CONGRATULATIONS TO SAINT JOHN OF GOD PARISH FIRST HOLY COMMUNION CLASS 2009

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1 FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER MASS INTENTIONS Sat., May 2 to Sun., May 10, 2009 Saturday Vigil, May 2: For Parish Family of Saint John of God Arnold Hoffman (Brother, Bill) 4:30 PM Church 7:30 AM Church 9:30 AM Chapel Anniv - Elizabeth Spadaccia (Angela & Marian) 11:30 AM Church First Holy Communion WEEKDAYS 9:30 AM CHURCH Monday, May 4: Patsy Aluise (Peggy & Junior Paul) Tuesday, May 5: Andrew & Lillian Domikoski (Ken & Lorraine) Wednesday, May 6, 8:30 AM, Chapel: Students and Staff of Saint John of God School Wednesday, May 6: Andrew Triscila (Mr. & Mrs. Logan Kalyn) Thursday, May 7: Dolly Arch (Husband & Family) Friday, May 8: Anniv - Mary Beasock (Husband & Family) Saturday, May 9, 1:00 PM: Mass at St. Mary s Cemetery Chapel celebrated for our beloved dead and those buried at our cemeteries. Saturday Vigil, May 9: 4:30 PM Church 7:30 AM Church 9:30 AM Chapel 11:30 AM Church Readings for the week of May 3, 2009 Sunday: Acts 4:8-12/1 Jn 3:1-2/Jn 10:11-18 Monday: Acts 11:1-18/Jn 10:1-10 Tuesday: Acts 11:19-26/Jn 10:22-30 Wednesday: Acts 12: :5a/Jn 12:44-50 Thursday: Acts 13:13-25/Jn 13:16-20 Friday: Acts 13:26-33/Jn 14:1-6 Saturday: Acts 13:44-52/Jn 14:7-14 Next Sunday: Acts 9:26-31/1 Jn 3:18-24/Jn 15:1-8 Liturgical Publications Inc. It is with great joy in our hearts that we welcome our children to the Table of the Lord as they receive our Lord Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time this Sunday, May 3 at the 11:30 AM Mass. May they always be as close to our Lord as they are on this very special day. CONGRATULATIONS TO SAINT JOHN OF GOD PARISH FIRST HOLY COMMUNION CLASS 2009 Kaeden Bort Antonio Brank Kathryn Chambers Haili Cordell Courtney Czochara Daren DiMichele Alexandra Gyory Morgan Helfrich Abigail Kochirka Brandi Kolas ST. ANTHONY NOVENA Nicholas Kotek Ava Mancini Emilie Nagel Catherine Palahunik Jennifer Paul Timothy Pryle Tyler Robison Christian Stewart Stephen Strobel Jacob Wiser The 13-week novena to St. Anthony continues this Tuesday, May 5, 2009 (week 8). The novena prayers will be recited after the 9:30 AM Mass in St. Mary s Church and at 6:30 PM (novena prayers only) at Mother of Sorrows Chapel. CRIME WATCH MEETING There will be a Crime Watch Meeting on Monday, May 4 at the V.F.W. Post 418, 1238 Chartiers Ave., McKees Rocks at 6:30 PM. Everyone is welcome. MEETING The Ushers Club will have a meeting on Monday, May 4 at 6:30 PM in the Gathering Place. New manuals are available. All ushers of Saint John of God Parish and anyone (male or female) who is interested in the ministry of ushers are most welcome. MOTHER S DAY Next Sunday, May 10 is Mother s Day. All mothers will be honored at our Masses celebrated for the weekend of May 9/10. As a token of recognition, each mother will receive a special gift. Parish Office Hours: 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. (Monday thru Friday)

2 FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER MAY 3, 2009 YOUTH MINISTRY NEWS Attention teens in grades 8-12! Join us for a fun afternoon on Sunday, May 17. We ll begin with Mass at Noon at St. Paul Cathedral, then venture over to the Original Hot Dog Shop for lunch, and then return to the cathedral lawn for a game of Ultimate Frisbee! To sign-up, contact Steve at or sjgyouthmin@yahoo.com (sign-up deadline is Tuesday, May 12). GRADUATE APPRECIATION MASS Are you graduating from high school, college, law school, etc this spring? If so, you and your family are invited to attend the Graduate Appreciation Mass taking place on Saturday, May 23 at the 4:30 PM Mass in the Church at St. Mary s. Following Mass a reception will be held in the Gathering Place. Any and all grads are welcome, but we ask that you please RSVP by Monday, May 18 to Steve Swank at THANKS AND APPRECIATION Thank you to all who helped in celebrating the catechetical ministries of Phyllis Seibert and Steve Tomsko. We especially thank Fr. Ryan, also Deacon Joe Compomizzi, whom Steve Tomsko taught in CCD, and Sharon Hachman, Diocesan Director for Catechetical Ministries and Catechesis for their presence and encouraging words. We are very appreciative to all those who donated baked goods, including the sheet cake, and donations of Mass cards, flowers and other gifts for Phyllis and Steve and all those who set up and cleaned up and helped in other ways. May God Bless You All!! Note: Phyllis and Steve extend their heartfelt thanks and gratitude to everyone for making this day a celebration to remember. Thank You!! F.Y.I. Look in an upcoming issue of the Pittsburgh Catholic newspaper