St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA Rev. Gregory J. Hickey Pastor Residence 421 Jefferson Street ghickey@sgsm62.org Rev. James W. Gormley Pastor Emeritus Maria E. Boyer Director of Religious Education 610-327-5376 mboyer@sgsm62.org Parish Office Fairview & Monroe Streets Hours: 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM Other occasions by appointment Masses Saturday: Sunday: 9:00 AM Weekdays: 9:00 AM Holydays: 9:00 AM & 7:00 PM NO VIGIL MASS Confessions Saturday 3:30 PM to Other times by appointment 127 E. Howard Street, Stowe, Pennsylvania 19464 Web site: http://stgabrielstowepa.org Parish Contact Information Phone Number: 610-326-5127 Fax Number: 610-326-5749 E-Mail: contact@sgsm62.org Facebook: facebook.com/sgsmstowe Twitter Handle: @StGabrielStowe Women s Society E-mail: st.gabrielswomenssociety@gmail.com P.R.E.P. (Parish Religious Education Programs) Grades PreK to 6: Sundays - 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM Choir Practice: Tuesdays - 7:00 PM nd Senior Citizens: 2 Tuesdays - 1:30 PM st Women s Society: 1 Thursdays - 7:00 PM Parish Council: Meets monthly, except Dec., July, Aug. Finance Council: Meets monthly, except Dec., July, Aug. R.C.I.A.: As needed Grief Counseling - Consult the Parish Website ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA www.archphila.org Facebook: facebook.com/archphila Twitter Handle: @ArchPhilly www.catholicphilly.com PhaithMagazine.com ARCHBISHOP S FACEBOOK PAGE www.facebook.com/archbishopchaput Baptisms: Arrangements for Baptism can be made at the Parish Office prior to or after the baby s birth. A Pre- Jordan session is required of new parents. Please call the Religious Education Office for these arrangements. Sponsors must be practicing Catholics. A certificate of eligibility is required. Marriage: Arrangements must be made at least 6 months in advance with the Pastor in order to provide for all Archdiocesan requirements. Sacrament of the Sick: All are encouraged to receive this Sacrament prior to hospitalization for surgery or if suffering from a serious sickness. Please call the Parish Office to make arrangements. Registration: New people or families that are moving into the parish are asked to call the office and make an appointment with Fr. Hickey to register in the parish. We welcome you and ask that you will be an integral member of the parish community by attending Mass on Sunday and contributing to the support of the parish by being a good steward. If you have moved, please let us know so we can change our records. Please email the office and give us your current email as we are trying to go green. Parish Bulletin Deadline: Mondays, 9:00 AM. Requests should be typed or printed and can be sent by mail, e-mail or fax. We reserve the right to edit.
FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 28 JANUARY 2018 Readings for Sunday, January 28: Deuteronomy 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28. As Moses challenged the Israelites to listen to God s voice, so we are called to hear the voice of Jesus and live out his teachings by what we say and do, whatever our vocation in life may be. Readings for Sunday, February 4: Job 7:1-4, 6-7; 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23; Mark 1:29-39. St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother Parish Special Day of Prayer is Monday. Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament: Monday after 9:00 A.M. Mass to in the Chapel. MASSES FOR THE WEEK Date Intention Requested By 29 Jan. MON. 9:00 AM Patrick Colatosti Margaret Duklis 31 Jan. WED. 9:00 AM Joseph & Anna Walker Francis J. Czeiner Family 1 Feb. THU. 9:00 AM Angeline Testa Michael Fox 2 Feb. FRI. 9:00 AM Joseph Daniel Guarinello, Jr. Jeannie & Rocky Graziani & Sammy Forcinio 3 Feb. SAT. People of St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother Parish 4 Feb. SUN. 9:00 AM Those Enrolled in St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother Parish Memorial Fund ETERNAL REST grant unto them, O Lord. May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. PRAY FOR THE SICK AND SUFFERING of the parish especially those in homes and hospitals. REMEMBER OUR TROOPS: Pray that God will bless and protect our young men and women in the military. BAKERS NEEDED for Super Bowl Snack and Bake Sale at Masses on February 3 and 4. Donations from any parishioner welcome. Please drop baked goods off in social hall on Thursday, February 1 from 6:00-7:00 PM or before Mass on February 3 and 4 to bake table in church vestibule. PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING on Monday, January 29 at 7:15 PM in the Rectory. WOMEN S SOCIETY MEETING on Thursday, February 1 at 