues 143.00 215.00 Deposit to Savings -0-

Debt Reduction 386.00 57.00 Insurance -0-

Holiday Flowers 138.00 43.00 Taxes -0-

TOTAL PARISH COLLECTION

$4,768.51 $767.00 Capital Outlay -0-

DIOCESAN COLLECTIONS Diocesan Collections -0-

Diocesan Collection

26.00 2.00 Debt Service

(Principal + Interest) -0-

TOTAL DIOCESAN

26.00 2.00 School Subsidy -0-

OTHER INCOME TOTAL EXPENSES $918.38

Candles 52.00

Perquisites -0- GENERAL FUND RECAPITULATION

Rental -0- Previous Balance $1,058.61

Donation -0- + Income + 5,615.51

Transfer -0- - Expenses -918.38

TOTAL OTHER INCOME

$52.00 BALANCE FORWARD

$5,755.74

TOTAL INCOME $5,615.51 Your Gift to God

November 18-19, 2017

Over $100.00 0 $20 39

$100.00 2 $16-19 0

$76-99 1 $15 19

$75 2 $11-14 16

$51-74 3 $10 112

$50 6 $6-9 4

$26-49 11 $5 34

$25 18 under $5 22

$21-24 0 Total Envelopes used

289

Is your gift to the parish each week an honest reflection of God’s goodness to you?

Mass Attendance

November 18-19, 2017

People In-Church Collection

Average Offering

per person

4:00 p.m. 147 1,596.51 10.86

5:30 p.m. 58 932.00 16.07

8:00 a.m. 81 945.00 11.67

11:00 a.m.

86 1,295.00 15.06

Total 372 4,768.51 12.82

REMINDER: In order for our parish to remain solvent, the average weekly offering per person MUST equal or be greater than $15.00 consistently.

Votive Offerings

Bread and Wine

Intention Repiscak Family

Offered by Celia & Agnes

Sanctuary Candle

Intention Repiscak Family

Offered by Celia & Agnes

DIOCESAN ASSESSMENTS (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018)

Diocesan

Assessment

School

Assessment

BALANCE

Prior

Balance 0.00 34,646.02 34,646.02

Current

Assessment 81,965.72 59,142.00 141,107.72

Amount

Paid -21,056.00 0.00 -21,056.00

BALANCE DUE

60,909.72 93,788.02 154,697.74

PLEASE NOTE:

We owe $52,174.73 toward the Assessments by November 25th.

PARISH DEBT SERVICE

Parish Loan Amount

Paid

BALANCE

Due

PRINCIPAL 400,000.00 36,102.08 363,897.92

INTEREST 12,000.00 9,900.36 2,099.64

BALANCE 412,000.00 46,002.44 365,997.56

Please Note: The Parish Debt service has been paid

to date. This Account is current.

November 26, 2017 Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King

FROM THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH

.We live in a world in which bigger and better define our expectations for much of life. We have become so enamored by super size, super stars, and high definition that we tend to view life through a lens that so magnifies what we expect out of the world that we tend not to see potential in small things. But as the prophet Zechariah reminds us (Zech 4:10), we should not "despise the day of small things," because God does some of his best work with small beginnings and impossible situations.

It is truly a humbling experience to read back through the Old Testament and see how frail and imperfect all the "heroes" actually are. Abraham, the coward who cannot believe the promise. Jacob, the cheat who struggles with everybody. Joseph, the immature and arrogant teen. Moses, the impatient murderer who cannot wait for God. Gideon, the cowardly Baal-worshipper. Samson, the womanizing drunk. David, the power abusing adulterer. Solomon, the unwise wise man. Hezekiah, the reforming king who could not quite go far enough. And finally, a very young Jewish girl from a small village in a remote corner of a great empire.

It never ceases to amaze me that God often begins with small things and inadequate people. It certainly seems that God could have chosen "bigger" things and "better" people to do His work in the world. Yet if God can use them, and reveal Himself through them in such marvelous ways, it means that He might be able to use me, inadequate, and unwise, and too often lacking in faith that I am. And it means that I need to be careful that I do not in my own self-righteousness put limits on what God can do with the smallest things, the most unlikely of people, in the most hopeless of circumstances. I think that is part of the wonder of the Advent Season.

