April 30, 2017 Page 1 Third Sunday of Easter T h i s We e k ' s Mass Intentions 8:00AM 9:30AM 11:00AM 12:30PM 2:30PM Sunday, April 30, 2017 Hector Carlo Erice (Loving Wife, Juana) The Intentions of Rosetta Liuba Peter J. Pulomena (Loving Wife, Carolyn) Jack Porzio (Loving Sister, Mary Pocorobba) First Holy Communion Mass Intention: Emanuel & Nancy Camelliri (Constance & Joe) 5:00PM For The Parishioners Monday, May 1, 2017 St. Joseph the Worker Charles Sangirardi (Michael & Jo-Ann Cesario) Tuesday, May 2, 2017 St. Athanasius Philip Carollo (Loving Family) Wednesday, May 3, 2017 Sts. Philip & James Miriam Americo, Lisa B., Baby Alexandra Bachert, Caroline Bachert, Frances Baio, Al Barton, Catherine Capato, Sally Capoziello, Shang Cheng, Antoinette & Catherine Chiarelli, Marge D Auria, Mary Ann D Angelo, Baby Christopher Brian Demmerle, Domenica DeVito, Virginia DiGangi, Mary Divers, Francesca Gaudino, Ian Genovese-Williams, Joseph Gentile, John Joseph Gleeson, John Pierce Gleeson, Christine Healy, Aurea Hernandez, Maria Hernandez, Rosemary Hogan, Elizabeth Isolano, Jennie Iuggiano, Keri & Baby Tristan, Amelia Kalb, Pam Karwan, Baby T.J. Krieg, Kathleen Krieg, Klavdia Krieg, Anthony Lamantia, James Leung, Valerie Librizzo, Thomas & Patricia Lipari, William J. Litt, Cindy Maione, Maryann Maione, Ralph Maresco, Mary Mastrangelo, Camillo Mazella, Rosemary Menechella, Jordan Miller, John Myers, Salvatore Noto, Angela Ottomanelli-Hubbs, Michael Palermo, Gina Palya, Santo Pantina, Ann Parsell, Anna Petito, Doris, Carlo, Philip & Frank Pecchillo, Vivian Puglissi, Joseph Questore, Mary Romano, Jake Rothman, Bill Sangirardi, Felice Scimeca, Fred Sepulveda, Rosalia Sindone, Michael Tamburo, Chrissie Tremblay, Paul Tremblay, Paul John Tremblay, Ann Marie Vayda, Sr. Joanne Walters, Elizabeth Weimer. Deceased: Joseph Crimi, Gaetano DiManso, John N. Fanelli Edward Sinisgalli (Loving Family) Thursday, May 4, 2017 Charles Sangirardi (Ann) Friday, May 5, 2017 Savino DiGiosa (M/M Tony DiPiazza) Saturday, May 6, 2017 Margaret Cecere (M/M Michael Tretola) Mary Loquercio (Michele Carollo & Family) Victor Mario Salas (Jean Bernardo) 11:30AM First Holy Communion Mass Intention: Phyllis Zehro (Loving Family) 5:00PM Lilanna Galvez, Blanche Migliaccio, Sally Slattery, Joseph J. Ruggiero, Stefano Uglialoro Sunday, May 7, 2017 8:00AM 9:30AM 11:00AM 12:30PM 2:30PM Margaret Rosina (M/M Robert Keighron) Angela Flesche (Yvonne Flesche) Kathleen Rammelkamp (Bill Rammelkamp) Edward Heedles (Loving Family) First Holy Communion Mass Intention: Raymond Auwarter (Vita & Paul) 5:00PM For The Parishioners GOOD SHEPHERD STATUE We would like to thank Maryann Kellen, who kept the statue this past week. Anyone interested in keeping the statue in their home and praying for vocations for one week should contact the Rectory. If you are new to St. Helen Parish, please remember to stop in at the Rectory to register your family! The Altar Bread & Wine for this week are donated in memory of Jennie Maniscalco, requested by Marty & Darlene Adelson. St. Helen s Purgatorial Society Mass All parishioners have the opportunity to enroll the names of loved ones in the Purgatorial Society. The Purgatorial Society Mass will be held on the last Friday of each month. The offering to be enrolled in the Purgatorial Society is $120 per name (a total of 12 Masses for one year will be said for your loved one). Aside from listing one name, a husband and wife together, or a family name is also acceptable. Having a Purgatorial Society is wonderful way of living out the Scriptures and will be a relief for those who desire to have their loved ones remembered with prayers all year long at God s Altar. Please stop in at the Rectory if you are interested in having a loved one enrolled in the Purgatorial Society. The next Purgatorial Society Mass will be held Friday, May 26, 2017! While The Church Is Undergoing Renovation Visiting the Church under any circumstances is prohibited during the renovation due to safety concerns. Please check the parish Facebook for updates on the work. In the unexpected event that a funeral should need to take place, the option of use of Fr. Dooley Hall or Our Lady of Grace will be presented to the family. All Funeral Masses at Our Lady of Grace for St. Helen s parishioners will be celebrated by priests from St. Helen. We apologize in advance for the inconvenience construction will present to all of our lives in the next few months.
