Saint Maria Goretti Church Reverend James J. Walsh, J.C.L. - Pastor/Reverend Dr. Michael Imbrogno - Deacon 42 Redwood Drive, Laflin, PA 18702 /Telephone # 570-655-8956 Fax # 570-655-1746
November 4, 2018-31st Sunday of Ordinary Time PASTOR S NOTES Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time FIRST READING: Moses instructs the people of Israel to keep the Lord s commandments. Land, prosperity, and progeny will be theirs. Only the Lord is God. The Lord is the God of Israel whom the people shall love with their heart, soul, and strength. Moses words call us to take the Lord s statutes into our hearts this day. SECOND READING: Jesus the high priest is unlike the Levitical priests who needed to offer repeated sacrifice for their sins and the sins of their people, and whose priesthood ceases at death. Jesus Death on the Cross is a once for all sacrifice, which he never needs to repeat. His Priesthood is eternal and the salvation he offers to people, constantly available. GOSPEL: Jesus words in response to the scribe who inquires about the most important commandment echo Moses words in the First Reading. To the commandment of honor the Lord God alone with love of one s heart, mind, and strength, Jesus adds the second commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. Understanding these commandments brings one near to the Kingdom of God. SPECIAL PRAYER INTENTION ENVELOPES: In the vestibule of the Church you will find in the DEEP PURPLE lined baskets Diocesan Special Prayer Intention Envelopes. By using them you may make a prayer intention which will be remembered at a Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by the Bishop on Sunday, November 25, 2018 at 10:00a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Peter. Please feel free to take one of these envelopes which may be filled out and returned by mail, or the collection basket or to the rectory office. PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE TIMELINESS OF THIS RESPONSE. CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES/FUND RAISERS FOR 2018: PASTA DINNER Sunday, November 11 th, at the usual times. SEE THE BODY OF THE BULLETIN FOR THESE TIMES. CRAFT SHOW: Saturday, November 17 th : 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; Sunday, November 18 th : 9:00 a.m. to3:00 p.m. ADVENT/CHRISTMAS GIVING TREE : Week-end of November 24/25. The tree with tags-for-gifts will again be placed in the vestibule for parishioners to take & return with gifts for local children in need. ADVENT CANDLES MEMORIALIZATION: As of the preparation for this week s bulletin s printing, ONE of the four Advent candles YET remains to be reserved and memorialized. This means for anyone with this interest, to complete the set of four candles for our 2018 Advent wreath, you are asked to please contact the office for price & details. Advent begins Sunday, December 02. FUTURE HOLY DAY LITURGY SCHEDULE OF TIMES: In a discussion at the last Spiritual life/liturgy committee meeting, the subject of the time-schedule for liturgies celebrated on Holy Days was brought up. Simply put: There was concern about some confusion of the time on the vigil and the afternoon time on the DAY: (6:30 on vigil and 5:00 on the day). The suggestion was made that the time FOR EACH BE THE SAME: 5:30 for the vigil and 5:30 for the day. There is time to THINK ABOUT THIS, since the schedule for All Saints is the one it has been. And Dec. 7/8 is different because it falls on a Friday/Saturday. Friday December 7 th is 6:30, and Saturday, December 8 th is 11:00 a.m. IF THE NEW SCHDULE IS DECIDED, IT WILL BEGIN WITH ASCENSION THURSDAY; JUNE29/30 th. NEW WORKBOOK FOR LECTORS : These books for lectors to prepare themselves for proclaiming God s Word in our worship assembly are once again available in the sacristy. If you have this interest to have your own copy for home, please pick one up in the sacristy. Remember Advent begins December 2 nd. STANDARD TIME RETURNS: If you did not remember to set your clocks back one hour last evening (Sat., Nov. 3 rd ) you are one hour ahead of everyone else. PLEASE GET WITH THE PROGRAM/TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #LEAVEMARK 18 MASS AND GATHERING: A gathering of the young church(16-35) with the Bishop to Kickoff National Vocation Awareness Week in the Diocese, will be held this Sunday, Nov. 4, with a Mass in the Cathedral, at 5:00 p.m. A reception will follow in the Diocesan Pastoral Center. This event will officially close the 150 th Anniversary Year for the Diocese of Scranton.