I am convinced that one of the main purposes of the incarnation of Jesus was to provide hope. While most people today want to talk about the death of Jesus and the Atonement of sins, the early Church celebrated the Resurrection and the hope it embodied. It was a proclamation of a truth that rang throughout the Old Testament, that endings are not always endings but are opportunities for God to bring new beginnings. The Resurrection proclaimed that truth even about humanity’s greatest fear, death itself.

Both the season of Advent and the season of Lent are about hope. It is not just hope for a better day or hope for the lessening of pain and suffering, although that is certainly a significant part of it. It is more about hope that human existence has meaning and possibility beyond our present experiences, a hope that the limits of our lives are not nearly as narrow as we experience them to be. It is not that we have possibility in ourselves, but that God is a God of new things and so all things are possible (Isa 42:9, Mt 19:26, Mk 14:36)

God's people in the first century wanted Him to come and change their oppressive circumstances, and were angry when those immediate circumstances did not change. But that is a short sighted view of the nature of hope. Our hope cannot be in circumstances, no matter how badly we want them or how important they are to us. The reality of human existence, with which the Book of Job struggles, is that God's

people experience that physical existence in the same way that others do. Christians get sick and die, Christians are victims of violent crimes, and Christians are hurt and killed in traffic accidents, bombings, war, and in some parts of the world, famine .

If our hope is only in our circumstances, as we define them to be good or as we want them to be to make us happy, we will always be disappointed. That is why we hope, not in circumstances, but in God. He

has continually, over the span of four thousand years, revealed himself to be a God of newness, of possibility, of redemption, the recovery or transformation of possibility from endings that goes beyond what we can think or even imagine (Eph 3:20). The best example of that is the crucifixion itself, followed by the resurrection. That shadow of the cross falls even over the manger.

Yet, it all begins in the hope that God will come and come again into our world to reveal himself as a God of

newness, of possibility, a God of new things. This time of year we contemplate that hope embodied, enfleshed, incarnated, in a newborn baby, the perfect example of newness, potential, and possibility. During Advent, we groan and long for that newness with the hope, the expectation, indeed the faith, that God will once again be faithful to see our circumstances, to hear our cries, to know our longings for a better world and a whole life (Ex 3:7). And we hope that as he first came as an infant, so he will come again as King!

My experience tells me that those who have suffered and still hope understand far more about God and about life than those who have not. Maybe that is what hope is about: a way to live, not just to survive, but to live authentically amidst all the problems of life with a Faith that continues to see possibility when there is no present evidence of it, just because God is God. That is also the wonder of Advent.

November 26, 2017 Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King

Small Things and Possibilities by Dennis Brachter

www.crivoice.com

WEEKLY CALENDAR

LITURGICAL MINISTRY SCHEDULE December 2-3, 2017 First Sunday of Advent

Server Lector Extraordinary Minister of Communion

4:00 pm Ted Harowicz John Bednarz Ted Harowicz

5:30 pm Rosemary Shedlock Jackie Barkus Rosemary Shedlock

8:00 am Nicholas Kreidler Anna Hudock A.J. Kondracki

11:00 am Manuel Baez Sr. Tina Hanrahan Mimi Tosh

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The Last Week in Ordinary Time November 27-December 3, 2017

Day and Date Time Intention Offered by Events of the Week

Monday, November 27 Weekday

NO Morning Mass Scheduled

Tuesday, November 28 Weekday

8 am All Souls Parish 5:30 pm Choir

Wednesday, November 29 Weekday

8 am Catherine Balko Wendy & Mike Kufel

Thursday, November 30 St. Andrew 8am Robert Domanski

Frank & Maria Buczynski

Noon Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 5 pm Vespers

Friday, December 1 Bl Charles deFoucauld

FIRST FRIDAY

8 am Thomas Flannery Wife & Children First Friday 8 am Mass 6 pm Confessions 6:30 pm Sacred Heart Devotions 7:00 pm Mass 7 pm Frank Germain MOTSH

Saturday, December 2

NO Morning Mass Scheduled

3 pm Confessions

First Sunday of Advent

VIGIL 4:00 pm Joan Skibinski Thieman Mom & Family

9:15 am Faith Formation Dues Envelope

Clergy Collection GIVING TREE

VIGIL 5:30 pm Jennie Worth Dominick Family

SUNDAY 8:00 am Joseph & Josephine

Melman Frank & Camille

Glazenski

SUNDAY 11:00 am Parishioners Pastor

November 26, 2017 Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King