OLY Mt. Adams ROSS MMACULATA Cincinnati, Ohio The Church of the Steps January 20, 2019 PARISH INFORMATION 30 Guido St. Cincinnati, OH 45202 513-721-6544 Office Hours: 8:30 am 3:30 pm M-F Website: www.hciparish.org Office Email: holymac30@fuse.net Bulletin email: hcibulletin@gmail.com Pastor: Fr. Len Fecko Pastor s Email: holymacpastor@fuse.net WEEKEND MASS SCHEDULE: Saturday: 4:00 Sunday: 8:00 & 10:30
MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK READINGS SATURDAY January 19 VIGIL MASS SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 4:00 p.m. Mass: Roy Kreissl (Karen Kohrman) SUNDAY January 20 MONDAY January 21 TUESDAY January 22 WEDNESDAY January 23 THURSDAY January 24 FRIDAY January 25 SATURDAY January 26 SUNDAY January 27 SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 8:00 a.m. Mass: Don Berger (Jerry & Elaine Fuell) 10:30 a.m. Mass: People of the Parish ST AGNES, Virgin and Martyr 6:30 p.m. Mass: George W. Cox (Nancy Cox Kolady) DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE LEGAL PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN WEEKDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 8:00 a.m. Mass: People of the Parish ST. VINCENT, Deacon & Martyr; ST. MARIANNE COPE, Virgin 8:00 a.m. People of the Parish ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, Bishop & Doctor of the Church 8:00 a.m. Communion Service THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE 8:00 a.m. Mass: Richard Hater (Collin, Grant & Marin Hater) 14th Death Anniversary STS. TIMOTHY AND TITUS, Bishops VIGIL MASS THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 4:00 p.m. Mass: Honora Willcutts (Karen Kohrman) THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 8:00 a.m. Mass: Elaine Rippe (Joe Rippe) 3rd Death Anniversary 10:30 a.m. Mass: People of the Parish Is 62:1-5 1 Cor 12:4-11 Jn 2:1-11 Heb 5:1-10 Mk 2:18-22 Heb 6:10-20 Mk 2:23-28 Heb 7:1-3, 15-17 Mk 3:1-6 Heb 7:25 8:6 Mk 3:7-12 Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22 Mk 16:15-18 Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10 1 Cor 12:12-30 or 1 Cor 12:12-14, 27 Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21 Liturgical Ministry Schedule Weekend of January 26 & 27, 2019 Saturday 4:00 Sunday 8:00 Sunday 10:30 Sacristan: Georgia Curran Jerry Fuell Brenda Herrin Server: Keith Giessler Bob Schroer Andrew Poole Lector: Alice Rogers-Uhl Jim Steiner, Don Capannari Kelly Zilli, David Haynes EM: Susan Daugherty Linda Capannari John Graf, Jim Horrigan EM: Karen Kohrman Eric Soper Glenn Graf, Jenny Graf Counters: Glenn Graf, Jenny Graf, Andy Wahl
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full -grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches. MT 13: 31-32 The Catholic Ministries Appeal is the annual archdiocesan effort to provide operational funding for six specialized ministries that work to teach, feed and heal. More than 200 parishes join together, doing more than one parish could alone. The six ministries include: St. Rita School for the Deaf; Catholic Charities and Social Services; Campus Ministry, Hospital Chaplaincies, and Prison Ministries; Retired and Disabled Archdiocesan Priests; Seminary and Vocations; and the New Evangelization. The goal for the 2019 CMA is $5 million, the same amount as last year. Your help is needed to reach this important goal! Ninety cents of every dollar contributed goes directly to fund the ministries a ratio that gets very high marks from those who set the standards and is well above other charitable groups. Every parish that exceeds its Appeal goal receives 50% of the overage for its own ministries, evangelization, and other worthy efforts. Our goal is $15,413. Whether you re a long time supporter or considering a gift for the first time we ask you to prayerfully consider making a pledge to the 2019 Catholic Ministries Appeal. Your pledge can be designated for one of the specialized ministries funded by the CMA Appeal. People sometimes ask, Why a special fund or another collection? Don t we support the Archdiocese in many ways? The answer, of course, is yes. In fact, we just sent a check to the Archdiocese for $47,000 - which is half of our annual assessment. The annual assessment is based on the number of registered parishioners, the annual October Count and other factors. That money is used for the administration and operation of the diocesan offices and some ministries. The parish assessment funds support the Department of Executive Services (Chancery, Archives, Marriage Tribunal, Diaconate, Office for Consecrated Life and Ministry for Survivors of Abuse); the Department of Educational Services; the Department of Financial Services; the Department of Human Services; the