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HOLY COMFORTER CATHOLIC CHURCH
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA May 5, 2013
READINGS FOR MAY 5 - 12
SUNDAY – SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
First Reading: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
Second Reading: Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23
Gospel: John 14:23-29
MONDAY
First Reading: Acts 16:11-15
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 9
Gospel: John 15:26--16:4
TUESDAY
First Reading: Acts 16:22-34
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 138:1-2, 2-3, 7-8
Gospel: John 16:5-11
WEDNESDAY
First Reading: Acts 17:15, 22--18:1
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14
Gospel: John 16:12-15
THURSDAY
First Reading: Acts 1:1-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
Second Reading: Ephesians 1:17-23
Gospel: Luke 24:46-53
FRIDAY
First Reading: Acts 18:9-18
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 47:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Gospel: John 16:20-23
SATURDAY
First Reading: Acts 18:23-28
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 47:2-3, 8-9, 10
Gospel: John 16:23-28
SUNDAY – SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
First Reading: Acts 7:55-60
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 97:1-2, 6-7, 9
Second Reading: Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20
Gospel: John 17:20-26
SAINTS TO REMEMBER
MAY 4-Blessed Michael Giedroyc
5-St. Hilary of Arles
6-Blessed Gerard of Lunei
7-St. Rose Venerini
8-St. Peter of Tarentaise
9-St. Catherine of Bologna
10-St. Damien de Veuster
11-St. Ignatius of Laconi
12-St. Pancras
Offertory for May 4/5: $6,568 Justice & Peace: $190
THIS WEEK’S CALENDAR
SUNDAY (5/5) 7 - 7:45 AM: Reconciliation 8:30 AM - MASS 9:45 AM - First Eucharist Class 11 AM – Children's MASS & May Crowning
MONDAY (5/6) NOON - MASS
TUESDAY (5/7) 10 AM – NOON: Food Pantry NOON - MASS
WEDNESDAY (5/8) 10 AM – NOON: Food Pantry NOON - MASS NOON - AA Meeting
THURSDAY (5/9) 8 AM - MASS NOON - 1 PM: Soup Kitchen
FRIDAY (5/10) 8 AM - MASS 10 AM – NOON: Food Pantry NOON - AA Meeting 6 PM - First Eucharist Rehearsal
SATURDAY (5/11) 8 AM - MASS 1 PM - First Eucharist 3:30 - 4:30 PM - Reconciliation 5 PM – Vigil MASS
SUNDAY (5/5) 7 - 7:45 AM: Reconciliation 8:30 AM - MASS 11 AM – MASS 3:30 PM - Fire Concert
MASS INTENTIONS
Saturday, May 4 5 PM - Members of the Parish
Sunday, May 5 8:30 AM – C. H. Bourke Floyd (Carol & Steve Ham) 11 AM – Peg Campbell
Wednesday, May 9 5 PM - Members of the Parish
Saturday, May 11 5 PM - Ellis Flinn (Angie & Jim Morrisard)
Sunday, May 12 8:30 AM – Members of the Parish 11 AM – Fay Polhill
PREVIEW OF NEXT WEEK'S READINGS
SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
First Reading: Acts 7:55-60 Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit, and described seeing Jesus standing at God's right hand. Then he was dragged away and stoned to death before many witnesses who did not believe his words. Before dying he cried, "Lord, do no hold this sin against them."
Second Reading: Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20 John hears a voice saying, "Remember I am coming soon!" This messenger for Jesus says that he will come to reward those who are deserving. Those who hear the call of the Spirit are encouraged to answer by accepting Jesus.
Gospel: John 17:20-26 Jesus prays for all the people who will believe in him through the words of his disciples. His prayer is that the world will live in unity, with Jesus living in us as he lives in God. Although we have not known God, we know Jesus was sent by God because of his love for us. He prays that this love will live on in all people.
PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR PARISHIONERS
Al Bossi, Peg Sullivan, Monty Chowdhry, Barbara Isak, Pam
Heron, Sgt. Patrick Heron, Pat Heron, Ray Heron, Normand
Auger, Cullen McQuhae, Winifred Smith, Frank Pologruto,
Al Bracuti, Mildred Dudley, Carson & Baylor Wolf, Norman
Bednarcyk, Nicholas Sisman, Pat Rahilly, Mary Ann
Williams, and Amber Eros.
PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES
Barbara Drucker, Opal Joyner, Shawn Larson, Ginny
Mackay, Ian Mackay, Alexandra Mackay, Shelley Anderson,
Scott Painley, Joe Giebel, Dan Birnbaum, Sam DeSalvo, Sue
& Addie Weston, Christine Bentejac, Robey Shifflett, Westin
Byrd, Will Reisinger, Dick White, Sarah Dennison, Nicole
Carpenter, Pam Goines, Paula Goines, Janet Gunther, Charlie
Prebitali, Cindi Switzer, Kelly Hibbs, Hortense Day Lasley,
Jeff Silvester, Robert Rigoni, Michael Ferlan, Logan Carson,
David Doyle, Gary Gaudios, Diane Schmidt, Marc
Cournoyer, Dave Halley, Angie Palmer, Renee Faila, Chick
Wilber, John Sprinkle, Sonny Neal, Harry M. Hall, Jerry G.
Green, Matthew Daughdrill, Clara Hall, Josephine Nampijja,
Wallace Ramp, Bill Drucker, Nicholas, Miranda Pax, Lily
Mehl, Lily Mehl, Gloria Aberg, Katelyn Horne, and Grace
Dawn Wicke.
PLEASE PRAY FOR THOSE SERVING IN OUR MILITARY
Brian Fagan, Jamie Torbet, Mike Eiermann, David Alvey,
Charles G. Ellison, and Eric Emmott.
CHARLOTTESVILLE CATHOLIC SCHOOL www.cvillecatholic.org
BECOME A PART OF CCS: If you would like your child to
learn in a faith-filled, Catholic community with a vigorous
academic curriculum, please consider visiting us in 2013!
Join us in May for our monthly inquiry tour on Wednesday,
May 15th
at 9 AM. This is a wonderful opportunity to visit
the entire school and meet the administration. Applications
for the 2013-2014 school-year continue to be accepted for
grades Pre-K through Eighth grade. Please contact our
Admissions Coordinator, Kim Emmert at 964-0400 or
[email protected] to RSVP for a tour or to
schedule another time to visit Charlottesville Catholic
School. Additionally, you may visit our website to learn
more about Charlottesville Catholic School and how your
family can become a part of our nurturing community.
POSITIONS AT CCS FOR 2013-2014: We are seeking individuals
for the following positions to teach at Charlottesville Catholic
School. For more information please visit our website at
http://www.cvillecatholic.org/about-ccs/join-our-facultystaff/
Spanish Teacher (Middle School & Elementary)
Middle School Science Teacher
Middle School Social Studies Teacher
CCS 100: We invite anyone who values Catholic education in
our community to join the CCS 100. The CCS 100 is a group
of 100 supporters who believe in the mission of
Charlottesville Catholic School and commit to invest a
minimum gift of $1000 per year for three years to advance the
ministry of Charlottesville Catholic School. For more
information about the CCS 100, please contact Patty at
[email protected] or call 964-0400 ext. 311.
NEWS FROM HAITI
Anne Knasel (STA): [email protected]
Ginny Zeller (HC): [email protected]
www.saltadere.org
MAY TRIP TO SALTADERE: Parishioner Bob Fromm leaves for
a visit to our twin parish of St. Michel today. He will work
on the irrigation and the clean water projects. Please keep
him in your prayers.
SPONSORSHIP: A big thank you to all Holy Comforter
Parishioners who sponsored children at the Sunday, April 21
and Saturday, April 27 Masses. When the applications are all
in, Holy Comforter parishioners will have contributed nearly
$5,000 to support the children of St. Michel! Sponsors, you
can view pictures of your sponsored student and update
sponsor contact information through the website. If a
particular sponsor wants their account info sent they can send
an email to [email protected]. If they have
their login information, they can login to their Sponsor Corner
at the top left portion of the webpage at
www.haiti.elchland.net
BI-PARISH HAITI COMMITTEE: The next committee meeting
is May 26th at St. Thomas Aquinas at 1 PM in the
community room. All are invited.
JUSTICE & PEACE
PANTRY: Have you noticed that the price of tuna has gone up,
but the size of the can has gone down? This makes any
donations of tuna that you can make really important! There
are families in this area who really depend on us for help.
Please put a couple of cans of Holy Comforter tuna in your
cart the next time you go shopping.
