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Th
irty
-Fir
st S
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day
of
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inar
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ime
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er
5,
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“The greatest among you must be
your servant. Whoever exalts himself
will be humbled; but whoever humbles
himself will be exalted.”
Saint Agnes Catholic Church Arlington, Virginia
T h i r t y - F i r s t S u n d a y o f O r d i n a r y T i m e
P a r i s h I n f o r m a t i o n
Parish Clergy Pastor: Rev. Frederick H. Edlefsen
Parochial Vicar: Rev. Richard A. Miserendino
In residence: Rev. Cedric M. Wilson, O.S.A.
In residence: Rev. Thomas Nguyen
Parish Office 1910 N. Randolph Street • Arlington, VA 22207-3046
Office Hours: M-F 8:00am– 4:00pm
Phone: 703-525-1166 • Fax: 703-243-2840
Website: www.saintagnes.org
Parish Office Personnel
Inquiries : [email protected]
Business Manager: Meg McKnight ([email protected])
Director of Development, Outreach, and Communications:
Amber Roseboom ([email protected])
Facilities Manager: Katie Howell ([email protected])
Program Coordinator, Protection of Children:
Joan Biehler ([email protected])
Coordinator of Adoration, Security & Logistics:
Michael Sirotniak ([email protected])
Accounting: Lucy Estrada ([email protected])
Administrative Assistant: Ligia Santos ([email protected])
Ministry Assistant: Nicole Hendershot ([email protected])
Religious Education Office Director (DRE): Bernadette Michael ([email protected])
Administrative Asssistant: Marie Macnamara ([email protected])
Phone: 703-527-1129
Youth and Young Adult Ministry Coordinator: Fr. Rich Miserendino ([email protected])
Liturgical Music Director of Music: Laura Cooman ([email protected])
Director, Saint Agnes Ensemble: Richard Lolich
School 2024 N. Randolph Street • Arlington, VA 22207-3031
Phone: 703-527-5423 • Fax 703-525-4689
Principal: Kristine Carr ([email protected])
Assist. Principal: Jennifer Kuzdzal ([email protected])
Liturgy at Saint Agnes
Sunday Mass Saturday: 5:00pm
Sunday: 7:30am, 9:00am, 10:30am (High Mass) , 12:00pm
Holy Days: as announced
Weekday Mass
Monday – Friday: 6:30am , 9:00am (Rosary after 9am Mass) Saturday: 7:30am , 9:00am (Rosary after 9am Mass)
Monday: 7:00pm (in Spanish)
Sacrament of Penance
Saturday 8:00am—9:00am; 3:00pm–4:00pm or by appointment
This Week’s Mass Intentions
November Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
M 6 Thirty-First Monday in Ordinary Time
6:30 am Edward Daigneau (Clark Family)
9:00 am Everett Doerrer (Daniel Hickey)
T 7 Thirty-First Tuesday in Ordinary Time
6:30 am Dolores Rehula (Victor Rehula, III)
9:00 am Marion Giaimo (Barbara Koones)
W 8 Thirty-First Wednesday in Ordinary Time
6:30 am Millie Wilson (Byrnes Family)
9:00 am Deceased Residents of Cherrydale (Prayer Group)
Th 9 The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
6:30 am Rubi McMahon (Robert Hunt)
9:00 am Loretta Baldwin (Carol Mack)
F 10 St. Leo the Great, Pope, Doctor
6:30 am Rose Randolph (Ford Family)
9:00 am Louise Moriarty (Irene Brown)
Sa 11 Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop
7:30 am Lori Griffin Cogdill (Czerewko Family)
9:00 am Military Service Members (St. Agnes Parish)
Vigil Thirty-Second Sunday Ordinary Time
5:00 pm Hugh Montgomery (Michael Family)
Su 29 Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
7:30 am John Pope (Pirozzoli Fmaily)
9:00 am Nancy M. Sutherland (Carr Family)
10:30 am Pastor’s intention: For all parishioners
12:00 pm Frank Yacovelli (Matthew Buonocore)
indicates person is deceased
Sunday Mass Readings:
Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary time MAL 1:14B-2:2B, 8-10; PS 131:1, 2, 3;
1 THES 2:7B-9, 13; MT 23:1-12
Christian Death
Pastor’s Column — Rev. Frederick Edlefsen
It’s a privilege to accompany a dying person.
