.~R035 651 East Springfield Road Springfield, Pennsylvania 19064 ~DECelTU5ER 4, 2016 SeCOHD SUHDl\Y OY AD'0EH~j, IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS Business Office / Rectory 610-626-3321 610-626-3322 Parish School 61 0-626-1709 Religious Education 610-626-1 057 Convent.,.,., 610-626-2491 Pastoral Minister 610-626-8266 Website E-mail www.holycrosscatholics.org contactus@holycrosscatholics.org MASS SCHEDULE Saturday Evening: 4:30 PM Sunday, Upper Church: 8:30 and 11:00 AM Holy Day: Weekday: 8:30 AM and 7:00 PM 8:30 AM COl'.FESSIONS Saturday.,-ower Church: 3:30 to 4:15 PM MARRIAGE POLICY Arrangements are made directly with the Parish Priests, within six months before the intended wedding date. Weddings are reserved for active parishioners. Pre-Cana Session is required. Please call Rectory for appointment with Parish Priests. Our next Pre-Cana day will be on November 5, 2016. To register, call Bill & Nicole @ 610-626-8486. VISITATION TO SICK AND INFIRM Please call the Rectory or Sister Mary Carmela, Pastoral Minister, when a parishioner is hospitalized or homebound. REGISTRATIONS By Appointment. All Catholics living in the parish should register at the Rectory. Please call Parish Office to make an appointment with one of the Parish Priests. PARISH PASTORAL STAFF Rev. John D. Gabin Pastor Deacon Robert Frankenberger Deacon Joseph N. Gousie Sr. Loretta Saudarg, RSM Business Manager Sr. Mary Carmela, RSM Pastoral Minister Mrs. Maureen Ward Principal Mrs. Kelly Meliti Director of Religious Education Mr. Timothy Reilly Music Coordinator BAPTISM POLICY Baptisms are celebrated every Sunday, except for the first Sunday of the month, at 12:00 PM. Please call the rectory at 610-626-3321 to set up an appointment with a Priest. First time parents and godparents are required to attend a Baptism Preparation Session. Only when Certificates of Eligibility from godparents are presented, then a date for the baptism can be set. The Baptism Preparation Sessions are held the first Sunday of the month at 12:00 PM in the Upper Church, with registration required. To register, please call the parish secretary during regular business hours (Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM). Registration must be made prior to the last Friday of the month. If no registrations are received, a session may not be held. BUSINESS OFFICE HOURS (Entrance through the middle, rear door of the Church) Monday - Friday Only: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM (Closed for Lunch 12-1 PM); Closed Saturday and Sunday r
PASTOR'S CORNER Thursday, December 8, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Obligation. Under that title, Our lady is the Patroness of the U --eel States. Masses on Thursday are at 8:30 AM and 7:00 PM. We have now started E1ectr'onic Giving at Holy Cross. This can be a real blessing for you and for our parish. No more envelopes or last-minute check writing! Electronic Giving is freer safe ancleasy for y_ouand good stewardship for Holy Cross. 5 semple, secure, and convenient with tax benefits for you and financial and administrative parish. -C...=. st2. -ted, you just log onto our Holy Cross Parish website, click on the Parish Giving r:::t~rm'e easy registration instructions. There's even a card available to drop into the et. en it comes to you, indicating that you give electronically. ~ consider this great way to support ow beloved Holy Cross Parish. Volunteers Needed For Church ristmas ecorating Stable and Trees Sunday, December 1_1, 12:00 Noon (p - - ~q)~40~ &~,q)~8 0r~: 8:30 @0[ ruva 7:00 ry [ HC0241
