St. Veronica Church 4215 Route 9, Howell, NJ 07731 732-363-4200 www.stveronica.com Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time February 19, 2017 Pastoral Staff Pastor Father Pastor Vincent T. Euk Father Vincent T. Euk Parochial Vicar Fr. Parochial Vicente Vicar Magdaraog Fr. Vicente Magdaraog Weekend Assistant Fr. Weekend Bill O Brien Assistant Fr. Bill O Brien Deacons Tom Deacons Cechulski, Sr. Charles Gene F. R. Moir, Daye Sr., Jr. John James Franey Littlefield Gino Tomasz (Louis) Cechulski Esposito Charles R. Daye Jr. School John Franey Principal Sister Gino (Louis) Cherree Esposito Power, C.R. Religious School Principal Education Sr. Sister Ann Cherree Norton, Power, D.R.E. C.R. Linda Clayton Religious Education Business Brenda Heffernan, Manager D.R.E. Deacon Lauren Gino DeMaio, Esposito C.R.E. Parish Administrator Director Leonard P. of Weg Music Emer O Mahony Director of Music Youth Nancy Ministry Condardo Coordinator Sister Ann Norton Director of ACTS Phone Deacon Tom Contacts Cechulski Rectory 732-363-4200 Bozena Cechulski Convent 732-364-2361 School 732-364-4130 Coordinator of Youth Religious Ministry Education Deacon John Franey 732-364-4137 Rectory Phone Contacts Fax 732-370-3891 Rectory 732-363-4200 Rectory Office Hours: Convent 732-364-2361 M-F 9:00-4:30 PM School 732-364-4130 Second & Fourth Saturday Religious Education 9AM 12:30 PM 732-364-4137 Baptisms: Cafeteria 732-364-9455 Every 2nd and 4th Sunday ACTS Office 732-364- of each month,. 2936 Fax 732-370-3891 Weekend Masses: Saturdays: 4:00 5:00 PM Sundays: 7:30, 9:00, 10:30, 12 noon, 5PM Daily Masses: Mon-Fri 7:20 AM & 12 Noon, Sat: 8AM Holy Days: As announced in the bulletin. Healing Mass every third Tuesday at at 7:30PM 8PM. Sacrament Sacrament of Reconciliation of Reconciliation Saturdays Saturdays from 4:00 from to 4:45PM 3:00 to or 3:45PM call to schedule and before an each appointment Sunday Mass with a priest.
Mass Intentions for this Week February 19, 2017 MONDAY 9:00 Michael Napurano... Patti TUESDAY 7.20 Sr. Roberta Mozdziak... SVS Staff and Faculty 12:00 Int. of George McCauslin... Christa McCauslin WEDNESDAY.The Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle 7:20 Dr. Cesar & Filomena Flores... Marilen Rodriguez & Family 12:00 Int. of John & Alice Clark... Patty LaPietra SATURDAY 8:00 AM Joseph Zarzyski... Bob & Diana Morris 4:00PM Sr. Roberta....Regina Reale SUNDAY 7:30 Gina Atchue... Zack & Jaclyn Nolan 9:00 For the People of the Parish 10:30 Christopher Dosil...Joan Risicato 12:00 Dorothy & George Cox... Margaret Mende 5:00 Cosmo Canestri...Fiorillo Family THURSDAY...Saint Polycarp, b. & m. 7:20 Joseph Micallizzi..Barracato Family 12:00 Ken Settle..Ed & Mary Althaver FRIDAY 7:20 Kenneth W. Vigilo.Hoefler Family 12:00 Vickie Forlenza..MaryAnn Gularek & Family Events for this coming Week *Please Note: The rectory office will be closed Monday, February 20th. Sanctuary Candle Week of February 19, 2017 In memory of Henry Dodrill.Family Chapel Candles Week of February 19, 2017 In memory of Maria Mattina....Rose See our website www.stveronica.com Sacrificial Offering Update Last Week s Offering: $16,707.00 Thank you for your continued support. Readings for the Week of February 19, 2017 Sunday: Lv 19:1-2, 17-18/Ps 103:1-4, 8, 10, 12-13/1 Cor 3:16-23/ Mt 5:38-48 Monday: Sir 1:1-10/Ps 93:1-2, 5/Mk 9:14-29 Tuesday: Sir 2:1-11/Ps 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40/Mk 9:30-37 Wednesday: 1 Pt 5:1-4/Ps 23:1-3a, 4-6/Mt 16:13-19 Thursday: Sir 5:1-8/Ps 1:1-4, 6/Mk 9:41-50 Friday: Sir 6:5-17/Ps 119:12, 16, 18, 27, 34-35/Mk 10:1-12 Saturday: Sir 17:1-15/Ps 103:13-18/Mk 10:13-16 Next Sunday: Is 49:14-15/Ps 62:2-3, 6-9/1 Cor 4:1-5/Mt 6:24-34
Pastor s Notes Moses tells us to be holy as the LORD, your God is holy. Jesus will demand the same for us, but with a greater intensity because He wants us to change our hearts. Rather then seeing this task as a duty, Jesus wants us to do it out of love. Edited in this reading are some of the ways we are to love, e.g., revering our parents, keeping the Sabbath, avoiding idolatry, and caring for the poor. The last two stanzas of the first reading are asking us to have the same heart as God we are not to hate anyone from our hearts because everyone is made in the image and likeness of God, Who is Love. God has always demanded a conversion of the heart. He even describes the hearts of all of us infected with sin as stony hearts. God desires us to rebuild them into the fleshy hearts of our original innocence. Today we hear that our mortal bodies are actual Temples of the Holy Spirit. We are in a serious predicament because we must make a choice between Eternal Life or to be complacent and end in total ruin for eternity. We can choose to die in joy or to put ourselves into a drunken stupor, oblivious to our Redeemer, thinking that some day science