ADDITIONAL ITEMS OF INTEREST
LEAP HOME ENERGY EFFICIENCY PRESENTATION: Join our
Local Energy Alliance Program for a workshop on how you
can make your home more energy-efficient and be a better
steward of God's creation! Topics include understanding your
home, weatherization, DIY energy efficiency, and debunking
common home energy myths. The workshop will take place
from 10:30-11:30am on Sunday, May 5, in the conference
room at the Church of the Incarnation (1465 Incarnation
Drive - behind Toys-R-Us). Hope to see you there!
JOIN FR. EDWARD HATAHWAY this SEPTEMBER: Join Fr.
Hathaway on a pilgrimage to the story book Island of Malta.
Make a special journey during the Year of Faith to one of the
most Catholic countries in the world. Where St. Paul was
shipwrecked and the Knights of St. John defended Europe
from the Ottoman Turks. Explore the Baroque city of
Valletta built by the Knights and the ancient walled city of
Medina. Then travel to the island of Gozo, once known to the
world as the Island of Calypso in Homer's Odyssey. The rich
history and Catholic traditions of these Mediterranean Islands
are known throughout Christendom. Tour dates: Sept. 6 –
14th
, 2013. For further details contact Bill Williams at:
[email protected] or visit: www.maltaseas.com for tour
details and registration.
FREE CONCERT: Fire, a Charlottesville-based women's a
cappella chamber ensemble whose members share both a
desire to live lives grounded in the Divine and a great joy in
singing well together, will perform Sunday afternoon, May
12th at 3:30 PM at Holy Comforter Catholic Church. The
event is free, and everyone is invited. Any offerings will
benefit PACEM.
FROM THE PASTOR
SOME LIGHT ON THE CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS (CONTINUED):
DEVOTION TO THE SAINT (I believe in the communion of saints). After confessing "the holy Catholic Church," the Apostles' Creed adds "the communion of saints." In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: "What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?" The communion of saints is the Church. So Vatican II points out that, “The cult of the Saints, especially of the martyrs, is an ancient ecclesial phenomenon, that is rooted in the Scriptures (cf. Act 7, 54-60; Acts 6, 9-11; 7, 9-17) and the practice of the Church of the first half of the second century(265). Both Eastern and Western Churches have always venerated the Saints” (VSNo.208).
The ultimate object of veneration of the Saints is the glory of God and the sanctification of man by conforming one's life fully to the divine will and by imitating the virtue of those
who were preeminent disciples of the Lord. The most important form of honoring the saints, to which all the other forms are related, is the imitation of them in their relationship with God. Paul wrote extensively about the importance of spiritual imitation. He stated: "I urge you, then, be imitators of me. Therefore I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church" (1 Cor. 4:16–17). Later he told the same community: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you" (1 Cor. 11:1–2). The author of the book of Hebrews also stresses the importance of imitating true spiritual leaders: "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith" (Heb. 13:7).
Both the Liturgy and popular piety attach great importance to the feast days assigned to the Saints as a way of showing devotion to the saint. So that by the life and voices of these friends of God, we may live our lives in conformity to the gospel values. The "Saint's day" is marked with numerous displays, some liturgical, others deriving from popular piety. It is always necessary to ensure that the feast days of the Saints are carefully prepared both liturgically and pastorally to help the faithful deepen their faith in God.
The saints are honored and venerated in a variety of ways in Catholic and Orthodox churches. One well-known form of devotion to the saints is the use of icons and statues. Statues of saints are often found in churches, homes, and sometimes even on car dashboards. Pictures of saints are also placed in churches and homes, as well as on holy cards, religious medals, and various other objects.
Common rituals to the saints include kneeling in prayer before these statues, touching or kissing them, gazing at them in contemplation, or simply using them as teaching tools. Before modern times, icons and images (such as stained glass windows) were an important source of knowledge for illiterate churchgoers, and they still act as a supplement to hearing sermons and reading.
Special prayers are also said through the saints, commonly as part of church services. One such prayer is the Litany of the Saints. The following is an excerpt from the Contemporary Litany: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. etc---Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us. St. Michael, pray for us .St. John the Baptist, pray for us. Etc--
Another form of veneration is the novena, a short prayer said each day for nine consecutive days prior to a particular saint's feast day. It is hoped that praying novenas will lead to a special blessing on the feast day. All in all devotion to the saints, devotion to Jesus and Mary help us, focus on Christ, who He is and what He did for us and to persevere in our faith imitating those faithful who have gone before us. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-3).
