St. Hugh of Grenoble Catholic Church

Transcription

1 St. Hugh of Grenoble Catholic Church 135 Crescent Road Greenbelt, MD Website: PARISH STAFF Rev. Walter J. Tappe, Pastor Rev. R. Scott Hurd, Pastoral Associate Mrs. Lucy Fuentes, Bookkeeper Mrs. Giuliana Ravina, Parish Secretary Mrs. Tiffani M. James, School Principal Mrs. Nanette Cepko, School Secretary Mrs. Ginger Feliciotti, School Receptionist Mrs. Katherine Kramer, Religious Education Mrs. Jennifer Goltz, Director of Music Dr. Gerald Muller, Principal Organist Mr. Hung Le, Plant Manager PARISH OFFICE 135 Crescent Road , Fax: Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. PARISH SCHOOL 145 Crescent Road , Fax: Office Hours: 7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. SCHOOL OF RELIGION (CCD) SUNDAY MASSES Saturday Evening Vigil: 5:00 p.m. Sunday: 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m. DAILY MASSES Monday-Friday: 7:15 a.m.; Saturday: 9:00 a.m. HOLY HOUR First Fridays at 7:00 p.m. SACRAMENT OF PENANCE Saturday: 3:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM The second Sunday of every month after the 11:00 a.m. Mass. Call the rectory to make arrangements. SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE By arrangement. Contact the pastor at least six months before intended date of wedding. NEW PARISHIONERS Welcome! Please call or register at the parish office.

2 Page 2 Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time October 11, 2009 The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any twoedged sword. Hebrews 4:12a From the Pastor s Desk Around the Parish I hope you were able to take part in this year s Oktoberfest, which is becoming a St. Hugh s tradition. This year we expanded the hours of the festival, beginning Saturday at 3 p.m. and ending around 9:00 p.m. Our Oktoberfest serves authentic German food from the kitchen of our master chef, Silke Pope, herself an authentic German from Frankfurt and a parishioner. Grenoble Hall was set up like a Munich beer hall, with long tables for communal eating and drinking. We also had picnic tables set up outside of Grenoble for outdoor dining. Plus, there was take out service for people who preferred to eat away. This is the fifth year we have done an Oktoberfest. Each year we draw more and more people. This year we had a large number of participants from the wider Greenbelt community, including our mayor, Judith Davis. One member of the community, commenting on the numerous eating events we hold throughout the course of year, referred to St. Hugh s as the food parish. What a wonderful reputation to have: a parish that offers the best food anywhere food for the stomach and food for the soul! A hearty thanks to the fundraising committee for staging another successful Oktoberfest and to the many volunteers who assisted. We already look forward to next year s Oktoberfest. ******** On September 8, 1949, two hundred eleven children assembled at 9 a.m. for the first day of school at the new St. Hugh s Parochial School. They assembled at the Greenbelt Theatre! The new school building was not yet completed, so for almost two months the children were taught in the theatre and at the nearby Drop-In. The first day of classes in the school building was October 30, The school was staffed by six Sisters of the Holy Cross who had arrived in the parish to take up residence in the convent at the end of August, By 1964, there were eight Sisters of the Holy Cross and two lay teachers instructing 420 children in grades one through eight. This weekend, our parish is marking the 60 th anniversary of the opening of our school with an alumni dinner and dance in Grenoble Hall on Saturday evening, October 10, and a picnic on the grounds after the 11 a.m. Mass, to which our alumni and their families are cordially invited. A number of the Holy Cross sisters who taught in our school will be present: Sister Maris Bonnett, CSC, Sister Elizabeth, CSC, Sister Rita McQueeney,CSC, and Sister Rose Cecilia, CSC. We extend a hearty welcome to all our returning alumni as we thanks to God for sixty years of Catholic education at St. Hugh s School. In Christ, Father Tappe Weekly Catechesis Our weekly catechesis for September and October is on the topic of life. October is Respect Life month. Each week we will look at the core beliefs and values that support a culture of life as well as the destructive attitudes and ways of thinking that lead to a culture of death. Our loving God commands us, Choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19). And in describing his mission, Jesus tells us, I came that they might have life and have it to the full (John 10:10). This week s topic is Addressing Infertility with Compassion and Clarity. It is written by Rev. J. Daniel Mindling, OFM, Cap., the Academic Dean at Mount St. Mary s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland

3 Page 3 and a consultant to the USCCB Committee on Pro- Life Activities. ******** What do Infertility Specialists tell Couples? Hoping to find out firsthand, I called the number in a newspaper ad and joined a dozen prospective clients for an open house at a well-known fertility clinic. The clinic staff assured me that anyone could come, with or without a spouse. I am sure that I was the only Roman Catholic priest there, although street clothes gave no clues to my identity. There were about 15 people in my group. Some came by themselves, most with their spouse. Let me say right away that my experience that evening could not be the same as the others in the room. They were yearning for a child. They were hoping that the doctors would make it possible. They had taken a big step just to be there. They were deciding whether they should entrust their hopes to this clinic. I was there only to observe. The clinic staff explained infertility as a medical problem, and the couple as patients with a treatable condition. Testing was part of specialized medical diagnosis; the use of donor eggs, freezing embryos, and in vitro fertilization were therapies to overcome infertility; and having a baby would be a successful treatment of the parents. The presentation was not unlike a sales pitch, aimed to persuade prospective patients to choose this clinic for diagnosis and treatment because these doctors were experts in reproductive medicine. The staff laid out treatment options. There may include corrective surgery and hormone therapy, but also in vitro fertilization, and even donor sperm or eggs. Quality control was highlighted. Doctors, we were told, select only the healthiest embryos for implantation. In the case of donor eggs or sperm, care would be taken to provide for the best outcome. Problematic multiple pregnancies could be dealt with, although no one clarified that this generally will involve killing one or more of their children in the womb. Clinical staff admitted that sometimes infertility is hard to treat. Patients are encouraged not to give up. Sometimes, they said, the most effective treatment is in vitro fertilization, and as part of that treatment, some embryos can be frozen for later use. Sometimes, they continued, the quality of the egg (ovum) is such that the best treatment is to use donor eggs. It was striking that these treatment options were explained without any acknowledgement that these procedures are contrary to the dignity and exclusivity of marriage, that they most often result in the death of innocent human lives. They were not treatments that assist marital intercourse to be fruitful, but substitutions which violate the dignity of marriage and subject the unborn to mistreatment and death. These clinics do not and cannot provide spiritual support to couples suffering from infertility, nor appropriate moral guidance about the options under consideration. Pastoral care is indispensible and irreplaceable. Consider the needs. Couples experiencing infertility may find it hard to cope with this challenge to their natural desire to be parents and establish a family, a desire celebrated at their wedding. Well meaning family and friends may add to this burden with questions or expectations. Homilies or parish social events may presume that all young married couples are parents. Cultural expectations can be very high. Some couples experience painful isolation as their peers or other family members are caught up with the responsibility for infants and toddlers. Health conscious men and women in particular may feel that their bodies or natural methods of family planning have let them down. Spouses with a history of contraception or even abortion may feel overwhelmed with regret and even believe mistakenly that God is punishing them. Some may feel similar remorse after having tried in vitro fertilization and other morally illicit treatments. Some may be coping with pregnancy loss or the loss of a child after birth. Some may be losing faith or hope as they face a prolonged challenge of infertility. Some need spiritual and ethical guidance while they continue to hope for a child, others may need help as they carry the cross of incurable infertility. Some need the ministry of Church organizations as they consider adoption or other ways of nurturing and caring for children. The need for compassionate pastoral care and support is great, and few have special training to offer it. Working with infertile couples is a pro-life and promarriage ministry. As the Vatican Instruction Donum Vitae explained in 1987, marriage promotes respect for the dignity of the child and vice versa: The fidelity of the spouses in the unity of marriage involves reciprocal respect of their right to become a father and a mother only through each other. The child has the right to be conceived, carried in the womb, brought into the world and brought up within marriage: it is through the secure and recognized relationship to his own parents that the child can