Whether it’s a peaceful or painful death is not the
issue. It’s a privilege to pray with, listen to,
comfort or just be present with a dying person.
We need not be scandalized by the indignities of a
failing body. We will face the same fate. So we
must patiently “do unto others” as we would
have others do unto us. A Christian ought to
understand this: death and the stench of death
are the wages of Adam’s sin and every sin
thereafter. Pleasure and the blossoms of youth are
fleeting. “Today, while the blossoms still cling to
the vine….” They are relics of a shipwreck, said
G.K. Chesterton. We ought to be grateful to God
that a few barrels of wine have washed up on the
shore of this savage desert island. But where sin
and the wages of sin abound, grace abounds all
the more (Romans 5:20). Hence, a Christian
doesn’t resent suffering. Nor resent God. Death,
we know, is a mystical moment – for the dying
person and the loved ones. Christ died to conquer
death – our death.
Once upon a time, people would gather around a
deathbed and attentively keep vigil to see if the
dying person would have a vision, say something
prophetic or utter a final message. I recall reading
a memoir, written by an ancestor about a century
ago, of a relative’s death in New Orleans. The
diary said that the eyes of the dying person
seemed fixated on a sight beyond time. The dying
woman uttered a joyful groan and smiled when
her soul departed. The attending priest, wrote the
diarist, surmised that she had a vision of someone
in Heaven. Of course, we can never be totally sure
of what’s going on. But there’s something to be
said for attentively reading the ambiguous
gestures and words of a dying person.
Interrupting death’s musings with nonsensical
comments like, “Oh, come on ma’! When you’re
Thirty-First Sunday of
Ordinary Time
Pastor’s Column
Continued
better, we’ll order out Chinese,” or “When you’re
up and at it again, grandpa’, we’ll head to the
condo in Boca Raton.” The dying person will not
be convinced. “Guess what dad! CVS and Aetna
are merging! You always said they should do
that!” “Hey grandma’, Bobby got a new
Weimaraner!” Stop it. You’re only annoying your
dying loved one, if they’re paying attention. Be
quiet. Be present. Listen attentively. Death is a
solemn moment. It can teach us how to handle
solemnity. As in a liturgy, perhaps there’s cryptic
wisdom in death’s musing. If you listen, you may
detect the beginnings of their judgment, or their
Purgatory. Their mind may wander through past
events or regrets, or express desires for God, or
reconciliation, or lament the world’s evils and
injustices. The person might worry about undone
tasks or ordinary things that were on their mind.
When they go on like that, we need not make too
many comments. Rather, do this: Tell the dying
person that we’ll give everything over to God.
And then say the Rosary and the Litany of Saints.
Without a doubt, this will console the dying
person.
Dying can be painful. For some, the mind doesn’t
seem lucid or penitent at all, but more like
hallucinating. To be sure, this is not necessarily an
indication of anything unholy or of the soul’s lack
of concern for God. Rather, it may just be that the
Holy Spirit is not revealing anything on the
psychological or physical level. A person in ICU
or hospice may be hooked up to tubes and wires
and a mask so that there’s no opportunity for
them to say or do anything aloud, even if they
could. A person suffering from a painful
condition may just groan or be too weak to even
murmur. That’s OK. The graces that God gives
a dying person need not be apparent. We should
accept these difficulties as providential, as we
comfort the dying person to the best of our ability.
These experiences conceal God’s hidden Wisdom.
It’s hard to see wires and masks strapped to a
fading loved one. The loss of appetite, the
embarrassment and stench of incontinence, and
the need to be cleaned by a nurse can add to grief.
