Rev. Tom Kunnel, C.O.

Administrator

frtomkunnel@gmail.com

Deacon John Cunningham

Deacon Robert Pang

Kathleen Dunn

Religious Education Director

May Pang

Parish Admin: maysoohoo@optonline.net

MASSES

Saturday: 5:00 PM

Sunday: 8:00 AM, 10:30 AM

1:00 PM (Spanish)

Weekdays: 8:00 AM

Saturday: 9:00 AM

Holy Days: As Announced

Rectory

Mon – Fri 10:15 AM – 4:00 PM

Sat 10 AM – 12 Noon (Spanish)

St. John the Baptist R. C. Church 895 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, New York 10968

www.stjohnspiermont.org stjohnspiermont@optonline.net 845-359-0078

January 17, 2016

“Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful” Lk 6:36

Dear Parish Family,

Weddings are memorable occasions in every cul-ture. One of the most widely known weddings of all time is the wedding at Cana in Galilee around 30 AD. We do not the name of the couple who

married, but we do know the names of two of the guests. They were Mary from Nazareth and her son Jesus. The reason why wedding is most famous is due to the fact that Jesus produces a huge surplus of wine – about 520 liters of choice wine! Weddings in the Holy Land were celebrated for a whole week; the entire town took part, and consequently much wine was consumed. Now the bride and groom find themselves in trouble, and Mary simply says this to Jesus. “They have no wine!” The miracle that follows becomes a sign: God lavishly spends himself for the lowly creature, man. The superabundance of Cana is therefore a sign that God’s feast with humanity, his self-giving for man, has begun. The liturgical remembrance of the wedding of Cana causes us to remember what Christ has done for marriage. God created this institution in the beginning as one of the greatest blessings a human being could share, and like everything in creation, God pronounced it good. But Christ did something more during his earthly life. He took this institution, good and created by him from the begin-ning, and raised it to the dignity of a sacrament, something that would also confer his own life, and bring us closer to him, closer to happiness, closer to holiness, closer to heaven. Through the sacrament of marriage, which Chris-tians can receive, Christ remains with the couple just as assuredly as he was with the couple in Cana. Marriage is part of God's plan for creation and part of God's plan for our salvation and we must treasure marriage and defend it whenever it comes under attack. We are now in the midst of a heated debate about what marriage is. In the sacred Scripture God makes it very clear what marriage is. If Jesus were to testify before our legislators about the meaning of marriage, I think he could use the very same words that he used in St. Mat-thew's Gospel. "Have you not read that in the beginning God 'made them male and female,' and said, 'for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." In this teaching of Jesus -- who is the Truth incarnate, who is our Creator and knows how and for what the human person is made, who loved all of us enough to die out of love for us -- we see definitive teachings that are relevant to our debate: a) "In the beginning, God made them male and female." There is great mean-ing to our masculinity and femininity in God's plan. God didn't clone Adam, but made Eve, who was equal to him in dignity, but complementary. b) "For this reason a man shall leave his mother and father and cling to his wife." God's plan is not that a man leaves his parents and clings to whomever he wants, but to cling to a wife. c) "The two shall become one flesh." "What God has joined together, man must not divide." Much beyond a legal contract, marriage is a covenantal rela-tionship where God is a contracting party. Sex was his idea and plan. He fixed the boundaries of marriage for our own happiness as well as for our salvation, to teach us how to love according to the nature he gave us. “Today many people are afraid of making definitive decisions that affect them for all their lives,” Pope Francis reflected in a homily recently, “because it seems impossible and this mentality leads many who are preparing for mar-riage to say, 'We will stay together for as long as our love lasts.’” “What do we mean by 'love'?” posed the Pope, asking if it is a “mere emotion, a psycho-physical state?” and stating that if so, “it cannot provide the founda-tion for building something solid.” However, if a relationship is “a growing reality,” then we build it “in the same way that we build a house,” the Holy Father said, “And we build a house together, not alone!” “We must not allow ourselves to be conquered by a ‘throwaway culture,’” emphasized the Pope, stating that “this fear of 'forever'” is only “cured by entrusting oneself day by day to the Lord Jesus in a life that becomes a daily spiritual path of common growth, step by step.” The presence of Jesus and Mary at Cana made all the difference in that marriage and it is true of every Christian marriage.

Fr. Tom Kunnel C.O.

