Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 3411 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, S.E. Washington, DC 20032

Transcription

1 Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 3411 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, S.E. Washington, DC 20032

2 Rev.Gregory Shaffer, Pastor Saturday Vigil Mass: 4:30 pm Sunday Mass: 10:00 am Daily Mass: Monday thru Saturday 12:10 pm Eucharistic Adoration: Monday,Wednesday, Friday 11:00-12:00 noon Confessions: Saturday 3:30-4:15 pm, Wednesday 11:00 12:00 noon or anytime by appointment Address: 3401 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, S.E. Washington, DC Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Tuesday 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm Pastor: Father Greg Shaffer Cell Secretary: Mrs. Cheryl Hamlin-Williams Phone: Fax Pope Francis Outreach Center : Food Pantry and Clothing Room Director: Ms. Mildred Brown Assistant Director Ms. Brenda Hare Hours of Operation: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 noon Phone: Fax Website: outreach@assumptiondc.org

3 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time June 19, 2016 God's timing couldn't be better with today s first reading. Zechariah 12:10-11 describes vast and deep mourning of a nation. That is where we are as Americans given the tragedies in Florida last week. We are mourning not only the horrific deaths of 50 people at a nightclub and a 2-year-old boy at Disney World, but also grieving sin and its effects. Mother Angelica used to say that the beatitude "blessed are those who mourn" had nothing to do with funerals. What she meant was that true Christian mourning encompasses all of the effects of sin, not just death. With that understanding in mind, several of you have come to me this week in mourning. You have asked me, "what is going on?" and "what can I do?". Cardinal Sarah of Guinea presented some cogent answers to both questions when he spoke at last month's National Prayer Breakfast in DC. It's a pretty amazing speech! He's as spot-on and sharp as can be, and not afraid to speak the truth in love. Below are some excerpts. I am available to any of you who have concerns or questions about what is going on in our world. May you know the peace of Christ, Fr Greg Today we are witnessing the next stage and the consummation of the efforts to build a utopian paradise on earth without God. It is the stage of denying sin and the fall altogether. But the death of God results in the burial of good, beauty, love and

4 truth. Good becomes evil, beauty is ugly, love becomes the satisfaction of sexual primal instincts, and truths are all relative Every human being, like the persons of the Trinity, has the capacity to be united with other persons in communion through the vinculum caritatis the bond of charity of the Holy Spirit. The family is a natural preparation and anticipation of the communion that is possible when we are united with God. The family, as it were, is a natural praeparatio evangelica written into our nature. This is why the devil is so intent on destroying the family. If the family is destroyed, we lose our God-given, anthropological foundations and so find it more difficult to welcome the saving Good News of Jesus Christ: self-giving, fruitful love Advanced societies, including I regret this nation have done and continue to do everything possible to legalize such situations. But this can never be a truthful solution. It is like putting bandages on an infected wound. It will continue to poison the body until antibiotics are taken. Sadly, the advent of artificial reproductive technologies, surrogacy, so-called homosexual marriage, and other evils of gender ideology, will inflict even more wounds in the midst of the generations we live with Do we not see signs of this insidious war in this great nation of the United States? In the name of tolerance, the Church s teachings on marriage, sexuality and the human person are dismantled. The legalization of same sex marriage, the obligation to accept contraception within health care programs, and even bathroom bills that allow men to use the women s restrooms and locker rooms. Should not a biological man use the men s restroom? How simpler can that concept be? How low we are sinking for a nation built on a set of moral claims about God, the human person, the meaning of life, and the purpose of society, given by America s first settlers and founders! God is named in your founding documents as Creator and Supreme Judge over individuals and government. The human person endowed with God-given and therefore inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of

5 happiness. George Washington wrote that the establishment of Civil and Religious Liberty was the motive that induced me to the field of battle. Today, we find ourselves before the battle of a sickness that has pervaded our world. I repeat: the battle of a sickness. That is what we face. I call this sickness the liquidation, the eclipse of God. Pope Francis describes the causes of this sickness. I quote: Religious liberty is not only that of thought or private worship. It is freedom to live according to ethical principles consequent upon the truth found, be it privately or publicly. This is a great challenge in the globalized world, where weak thought which is like a sickness also lowers the general ethical level, and in the name of a false concept of tolerance ends up by persecuting those who defend the truth about man and the ethical consequences. What are the remedies to this sickness? What should we do to protect the family, religious freedom, and marriage as revealed to us by God? Before such a distinguished gathering, I offer three humble suggestions. 1. Be prophetic Discern carefully in your lives, your homes, your workplaces how, in your nation, God is being eroded, eclipsed, liquidated. 2. Be faithful In the words of Saint Catherine of Siena: Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear. 3. Pray Pope Benedict XVI in Deus Caritas Est encourages us : People who pray are not wasting their time, even though the situation appears desperate and seems to call for action alone.

