August 1 , 2021

St. Ambrose St. Matthew St. Sylvester Avonmore Saltsburg Slickville

PARTNER PARISHES OF THE DIOCESE OF GREENSBURG

A Pennsylvania Charitable Trust

Our Mission Statement

The Partner Parishes of St. Ambrose, St. Matthew & St. Sylvester, under

the guidance of the Holy Spirit, are committed to be witnesses of Christ in

our local and faith communities . We invite one another to grow in a spirit

of friendship and unity through the Word and the Eucharist. While striving

to nourish our faith families, we encourage Evangelization, Service,

Worship, Stewardship, and Leadership.

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Confessions: First Saturday of the month, 11:00-11:30 AM at St. Ambrose or by appointment with the Pastor.

Baptisms: Please contact the parish office to schedule a date and formation session..

Marriage: Please contact the office at least six months before the wedding date to schedule marriage preparation sessions..

Pastoral Care to the Homebound: Please contact the parish office..

Eucharistic Adoration: First Thursday of the month, 6:30-7:30 PM. All are welcome.

RCIA: If you or someone you know is interested in becoming Roman Catholic, please contact the parish office.

St. Vincent de Paul Hotline: Please contact the parish office. St. Vincent de Paul poor boxes are at entrances of all partner parishes.

Bulletin Deadline: Please submit bulletin information via email or in written form to Angela Palmiscno at the parish office by Tuesday at noon.

MASS SCHEDULE Saturday Vigil: 5:00 PM—St. Ambrose Sunday Masses 8:30 AM—St. Sylvester 11:00 AM—St. Matthew Weekday Masses: Mon.—8:30 AM, St. Sylvester Tues.— 8:30 AM, St. Matthew Fri.— 8:30 AM, St. Ambrose PARISH OFFICES & HOURS St. Ambrose, St. Matthew & St. Sylvester P. O. Box 617 Avonmore, PA 15618

Monday—Friday 9:00 AM—1:00 PM Closed Wednesdays

Phone: 724-697-4129 Fax: 724-697-4484

St. Matthew Church Hall: 724-639-9338

St. Sylvester Rectory Phone: 724-468-5794 Fax and church hall: 724-468-5765

PASTORAL STAFF

Reverend John Harrold, Pastor

jharrold@dioceseofgreensburg.org

Deacon Craig Gilbert

cgilbert@dioceseofgreensburg.org

Angela Palmiscno, Partner Parish Secretary

apalmiscno@dioceseofgreensburg.org

Dana Summerhill, Partner Parish Financial Secretary

dsummerhill@dioceseofgreensburg.org

Cindy Young, Partner Parish Web Coordinator

Jessica Clawson, Coordinator of Faith Formation,

St. Matthew, 724-875-0638 or jgallek@gmail.com

Connie Shannon, Clearances Coordinator, 724-697-4059

Knights of Columbus—Council #15373

Website: partnerparishesmas.org

A Warm Welcome to All

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES Blessings to all our Partner Parish family members who are celebrating a birthday this week:

Carol Proch, Carolyn Loaskie, Rose Ronian, Amber Calandrella, Nadine Shaffer, Loretta Veselicky, Esther Ciocca, Kenneth Graf, Deanna Fink, Stephanie McElhose, Ralph Resnick, Donna Currie, Alfred Novak

Happy anniversary to all couples celebrating an anniversary this week:

Robert & Thora Sokolowski, Kenneth & Kristen Graf

Diocesan Coat of Arms

THE ALTAR FLOWERS AT ST. AMBROSE ARE IN LOVING MEMORY OF GRANNY & NONNO CICALA BY FAMILY

THE ALTAR FLOWERS AT ST. MATTHEW ARE IN LOVING MEMORY OF JAMES & FRANCIS BELICE BY FLORENCE & TOM MARAFKA

CELEBRATION OF LIFE

A celebration of life for Rita Y. Pendlyshok will be held on Saturday, August 7th at 11:30 AM at St. Ambrose. Rita’s family invites everyone to gather to celebrate her life. There will be a reception with Rita’s family immediately following the Mass.