April 30, 2017 Page 2 Update ON Church Renovation #14 "I LIFT THINGS UP AND PUT THEM DOWN" By the time you are reading this, if all goes according to plan, the relics will have been deposited into the Altar. The ancient tradition of having relics placed in an Altar goes back to the very early centuries when Catholics celebrated Mass over the tombs of martyrs. This tradition will be maintained in Saint Helen Parish... but expanded. First, the Altar stone from the original Altar will be placed into the cavity within the Altar. Unfortunately, no one knows whose relics they are! But do not be dismayed; two additional relics will be placed into the Altar. Along with the original (unknown) relics we will place the relics of Saint Lawrence (Deacon and Martyr) and Pope Saint Pius the Fifth. Saint Lawrence was one of the original deacons of Rome who was martyred on August 10th in the year 258. Lawrence was martyred under the emperor Valerian (who martyred many early Christians including bishops, a pope and many believers). In the end, the emperor Valerian was captured by his enemies and used as a human footstool for his captors to mount horses... but I digress. In keeping with the ancient tradition of having the relics of a martyr placed within a Catholic Altar, our Altar will contain a preeminent martyr. I also believe it is fitting to have a relic of a Deacon placed within the Altar, as deacons serve at the altar. Saint Lawrence is considered the patron Saint of fire protection! Along with St. Lawrence s relics, the relics of Pope Saint Pius the Fifth will also be placed within the Altar. Pope Pius V died May 1, 1572 and his feast day is April 30th. Although Pope Pius V may not be a popular Saint (rare you ever see a statue of him), he is a very significant Saint for our modern day. During the reign of Pope Pius V, he was combating two major menaces facing Europe: Protestantism and invading Muslims. It is during his reign that he encouraged the entire church to pray the Rosary for the Christian armies who were defending Europe against invasions by militant Muslims. Besides keeping busy excommunicating Protestant monarchs in England and Germany, Pope Pius V formed the Holy League which was instrumental (along with Don John of Austria) in destroying the Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. This key victory against the invading hoards saved Europe from a threat that hasn't been seen until the modern era. Pope Pius V introduced the feast day of Our Lady Victory to commemorate the success of this significant naval battle. Pope Pius the fifth... pray for us! Both relics are First Class relics, meaning they are actual body parts of the Saint (albeit small parts). The original documents (written in Latin and sealed by a Papal delegate) verifying their First Class designation will also be inserted into the Altar. Laminated copies of these letters will remain in the Sacristy so that future generations will know which relics are contained within the Altar. These relics are my personal gift. Included with the relics, a book of the Gospels will be placed into the Altar. In early centuries when relics were not readily available, it was common to place fragments of the Gospels inside the Altar. The book of the Gospels to be placed inside the Altar will be left open to the gospel used for the consecration of an Altar. Last year's Easter (Paschal) candle that once burned for all funerals, baptisms, and throughout Easter will also be placed within the Altar. It bears the date... 2016, so any one in the long future who may have to open this Altar, will know immediately that the Altar had to be sealed sometime after Easter 2017. Finally, and I would say most poignantly, all of the prayer petitions that you have written will be placed inside the Altar. There is not much to say except, what a powerful symbol of having your personal prayers so proximate to the very place where God comes to Earth in the celebration of the Mass. Some may think all this is like a time capsule. I would rather say all that is contained within our Altar will be the expression of our faith from the past, to the present, to be kept for future generations of parishioners. This ceremony will hopefully be recorded and televised on NET TV (the diocesan news channel) and a link will be placed on the Parish FaceBook page. This is a historic moment for this parish! Unfortunately, a date could not be set to invite all parishioners to this historic moment because we are working on the timeframe of the contractors. When the mensa (the top of the altar) is ready for hoisting, we will have only a small window of opportunity to place these items into the altar. The mensa weighs close to 5000 pounds, so its not something we can just pick up and leave hanging. When the contractors says it is ready to be placed, we will have to act quickly and deposit the items. Photos will be made available on Facebook, the parish website, and future bulletins. Saint Lawrence, Saint Pius V, Saint Helen... Pray for us! Fr. Colamaria
April 30, 2017 Page 3 Open to ALL children from ages 4 through 10 Registration Form Registration Fee: 1 Child: $45.00 2 children: $60.00 (must be siblings) 3 or more children: $75.00 (must be siblings) Important: for your child s safety, please attach an additional sheet to let us know of any allergies or medical conditions. For more information July 10 July 14 9:30AM 12:00PM All registration forms must be submitted by June 16, 2017 Requirements for 4 year old applicants. A child must be 4 years of age by June 1, 2017 to attend. Please submit a copy of the child s birth certificate with this registration form. please call 718-916-2319.