6 Healing Prayers for: Jean Sultzer, Lillian Savoy, Gisele Best, Lezeal Rorie, Corinne Bachiller, Lillian Taylor, Calvin Best, Tracy Stachitis, Veronica Brown, Deacon McBurnett Smith, Marsha Carlson-Meyers, Dr. Dee Jones Adams, Barry Robella, Father Dan Vitz, Eleonora Best, Jane Rhyne, Faye Lyon, Abby Fargo, Mildred Selmar, Heather Wooten-Rollins, Brenda Newman, Malek Elloit, Kennedy Wood, Courtney Barlow, LaVerne Lane, Christine Jones, Benjamin Davis, Ronald Horton, Madison McKenzie, Jamil McKenzie, Samuel James Guadalupe, Shawntrice Moore, Bridget Barlow, Veronica Harris, Teresa Wilkinson, Sherri Ewing, Pauline Haggins, Dorothy Sylvester, Tiffany Jacobs, Darlene Jones, Paul Higgins, Audrey Saunders, Pauline Johnson, June Murphy Our Homebound Parishioners: Mary Cooke, Sybil Depeazer, Muriel Dunmore, Louvenia Gray, Fr. Charles Green, Pauline Johnson, Yvonne Samuel, Audrey Saunders, Joan Shields, Elizabeth Smith, Viola Walker Father's Blessing Saviour, Majestic Redeemer of mankind, Through Your kindness and forgiveness, You secured what was rightfully Yours. Having sinned against Your greatness, Lured away by the prince of darkness, Your mercy released me from bondage. Grant me the insight of this great mercy, That I may understand the sinful nature And be as merciful as Your Holy Grace. Merciful Lord, anchor my soul to Heaven, Never letting it out of Your sight, Ensuring my eternal presence with You! Soul of Christ, sanctify me; Body of Christ, save me; READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: 2 Kgs 17:5-8, 13-15a, 18 Mt 7:1-5 Tuesday: 2 Kgs 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36 Mt 7:6, Wednesday: 2 Kgs 22:8-13; 23:1-3 Mt 7:15-20 Thursday: 2 Kgs 24:8-17 Mt 7:21-29 Friday: Is 49:1-6 Lk 1:57-66, 80 Saturday: Lam 2:2, 10-14, Mt 8:5-17 Next Sunday: 1 Kgs 19:16b, Gal 5:1, Lk 9:51-62

7 Prayfor our Ordinandi Archdiocese of Washington Priest Ordination Class of 2016 Deacon Jonathan Berard Deacon Alberto Biondi Deacon Robert Boxie Deacon Keith Burney Deacon Jonathan Deacon Philip Ilg Deacon Ryan Pineda Vanegas- Calderón Deacon Stephen Wyble You are invited to join those being ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Washington at a EUCHARISTIC HOLY HOUR In Thanksgiving to God Wednesday, June 22, a.m.-noon Assumption Church Washington DC

8 This Wednesday, June 22 nd Please join us in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament at the Holy Hour for the intentions of the Ordinandi. In this class we know two of the Deacons that are being ordained Deacon Jack Berard and Deacon Robert Boxie. Please come out as we offer prayer for those to be ordained. GRADUATES 2015 and 2016 If you graduated Grade school, High school, College or Post High School training in , please let us know by signing the list in the back of the church. We will share Blessings and Honors next Sunday at the youth Mass. LAST REVIVAL NIGHT Tomorrow night is the last Revival night until the fall. Please join us and meet a surprise revivalist. Tell a friend, bright a friend. Father s Day Spiritual Remembrance (Living and Deceased) Carlson, Jeffry Curtis, Jerome Faxio Family Freeman, George, Jr. Gudger, Millage V. Harris, Walter O. Hunt, Gordon Jarman, Victor Jeffries, William Jeffries, Willie III Johnson, James H. Jones, Joseph Lewis, George Robinson, Keith Robinson, Victor St. Hill, Victor Thomas, Walter T. Williams Family Wright, George June 19, 2016