November 4, 2018-31st Sunday of Ordinary Time Weekend of October 27-28, 2018 Sacrificial Offering $5,293.50 Care & Education of Priests 187.00 Mission Sunday 8.00 ST. MARIA GORETTI PASTA DINNER Five tickets were mailed to each parishioner for our Fall Pasta Dinner which is being held THIS SUNDAY, November 11th. This is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year and we count on the profit to continue with our daily upkeep of these beautiful parish properties. There is always something to do to maintain such a large area as this. Please try to buy as many tickets as you can and also consider volunteering for this huge undertaking of putting on such a large event. Volunteer sign-up sheets can be found in the entrance of the church. Plan to attend. You won t be disappointed. The recipe for our homemade Pasta and Sauce has been in our parish for over 40 years. We get many compliments every year so don t miss out. CASH CLUB WINNERS!! September Joseph Mellody Carol Answini Suzanne O Boyle Maureen Crackett Robert Dell Aglio Albert Nardone Danielle Phillips Lucille Harrison Don Williams Art Humble It s National Vocations Awareness Week! As Catholics, we firmly believe that God has a plan for our lives! He calls some to marriage, some to the priesthood, and others to religious life. Some remain as generous single people. Fully living our own vocations-and teaching young people how to discern God s call-is a serious duty, but also a joyful one. Today begins National Vocation Awareness Week. During this week, please pray about how God is calling you to live your vocation more deeply. Encourage the young people in your life-children, grandchildren, students, and friendsto be open if God calls them to priesthood or consecrated life. CRAFT SHOW & SPECIALTY BASKETS WE NEED YOUR HELP WITH DONATIONS We will once again feature the Specialty Basket Raffle which will be chanced off at the end of our Craft Show which is being held on November 17th & 18th. We are soliciting area businesses, along with parishioners, for donations of Gift Cards/Certificates to area restaurants, supermarkets, movie theaters, or stores like hardware stores, toy stores, car washes, bath & beauty stores, holiday items, etc. We need donations of NEW ITEMS which can be included in the baskets. Each basket will have a value of at least $150 so we do need a lot of donations. Tickets for the Specialty Baskets will be sold during our Pasta Dinner on November 11th, after all our Masses on that day and during the Craft Show the following weekend. So if you are in a position to donate something, we need the donations by November 5th in or der to have time to make up the baskets. A Season of Hope: An Evening of Reflection on Advent The Scranton Chapter of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians will hold a meeting on Tuesday, November 13, 2018 beginning at 6:00PM at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, located at 1101 Willow St., Peckville. The topic for the evening will be A Season of Hope: An Evening of Reflection on Advent led by Fr. Andrew Kurovsky, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Peckville. Given the many preparations and rehearsals leading up to Christmas Festival, we may be unable to set aside time to embrace fully the beauty and gift of the Advent season. This evening will provide participants an opportunity to reflect deeply on the spirit of hope that the season of Advent brings. The meeting begins with dinner at 6:00PM, followed by the presentation at 7:00PM, and concludes with Night Prayer. All are welcome to attend. There is no cost for the event, but a free-will offering will be taken up to help offset the cost of dinner. To register, please visit the ScrantonNPM website at ScrantonNPM.com or contact David Baloga, NPM Scranton Chapter Program Director at 570-207-2213, ext. 1158 or at DavidBaloga@dioceseofscranton.org by Friday, November 9. Please remember in your prayers the soul of Carol Mimnaugh, who passed away on October 27th. May her soul and all the souls of the Faithful Departed rest in peace.
C.C.D. SCHEDULE for NOVEMBER Classes are held 9:30am to 10:45am. 4th 18th Regular classes Regular classes followed by the 11am liturgy involving 5th grade students Holy Redeemer High School Musical Disney s The Little Mermaid When: Friday & Saturday, Nov. 9th & 10th @ 7:00pm Reserved Seating! Adults: $10 ~ Seniors $9 ~ Students $8 All are welcome! Advanced tickets are available for purchase at the school Monday-Friday 9:30-2:30 and will be available at the door. There will also be a Character Continental Breakfast, Sat., Nov., 10 from 10am - 12 pm. Cost is $10. Reservations may be made by calling the school at 570-829-2424. In Loving Memory John Baran Eileen Hoban Clancy Anthony N. Colonna Elizabeth Colonna James L. Conlon, Jr. James A. Dougherty Robert Faber Mary & Martin Gallagher Family Walter & Celestine Gottlieb James J. Giamas Stanley Harenza Helen Marykwas Leonard & Gen McHale Mario Malvizzi Chester & Mary Pietras Mr. & Mrs. William Shea Michael P. Yazurlo LITURGICAL SCHEDULE Saturday, November 10 4:30pm Altar Servers Jameson Sciandra Chase Sciandra Sarah Supinski Joe Sharkey Sandy Fumanti Barb Sciandra Tina Fisher Elaine Fisher Celine Capriotti Dolores Elias Sunday, November 11 8:30am Altar Servers Anna Bellucci Mia Bellucci Katie Genovese Caitie Kearn Mark Smith Joe Paciotti Carol Smith John Gibbon Carol Fisher Margaret Valentine 11:00am Altar Server David Abbey Michael Abbey Payton Poray Sandy Hopkins Celine Capriotti Christine Abbey Christine Abbey Deacon Mike Mary Ann Dougherty Lucille Harrison ST. MARIA GORETTI & ST. MARK PRAY FOR US!
4:30pm Monday, November 5, 2018 Tuesday, November 6, 2018 Special Inention by Robert Phillips Wednesday, November 7, 2018 Thursday, November 8, 2018 Elizabeth Reinhard by Patti & John Della Rosa Friday, November 9, 2018 Mass followed by the Rosary Saturday, November 10, 2018 Sunday, November 11, 2018 8:30am Mary Slesinski by Daryl & Dana Timek 11:00am People of the Parish ALTAR CANDLES FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER IN LOVING MEMORY OF: Fr. Ray McAndrew, C.P, by Helen & Joe McAndrew Charles & Helen Cavelle by Family Pauline & Ray Verdine by Family Frank Borzell, Sr. by Wife & Family SANCTUARY CANDLES FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 4TH IN LOVING MEMORY OF Joseph Melman, Jr. by Dad, Mom & brothers HYMN SING Where: Our Lady of the Eucharist Parish When: 535 North Main St., Pittston Sunday, November 18 at 1:30pm Presented by the music ministries of Our Lady of the Eucharist, Saint John the Evangelist, and Saint Joseph Morello Parishes. Members of all area parish choirs, those who love to sing but are not part of a choir and those who want to come and listen are most welcome. We hope you will make plans to join us as we look ahead to the Thanksgiving holiday and feast day of Saint Cecilia, patron saint of music.