Tradition: Sacred Icons and Church Belief

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2 Living the Word of Christ Together Pastor: Deacons: Office Administrator: Rectory Phone: Office Phone: Fax: website: Father Bruce Riebe Bill Fredrick, Robert Kirschner Michele Wiltshire Tradition: Sacred Icons and Church Belief The tradition of honoring images is uninterrupted in the Catholic Church; indeed, she finds in this practice a sign of distinction from iconoclastic tendencies present among Protestants. The Second Vatican Council continues this tradition and in its constitution on the Sacred Liturgy asserts, The practice of putting sacred images in churches for people to venerate should be uncompromisingly maintained. Vatican II specifies that devotion should be correct and, above all, that the feeling to have is not mere admiration of the image but sincere veneration of the represented subject, the number of images put out should be kept under control, and they should be arranged in a suitable pattern, in case they excite sensationalism among the Christian people or pander to a devotion that is not quite right. Perhaps one of the clearest reflections on the use of sacred images is supplied by the compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church when it asserts, These images are drawn from the rich patrimony of Christian iconography. The centuries-old conciliar tradition teaches us that images are also a preaching of the Gospel. Artists in every age offered the principal facts of the mystery of salvation to the contemplation and wonder of believers by presenting them in the splendor of color and in the perfection of beauty. It is an indication of how today more than ever, in a culture of images, a sacred image can express much more than what can be said in words, and be an extremely effective and dynamic way of communicating the Gospel message.

3 February 18, 2018 Glory to Jesus Christ! Liturgy Schedule Monday February 19 8:00 a.m. Lenten Devotions with Supplication to the Blessed Sacrament Tuesday February 20 8:00 a.m. Lenten Devotions with Sermon Wednesday February 21 7:00 p.m. Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts Thursday February 22 8:00 a.m. Lenten Devotions with Sermon Friday February 23 7:30 p.m. Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts ( Gloria Ann Dickey by Percic Family) Saturday February 24 9:00 a.m. 2nd All Souls (Requiem Liturgy, Panachida, Hramoty) Vigil Liturgy 4:00 p.m. Intention of the Parishioners Sunday February 25 10:30 a.m. John Senick by Myrna Senick Altar Servers Lectors Greeters February 24 4:00 p.m. S. Lupia & C. DeCapua B. Sparks D. & S. LaFleur February 25 10:30 a.m. N. Masters, M. Masters, C. Csornok H. Oros & J. Klinkovsky L. Tinter & G. Lupia (Volunteers are needed for Lenten Services and All Souls Saturday.) Lent is a time for reconsidering our feelings, for letting our eyes be opened to injustice, to open our hearts to those suffering. Pope Francis We have one week of Lent under our belts. Here s reminding you that services are offered on every weekday. Lenten Devotions are prayed Monday (with Supplication to the Blessed Sacrament), Tuesday (with sermon) and Thursday (with sermon) mornings. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated on Wednesday and Friday nights. Check out the schedule above for times. Almsgiving banks are still available in the vestibule. Our asks us to fast from meat on all Wednesdays and Fridays. Second All Souls Saturday This week marks the second of five All Souls Saturdays. The Requiem Liturgy starts at 9:00 and will be followed by a Panachida (prayer service for the deceased) and the reading of the Hramoty (names of our deceased family members). Our Lenten Fish Fries continue this week. Lunch is served from 11:30-1:00 and dinner from 4-7. Carryouts are available at each. Menu and pricing can be found on our website (there s also flyers on the desk in the vestibule). Patronize our meals and tell others to do so as well! We have an excellent reputation.

4 ByzanTEEN Lenten We are hosting the annual ByzanTEEN Day of Recollection Lenten Day of Recollection on March 4. Father M i c h a e l D e n k, Parochial Vicar at St. Gabriel Church in Concord, will present Prayer for the Millennial Generation. Registration is from 1:30-2:00 with the talk starting promptly at 2:00. The afternoon will include a prayer service, the opportunity for confession and pizza. Pick-up at the main hall is at 5:00. We would like all our high school students to attend. The Week Ahead The BLESS Group and Men s Fellowship/ Book Group will meet on Monday, 7:00, in the Education Center. Sandwich Making will take place on Saturday, 9:30, in the hall. Game Night, sponsored by GCU Lodge 302 is March 10 in the Activity Center (5:30). If you re going to attend, bring a snack/dessert to share. The Lodge will provide tacos and soft drinks. Of course bring your favorite game! Please Pray Please remember all the sick/suffering in your prayers, especially Helen Kapa (The Diplomat) and Mary Lizanich (home; rehab). The Ladies Auxiliary is sponsoring a talk on the Shroud of Turin on March 16. A light lunch will be provided. Next week s Byzz Line will contain more information. Your Weekly Offering February 11, 2018 Sunday: e-giving: 12 Student Envelopes: Cash: Candles: Horizons: Flowers: Fuel: Building Fund: Total: 50/50 Club Results Congratulations to our December/January winners who each received $60! #209 Annmarie Tirpak #128 Kim Matyas #144 Ray Luczak #291 Mike Protzik #289 Dawn Paris $3, $3, Have you remembered St. Joseph Church in your Will and/or Trust? #159 Linda Streidc #18 Debra Vagas #121 Alice Deyling #40 Linda Szucs Altar Server & Greeter Schedules New altar server and greeter schedules can be found in the mail slots and on our website. Thanks! The Ladies Auxiliary would like to thank everyone who supported last Sunday s Pasta Dinner. The raffle basket winners were: Italian Jerry Holderbaum Chocolates Amy Tytko Lottery Tickets Melissa Misconish Radio AM 1260 The Rock is hosting an Open House this Thursday from 2-5. Feel free to stop by for tours, refreshments and to meet the personnel. The station is located at 145 Ken Mar Industrial Parkway in Broadview Hts. The National Forty Days for Life is underway (through March 25). A rosary for the unborn will be said prior the start of liturgy on all Saturdays and on Sunday, February 25 and March 25. More ways to participate can be found on the Respect Life bulletin board located next to the elevator on the church level.