THE SANCTUARY LAMP

Is Being Offered this week In Memory of

Anthony Sassano

By Angie Sassano

Please remember in your prayers the Sick and/or Homebound of our Parish Family. Theresa Veen, John Miraglia, Bill Stein, Francis and Mary Conka, Sr., John Set (Deacon Bob Pang’s uncle), Gerri Sherwood, Ginny Tercer, Marcelo Giuliante, Connie Lynch, Mary Nerger (Helen Spagnolo’s niece), Elizabeth Flynn (Msgr Mulligan’s cousin), Caroline Kelly (M.Oslica’s niece), Nick Bruni, Willy Lonieski. As a Parish Family, let us remember in our prayers all our beloved departed members of our Parish Community, Maureen Collazuol), For-tuna Maney (sister of Lucy Bosco), George Sco-field (father of Amy Ramundo), Anne Di Frances-ca, Bo Di Francesca, Catherine Lesica, (mother of Carol Conklin-Spillane). Eileen Keane PLEASE ADVISE THE RECTORY (359-0078) WHENEVER A PARISHIONER BECOMES HOMEBOUND, ILL, OR HOSPITALIZED SO ARRANGEMENTS CAN BE MADE FOR A PRIEST, DEACON OR EUCHARISTIC MINISTER TO VISIT AND BRING COMMUNION TO THEM.

Sat 1/16 5:00 PM Robert Celona by Marian & Joseph Chimenti

Sun 1/17

8:00 AM Magnolia Velez

10:30 AM Paul Hess by Pat & Rosemarie Miele

Mon 1/18 8:00 AM Bernard Rogan by CDA

Tue 1/19 8:00 AM Paula San Diego by Felina Bacungan

Wed 1/20 8:00 AM Fortuna Maney by Bazala Family

Thu 1/21 8:00 AM Mickey DeTemple by Jean DeLongis

Fri 1/22 8:00 AM Maria Gabriella Bruno By Mildred Oslica

Sat 1/23

9:00 AM Fortuna Maney

5:00 PM Glenn Messner

Sun 1/24

8:00 AM Florence Simone by Ted Simone

10:30 AM Ann Di Francesca by Isabell & Frank Cleff

We have no classes this week due to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. observance. Next Sunday is our January Family Mass at 10:30 am. Please be sure to join us for this wonderful liturgy. English classes begin on that Sunday at 9:45 am.

Have a blessed week!

Mercy is love for people in need I can show mercy in thought, word and deed.

Whenever I’m gentle, Whenever I share

I act like you, Jesus! You help me to care!

LITURGICAL MINISTERS - JANUARY 23-24

Day Time Lectors Eucharistic Ministers Altar Servers

16-Jan 5:00 PM Carol Conklin-Spillane Brian Spillane Gabriel, Peter Ramundo Hannah Ramundo

17-Jan

8:00 AM Sal Caruana Lucy Bosco Shane Cawley , Brooke, Hailey Comito 10:30 AM CCD Student Gerrry Cal rone

Derek Gazze a 1:00 PM Carlos Hernandez Natalia Lemus Michael Perez Merlene Lemus Kelly Perez Mario Zamora Dayanna Garcia Hilda Alarcon

Oliver Young

Sun 1/17

5:30AM Spanish Morning Prayer

9:30AM Spanish RCIA

11AM Baptism Prep Spanish

11:30AM Legion of Maria

7PM AA Meeting

Mon 1/18 1PM CDA Knitting

Tue 1/19

1PM CDA Meeting

7PM Altar Server Prep and Practice

7PM Spanish Baptism Prep

7PM Scripture Study Group

7PM Spanish Committee Leader Mtg

7PM Bible Study Spanish

Wed 1/20 7PM Spanish Choir Practice

Thu 1/21

1PM CDA Knitting

7PM Rios de Agua Viva Group

7PM Spanish Choir Practice

Fri 1/22

10AM Fri Renew Group

7PM Youth Group

7PM Spanish Prayer Group

Sat 1/23 4:15PM Music Rehearsal

W E E K I N F O C U S

1/10 #20 Harry Gibbs

Collection for 1/10 $3951

Pro - Life Buses to Washington

Friday, Jan 22

Come and walk for the sake

of the unborn!

Buses will leave at

6:00 AM from:

St. Augustine in New City

Sacred Heart in Suffern

Albertus HS (Students only)

And depart from DC around 6PM

Adults : $30 Students $15

Payments and Reservations

by Jan 13

Call (845) 634-6885, (845) 492-6709,

(845) 735-4379 or

(845) 425-1322 (para espanol)

RocklandRT.org

Congratulations and Welcome to Jith Joseph

She came into full

communion with the Roman Catho-lic Church last weekend through the

R.C.I.A. program.

300 Club

Men’s Club are Hosting

Annual Pancake Breakfast

Sunday, Janary 24

After 10:30 AM Family Mass Suggested donation $5.00 Adults

Free for children under 8 free

All are Welcome !

