SAINTS SIMON & JUDE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Established 1897

185 Van Sicklen Street, Brooklyn, New York 11223

Telephone: (718) 375-9600 Fax: (718) 375-6642

E-mail: rectoryssj@optonline.net /www.stssimonjude-brooklyn.org

Rev. John Maduri, Administrator Rev. Sijo George, CMI-Parochial Vicar & Rev. Gesson Agenis

Deacon Andrew Mastrangelo, Pastoral Minister/Business Manager

Ms. Sara Nespoli, Director of Faith Formation

SUNDAY MASSES : Saturday evening at 5:00pm

Sunday morning at 8:30am(Italian/English), 10:15am & 12:00pm

Misa en Espanol-1:30pm

WEEKDAY MASSES: Monday – Saturday at 9:00am

HOLYDAY MASSES: 7:30am, 9:00am, 7:30pm (Except Christmas and New Year’s Day)

DEVOTIONS: Chaplet of The Divine Mercy: Monday after the 9 am Mass

Circulo de Oracion Carismatico en Espanol- Todos los Lunes de las

7pm a las 9pm en la parte baja de la iglesia. Para mas informacion,

favor de llamar a la Sra. Teodora Aquino 347-355-5715. Miraculous Medal Novena: Tuesday after the 9 am Mass

Rosario in Italiano ogni Mercoledi alle 7:30pm (Settembre– Giugno).

St. Jude Novena: Friday after the 9 am Mass

Holy Hour / Benediction: 8:00am-9:00am every Saturday

RECONCILIATION (Confession): Saturday: 4:00pm-4:30pm

Other times by appointment.

RECTORY OFFICE HOURS: Monday to Friday: 9:30 am -4:30 pm (CLOSED for lunch from 12pm-1pm) Sunday: 9:30am to 1:30 pm RECTORY/CHURCH STAFF: Bookkeeper / Bulletin Coordinator: Nicole Compagnone Parish Secretary: Antoinette Capobianco Maintenance and Custodians: Nelson Bobe and Eraldi Leka Cook and Housekeeper: Angelica Compagnone Sacristan: Lilian Acevedo Sunday Receptionist: Marie Gatto Youth Minister: Diego Araujo

PARISH REGISTRATION: We are happy to welcome all newcomers to our parish! Join our parish family by registering at the rectory during office hours. Current parishioners who change address, phone number or are moving away are asked to contact the rectory, so we can keep our files up to date.

BAPTISM: Congratulations on the birth of your child! Parish Baptisms are on the 3rd Saturday of each month at 12:00pm. Please call for an appointment to regis-ter and make arrangements for your child’s Baptism.

OFFICE OF FAITH FORMATION: To register for religion classes grades K through 8, children’s First Communion, or Confirmation, call 718-372-0733 in the rectory lower level.

Secretaries: Nina Varone and Nelly Yepez (para hablar en Espanol).

ADULT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION:

Teens over 14 and Adults who are interested in becoming a Catholic or who have been baptized Catholic but never received Holy Communion or Confirmation should be part of our RCIA program. Leave your name and phone number at the Office of Faith Formation for Sara Nespoli. Catholic Adults who have received Holy Communion and desire to receive Confirmation should also leave their name and phone number at the Office of Faith Formation for Sara Nespoli.

MARRIAGE: Plan to make your wedding both a JOYFUL and a HOLY event! Couples must call for an appointment at least 6 months prior to the planned wedding date and partici-pate in the parish and diocesan marriage preparation program.

ANOINTING OF THE SICK: We celebrate this sacrament of healing grace at the 9:00am Mass on the first Saturday of each month. Please join us at that Mass if you are ill. You may also call and arrange with a priest to receive this sacrament at other times.

PASTORAL CARE OF THE SICK: Please contact the rectory if you are home-bound, and would like to receive the Holy Eucharist on a regular basis.