But these are graced moments that God offers us
to purify our own souls and perfect our patience
and charity. When death finally comes, at the
time of God’s bidding, it can be as much a relief as
a grief. It’s a disconsolate paradox for us who
remain, leaving us impervious to comforting
words. If grieving loved ones ask “Why?” in
times like these, it’s usually best to say little, or
better yet, nothing – except for reciting the Rosary
and the Litany of the Saints.
If the dying person is Catholic, call a priest. Don’t
wait until the last minute. Believe it or not, the
priest is bound by the Laws of Physics and the
Laws of Traffic and cannot get from “there to
here” in a flash, like in Star Trek. Moreover, your
request is probably not the only thing
preoccupying him when you call. So call him in
advance. Also, it’s best for a terminally ill person
to make a Confession while still lucid, if possible.
Even if the dying person is not lucid or cannot
speak, the priest can just tell them to privately
acknowledge their sins and ask God’s forgiveness
as he gives them Absolution. After giving
Absolution, the priest should give Apostolic
Pardon, which may be recited by him in these
words: “By the authority granted me by the
Apostolic See, I grant you a full pardon and
remission of all your sins, in the name of the
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
That’s an indulgence given by the Church, via the
priest, to a dying person who is in a state of grace.
If the dying person is properly disposed, the need
for purgatory is remitted. Then, the dying person
should receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of
the Sick. If the person can swallow, the priest can
give them Last Holy Communion, known as
Viaticum (which means, in Latin, “I go with
you”). Then, we must let the dying person go,
notwithstanding the care that we are obliged to
give them. Death is something that only they can
do. Bid them farewell by making a cross on the
forehead. Only Christ can accompany the soul
when it leaves the body. Christ died for them.
Let Him take it from there. He will accompany
them through the tunnels of death into the Light
of the Father’s Face and the Truth of Judgment.
I recall a man cancerously laying on his deathbed,
yellow skin clinging to his bones. His face was
mean as a demon. He told me to go away because
“God would never forgive” his sins. He defiantly
shouted, “I’m going to Hell!” “Would you like to
confess your sins?” nervously replied my newly
ordained soul. He growled as I asked everyone
to leave the room. He confessed. He was anointed.
He took Communion. Two days later, I visited
him. He firmly gripped my hand. Defying his
frailty, he awkwardly sat up and said, “I don’t
know why I waited sixty years to confess my sins.
I’m going to Heaven.” He let go of my hand and
relapsed onto the pillow. Peace! It’s amazing
what a few rites, clumsily cited by a nervous
junior priest fumbling through a little green book
feebly entitled “Pastoral Care of the Sick,” can do.
The man died a day or two later.
From the priest’s perspective, giving the Last Rites
reminds him of what his priesthood is really
about. That’s been my experience. Death
reminds me that I’m not a wizard, magician,
charmer, soothsayer, psychoanalyst, business
manager, administrator, activities director,
entertainer, pop speaker, celebrity, pageant
officiator or whatever else this world faithlessly
expects me to be. I don’t have half the
“charismatic gifts” that some people think every
priest should have. In short, I’m not an
alchemist. I can’t change lead into gold,
metaphorically speaking. I can’t squeeze blood
out of turnips any more than Christ could work
miracles in the town that lacked faith (Matthew
13:58). But I can get you to Heaven, should that
be of interest to you. I can change bread and wine
into the Body and Blood of Christ. I can make the
Pascal Mystery present at Mass. I can forgive sins
confessed in earnest. I can send souls to Heaven
when they die. Those are the advantages of
Apostolic Succession and the Keys of Peter. A
college student once asked me, “If you weren’t a
Catholic priest, what would you be?” “A Druid,”
I replied. I would content myself by doing sorcery
under an Oak. It’s perhaps the only thing I could
get away with besides the Catholic priesthood.