7:00 PM in the social hall. Hostesses: Loretta Gauger, Ginger Scheidt and Marie Hildebrand. THE ROSARY PRAYER GROUP leads the recitation of the Rosary every Sunday before the 9:00 AM Mass. They also pray the Rosary before the 9:00 AM weekday Masses. All are welcome to join in these special Marian devotions. MINISTRY SCHEDULE - February 3/4: Mass Lector - Phyllis Villano Extraordinary Ministers - Vincent Tammaro, Mara Tammaro, John Bracaglia, Cindy Nore Altar Servers - Michael Holmes Greeters - Phil Bracaglia and Maria DiMarco 9:00 AM Mass Lector - Sylvia Marcheskie Extraordinary Ministers - Rita Templin, Helen George, Chris Gerasimowicz Altar Server - Domenic Gerasimowicz Greeter - Marie Hildebrand 085 St. Gabriel, page 1
REFLECTIONS FROM THE DESK OF FR. GREGORY J. HICKEY You have often heard me talk about the Babylonian exile, especially when I have discussed the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. The Persians conquered the Babylonians fifty years later and allowed the Jews to return home. Many of the Jews in Babylon had become comfortable there and did not return to Israel all at once. Even a hundred years after they began to return they were struggling to rebuild their civilization. The Persians were still in control of the entire Middle East which included Israel. Nehemiah, a Jew, had been a high level servant to the king of Persia, and he asked his king to allow him to return to Israel to help his people rebuild. So the king of Persia appointed him to be governor of Israel. In Nehemiah s efforts to rebuild the nation, he had to start with what was most important and that was to remind the people that God had to take first place in their lives. He realized much of the trauma his people had gone through at the time of their exile was because they had forgotten their God. In today s first reading, Nehemiah called for a general assembly of the people and the priest Ezra read God s word to them. Remember, ordinary people did not have books in those days. Books were very rare and very expensive, since each one had to be individually written word for word. The ordinary people had to have someone read to them or preach to them, to know about God s word. The reading was most probably from the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). Notice that there was active participation on the part of God s people as they heard the word, possibly for the first time. The central theme of today s liturgy is God s word. The people were saddened by God s word in the first reading. Perhaps they recognized how they had failed to live up to it. Ezra and Nehemiah told the people God s word should bring them joy. Even if they had not been living by God s word, on hearing it, they could learn from it, and start living as God had instructed them. When we break the laws of society, we may get thrown into jail. God does not send the police around when we break His laws, but when we ignore His word, it can catch up with us. Many people can rationalize bad behavior by saying that Jesus is a good guy. He won t punish me for this or that. They forget that Jesus did not come to punish us. He came to show us the way to happiness and eternal life. When we choose a way contrary to His teaching, we bring unhappiness upon ourselves. One of my favorite psalm verses is: Your word is a lamp for my steps and a light for my path (PS 119, 105). If you have to go somewhere in the dark, it s nice to have a flashlight to help you see where you are going. You can walk in the dark if you wish, but that would not be very smart, and you might be likely to end up hurting yourself. When we try to make it through life without God s Word, we re walking in the dark. We can t say God is punishing us if, while walking in the dark, we run into something or we fall. We did it to ourselves. Nehemiah knew the people needed God s light if they were ever going to succeed in getting back on their feet. Jesus knows we need God s light. In today s Gospel, Jesus is beginning His public ministry and He uses the Scriptures to describe the work He will do. People were impressed at first, but unfortunately, as we will hear next week, they rejected Him. Jesus said, Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing. The operative word here is Today. It tells us God is speaking to us whenever we hear the Scriptures. A few weeks ago in my homily, I stated what St. Jerome said, Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. We do not operate solely as individuals. We are all part of the Body of Christ. We all need one another and need to recognize the gifts in one another as we come and worship and pray together. When I ponder the readings of today, I have to reflect and