will abolish death leaving us forever on this decaying planet. Last Sunday Jesus used hyperboles (exaggerations) to cut off healthy organs of the body to prevent us from using them to commit deadly sins. Again, it is a teaching of our faith never to destroy a healthy body part, but Jesus continues to use hyperboles to teach us about the deadliness of mortal sin, which if unforgiven at our death, places us in hell. The Third Eucharistic Prayer states, To our departed brothers and sisters and to all who were pleasing to You at their passing from this life. Among the Semites, the law of vengeance ruled. During the time of King David, vendettas and blood feuds were common in tribal societies. The offense of one man was taken out on his wife, children, cattle and all his possessions. This vendetta was so full of hatred that, in performing what was called a ban, it actually destroyed all of the offending party s possessions so that the offended party could not even use them. So the God of the Old Testament made a Jewish law of retribution to put a limitation on vengeance, e.g.,"an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Jesus then establishes His own new and radical law expressed in the way He died, Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. Jesus continued to love His executioners and those who desired Him dead. They would have to change their stony hearts into fleshy hearts and ask for repentance. This is a hard, if not impossible, task for the proud and arrogant. Jesus dramatizes (hyperbole) the importance of forgoing rights for the Kingdom of God. To be slapped in the face is insulting enough, but in Jewish Rabbinic Law, to hit a man with the back of the hand (the return swing) was doubly insulting. Jesus is saying for the sake of the Kingdom, you must not retaliate or even resist such insults. Even Jesus, when He was arrested, demanded Peter to Put your sword in its sheath! Jesus again dramatizes the importance of suffering loss of rights for the Kingdom. A tunic was like a shirt. It is an nonessential undergarment. Most people had two. A cloak was like a coat. It was worn as a robe by day and a blanket at night. The cloak was an essential garment and a Jew generally had only had one. Exodus 22 commands, "If ever you should take your neighbor's cloak in pledge, you shall restore it before the sun goes down." Jesus wants us to waive all our rights for the benefit of others. Jesus again dramatizes the importance of Christian suffering. When doing unpleasant tasks, be cheerful and do it as a service. In Christ's time, Palestine was an occupied state. Anyone could be impressed into service, e.g., Simon of Cyrene was compelled to bear the Cross of Jesus. These demands may seem to put us into despair, but that is because they require supernatural strength found only in prayer, Penance and the Holy Eucharist. We are asked to imitate Christ and not Judas. While the Apostles were blundering idiots, who even betrayed God despite having actually seeing the works of God, they all ended up being Saints. They certainly give clear evidence that, if they got into heaven, all of us can get there too. By learning from their mistakes, we can make our own lives a lot holier. Fr. Euk Scripture Meditation Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow. Today Jesus continues the powerful teaching of his Sermon on the Mount. Typical of this famous sermon, here he urges us to see things in a new way, specifically regarding situations and people who bother us. First, he tells us not to seek revenge. Instead, we are to demonstrate incredible generosity. Then, he instructs us to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. These instructions don t come naturally to most of us. We are much more inclined to want to get even with those who cause us to suffer, and to wish ill for those who have hurt us. But Jesus proposes another way. In truth, what good does it do to seek revenge or foster hate? It only continues the cycle of evil. Jesus encourages behavior that will stop the cycle short. He gives us a model that although it may not change the heart of our enemies will nonetheless change our hearts for the better. When pressed into service for one mile, if we voluntarily go two, then we are the ones whose attitude and experience is certain to change. Instead of spending the length of that one mile cursing and complaining, we spend the length of two enjoying a surprising kind of freedom: I chose to do this, instead of I am being forced to do this. When we practice the generosity of giving more than we are asked, and the charity of praying for those who persecute us, we will find ourselves in a position to transcend the trouble. It sets us free to not be mastered by the evil around us. Thus, we are able to help end the cycle of evil and begin a new cycle of love and peace.
OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE Please Pray for Our Sick Tom Lovito Lorraine Groh Marjorie Paulmann Mark Stoughton Vinny Placanica Mia Castellan Michael Kuras Susan Termine Connie Camilleri Erin Haber Jan Fleming Elzbieth Jagoda Paula Baiga Diane Cudhedy Bonnie Yuro Bob Yuro Michael Connolly Joe Oates Jane Oates Ann Donovan John Kerod Robert Farrell Christine Clements John Rodrigues Cathy Forman Ed Kelly Dennis Hayward Kathy Hayward Claire Archer Vincenzo Centineo Greg Mador Brayden Walton Victoria Burke Robert O Malley Sr. Karen D Souza-Casiero Mary Althaver Gianna Faith Malen Debbie Mossa Kevin Corcoran Barbara Sewing Rose Perrotta Sharon Calabria Nicole Kessner Joanne Oates Carmen Devone Deacon John Franey Please Pray for our Parishioners Serving our Country: Sgt. Sean T. Curran Sgt. Brennan Six PV2 William Wotton GSMI Sandro Farduchi Sgt. Krystyna Cechulski Capt. Julio Collazos S.R. Steven Brennan Sgt. Gregory Hiller Corp. Ethan Bolger PFC Zackary Burkey Sgt. Luke Wlodkowski 1st Lt. Robert F. Farrell 1st Lt. Ash Young Sgt. Paul Coyle LCDR Matthew W. Smith Church and Chapel Sanctuary Candles If you would like to donate a Sanctuary Candle for a loved one, please contact the rectory office (732-363- 4200). Candles will be in memory of or intentions of the named individual for one week (Sunday to Saturday) and announced in our bulletin. Weekly Donation: Church Candle $15 Chapel Candles $20 (2). Baptism St. Veronica s Parish Family wishes to welcome those who have become members through the Sacrament of Baptism. Charlie Phoenix, son of Stephen & Christine Abbaticchio Willow Shea, daughter of Christopher & Allison Murphy Jenessa Emily, daughter of Jillian & Johnny Duprey Thank you for the gift of life! 2018 Mass Book Our 2018 Mass Book is now open. Limit 2 Masses per person Lecture on the Theology of the Body The lecture series will take place on Sundays at 6:30 PM in the narthex. The topics are as follows: 2/19 The Moral Aspects of Desire 2/26 Heretical Thinking Regarding Human Sexuality St. Veronica Presents: High School Youth Ministry!! Every other Sunday. Time: Begins with 5PM Sunday Mass, followed by dinner and activities in the school cafeteria, ending at 9:00PM. Age Group: Grades 8 through 12 Grow in Catholic discipleship while enjoying fun activities, serving others and meeting new people. There is no cost, but you must be registered to attend. Please download forms at stveronica.com and return them to the parish office or to Sr. Ann in the Religious Ed office. New members always welcome. Next Meeting is February 26th. St. Veronica presents: Junior Youth Ministry! Beginning: Friday, March 3, 2017 One Friday per month Time: 7-9 PM Place: St. Veronica School Gym Age Group: Grades 5, 6, and 7 Grow in Catholic discipleship while enjoying fun activities, serving others, and meeting new people! There is no cost, but you must be registered to attend. Please download forms at stveronica.com and return them to the parish office or to Sr. Ann in the Religious Education office. The Diocesan Youth Conference (DYC), a yearly conference for the teens of the Diocese of Trenton, is an opportunity to encounter Jesus in a very real and dynamic way. Come and enjoy an exciting day with upbeat music, fellowship, talks, Adoration, Confession, and a closing Mass with our Bishop, David O Connell. When: Saturday, March 4th, 2017 Place: St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church, Hamilton, NJ Time: leaving St. Veronica at 9:30AM and returning at 7PM. Age Group: Grades 8 to 12 Cost: $30 per Teen (includes transportation and lunch) To register, please contact Sr. Ann Elizabeth at 732-364-4137 or sr.ann@stveronica.com. Teens must be registered by March 1st, 2017. Holy Land Pilgrimage Msgr. Peter Kochery once again will be leading us on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Please save the dates: Oct. 23rd Nov. 1st 2017. The cost is $3000 pp double occupancy. Health insurance included. For more info contact Deacon Tom at 732-610-5434 or 3marysway@optonline.net