Suffice it to say: I can put God in your mouth and
forgive your sins, as only another priest can
forgive mine. I can give you the Holy Spirit, if
you’re up for it. I can get you to Heaven, if
you’re willing. I can prepare you for Sacraments,
which really do give grace. As one who shares in
the Priesthood of Jesus Christ, I can save your soul
and body. That’s the only competence I can
guarantee because it’s the infallibility of Jesus
Christ. The dying man, who at first said he was
going to Hell and then said he was going Heaven,
experienced this first-hand. Aside from Mass and
Confession, a priest’s best work is at the deathbed.
Quite frankly, I’ll be grateful to God if another
priest comes to my deathbed to absolve my sins,
give me Apostolic Pardon, anoint me and give me
the Body of Christ. After receiving the Last Rites,
I hope to hear a priest – any priest – say these
words, from the rites of Commendation for the
Dying:
“Go forth, Christian soul, from this world in the
name of God the almighty Father, who created
you, in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of the
living God, who suffered for you, in the name of
the Holy Spirit, who was poured out upon you,
go forth, faithful Christian. May you live in
peace this day, may your home be with God in
Zion, with Mary, the virgin Mother of God, with
Joseph, and all the angels and saints.”
WANTED: Volunteers to help plan for Workcamp 2018
Camp Dates: June 23-29, 2018
In Fredericksburg, VA
Are you interested in helping serve those in need?
We need your help! We need:
• Adult volunteers and a Stakeholder
- Willing to help guide and support the youth
• Contractors or Skilled Workers
- To teach basic construction
skills/ supervise
• High School Volunteers
- Any rising 9th-12th grader
wanting to serve God and
neighbor
Commitments are needed within the next two weeks!
Contact Fr. Rich at [email protected]
to help or for more information.
Great Christmas Gifts!
Olivewood Carving Display by
Bethlehem Carving Group
Support Christians living in the Holy Land
Find one-of-a-kind gifts November 11th and 12th after all Masses in the Church Vestibule
Visit www.bethlehemcarvings.org for more info!
Catholic Charities Counseling Services
now offered at St. Agnes!
Tuesdays 10 AM—6 PM Beginning November 14th
By Appointment
St. Agnes is partnering with Catholic Charities to offer counselor
Dan McClure’s services to parishioners and their families.
Call CCDA Intake Coordinator Virginia Madden at 703-425-0109
about details and cost or to schedule an appointment.
Our Hearts to
Your Home Help St. Agnes Provide 100 Home Baked
Pies to Homeless and Poor Families in D.C. this Thanksgiving!
Pick up a pie tin and box by the St. Agnes Statue in the church vestibule.
Deliver Your Home Baked Pies to St. Agnes
Parish Hall Before or After Any Mass on
Sunday, November 19th
Sign up at saintagnes.org, to let us know what kind of and how many pies you can bake!
.
Contact Ruth Foster at [email protected]
for more information.
SIGN UP NOW!
St. Agnes Church Mission Trip
For Youth, Families, & Young Adults to Bánica, Dominican Republic
July 21—28, 2018
The total all-inclusive cost for teens is $1,300; for adults $1,700 (estimated total to
include airfare, land transportation, insurance, room and board). Space is limited!
First come, first serve basis.
Mission Trip Description: Repair houses for needy families, build chapels, work on
construction projects to improve the basic sanitary needs of the community in one of
the many outlying villages cared for by the Banica mission, meet the people of the
parish, celebrate Mass, spiritual reflection, prayer, and much more!
For more information or to register (asap), please contact Fr. Rich at
PA
RIS
H L
IFE
Feature
Looking for something
to listen to on a long
car ride? Or maybe a
little entertainment for
the family that doesn’t
include a screen? Look no further than
The Trials of Saint Patrick audio drama on
FORMED.org! You just need an email
and our Parish code (f1a3f2) to sign up.