MASS INTENTIONS

SATURDAY, MARCH 9

5:00 STELLA LOMBARDI

SUNDAY, MARCH 10

8:30 CARMELA & ALFONSO CITOLA

10:15 PEOPLE OF THE PARISH, DECEASED

MEMBERS OF OUR HOLY NAME SOCIETY,

FERDINANDO BERTOLOTTI, VINCENZA

SCIBILIA, MARGARET CORBO, JOSEPH

MORRONE & FRANCES MATTERA

12:00 MARIA DE LOS ANGELES CERVANTES SANCHEZ

1:30 SPANISH MASS

MONDAY, MARCH 11

9:00 SAL GATTO

TUESDAY, MARCH 12

9:00 MARIANNA BLANCO

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13

9:00 FRANCESCO SOTTILE

THURSDAY, MARCH 14

9:00 ALFRED PILOTTI

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

9:00 ANTHONY LA RUFFA

SATURDAY, MARCH 16

9:00 ROSE, VINCENT, GRACE, ONOFRIO & NANCY

5:00 GIUSEPPE & SALVATORE PAGANO

SUNDAY, MARCH 17

8:30 STELLA CIRINO, ANTONIO, FILOMENA &

CARMEN

10:15 PEOPLE OF THE PARISH, ANNA ESPOSITO,

CECILIA PASTORELLI, MARIE & ROBERT

KENAVAN & ROB KENEVAN

12:00 DONATO, ANGELA & VITO ANTONIO BATTISTA

1:30 SPANISH MASS

IN OUR PRAYERS May the Holy Spirit bring healing comfort to all of our sick, especially:

Jeanine Ardizzone, Camille & Anthony Chiusano, Annette Puglisi, William

Tirelli, John Belezio, Denise Pizzullo, John Geraci, Antoinette Marino, Jean-

ina Caceres, Millie Piccarelli, John DzHon Vong, Gina Morselli, Mary Ann

Barry, Susan Fischetti, Dominic Nunziato, Linda Viscardi, Maria Sciarrino,

Mary Antico, Maria Selca Maher, Angelo D’Attoma, Joseph DiBella, Ella

Spina, Carmela Maccia, Rose Colombo, Theresa Pagani, Roza Camaj-Ivezaj,

Richard Bubello, Joseph Nucifora, Grayce Prestipino, Howard Passman,

Frank Apsel, Isabella DiNiso, Jeanne Turzilli, Larry Lembo, Gesterkent

Jaro, Antonino Curatolo, Robert Cusimano, Michael Fiore, Karen Giachetta,

Mary Jencsik, T. Guida, Richard & Gary Prestipino, Carol Marcinsky,

Pietro Grippo, John Paul Harris, Reid Moritz, Julia Bruzzese, Angela Nuci-

fora, Stephen DiBella, Maria Piccarelli, Russ Pennington, Dorothy Vallone

Iaconis, Jacinta Duenas-Ladd, Sal D’Aquino, Josephine Gioia, Giada Crav-

elli, Frances Bowen, Evan Zitchic, Rose Galia, Isabella Grace Colucci, Diane

DiMonda, Sabrina Giangrande, Leonard Currea, Eddie Stack, Mandy

Crupi, Marie Filosa, Tara Horowitz, Steven Markoulis, Rosalie O’Hara,

Monica Morales, Frank Gramegna, Joe Mastrianni & Marie Gatto

May God bring safely home all of our deceased family and friends:

MEMORIALS FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 10 - MARCH 16, 2019

THE GIFTS OF THE BREAD AND WINE ARE DONATED IN LOVING MEMORY OF

JOSEPH MARTUCCI

REQUESTED BY: SSJ FOLK GROUP

THE TABERNACLE CANDLE IS DONATED IN LOVING MEMORY OF

SPECIAL INTENTION REQUESTED BY:

THE ALTAR CANDLES

ARE DONATED IN LOVING MEMORY OF

SPECIAL INTENTION REQUESTED BY:

THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS CANDLE IS DONATED IN LOVING MEMORY

SPECIAL INTENTION REQUESTED BY:

STS. SIMON & JUDE PURGATORIAL SOCIETY The Purgatorial Society of Sts. Simon & Jude parish for the month of

March includes the following members who were enrolled last month:

Fran Mattera, Marie Rose Zembovictz, Kelly Goncalves &

Rita Fodera

MISA EN ESPAÑOL

Hermanos y Hermanas les hacemos la cordial

invitaciõn, a la Misa en Español que se celebrará cada

Domingo a la 1:30pm. Todos son bienvenidos!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Parishioners,

I am happy to announce our new Parish Pastoral Council for the

soon to be merged parish Most Precious Blood-Sts. Simon &

Jude.