Department of Community Services (St. Joseph Orphanage, Catholic Charities, Catholic Social Services and Catholic Social Action); the Department of Pastoral Life (Office of Divine Worship & Sacraments, Mission Office, Respect Life Ministry, African American Ministry and Hispanic Ministry); and the Department of Evangelization (Young Adult and Youth Ministry, the Office of Marriage and Family Life). The work of the church is expensive! The other special collections throughout the year are for designated purposes, such as the Fund for Retired Religious, Disaster Relief, Mission Appeal and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. These collections and appeals help us remember that we are a universal church!
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity January 18-25, 2019 The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has a history of over 100 years in which Christians around the world have taken part in an octave, that is, eight days of prayer for visible Christian unity. Christians hope to move toward the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer at the Last Supper "that they all may be one." (John 17:21) The theme of the 2019 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is "Justice, Only Justice, You Shall Pursue." (Deuteronomy 16:18-20). According to the Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute, Christian communities "become newly aware of their unity as they join in a common concern and a common response to an unjust reality. At the same time, confronted by these injustices, we are obliged, as Christians, to examine the ways in which we are complicit. Only by heeding Jesus s prayer 'that they all may be one' can we witness to living unity in diversity. It is through our unity in Christ that we will be able to combat injustice and serve the needs of its victims."
In his iconic speech at the Lincoln Memorial for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. urged America to "make real the promises of democracy." He synthesized portions of his earlier speeches to capture both the necessity for change and the potential for hope in American society. Fifty-six years later, his dream remains a partially-filled American dream. Portions of his speech are worth using as our prayer, especially during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination... When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness... America has defaulted on this promissory note... Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds... We have come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy... Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God s children... But let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force... Many of our white brothers have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. I say to you today, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day... even in states sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today
When I became pastor at Holy Cross - Immaculata Parish I promised that I would be open and honest with you about parish finances and that I would be straightforward with you regarding other matters that affect our parish. I did not realize then that this might include sharing with you something embarrassing or humiliating. But something happened this past Saturday that I believe you have the right to know about, even though I am ashamed about it. When I got up on Saturday morning and saw that we had three inches of snow on the ground, I decided to enjoy a restful morning. Instead of taking my shower right away, I decided to have breakfast first. After breakfast, I went back upstairs and took my shower. I was in the midst of getting dressed when the phone rang. A man identified himself as a dispatch worker for Duke Energy. He told me that our account was past due and that an order has been entered into the computer to have our power turned off. He said a crew would be arriving within an hour. I was flabbergasted at this news because I have been working with Sharon since Thea died to make certain that all our bills have been paid on time. Since it was Saturday and Sharon was not in the office and I do not have access to the key to the cabinet where the financial records are kept, I could not access the past statements from Duke Energy. I asked why this would occur on a Saturday morning. The man told me that once the overdue info was entered into the computer, there was nothing that he could do. He gave me a toll-free number that I could call to speak with someone at Duke Energy to pay the minimum of $1050 that would cancel the order to shut off the power. I called the number. A digital recording that I now realize was a