The Trials of Saint Patrick is the epic story
of one man's spiritual odyssey through
hardship and loss, mercy, and
forgiveness. Dramatized with a fresh
boldness by the Augustine Institute
Radio Theatre, the characters will come
alive through the talents of dozens of
accomplished, award-winning actors,
combined with cinematic sound
and music. Visit our website for more
details: https://saintagnes.org/learn/
formed-excellent-way-learn-our-faith
Bishop O’Connell Presents
Romeo & Juliet Nov. 9-12th Bishop O’Connell High School presents
the classic Shakespeare play, “Romeo
and Juliet,” modernly adapted by the
O’Connell Players and set in post-WWII
New York City. Show dates and times
are Thursday—Saturday, Nov. 9-11 at 7
PM and Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 PM For
ticket information and more, visit
www.bishopoconnell.org/OCPlayers.
Bishop O’Connell High School is located
at 6600 Little Falls Road in Arlington.
Share the love, and Like us on
Facebook www.facebook.com/
saintagneschurch/.
St. Agnes is on Facebook!
National Vocations Awareness
Week: Nov. 5th—11th This is National Vocation Awareness Week. Let us
unite in prayer for those whom God is calling to
imitate the humility of Christ as religious brothers,
sisters, priests or deacons. If you feel God is
offering you the grace of a vocation to the
priesthood or consecrated life, call Father J.D. Jaffe at
(703) 841-2514 or write: [email protected].
Gifts for the Seminarian Education
Endowment Fund (SEEF) Please support our seminarians and SEEF, a
permanent endowment fund established in 2011.
SEEF’s income provides funding for annual
seminarian expenses such as room, board, tuition,
health insurance, and books; which total almost
$40,000 per seminarian. Please give generously!
To donate, make checks to: Foundation for the
CDA – SEEF. Mail to: The Foundation, 200 N.
Glebe Road, Suite 811, Arlington, VA 22203.
Contact Bob Mueller with your questions at
[email protected] or 703-841-2545.
Catholic Business Network of
NOVA Arlington: Networking
Dinner, Tuesday, November 7th The Catholic Business Network of NOVA
Arlington invites you to a Networking Dinner
Tuesday, November 7th featuring Former Swiss
Guard Andreas Widmer, as he presents Business
Lessons I learned from Pope John Paul II, in the
Marymount Library Boardroom from 6:30 PM-9 PM.
Dinner is $35-$39 and will begin around 7 PM. RSVP
at http://cbnnova.org/event-2693744 by Nov. 6th. See
our website for additional information, saintagnes.org.
Donut Sunday is Next Sunday Join us outside the church’s main entrance (or in the
Parish Hall come rain or wind!) Sun., Nov. 12th after
the 9 AM and 10:30 AM Masses for a donut and coffee!
Thank You for Sharing the Journey! Thank You for contributing hundreds of household
goods and gift cards to Migration and Refugee
Outreach. If you are interested in donating items or
time, contact Jean Shirhall at [email protected].
Text App to 88202 to download
our parish app. The calendar, mass
times, Fr. Rich's homilies and weekly
bulletin help you stay connected.
Weekly Prayer Intentions:
For those who are sick in our midst:
For Christ’s healing, we pray for: Jean
McCausland, Catherine Imms, Inez Castaneda,
Billy Vogelson, Jeanne Tucker, Rose Marie
Marchitto-Fortier, Robin Moore, Bernardo
Labrador, Doris Hurley, Eileen Hayase, Rafael
Romero, Eva Hegerova, Dexter Hamasaki, Sam
Jennings, Malinda Galvan, Michael Lane,
Edmundo Fujita, Teresa Esteves, Luke Kilver,
Jason Liljenquist, Will Warren, Maria Martins,
Dorothy Hannon, Gerardo Stratthaus, Madeleine
Conte, Marielle Winteler, Tom Grantham,
Maureen Simpson, Olivia Egge, Loretta Baldwin,
and the residents of Cherrydale Health and
Rehabilitation.
Saint Agnes Essentials:
Infant/Child Baptism:
Register for class. Held 1st Monday of each
month at 7:00pm. Plan to attend before Baptism.