5 Andy Warhol: Byzantine Catholic, Iconographer of Sorts On April 1, 1987, the most popular artists, actors, fashion designers, writers and musicians in America converged on St Patrick s Cathedral in New York. Liza Minnelli showed up, along with Calvin Klein, Tom Wolfe and George Plimpton. Yoko Ono arrived a bit early; she was giving a speech. One could have easily mistaken Andy Warhol s memorial service for a society event rather than a religious one, were it not for the eulogy given by the artist s friend John Richardson. He spoke of Warhol s secret piety, which inevitably changes our perception of an artist who fooled the world into believing his only obsessions were money, fame and glamour, and that he was cool to the point of callousness. Never take Andy at face value. It is this secret piety that the Vatican Museums hope to uncover in their major exhibition of his work next year. Indeed, the Catholic faith is the only constant theme in his strange life. Warhol s parents were born in a village on the northern border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They were Ruthenians: members of a small Byzantine Catholic Church that grew out of Cyril and Methodius s mission to the Carpathian Mountains. In 1909, his father moved to Pittsburgh, home of the largest Ruthenian community outside Europe. His mother followed in 1921, and their son Andrew was born seven years later. His father worked as a coal miner until he died when Warhol was 13. In 1955, the shoe brand I. Miller hired Warhol to illustrate its advertisements in the New York Times. Warhol attended Mass almost daily. Other days he would just slip into St Vincent Ferrer on Lexington Avenue, drop into the back pew and pray. He spent his Thanksgivings, Christmases and Easters volunteering at a soup kitchen, and befriended the homeless and poor whom he served. He put his nephew through seminary. Though openly gay, he endeavored to remain celibate throughout his life. When he refused to support the gay rights movement, many of his friends blamed his faith. He lived with his mother until she died, and every morning they would pray together in Old Slavonic before he left for the Factory. He always carried a rosary and a small missal in his pocket. So how did Catholicism anchor the creativity of this unconventional traditionalist? The greatest insight is gained from the last year of Warhol s life, when he became obsessed with Leonardo da Vinci s The Last Supper. He produced hundreds of variations on this theme, many of them with colorful brand logos Dove Soap, General Electric stamped on top of a black-and-white stencil of the masterpiece. The ordinary overwhelms the extraordinary. The implication is that our appetites distract us from the vision of Christ. Even more strikingly, Warhol draws on his faith while avoiding the two pitfalls of Pop Art: pompous sneering at all things bourgeois and outright blasphemy. He was reflecting on our society, not passing judgment on it. As Warhol himself said: People are always calling me a mirror, and if a mirror looks into a mirror, what is there to see? The Vatican Museums have clearly decided that there is something to see. Sceptics will accuse the Vatican of cheap populism worthy of Warhol himself, but they may be unaware of the artist s almost surreal devotion to the Church. At any rate, there can be no doubt that Warhol would have been overwhelmed by the honor. His icons will come to rest above the catacombs of true saints and martyrs. He will be among if not necessarily one of the great artists of Christendom, whose work so powerfully reflected a God that remained just out of reach in his own. As it happens, Warhol travelled to Rome in 1980 to meet John Paul II. It is said he wore his tamest wig and his plainest tie as a gesture of respect to the Holy Father. A photo shows him squeezing the Pope s hand, squinting and smiling faintly, as though holding back tears. It is the only photo of Warhol that betrays his secret piety. For once, he looks like a person, not a symbol or a caricature. The Vatican Museums exhibition will be something of a homecoming. Michael Davis, Catholic Herald s U.S. editor Side Note: Father s pastor growing up in Indiana, Msgr. Peter Tay, celebrated the funeral liturgy for Mr. Warhol at Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic Church in Pittsburgh.

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