Prayer for Fortnight For Freedom

ST. MICHAEL & IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CATHOLIC CHURCHES

PASTOR: FATHER LARRY GEARHART Parish 834-2664 - Fr. Larry’s cell: (937) 414-7977

Sunday, June 30, 2013

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME ST. MICHAEL CHURCH 40 Walnut Street Mechanicsburg, OH 43044 MASS Sunday - 8:00 am

Wed - 5:15 pm

Reconciliation TBD

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: 10:30 AM - SUN., JULY 7

Extraordinary Minister - Gene Leiter

Lector - Ed Kise

Servers - Mary Ellen Johnson & Shelley Moore

SAINT MICHAEL: 8:00 AM - SUN., JULY 7

Extraordinary M. - Maria Hoewischer & Sondra Chester

Lector - Maria McNicol

Servers - Gus Hoewischer & Max Hoewischer

ST. MICHAEL NEWS

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION P.O. Box 444

164 West Elm Street North Lewisburg, OH

43060 MASS

Sunday - 10:30 am

Tuesdays - 5:15 pm

Reconciliation TBD

Family of Richard “Dick” Bacon

Jennifer Bonnell Robbie Dillow

Ron Hesson

Chris Pearson

Kate Kahler Jerri Taylor

Ellie Herdman Ernest Drake

Missy Masters Lisa Gartin Newman

Brittany Schaffner Gevoden

Lisa Newman

Bernie Zoppa

April Carsey

Norman Wyatt

Marcy Bauman

Brenda Shonkwiler Bruce Chester

Anita Smith

Jill Vanuch

Kathryn Randall

Tricia Deere

Cathy Lynch

Brian Schneider

Vickie Bowers

Vickie Kendall

Patti Baker

Rick Anderson

Charlene Murray

Emily Smith

Jim & Jan Knapp

John Weller

Rick Gill

Elijah hands on the yoke of his

office to Elisha, his successor. We

stand upon the shoulders of those

who have come before us as we will

pass the message on to those who

will follow after us. (1 Kings 19:16,19-21)

VOCATION VIEW

Offerings: SM: (6/23/13) $536.00 (6/30/13) $.00 IC: (6/23/13) $ 812.00

Please let Chris (IC) or Peg (SM) know of prayer list changes.

• Parish Council: Our next meeting is July 10 at 7:00 PM. With the changes that are taking place, this will be an important meeting.

• Please pray for fellow parishioner Mary Ann Bacon and her family. She lost her husband Dick this past Tuesday. Her address is 6305 Pleasant Chapel Road, Mechanicsburg, OH 43044.

• Father will be moving to the rectory at St. Mary’s. After he departs the rectory, the parish will need to clean, paint and prepare the house for rental. Once the details are worked out by the Parish Council, parishioners will be asked to help. Taking care of the house as soon as possible will bring MUCH needed income for the parish.

2013—2014

Saint Michael Parish Council

Annie Colliflower, Chair............... 834-3784

Peg Baltes, Secretary .................... 834-2516

James Dietrich ..................... (614) 307-0532

Roger Geers ......................... (740) 506-1171

Jerry Love ..................................... 834-2840

Jeff Lyons ............................. (937) 390-2015

Garth McNary ...................... (614) 679-4406

Scott Spinner ....................... (513) 508-6574

NEXT Parish Council Meeting: July 10

PRAYER NEEDS: Peg Baltes 834-2516 - p_baltes@hotmail.com ST. VINCENT de PAUL GUILD Scott Spinner 834-1710 CARING KITCHEN Jennifer Dietrich (614) 361-9104 MASS MINISTRIES: Diane Ziegler 834-3498 - dziegler1@frontier.com CHURCH NEWS & CALENDAR: Kay Miller 834-5120 - k7miller5@gmail.com

MASS INTENTIONS

Sunday, June 30 5:00 PM Saturday BVM’s Intentions

8:00 A.M. Dick Chester

10:30 A.M. Liz (Wagner) and

John Kirschenheiter and family

Mon., July 1 SM Noon PM At St. Mary’s

Tues., July 2 IC 5:15 PM Pro-Populo

Wed., July 3 SM 5:15 PM Pro-Populo

Thurs., July 4 Independence Day

10:00 AM At St. Mary’s

(end of Fortnight for Freedom)

For Liberty, Feder-alism and Respect

for Conscience

PRAYER LIST

MAJOR BULLETIN ANNOUNCEMENT DEADLINE CHANGE: Announcements are now due Friday 9 days before the Sunday in which you would like the

announcement to appear. The deadline for Annie, Kay and Mary Ann for July 14 bulletin is July 5 .

O GOD OUR CREATOR, from your provident hand we have received our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You have called us as your people and given us the right and the duty to worship you, the only true God, and your Son, Jesus Christ. Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit, you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world, bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel to every corner of society.

We ask you to bless us in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty. Give us the strength of mind and heart to readily defend our freedoms when

they are threatened; give us courage in making our voices heard on behalf of the rights of your Church

and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.

Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father, a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters gathered in your Church in this decisive hour in the history of our nation, so that, with every trial withstood and every danger overcome— for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and all who come after us— this great land will always be “one nation, under God,

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

• We need people to clean the church, please, consider offering your 'elbow grease.'

• Gather for Bible Study led by Ed Kise at 9:00 A.M. at our church on each second Sunday of the

month. All are welcome!

• Immaculate Conception Parish continues to take do-nations from the basket in the church entrance to the Caring Kitchen! Thanks for continued generous food donations.

• Sycamore House/Blessings in a Bottle; This annual fundraiser supports the work of the Sycamore House Preganancy Center of Champaign County. Persons willing to support are asked to take a bottle (or more than one!) and put any spare change in it over the next two months-we'll gladly take any spare cash or spare checks made out to "Sycamore House" as well. Please contact Ed Kise for more information on the agency and its work. The bottles will be available in the back of the church beginning today, June 30. We are asking that any contributions be returned by August 25. They may be given directly to Ed or taken to Sycamore House in Urbana on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 12:00-6:00p.m. Thank you for your support!

• It has been suggested by several parishoners that the first-of-the-month- brunch be moved to the second Sunday for July only. Mary Fogle-Kise is also asking that on that Sunday (July 14) all persons assisting with the Ice Cream Social gather for a few minutes after

Mass to discuss preparations. Thanks to all for your help.

FROM THE DESK OF FATHER LARRY GEARHART

JUNE 30, 2013

Heads Up

(Supreme Court issues technical decisions affecting timeless issues)

Last Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down two decisions affecting the gay

marriage issue. It is, of course, Catholic doctrine that marriage is, by definition, the union

of one man and one woman, and that this definition is God-given, not mere human whim.

In the case United States v. Windsor, the court struck down section 3 of the 1996 Defense

of Marriage Act. Section 3 dealt with federal benefits. The 5 justice majority that decided

the case declared that section unconstitutional because it denied due process, guaranteed

under the 5th Amendment. The assumption behind the decision, of course, is that same-

sex couples who have married in states where that is legal are deprived of benefits granted

to married couples. In other words, the decision implicitly assumes the validity of same-

sex marriage. Thus, underneath the narrow technical grounds for striking section 3 is a

cultural, philosophical and religious presumption.

The second decision, which came in the Hollingsworth v. Perry case, denied the petition

to overturn prior court rulings on the grounds that the petitioners lacked legal standing to

make the appeal. Thus, the decision let stand a decision handed down in August, 2010, by

Judge Vaughn Walker of the United States District Court for the Northern District of

California. Judge Walker had ruled that Proposition 8 violated the Due Process and Equal

Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The

Supreme Court's decision, technically, does not affirm the reasoning of Judge Walker's

decision.

For more information see http://www.usccb.org/news/2013/13-126.cfm.

Heads Up (Mass Schedules and Intentions)

As I mentioned in the last pastor's corner, each parish will need its own daily Mass at least

once a week in order to honor the mandate to pray for the people (the pro-populo Mass

intention). After discussions with Ed Kise, Kay Miller and others, we have decided to

schedule daily Masses on Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. as follows:

Tuesday, 5:15 p.m. at Immaculate Conception

Wednesday, 5:15 p.m. at St. Michael's

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION NEWS Immaculate Conception Ed Kise, Pastoral Associate .... 935-1966

Parish Council

Mary Fogle-Kise, Chair ............. 935-2531

Lynn DiLoreto, Secretary ........ 465-2999

Gary Edwards .......................... 408-9676

Missy Masters ......................... 747-2925

Tom Miller .............................. 747-9437

Bulletin information and prayer concerns: Mary Ann Berick

747-3780 (leave a message) or email icbulletin@rocketmail.com

FORTNIGHT FOR FREEDOM: It has begun! June 21 through July 4

On April 12, an Ad hoc Committee on Religious Liberty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a document, “Our First Most Cherished Freedom,” outlining the bishops’ concerns over threats to religious freedom, both home and abroad. The bishops called for a “Fortnight for Freedom,” a 14-day period of prayer, education and action in support of religious freedom, from June 21-July 4. During this period, parishioners are encouraged to take part in various opportunities for prayer and action to ensure the integrity of this most cherished freedom. One concrete example of this challenge to our religious freedom is the mandate by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for religious institutions such as universities, hospitals and charitable organizations, to facilitate access to contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, which would be contrary to religious beliefs. It is an unprecedented action by the federal government to define which religious institutions are “religious enough” to merit protection of their religious liberty. Another example are laws (e.g. in Alabama) that forbid the Church form offering basic charity and pastoral care to undocumented immigrants. Regardless of anyone’s status, the Church cannot hold back access to the sacraments or basic human needs to any child of God. The Fortnight for Freedom is an opportunity for people of all faiths to remember that we should not confine our faith to just the worship space, but we have a human right to bring it to the public square for the common good of all who live in this land. To learn more and to access resources for participation, please visit www.catholiccincinnati.org and click on the “Preserving Religious Freedom” link under resources menu.

