READINGS FOR APRIL 8 Acts 4: John 5:1-6 John 20:19-31

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1 ST HELEN CHURCH RIVERSIDE, OHIO April 1, 2018 HAPPY EASTER! MAY ALL OF US, LIKE PETER AND JOHN, ALWAYS RUN TO FIND THE LORD! On this most joyous of days, we wish everyone the joy of the risen Lord! How good is the good God! How loving and compassionate and merciful and beautiful is our savior Jesus! In addition to Fr. Satish, Fr. Dave, Deacon Ralph, and Deacon Jon, who presided and assisted at our liturgies, and our staff, who planned and taught and organized and set up and arranged, so many people contributed so many hours of volunteer time to make our Triduum and Easter Sunday celebrations of this love and mercy so powerful and beautiful. 25 church cleaners 19 servers (14 of them with special practices); 36 Eucharistic Ministers; 13 lectors; 4 sacristans with hours of cleaning, laundering, preparing, setting up, and arranging flowers; and 10 ushers 10 banner and canopy carriers; 4 foot washing facilitators; 4 wall candle carriers; 4 Scouts and leaders for the fire At least 20 people who removed 8 rows of chairs, kneelers, dividers, hymnals...and put them back again after the Vigil Mass 3 people who emptied, cleaned, and refilled the baptismal font between Holy Thursday evening and Holy Saturday morning 14 RCIA volunteers 36 musicians with 25 hours of rehearsal of 77 different pieces of music At least a dozen others who helped to clean out candle holders, wash towels and robes and baptismal garments, and put things away after the Vigil! Thank you, too, to the 8 Palm Fest volunteers! Our parish is so blessed! READINGS FOR APRIL 8 Acts 4: John 5:1-6 John 20:19-31 With heartfelt thanks for your STEWARDSHIP OF TREASURE March 24 & 25 $12, Of this, $5, via Faith Direct CRS OPERATION RICE BOWL MONIES We prayed, fasted and gave alms and now we celebrate Easter joy! Our Lenten journey with CRS Rice Bowl ends as we encounter our Risen Lord. We reflect on our brothers and sisters we have walked with, and we commit to bringing Easter joy to each person we meet in our daily lives. If you have not already done so, you may place your rice bowl donation in the collection basket. Please make out one check for the total amount in your rice bowl, made out to St Helen Parish with "CRS Rice Bowl" in the memo line, and drop that in the collection basket. Thank you for your generosity!

2 EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD WEEKLY MASS INTENTIONS SUNDAY, APRIL 1 8:00 am Charles Keller (Family) 10:30 am Phyllis Seibel (Carol Graham) MONDAY, APRIL 2 8:15 am Jean Knapke (Family) TUESDAY, APRIL 3 8:15 am WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 8:15 am THURSDAY, APRIL 5 8:15 am FRIDAY, APRIL 6 8:15 am Regional Mass at Immaculate Conception SATURDAY, APRIL 7 5:00 PM Gene Graham (Marilyn Karmele) SUNDAY, APRIL 8 8:00 am Ed Morrisey (Jane Potts) 10:30 am Nicoletta Hary (Cathy & Dennis Stewart) FESTIVAL ALL CHAIR MEETING All festival booth chairs are asked to attend an All Chair Meeting on Sunday, April 8 at noon in the Gym. Interested in learning more about helping with our church festival? Feel free to attend! Contact your festival Chairperson, Drew Hilgeford, drew.hilgeford@hotmail.com with any questions. CALENDAR OF EVENTS MONDAY, APRIL 2 Novena 9:00 am Festival Ticket Turn-in #2 SB 7:00 pm TUESDAY, APRIL 3 Rosary BSC 9:00 am Bible Study SJ1 9:00 am WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 Centering Prayer HR 3:15 pm SVDP Meeting HR 6:30 pm CtBS Meeting SJA 7:00 pm THURSDAY, APRIL 5 FRIDAY, APRIL 6 First Friday Eucharistic Adoration BSC 10:00 am SATURDAY, APRIL 7 5:00 pm Mass Fr. Tom Schroer Credit Union Annual Meeting SB 6:00 pm SUNDAY, APRIL 8 8:00 am Mass Fr. Jerry Bensman 10:30 am Mass Fr. Tony Donut Sunday after Masses Festival All Chair Mtg GYM 12:00 pm EUCHARISTIC ADORATION This Friday, April 6 is First Friday and our parish day of Eucharistic Adoration. Adoration begins at 10 AM in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and closes from 5-6 p.m. with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Any questions or to sign up and commit for a specific time, call All are invited to also attend First Friday Mass at Immaculate Conception followed by Rosary and Benediction. DONUT SUNDAY NEXT WEEK Please join us for Donut Sunday next week in the Smith Building after the 8 and 10:30 Masses! Fair Trade products will be available for purchase. Eucharistic Minister Altar Server Lector Saturday, April 7, 5:00 PM Maria Basto Edward Kronenberger Katarina Kronenberger Nancy Lamm Joel LeFevre Armand Riel Marie Riel Constance Zebrowski Matias Basto Aiden Kronenberger Daniel Wolodkiewicz (1) Shawn Kalis (2) Sunday, April 8, 8:00 AM Ronald Beavers Nicole Harpenau Margie Keenan April Lezanic Alessandria Small Keith Steeber Todd Tayloe Phyllis Whitney Linda Dillon Lynn Howell James Whitney (1) Scott Jokerst (2) Sunday, April 8, 10:30 AM Erin Friel William Friel Jan Friel Drew Hilgeford Mindy Hilgeford Timothy Madden Diana Madden Kari Madden Eric Hilgeford Adam Saunders Benjamin Sebastian Zachary Ardema (1) Daniel Huber (2)

