St. Joseph Est.

STAFF:PASTOR:Msgr. Joseph J. RiccardoPRINCIPAL:Heather Kunselman, ext.224SECRETARIES:Jean Gigliotti, ext. 210Jude Griffith, ext. 213BUSINESS MANAGER:Tony Bofinger, ext. 214RELIGIOUS ED.:Sue Dahrouge, ext. 226OFFICE HOURS:Monday - Friday:8:30a - 4:30pSt. Adrian Est. 1889St. Anthony Est. 1897616 W Mahoning St. Punxsutawney, PA 15767Church: (814) 938-6540 School: (814) 938-4224http://sscdchurch.com http://sscdschool.comsscdofc@comcast.netSUNDAY MASSES: Vigil on Saturday Evening - 4:30pmSUNDAY MORNING MASSES: Summer Schedule: (May 1-Aug 31) - 8am and 10:00amWinter Schedule: (Sept 1 - April 30) - 8:00am and 11:00amWEEKDAY MASSES: Monday-Friday: 8:00am (Friday during school year - 9:00am)CELEBRATION OF THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION:3:45pm - Saturday afternoon5:30pm - After Mass on Saturday evening8:30am - After Mass on the Thursday before the First FridayBAPTISM: By appointment only. Contact the parish office.MARRIAGES: Please contact the parish office at least six months beforehand.ANOINTING OF THE SICK: Please call the parish office if anyone in your familyis hospitalized or in need of a priest.St. Joseph Est.Ss. Cosmas & Damian Parish With Churches at St. Adrian, St. Anthony and St. Joseph 616 W. Mahoning St., Punxsutawney, PA 15767 Ss. Cosmas& Damian Est. 1885www.sscdchurch.com 814 938 6540

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC FAMILY OF THE PUNXSUTAWNEY AREATHIS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 4:30 p.m. Louis Clemento -Family8:00 a.m. Martha M. Porter -Virginia Esposito10:00 a.m. Living & Deceased of the Karolick Family-- Stacy KarolickMONDAY8:00 a.m. Bob Day -- Rose & FamilyTUESDAY8:00 a.m. Don Young -- Mary YoungWEDNESDAY8:00 a.m. John Phillips -- Chester J. & Lois VeneskyTHURSDAY8:00 a.m. Matthew Muzeka -- Morning Mass FriendsFRIDAY9:00 a .m. Deceased members of thePrincess Marie LodgeSATURDAY4:30 p.m. Bill & Anna Rita Clark -Terry & Celine TersineSUNDAY8:00 a.m. Barbara Hudak Peterson -Mother, Jane Hudak10:00 a.m. Bill Bevak -Mother, Sons, and Daughter-in-law We invite family members for whom each weekend Massis being offered to bring the gifts to the altar. Pleasemake yourself known to the usher 15 minutes beforeMass. THE WEEK AHEADToday, Sunday, May 126:30 p.m. -- May Crowning ChurchMonday, May 1311:30 a.m. -- Secular Franciscans -Reschini HallTuesday, May 146:00 p.m. -- Men’s Basketball - Gym6:00 p.m. -- Recitation of the Rosary - Church6:30 p.m. -- Parish Council -- Meeting RoomWednesday, May 1512:30 p.m. -- Knitting/Quilting St. Anthony RectoryThursday, May 16Friday, May 17Saturday, May 188:00 a.m. -- Secular Franciscans - Wienker HallSunday, May 19Following the 10am Mass --New ParishionerReception and Parish Health MinistriesWienker HallSAINT VINCENT DEPAUL FOOD BANKSaturday, May 18 Rodney & Jessica PerrySchedules for May 18/19, 2019 4:30 p.m. 8:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m. Servers Andrew Wehrle Emma Young Dartanyan Pifer Elizabeth Stello Natalie Miller Elizabeth Sikora Lector Dorothy Pisarcik Dave Osikowicz Holly Grusky Eucharistic Mary Butler Ministers Jean Farcus Ushers Kim Curtis Jeff Curtis Maureen Freas Frank McSteen Mary McConnaughey Joe Nogacek Patricia Murdock Sam Puleio Sharon Roberts Mike Snyder Frank Roberts Rita Yenzi Jessie Anderson Mary Lou Brown Tom Brown Bernadette Horner Mary McHenry Charles Stewart Dorothy Vilkinofsky Joseph Defelice Flip Freas Gary Godak Terry Tersine John J. Martino Jim Phillips Bill Shiock Rich Smochek Tom Brown Larry Chenoga Jim Infantino Volunteer Elaine Pape Joe Parente Toie Neal Arlene Stewart Organist/ Bill Farcus Cantor Mary Neal

