St. John the Baptist Church Office: St. John’s Rectory 126 Nesbitt St., Larksville, PA 18651 Pastor: Rev. Gerald J. Gurka, M.Div.. M.Th., M.A. Parish Helper: Msgr. Donald A. McAndrews, D. Hum. Permanent Deacon: Deacon Peter G. Smith Parish Mission Statement Our faith community of St. John the Baptist, founded on the word of God; welcomes all with charity and love….both the strong of Spirit and those who search. As part of the Universal Church, we acknowledge that God has uniquely blessed everyone with abundant gifts. We celebrate the differences that make all of us equal in the eyes of the Lord….using our blessings to provide all who join us in Eucharist with a heartfelt sense of family and communion. For the Lord has brought you to our door….you are a stranger here but once. Rectory Office: Fax: Email: Website: f February 8, 2015 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time A Prayerful Welcome to All Worshipping With Us/ Today Scriptures ask: Do we Journey each day with joy or drudgery? Do we allow God to heal? Thanks for being here! 570-779-9620 570-779-7652 [email protected] www.stjohnslarksville.org St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church Current Office Business Hours: No Office Hours on Mondays Tues, Wed, Thurs, & Fri: 9:00AM-11:30AM/12:30PM-3PM All Other Times by Appointment ~New Parishioners: WELCOME to our parish family! Please call the rectory office at your earliest convenience. ~Established Parishioners: Please let us know of any change of address or telephone number so that we may keep our records current. Families moving from the parish are asked to notify the rectory office. Home and Hospital Visitations: Are done on a regular basis as well as the 1st Friday of the month. If someone is homebound or hospitalized, please call the rectory office. Sacrament of Reconciliation: Saturdays--3:00 to 3:45 PM Sacrament of Baptism: Parents must be registered in the Parish. Please call the office at least 4 months before your child is due. Instruction is required and normally held on the 1st Monday of each month. It is best to attend this class before the child’s birth. Baptism is normally celebrated in our Parish at the 9 AM Mass on the 1st Sunday of the month. Exceptions are made for unusual circumstances, with the pastor’s approval. Sacrament of Marriage: Diocesan regulations require those couples planning marriage to contact the pastor at least twelve months prior to the desired date of the marriage and other wedding arrangements. R.C.I.A. (The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults): For those in need of baptism or completion of sacramental preparation. Please contact rectory. February 8, 2015 Mk 1:29-39 Someone else’s life Ever face that Monday morning mirror with the sinking feeling that you’re living someone else’s life? As coffee jumpstarts your brain, do you hear a voice muttering “this can’t be all I’m meant to do”? Take heart, oh weary soul – you’re not crazy, you’re right! So often Christians creep through our lives with a growing sense of daily dissatisfaction, wondering why faith isn’t enough. Why aren’t we content? The answer is as plain as the entries on our daily planner, or rather the entries that aren’t in our planners. Christians need to share God’s love. The need to reach out in compassion, to be God’s hands is encoded into our very beings. And when we ignore that compulsion to help we’re miserable. We’re neglecting the purpose for which we were created. Jesus knew that. He told the disciples “for this purpose I have come” and kept his eyes steadily on the goal. As His children can we do any less? Stop ignoring the promptings of your spirit this week and find your true career: sharing God’s love with the world. You’ll be amazed at the benefits package! February 8, 2015 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time Come Worship the Lord Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday 2/09 2/10 2/11 2/12 2/13 2/14 2/15 9:00 AM 9:00 AM 9:00 AM 9:00 AM 9:00 AM 4:00 PM 7:00 AM 9:00 AM 11:00 AM Filamena Mancuso Jack Suda No Communion Service Robert Sloan, Jr. Rosemary Seferyn Joseph & Julia Bozinko Julia Kobylski George Mayerski Living & Deceased of our Parish Family Karen & James Blaum Family Cassie Sloan John & Karen Steckman Family Irene Parsons Family WOE IS ME Often we think about the troubles in our lives and cry out, “Woe is me!” Like Job we might look around in despair at the misery in the world. Like Job’s friends we might look backward for something or someone on which to blame our suffering. We may decide that God—or we ourselves—must be to blame. The Gospel today offers a different perspective from which to view earthly suffering. Jesus realized that there was nothing to be gained from looking around in despair