SLICKVILLE COMMUNITY DAYS On Friday evening, August 13th and all day Saturday, August 14th, St. Sylvester Church will have a booth selling Pierogi and cold drinks at the Slickville Community Days Celebration. We really need help to staff this booth! We will need cooks and workers at the booth both days! Please contact Ken Nath (468-1106 or 875-1564) early to get the good times to work!

We also hope that lots of people come out & buy pierogies! We will also be selling frozen Pierogi by the dozen! Please encourage friends and family to come get some!

ALTAR SERVERS Also, as we return to normal, we would like our Altar Servers to begin serving Mass again. If you would like to be put back on the Mass schedule, please contact Angie at the Partner Parish Office. We are in need of Servers at all three parishes! Children and adults, males and females are welcome to serve. Training will be provided. Please contact Angie at the Partner Parish Office if you are interested or would like more information.

PLEASE PRAY FOR FR. JOHN MOINEAU (MONO), PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION IN IRWIN AND ST. ELIZABETH ANN SETON CHURCH IN NORTH HUNTINGDON AND A GOOD FRIEND OF FR. JOHN. HE WAS JUST DIAGONOSED WITH PANCREATIC CANCER, WHICH HAS SPREAD TO HIS LIVER. PLEASE PRAY FOR ALL THE PEOPLE BATTLING CANCER!

CHURCH CUSTODIAN POSITION OPEN - St. Sylvester Parish is looking for a new Church Custodian. Position

is for 6 - 8 hours a week and schedule is flexible. A great part-time job. Main responsibility is cleaning the Church and Hall. If interested, please call or email Fr. John at 724-697-4129 or jharrold@dioceseofgreensburg.org.

Mass Intentions for the Week

PLACE TIME INTENTION OFFERED BY

Saturday July 31 St. Ambrose 5:00 PM For the Parishioners

Sunday August 1 St. Sylvester 8:30 AM +Stanley Kanick (Al & Audrey Novak)

Sunday August 1 St. Matthew 11:00 AM +Dean Corridoni (Frank & Sybil Pistininzi)

Monday August 2 St. Sylvester 8:30 AM +Frank (Chud) & Elizabeth Kurant (Family)

Tuesday August 3 St. Matthew 8:30 AM +Nancy Cup-Zagozan (Herm & Barb Corridoni)

Friday August 6 St. Ambrose 8:30 AM +Virginia Shaffer-Ward (Carol Konieczny)

Saturday August 7 St. Ambrose 11:30 AM +Rita Pendlyshok (Fontana/Palmiscno

Families)

Saturday August 7 St. Ambrose 5:00 PM +Frank, Audrey & Steve Sieczkowski (Julie)

Sunday August 8 St. Sylvester 8:30 AM +Betty Rasperger (Family)

Sunday August 9 St. Matthew 11:00 AM For the Parishioners

DATE

RCIA Are you or do you know someone who would like to be a Catholic? Are you a non-Catholic spouse of a Catholic?

Each year on Holy Saturday during the Easter Vigil, thousands of adults are baptized into the Catholic Church in the United

States. Parishes welcome these new Catholics through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

September is the time to begin the formation process. If you or anyone you know is over 16 years old and is interested in

joining the Roman Catholic Church, please contact the Parish Office.

PARTNER PARISHES STEWARDSHIP OF TREASURE Sunday Offertory: July 24-25

St. Ambrose St. Matthew St. Sylvester

Offertory Collection: $ 938.00 $ 647.00 $ 1,599.00

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Alongside John 6 and the discourse on the bread of life, the Church hears most of the fourth and fifth chapters of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. Known as one of the captivity letters (Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon are the others) because it is apparently written from prison (Ephesians 4:1), the Letter to the Ephesians discusses the mystery of life in Christ. Paul’s exhortation to “live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,” which we heard last week, strikes at the heart of Christian discipleship. This week, Paul continues to call the Ephesians to a renewal in Christ—to “put away the old self of your former way of life … and be renewed in the spirit of your minds” (4:22-23). It was expected that Baptism into the death and Resurrection of Christ would

