ST. THOMAS AQUINAS Roman Catholic Church 8320 Old C.R. #54 New Port Richey, FL 34653 Phone 727-372-8600 Web Page: www.stanpr.org Pastor: Rev. Eric Peters Associate Pastor: Rev. George P. Varkey Deacon: Rev. Mr. Melvin Dunphy STA Early Childhood Center: 376-2330; Bishop Larkin Catholic School (K-8): 862-6981; Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School: 857-2600 Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 29, 2018 SCRIPTURE REFLECTION Jesus made the five barley loaves and two fish more than enough to meet the needs of over five thousand people. What would make us think He can t transform our needs into enough MORE than enough? The Gospel today reminds us that He will always provide for our needs. If we give all that we have and all that we are to God (even when we don t feel as if it is enough), He will make sure we have all that we need and more. Trust in God, faith in His promise, awe at His works these are the keys to the Kingdom! Think about your basic needs food, shelter, safety, etc. Now think about other needs that may provide happiness time with loved ones, cooperation among friends and coworkers, patience with difficult people and situations. Now give those needs to God and watch Him provide! Learning, Living and Sharing the Good News
Save the Date for the Marriage Anniversary Gala Nov. 10, 2018 The Marriage Anniversary Gala celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME) and the 50th Anniversary of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, will be held on November 10, 2018 at Higgins Hall in Tampa in partnership with Spirit FM 90.5. Tickets will go on sale in August. This celebration will include dinner, dancing, silent auction and more! WWME is dedicated to strengthening marriages and families through Marriage Enrichments and the WWME Weekends. Proceeds will go to Spirit FM and WWME. SAVE THE DATE FOR THE FAMILY FAITH FEST OCTOBER 27, 2018 Mark your calendar to join Bishop Gregory Parkes for the Family Faith Fest at Al Lopez Park in Tampa on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018. To celebrate our 50th anniversary, the Diocese of St. Petersburg is hosting a music and faith festival that includes Confession, Eucharistic Adoration, and the celebration of Mass. Two stages will feature live music and entertainment, plus much more! This is a free event, open to all. www.familyfaithfest.org. BayCare is a presenting sponsor. YOUTH VIDEO CONTEST The Diocese of St. Petersburg celebrates its 50th Anniversary during 2018. Teens have an opportunity to learn about the history of their local Church through a video contest that answers the question Why I love the Church. The best videos will be featured on the diocesan website and played at the Family Faith Fest on October 27, 2018. Find full contest details and rules at www.dosp.org/50. Readings for the Week of July 29, 2018 Sunday: 2 Kgs 4:42-44/Ps 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18/ Eph 4:1-6/Jn 6:1-15 Monday: Jer 13:1-11/Dt 32:18a/Mt 13:31-35 (Opt. Eph 3:8-12/Ps 119:12/Lk 6:43-45) Tuesday: Jer 14:17-22/Ps 79:9/Mt 13:36-43 (Opt. 1 Cor 10:31 11:1/Ps 34:2/Lk 14:25-33) Wednesday: Jer 15:10, 16-21/Ps 59:17d/Mt 13:44-46 (Opt. Rom 8:1-4/Ps 119-12/Mt 5:13-19) Thursday: Jer 18:1-6/Ps 146:5a/Mt 13:47-53 (Opt. 1 Jn 5:1-5/Ps 89:2/Mt 5:1-12a) (Opt. Acts 4:32-35/Ps 34:9/Jn 15:1-8) Friday: Jer 26:1-9/Ps 69:14c/Mt 13:54-58 Saturday: Jer 26:11-16, 24/Ps 69:14c/Mt 14:1-12 (Opt. Ezek 3:17-21/Ps Mark 16:15/Mt 9:35 10:1) Next Sunday: Ex 16:2-4, 12-15/Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54/Eph 4:17, 20-24/Jn 6:24-35 Weekend Readings are at (727) 372-8600 Mass Intentions Monday 8:00 a.m. Inga Kunert Tuesday 8:00 a.m. Rosemarie Del Priore Wednesday 8:00 a.m. Vocations Thursday 8:00 a.m. Sandy Corvo Tanguay Friday 8:00 a.m. Skye Marie Castellucci and Baby Saturday 4:00 p.m. Luis and Angela Cuellar 6:00 p.m. Nancy O Hara Sunday 7:00 a.m. Nicolo Troina 8:30 a.m. Parish Family 10:30 a.m. Helen Smith 5:00 p.m. Pasion and Jorge Kidd Mass and Anointing for Nursing Home Residents Life Care August 7th at 10:00 a.m. Help us re-stock! Our Faith Formation program is gearing up for another great year! We are in need of pencils, markers, glue sticks and boxes of 24- count crayons. Please bring your donations to the parish office or drop them by the St. Vincent DePaul bin in the church narthex. Thank you!