4 Page 4 discover his own identity and achieve his own proper human development (DV, part II). The Church also supports morally sound treatment to help married couples have children, rejoicing that many researchers are engaged in the fight against sterility. While fully safeguarding the dignity of human procreation some have achieved results which previously seemed unattainable. Scientists therefore are to be encouraged to continue their research with the aim of preventing the causes of sterility and of being able to remedy them so that sterile couples will be able to procreate in full respect for their own personal dignity and that of the child to be born. (DV, 8). Simply presenting couples seeking a child with a list of prohibited procedures is far from a holistic and supportive pastoral approach. Pastoral care is more than the moral evaluation of treatment alternatives. At the clinic, infertile couples will hear a scientist or doctor offering them hope for a child, and at church they must receive much more than a priest telling them no. In Dignitas Personae the Church recognizes that there are those who say that the moral teaching of the church contains too many prohibitions (36) and reminds us that behind every no in the difficult task of discerning between good and evil, there shines a great yes to the recognition of the dignity and inalienable value of every single and unique human being called into existence (37). That yes must be apparent in our message to infertile couples. You send them away with theology, but the clinic sends them home with a baby, one person told me recently. Aside from the fact that clinics send many couples home without a baby, this protest misses a great deal of the role of the Church. She should stand with the infertile couple in solidarity, and stand up for basic human rights whenever challenged by a culture that seeks to overcome infertility at any cost, viewing children as a product or a right. As Donum Vitae celebrates, there are indeed methods for treating the infertile couple with full respect for the dignity of the spouses and for the life to be born. A pastoral approach to infertile couples supports their faith, their dignity, their marriage, and their vocation. It recognizes the fruitfulness that all marriages are called to share, including marriages without the blessing of children. It offers compassion and clarity. When needed, it offers reconciliation and healing. My visit to the clinic convinced me more than ever of the need for the Church to respond to the challenges of couples who struggle with infertility. Let us offer the light of the Gospel and the warmth of the heart of the Church to all couples who yearn for a child. Parish News Columbus Day The rectory and the school will be closed Monday October 12 th for the Columbus Day Holiday. Mass is at 9:00 a.m. CYO Basketball Registration Basketball registration for grades 3-8 is in progress. The last day to register for basketball is Tuesday, October 13, To register: (1) Complete the online registration form on the CYO website ( at home or at school. You will need your user ID and password if your child has registered in a previous year. (2) Return a signed printout of the form and a check payable to St. Hugh s CYO to Terri Weber via kidmail (c/o Gerry Weber, Grade 7). OR register during the CYO Coffee Social, Sunday, October 11 following the 9:30 and 11:00 Masses. Registration fees are due at the time of registration ($100 or $50 with Labor Day volunteer hours). Support Our School Update ENROLLMENT continues at our school even now that school has begun. Let your friends, neighbors and relatives know the good news about our school. Lean more at or call the school at (301) Thanks to all who worked so hard on the OCTOBER FEST, a successful event with lots of good fun, food, and music. School families are selling CANDY BARS, GIFT WRAP, and the students are doing a RUN FOR EDUCATION. Please support them. SOS PUBLICITY AND ENROLLMENT committee met this week and made plans for the next 4 months. If you would like to help in this area contact Rita Radich, RRadich@aol.com or (301) WAYS TO HELP IMMEDIATELY: 1. Keep encouraging ENROLLMENT at our school.