or backward in blame. Instead, he looked forward in hope. He did not blame the sick and the possessed for their suffering, as many others did. And he did not give up hope, even though he knew he couldn’t cure all the sickness in the world. Jesus tried neither to eliminate human suffering nor to explain it. He simply did what good he could do in the time that he had. Today’s Readings: Job 7:1–4, 6–7; Psalm 147:1–6; 1 Corinthians 9:16–19, 22–23; Mark 1:29–39 Prayerful Sympathy is extended to the fami lies of Elizabeth Kwiatkowski and Richard Kane. Please remember Elizabeth and Richard in prayer, along with their family and friends, during this difficult time of loss, pain and adjustment. Sanctuary Candle burns this week in memory of Julia & Frank Kobylski offered by Children. Mark this Date—Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 18th! CCD Classes will be held as usual this week. New Altar Server Classes will soon resume—calls will be made during this week to schedule. Prayer Shawl Meeting and Work Session will be held on Thursday, February 19th. Come and join this growing ministry! All are invited and welcome! If you aren’t able to make an afghan, monetary donations are welcome and can be made via collection basket (place in an envelope marked “Yarn/Afghans”) or sent to the rectory office. Thank You. Holiday Ministry Schedules are being prepared. If there is a particular Mass you wish to be scheduled for (or not scheduled), please inform the rectory office. Ministry schedules for February and March are available in the sacristy. Due to the Ash Wednesday schedule, this month’s Holy Hour will not be held. Choir Practice Choir practice will be held Wednesday, Feb. 11th at 7PM. New members are always welcome! Thank you for silencing your cell phones & pagers and refraining from texting while in church. February 8, 2015 Casting for Passion Play 2015 on Saturday, Feb. 21st after 4PM Mass.. Another unique version awaits! If you would like to be part of our cast & crew, please call the rectory & leave your name, phone # and part interested in playing. Thanks! 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time Video for New & Current Altar Servers—A fine instructional video for our servers can be found on the Internet: “A Terrific How to Video for Altar Servers—Patheos,” Dated Feb. 12, 2013. Great Viewing for all servers! Lenten Pierogie Sale Our Pierogie Pinching Parties begin Monday, February 9th and continue Mondays through March 16th Everyone is invited & welcome! No Experience Necessary! Any amount of time you can volunteer is greatly appreciated. Help with Potato Peeling is also needed at 1PM on the Sunday before each Pierogie Monday. Pierogies are $8 per dozen. Please call Rena O’Dell at 570-2875421 to place your orders. Order early, avoid the rush! Pick-up times are Mondays from 1-2:30PM & 4-5:30PM. Capital Campaign Payments are due. Please place payment in an envelope marked “Capital Campaign” and drop in the collection basket or send to the rectory. Thank you! Cemetery Clean-Up at St. John’s, Dallas, St. Anthony’s, Courtdale and Sts. Cyril & Methodius, Pringle. Please remove all artificial flowers and winter arrangements by March 1st. Deepest Prayerful Gratitude to each and everyone who made our Souper Bowl for Caring a Fine Success. Currently we have received more than 50 items of food and more than $800 to be used to provide shelter to the homeless, food to the hungry and compassion to those in need. Please know that your generosity has helped to make the burden a little lighter for those less fortunate. May God bless you for your kindness and compassion. If you were unable to contribute last weekend, you can still make a donation in the church hall after all the Masses this weekend Love Prayer Make us more aware of the deeper implications of love, Lord and may we listen to its demands. Make the work of our hands the expression of what our hearts have heard from Your Spirit. Teach us to love in costly actions, not easy phrases. Let us be in our love, Lord, a clearer reflection of You. Happy Valentine’s Day! The name of this holiday comes from St.Valentine, a priest who was martyred by the Roman emperor Claudius II around the year 269. Tradition holds that on this day in mild climates around the Mediterranean Sea, birds often begin to choose their mates. The custom of sending valentine love notes on February 14 began in medieval times. Soup Sale Continues Do you need a great warmup on this cold winter weekend? We have plenty of soup left. It is frozen and ready to go...just pop it in the microwave or heat on the stove for a quick warmup. We have pints of chili, chicken-rice and vegetable soup available for $5 in the church hall after the Masses this weekend. Ditto Deepest Prayerful