Fr. John Maduri, Pastor

Fr. Sijo George, Parochial Vicar

Fr. Gesson Agenis, Parochial Vicar

Dina Wilson, Faith Formation

Diego Araujo, Youth Minister

Christopher McGurn, Young Adult Minister (beginning June

2019)

Claudia Bravo (Hispanic community-MPB)

Dora Aquino (Hispanic community-SSJ)

Eric Lo (Chinese community)

Michael Sutera

Cathy Miceli

Alex Quinones will be taking over as youth minister beginning

in June 2019.

I express my gratitude to each of these men and women for their

willingness to serve.

Fr. John Maduri

LENT In union with the faithful all over the world, we enter a time of

penance and prayer to renew our hearts in God’s love, and ex-

perience His mercy.

We mark every Friday of Lent as days of abstinence when no

meat (fowl and beast) is eaten.

We also mark Ash Wednesday and Good Friday as days of

abstinence and fasting when no meat & only one full meal and

two smaller meals are eaten, and only water, coffee or tea is con-

sumed.

We accept these communal sacrifices offered to God as a way of

uniting ourselves to the suffering of Christ and the suffering of

our world. We also seek to lessen our dependence on the things

of this world, so as to increase our focus on the things of heaven.

Wednesdays at 11:30amStations of the Cross in English

Thursdays at 4:00pm-Stations of the Cross in Italian

Fridays at 8:00pm-Stations of the Cross in Spanish

OUR LADY OF GRACE ADORATION CHAPEL Our Lady of Grace Church has a chapel that is open everyday for

adoration. Spend some time with our Lord. He is waiting for you

and He loves you more then you can ever know!

The chapel is open 7 days a week from 6am-9pm. 718-627-2020

SPECIAL MASS WITH PADRE PIO’S GLOVE All are invited to a special Mass in honor of Padre Pio on Mon-

day, March 11th at 7:30pm in St. Finbar Church. St. Finbar is

located on Benson Ave. & Bay 20th Street. Present at the Mass

will be Padre Pio’s glove used to cover the stigmata on his hand.

The relic will be available after Mass for each person to touch.

ST. ATHANASIUS RESPECT LIFE MINISTRY All are invited to St. Athanasius Church for recitation of the Holy

Rosary and Prayers for an end to abortion. Join parishioners

every Saturday morning after the 9am Mass.

JOURNEY WITH JESUS Let us welcome Sr. Ave Clark who will lead us in a Lenten Re-

treat Breakfast at Sts. Simon & Jude on Tuesday mornings from

9:30am-11:30am in the month of March in the Office of Faith

Formation/Rectory Basement. Join us on March 12th, 19th &

26th as we journey with Jesus through this years Lenten season.

All are welcome and invited to attend.

GIORNATA DI PREGHIERA IN ITALIANO Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston il 23 Marzo 2019.

Arrivo al Centro Immacolata Concezione alle 9:30am. Confer-

enze Spiritual! Padre Mauro Gagliardi, predicatore Professore di

teologia. Santa Messa Celebrata da S.E. Nicholas DiMarzio,

Vescovo di Brooklyn. $25 per la giornata, pranzo incluso.

LENTEN DAY OF PRAYER IN ITALIAN All are invited for a Lenten Day of Prayer in Italian on March

23dr at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston. Fr.

Mauro Gagliardi, professor of theology will preach. Holy Mass

will be celebrated by Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop

of Brooklyn. The day will begin at 9:30am. Donation is $25 and

includes lunch.