5 Page 5 2. Dig out those attic treasures to donate to the CHRISTMAS BAZAAR, November 7 and 8. Also, donate craft items, religious books and items, books, silent auction baskets or items. Collection of all donations after all Masses next weekend in Grenoble Hall. 3. Sell BAZAAR RAFFLE TICKETS; buy some too. This is a quick and relatively easy way to greatly increase the Bazaar's profits. For more tickets contact Rita Radich, RRadich@aol.com or (301) Drawing is on New Year's Eve for 5 cash prizes totaling $2010. So Others Might Eat (S.O.M.E) This Thursday, October 15 th, is our monthly Parish S.O.M.E. collection. Please bring your food contributions of canned juice, eggs and grits to Grenoble Hall between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. Cash donations are welcome and can be left at the rectory or brought to the Hall on collection day. Christmas Bazaar Collection If you missed our last collection for the Christmas Bazaar, we are having another one Saturday, October 17 th and Sunday, October 18 th after all Masses. If you need a special pick up or have any questions contact Ginger Feliciotti at (301) From the Fatima Rosary Guild Our next guild meeting is on October 17 after the 9:00AM Saturday mass. Please remember to come and join us and hope to see you at our humble meeting and effort down at the Grenoble Hall. If you have any questions, call (240) Christmas Bazaar Committee Mark your calendar now for a Holly Jolly Good Time at the Annual St. Hugh s Christmas Bazaar Saturday, November 7 th and Sunday, November 8 th. There will be something for everyone. Also, we have sent out Raffle Tickets for our drawing that we would like back by December 1 st. Our drawing will be held on January 1, 2010 after the New Year s Day Mass. November Novena A novena of Masses for All Souls in Purgatory will be offered in November. Special envelopes have been included in the October packets (additional envelopes are on the table in the back of the church). Please list your beloved deceased on the envelope and return by October 31 st. Their names will remain on the altar during the month of November. 40 Days for Life Vigil Great things are happening in Berwyn Heights. We opened September 23 rd with ten people some traveled from Calvert and Howard Counties to pray to end abortion! Friday nights are the most popular vigil time. Young adults, husbands, wives, parishioners from St. James, St. Mary of the Mills, St. Joseph s and Knights of Columbus gather from 6-9 p.m. We thank the Fletcher Council for their enthusiastic Pro- Life Rosary prayers 7:00 p.m. each Friday. Each Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. Fr. Smarsh leads Vespers prayers for ordinary time and we pray the antiphonal responses from his prepared booklets. The vigil runs daily through No. 1 st so invite a partner to pledge an hour Fridays or Wednesdays on the sign-up sheet at back of church. For details phone Tom Trunk, (301) Respect Life Rosary each Saturday Come pray the Rosary for Life, inside St. Hugh Church 8:30 a.m. each Saturday in October. We will distribute printed copies of the Rosary with special meditations for society to renounce abortion. Tom Trunk, (301) , is looking for volunteers to share in leading each of the decades. Flower Offering for October There are envelopes in the rear of the Church for parishioners wishing to make a donation for flowers for the month of October. Donations may be made in memory of a loved one or for some special intention. Please drop completed envelopes in the collection or at the rectory. Your donations help to keep our sanctuary beautiful. Pray for the Sick Please pray especially for Ray Turek, Miles Davis, Dianne Morao, Megan Clarke, Julie Marable, Thomas Escalante, Catherine Sillers, Margaret Hyland, Kelsi Kennedy, George McFarland, Barbara Fisher, Carl Kessler, Jim Holohan, Sylvia Marsden, Jerry Lagrone, Pat & Lewis Jessie. To add a name to the sick list, please call the rectory. Names remain on the list for a month. Pray for our Troops Please pray especially for Michael Smith, James Hall, Christopher Pfaffman, Matthew Dwyer, Anthony (Tj) Hose and Anthony Ladnier. To add a name to the list or to remove a name, please call the rectory.

6 Page 6 From the Principal s Office Thank you for your continued support of our school. St Hugh s is a wonderful place for our children to learn and grow. We hope that you will be able to join us for some of the special events that we participate in each year. In His service, Mrs. Tiffani James Halloween Happenings Our Halloween Parade will be held on Friday, October 30 th at 10:30 a.m. This parade is a St. Hugh s tradition that features the youngest members of our community in creative costumes. The students parade in the rectory parking lot. You are welcome to join us to view our spectacular costumes. We look forward to including you in the fun. From the Director of Religious Education Feast of the Week St. Luke the Evangelist October 18 St. Luke, the inspired author of the third Gospel and of the Acts of the Apostles, was a native of Antioch in Syria and a physician, and one of the early converts from paganism. He accompanied St. Paul on a considerable part of his missionary journey. He was also his companion while in prison at Rome on two different occasions. His account of these events, contained in the Acts, is firsthand history. Race For Eductaion Please come and cheer us on as we participate in our Race for Education. The students are excited about our outdoor run/walk and look forward to hearing lots of encouragement from parents and parishioners. The race will be held on November 12 th at 1:00pm. Giant, Safeway, Target, and United Way Also, please remember to select St. Hugh as your school of choice at Giant, Safeway, and Target. Our Giant code is You must re-register every year. This is a quick and easy way to raise funds for our school! Our goal is to have at least 50 parishioners registered at Giant or Safeway by November 1st. Just imagine how much the school would benefit from the increased shopping at Thanksgiving and Christmas! Register today! Sally Foster Wrapping Paper Help support our school by shopping for holiday wrapping paper at Don t forget to use the St. Hugh account number when shopping. Please call Robin Pitts at (301) if you have any questions. Luke's Gospel is, above all, the Gospel of the Merciful Heart of Jesus. It emphasizes the fact that Christ is the salvation of all men, especially of the repentant sinner and of the lowly. Legend says that Luke painted the Blessed Virgin's portrait. It is certainly true that he painted the most beautiful wordpicture of Mary ever written. St. Luke came from Antioch, was a practicing physician and was one of the first converts to Christianity. He accompanied St. Paul, who converted him, on his missionary journeys and was still with him in Rome when St. Paul was in prison awaiting death. We hear no more of him afterwards and nothing is known of his last years. The Church venerates him as a Martyr. St. Luke's Gospel is principally concerned with salvation and mercy; in it are preserved some of our Lord's most moving parables, like those of the lost sheep and the prodigal son. Dante calls St. Luke the "historian of the meekness of Christ." It is also St.