ask myself are we different than the people in the three readings, and do we realize that we all need one another as we come to worship each Sunday at St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother Parish Community? The Word of God is powerful and alive. We need each other. We need to share our faith with one another, even if it is a matter of praying with one another. We definitely need God s Word and we need each other to make it through this life on our journey to eternal life. In the daily readings in January, we heard the Old Testament Prophet Samuel say: Speak Lord, your servant is listening. We need to slow down and listen to the Lord so that we may hear Him. Silence is where we hear God speaking to us. Have a good week! Fr. Hickey 085 St. Gabriel, page 2
Parish Support WEEKLY BUDGET... $5,000 DEPOSIT FOR JANUARY 21, 2018... $3,579 Regular Sunday Collection - $3,494 Parish Giving - $85 WEEKLY DEFICIT.....($1,421) Year to Date Budget....... $150,000 Year to Date Collections..... $132,844 Average per week Collection..... $4,428 Year to Date Deficit.......($17,156) Average per week Deficit..... ($572) JANUARY 22, 2017 Deposit.... $3,758 2016-2017 Deficit to Date....($17,181) Difference from previous year.....$25 MASS ATTENDANCE for January 20/21: Mass - 202 9:00 AM Mass - 149 Total Attendance - 351 Mass Attendance for January 21/22, 2017-381 2017 CONTRIBUTION STATEMENTS - Requests for statements of 2017 contributions to St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother Parish can be made by email to the parish office (contact@sgsm62.org) or by calling the parish office (610-326-5127). Statements are available for registered parishioners (those who receive and use their parish envelopes.) Statements will be available by January 31, 2018. SECOND COLLECTION next weekend will be the Parish Property and Maintenance Collection. ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK CROCKER & CROCKER, PC 610-323-5700 WINNER OF THE MONTHLY 50/50 GOLD ENVELOPE DRAWING to support Religious Education: JANUARY DRAWING - M/M David Guadagno - $258.00. PARISH LOTTERY RAFFLE TICKET based on the PA Pick 3 Evening Number. Winning ticket number must be the exact number drawn for the PA Pick 3 Evening Number. Tickets are $5.00 each and are sold on a monthly basis. The prize for the winning ticket is $50.00 on weekdays and $100.00 on Sundays and one speciallydesignated weekday. Tickets are available after the Masses on weekends and at the parish office on weekdays. This is our major fund raiser for the parish. We encourage each family to purchase at least one ticket each month. Your support is greatly appreciated. LOTTERY CALENDAR RAFFLE TICKET WINNERS January 15 - #759 - Alice McGlocklin - $50.00 January 16 - #244 - unsold January 17 - #803 - unsold January 18 - #255 - Mark Roberts - $50.00 January 19 - #265 - Cathy Keck - $50.00 January 20 - #788 - unsold January 21 - #572 - unsold ST. GABRIEL OF THE SORROWFUL MOTHER PARISH MEMORIAL FUND DONATIONS received in memory of: MARGARET YOST MEITZLER from Jack & Margie Bucciaglia; ANGELINE TESTA from Chris, Gene & Domenic Gerasimowicz; PASCAL PAT GRAZIANI from Jack & Margie Bucciaglia; RAY A. HILBORN from Tony & Theresa Vitacco; DR. JACOB E. DAILEY from Tony & Theresa Vitacco. CONSIDER REMEMBERING YOUR PARISH IN YOUR WILL! For further information, please call the parish office. VALENTINE BASKET RAFFLE - Chances are $5.00 each. Basket contains $100 Gift card to Red Lobster, $50.00 cash, Candle with Valentine floral topper, bottle of Merlot wine, wine glasses and box of Gertrude Hawk Candy. Chances available after Masses and at the parish office. Drawing will be held on Monday, February 12. FACEBOOK LIVE EVENT - Monday, February 5 at 7:00 PM, hosed by the Vocation Office for Diocesan Priesthood. Presenter is John Flanagan, Executive Director of the Labouré Society. Any questions, call 610-667-4778. Facebook page: www.facebook.com/phillypriest. 085 St. Gabriel, page 3
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday February 2018 1 2 3 Women s Society Meeting 7:00 PM Mass Snack & Bake Sale after Mass 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Snack & Bake Sale after Mass Mass 11 Second Sunday Hospitality after Mass 12 13 Senior Citizens Meeting 1:30 PM 14 ASH WEDNESDAY VALENTINE S DAY Mass 7:00 PM 15 16 Mass 9:00 0AM 17 Mass 18 19 PRESIDENTS DAY 20 21 22 23 24 Stations of Cross 1:30 PM Women s Society make meatballs 6:00 PM Women s Society make sauce 9:00 AM Mass Meatball & Sauce Sale after Mass 25 Meatball & Sauce Sale after Mass 26 Parish Council Meeting 7:15 PM 27 28 Stations of Cross 1:30 PM 085 St. Gabriel, page 4
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