SISTERS OF ST. ELIZABETH CONVENT

BELARUS, EASTERN EUROPE All are invited to meet the Sisters of St. Elizabeth Convent from Belarus,

Europe next weekend March 16th & 17th. The Sisters will be visiting

and displaying beautiful religious handcrafts made in the workshops of

the convent in Belarus. The Sisters will be selling the handmade items

after all the Masses in the Church vestibule. All the goods are made with

love and prayer and will bring blessings to your home! You will support

many people in need by purchasing items of devotions for yourselves and

your loved ones.

The Sisterhood of St. Elizabeth was founded in 1996. For more than 20

years our sisters have been rendering spiritual, social and financial sup-

port to the sick and the suffering at the National Psychiatric Clinic, the

boarding for our children with special needs and mentally challenged

adults, a TB clinic.

In recent years a rehabilitation center for the homeless, drugs and alcohol

addicts, ex prisoners was established 20 miles away from the Convent.

Over 180 residents live here today! Many lost and struggling people get a

chance to tackle their problems and start a new life with God.

A rehabilitation facility for females was established in 2012. Women

released from jail, the homeless and mentally challenged women stay

there. Today there are 30 women and one toddler at this farmstead.

To help these people workshops were established on the grounds of the

Convent. Many of those sick people have a possibility to express them-

selves in art for God working together with sisters and making beautiful

articles such as hand painted icons, crosses, crucifixes, woodcarvings,

ceramic gifts and vestments.

Please stop by after Mass next weekend and support the Sisters of St.

Elizabeth. Thank you and God bless you!

MARCH 10, 2019

The Mustard Seed Contact us @ 718-372-0733

Or email us at faithformssj@optonline.net

HOW’S IT GOING? We begin our first full week of Lent. Our church was busting at the seams on Ash Wednesday,

there was no way to fit even a bicycle in the parking lot at the 3 PM prayer service. I am sure all

those people will not be in Mass this week! How sad that people are more interested in getting dirt

on their face than receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus.

If you are reading this you know how important it is; you also recognize that these 40 days are a

chance for us to get closer to God. Although we may make our list of things we want to do for Lent

sometimes we are unable to keep to it. What is important is that you realize how important the sac-

rifice of Jesus is and you desire to be better. Eventually our behaviors catch up to our hearts. Keep

your eyes on Jesus and keep the faith!

DO YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE RIGHT? How does the devil tempt you? Each of us has our weakness. It may be our ego, the desire for acceptance or the desire for material

things; either way these things can be our ruination. Jesus was sure and steadfast with his trust in his Father are we. Do we realize that

God is all we need?

40 DAYS IN THE DESERT In the Gospel today we hear about the 40 days Jesus was in the desert being tempted by the devil. Jesus is in the desert, by himself, with-

out food and water. Jesus and Satan speak on three occasions, and each time Jesus refuses Satan’s temptations.

When we look at the temptations; we see that they are the same types of temptations we deal with on a regular basis. First is the physical

necessities; Satan tempts Jesus with the promise of delicious foods, Jesus replies man does not live by bread alone. He then promises

Jesus power and glory if he would worship him; so often in this work we want fame, power and glory no matter the expense. In the final

temptation Satan tries to convince Jesus to put God to the test; as if to question whether or not God is really there. We are often plagued

by doubts about God working in our lives. These temptations are always present in our lives; the trick is to trust in God despite our

doubts. Jesus did!

ST LOUISE DE MARILLAC March 15 is the feast day St Louise de Marillac. She was born in France in 1591, although she had wanted to enter the convent when she

was younger she got married. After her husband died she met St Vincent de Paul. She worked with him and eventually took vows as a

Sister of Charity and continued to work with the poor.

PRAYER TO ST. MICHAEL

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle;

be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;

and do you, O prince of the heavenly host,

by the power of God,

thrust into hell Satan and the other evil spirits

who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls.

Amen

JESUS’ TEMPTATIONS AND OURS

If we examine carefully the temptations that Jesus un-

derwent during His time in the desert we would recog-

nize that these are also our own: hunger, power and

glory. We may not always place our temptations in these

words but on the deeper level they are in varying ways

our own. As we see oftentimes see in Sacred Scripture

there is always a deeper meaning to what we hear or

read about on the surface.

