August 26, st Sunday in Ordinary Time

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1 SAINT LAWRENCE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 6222 Franconia Road, Alexandria, VA Rectory: (703) FAX: (703) Please join us today after the 9:00 am and 11:00 am Masses for a light reception for Deacon Will Nyce who will be preaching at both Masses. All are welcome! August 26, st Sunday in Ordinary Time Pastor Parish Secretary Parish Staff Cynthia Dreslin office@stlawrencealex.org Director of Religious Ed Anne-Marie Pierce religioused@stlawrencealex.org Youth Minister Joseph Stakem youth@stlawrencealex.org Music Director Rev. Ronald J. Gripshover, Jr. office@stlawrencealex.org Rev. Daniel S. Spychala Parochial Vicar vicar@stlawrencealex.org Rev. Joseph Okwei Ocran In Residence Deacon Michael A. Waters Permanent Deacon & Finance Manager Raymond St. Pierre HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS SUNDAY MASS Saturday Vigil: 5:00 p.m. Sunday: 7:30, 9:00 and 11:00am and 12:30pm (Extraordinary Form Latin Mass) WEEKDAY MASS M - F: 6:15 and 9:00 a.m. Saturday 9:00 a.m. CONFESSIONS Mon. 9:30 am; Wed. 7:15-8:00 pm; Fri. 6:45 am FORMED.ORG We are called to put our Faith into practice. To learn more and to grow in Faith, sign onto FORMED.ORG. We maintain a Parish subscription to FORMED.ORG. Go to the following site: to create your free account for great information and videos on our Faith. Use

2 MASS SCHEDULE AND OFFERINGS MONDAY, 8/27 - Saint Monica 6:15 am Tom Turk 9:00 am Carolyn Gotzens TUESDAY, 8/28 - Saint Augustine, Bishop And Doctor of the Church 6:15 am The Goslees 9:00 am Jaime E. Navanjo WEDNESDAY, 8/29 - The Passion of St. John the Baptist 6:15 am James Albanese 9:00 am Ricardo Boy Saromosing, Jr. THURSDAY, 8/30 - Saint Fiacre of Brie 6:15 am Florentina Beltran 9:00 am Teresita Abarrola FRIDAY, 8/31 - Saint Raymond Nonnatus 6:15 am Theo & Mort 9:00 am Fr. Jerry Petta SATURDAY, 9/1 - Saint Giles 9:00 am Toni McDaniel 5:00 pm Linda & Vinsaldo Mabasa, Sr. SUNDAY, 9/2-22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 7:30 am All Polish Americans (Living/Deceased) 9:00 am Lillian Nguyen Please pray for the sick of our parish family including Jay Farabaugh, Melanie Brady, Helen Mekenie, Justin Pham, Raymond Stanekenas, Joan Chapman, Brian Padfield, Rita MacQueeney, Donald Lawson, Alice O Connor, Minh Tran, Anthony Torres, Leah Bloom, Richard Kuron, Sr., Jack Marzan, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time This Week in Our Parish Mon. Confessions after 9:00 am Mass Novena 7:15 pm Tues. No Activities Wed. Eucharistic Adoration 9:30 am - 7:15 pm Fatima Prayer Cell after 9:00 am Mass Wed. Morning Gathering 11:15 am - 1 pm Divine Mercy Chaplet - 3:00 pm Holy Hour 7:15-8:15 pm Confessions 7:00-7:45 pm Thurs No Activities Friday Confessions 6:45 am Sat. Pro-Life Rosary am (2839 Duke St.Alex.) Volunteer Receptionists Needed for Rectory Office. Due to a new Arlington Diocesan policy, we are no longer able to use our teenage youth as receptionist/desk clerks. Help is needed on weekday evenings from 5-9 pm and weekends during the day. Must be aged 18 or over. If we are not able to find enough volunteers, the parish office will be closed when we don t have coverage. Save the date for our Annual Parish Picnic on Sunday, September 16th from 2-4 pm. Come join us for food, fun, live music, giant slides, mechanical bull, moon bounce and more! The Knights of Columbus will grill hamburgers and hot Mommy and Me PlayGroup. MOMS! Would you like to meet other mothers in the parish and have your children make new friends?would you like to talk with other Mothers and have a conversation about something other than baby food, diapers and naps? Come join our Mommy and Me PlayGroup! If you are interested in joining a regular meeting with other moms, please send an to <michelle.nataro@gmail.com>. We meet twice each month and our next meeting is September 13th following the 9am Mass. We will send an 1 hour before each play date if there is any change due to weather or other Young Adult Gathering. We invite all year olds to join us at an interest meeting toda, Sunday, August 26, at 1:30pm in the Parish Picnic area. Our tentative plan is for young Catholic adults to start meeting twice a month to socialize and engage in Bible study, discussion groups, book review discussions, service projects, and fun outings. We would love to hear your ideas at this meeting and hope to provide the young adults of the Parish an opportunity to get to know each other and grow in our Faith. Pizza and drinks will be provided at the meeting. RSVP to Juls O'Neill at juliana.r.oneill@gmail.com. If you can't come to the meeting, but are interested in future events, Juls