Mon. 07/30 Tues. 07/31 Parish Calendar 9AM Rosary Makers; 10AM Bereavement Wed. 08/01 9AM Legion of Mary; 10AM SVDP Mtg; 7PM Gospel Choir Rehearsal Thurs. 08/02 10AM Prayer Shawl; 6PM Benediction/Adoration; 7PM Bible Study; 7PM K of C Business Mtg. Fri. 08/03 Sat. 08/04 Sun. 08/05 8PM AA Offertory - July 21st and 22nd 8:30AM Mass / K of C attending; 9:30AM K of C Installation Ceremony; 5PM Mass Life Teen $13,909.45 1,033.00-Online Giving $14,942.45-Total Severe Weather Hurricane season is upon us! Please know that the obligation to attend Sunday Mass is lifted when travel conditions make it dangerous to be out on the roads. We will follow the directives of Pasco County Emergency Management. When they pull their vehicles off the road and instruct people not to be out, masses and all other parish activities will be cancelled. We will make every effort to keep our answering machine message updated. Please know that in the event of inclement weather and you do not feel safe driving, the obligation to attend mass is lifted. Mass and Devotions Schedule Saturday Vigil: 4:00 p.m. & 6:00 p.m. Sunday: 7:00 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. (Contemporary) and 5:00 p.m. (LifeTeen ) Daily Mass: 8:00 a.m. Monday-Friday Healing Mass: 7:00 p.m. Monday (September - June) Holy Rosary after 8:00 a.m. Mass, Mon-Fri, in Blessed Sacrament Chapel Marian Novena after 8:00 a.m. Mass on Tuesdays Benediction & Adoration: 1st Fridays 8:30 10:00 a.m. (September May) Reconciliation: Saturday 2:30-3:30 p.m. or by appt. Parish Information Office hours 9:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. Monday-Friday, Sunday mornings. Call for information. Phone: (727) 372-8600 Fax: (727) 372-5712 Website: www.stanpr.org Prayer Line: (727) 372-8600 Emergency Number for Anointing of the Sick: Nights & Weekends (727) 836-3211 Administration Business Office Fax: (727) 376-7204 Pastoral Ministries Coordinator: Mary Miller Ext 111 Parish Bookkeeper: Cherise Amundson Ext. 115 Bulletin Editor: Kate Ext. 113 Parish Ministry Faith Formation Team Leader Sue Sferra Ext. 132 Faith Formation Assistant Denise Santos Ext. 112 Middle School (Edge) Sue Sferra Ext. 132 High School (Life Teen) - Beth DeBella and Cliff Stodden Ext. 131 RCIA Sue Sferra Ext. 132 Music - Dan O Hara Ext. 128 Parish Nurse, Ministry to the Sick & Homebound Betty West Ext. 116 Sacristan - JoAnn McVeigh Ext. 129 Stewardship Mary Ellen Taylor Ext. 144 St. Vincent de Paul Society Ext. 142 STA Early Childhood Center Alicia Mumma, Director (727) 376-2330 www.staecc.org Food Pantry: Monday and Thursday 9:30am until 3:30pm Gift Store: Open before/after 4pm Saturday and 10:30am Sunday Masses Parish Library: Open during office hours
Diocese Documents 50-Year Impact on the Community IMPACT ON MIGRANTS In 1992, Bishop Favalora blessed a new 3,500 square foot worship center dedicated almost entirely to migrant families, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Wimauma. The Mission was established in 1988. During the 1990s, the Diocese strengthened its Migrant Ministries to meet the needs of migrants moving into the area. The Diocese was sensitive to their cultural needs. Under the leadership of Bishop John Clement Favalora, the Diocese recruited and assigned Spanishspeaking clergy to those areas with the highest concentration of migrant families. Four rural churches enhanced their migrant ministries: St. Clement (Plant City), St. Rita (Dade City), St. Anne (Ruskin) and Our Lady of Guadalupe (Wimauma). They provided Masses and Bible studies in Spanish, social activities to help them feel welcome and social service and referral programs. On October 15, 2003, three hundred people from all walks of life came together to celebrate a successful, decade-long effort to provide safe, affordable and dignified homes for farmworker families in the strawberry fields of Dover/Plant City. The San Jose Mission is a residential community and education/social services campus for migrant farmworker families. We partner with community groups and Hillsborough County to provide English classes, clothing, and healthcare and educational opportunities to the families who live there.
