NEWCOMERS WELCOME!

Please call the Rectory for an appointment with

Msgr. Matz to register to become a member.

CONNECT WITH US!

www.sjnparish.org

Parish Rectory

mainoffice@sjnparish.org

610-525-3100

380 Highland Lane

Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

PASTORAL STAFF

Pastor: Rev. Msgr. Michael J. Matz

In Residence: Rev. Robert J. Chapman

Permanent Deacon: Deacon Kevin Harrington

Parish Services Director: Ms. Clare Frissora

Sunday Assistance: Rev. Gerald D. Canavan

Rev. Robert Murray, OSA Business Manager: Mrs. Joy Falcone

Administrative Assistants: Mrs. Chris Cutrufello

Mrs. Terri Giangiulio

Mrs. Mary Ann Keenan

School Principal: Mrs. Kelly Ciminera

PREP/Director Religious Education: Mrs. Camille Morrison

Music Ministry: Mrs. Isabel Momenee

COORDINATORS OF PARISH MINISTRY

Visit ‘Ministries’ at www.sjnparish.org

Active Adults Group: Bill Haines

Adult Faith Formation: Deacon Kevin Harrington

Altar Guild: Nora Saraceni ‘Caring for Friends’: Cheryl Calnan

CYO Athletics: Dan Stout

Garage Sale: Mary Ann Macciocca

Good Samaritans: Craig Callaghan

H.O.P.E. Program: Clare Frissora

Hospitality: Honor Jones

Interfaith Hospitality Network: Mary Beth Wolanin

Lectors: Jack McNamara

Little Church School: Janet Baffa

Liturgical Environment: Terry Sullivan

Pre-Cana: Clare Frissora

Respect Life: Clare Frissora

Ushers: Jack McNamara

Saints Colman—John Neumann Catholic School www.scjnschool.org

610-525-3266

372 Highland Lane Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

St. John Neumann Parish August 30th, 2020

CONFESSIONS in the Pandemic Green Phase

Tuesdays at 6:00 pm—in the Gathering Room.

*Join the livestream Mass when it’s taking place or catch up later in the day — All at the same place on our website!

Visit Masses from previous dates — go to ‘Mass Replays’ at www.sjnparish.org

MASS During the Pandemic Green Phase

Start each day with Mass!

Saturday Vigil: 5:15 pm Public Mass Sunday: 7:30 am Public Mass 9:00 am Public & Livestream* Mass 10:30 am Public Mass

Monday—Saturday: 8:00 am Public & Livestream* Mass

visit us at www.sjnparish.org and Follow us on Facebook

The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Ego sum via veritas et vita.”

I am the way, the truth and the life.

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Now on FORMED.org

The Search gets you thinking! Episode 3 (27 mins) — Why a God?

In an effort to enhance the beauty of our Liturgies please consider making a donation for Altar flowers in honor of a loved one. We will all enjoy the beau-ty that God provides through your generosity. Please call the Rectory at 610-525-3100 or email mainoffice@sjparish.org if you would like to donate Altar flowers for a special intention. Sacred Heart—$75 Blessed Mother—$75 In front of Altar—$150 Behind the Altar (both sides)—$250

FORMED.org Access your free subscription! Go to www.formed.org, Click on “Sign-up” Click on “I belong to a parish or organization” In the ‘Find your parish or organization

search bar’ type: St John Neumann Church 380 Highland Lane Bryn Mawr

Select our SJN Church Fill in the form!

Need help? Contact the Rectory!

For info on a free

FORMED.org account

Is God an old dude in the sky?

The complementarity of faith and science.

What if God came

looking for you?

The why and how: faith gave birth to the sciences.

Did you not notice anything?

You will be surprised.

Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself.

—St. John Paul II

Second Collection, September 6th: Black and Indian Mission Collection

The Black and Indian Mission Collection exists to help local African American and Native American Diocesan Communities throughout the United States spread the

Good News of Jesus Christ and respond to real and pressing needs on the ground.