St. Veronica Healing Mass Feb. 21, 2017-7:30 PM Exodus 15:26 - For, I, the Lord, Am your healer Come join us; pray for the healing for yourself, family and friends. Celebrant: Fr. Jeff Kegley Ask the Pastor Please join us on the 4th Friday of each month at 7:30PM, in the narthex, as Fr. Euk addresses questions about our faith and our parish. The next meeting date is Friday, February 24th. Catholic Men for Jesus Christ Conference Attention men! Catholic Men for Jesus Christ will host their 20 th Annual Men s Conference on Saturday, February 25, at St. Joseph Parish in Toms River. This is the oldest and largest Catholic men s conference in New Jersey and you don t want to miss it. The theme of this year s conference is Into the Breach. Come join your brothers in the diocese to hear top-notch, inspirational speakers and enjoy fellowship with other men who are looking to grow in their walk with Jesus and dynamically live out their Catholic faith. For more info please see www.catholicmenforjesuschrist.org Special Offering Envelope Envelopes are now available in the back of the church and narthex for earmark donations and repairs. Thank you for your generosity. The Best of Ireland and Northern Ireland 11 Days: September 11-21, 2017 Hosted by: Farther John Bambrick & Deacon Michael Lee Foster. Visit Belfast, Derry, Knock, Galway, Connemara, Killarney, Ring of Kerry, Blarney and Dublin. Only $2979 per person. Includes Roundtrip Air from Newark, First Class/Select Hotels, Most Meals, Professional driver/ Guide & Comprehensive Sightseeing. For more info contact Dcn. Foster 908-227-0227 or email michaelleefoster@verizon.net Items Missing From Ushers Closet Someone removed a box of gold color ropes (about 6 feet long) from the usher s closet. Would you please return them to the rectory office. Thank you. Faith to Move Mountains Update On Behalf of Fr. Euk, we would like to thank you for your support and contribution to the Faith to Move Mountains Campaign. The total amount pledged by our parishioners was $850,216.00, Congratulations! This week we received a rebate check in the amount of $53,989.00, which represents 30% of the paid pledges to date. Your generous support makes it possible for us to reduce old debt owed to the Diocese, while continuing to make our community a great place to live and worship. Thank you and God Bless, ~ Deacon Gino Adoration Chapel " Through Perpetual Adoration a Parish gives the King all the love He truly deserves. Perpetual Adoration is the Divine romance between Jesus and His people." Fr. Martin Lucia Help us at St. Veronica maintain perpetual adoration by signing up for any hour. Hours Urgently Needed: Sunday noon and 5PM Monday 1AM, 7AM Wednesday 11PM Saturday 6PM Saturday 6PM Contact Debbie drev514@aol.com or leave message 732 367-7750. St. Veronica s Parish Lenten Mission Why do we call Jesus the Son of God? In plain terms, what was His mission? How did He carry out His mission? Why did He choose this method? What was the outcome, and why? What does this say to us about the nature of God? Of grasping and letting go? What have we learned about the conditions and the culture of those times that sheds new light on the Gospel story? Events leading up to the cross? What were the personality traits of Jesus? How do we get in touch with all of this today? The relevance of the past in the present. Symbols and rituals. What have we learned about the scriptures? Come and acquire a new outlook on Faith. Gain a useful understanding of our Faith. Come to the Parish Mission at St. Veronica on March 5-8. Presented by Rev. Francis A. Sirolli, OSA Save the Date!! St. Veronica Vacation Bible School Monday July 10th through Friday July 14th OUR NEEDS Legion of Mary Legion of Mary is in need of religious statues, holy cards and religious articles. If you are able to donate, please contact Mary Anne at 732-367-0284. Pantry Needs Soup, canned meat, jello, pudding
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