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTERMAY 12, 2019Dear Parishioners, Jesus said: "My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they followme. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one willsnatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greaterthan all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. TheFather and I are one." “The Father I and are one.” Jesus is not saying this in a weaksense: he is not just saying that he and the Father are of like mind, etc.Had his hearers understood him in this sense they would not have takenup stones to kill him. The union of Jesus with the Father is theinexhaustible mystery of our Faith. It is not only about Jesus; it has to do with us too. He is “the first born of many brothers and sisters,” “He is the head, we are the body.”He came into the world not for himself but for us. In our age theindividual is supreme: the individual is seen as the sole bearer ofmeaning. So, when it comes to thinking about Jesus we are inclined tosee him too as simply an individual a totally exceptional one, to be sure, but still an individual. That couldnot be a full account of Jesus. When he says 'I' we are in the picture too. In 1943 Pius XII wrote an encyclical letter called Mystici Corporis, The Mystical Body of Christ. In ithe said, "Some people through vain fear, look upon so profound a doctrine as something dangerous, and sothey shrink from it as from the beautiful but forbidden fruit of paradise ." But, he added, "Mysteriesrevealed by God cannot be harmful to us, nor should they remain as treasures hidden in a field, useless." This, of course, was not a new teaching. St Paul comes back to it again and again. Here are a few instances: "Christ is the head of the body, the church" (Colossians 1: 18) "For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, whoare many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another" (Romans 12:4 5) “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body Jews or Greeks, slaves or free and we were allmade to drink of one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13) Saint Paul's was not a lone voice. Pius XII adds, "The unbroken tradition of the Fathers from theearliest times teaches that the Divine Redeemer and the Church, which is His Body form but one mysticalperson, that is to say, the whole Christ." The saints and mystics down the ages have tried to draw us back to this depth of our Faith. MeisterEckhart had an overpowering sense of the union of every Christian with God in Christ. This was the passionof Eckhart's life. He and others like him have the power to rescue Christians from excessive individualism inour thinking and in our practice, and to restore us to an awareness of the Mystical Body of Christ. “The soulis one with God and not united. Here is a simile: if we fill a tub with water, the water in the tub is united butnot one with it, for where there is water there is no wood, and where there is wood there is no water. Nowtake the wood and immerse it in the water. The wood is still only united and not one (with the water). It isdifferent with the soul: she becomes one with God and not united, for where God is, there the soul is andwhere the soul is, there God is.” This is strange language "one with God and not united" but when people speak about this mysterytheir language is bound to seem strange. Clearly, he did not mean that there was no difference in beingbetween the soul and God, but that they were one in love. Julian of Norwich in the same century (the 14th)wrote, "I saw no difference between God and our substance: but as it were all God; and yet my understandingtook it that our substance is in God: that is to say, that God is God, and our substance is a creature in God." These texts that are quoted are not the language of scientists or philosophers; they are the language oflove. God Bless, Msgr. J. Riccardo

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC FAMILY OF THE PUNXSUTAWNEY AREANEW PARSHIONERWELCOME RECEPTIONA reception to welcome ournewly registered parishioners willbe held next Sunday, May 19th,following the 10am Mass. All parishioners are invited and encouragedto join us for this wonderful opportunity to meetand welcome our new parish members. Please joinus! In addition, our Parish Nurseswill be available that morning tocheck blood pressures and provideinformation on Hypertension andStroke Prevention in celebration ofNational Blood Pressure month. Please stop in for fellowship, coffee,muffins, and a free Stroke Screening. OUR CEMETERIES We are currently preparingboth Calvary and Adrian AnitaCemeteries for the summer season. All artificial flowers mustbe removed at this time. Anyartificial flowers remaining on the graves will beremoved as they are dangerous for mowing andnot permitted during the mowing season. CEMETERY MEMORIAL GARDENS The gardens around the Mausoleum havebecome a beautiful addition to Calvary Cemetery.If you are considering a way to memorialize aloved one, may we suggest that you consider adonation of 25.00 to be used for flowers in thegardens this year. The memorial is for one seasonand is available to anyone. If you are interested in contributing to thememorial gardens this year, you can send yourdonations, along with the name of the person youwish to memorialize, to the rectory office. You canalso use the “Cemetery Improvement” envelopewhich is in your packet. Just place your 25donation in the envelope and write the name of thepersonyouwishtomemorialize on the back. A plaque listing thememorials will be placed inthe window of the Mausoleumfor the summer. PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOURPRAYERSJames A. Handyside, son ofJames G. Handyside, Jr. of our parish;and Elissa Joan Barker, sister of SandyHinderliter of our parish, both of whom died lastweek. Please keep them and their families in yourprayers. May their souls rest in peace. SPRING CASH GIVEAWAY The SSCD Home & SchoolAssociation is again sponsoringtheir very popular Spring CashGiveaway! Tickets cost just 5.00 eachand the prize will be 1/2 of allticket sales. The more tickets wesell, the greater the prize. If all tickets would besold, the payout would be 16,500! The drawing will be held on May 24, 2019at 2:30pm at the school. Extra tickets areavailable in the church and school offices. Justcall or stop in. All proceeds from the raffle will godirectly to SSCD School. Thank you for yoursupport! THANK YOUFROM THE PRIESTS Your prieststrulyappreciate your support andthank you for contributing, 1,640.00 to the GoodShepherd Collection for Erie Diocesan RetiredPriests. If you would like to add your support to thiscollection you may still return the special collectionenvelope for Good Shepherd in upcomingcollections or mail to the Parish Office. You mayalso send to Office of Finance for the Diocese ofErie, please make notation for Good ShepherdCollection on the check or envelope. FAMILY PERSPECTIVE Mother’s Day gives us the opportunity tocelebratetheunconditionalloveofmothers. Whether living or dead, a mother’s lovealways invites us to follow her example by lovinggenerously and selflessly.