for a special article about Phyllis and Steve. UPDATE This year 367 loaves of Easter Bread were made which included 67 loaves for the homebound. Approximately $1,200 was realized from this project. Thank again to everyone! VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL For this year s Vacation Bible School we will once again be joining St. Malachy Parish. SonRock Kids Camp will be held Monday, June 22 through Friday, June 26. Stay tuned for more information. ST. JOHN OF GOD SCHOOL NEWS MARKET DAY NEWS Market Day Orders are due in to the school by Monday, May 11th. Order pick up is 5/18/09 from 6:15 PM to 7:15 PM. YOUTHTOWNE GOLF AT MARADA Youthtowne is pleased to announce an exciting new Family Golf program being offered to families of St. John of God Parish and School. Our parish has been selected to participate in a pilot program at the newly acquired golf course in Clinton, PA. Marada is a player friendly course, very easy to walk, in a very scenic setting. To learn more about Marada go to Also on this website are accurate directions to the course from any location. Directions using other map services are not currently accurate. Marada is located approximately one mile West of Youthtowne, Rt 30. In order to qualify for this pilot program the following requirements must be met: Participants must be families of St. John of God School or members of St. John of God Parish. A youth must be a playing member of each group (no exceptions). This will never be adults only golf. The green fees and driving range fees will be provided by Youthtowne. Your name must be registered with Mike Patton, the Parish/School Golf Coordinator, in order to participate in this program. You can reach Mike by calling To make your tee time, please call Marada at BAPTISMAL PROGRAM FOR NEW AND EXPECTING PARENTS The next program will be held on Sunday May 17 from 1-4 PM in the Chapel at Mother of Sorrows. To register or for more information, please call John Fatula at SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM We wish to welcome into God s family the newly baptized: Leo Alexander Karpa, Caitlin Anne Watt-Little, Jacob David Halbedl and Lacey Mae Jean Ravas May you continue to grow in God s love. Diocesan Victim Assistance Hotline

3 PARISH SHARE NEWS Next weekend, May 9/10, the second collection will be for the Parish Share Program. If you forget your envelope you may bring it anytime that is convenient. Thanks in advance. ST. MALACHY KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS All are invited to join the St. Malachy Knights of Columbus for The Living Rosary on Monday, May 11 at 7 PM at St. Malachy Church. Be a part of this distinctive method of reciting the Rosary and honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary during her special month of May. DVD OF WHY MUST HE DIE? There have been requests for a DVD of Teen Chorale s recent Passion Play, Why Must He Die?. It has been recorded at the performance at St. John of God Parish, the Church at St. Mary s on Good Friday of this year and is now available at the cost of $12 each. If you are interested, please fill in the bottom form and return with your check to cover the price of DVD and shipping costs and it will be sent to you. Also available are Village Singers professionally recorded CD s. Each is $10. Five are available: Spiritual Reflections-all religious 15th Anniversary Concert Best of Village Quartet Spring Reflections - all secular Colors of Life Concert Please put an X in front of what you are interested in. For a breakdown of all the songs of each CD, please visit the web at DVD of Why Must He Die? for $12 each. Shipping & handling, add $3 per item. For order of more than 3 CD or DVD s in total, just add $6 in total. Total amount of check Please make out check to TCCI and send it and this Form to: Mrs. Linda Wallace ~~ 8 Demar Drive ~~ Sewickley, PA Questions? Please call Please print clearly name and address of who this should be sent to and your phone number, in case you need to be called. Name Address Phone SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS THANK YOU A very special thank you to our Sunday School Catechists and Aides: K - Lynn Powell; Aide, Kristen Powell 1 - Danielle Incorvati and Kelly Smarra 2 - Sue Bopp; Aide, Amanda Farrell 3A - Grace Savatt 3B - Kathryn Cain 4 - Giovanna Margo and Andrew Margo 5 - Phyllis Seibert 6 - Cheryl DeAngelis 7 - Rose Dombrowski and Kelly Hall 8 - Steve Tomsko May God richly bless you for sharing your time and talent in passing on the faith to our children. You did excellent work all through the catechetical year. PERFECT AND EXCEPTIONAL ATTENDANCE We also want to recognize our Sunday School students