Jesus’ temptation regarding hunger related directly to

Him in His hunger for food to sustain His human life.

Yet this hunger symbolizes the deeper longings of the

human heart. We hunger for love, understanding, to be

known and understood, to have purpose in life, to live.

Without going into details we are certainly aware of

how many people seek to satisfy that hunger with all

sorts of things that leave us empty in the end or at least

unfulfilled. This usually leads to a frustrating cycle

where we seek after the same things with even greater

passion hoping against hope that somehow these passing

things, or even other people, will satiate this hunger. If

we have just a little more money, a newer home, a better

vacation, a more prestigious job or neighborhood, or

more pleasure then we will be satisfied. Unfortunately, it

never turns out that way. As St. Augustine once said,

“We are made for you alone oh God and our hearts are

restless until they rest in you.” This is just another way

of saying what Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Man does

not live on bread alone..”

Power of course speaks for itself. We see that in politi-

cal life many will say and do anything to keep their

power. Jesus confronted the obsession with power

among the religious leaders of His day. In our time some

religious leaders also abuse the power of office for self-

preservation rather than the service of the people of

God. Jesus reminds us not only in today’s Gospel but

throughout His public ministry that the grestest power is

the power of love which flows from God who is love

itself. To love as God loves is to have true power be-

cause it is love that conquers sin and death and opens up

the pathway to eternal life itself, the greatest longing of

the human heart.

Several years ago a study was done of teenagers as to

what they wanted the most. To the surprise of the re-

searchers, by far the teens wanted to be famous. This is

just another way of saying they were seeking personal

glory. This should not come as a surprise. If life itself

has no deeper meaning or purpose all that ultimately

matters is the self. To receive adulation from others is to

find some meaning and self fulfillment in life. It strokes

the ego and makes one feel important, that one’s life

matters. If we do not recognize our inate dignity as the

sons and daughters of God we are bound to seek our-

selves in shadows. When our Lord calls us to worship

and serve God alone He is calling us to the heights of

human living for by serving in love the God who is our

Father and by serving one another we find our truest

self. In this we find our dignity and our freedom and our

joy.

As we begin this first week of Lent we are reminded to

follow Jesus’ example of confident trust in the Father’s

will in all things. It is that confident trust that allowed

our Lord to embrace Calvary but also to come to the

glory of the resurrection. We will all face Calvary at

some points in our lives but if we have lived our lives in

imitation of Christ’s fidelity to the Father every Calvary

will bring us to a new resurrection until we come to the

glory of the resurrection of the dead.

Fr. John Maduri,

Pastor/Administrator

EXPRESIONS OF PRAYER PART II

MEDITATION

Last week, we reflected on the first of three expressions

of prayer: vocal prayer. Vocal prayer encompasses all

prayer that is “talking” to God, either out loud or in our

hearts. Whenever we speak to God with a “voice”, such

as asking him to do something in our lives or simply giv-

ing words of praise, we are doing vocal prayer. For many

of us, it might come as a surprise that there are two more

expressions of prayer to speak about, yet both should be

a staple of our spiritual life. Today, we reflect on the sec-

ond of the three expressions, which is called meditation.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that above

all, meditation is “a quest” (CCC 2705). While vocal

prayer is “talking” to God, meditation is the mind seek-

ing the deeper meaning, the why and the how in the spiri-

tual life. Sometimes there may be a particular topic one

will reflect on, such as one of the “big questions” (Why

does God allow suffering? What does it mean that God

loves us? What is the meaning of life? Etc. ), but more

often I think it is a reflection on the meaning of some-

thing in front of us, such as a beautiful painting depicting

a scene from the Bible or the life of a saint, or looking at

a particular Bible passage or reading another spiritual

book and asking the question of what it means applied to

our lives in today’s world.

Meditative prayer engages the interior life of the whole

person: “thought, imagination, emotion, and de-

sire” (CCC 2707). It is still active, in the sense that we

are actively engaging with these different faculties

within us, and depending on the form of our meditation

we will use them in different amounts. Oftentimes, there

is a sort of “dance” between the expressions of prayer.