recording of the response you get when you call any number at Duke Energy was used as part of the scam. I followed the instructions on the recording and was connected to a man who identified himself as a supervisor. He told me that the only way I could cancel the shut off order was to buy three $350 MoneyPak cards at Kroger or Walmart. I was told I only had one hour to make the payment. (Another red flag was waving at me, but I foolishly ignored it.) I was focusing on the fact that people would be arriving for Mass in four hours and we needed heat! I remember thinking to myself that if Thea were alive, she would have remembered the number and date of any check we had sent to Duke Energy. Even though there was a voice inside my head telling me that something was not quite right, I still panicked and fell for the scheme. The end of the story is that I used $1000 of the personal cash that I keep on hand for emergency situations. I have had this fund since my Dad helped me set it up when I left home for college. Back then I kept $500 on hand. I used the fund once during college when my grandmother died to buy a plane ticket to fly home for her funeral. The amount I keep in the fund has increased over the years, and I have used it occasionally for emergency pastoral or personal situations. The money I foolishly used on Saturday was not taken from our parish account and fortunately it is not money I will miss since I have had this fund for years, I still have enough on hand if a true emergency does occur. Over the coming months I will gradually replenish what I sent to the scam artist on Saturday. Since I really want to lose weight before spring arrives, I will remember this embarrassing incident each time I think about buying myself a candy bar. Knowing the weakness I have for chocolate, I m sure the money I will save will add up quickly! I am sharing the story with you for two reasons. I want you to know that even though I made a stupid mistake, I do not think that you have to worry that I have the onset of dementia. Secondly, I want to abide by the advice of the police detective that I spoke with to use my experience as a warning to everyone. If you get a call like this, keep your cool. Do not panic. Try to find someone to talk to who can give you good advice. And most importantly, never purchase money cards to send cash to someone you do not know. And finally, remember what happened to the priest on the hill before you do anything you might regret!
Collection Report Schedule Yours Today January 12 & 13, 2019 We have openings for Mass Intentions in the coming weeks. This is a thoughtful way to honor a loved one that has passed away. Call the parish office to schedule. Collection: Votive Candles: Total Revenue The Parish Office will be closed on Monday, Jan 21 $ 1280.00 $ 204.00 $ 1484.00 Parish Council Members Needed: Would you like be part of the parish advisory body in 2019? We currently have two vacant positions on Parish Council. Contact Fr. Len if interested. PARISH COUNCIL MONDAY, JAN. 21 7:15 SUNDAY HOSPITALITY EVERYONE IS INVITED! Join us Sunday, February 3 after the 10:30 Mass. This is a great opportunity to meet others members of our parish community. We will take time to recognize those celebrating birthdays each month. If you would like a 2018 end-of-year statement please contact Letty at the parish office 513 721-6544 Those who donate through electronic giving will receive a statement from Faith Direct. Thank you for your generosity to our parish this past year. MORE THANK YOU NOTES Dear Parishioner of Holy Cross-Immaculata, Dear Holy Cross-Immaculata Parishioners, Thank you for making Christmas 2018 such a joyous one! The residents and staff of Tender Mercies want to thank you again for remembering us at Christmas. The gifts you sent were beautifully wrapped and very generous. Thank you for taking the time to ensure that each resident had the gift they asked for. This time of year is very special and you make it extra special for our residents.. I hope 2019 brings you peace, love, and many blessings! Many thanks to all of you who donated, collected or delivered the gifts for the Hope Emergency Program this past Christmas season! A special thanks to Nancy Feldman and her elves We were able to distribute gifts to 742 children and food for 504+ families thanks to generous groups like yours. We are truly blessed. Thank you once again. Thank you also for your monthly donation to our program. Your help is invaluable! Sincerely, May your entire parish family enjoy a happy, healthy and holy New Year! Stacey Witherspoon Lead Service Coordinator Tender Mercies Gratefully, Sister Lucia Castellini & Mrs. Dianne Vollman Co-directors, Hope Emergency Program