St. Mary, Mother of God A Parish of the Diocese of Greensburg

A Pennsylvania Charitable Trust Roman Catholic Church

608 High Street ~ Freeport, PA 16229

Second Sunday of Lent March 12th, 2017

Father Ronald Maquiñana—Pastor rmaquinana@dioceseofgreensburg.org

Parish Staff

William Girardi, Pastoral Associate—412-719-7085 Claudia Vertosick, Business Manager/Parish Secretary Helen James, Religious Education Director Thomas Koharchik, Choir Director Cynthia Harbison, Social Hall Coordinator David Valencic, Parish Custodian Richard Bertino, Cemetery Caretaker

Ministries Kristen Marhefka/Julie Polana Gardone—Teen Ministry Melissa Kristine/Beth Macurdy—Evangelization John Nemcek—Homebound Ministry

Organizations Jean Miller—Christian Mothers Ray Smetana/Mary Ellen Gray—St. Vincent de Paul Society

Office Information Administrative Center Numbers & Hours : 724-295-2281 (Office) 724-295-3090 (Fax) Monday through Thursday - 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Friday - 9:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Parish Website: www.stmaryfreeport.com Parish Email Address: thechurch@stmaryfreeport.com

Parish Information Saturday (Vigil): 4:00 P.M. Sunday: 8:30 & 11:00 A.M. Weekday Masses: Monday through Friday—8:00 A.M. Holy Day of Obligation: 8:00 A.M. & 7:00 P.M. Reconciliation: Saturday - 3:00—3:45 P.M. Baptism: Sundays within the 11:00 A.M. Mass (by appointment) Marriage: Contact the Parish nine months in advance. Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: RCIA helps you to learn more about the Catholic faith. Pre-registration is required. Con-tact Fr. Ron or William Girardi at 724-295-2281. Hospital or Home Visit: If you would like to receive Holy Communion or if you know someone who would like to have the priest visit, please call Fr. Ron at 724-295-2281. Anointing of the Sick: Contact Fr. Ron at 724-295-2281. Holy Communion: Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Commun-ion are available to bring the Eucharist to the sick and home-bound. If you know of someone, please call the Administrative Center at 724-295-2281. Baptism: To understand the importance of the Sacrament of Baptism and your obligation as parents, you are required to attend one baptismal class. To register for one of these classes, please call the Administrative Center at 724-295-2281.

Established 1826

This Second Sunday of Lent, at the11:00 A.M. mass, we have the Rite of Sending of our catechumen and candidates in our parish who are preparing to receive the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Communion for the first time this coming Easter Vigil. In this Rite, the catechumen is asked to stand before the congregation to let them know that she is prepared and ready to take the next step of her journey. After manifesting her readiness, she is asked to sign the book of the elect. The candidates, on the other hand, are also asked to stand and state their readiness to go to the next level. But they don’t sign the book of the elect because they were already baptized from their previous Church of oth-er denomination where the Catholic Church recognized them. Now the Rite of Sending goes hand in hand with the Rite of Election because after the Rite of Sending, they go to the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral for the service called Rite of Election, presided by the Bishop. Each of the catechumens were called specifically by name and presented to the Bishop. The Bishop reviews the names in the books of the elect and they are asked again if they are ready. The same thing with the candidates. If they are ready, the Bishop accepts their petitions to become part of the Church. This time they are no longer called catechumens. They are now the elect. The bishop accepts them and blesses them to return to their respective parishes as elected for full Communion into the Catholic

Church. They go through scrutiny for the three remaining Sundays of Lent until they reach their final goal at the Easter Vigil where they will be in full communion with the church. So, as our catechumen and candidates go through this rites, let us remember them in our prayers and support them until they become in full communion with us. We pray for Macy Smolic, our only catechumen, and our three candi-dates: Cassie Smolic, Lexi Baer and Lindsay O’Donnell. On the other hand, our Ministerium Lenten series has begun. The second series will be hosted here in our Fel-lowship Hall on March 16th, at 12:00 Noon. The guest speaker will be Rev. Jocelyn Johnston, pastor of Freeport Trinity Lutheran. The topic will be “Make Room to Grow: A Lenten Journey for Christ’s Discipleship”. I encourage you to attend and be spiritually nourished in our Lenten journey.

A Lent to Remember! Join us for a 4-week, video-based study on: formed.org to create a Lent to remember for our parish family. Forgiven is a beau ful presenta on of the transforming power of Confession. No ma er what you have done, no ma er how long you have been away, Jesus is wai ng for you in the Sacrament of Reconcilia on! To register for this powerful experience:

Go to: formed.org Click on Register

Create your FREE account by entering our Parish Code VNX4G6 and your email address Click on the program Forgiven for weeks 1 through 3 and Symbolon session 6 for week 4.