Baptisms celebrated bi-weekly, after the Noon
Sunday Mass.
Marriage Preparation:
Call parish office for Pre-Cana at least 7 months
prior to wedding.
Anointing of the Sick:
Call parish office to request the Anointing of the
Sick. Anyone with a serious illness should
request this sacrament before being admitted to
the hospital.
Homebound Visitation:
Contact [email protected] or contact
parish office.
How to become Catholic:
Interested in joining the Catholic Church or want
to learn more? Contact Bernadette Michael at the
Religious Education office (703) 527-1129 or a
priest for more information. Rite of Christian
Initiation of Adults (RCIA) classes began Monday
Sept. 11th at 7:30pm.
Holy Orders/Consecrated Life:
Is the Lord calling you? For information about
priesthood, the permanent diaconate, or the
consecrated life, contact a priest or the Vocations
Office (703-841-2514).
Registration/Change of Address:
Registration cards are in the racks at main
entrances of the church, the parish office, or on
our website. Return to Parish office, or send by
email to [email protected]
Youth Ministry
Events
Our next Monthly Brunch is Sunday, November
5th after the noon Mass in the Saint Agnes
Convent. All are welcome!
Monthly Adventure Outings
Bi-weekly Book Study
Bible Study
For more info contact Fr. Miserendino at
For more information contact the school office at 703-527-5423
Honor Role Students—Congratulations!
Congratulations to all the 5th-8th graders who made High Honor Roll and
Honor Roll for the first quarter this year!
Veteran’s Day Assembly, November 9th, 10:45 AM Please join us for the Veteran’s Day Assembly! If you have never attended
before, it is a great event and one that is not to be missed!! It will be on
Thursday, November 9th at 10:45 AM in the school gym.
Annual Book Fair, November 9th-13th Don’t miss the annual Book Fair in the school library going on November 9th-13th!
The Book Fair will be open after each of the Masses on Sunday, November 12th.
Open House, Wednesday, November 15th, 9AM
Save the date! Do you know someone that would love Saint Agnes School’s
enriching community and challenging academic curriculum? Invite them or
come yourself to our open house! It is Wednesday, November 15th
at 9am. Call the school office for more information.
Activities
Small Group Bible Study: Tuesday Nights at
7:30 PM in the Convent
Open Gym on Thursday Nights at 7:30 PM in
the School Gym
Sign up now for Workcamp and Banica! See
the full page ad in the bulletin for details.
For more information contact:
Young Adults
Saint Agnes School
Stewardship: Parish Support 0 - 9 - 9 0 Sunday collection (in pew & via mail) $ 17,502
Faith Direct (electronic collection) $ 10,106
Total Offertory for Week $ 27,608 Poor Box $ 419 Offertory Budget (FY 17-18) $ 1,677,000
Offertory Budget (through 10/29/17) $ 552,566
Offertory Actual (through 10/29/17) $ 522,715
Stewardship Report
Brother Dennis In Minnesota in 1990, Bobbi and Dan Vaughn met
Monsignor Matthew Odong, from the Archdiocese of
Gulu in Uganda. Out of this meeting was born Hope
for Uganda, a non-profit organization to help support
education in this war-torn county.
Recognizing that education is a powerful way to fight
ignorance and poverty, Hope for Uganda helped
found two schools. The first, Sacred Heart Seminary
in Gulu, is a school providing an education for boys
who are interested in a vocation to the priesthood.
The second, Archbishop Flynn Secondary School in
the Pader district (about 2 hours from Gulu), trains
both boys and girls. No other secondary school exists
in this area. In addition to education, these schools
provide housing, meals, and a prayerful nurturing
environment.
The Catholic Church in Northern Uganda not only
brings the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people, it
also provides 70% of the humanitarian needs of the
community. Some of these basic needs include food,
medicine and clean water. Hope for Uganda is
instrumental in providing funding for these vital
services. Brother Dennis is donating $1800 to help this
worthy organization. Their website is
www.hopeforuganda.org.