Sunday Supper Volunteers Wanted

Volunteers are needed for Sunday Supper in Nyack five Sundays this year to cook and serve meals to the needy from 3:00—6:30 or any time you can give during those hours. I t is not necessary to attend all 5. To volunteer or for more information please contact Lee McGarvey, leemcgarvey@optonline.net, 845-365-3950

Congratulations, if you are cele-brating your golden wedding Anni-versary this year!

If you would like to renew your vows and receive a special blessing at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, please contact May at the rectory.

The Special Mass will be on the weekend of June 25 / 26. Registra-tion will begin end of February.

In Memory of Eileen Keane

Feb. 2 1936—Jan 8, 2016 Her funeral Mass was held at St. John’s on Tues-day, January 12, 2016 celebrated by Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan. May Eileen rest in peace and rejoice as the angels welcome her to the Lord’s House.

Catholic disciples on mission are called to put Two Feet of Love in Action! This foundational tool describes two distinct, but com-plementary, ways we can put the Gospel in action in response to God's love: social jus-tice (addressing systemic, root causes of problems that affect many people) and charitable works (short-term, emergency assistance for individuals).

Social Justice . We step with this foot when we work to address

the root causes of problems facing

our communities by advocating for

just public policies and helping to change the social structures that con-

tribute to suffering and injustice at

home and around the world.

Charitable Works are our "response to immediate needs and specific situations: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for and healing the sick, visiting those in prison, etc." (Deus Caritas Est, no. 31). We step with the Charitable Works foot when we work to aid or assist others both locally and globally to meet their immediate, short-term needs. Examples include engaging in direct service or providing food, clothing, shelter, or monetary assis-tance to help those in need.

LECTURAS DE HOY: (Isaías 62:1-5; Salmo 95; 1 Corintios 12:4-11; Juan 2:1-11

LECTURAS DE LA SEMANA

Lunes: 1 Sm 15:16-23; Sal 49:8-9, 16bc-17, 21, 23; Mc 2:18-22 Martes: 1 Sm 16:1-13; Sal 88:20-22, 27-28; Mc 2:23-28 Miércoles: 1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51; Sal 143:1b, 2, 9-10; Mc 3:1-6 Jueves: 1 Sm 18:6-9; 19:1-7; Sal 55:2-3, 9-13; Mc 3:7-12 Viernes: 1 Sm 24:3-21; Sal 56:2-4, 6, 11; Mc 3:13-19, o cualquiera de lecturas para el Día de Oración Sábado: 2 Sm 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27; Sal 79:2-3, 5-7; Mc 3:20-21 Domingo: Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; Sal 19 (18):8-10, 15; 1 Cor 12:12-30 [12-14, 27]; Lc 1:1-4; 4:14-21

SORPRESAS

La vida está llena de sorpresas, algunas agradables, otras no. La Sagrada Escritura está llena de relatos sobre las sorpresas de Dios que surgen donde menos se es-peran: los hijos más jóvenes reciben la herencia, a los más humildes se les dan los sitios de honor; un predicador itinerante, condenado a morir como un criminal, es ex-altado hacia la gloria celestial eterna.

Cualquiera que haya planificado una boda o cele-bración similar sabe que está llena de oportunidades para que surjan sorpresas. Para el novio (el cual, en el relato bíblico, no tiene contacto directo con Jesús) la agradable sorpresa vino porque otra persona había prestado atención y tenía fe en Jesús.

A lo mejor pensamos que la lección de la conocida historia de las bodas de Caná es que cuando tenemos fe en Jesús, nuestra vida cambiará positivamente. Sin em-bargo, un cristiano necesita tener una perspectiva más amplia, y darse cuenta que tener fe en Cristo implica que la vida de alguien –sea la tuya, sea la de otra persona– va a mejorarse sorpresivamente.

TRADICIONES DE NUESTRA FE

En 1502 el fraile Nicolás de Ovando y doce francisca-nos dieron inicio a la evangelización de América en la Re-pública Dominicana. Ellos fueron enviados por los reyes españoles con el mandato de convertir a los nativos “sin les hacer fuerza alguna”.

Con los misioneros llegaron Alfonso y Antonio Trejo quienes traían con ellos un cuadro de la Virgen María bajo la advocación de Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia. Ellos la llevaron a Higuey, donde en 1572 se le construyó su pri-mer santuario. Poco a poco esta pequeña imagen se con-virtió en la Reina del corazón de los dominicanos.

María observa dulcemente a su recién nacido quien yace sobres las pajas. Está coronada y lleva puesto un manto azul rociado de estrellas y un escapulario blanco. Lleva una aureola hecha de doce estrellas. En una esquina de la imagen san José también observa al niño por encima del hombro derecho de María.