Watch individually, as a family, or in small groups and use the Leader’s Guide for discussion. Forgiven explores the grace and healing o ered in Confession and shows how this sacrament of mercy reveals the depth and boun-ty of God’s love. By looking at God’s revela on of his mercy in Scripture and making a step-by-step examina on of the Rite itself, Forgiven communicates God’s invita on to each of us to come experience his indescribable love in the Sacrament of Reconcilia on. Week 2 Forgiven Session 2: An Encounter with Mercy We are not de ned by our mistakes. In Confession, Jesus invites us to encounter his mercy and be healed by his love. When he tells us “Go and sin not more,” he also gives us the grace to do so.

Saturday—February 25th, 2017

March 15th Evening Mass - 7:00 P.M. March 16th 12:00 Noon - St. Mary hosts Lenten Soup & Sandwich RCIA - 6:30 P.M. - Conference Center March 17th Stations of the Cross - 7:00 P.M. March 19th Teen Ministry Meeting - 9:25 A.M. Religious Education Classes - 9:30—10:35 A.M. Open House - 4th Grade; Security Guard - “Heather Koharchik” Choir Practice - 9:45—10:45 A.M.; 11:00 A.M. Mass Baptism - “Carson” - within the 8:30A.M. Mass Intergenerational Family Night - 6:30 P.M. - Fellowship Hall March 20th 1st Holy Communion Workshop - 7:00 P.M. - Fellowship Hall March 22nd Popcorn Pick-up - 4:00—7:00 P.M. Evening Mass - 7:00 P.M. March 23rd RCIA - 6:30 P.M. - Conference Center

You are invited to join Bishop Edward C. Malesic and three other bishops from southwestern Pennsylva-

nia at “An Evening of Repentance” Tuesday, March 14th, at 7:00 P.M. at St. John the Bap st Byzan ne Catholic Cathedral in Munhall. A Lenten meager meal and fellowship will follow the service. This event is part of “From Con ict to Communion: Together in Hope,” the theme of the regional observance of the 500th anniversary of the Refor-ma on. Bus transporta on will be available from Greensburg. A single cket is $25.00, two ckets are $45.00. For details, call 724-837-0901, Ext. 1249.

Income - $13,486.00 Payment from Sponsors $5,375.00 Ticket Sales 4,470.00 Chinese Auction 1,610.00 Special Item Auction 1,126.00 50/50 Raffles 695.00 Winner Donation _ 210.00 Total $13,486.00 Expenses - $2,152.20 Caterer $ 1,950.00 Miscellaneous Expenses 202.20 Total $ 2,152.20 Net Profit $11,333.80

DLA—This weekend is Educa on Weekend, and we heard from Father Ron at all the Masses about the importance of par cipa ng in this year’s Appeal. Please remember that next weekend is Commit-ment Weekend. If you haven’t spent me review-ing the request that you received in the mail from

Bishop Malesic, please take a few minutes this week to do so.

Statement from Bishop Edward C. Malesic

Throughout the season of Lent we focus on prayer, fas ng and almsgiving in order to draw closer to Jesus and be er appreciate the ul mate sacri ce he made for us on Good Friday. This year, the feast of St. Patrick, March 17th, falls on a Friday. Some have asked me to dispense from the obliga on to abstain from ea ng meat on this par cular Lenten Friday due to the tradi onal nature of its observance or for other related personal reasons. A er prayerful considera on, I am gran ng this dispensa on for those who desire to include the ea ng of meat in order to celebrate the Feast of St. Patrick. However, I ask those who choose to eat meat on the Feast of St. Patrick to select another day to abstain from ea ng meat or to make some o ering on behalf of the poor, whether by prayer, fas ng or almsgiving at another

me during the Lenten season. In all things, we a empt to imitate the joy of the saints as well as ob-serve the same seriousness with which they prac ced their Catholic faith. My prayers remain with all those who faithfully follow the Way of the Cross to the glory of the Resurrec on.

March 19th at 6:30 P.M. will be the next Intergenera onal Family Night. The evening will be based on Symbolon Ses-

sion 6: The Paschal Mystery. Symbolon is found under Programs Exploring the Catholic Faith on FORMED.org. Don’t worry if you don’t have Internet access to watch the session before coming. The evening will begin with a discussion about the Paschal Mystery and then everyone will be going to Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Natrona Heights for the Living Sta-

ons, presented by St. Ferdinand’s Youth Ministry. All are welcome … fami-lies, singles, empty nesters, grandparents.