For all women ages 18+ that are considering reli-gious life, the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity (MSBT) will be hosting an online discernment retreat — Friday and Saturday, September 25th & 26th.

Join the MSBT sisters for prayer, reflection and hear their stories on mission. To register go to https://www.msbt.org/rise-up-journey-with-jesus/ or for more information mail voc@msbt.org .

Contemplative Prayer Retreat — Sept. 28th — Oct. 1 Marianist Family Retreat Center Cape May Point, NJ 08212 Anthony Fucci 609-884-3829 mfrc@capemaymarianists.org www.capemaymarianists.org This retreat is intended for those interested in

a contemplative prayer experience. First-timers as well as those familiar with this type of retreat are all welcomed. Our time will be filled with prayer experiences, quiet personal time, special liturgies and daily Mass. Cost: $155/pp — all sin-

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St. John of the Cross in his famous work, The Spiritu-al Canticle, wrote this: “You do very well

to seek [God] always as one hidden. You Honour Him greatly and indeed come near to Him, when you hold Him to be nobler and deeper than anything you can attain. So do not settle down or try to find a corner in what your mind and heart can grasp… And do not be like many heartless people who have a low opinion of God: they think that when they cannot understand Him or sense or feel Him, he is further away—when the truth is more the opposite: it is when you understand him less clearly that you are coming closer to Him...” I found these words to be very helpful for me. Although it sounds like a contradiction in terms, St. John of the Cross’ writing actually takes the burden off of us to try to figure out all the answers to life’s questions. These words of St. John (who is not always the easiest person to understand!) also help us when we confront what seems emptiness when we turn to God in prayer. He would say that feeling God is absent doesn’t mean he is absent. The feeling of empti-ness need not mean that we are doing some-thing wrong when we pray. What a relief to know this! In Scripture we read: “Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! How inscrutable—in others words, how unknowable. And St. John of the Cross, in his Spiritual Canticle, is saying that it’s OK to not understand God—it’s actually a good thing!

So, how can we ever get to know God? How can we figure out this mysterious God? John would say this: Believing, hoping, loving are the only means, and they are means by which a person is directly ‘united’ with God. This insight gives us the courage to persevere in our faith and have confidence that God never abandons us, even in the most trying of times. These words also encourage us to be hopeful, and not give in to cynicism, thinking that “it will never change”, or “things will never change” and closing the doors on the future. And loving the way that Christ loves us will always call us beyond “me and my concerns”. It will offer us a new vision where we stop looking at events just on the surface. We learn more and more to TRUST God and allow ourselves to be open to his hidden purposes. So, in the end, we see that St. John of the Cross’ message is not some obscure highly theo-logical play on words, but real practical advice that reaches across the centuries to offer us guid-ance for all of us in this complicated world of the 21st Century. So, I will let John of the Cross have the last word (today). He would write this often in his letters when he wanted to say some-thing that would help. So, these words are offered to help all of us: “Live only in (dark and) genuine faith, and sure hope, and unmitigated love… Be joyful, and trust in God.”

Click on image for prayer card.

Click on logo to visit our Online Giving site

Each donation is appreciated! Your generosity allows us to

continue spreading the Gospel.

Offerings August 23rd $13,347

Joseph Keenan Please Pray for our Deceased

May his soul, and all the souls of the faithful

departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Thank you for supporting the

Interfaith Hospitality

Network (IHN)!