MI\SSES IIJ :f?_emember ~ ~~ Our Sid: W IFOR THE WEEK MONDAY DECEMBER 5 Stephen Collins Rose Leto Sharon Diemer Patricia Lyons Cornelius Dunleavy Joanne Marks Mary Ann Farrell Catherine Mc Nulty Dorothy Eberhard Thomas Miller 8 30 AM Peter Gaudiosi, Sr. Mary Ann Farrell Lynn Neary DECEMBER 6 Margaret Goate Eve Palermo Michele Goff Florence Palmer?n. p ano Theresa Baselice WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 7 Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church 8:30 AM Suzann and Helen Desmond Carolyn Henderson Harry Iezzi Carole Kime Mary Kull Kendall Lambert Laurann E. Paquier Joseph Sindoni Adeline Sulprizio Theresa Torelli Nadia Waltanski THURSDAY DECEMBER 8 The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary 8:30 AM Richard Mc Carthy 7:00 PM Living and Deceased Members of the Casciano Family FRIDAY DECEMBER 9 Saint Juan Diego Cauhtlatoatzin 8:30 AM Suzann Desmond SATURDAY DECEMBER 10 8:30AM Catherine Judge, Catherine and Paul Ruane w:eexend MASS INTENTIONS receiving His wisdom PRAYERFOR ADVENT WREATH SECOND WEEK God of power and.. mercy, open our hearts in welcome. Remove the things that hinder us from Christ with joy so that we may share and become one with Him when He comes in glory, for He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever ever. Amen. and 5.A.JUiIDAY DECEMBER 10 4:30PM Caradino and Phyllis Di Gregorio SUNDAY DECEMBER 11 8:30AM Jim and Julia Bellocchio and Nicole Gallo 11:00 AM People of Holy Cross Sunday Collection Sunday Collection Sunday Collection Maintenance November 13 $11,672. November 20 $10,211. November 27 $11,670. November $3,750. HC0242
FRO THE PASTOR1SDESK Still.:-:.- :res;.onarouno:-=_:--=- - ~=----- -::=:- --:.-a'i 3ut John never forsu: - 5 _ ':_ -: :.::: :":.:: =.:Eo::, ;: precursorto the Messiah. John remained humble at all times, going out o=-- S...;, :0 C 'ec: a::r:-~::l~ a...a I ~OM himself and toward Jesus. Every day, in our homes, workplaces, neighborhoods and parish, by our words and actions, we can win applause and acclaim for ourselves. We can draw attention, appreciation and favor to ourselves. Or we cal"\ be a ~!..!T'""'C e ~ithful and lov"ng signoost that ooints to Our lord and glorifies God"...=:: _s a:; =_- ~ = --::._s;:;: :;c-":-" -:-= ::::-:: - -k: :-?:: s s- -"-s~e spo~"s'"'to!l Him" TE ThonG to a of you, our Thanlcsgiving Food Drive was a tremendous success. We were able to provide 97 Thanksgiving dinners to our most in need. A BIG SHOUT OUT to all of yo u, Acme Food Markets ~n Clifton Heights, BrinkerFinancial, The Gub and Boy-Scouts from T-roops 240 and 512, Holy Cross School and our PREPStudents, the United Methodist Church on Sproul Road in Springfield and Simpson Brinker for the generous donations. anyone HC0243
MONTHLY PRO-LIFE GROUP MEETING Please join us for our monthly meeting of the Springfield Parishes Pro-Life Group on Wednesday, December 7, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM at St. Francis of Assisi Rectory in the basement Conference Room A. Your prayers and suggestions are most welcome. PRAY FOR THE SAFETY AND PROTECTION OF OUR LOVED ONES IN THE ARMED FORCES AND ALL OF OUR FIRST \~==:::i=aresponders (Police Officers, " Fire Fighters, EMT's) VOLUNTEERS NEEDED CHRISTMAS PRESENCE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS MAJOR PAUL ALLEN LANCE CORPORAL JUSTIN 0' ARCY LT. AMY CALLAHAN, USN, MD STAFF SERGEANT GERALD DE JOHN IT. JAMES P. CALLAHAN, USN CPL. JOHN G. LAROUCHE LT. JOHN R. CALLAHAN, USN SGT. ALEX RANKIN, USMC We want our sick and homebound parishioners to know we think about them and pray for them, especially during this Holy Season. Please share your Christmas joy by helping to deliver a special Christmas card and plant to our homebound on Tuesday, December 20. Call Sr. Mary Carmela at 610-626-8266 before December 17, if you can help us. All Extraordinary Eucharistic Ministers to the homebound and volunteers will come to the Convent to pick up the poinsettia and Christmas prayer card to be delivered any time between 9:15 AM and 1:00 PM on Tuesday, December 20. All visitations will be done on that day. Thank you to all who can help bring our parish greetings to our homebound. CEMETERY BLANKETS re :":r;.'y Cross KOC i:f15482 are holding their _.. - _= ~-C:e') 3 onset Sale. Price is $20 per ;;,anxet: To place an order, you can call Andy Grajek at 484-472-6970 and leave your name, phone number and the amount of blankets you wish to order. Make checks payable to: Holy