3 SAINT LAWRENCE CATHOLIC CHURCH 6222 Franconia Road, Alexandria, Virginia Phone: (703) Fax: (703) Dear Faithful of St. Lawrence Catholic Church, I wish to take a moment as your Pastor to formally address issues facing the Church and our clergy. Over the last several weeks, we have heard details of gravely serious sins in the hierarchy of the Church and about some priests in Pennsylvania. This sadness is, well, both depressing and very troubling. Of course, all priests, being human, fail in smaller ways and even in larger ways that are not uncommon to the human condition. Such failings disappoint all of us. I echo the words our Bishop in his letter concerning these terrible crimes that the recent revelations are miserable and repulsive failures of some of our clergy and those in the hierarchy of the Church. All of this has a terrible effect on the Church from new priestly vocations to the Church s credibility to preach and spread the Gospel message for the salvation of souls. But in the personal dimension, these sad revelations are horrible to the victims and are certainly terribly hard even devastating on you, the faithful of Holy Church. I say this because they are hard on me. We heard in last weekend s Gospel, I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is My Flesh for the life of the world. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. To receive the Holy Eucharist for the life of the world, we need good and faithful priests and bishops because the Flesh of the Son of Man and His Blood are essential to nourish our souls. Priests and bishops are the necessary instruments for these treasures of our salvation, but they, as individuals, are not the source for those graces. The source is Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. The whole Church the laity, priests, and bishops is composed of sinners and saints, with the sinners, hopefully, fighting against temptations to become saints by the faithful and frequent reception of the Sacraments and defeating temptations. If your focus has been distracted as is understandable by the evil actions and immoral failings of some priests and bishops, your focus needs to return to this sole source of peace and healing. Of course, when a priest abuses a child, he must be dealt with swiftly and severely, and any bishop who covers that up should likewise receive significant punishment. Amid this recent struggle in Holy Church, we must keep our hearts, minds, and souls centered on our LORD Jesus and not allow the horrible revelations to shake our faith in Him since only in Him will our souls find peace. My dear faithful, all these scandals could lead you to distrust all priests and bishops. Please do not do that. Our LORD teaches us that we need Him in the Holy Eucharist and in the other Sacraments so please pray that everyone in the Church is faithful to our individual vocation with all our heart, mind, and soul firmly rooted in and fixed on Christ Jesus: Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood Pray the Holy Rosary

4 August 21, 2018 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, recently reminded us of the words of the Apostle Paul: If one member suffers, all suffer together with it (1 Cor 12:26). With you, I share the suffering of victims of sexual abuse on the part of clergy, and the suffering of all who have lost trust and confidence in leaders of our Church. Upon hearing credible and substantiated allegations of sexual abuse on the part of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick and the horrific accounts of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, including the failure of Church leaders to protect children, teenagers and young adults from abuse, I, like you, felt tremendous anger and shame that such crimes occurred within our Church. I have had several opportunities to speak about these issues in recent days through statements, homilies, a letter to priests, and podcasts. (These are all available on the diocesan website.) In each instance, I knew full well that words cannot sufficiently express my regret for the sins of Church leaders and priests who betrayed Christ and his people. No matter how insufficient words may be, however, I again convey my sincere apologies to victims of abuse and reassure them, as well as the rest of the Catholic faithful in this Diocese, of my desire to support you in every way possible. Additionally, I assure you that no priest credibly accused of child sexual abuse is, or ever will be, in active ministry in this Diocese. I was ordained a bishop in 2002, the same year the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People was enacted to establish standards for reporting and investigating accusations, as well as to help victims heal from the trauma they experienced. As such, I have always implemented these procedures throughout my ministry as a bishop. Once again, I wish to assure you that in our Diocese, immediately upon receiving an accusation of abuse, we report it to law enforcement. In addition, all evidence about each allegation is assessed by our diocesan review board, composed of a majority of lay men and women who have expertise in areas that will assist with the process. Policies are essential, and they must continue to be implemented and followed. This crisis, however, is not only about policies it is about evil, the moral failings of priests, and at times a lack of courage and integrity on the part of bishops and other Church leaders. Priests and bishops should not need policies to keep from committing immoral acts or to report heinous crimes to the authorities. We should need only a well-formed conscience, a commitment to Jesus Christ, and fidelity to the promises of our vocation. With the Lord s grace, we must strive to root out evil and work tirelessly to protect all young people as a matter of respect for their precious dignity as beloved children of God. When witnessing such failures, many will naturally question their confidence and trust in the Church. Please always remember that Christ is Head of the Church and that he never fails us. While the Lord in his divinity works through his bishops and priests, at times they in their humanity fail to protect the flock, even in the most disturbing ways. Please join me in praying for our priests, as in this troubling time they greatly appreciate the support you have shown. I pray that, together, we will renew our faith in Christ, who promises to be with us through periods of darkness and uncertainty. We call upon his Divine Mercy and saving help as we seek healing, purification and transformation. May Our Lord guide and protect his Church and his people, now and always. Sincerely in Christ, Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge 0706 Bishop August of Arlington 26, 2018