7 Page 7 Luke who tells us the greater part of what we know about our Lord's childhood. "According to tradition he was an artist, as well as a man of letters; and with a soul alive to all the most delicate inspirations, he consecrated his pencil to the holiest use, and handed down to us the features of the Mother of God. It was an illustration worthy of the Gospel which relates to the divine Infancy; and it won for the artist a new title to the gratitude of those who never saw Jesus and Mary in the flesh. Hence St. Luke is the patron of Christian art." St. Luke is the patron of artists; bachelors; bookbinders; brewers; butchers; glassworkers; goldsmiths; lace makers; notaries; painters; physicians; sculptors; stained glass workers; surgeons. His symbols are the winged ox; winged calf; ox; picture of the Virgin; palette and brushes; phials of medicine; physician's robes; easel; book and pen; hatchet; wooden horse; books of his Gospel and of the Acts; bishop; painting an icon of our Lady. Prayer for the day: Father, you chose Luke the evangelist to reveal by preaching and writing the mystery of your love for the poor. Unite in one heart and spirit all who glory in your name, and let all nations come to see your salvation. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. from: New Parishioners We ask that everyone in the parish be properly registered. Registering and using offertory envelopes enables us to maintain current records of those who are actively attending and supporting the church. This information is required in order to have children baptized, to be married in the parish, to receive letters of testimony so that you can stand as a sponsor for Baptism or Confirmation and to receive parish mailings. If you are not registered, please see a greeter after Mass to begin the registration process. Thanks. READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: Rom 1:1-7; Lk 11:29-32 Tuesday: Rom 1:16-25; Lk 11:37-41 Wednesday: Rom 2:1-11; Lk 11:42-46 Thursday: Rom 3:21-30; Lk 11:47-54 Friday: Rom 4:1-8; Lk 12:1-7 Saturday: Rom 4:13, 16-18; Lk 12:8-12 Sunday: Is 53:10-11; Ps 33; Heb 4:14-16; Mk 10:35-45 [42-45] Around the Diocese The Gabriel Network Give Homes to Abortion-Vulnerable Women October 17 th. Every year over 8,000 MD and DC women will choose abortion because they face homelessness. Having offered hope to such women for more than a decade, The Gabriel Network is now confronted with both skyrocketing need and an opportunity to help 2x the women! Help more moms and babies have a home by being part of a 5k Run/Walk with Family Fun Mile on October 17th from 9-11 at Oregon Ridge Park just north of Baltimore. Your $25 registration fee ($15 for 18 and under) will be matched by a local foundation! To register, learn more, or obtain sponsorship info, call Amy at or go to Week of Oct. 12 Oct. 18 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday 9:00 a.m. Deacon Jeff Raffensperger 7:15 a.m. Philip G. Alter 7:15 a.m. Luis Felipe Paige 7:15 a.m. Anna & Benjamin Valatka 7:15 a.m. Kazimer Kincius 9:00 a.m. Intention of Patrick Joseph Grant 5:00 p.m. Msgr. Robert Arthur 8:00 a.m. Intention of Parish 9:30 a.m. Intention of Patrick Joseph Grant 11:00 a.m. Intention of Jean Olivos