We greatly appreciate

your generosity &

prayers

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September 3 — St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (540?—604)

Gregory was truly an accomplished man. He is regarded as one of the four key Doctors of the Western Church, together with St. Ambrose, St. Jerome and St. Augustine. He was the son of a noble and devout family; he left the civic life at the age of thirty for the monastery. He was ordained a priest and became one of the pope’s seven deacons and served as a papal representative in Constantinople. He was recalled to the monastery to become abbot and then, at age fifty, elected pope. Gregory was direct and firm. He removed unworthy priests from office and emptied the papal treasury to ransom prisoners; he cared for persecuted Jews as well as victims of plague and famine. He was known for his reform of the liturgy and strengthening respect for doctrine. Gregory wrote over 800 letters answering

queries from both lay and clerical leaders. He lived in a time of perpetual strife and worked with opposing leaders for resolution. An Anglican historian wrote: “It is impossible to conceive what would have been the confusion, the lawlessness, the chaotic state of the Middle Ages without the medieval papacy; and of the medieval papacy, the real father is Gregory the Great.” His book Pastoral Care, on the duties and qualities of a bishop, urged priests to apply themselves to the care of souls. It was read for centuries after his death. Gregory was skilled at applying the daily Gospel reading to the needs of his listeners. Though he was content to be a monk, he willingly served the Church in other ways when asked. He sacrificed his own preferences in many ways, especially when he was called to be Bishop of Rome — to all his pubic service he gave, completely, his considerable energies. Saint of the Day, The Magnificat

Blood Drive — Sept 3 & 4

Blood Donors Needed!

Thursday & Friday, 9/3 &4 2:00 pm—7:00 pm Both Days

First Saturday Devotion

Come and join us on the First Saturday of each month at 7:30 AM for the Holy Rosary

(prior to 8:00 AM Mass).

Join us on Saturday, September 5th

About the First Saturday Devotion:

Our Lady of Fatima told Lucia that she would "…assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all who on the First Saturday of five consecutive months confess their sins, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the purpose of making reparation to my Immaculate Heart."

”Perhaps it is not after all so difficult for a man to part with his possessions, but it is certainly most difficult for him to part with himself. To renounce what one has is a minor thing;

but to renounce what one is, that is asking a lot.” — St. Gregory the Great

Why five First Saturdays?

Jesus explained this to Sr. Lucia on May 29-30, 1930, saying: Daughter, the motive is simple: There are five kinds of offenses and blasphemies spoken against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. First: blasphemies against the Im-

maculate Conception Second: against her Virginity Third: against the Divine Maternity, refusing, at the

same time, to receive her as the Mother of mankind Fourth: those who seek publicly to implant, in the

hearts of children, indifference, disrespect, and even hate for this Immaculate Mother

Fifth: those who revile her directly in her sacred images Here, dear daughter, is the motive that led the Im-maculate Heart of Mary to petition Me to ask for this small act of reparation. And, out of regard for her, to move My mercy to pardon those souls who have had the misfortune to offend her. As for you, seek endlessly, with your prayers and sacrifices, to move Me to mercy in regard to these poor souls.

Sign up at Redcrossblood.org Sponsor Code: SJNeumann

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Catholic Mass

Scavenger Hunt!

Click on images for activities

Dolly Angelo Ghada Ayoub Gail Baselics Mary Boldt Deborah Bowe Mary Grace Brown Nancy Cannon Kay Carlin JP Castillo Janice Cleary Jack Cloran Frank Collins

Debbie D’Orsaneo Joe DiFelice Maeve Fitzgerald Landon J Gavio Regina Hershey Joan Lanahan Bill Layberger Brenda Logan Brendan McAnally Marge Mele Maria Merlitti Paul Morrison

Kendra Mushrush James MyersKathleen O’Connor Loretta Ribecca Joel Rivera Lindsey Roberts John Robinson Jeff RussellNell Schrek David “Lefty” Snyder Diane Thomas Lily Walker

Peter Walheim Gina Weinmann Nancy Young

Please pray for those who are sick

School Supplies Collection

Help these school children be prepared for school this year with much-needed supplies!

Suggested Items:

• Marble composition books; loose leaf paper (wide or college ruled); no spiral books

• Pencils, erasers, erasable black ink pens, crayons, magic markers, color pencils • Rulers, scissors for little fingers • Glue sticks, construction paper • Backpacks

Bring school supplies to the back of church.