To be continued.
Formation NoteS
Dear Friends,
May is Mary’s Month. May-time has been dedicated to the veneration of Jesus’ mother since the late 1300’s. In
the Renaissance, May Marian devotions became particularly popular among Jesuits, eventually
developing into a public celebration at the Gesu Church
in Rome.
Properly speaking, God is beyond all human categories, including gender. Marian devotions, however, allow us
to reflect upon and to contemplate specifically feminine
engagements with the divine. Marian devotions as they have developed through the centuries resonate with
ancient understandings of woman’s role in creation, worship and transcendence.
Marian devotions are traditionally felt to guide and
inspire us, helping us to understand what it means to
serve God, to understand the love involved in a selfless gift of our lives. And although the calendar of the Easter
Season shifts, May – Mary’s Month – largely corresponds with the last part of Easter’s fifty days. As
we journey toward Pentecost, we venerate the Blessed
Mother in special ways, and learn to listen more carefully to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. For the
Holy Spirit, that face of God that enlivens us on our Feast Day, is central to our understanding of Mary, and
her role in bringing God into our world.
The ongoing presence of Mary among us strikes deep
human chords in our psyches as well as our histories. Consider the nearly 500 Black Madonnas located
throughout Europe, often in churches built on land honored long before the birth of Christendom as
anciently holy sites. At least 180 Vierges Noires exist in
France alone. My dear favorite is the Mary and child seated in the tiny Merci Chapel of Rocamadour. All over
the chapel are tacked small wooden signs saying “Merci,” or Thank You, for blessings received in
response to petitions humbly sought in her presence. As
another example, consider the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, an image central to the spirituality of
John Paul II, and a clear inspiration for his personal Marian devotions over the years. These ancient, solemn
images, wrought in dark wood, reverberate in our hearts when we pray before them, for reasons we don’t
quite rationally understand.
Consider the labyrinth on the floor of the Chartres
Cathedral that allows pilgrims when they walk it a state of Marian awareness – grace? – with the Chartres Black
Madonna watching nearby. Although the Cathedral
changes its schedule every year, many Mays, it clears
its floors of chairs, so that pilgrims may walk the
labyrinth unencumbered. Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe – our calendar is full of
reminders that Mary continues to exert her presence in our world. In May, we are granted a more extended
period of time to absorb and reflect upon her transcendent role.
Here at Holy Comforter, we celebrate the first Sunday of May at the 11 o’clock mass with a May crowning. Our
younger children aged roughly 3-7, led by this year’s First Eucharist class, will begin the mass procession
singing Salve Regina. Our Mary altar, which stands for
the entire month of May, will receive the offering of their flowers, and a crown placed gently on her head by
our own Faustina Blumenfeld.
Elizabeth M. Kelly, writing in her book May Crowning, Mass and Merton: 50 Reasons I Love Being Catholic, describes a Marian Coronation as her first and most
beloved early Catholic memory. “I wish that all children were welcomed into the fold of Catholic faith with the
innocence and tenderness of singing seraphim, with a mother of mercy and love.”
Amen. (Which as the First Eucharist students now know means the very large Yes we say to God.)
What blessings we share in our community.
Thank you for this year.
Dawn
Please join me in praying for our children who will
receive their First Holy Communion this month: Sophia Rain Bombardieri, Madeline Colavincenzo, Wilson
Francis, Harry Mitchell, and Simon Wray.
Pray with me also for our young men and women who
receive the sacrament of Confirmation this month: Adam Bailey, Emma Colavincenzo, Amanda Dagg, Kate
Edson, Lucy Emery, Emily Fivek, Joanna Kammauff,
Wade Kammauf, Connor Patrick Mason, and Alec Yost. Upcoming
Feast Day Pentecost Potluck! Start thinking about
what you will bring to our community celebration after the 11 o’clock mass on May 19th. We will honor our
Christian formation students, our catechists, our
volunteers, and ourselves - with lots of food and drink and possibly dancing. (I work on it.)
Summer Saints Camp – dates are not yet set, but
pencil in Saints Camp for your children this summer, a week in which we sing, study, craft and plan for our All
Saints Pageant this fall! (And other things, too.)