who had Perfect Attendance this past catechetical year: Rachael Barbour, Morgan Helfrich, Brandi Kolas, Kevin Barbour, Ashleigh Geier, Logan Golling and Jesse Rippole; And those who had Exceptional Attendance: Victoria Reynolds, Mia Scrabis, Grace Weisser, Marissa Daloiso, Jamie Fowkes, Brandon Bobak, Taylor Bobak, Austin Saar and Isabel Scrabis. May the Lord Bless you and your parents and grandparents for your faithfulness in attending Sunday School. Keep up the great work! SPRING OPEN HOUSE AT JIM CRIVELLI CHEVROLET This spring, Jim Crivelli Chevrolet in McKees Rocks is opening its doors in some unexpected ways. Community members are being encouraged to donate items as part of the local car dealer s spring open house. From now through May 6, non-perishable food items, diapers and wipes, clothes, toys and books are being accepted at the dealership located at the Shoppes at Chartiers Crossing (formerly known as the McKees Rocks Shopping Plaza). Selected vehicles will be used to hold the donated items, which will be given to Focus on Renewal, which has served the area community for 40 years. Please visit or call for further information and times of operation.

4 FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER MAY 3, 2009 PARISH WEEKEND ATTENDANCE April 25 / 26 Saturday Sunday Total Weekend Attendance... 1,061 PARISH FINANCIAL TOTALS For the Weekend of April 25 / 26 Regular Offertory Collection...$ 5, (This is ordinary income from contributions for the general running of the parish. It is subject to a 17.6% tax to the Diocese of Pittsburgh.) PARISH SHARE PROGRAM PSP Assessment for $93, Contributions to date... $46, Remaining on goal...$46, (This is the tax paid to the Diocese. We must remit this entire amount to the Diocese by Dec. 31. Any surplus then remains in the parish, tax free.) HOSPITAL Please pray for all parishioners who are in the hospital, especially: Willow Lane - John Hanobik Shadyside - Tom Harbaugh Also for all those ill at home (especially Sr. Leah Turberville) in nursing homes, and shut-ins; that they may continue to receive the Lord s Blessings. SYMPATHY We wish to extend our sympathy to the Family of Rose Mychalishyn whom God has called. Please remember her and all our dearly departed and their families in your prayers. May the Choirs of Angels receive them and may they with the once poor Lazarus have rest everlasting. THE WEEK AHEAD May 4 (Mon.) - Miraculous Medal Novena Prayers will be recited in St. Mary s Church - Rosary begins 6:30 PM. May 5 (Tues.) - St. Anthony Novena Prayers recited following the 9:30 AM Mass in St. Mary s and at 6:30 PM in Mother of Sorrows (wk 8 of 13 wk novena). May 6 (Wed.) - WEDNESDAY NIGHT BINGO in MOS Social Hall - Doors open at 5 PM May 8 (Fri.) - Mother of Sorrows Novena Prayers recited following 9:30 AM Mass, St. Mary s Church. SANCTUARY CANDLE - WEEK OF MAY 3 ST. MARY S - IN MEMORY OF ANDREW R. MARTONIK BY WIFE, ROSE AND FAMILY MOTHER OF SORROWS - IN MEMORY OF ANDY LETO BY WIFE, NANCY AND CHILDREN WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS This Sunday, May 3 is World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The whole Church celebrates Christ s unique call to each of us to serve as his disciples. Please pray today and during the week in thanksgiving for your call at Baptism and your vocational choice. Also pray that many may respond to God s call to serve. VOCATION PRAYER Father, Lord of the harvest, help us to respond generously to the inspirations of your Spirit. Give to your Church for the world today, true disciples who will serve as priests, deacons, brothers, sisters, lay ministers, married couples and single persons to draw all people to God and God to all people. We trust in your love and mercy through Christ our Lord. Amen. ROAD TO THE PRIESTHOOD EVENING WITH THE BISHOP and HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS MAY 7, Saint Paul Seminary 4:30-5:30 PM (Open to All Interested Men) Meet the Seminarians What Is a Seminary? What Does a Priest Do? What Are the Requirements? How Long Does It Take to Be a Priest? 5:50-6:30 PM Tour of the Seminary Cookout and Social 7:00-8:00 PM (Open to All) Holy Hour with Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament Bishop David Zubik, Presider and Homilist Outdoor Reception Priests ~ Deacons ~ Religious Youth Groups ~ Knights of Columbus ~ Serra Clubs Come and Pray for Vocations to the Priesthood! This is a gathering for young men who want to learn more about the priesthood. If you want more information, please call The Holy Hour is open to everyone. There is no cost, but seating is limited. Call to register. REMINDER The Pizza Kitchen is on summer break. See you in September.

