It is the purpose of St. John Neumann Parish, a gathered people, to act in word, sacrament, witness and service toward all, in gratitude to God our Father, through Jesus Christ our Brother with the Holy Spirit, as our Guide. A Pennsylvania Charitable Trust Jan. 5, 2014 Epiphany of the Lord Mass Schedule Saturday: 9:00 AM & 5:30 PM (Vigil) Sunday: 8:00, 9:30, 11:30 AM Weekdays: (M, T, TH, F): 9:00 AM Weds. 6:30 PM Holy Days: 7:00 PM (Vigil), 9:00 AM, 7:00 PM Sacrament of Reconciliation 9:30-10:00 AM Saturday or by appointment Sacrament of Baptism Celebrated on the last Sunday of every month or during Mass by appointment only. Parents are to attend Baptism preparation classes; for class information please call the Rel. Ed. Office. Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) We welcome those who are interested in becoming Roman Catholic Christians, through a program of formation and prayer. Contact the Parish Office for more information. Sacrament of Matrimony Contact the Parish Office at least six months prior to wedding date. Marriage preparation is required. Parish Membership New parishioners are always welcome! Please call the Parish Office so we may welcome you into our community. 2230 Rochester Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237 (412) 366-2020 www.stjohnneumannpgh.org
CALENDAR Sunday, Jan. 5 Blessing of Exp. Parents Light of Life Collection Blood Pressure Screening Hospitality Sunday 3:00 PM St. John Neumann Feast Day Monday, Jan. 6 4:30 PM Altar Server/Lector training for Family Masses 7:00 PM Divorced & Separated Mt. 7:30 PM 7th & 8th grade small group Faith Sharing Tues. Jan. 7 12:00 PM Over 50 Card Club Wed. Jan. 8 7:00 PM Protecting God s Children Class Thurs, Jan. 9 9:45 AM Scripture Study Friday, Jan. 10 9:00 AM Good Shepherd Catechist Training 4:30 PM Altar Server/Lector training for Family Masses Sat., Jan. 11 7:00 PM Retrouvaille THE WEEK AHEAD MASS INTENTIONS Saturday, Jan. 4, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton 9:00 AM David Panther (Caruso Family) 5:30 PM For the People of SJN Parish Sunday, Jan. 5, The Epiphany of the Lord 8:00 AM David Fassinger (Dan Knoboch) 9:30 AM Kathy Caputo (Rosemary McLaughlin) 11:30 AM John & Cathy Stevenson (Elcesser Family) Monday, Jan. 6 9:00 AM Frank White (Veronica Brundo) Tuesday, Jan. 7 9:00 AM Laura Glancy (George & Elisabeth Mandl) Wednesday, Jan. 8 6:30 PM Fr. Edward T. Hartel (Meeder Family) Thursday, Jan. 9 9:00 AM Prayer Service Friday, Jan. 10 9:00 AM Prayer Service Saturday, Jan. 11 9:00 AM Norman Flis (Full Family) 5:30 PM Gertrude Salada ( Ken & Jan Moore) Sunday, Jan. 12, The Baptism of the Lord 8:00 AM Denise Miller (Paul Schamer & Alex Pearson) 9:30 AM Joe Harrold (Caruso Family) 11:30 AM For the People of SJN Parish READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: 1 Jn 3:22-4:6; Ps 2:7bc-8, 10-12a; Mt 4:12-17, 23-25 Tuesday: 1 Jn 4:7-10; Ps 72:1-4, 7-8; Mk 6:34-44 Wednesday: 1 Jn 4:11-18; Ps 72:1-2, 10, 12-13; Mk 6:45-52 Thursday: 1 Jn 4:19-5:4; Ps 72:1-2, 14, 15bc, 17; Lk 4:14-22a Friday: 1 Jn 5:5-13; Ps 147:12-15, 19-20; Lk 5:12-16 Saturday: 1 Jn 5:14-21; Ps 149:1-6a, 9b; Jn 3:22-30 Sunday: Is 42:1-4, 6-7; Ps 29:1-4, 3, 9-10; Acts 10:34-38; Mt 3:13-17 Dec. 22, 2013 Operating $7,501.00 Camp. Alive 6,605.50 Parish Share 10,557.00 Children & Youth 270.00 Hoagies 234.00 Misc 165.00 $25,332.50 Thank you for your generous support of our parish! EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS Sat. Jan. 11-5:30 PM B. Schuler, K. Masters, C. & D. Hagen, L. Juhascik, P. Scheller, A. Turo Sun. Jan. 12-8:00 AM M. McCluskey, M. Kohler, H. O Hallaron, C. & E. Gillis, K. Deken, J. Mack 9:30 AM - D. Schaults, C. Vollmer, B. Smith, R. Miller, F. Greco, S. Schupansky, K. Sterling 11:30 AM - K. & B. Schurter, D. Huber, F. & C. Mazur, A. Guzzetti, B. Furiga LECTORS Sat. Jan. 11 5:30 PM R. Martz, J. Schuler Sun. Jan. 12 8:00 AM H. Barcaskey, D. Chappel 9:30 AM J. Nabuda, G. Jezerc 11:30 AM E. Turo, P. Furiga ALTAR SERVERS Sat. Jan. 11 5:30 PM B. & D. Caputo, J. Dougherty Sun. Jan. 12 8:00 AM E. & S. Ebbert, S. Rutan 9:30 AM C. Alt, D. & T. Antonelli 11:30 AM A. & V. Bella, R. Thieret