April 30, 2017 Page 4 Congratulations to the following children who are receiving the Sacrament of First Holy Communion this weekend, April 29-30: Joseph Carbone Francesco Casillo Alexa Chirico Nicholas Corozzo Giuseppe Cottone Nickolas DeFino Anthony DiPiazza Alexander Dzierzanowski Sofia Kolodziejczyk Nora Laino Ava Leo Alessandro LoFaso Sophia Maldari Madison Mele-Chiarenza Vesper Mleczko Alessia Mohan Mia Montalbano Jake Passarella Emma Perlicki Matthew Pineda Ava Polito Giavanna Quinto Brianna Ramos Gabriella Ramos Alice Rodriguez Sebastian Santos Iolani Takaaho-Patterson Justin Testa Amy Valic Katelyn Vargas Giancarlo Vitale Justin VonToussaint Mia Jolie Wood Be part of the Rosary Rallies taking place across America by joining us to pray the Holy Rosary in honor of Our Lady of Fatima on Saturday, May 13, 2017 from 12:00-1:00PM in front of the outdoor garden at Russo s on the Bay (16245 Crossbay Blvd.) 100 years ago Our Lady said: Pray the Rosary everyday to obtain peace for the world. St. Helen s Holy Name Society will hold their meeting next Sunday, May 7th after the 8:00AM Mass in the School Cafeteria. All men of the Parish are invited. St. Helen Rosary Ministry cordially invites all women of any age to their Annual Communion Breakfast Next Sunday, May 7, 2017 The celebration begins with 9:30AM Mass, followed by the Crowning of the Blessed Mother Breakfast will be served in the School Cafeteria after the Crowning. Tickets: $16.00 (Children under 7: FREE) Call Agnes Cummings at 917-716-5898 for tickets or more information
April 30, 2017 Page 5 Homiletic starters and scriptural reflection points for each day of the month Mon., May 1 Acts 6:8-15; Jn 6:22-29 You are looking for me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. According to John s Gospel, it s the day after the feeding of the five thousand and the crowd is still hungry. Jesus understands their physical hunger, but he wants them to acknowledge a deeper hunger. So he encourages them to work for food that endures. Ironically, we in the church can be just as spiritually hungry as anyone else. We hunger for truth, belonging, beauty and wonder, but we do not seek it as the crowd did that day. We make excuses: we re too busy, we re too tired. Bread of heaven, feed my spirit and nurture my soul. Tues., May 2 Acts 7:51-8:1a; Jn 6:30-35 Stephen said to the people, the elders, and the scribes: You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit. Yikes! Stephen s blunt words remind me of John the Baptist calling the Pharisees a brood of vipers. It s a style of preaching that is pretty much guaranteed to make people mad. In Stephen s case, it made the elders and scribes so mad they ran him out of town and stoned him. They wouldn t even listen to his testimony, which makes me wonder how often we do the same thing. Since we can never know how God might speak to us, it s important to listen to a variety of voices. May our hearts and ears be open and willing to learn. Wed., May 3 1 Cor 15:1-8; Jn 14:6-14 Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. Serendipity refers to experiences and occasions when something unexpected comes our way. For Christians, Easter is a whole season of serendipity. The women go to the tomb expecting to prepare a body for burial; they find the tomb empty and encounter an angel who tells them that Christ has risen. As two disciples walk to Emmaus, they meet a stranger whom they later realize is Jesus himself. One of the most vivid examples of Easter serendipity did not happen to any of the first disciples, but to a man named Saul the same Saul who was present when Stephen was stoned to death, the same Saul, who by his own assessment was unfit to be called an apostle. You come to us in unexpected ways, O God. Thurs., May 4 Acts 8:26-40; Jn 6:44-51 The Spirit said to Philip, Go and join up with that chariot. Philip was one of seven deacons chosen to assist the disciples in the service ministries of the early church. Some of them were evangelists as well. Philip first preached to the Samaritans even though Jews and Samaritans had been enemies for generations. In today s reading, Philip is told to go to Gaza by a particular route and to join a certain chariot. Inside the chariot is a court official of the Ethiopian queen. As a eunuch and a gentile, this man would have been an outcast to most Jews. But Philip approaches him with compassion, answers his questions, tells him about Jesus, and finally baptizes him. Philip clearly understood that the Gospel was for all people, even those who had previously been excluded from the covenant. Holy God, your love knows no boundaries. THIRD WEEK OF EASTER Fri., May 5 Acts 9:1-20; Jn 6:52-59 Saul went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. Saul of Tarsus was a devout, rabbinical Jew. He first appears in the Book of Acts at the stoning of Stephen and now he is breathing murderous threats against those who claimed Jesus was the Messiah. But on the road to Damascus, Saul s life and faith were completely turned upside down, and instead of persecuting Jesus followers, he becomes one. In the same way, we should expect to be changed. God moves, intrudes, calls and pushes; God wants us to be transformed. May we be open to your lifechanging love and grace, O God. Sat., May 6 Acts 9:31-42; Jn 6:60-69 The Church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace. She was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit she grew in numbers. The Book of Acts records the early years of what would eventually be called church. Peter, the disciple who first declared Jesus the Messiah, but also the one who denied knowing Jesus, is clearly the leader of this movement. In today s reading, Peter is traveling and encountering people in need, much as Jesus had done. As he travels, he heals a paralyzed man and then raises Tabitha. These miracles, as well as the acts of compassion and service carried out by Jesus followers, led many to turn to the Lord. God of faith and action, our lives may be the only Gospel others see.