Additional information can be found at www.usccb.org/conscience.

Remembering Religious Liberty on Independence Day This is the last week of the second “Fortnight for Freedom” called by the U.S. Catholic bishops to draw special attention to current threats to religious liberty. As we approach the celebration of the

birth of our nation, people of faith are encouraged to remember that our nation’s founders embraced freedom of religion as an essential condition of a free and democratic society. They enshrined this vision in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, which guarantees that “Congress shall make no

law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This has meant that churches and religious institutions are not only free to worship in their own way, but they are

also free to exercise ministries of education, charity and social justice that reflect their fundamental beliefs and serve all people, regardless of faith, economic position, or immigration status.

We encourage all parishioners to consider participating in Mass on July 4th - 10:00 AM at St. Mary’s - to pray for the preservation of religious freedom.

To learn more, go to www.catholiccincinnati.org and, under the RESOURCES menu click on the “Preserving Religious Freedom” or visit www.usccb.org/conscience.

These will be the pro-populo Masses for Immaculate Conception and St. Michael's parishes,

respectively. (The new schedule will take effect the week of July 7th. The week of June 30th is

going to be very hectic, given the moves on July 1st and 2nd as well as the Independence Day

holiday.) They are, of course, in addition to the Sunday Mass schedule as well as in addition to a

Saturday daily Mass once a month at times yet to be chosen by our two parishes. Depending on

need, it is possible that a Saturday daily Mass may be preempted by a funeral or a wedding.

The Catholic "Third Way" (Part III)

In an excellent analysis of the theme of the recent movie, "Man of Steel" (see https://

www.wordonfire.org/WOF-TV/Commentaries-New/Man-of-Steel-A-commentary-by-Fr-

Barron.aspx), Fr. Robert Barron identifies the two opposite philosophies that dominate Western

thought, (1) Plato's ideal Republic and (2) Nietzsche's Übermensch. The former represents the

almighty state while the latter represents the almighty individual.

Curiously, we can see the difference between these two philosophies in the dominant abortion

regulation regimes in the world. China represents the power of the almighty state in deciding

which child is aborted and which is carried full term to birth. The U.S. currently represents the

power of the almighty individual who decides whether or not to carry a child to term. As Pope

Paul VI pointed out in Humanae Vitae, ¶ 17,

Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing

into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the

moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the

problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded

as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who

will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which

they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even

impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people,

either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of

the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of

public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate

responsibility of husband and wife.

One of Nietzsche's main criticisms of Christianity was that altruism distorts the advance of

human evolution. When people who could not make it on their own are supported by charity, so

his reasoning went, humanity is the less. Curiously, it is state-controlled charity that people

often regard as the best alternative to the pure, unadulterated Darwinian regime envisioned by

Nietzsche. It is, however, the state that so often adopts a rigorous program of eugenics and

population control, thereby placing itself above nature (and even above, in the phrase enshrined

in the Declaration of Independence, "nature's God") in deciding who should live and who

should die.

Pope John Paul II noted, in Evangelium Vitae, ¶ 16,

The Pharaoh of old, haunted by the presence and increase of the children of Israel,

submitted them to every kind of oppression and ordered that every male child born

of the Hebrew women was to be killed (cf. Ex 1:7-22). Today not a few of the

powerful of the earth act in the same way. They too are haunted by the current

demographic growth, and fear that the most prolific and poorest peoples represent

a threat for the well-being and peace of their own countries. Consequently, rather

than wishing to face and solve these serious problems with respect for the dignity

of individuals and families and for every person's inviolable right to life, they

prefer to promote and impose by whatever means a massive programme of birth

control. Even the economic help which they would be ready to give is unjustly

made conditional on the acceptance of an anti-birth policy.

(Consider, for example, the joint ventures of the Gates Foundation and International Planned

Parenthood, as well as international pressure on two of the last holdouts for human life and

dignity, Ireland and the Philippines.) Note the irony that China's one-child policy has resulted,

not in the destruction of male offspring as in the biblical Egypt, but in the disproportionate

abortion and infanticide of female offspring!

When people seek the wisdom and love of God, and the state does not stand in their way, it is

possible to find a "Third Way", a way where love and truth operate jointly, where faith and

reason both guide action, where human sharing and human commerce can both flourish and

where civilization itself is built upon solid rock.

In the Catholic "Third Way," artificial contraception and babies conceived in a Petri dish are

replaced by natural family planning and the fundamental treatment of sterility issues in

naprotechnology. Couples seek adoption or choose to live a life of service to the community in

lieu of hiring a surrogate mother to satisfy their own ambitions. Every child is seen as a gift

from God, and even children born with disabilities are recognized as possessing gifts.

The Catholic Third Way inherently integrates faith and reason (see, for example, Pope John Paul

II's encyclical, Fides et Ratio — "Faith and Reason"), love and truth (see, for example, Pope

Benedict XVI's encyclical Caritas in Veritate — "Love in Truth"). When any of these values are

diminished or alienated, civilization suffers, and humanity with it.