PARISH NEWS PLEASE WELCOME Next week-end, please welcome Rev. Rich Broderick, who will be with us to celebrate Masses and tell us about the work of Unbound, a Christian Foundation for Children and Aging. They are a lay Catholic sponsorship ministry that helps children and elderly in 22 developing countries. To learn more, visit www.hopeforafamily.org. HOSPITALITY SUNDAY Next week-end is Hospitality Week-end. Please join us in Bovard Hall, after all Masses on Sunday, for coffee, juice and donuts. Meet new members of the parish and reunite with old friends. We can t wait to see you! Parish Party St. John Neumann Feast Day TODAY, January 5 at 3:00, join us for a special event to celebrate the Feast Day of St. John Neumann and the Solemnity of the Epiphany. Come relive these biblical stories, enjoy seasonal music led by the music ministry team, and learn more about our parish s saint. Hors d'oeuvres will be catered with a toast and blessing led by Father Al. Activities will be provided for children in attendance. THANK YOU So many parishioners were involved in the preparations for the celebration of Christmas. Thanks to everyone who has given of their time, talent and treasure to help in celebrating the birth of Christ the Lord. Thanks to the liturgical ministers who assisted in the celebration of the Masses: Greeters, Readers, Eucharistic Ministers and Altar Servers. Your service means a great deal to our parish, not just at Christmas, but throughout the year. Thanks to all who inspired and led us in expressing our joy through music: our Adult Choir, the Children s Choir, Folk Group, Youth Group, cantors and instrumentalists who help make our celebration so special. Your commitment of time to weekly rehearsals and participation in the liturgy is truly appreciated. Thanks to all the decorators, especially our staff - Barb Stokes, Gary & Stan, who prepared our church for the liturgical feasts. As always, they spent many hours going above & beyond to make our church look beautiful. Finally, thank you to the many generous benefactors of our community who provide the resources that enable us MASS CHANGES There will be no morning Mass on Jan. 9 & 10 and Jan.13 & 14 as Fr. Al will be out of town. A prayer service will be held. Morning Mass & confessions will take place on Sat., Jan. 11, at 9 am. PROTECTING GOD S CHILDREN ALL CHURCH VOLUNTEERS ARE REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN PROTECTING GOD S CHIL- DREN, the child sex abuse awareness session. The next session scheduled is: ST. JOHN NEUMANN WEDS, JAN 8 @ 7:00 PM Questions? or to register, please call 412-366-5885 to speak to Jeanette Pappert at x15. If you plan on becoming a Lector or Eucharistic Minister with the new schedule beginning in March, you need to attend this class. EDUCATION GOOD SHEPHERD SESSIONS Good Shepherd sessions will resume on Saturday, January 4 and continue through January 11. Please make every effort for the children attend as this is their only time to observe the Christmas season in the atrium. Starting January 15, we will resume Family Masses in place of weekly atrium sessions for four weeks. We will return to the atrium on Tuesday, February 11 and continue until May 3. FAMILY MASSES BEGIN JANUARY 15 Have you ever been to a Family Mass? These Masses are scheduled during a break from our regular Good Shepherd sessions to help the children connect what they are learning in the atrium to what happens when we gather as a community for the Holy Mass. Children bring with them their knowledge of church seasons and colors, prayer and gestures, parables and prophecy. Parents model full participation in liturgy through active listening, spoken prayer and song. We even train children who are usually considered too young to be altar servers and lectors, while the youngest children help bring up the gifts. All children from preschool through 6 th grade are invited to sit at the foot of the altar for Father Al s homily. We invite our Parish Family to join our Good Shepherd Families at these special Masses. Family Masses will take place at both 4:30 and 6:30 pm on these Wednesdays: January 15, 22, 29 and February 5, 2014. Where else do you have the opportunity on a week night to join in worship with a church full of spirited adults and children? Let us come together in praise and thanksgiving for the great gift of God-with-us in Word and Eucharist.
