Weekend of July 25, 2010

    ST. JOSEPH’S NORTHSIDE - Almost 5 years ago I wrote to the Holy Apostles community to tell you about the opening of a new ministry in the parish-owned house at 540 Lyell Avenue. Thanks to your generous gift of a place, your unfailing support and your open arms, we’re still here! Many of you, I’m sure, wonder what we do here, what this ministry is all about.

    St. Joseph’s Northside is a small neighborhood outreach center sponsored by the Sisters of Saint Joseph.. People come to us for many reasons and with many needs. In any given week, we might see:

• a young mother who cannot afford the co-pay for her sick child’s prescription

• an-unemployed father of three who needs work boots to begin his new entrance-level job

• a homeless woman looking only for a place to have a hot meal, a shower and a few hours of safety and rest from the street

• a mother who can’t pay the RGE bill ,has been cut off and who wants to use our stove to cook for her family
  a man looking for support as he decides to enter a drug rehab program

• someone who has lost his I.D. and needs to obtain a birth certificate to begin the long process of proving who he is

• a neighbor who lives alone and wants only to enjoy being with some people for awhile!

     As you can see, it runs the gamut. We visit people in hospitals, jails, homes. We accompany them to court, and try to advocate for those who can’t do this for themselves. We try to link people with the many services that are available in our area and to link them with each other as well, to lessen the isolation that so many feel and that adds to a climate of fear and violence in our city.

     We believe that everyone needs both “ bread and roses”, both the necessities of life (food, clothing, shelter) and those things that raise the human spirit, ( music, art, poetry, the beauty of nature, the joy of good conversation). So we bring people together in various ways: we serve Monday morning breakfasts that are lively and fun and share community-building Friday lunches in which every one has a hand. Once or twice a month we try to take people on a short field trip to a local attraction or event, go to the country, to a lake, to get people away from the realities of the street for awhile and feed their spirits.

     St. Joseph’s will never be big and we want it that way – we believe that it is exactly the small, personal one-on-one service that makes us unique.  So, in the name of our people, thank you for your generous support of St. Joseph’s Northside.- for giving us a home. We would love to have you come over and see for yourself. We’ll have the coffee pot on, the tea at the boil and the welcome mat at the door!-Sister Peg Brennan SSJ

SAVE THE DATE! Our WALK FOR FAITH is being planned for Sunday, October 3, 2010. There are many ways you can help in this planning stage: 1) Pray for a nice day; 2) GET FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO SPONSOR YOU; 3) offer to help set up or clean up that day; 4) SPONSOR A WALKER; 5) start getting in shape for the walk; 6) donate prizes for walkers who collect over $100.00…… We’ll need nourishment - fresh fruit, cheese and crackers, pizza, baked goods, and water for our walkers and lots of financial and moral support for this wonderful fund raising event. Contact Sr. Dorothy Mary Leising, SSND at 647-3392, Bruni Martinez at 458-6918 or Marie Fiorini at 426-0168 to offer whatever support you can give. Any suggestions for BUSINESSES to contact as potential sponsors or contributors will be greatly appreciated! SAVE THE DATE!

WE WALK THE WALK THAT WE TALK
†
AND CARRY OUR FAITH IN OUR HEARTS
AND OUT INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD!
OUR COMMUNITY IS YOU AND ALL GOD’S
FAITHFUL PEOPLE – WALKING TOGETHER
WE GAIN FUNDS, FRIENDSHIP AND THE GIFT
OF SHARING GOD’S WORK AND LOVE BEYOND
THE DOORS OF OUR CHURCH.

HELP US! JOIN US! BE WITH US AS WE
WALK FOR FAITH ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 3RD
SAVE THE DATE!!

BE A WINNER - Daily lottery membership entitles paid members to participate in 90 cash prizes. Winning numbers to be determined by New York State Daily Lottery P.M. number drawn each day. In the event no number is drawn, we will use the previous day’s number in reverse. $100.00 will be awarded on the 10^th and 20^th of the month. $50.00 on other days of the month. One number before or after pays $10.00 each day. Lottery tickets are sold after each Mass by Marie Fiorini (4pm Mass) and Mary Spaziano (9:30am Mass). Try your luck! Join Holy Apostles Lottery. Thank you.