5 Angelus Academy - Priority Registration for St. Lawrence parishioners. We welcome you to apply for ; Wait list for Kindergarten now open Just moved? We are accepting applications for : Please register now in order to reserve your child(ren)'s spot for this school year. Tuition assistance is available for all parishioners. Share the treasures of a solid Catholic education with your child(ren)/grandchild(ren). Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (Atrium): Looking for a beautiful Atrium for your 3-6 year olds? Join us for Montessori religious formation classes for Christ s littlest ones. Sessions begin in September. Part Time Positions Available for CGS Level I, Recess monitors, Math/Reading tutors. Religious Education/Youth Group Educating our Youth in the Faith is the Future of Holy Mother Church. Religious Education Classes: Children entering 1st through 12th grade who are not attending a Catholic school should be registered in the parish Religious Education program. If you have not registered your child(ren) for Religious Education for the school year, please do so as soon as possible. Classes begin in September. Forms are available at the Religious Education Office, in the Church or the Rectory Office. For more information or if you have questions, please call the Religious Education HOLY LAND OLIVE WOOD CARVINGS. On the weekend of September 1/2, there will be a display of beautiful olivewood handmade carvings from the Holy Land in Our Church. These Carvings are made by the Christians of Bethlehem who use them as their source of income. These brothers and sisters of ours are enduring hardships at this moment because of the volatile situation in their home country. Christians in the Holy Land used to be more than 37% of the population. There is less than 1% now because of the situation. As Christians of faith, it is our duty to support our brothers and sisters in Bethlehem. YOU can support them by All are invited Wednesday Mornings at 11:15 am in Hammond Hall for various religious movies and special presentations on timely religious themes. All are welcome and refreshments will be served. Bring a lunch! We usually end at 1:15 pm Part time Volunteer Admin. help needed for CCD. i.e. Data entry, hang posters, photocopy, assisting with Registration. Please call Anne-Marie Pierce R.C.I.A. (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) is for those interested in learning more about the Catholic faith. Whether this is your first time inquiring, if you need to receive one or more of the Sacraments of Initiation, or if you are a lifelong Catholic hungering to learn more about our holy faith, we welcome you to our next session of classes Please call Anne Marie Pierce, our Director of Religious PARENTS WITH TEENAGERS. (13-18 Years old) Your Youth Office welcomes you to get involved so your children will get involved in some aspect of the Youth program here in the parish. MARK YOUR CALENDAR!!! HUMANAE VITAE CONFERENCE at St. Raymond of Peñafort on In order for your children to grow in their faith, we are Saturday, September 8, 2018 from 9:00am to 1:30pm. planning fun activities and catechism for your teens and TOPIC: HUMANAE VITAE & FIFTY YEARS: A parents who can assist in the events. Volunteer for a single serious look at the impact of this profound encyclical by event you are interested in, or for them all. Pope Blessed Paul VI on marriage, the family, and the We need more youth involvement in our Holy Church nation. and parental involvement is key to this goal. Featured Speakers include: Fr. Tad Pacholczyk, PhD., High School catechesis starts this Sept 11, from 7pm- Dr. Robert Royal, and Bob & Gerri Laird. Morning 8:15pm and will be held every Tuesday, except for holidays Conference includes: Mass at 9:00 a.m. followed by when the Church Office is closed. conference from 9:30 to 2:00 p.m. Box lunches and Please register in Hammond Hall at the Youth Office, continental breakfast will be available. All are Welcome where we will have a schedule for your consideration. Also to Attend Please RSVP at straymonds.org/humanae look to our Parish Website in the near Future for a listing -vitae-conference. Conference Location: St. Raymond Parish Hall, 8750 Pohick Road, Springfield, VA For more information, contact St. Raymond s Parish