SERVER TRAINING Two dates have been scheduled for training for children who would like to be lectors (at least 3 rd grade) and servers (at least 4 th grade) for our Family Masses Monday, January 6 and Friday, January 10, from 4:30 5:30 in the church. You may attend either date for either ministry. Please call the Religious Ed secretary at X12 to reserve your place. GOOD SHEPHERD FOLDERS Some children may have brought home work from their Good Shepherd folders last week, but we decided to wait until after Christmas to return most of them. We were hoping that after Christmas you would have more time to let your child share the work she/he did since September. The next time we send home folders will be on the last day of sessions next Spring. SACRAMENTS FIRST SACRAMENTS RECONCILIATION & COMMUNION All children preparing to celebrate these two sacraments for the first time this spring are expected to participate in our Family Activity on Monday, Jan. 13. Please call the office if you have forgotten or misplaced your scheduled time slot. If your child s completed packet was not returned last week then please stop in the Rel. Ed. office to pick it up. Use these materials to continue your preparation and prayer for the sacraments. RCIA Next Sunday, Jan. 5, from 10:30 till Noon our candidates continue their journey to full reception into the Catholic Church. SJN parishioners are always welcome to stop in and meet Julie, Jan, Jeff and Callie. We all need the community to offer them support in hospitality and prayer. Make them feel at home here as they study our church and sacraments. They will meet again on Jan. 12 & 26. Keep them in prayer. MARRIAGE PREP There is much to do for a wedding and lots of advice to be had. To celebrate the sacrament takes some special planning too. You must meet with the priest at least 6 months prior to the date and attend a marriage prep program. At SJN our MARRIAGE PREP program is open to all couples in the diocese and will be held on Saturday, February 22. Several married couples from the parish and Fr. Al fill the day with information and witness stories of how important it is to keep God as the third person in your marriage covenant. The day fulfills the diocesan requirement for the sacrament so pass the date on to anyone who might be anticipating the celebration of Matrimony in the coming year. Please give yourself this gift of reflection and time before you begin this awesome vocation of love. Call the Rel Ed office (ext. 12) to register. DECEMBER 2013 BAPTISMS We welcome into our community of faith... Micah Giovanni DiLeo son of Carmen & Sarah (Collins) DiLeo Serafina Molinero Minford, daughter of Jaron & Christina (Molinero) Minford Xazier Emiliano Santiago, son of Thommy & Fatima (Tapia) Santiago Bella Brighton Urso, daughter of David & Carrie (Tagye) Urso BAPTISM PREP If you have been blessed with new life in your family through birth or adoption, we are glad to have you share that life with us through Baptism. The diocese asks us to take this step with knowledge and prayer. So a Baptism Preparation Session will be held on Sunday, Jan. 12 from 10:30 till noon. Please call the Rel. Ed. office (ext.12) to register. YOUTH MINISTRY High School ENCOUNTER Kick-Off! Sunday, January 12th 12:30-2:30pm Join the High School Youth Group as we kick-off the new year! Keep an eye out in the mail to receive the new semester calendar and more information regarding events going on in 2014! See you on Sunday! Middle School IGNITE Kick-Off! Wednesday, January 15th 6:30-8:30pm. All 7th and 8th graders are welcomed back to a new year for our IGNITE program. We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday! Please notice the time change, we have extended our program by 30 minutes to enable a more in depth and engaging evening for our youth. Thank you for understanding. SPIRITUAL MAGNIFICAT Many people have developed a rich prayer life using the monthly resource - Magnificat. This little booklet contains morning and evening prayer and all the Mass readings for each day of the month. In addition, you ll find a meaningful reflection, some interesting lives of the saints, resource prayers and a short religious art history article in every booklet. So much for so little money. Subscribe now at our bulk rate of $25 for the entire year plus a Holy Week book. Subscription begins in the Spring. Order now or renew your subscription by calling the Rel. Ed. office (ext. 12). Don t miss out on Magnificat this year!