Cross K.O.C. #15482. Checks can be mailed to: Cemetery Blankets, c/o Andy Grajek, 492 Indian Rock Drive, Springfield, PA 19064. Cemetery blankets will be available for pick-up in the Holy Cross School Parking Lot on Saturday, 12-10-16-9:00 AM until Noon. LIVING A STEWARDSHIP LIFE We have a new and exciting evangelization ministry opportunity here at Holy Cross from Stewardship: A Mission of Faith. In each vestibule of the Church is a newly installed, beautiful wooden Resource Center that contains a variety of different resource materials, including books, booklets, CDs, DVDs and pamphlets. The materials contain messages on challenging topics of Christian living to help build up your faith in God and to inspire many areas of your life such as: Marriage Children and family and teens Spiritual growth and prayer life Basics of our faith Answers to questions you've always wondered about Stories of conversion, or returning to the faith these materials People from all walks of life profess that have helped them grow into a deeper personal and intimate relationship with God, and life changing conversions have occurred. All materials are free. Gift donations are accepted and the money will be used to replenish the material and further the mission as well as to help plant seeds of faith in other Churches. What a great way to begin "Living a Stewardship in love for God! Life" and to grow HC0244
-.: :: Catholic Church are as misunderstood as the dogma of the --z ~:e(once: -: :z,= -E Blessed Virgin ary, which Cathotics celebrate every year on ::~- cer8. Many pee: :: --:....d...g ma'lycatholics, think that the Immarulate Conception refers ::0 econception ofc nsl --roug'" +J..eactio" of the.oly Spirit in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That event, though, ;s ce en-atec at -'he +east 0$ the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25, nine months before Christmas). What is the Immaculate Conception? The Immaculate Conception refers to the condition that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from Original Sin from the very moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne. We celebrate the Nativity 0/ the Blessed Virgin Mary - her birth - on September 8, nine months nefore t at is December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Fr. Jo..'l-.... -ardoc, SJ. in his Moden Catholic Dictionary, notes that -Neither the Greek taught the Immaculate Conception, but professed it implicitly." ::::taj.2...a.. ; ::.e..~'ries,...~..gt" for t~e Catholic Church to recognize the Immaculate G_-.::::er- c zs acne -~=-a..: so et......5 idle..!.. Christians must believe - and many more before _8s.::...would dedare it a dogma - that is, a doctrine that the Ch...rch en :::c:-'::2 8 F :sa-~=s 'S5 f2 ea e= :'; God - lmseff... --e -;.os-lo: ~ Cor..sth:..., c~ Ine[fabi/is Deus, Pope Pius IX wrote that "We declare ;:;ro,""o...-ce ana ae~ne that the aoctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in vie o~ the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free fro"'" al stair 0:: original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly anc constanti by au tl-e faithful.- As ratrer a"cionfurther i'tites, the Blessed Virgin s "freeaor» from sin as ar unmerited grt o~ God or spec al grace, and an exception to the la '., or privilege, which no other created person has received." Another misconception people have is that Mary's Immaculate Conception was necessary to ensure that Original Sin would not be passed on to Christ. This has never been a part of the teaching on the Immaculate Conception; rather, the Immaculate-Conception represents Christ's saving grace operating in Mary in anticipation of His redemption of man and in God's foreknowledge of Mary's acceptance of His Will for her. In other words, the Immaculate Conception was not a precondition for Christ's act of redemption but the result of that act. It is the concrete expression of God's love for Mary, who gave herseff fully, completely, and without hesitation to His service.