2017 Diocesan Lenten Appeal

As a family of faith, we gather in prayer, serve those in need and give so that our church here at St. Mary, Mother of God may ourish for today and future genera ons.

As in past years, your generosity has supported the many areas of need for the Diocese and here at home. We have come together in support of the Diocesan Lenten Appeal to en-hance our historical church and other buildings that are of great need in our ministries.

As we begin our campaign, I would like to share with you the two major projects we would like to accomplish this coming year and to review our past accomplishments from successful DLA’s:

Repair steeple siding and paint, including the church eaves and gu ers Projected costs— $12,000 – $15,000 Replace electrical panels in basement of church Projected costs— $10,000 Replace glass doors of entry into Administra on building Projected costs— $5,000 (addi onal project if funds permit)

Total es mated cost - $30,000

This year, our DLA target is $43,279. The pastoral and nance councils, a er reviewing our capital project needs, have set an overall campaign goal of $68,279. This gives us an es -mated $25,000 above the Diocesan target for our needed projects.

Please refer to the other side (back) of what you have made possible by your almsgiving in years past.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Ronald Maquinana, Pastor

St. Mary, Mother of God

DLA Project Overview

2016

Replace Church Air condi oning: $22,100

Replace outdoor ligh ng (church and school): $10,952

Paint exterior church windows: $12,700

Resealing of church sandstone founda on: $3,000

2015

Replace roof of 1916 building (Fellowship Hall): $46,410

2014

Repair bell tower and replace matching brick: $25,554

2013

Repair and replace entry canopy of church: $8,712.00

Addi onal nish work to Fellowship Hall: $7,544

Church sanctuary pain ng: $1,800

MINISTRY SCHEDULE FOR 18th & 19th, 2017

Altar Servers Extraordinary Ministers

Of Holy Communion

Lector Organist Cantor

Saturday - 4:00 P.M.

Bill Girardi Fred Walker Dawson Gaillot

Stella Aul Deb Showers Dave Valencic

Karen Savage Verne Bergstrom Jamie Phillips

Sunday - 8:30 A.M.

Evan McCrea; Akina Boynton Sarah & Hannah Shepherd Hadley Hellgren

Laura Huth Pat Ralston Kim Holbein

Lisa Boylan Tom Koharchik Tom Koharchik

Sunday - 11:00 A.M.

Marie Pelliccione Mason DeMeno; Evan Giori Megan Rossey; Paige Liti

Bill Cogley Patty Hughes Melissa Schaeffer

Rob Svitek Dave Wesolosky Choir

MASSES FOR THE 2ND SUNDAY OF LENT SATURDAY: March 11th 4:00 P.M. St. Mary Parishioners

SUNDAY: March 12th 8:30 A.M. Pearl Holbein (Carol Carson) 11:00 A.M. Andrew Sliwiak (Kymer Family)

MONDAY: March 13th 8:00 A.M. Martha Kerr (Bill & Mary Fullerton)

TUESDAY: March 14th 8:00 A.M. Mary Pesci Ranieri (Cleatus & David Burk)

WEDNESDAY: March 15th Dennis & Deb Baustert [45th Wedding Anniversary] (Family)

THURSDAY: March 16th 8:00 A.M. Aaron Myers (Rometto Family)

FRIDAY: March 17th 8:00 A.M. Fr. Louis Cheatham (Brestensky Family) 7:00 P.M. Stations of the Cross

MASSES FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY OF LENT SATURDAY: March 18th 4:00 P.M. Bernadette Fearing Kelly (Bragiel Family)

SUNDAY: March 19th 8:30 A.M. St. Mary Parishioners 11:00 A.M. Joseph Klaput/George Klaput (Wife & Children)

Offertory Collection for March 5th, 2017 No. of Envelopes Mailed Out: 592

No. of Envelopes Received: 258 Collection: Offertory - $6,415.00

Loose - $333.25 Children - $35.00

Ash Wednesday Collection - $1,734.00 Home Missions of the Americas - $867.00

THANK YOU!

Saturday, March 18th, 2017 Cindy Kaminski & Christine Bender

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The Altar Bread and Wine were donated for this week in loving memory of

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In acknowledging the Real Presence of Christ, The Sanctuary Lamp (Candle) will burn this week in

loving memory of FRANK BASILONE & JOHN TREACY

By The White Family

Are you trying to cut down on the paper you use? Is the check you write to our parish one of the few checks that you write anymore? You can give greener by using Online Banking. You can set up the

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