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Neumann News May/June 2010Volume Twenty-Nine Issue Two
Year of the PriestThank you for all of the letters and cards you have sent me during this year of the priest. They have been a tremendous source of support and strength for me this year. I have saved them for what I call my down days. My “down days” are when I’m missing my dad or my brother or when I have failed to meet the needs of the people around me. I can look my collection of cards, letters and notes and have my spirit renewed and refreshed. During my brief time in ministry, I would have to say that there is no typical week. Some of the things that happen one can not plan for but one has to be ready to meet the demands of ministry. One thing that helps in this planning is making sure that I start with my own personal prayer life. One of the promises that I make as a priest is to pray often. The prayer that I pray is taken from the Liturgy of the Hours. The Liturgy of the Hours is the official prayer of the church. If I was in a monastery living with other religious I would gather with them seven times a day to pray the hours. The Liturgy of the Hours consists of psalms, canticles, scripture readings, intercessions and readings from the church fathers. As a parish priest, I promise to pray four times a day. So a significant part of my week is spent in prayer with Liturgy of the Hours, celebrating Eucharist, anointing the sick, taking communion to the sick and praying with scriptures to prepare my homily. Also, one of my favorite ways to pray is to spend quiet time in the Blessed Sacrament chapel early in the morning or late at night. My week consists of setting time aside to meet with parishioners, going to parish meetings, counseling people, spending time preparing couples for marriage and writing articles for the bulletin and for Neumann News. I spend a significant amount of time each week on the phone and answering e-mails. Obviously, I spend time eating, exercising some, sleeping and trying to take care of my physical health. I enjoy reading spiritual books, Clive Cussler novels and books on American History. I enjoy birding, fishing and spending time outdoors admiring all of God’s creation. Once again thank you for all of your support and prayers and be assured of my continued prayers for you and your families as we continue to make the name of the Lord known in this place. Yours in Christ,
THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT The months of May and June are a time when we remember and honor mothers and fathers in a special way on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. The role of parents in the church is that they are the “domestic church.” What that means is that they are the primary teachers of the faith to their children. I want to thank our parents for the role you play in handing on the faith to your children and helping them to pray and teaching them about God and the sacraments. It’s important to remember to honor our parents always. On the weekends of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day we will have a special blessing at all the Masses.
By receiving Confirmation & Eucharist By reception into Full Communion
We also excited for and congratulate those David Asher III Honoring the Saints in May and June St. Joseph is the earthly father of our Lord and Savior. He is described in the gospels as carpenter or craftsman. It is for this reason that he is the patron of workers. Pope Pius XII started this memorial in honor of St. Joseph the worker to counteract May Day, or International Workers’ Day, which had become an important holiday in the Soviet Union and other communist countries. The feast day of St. Joseph the Worker is May 1. Blessed Damien Joseph de Veuster of Molokai was a Belgian priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary who lived during the 19th century. He was sent to Hawaii and was ordained in Honolulu in 1864. Damien ministered to the lepers who had been exiled to the island of Molokai. He built a church there and a shelter and ended up contracting the disease himself. He provided much needed leadership to the island when there hadn’t been any. His feast day is May 10. St. Christopher Magallanes was a Mexican priest who lived during the 20th century. He ministered during an extremely anticlerical era in Mexico. He was falsely accused of promoting rebellion and arrested while on his way to celebrate Mass. He forgave his executioners, and his last words before he was killed were “I die innocent, and ask God that my blood may serve to unite my Mexican brethren”. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on May 21, 2000 along with 21 priests and 3 laymen, also martyred for resisting the anti-Catholic Mexican government in the 1920s. His feast day and his companion’s is May 21. St. Anthony of Padua was a Franciscan priest and doctor of the Church who lived during the 12th and 13th centuries. He was known for his preaching and his ministry in the town of Padua. He is the saint that we invoke to help us find lost articles. He is important for us because he accepted the circumstances of his life with a generous love for God, willing to serve God in whatever situation he found himself. His feast day is June 13. St. Aloysius Gonzaga lived during the 16th century. He was born to a noble family in Italy who wanted him to join the military. While he was recovering from an illness he spent much time in prayer and reading about the lives of saints. He decided then to dedicate himself to God as a Jesuit. He made his vows in 1587 and then in 1591 the plague broke out and he volunteered to minister to the sick and became sick himself. He eventually recovered, but his health was broken and he died a few months later. Many schools are named after him because he was so young when he died. His feast day is June 22. Health Care and Its Impact on Every American Most of us can agree that access to health care is an important issue and people need to have access to quality care. Much debate has gone into the new health care bill that was passed into law. While health care is important, we must not commit a grave sin in one area to promote health in another area. The new law provides direct funding for abortions at Community Health Centers. $11 Billion of our taxes will go directly to these centers (H.R. 3590, Sect 10503, p. 2355). The new law uses federal funds to subsidize abortion in insurance plans (sec 1303, p. 2069). By providing subsidies to pay premiums for insurance plans that cover abortions, the government will make aborts more accessible thus increasing the total number performed each year. The new law also does not protect health care workers who refuse to participate in abortions from being penalized by the government. How many doctors will leave their practice because morally they know they can’t and won’t perform abortions? This new law forces Americans to pay for abortions even if they oppose abortions. If abortion is covered in the plan your family needs, you will not be able to opt out of the abortion coverage and still use the plan. Some people think that the President’s Executive Order will prevent funds from being used for abortion. This is just Not the case. No president can amend a law by executive order. Because the new health care bill is law, the federal courts will enforce the law. When laws are passed that are unjust and cause grave sin, they must be overturned. We must do all we can to help those who need medical care while protecting the most vulnerable in our society, the unborn. Top of Page
WE WELCOME BAPTISMS May they grow healthy, strong and steadfast in their faith Top of Page THANK YOU How can I help? We are always looking for additional booth chairs to help co-chair and be ready to step up in the future – new leadership is always welcome! Keep looking in the bulletin and back of church for goods needed for the Merchandise Booth. This is one of our most important booths and a lot of work and donations are always needed. Booth worker signups will be in the back of church before you know it! Please look for a couple hours that you can give to help with our success and join your parish family for a fun weekend where we shine for the community! Anything new this year? Happy H Ride Company joins us this year. We are very excited about this as they have some more larger-type rides that teens and adults can enjoy! This should be a great change for all! The Beer Garden is our new, BIG addition this year. Across from Bars and Bells will be a tent with specialty draft beers sold in collector mugs, a big screen TV with football games and more, a Mug Slide game for fun. We are also looking at other activities and some food options like pretzels for this fun, German-style, sports bar themed tent! This is a very exciting addition and we have a great team working hard on it. Grand Prize This year we are looking to sell all 500 tickets at $50 each and once again give away $10,000 on Sunday night of the festival. We have two early bird drawings set (June 1 for $1,000 and July 1 for $500). Get your ticket in early so you are eligible for all drawings. Look for the flier in the mail or contact the parish office for a form. It is our aim to make our festival a little better and bigger each and every year. As always, we’ll have Hammanns famous pig roast on Saturday night, Skyline Chili on Friday night, Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament on Saturday night, Kids’ Game Arcade area, and plenty of great food, cold drinks, games of chance and plenty of fun and fellowship with your parish family and community at large. I can’t wait – hope you can’t either! IN MEMORY We will acknowledge each of these memorial gifts in a card or note to the family and in our NEUMANN NEWS. Perhaps you will find this kind of memorial to be a fitting way to remember the people you love: the person who has died and the parish with which you worship. The Neumann News is published by
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Stricker’s Grove on Hamilton-Cleves Road near Ross, Ohio. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. There will be free rides from 6:00 – 10:00 p.m. The SJN Men’s Society will once again offer a Picnic Buffet. Bring a dessert to share. Free soft drinks! Because of state alcohol policies, no alcohol can be brought into Stricker’s Grove. Stricker’s Grove will be selling beer.