3 ST HELEN CHURCH RIVERSIDE, OHIO April 1, 2018 DON T BE FOOLED! The last time Easter fell on April 1, also known as April Fools Day, was in This will not happen again until From the big picture perspective it is not a very rare coincidence. However, each year that Easter coincides with April Fools Day, it is not uncommon for humorous one-lines to do the rounds. Depending on which side of the tomb one is on, atheists and believers take on each other especially when Easter and April Fools Day fall on the same day. Non-believers call the Resurrection the greatest April Fools prank, while believers brag that Jesus did ultimately outwit his opponents! People on both sides know, however that the coincidence occurs because April Fools Day is based on the solar calendar, whereas Easter is based on the lunar calendar. April Fools Day originated in the 1500s when the Gregorian calendar replaced from the Julian. Those who forgot the change and attempted to celebrate New Year s (previously celebrated on the 1st of April) on the wrong date were teased as April fools. We know, then, that Easter outdates April Fool s day by many millennia. The fact remains that more than one-third of the world population gathers in churches around the globe not to commemorate April Fools Day but the resurrection of Jesus. The fact also remains that Jesus did outwit the world. He did this by simply showing us an alternative way to live life. Just like the Gregorian calendar was an alternative to the Julian calendar, Jesus proposed a New Covenant to replace the old. He said, You have heard that it was said of old but I say to you. They did not believe him. They thought he was being foolish. He wasn t! To show that he meant what he said, he began to live his message. Through his life he showed that there was another way besides condemnation and rejection. He showed that there was another way besides hate and violence. He showed the path of love, forgiveness, service, compassion, mercy, peace, and hope. He even said that death is not the final word. He claimed that he would rise from the dead and so will everyone who believed in him. They still thought he was foolish. They decided to end this foolishness by putting an end to him. He let them do it. He let them do it because he knew that he was not fooling around when it came to people s lives and destinies. He was in the serious business of putting people on the path to redemption. That fateful day they thought they had surely put it all behind him when they nailed him to the cross, laid him in the tomb, and finally placed the largest stone at the entrance of the tomb. The tomfoolery is now behind us, they must have said to themselves. They should have listened to Him when he said that he was not merely fooling around. As in life so in death Jesus did not fool around. As he said, he rose from the dead! How do we know that the resurrection was not a fable created by his disciples? How can we be sure that Jesus did rise from the dead? My answer is simple. Because two thousand years later, people like you and me believe in the deepest part of our being that our own destiny is tied up with him who rose from the dead. A living people of faith is the greatest witness to the resurrection! Tomfoolery does not survive that long! The resurrection of Jesus - it s not the material for fools! The best way to prove wrong those who do not believe in the resurrection is for us to live the life that Jesus lived - the way of love, forgiveness, service, compassion, mercy, peace, and hope. The only way to beat the fool is to be dead serious about living the life that Jesus showed us. I wrote this reflection not to wish you happy April Fools Day but to wish you a blessed Easter! I pray that when it comes to life and death, you will not be fooled. - Fr. Satish Joseph

4 EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD

5 ST HELEN CHURCH RIVERSIDE, OHIO April 1, 2018

6 EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD HUNGER AWARENESS DINNER FUNDRAISER The thirteenth annual House of Bread Hunger Awareness Dinner will take place on WEDNESDAY, April 11 at 6 P.M. The House of Bread is located at 9 Orth Avenue, just south of the intersection of Salem Avenue and Edwin C Moses Boulevard in Dayton. The dinner is sponsored by the Wright State University Social Work Club and the Catholic Order of Foresters. The event annually raises over $4000. Come join us to raise awareness of hunger in the Dayton area and enjoy a great meal- the same meal that is served at the House of Bread. The menu includes meat entree of the day, side, salad, dessert, and beverages. The House of Bread is the Dayton area's only food kitchen that serves on average 230 meals a day, 365 days a year. Mary Reid, Manager of Mission Services for Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley, will be the guest speaker. The Catholic Order of Foresters is matching contributions/ tickets up to $1500. Tickets are ONLY $10. All proceeds go directly to the House of Bread. Please contact Carl Brun at (home) or (cell) to purchase tickets. Tickets will also be available at the door. You may also purchase tickets online at caring. Thank you for ADVERTISE IN OUR WEEKLY CHURCH BULLETIN Thank you to all our current businesses who advertise in our church bulletin! If you are a business owner, you now have an opportunity to increase customers and patrons by advertising in our weekly Church Bulletin. Adam West of Diocesan Publications will be visiting our parish April 16th- 20th. For information contact Adam at (614) or awest@diocesan.com. THANK YOU to ALL our current advertisers for your support. Please remember to utilize their services if possible! IS WHITE PRIVILEGE REAL? A PERSON TO PERSON CONVERSATION (DAYTON) Join the dialogue event on race on April 14 th 10:30am-12:30pm at the Northwest Branch Dayton Library, 2410 Philadelphia Drive. This morning gathering will bring people of diverse backgrounds together. It will include viewing part of Tim Wise s documentary White Like Me and sharing personal experiences. Reserve your spot by Wednesday, April 11. Reserve by csadayton@catholiccincinnati.org or phone: ext Co-Sponsored by the Anti- Racism/Anti-Discrimination Task Force of Weavers of Justice, Sisters of the Precious Blood, Summit Christian Church, and Greater Dayton Christian Connections.