Gratitude to each and everyone who provided a “scrumditily-uptious” meal for Mother Theresa’s Haven this past week. Commitment of Treasure February 3, 2015 Adult Envelopes Issued 807 Adult Envelopes Used 316 Budget Collection Weekly $5,650 $5252.00 Fiscal Year-to-Date $169,500 $159,747.09 Diocesan and Community News 50th Annual “German Nite” - sponsored by the Holy Name Society of St. Nicholas Church, S. Washington St., WilkesBarre on Saturday, February 14 from 6:00-11:00PM in the School Auditorium. German style buffet from 6:15-7:15 with music provided by “Walt Groller Orchestra” from 7:30-10:30. Donation is $30.00 (advance tickets only) no tickets sold at the door. This is a non-smoking event. For tickets, call St. Nicholas Rectory at 570-823-7736. Lenten Preparation Session—The Office for Parish Life will be holding a regional Lenten Preparation Session on Tuesday, February 10th at 6:30PM at Gate of Heaven Parish, 40 Machell Ave., Dallas for those involved with the preparation of liturgical season, especially music ministers, liturgy committees, art and environment committees, or anyone wanting to deepen his or her appreciation of the Lenten season and the Paschal Triduum. For more information or to register for this session, please contact the Office for Parish Life at 570-207-2213. Wedding Anniversary Mass—His Excellency, the Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of Scranton, and the Office for Parish Life wish to invite couples celebrating their 25th or 50th wedding anniversary in 2015 to a diocesan Wedding Anniversary Mass on Sunday, June 7. The event includes a 2:30PM Mass at St. Peters Cathedral followed by a reception. Requests for an invitation, with a mailing address, should be made through your pastor before March 16. Holy Redeemer High School Grade 8 Placement/Scholarship Test Result Night and Registration Night for incoming Freshmen will be held January 28 at 7PM in the Auditorium. Appointments for class scheduling for new students for the 2015-2016 school year will be held from Feb. 5, 9, 10, 11 from 3-6PM. Call Holy Redeemer High School’s Guidance Department at 570-829-2424 to set an appointment. Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church, Buttonwood, Hanover Township is having a Soup, Bake, and Book Sale on Thursday, February 12, from 8AM to 6PM. Soup of the month is Piggie Soup. Cost is $8 per quart. Take outs only. Your pre-order will be appreciated. To place an order, please call Sylvia at 570-825-6370 or Barry at 570-831-5593. Evening of Reflection—St. Monica’s Parish (West Wyoming): Sunday, February 22nd at 6PM with Sung Evening Prayer, Exposition & Adoration of the blessed Sacrament (followed by a social) and ending with Sung Night Prayer. Sponsored by the Christian Society. Fr. Pio Mandato will share on the theme: “ADORATION: Encountering Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.” All are most welcome. Pre-Lenten “Piggie” Dinner—at St. Andrew Parish, 316 Parrish St., Wilkes-Barre on Sunday, Feb. 15 from 11:30AM to 3PM in the Church Hall. Dinner will consist of 3 “Piggies”, mashed potatoes, vegetable, rolls, butter, dessert and coffee, tea or water. Tickets are $10 and will be sold only at the door. Only 300 dinners will be available on a first-come first-served basis. A Bake Sale will also be held. Second Annual Fat Sunday– at St. Anthony & St. George Church, corner of Park Ave. and Dana St. on Feb. 15 starting at 11AM until sold out. Cost is $5 and features an Ala Carte Menu consisting of Kibbeh (raw and baked), Tabouli, Grape Leaves, Hummus, Laban with cucumber, Lubya and Rice and coffee, soda and water. A bake sale will also be available with cakes, goodies and Lebanese Pastries. Learning Luke for Lent—St. Ignatius Loyola Scripture Study—Instead of giving up chocolate, try attending a Bible study at St. Ignatius Parish in Kingston. We will begin our 12 week study of the Gospel of Luke on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 6:30PM or Friday, Feb. 20 at 8:15AM, participants choice of session. The sessions run an hour and a half and the cost is $15 for materials. Please call Tony Butel or Fr. Alex Roche at 570 288-6446 to reserve a spot by Feb. 13. Knights of Columbus, Luzerne is under new management and have a chef on board in our kitchen. Lenten specials will be served from fish to pizza in Feb. and March with a St. Paddy’s Day ham and cabbage dinner. Please call 570 287-2826 or email [email protected] for reservations. Sit in and take outs are welcome. LifeLine — “See, upon the palms of my hands I have engraved you…” Is 49:16 (NABRE © 2010 CCD. Used with permission.) Let us Pray …For the elderly and those who are sick: that their lives may be protected by those surrounding them, including their families, nurses and doctors.