We’ll collect your gifts now thru September 7th.

What is the chalice, when is it used and why? CLICK HERE

Last Week: When are bells rung during Mass? Why are

they rung? CLICK HERE

Scripture this Sunday:

When Peter tries to deny the Lord his Passion— “God forbid that such a thing ever hap-pen to you!” — the Lord rebukes him. Why? Because Christ’s death on the cross would fulfill the “good and pleasing and per-fect” will of the Father for our salvation. In union with Jesus, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. And no matter how much our sharing in Christ’s cross may make us an object of the world’s laughter and mockery, the love of God is like a fire burning in our heart. “True glory is the glory of love because that is the only kind that gives life to the world” — Pope Francis. It is the life-giving glory of love which Christ reveals on the cross. —The Magnificat

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CAMINO DE SANTIAGO VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE BECOME A PILGRIM. JOIN OUR AMAZING JOURNEY.

WALK WITH US. PRAY WITH US. HELP OTHERS.

Earn stamps in your personal Pilgrim Pass-

port — Click for sample!

James spread the Gospel across Israel and the Roman kingdom and in Spain for nearly forty. He later returned to Jerusalem but was martyred for his faith by King Herod, who ordered him to be decapitated.

He was not allowed to be buried, so his remains were taken to Compostela, Spain, by some of his followers, who buried him there. In the ninth century his remains were discovered and moved to a tomb in Santiago de Compostela where they can be found in the Cathedral of Santiago.

The Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) is a large network of ancient pilgrim routes stretching across Europe and coming together at the tomb of St.

James. The walk goes back to 814 with the discovery of the tomb of St. James. The Way was defined then by the net of Roman routes that joined the nerve-points of the Peninsula. Soon, an impressive number of people began their journey to the pilgrimage site and then hospitals, churches, monasteries, abbeys and towns began to appear on the route.

We will “walk” 480 miles in 164 days. Seem impossible? Not so! 3 miles/day or 20/week — We can do it!

Explore the many ways to accumulate miles: Click Here/Camino Activity-to-Miles Conversion chart! Optional: Online Camino Fitness Tracker https://www.theconqueror.events/camino/ [$40/person after tax.]

Person 1 — 3 miles

• 1.5 = Morning Mass • 0.6 = 20 min stroll • 0.9 = 30 min faith reading

Person 2 — 3 miles

• 2.1 = 30 mins easy bicycling • 0.6 = 20 min prayer • 0.3 = 10 min faith reading

What Is a Pilgrimage?

A pilgrimage is a journey that pil-grims make to a place that is con-sidered holy. To us Catholics, a pilgrimage is more than just trav-eling to historic sites and viewing religious relics. It is a journey with a deeper and more spiritual meaning. A pilgrimage is not purposeless wandering. It is a journey with a higher purpose and that purpose is to honor God. This is a time of spiritual growth and deepening your relationship with Je-sus. Source: catholicfaithstore.com

Join In & Help Others! So many are in need, especially now. Perhaps a friend or two can sponsor

$0.10 for each mile you achieve: Accomplish the full Camino and raise $48!

Tax deductible for your sponsors! We will issue confirmation of donations.

Pray for your sponsors on your journey.

NEXT WEEKEND — We’ll see you in France at the base of the Pyrenees for

our start on Sept. 7th, Labor Day.

Pilgrims can join any time! We finish on Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras

and celebrate before beginning Lent on Ash Wednesday.

Person 3 — 3.2 miles

• 1.2 = 30 mins housework • 1.2 = 30 mins gardening • 0.8 = 20 mins volunteering

The Story of the Camino de Santiago

Questions? Contact us at:

camino@sjnparish.org

More About the Camino:

Check Out Our Flyer and Learn More

Camino Activity-to-Miles Conversion Chart

Sign Up and Travel with Us

Follow our Camino

Book Club: “Walk In A

Relaxed Manner”