El 25 de enero del 1979 Juan Pablo II la coronó por ser la primera evangelizadora del continente Americano. Con ella los doce misioneros trajeron la Alta Gracia de Jesucristo a nuestras tierras.

Para los cursos pre-bautismales llamar a: Alex Aguilar 845-480-1502 y Natalia Lemus 845-480-1682. Los cursos se dan previa cita los martes 7pm y domingos 11am.

Agradecemos a Dios por los 17 años de bendiciones. Damos las gra-cias a todos los que nos ha ayudado a dar gloria y alabanza a Dios.

M I N I S T R I E S & C H A I R P E R S O N S O F O U R P A R I S H

Buildings & Grounds Pat Miele, Alex Aguilar, Paul Johnson Deanery Maureen O’Connell Eucharistic Adoration Dcn Robert Pang Health Mary Loftus Hispanic Community Micaelina Maldonado/ Geny Aguilar Hospitality Robin Miller Men’s Club Bill Loftus. Ralph Olsen Ushers Jake Miraglia Music Chris & Carolyn Yates Ted Simone Spanish Choir Carlos Cerna Outreach Maria Nest Parish Council William Gorman Parish Worship Dcn John Cunningham Religious Education Kathleen Dunn RCIA Dcn Robert Pang, Jose Bolaños Right to Life Scott Giblin Social Kelli Chilson Spiritual Life Johanna Krumm St. Vincent De Paul Fr. Tom Kunnel

P A R I S H C O U N C I L

Kelli Chilson, Kathleen Dunn, Bill Gorman Paul Johnson, Andrew Lee, Martina Lynch, Cruz Molina, Maria Nest , Ralph Olsen, May Pang, Amy Ramundo,

Carolyn Yates, Janet Zahn

T R U S T E E S Phil McCartin James Pontone

Our Sacramental Life

We celebrate Baptism: Please call the Rectory well in advance of the expected day of Baptism to arrange an appointment for an interview. Pre-baptismal meeting for parents is required. We require all Baptismal families to be registered at St. John’s. Godpar-ents must be confirmed, practicing Catholics. Generally Baptisms are celebrated the third Sunday of each month at 12:00 pm. We celebrate Reconciliation: Confessions are heard from 4:30-5:00 pm on Saturday. You may also make an appointment with one of the priests. Spanish confessions is available 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month and from 12:30 –1:00 PM on Sundays. We celebrate Marriage: Marriages should be arranged at least six months in ad-vance. Participation in Pre-Cana is essential. Please call the Rectory to schedule an appointment with one of the priests. We celebrate Anointing of the Sick: Planning to enter the hospital for elective surgery or other serious treatment, and for those who have need of spiritual healing. In an emergency, call the Rectory at any time. We celebrate Holy Orders: Any gentleman interested in exploring the question of voca-tion to the priesthood or the permanent diaconate should contact Fr. Tom Kunnel. We would also be happy to direct anyone interested in living their lives as Religious Sisters or Brothers. We celebrate the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults: We welcome you to full membership in the life of the Church. The instruction for Baptism, Confirmation and Eu-charist for adults. If interested please contact Dcn Robert Pang.

Parish Registration: All adults (over age 21) should register in the parish themselves and should use enve-lopes or parishpay.com. Tithing is 5% of income. This registration is our only means of certifying anyone as a member of the parish, especially for Baptism and Con-firmation sponsorship letters and for scheduling Bap-tisms and Weddings.

T h e M o s t R e v e r e n d D e n n i s J . S u l l i v a n i s t h e e i g h t h b i s h o p o f C a m d e n , N e w J e r s e y . H e w a s i n s t a l l e d o n F e b r u a r y 1 2 , 2 0 1 3 .

A B r o n x n a t i v e , B i s h o p S u l l i v a n w a s o r -d a i n e d a p r i e s t f o r t h e A r c h d i o c e s e o f N e w Y o r k i n 1 9 7 1 . B e f o r e c o m i n g t o C a m d e n , h e w a s o r d a i n e d a s a n a u x i l i a r y b i s h o p f o r t h e a r c h d i o c e s e i n 2 0 0 4 , a n d s e r v e d e i g h t y e a r s a s v i c a r g e n e r a l u n d e r t h e l a t e E d w a r d C a r -d i n a l E g a n a n d T i m o t h y C a r d i n a l D o l a n .

Bishop D e n n i s J . S u l l i v a n v i s i t e d S t . J o h n ’ s o n

1 2 J a n u a r y a n d p r e s i d e d o v e r t h e f u n e r a l o f

Eileen Keane