REMEMBERING YOUR PARISH  One of the ways that our Parish has been financially helped is by people remembering the Parish  in their Will. We would ask you to consider this way to help your parish. It is best that the bequest be designated for the Parish funds in general. If you would like to make a particular bequest it would be best to discuss that with Father Mugavera, so that the right terminology would be used. Leaving money to the Parish is a great help for our future

TWO WEEKS OF STUDY- When I asked to be assigned to Holy Apostles by Bishop Clark, I made it clear that I would love the privilege and opportunity of serving you. Nevertheless, I also communicated that I was lacking in one ability that I felt was essential to be able to serve the community of Holy apostles well - the ability to speak Spanish. To make up for that I have worked hard to learn Spanish… However, progress is truly step by step…
In order to keep my ability with Spanish moving in the right direction, I have found that besides doing what I am doing day-to-day to keep learning, I must spend at least two solid weeks each year concentrating on improving my Spanish. That is what I will be doing during the next two weeks… Please pray for me that my study will be productive and blessed!

Thanks, Fr. Tony

DEACON, HERALD OF THE GOSPEL – Through ordination the deacon is configured to Christ the Servant, and in partnership with the priests shares in the overall pastoral responsibility of the bishop to care for the people of the diocese. I wanted to share with you some of what the deacon is called to do in his ministry of service. This article names some of his liturgical functions and specifically looks at the deacon’s role with the Gospel. Future articles will provide insight to other responsibilities of the deacon.

By virtue of ordination, the requirements of Canon Law, and faculties granted by the Bishop, the deacon is authorized to preside at baptisms, witness marriages and preside over funerals and burials. He may bring viaticum to the dying and offer communion services for the sick and those near death. The deacon also presides at liturgies of the word and communion services in the absence of a priest. He may officiate at the Liturgy of the Hours and at exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. He may conduct public rites of blessing and administer the Church’s sacramentals as designated in the Book of Blessings.

During the celebration of the Mass the deacon participates in the penitential rite, preaches the homily, voices the needs of the people in the General Intercessions, accepts the offerings of the people, prepares the offertory gifts for sacrifice, extends the invitation of peace, distributes Communion and dismisses the community at the end of the Eucharistic liturgy. During the liturgy of the word, at the time of the gospel acclamation, the deacon will turn to the priest and ask him for a blessing. The priest will then bless the deacon with the sign of the cross using words such as, “may the Lord be in your heart and on your lips that you may worthily proclaim his gospel.” The deacon responds, “amen.” It is a deacon’s responsibility to proclaim the Gospel whenever he is present at the Eucharist or at liturgies where he is the presiding minister.

The “Catholic Encyclopedia” states that the word gospel means “good tidings” or “good news” and the gospels represent the first century writings of the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The gospels, according to the encyclopedia, are of apostolic origin, handed down to us in writing as the foundation of our faith and are based on what the apostles preached. We have a duty to one another to proclaim the good news, the inspiration of the life, teaching, suffering, death and Resurrection of Jesus.  The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the “Synoptic Gospels” because the writings and messages are similar in nature and much of the same writings are contained in all three.

The Gospel of Matthew was written around 85 AD especially for Jews telling them how Jesus fulfilled prophecies. Mark’s Gospel is the oldest and shortest written around 70 AD and was written for gentile Christians. The Gospel of Luke dates to around 90 AD, is more detailed than Mark’s Gospel and was also written for gentile Christians. The Gospel of John, referred to as the fourth gospel written sometime between 90 and 100 AD, has a message that Jesus is the Son of God and deals with the divinity of Jesus. At the end of the Gospel, the deacon concludes with the words, “the Gospel of the Lord” and then kisses the book saying quietly, “may the words of the Gospel wipe away our sins.” This gesture is a mark of reverence for Christ who speaks in the gospel the truth of how we, the faithful, may achieve eternal salvation. - Deacon John Crego

PARISH PHOTO DIRECTORY- For the first time in many years, Holy Apostles is planning to have a new Photo Directory! We are excited as once this project is completed, each family or household will be able to have a free Directory! It will be a blessing to know and recognize each other that much better and to be able to call each other by name. That’s why we’re excited!

And in addition to a free Photo Directory, each family or household will be given either a free 8x10” photo of themselves or free wallet size prints!( & of course, you can order more if you’d like

  Our Photographs will be taken here at Holy Apostles on the following dates & times:

DONATIONS

Weekend Collection Reports:

July 3 & 4
OFFERING $2,397.92

ATTENDANCE 321

July 10 & 11
OFFERING $3,044.91 349

ATTENDANCE 349