We may be meditating on a mystery of the rosary or a

passage from the Gospel, and all of a sudden we are

moved to speak to God from the depths of hearts to

praise him or thank him, or maybe we are simply moved

to rest our minds and hearts completely and simply

“bask” in his presence (more on that next week). It does

us a disservice to try and lock ourselves into one particu-

lar mode of praying. When we feel ourselves being

moved to put down our spiritual reading and pray in our

hearts, it is often the Holy Spirit prompting us and call-

ing us deeper into the mystery of God’s heart. It would

do us well to follow these promptings!

There are countless ways to meditate. I truly believe that

because each of us is unique, no two people pray exactly

the same way. Oftentimes, we may be drawn to a certain

spirituality or a form of prayer that speaks to us. Go

where the spirit leads, and get to know some of the spiri-

tual masters of our Catholic tradition. Thomas Merton,

Ignatius of Loyola, Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avile,

Therese of Lisieux, and Maximillian Kolbe were all in-

credible holy men and women of God, yet the style and

way their prayer expressed itself could not be more dif-

ferent in some cases. As your travel on your spiritual

journey, look to these spiritual masters (and countless

others) as guides on your journey as you begin to dis-

cover your voice.

Though there are many different ways to meditate, there

are certain objects or focuses of meditation that have

pride of place in our tradition. These are the mysteries of

Christ: his life, death, resurrection, and ascension into

heaven. Whether it be through the Rosary, lectio divine

(praying with Scripture), doing a form of imaginative

prayer (such as St. Ignatius’ method), or reflecting on

the meaning of a particular event such as the nativity or

the cross, meditation focused on Jesus is the most fruit-

ful meditation we can pray.

Oftentimes, meditation (as well as vocal prayer) will

awaken us to have a greater desire for intimacy and un-

ion with God. This desire in turn helps us to pray in a

third expression of prayer, called contemplation. This

will be the subject of our next reflection.

Supplementing CCC 2705-2708

Jonah Soucy

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

MONDAY, MARCH 11 9:00am:Mass (CHU)

9:30am: Chaplet of the Divine Mercy (CHU)

7:00pm: Circulo de Oracion - (CHU)

TUESDAY, MARCH 12 9:00am Mass (CHU)

9:30am: Miraculous Medal Novena (CHU)

9:30am-11:30am: Lenten Retreat Breakfast (OFF)

6:30pm: LLF/New Testament (OFF)

7:00pm: CCD Classes (SCH)

7:00pm: Circulo Folklore Dance Rehearsal (LC)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13 9:00am: Mass (CHU)

11:30am: Stations of the Cross in English (CHU)

12:00pm-3:00pm: Golden Age Club (LC)

6:30pm: Al E MO Square Dance (LC)

7:00pm: Circulo Chorus Rehearsal (CHU)

THURSDAY, MARCH 14 9:00am:Mass (CHU)

9:30am: Legion of Mary (LC)

4:00pm: Italian Stations/ Rosary (CHAP)

7:00pm: Youth Group (LC)

7:30pm: AA Meeting (OFF)

7:30pm: RCIA

8:00pm: Folk Group Rehearsal (CHU)

FRIDAY, MARCH 15 9:00am:Mass (CHU)

9:30am: St. Jude Novena (CHU)

7:00pm: Reunion de Servidores Meeting (LC)

8:00pm: Spanish Stations of the Cross (CHU)

SATURDAY, MARCH 16 8:00am: Holy Hour (CHU)

9:00am: Mass (CHU)

2:00pm: Parish Baptisms (CHU)

4:00pm: Confession (CHU)

5:00pm: Mass (CHU)

8:00pm: AA Meeting (OFF)

SUNDAY, MARCH 17 8:00am: Rosario Italiano

8:30am/10:15am/12:00pm: Mass (CHU)

10:00am: Communion Program (LC)

10:00am: CCD Classes (SCH)

1:30pm: Spanish Mass (CHU)

1:30pm:Adult Conf. (OFF)