bring radical life changes for early Christians. For some, this meant giving up jobs and wealth; for others, it meant hospitality or service . For everyone, life in Christ was life lived according to God and not according to the world. Christians were encouraged to embrace love rather than ambition, greed, or power and to focus on the treasure of heaven rather than on earthly wealth. Consequently, this small section of the Letter to the Ephesians provides the perfect prelude to the discourse on the bread of life in John’s account of the Gospel. Jesus warns the crowd that they are thinking wrongly– running to see him for perishable bread (6:26). In Paul’s vocabulary, the crowd sees Jesus with old eyes, with their old selves. If they saw Jesus with spiritual eyes, they would know him as the Bread of Life. They would seek only the bread of life. They would hear Jesus’ gentle correction to their assertion that Moses gave them manna from heaven. “My Father gives you the true bread from heaven” (6:32). Physical hunger and thirst made the Jews rely on God in the desert. Jesus shows the crowd that hunger has much deeper implications for the soul. If they believe Christ is food and drink, they will never be hungry or thirsty.

FAITH FORMATION CLASSES TO RESUME ON SUNDAY MORNINGS THIS FALL

Our Sunday Morning Parish Faith Formation Classes for children will be resuming in person this Fall. Classes at St. Ambrose and St. Matthew will begin at 9:30 am this year. We really hope that all families, from all three parishes, with children in Pre-school thru 8th grade will register and bring your children to one of these two program. If you are sending your kids to a program at another parish, please let us know that at the Partner Parish Office so we can mark it in their records.

Please also remember that children who will prepare to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Holy Eucharist and Confirmation, should be participating in the Sunday Morning Parish Faith Formation Classes a minimum of 2 years.

We are in need of teachers and aids for our programs, especially at St. Matthews. Ideally, we would like to have a team of 2-3 adults working with each grade, so that the teachers don’t have to be present every week the whole school year. This is a great opportunity to grow in your own faith! We really need volunteers and the textbooks we use really help you to teach the class. Training & help will be provided to anyone willing to help us out. Please speak to Fr. John, Jessica, Nicky or Angie if interested or if you have questions.

YOUR GIFT TO THE SOCIETY

OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL

ENABLES THE SOCIETY TO

BRING BREAD TO THE

HUNGRY AS A SIGN OF GOD’S

LOVE.

SERVING OUR COUNTRY: Please pray for our men and women in the military: MSgt. Matthew Leightner, Col. Ross Monta, John Newcomb, MSgt. Jeremy Morgan, Ryan Nagg, Daniel Henderson, Tech. Sgt. Justin Morgan, Tyler Carnahan, Bartholomew Marsh-Slavin, Jacob DeSanders, W01 Jacob Berg (Afghanistan), Brandon May, Tyler Kunkle (Afghanistan), Mark Novak, Martin Novak, Jr., Specialist John Angelo Stibrik, MSgt. Robert A. Eckenrode

OUR PRAYER LIST—FRIENDS AND FAMILY: Ally Anderson, Charles Mark Angell, Phillip Berg, Terry Dixon, Darlene Dobrosky, Luke Dobrosky, Joanne France, Donald Gabor, John Galo, Rachael Garzone, Edith Hollick, George Hollick, Larry Klukaszewski, Gary Lemon, William McIntosh, Sandra & Greg Metzler, Pastor Mitch, Fr. John Moineau, Theresa Morabito, Mary Musial, Joanne Neiderhiser, Chris Nemchik, Carole Novosel, Pam Ramsden, Fred Salo, Ed Stemplinski, Matt Summerhill, Charlene Toth, Judy Valore, Geraldine Vought, Tony Waugaman, Dave & Nancy Williamson and all who need our prayers.

GETTING BACK TO NORMAL

Just as the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days was lifted during the Pandemic, now we need to let you know that the Obligation to attend Mass on Sundays & Holy Days

is returning starting August 15th.

But let us go to Mass because we want to be there, not because we have to be there.