Knight s Korner Knights of Columbus Council #11497 Knights of Council #11497, you are cordially invited to attend the Installation of Officers Ceremony on August 5 th. Join us for Mass at 8:30AM, followed by the ceremony to be held in the Parish Center. Your spouses and family are also invited. We will be meeting at Seven Springs Country Club afterwards for brunch!! August 2 nd August Business Meeting @7PM August 5 th Installation of Officers Ceremony 8:30 AM Mass followed by Ceremony at Parish Center Brunch following ceremony at Seven Springs Country Club Did you know that you can become a Knight s of Columbus emember right now by going to KofC.org and pressing Join Us? Be sure to select Council 11497 and we do the rest! Adoration 1st and 3rd Thursdays Of the Month Silent adoration is from 6 pm to 7 pm and praise and worship music from 7 pm to 8:30 pm Please come and spend some time with Jesus! Stop by for a brief visit or for the entire evening. The AmazonSmile program donates 0.5% of eligible smile.amazon.com purchases to St. Thomas Aquinas. Once you sign up, the money is automatically put into our account with every qualified purchase. Please visit: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/59-049056 Bishop Larkin Catholic School 8408 Monarch Drive Port Richey FL 34668 Bishop Larkin Catholic School Soaring Beyond Excellence Open Enrollment Call to schedule a visit: 727-862-6981 Bishoplarkin.org facebook.com/bishoplarkin Serving students in grades EC3 to 8th grade. Caring, nurturing, safe environment. Building strong faith and character. Strong academic curriculum; high student performance on standardized tests. Programs include; Art, Music, Spanish, French,Technology, Competitive Sports.
Blessed are we STA Assessment $194,977 Pledged $90,842 Families 504 Updated 7/20/18 Your APA donations support the Office of the Lay Pastoral Ministry Institute. The LPMI seeks to develop understanding and appreciation of the Catholic faith during four years of study. New classes begin next month. St. Thomas Aquinas parish is proud to have five commissioned Lay Leaders: Mary Miller and Rae Cregan (Class of 2002), Roseanne Moldovan (2008), Mary Ellen Taylor (2013) and Jane Martinson (2017). FAITH FORMATION THANKS!!! A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO DENISE SANTOS Denise has been a member of our parish for 19 years, serving on staff as Faith Formation Assistant for eleven years. Denise has been an integral part of our Faith Formation offerings, sharing her deep faith, love of our youth and creativity with all involved. She coordinated our Christmas Pageants, Easter Egg Hunts and definitely earned the title Queen of Vacation Bible School! As she steps away from her current staff position to pursue other opportunities, we are grateful she and her family will still be members of the parish and will continue to volunteer. We wish her many blessings in her new endeavors.
Faith Formation For All! Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time I urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. From Ephesians 4 Next Baptism Enrichment Session: Sunday August 12th 9:00AM. Please register with Sue. While our Gospel assures us of God s ever present care for us (who else could make five loaves of bread and two fish enough to feed five thousand people?!), the second reading is a wonderful reminder of our call to care for one another. Ephesians 4: 1-6 doesn t just gently remind us it urges us. How are we to live in a manner worthy of our call? By being gentle, patient, tolerant, forgiving, loving, peaceful. If the instructions in today s second reading aren t clear enough, may the Fruits of the Holy Spirit help: Charity (giving to those in need) Generosity (giving the most to everyone even if it is a sacrifice) Joy (deep gladness in the Lord - no circumstance can destroy) Gentleness (strength tempered by love) Peace (serene faithfulness to God s will) Faithfulness (keeping your promises) Patience (willing to endure challenges without giving up hope) Modesty (give credit to God for your gifts and talents) Self-control (moderation & humility in everything) Chastity (respect for self and others - temples ) Kindness (considerate, compassionate, see best in everyone, always) Goodness (flows from God s great love - an unconditional, virtuous, just love) Where has the summer gone??? We are right around the corner from a new formation year! Our Faith Formation Volunteer Catechist Enrichment Day will take place Sunday, 8/12 following the 10:30AM Mass. We will gather in fellowship and prayer, offer curriculum and calendar info & in-service. Family Orientations will take place Sunday August 26th and Wednesday August 29th (based upon your child s registered session day / time)