5 PASTOR'S CORNER Fr. Lou Vallone Tuesday, May 5, is the 36th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood in Pittsburgh. On that day, as we do every year, my class will meet for Mass, meal and reunion. We were a very large class, 28 ordained that year. We did not all go to the same seminaries, some of us not meeting each other till the retreat the week before our ordination. But we have been faithful to this gathering each year, a sign of our shared experience and ministry. In some ways, the years have not been particularly good to us as a group: two of us are dead, one is in a nursing home in another state, one is in ministry in another diocese having excardinated from Pittsburgh, and currently six are no longer active in the ministry and are not functioning as priests. Some of us have had hard wear over the years, as is evidenced by bald heads, gray beards, wide waists, slight limps, thick glasses and a myriad of other physical manifestations of the passage of time. When we are together, it is easy to see quantitatively that we have had our hard knocks and paid dues. Since 2001 in particular, with the uproar of the clerical scandals in the news, it may be extra hard to remember our idealism and enthusiasm from so long ago as newly ordaineds. None of us could have guessed on that day the quality and texture of our lives as it is presently being lived out. But we are not alone in having the reality of our vocations turn out differently than what we envisioned. people, God worked His will. Part way through his papacy, this monk turned pope wrote the following in his journal as a reflection of his ministry: When I was in the monastery, I could curb my idle talk and be absorbed in my prayers. Since I assumed the burden of pastoral care, my mind can no longer be collected; it is concerned with so many matters...i am forced to consider the affairs of the Church. I must become an administrator lest the religious go in want...with my mind divided and torn to pieces by so many problems, how can I meditate or preach wholeheartedly without neglecting the ministry of proclaiming the Gospel? And because I too am weak, I find myself drawn little by little into idle conversation, and I begin to talk freely about matters which I once would have avoided. What once I found tedious I now enjoy. So who am I to be a watchman, for I do not stand on the mountain of action but lie down in the valley of weakness: This is the man we now know at St. Gregory the Great. He was a great pope, and became a saint. And if he could survive the changes, challenges and surprises of priesthood, then there is still hope for me and my classmates. To my brother priests in these hard times, especially my classmates on our anniversary: Ad multos annos may we have many years in the service of God and His people. Amen. Alleluia! In the sixth century, a simple monk was elected as pope. He resisted it, but through the will of the continued next column... SPRING LUNCHEON BENEFIT The Sisters of St. Joseph Auxiliary will hold their 47th Annual Spring Luncheon on Sat., May 16 at the Sheraton, Station Square, from 11 AM to 3 PM. Come for lunch, cards (optional) and special raffles and prizes. Proceeds benefit the Sisters and their ministries. Cost is $30.00 per person. For information or to make a reservation, please call Sr. Karen at ROSARY MARCH - THIS SUNDAY, MAY 3 Epiphany Church, 108 Centre Ave., Uptown Pittsburgh 1:15 PM - 65th International Eucharistic Rosary Procession from Epiphany Church to St. Mary of Mercy Church - For those who cannot process, there will be recitation of the Rosary at 2 PM at St. Mary of Mercy Church while the marchers are en route. WISDOM, AGE AND GRACE: A CELEBRATION OF LATER LIFE All Wisdom Comes from the Lord is the theme of the Catholic Charities 16th Annual Wisdom, Age and Grace: A Celebration of Later Life Conference to be held on Friday, May 8, 2009 at the Four Points by Sheraton Pittsburgh North, Mars. Bishop David A. Zubik will be the main celebrant and homilist for Mass at 10:30 AM. Registration fee is $35. Please call Judy Kimicata at for information.