MAGNIFIKID Consider this Christmas gift that lasts all year. Every month children receive a packet of weekly full color booklets to help them follow the Sunday liturgy. There is a section in each booklet on the Mass with a complete text of all the prayers and with a glossary of the hard words that appear in the readings. In addition there are prayers for the morning and evening and after communion. And a spotlight feature that explains and highlights important elements of the Catholic faith with activities that review the theme of the week. Each subscription costs $34.90 but we might be able to get a bulk subscription if you are interested. Please call the Rel Ed office for more details or to see a copy of Magnifikid. Great gift for children preparing for sacraments...and for grandkids...etc TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION Life hands us many epiphanies or wake up calls. A few years ago, a young couple adopted a two-year-old child in a morass of red tape, complications, and court hearings. At the baby s baptism, the priest suggested appending an adoption blessing, wherein the new relationship was expressed and affirmed. There is a place in that rite for the child to speak, and instead the priest said, Can you give Daddy a kiss? Standing in the midst of his church, the young adoptive father suddenly welled up with tears as he embraced the child. Afterward, he explained that through all the hassles and legal struggles he never until that moment in church understood that he was the parent of this child. The ritual claimed them for each other, gave expression to their relationship that the legal documents never could, and firmly cemented this child into the heart of a community as everyone erupted into heartfelt applause. This assembly witnessed in a powerful way what happens in every baptism: the mystery of adoption, the free flow of grace, the overwhelming sense of God s presence at the heart of our life s journey. MISC. DIVORCED & SEPARATED SUPPORT GROUP The Divorced and Separated support group jointly sponsored by Sts. John & Paul, St. Richard and St. John Neumann parishes will begin its next 13 week cycle of meetings on Monday, January 6, 2014 at. St. John Neumann from 7-8:45 pm. This group provides caring support to anyone who is experiencing the pain of separation or divorce. Contact Ralph Joy at 412-741-5456 or rjoy205@verizon.net for more information. Meetings are on Monday evenings from 7:00-8:45 PM and will be held at St. John Neumann Church in Room A of the Religious Education Hall. REFLECTION When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock The work of Advent and Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among people, To make music in the heart. SOCIAL OVER 50 S The Over 50 s Club will meet on Jan. 20 at 12:00 Noon. The entertainment is the North Allegheny Fiddlers. Lunch will be served at 1 pm. If you can t attend, please contact Rosemary Miller at 412-364-8960 by Jan. 13. MOMS/PARENTS AND TOTS Winter is tough and hard for little ones. Come on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 10 am with your young child and enjoy the warmth and space of the Youth Room at SJN. Make new friends or bring some old ones! All are welcome! OUTREACH GREATER PITTSBURGH FOOD BANK Volunteer with SJN at the Greater Pgh. Community Food Bank on FRIDAY, JAN. 17. Come repack food for distribution to more than 350 food banks, shelters, senior center and other agencies in 11 counties. Meet at the church's back doors at 8:00 AM to carpool; return approx 2:00 PM after lunch out together. Limit: 12 volunteers. Register at 412-366-5638, ext. 12 with your name, phone #, email address by noon Wed. Jan. 15. PRAYER MINISTRY Please pray for the new additions to our prayer list. If you would like to add someone to the list, instructions are provided at http://stjohnneumannpghprayer.blogspot.com. You can also contact the parish office, Kathy Buzzard at 412-366-0781 or send an email to sjnprayer@gmail.com Danielle Barone Chris Jerry Schreiber RECENT DEATHS Please pray for the souls of John David Digby, nephew of Judy Robertson David Nabuda, husband of Jan Nabuda May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.