ALTAR SERVERS

Any available

Mateo Hinkle

ALTAR SERVERS Any available

SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS PARISH Mission: OUR LADY OF MERCY

Our Lady of Mercy Parsons, West Virginia

St. Thomas Aquinas Thomas, West Virginia

Pastor: Rev. Timothy J. Grassi, P.O. Box 300, Thomas, WV 26292 Tel: 304-463-4488 www.sttsite.com

Please contact the priest to make arrangements. Instructions for both parents are required. Sponsors from outside the Parish need a letter of eligibility from their Pastors.

If you know of anyone who is seriously ill, hospitalized, shut-in, or about to undergo surgery, Please contact the Pastor or the Parish office to let us know

Arrangements should be made with the Pastor at least six months in advance of the intended date of marriage. Preparation classes with the Pastor are required.

Saturday 4:00 – 4:50 p.m., and 30 minutes before all weekday Masses and anytime upon request.

SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE

SACRAMENT OF ANOINTING OF THE SICK

During the month of August, the Tridentine Mass will be offered at the following times and church:

St. Thomas - 7:30 AM, (Low Mass) Sunday 08/13/17;

Our Lady of Mercy - 12:30 PM, (Low Mass) Sunday 08/20/17.

THE TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS

Aug 14 Monday Aug 14 Monday (Holyday)Aug 15 Tuesday (Holyday) Aug 15 Tuesday (Holyday)Aug 16 WednesdayAug 17 ThursdayAug 18 Friday Aug 19 Saturday Aug 19 SATURDAY VIGIL Aug 20 SUNDAYAug 20 SUNDAY

7:15 AM Thomas 7:00 PM Parsons 7:00 AM Thomas 7:00 PM Thomas 9:00 AM Parsons 5:00 PM Thomas 5:00 PM Thomas 9:00 AM Parsons 5:00 PM Thomas 9:00 AM Thomas 11:00 AM Parsons

Sophie Bluj Fr. Mark Gallipeau Louis & Margaret Maciulla Matthew “Loupie” Lambruno People of the Parish LCDR W.R. Dermott, USNR Connie DeLauder Robert “Hopsing” King Pamela Palmer People of the Parish Alice & Ray Dye

MASSES FOR THE WEEK 19TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Champ Sedmock, “Sob” Gennantonio, Eleanor James, J. Pat Nichols, Vincent

DiBacco, Mary Johnson, Joanne Michael, Joe Sagace, Edward Brobst, Frank Hoffner, and

Robin Bolasky

Let us remember in prayer all of our sick and shut-ins:

The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston is committed to the protection of its children and young people. The Diocese complies with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People by maintaining an Office of Safe Environment. To report an incidence of suspected child sexual abuse, please contact your local law enforcement agency, or you may confidentially contact the West Virginia Bureau for Children and Families/Child Protective Services by calling the Child Abuse Hotline at 800.352.6513 Â FREE. To report suspected cases of sexual abuse by personnel of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston to the Diocese, please contact one of the Bishop’s designees at 888.434.6237, Â FREE (toll free) or 304.233.0880: Sister Ellen Dunn, ext. 264; Mr. Bryan Minor, ext. 263; Msgr. Frederick Annie, ext. 267, or Msgr. Anthony Cincinnati, 270. For more information on the Diocese’s Office of Safe Environment, please go to www.dwc.org, then click the “Diocese” tab, then click “Office of Safe Environment” under the “Offices” menu. To learn more about the Catholic Church’s efforts in preventing sexual abuse of children in the United States, please visit http://www.usccb.org. Under “Issues and Action,” click “Child and Youth Protection” from the drop down menu.

HOLY COMMUNION: We welcome to the Holy Mass all who share our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. While all are welcome here, we cannot extend to all an invitation to receive Holy Communion. This is not for lack of Christian hospitality. Rather, it is the recognition

by the Catholic Church that real divisions of faith and practice do sadly exist among Christians. Practicing Catholics who go to Confession whenever needed are invited to receive Holy Communion. Non-Catholic Christians and those Catholics who should not

receive Holy Communion (including those married outside the church and those in need of the sacrament of Penance) are asked to pray for a spiritual communion with the Lord Jesus and for the unity of His Church. Those who are not receiving Holy Communion but who would

like to receive a blessing are invited to indicate this desire by crossing their arms across their chests as they approach the priest in the Communion procession.

If you would like to place someone on our prayer line call

Mary Frances Evans - Thomas (463-4413) Paula Siler - Parsons (478-4104)

Or Cindy Long - Parsons (478-4833)

PRAYER LINE

We offer a hearty welcome to all of our visitors! If you would like to make a

contribution to our parish, please use the visitor’s envelope in the pew.

THOMAS DATE

08/19 08/20

EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS Kathy Supak Mary Sagace

READERS Nancy Zuzunas Michelle Snyder

PARSONS

19th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, August 13, 2017

DATE

08/20

EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS Kaylee DiBacco & Dee Oldaker

READERS Kathy DiBacco

Cleaning: 08/13 – 08/19: Lois Matlick & Susie Gutshall

The Knights of Columbus will hold a 1st degree ceremony on Sunday, August 27th at 2:00 PM for those men who are interested in joining the Knights. Please contact Dave Oldaker or Matt Hinkle, for more details and to sign-up. ALL KIGHTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO COME TO SUPPORT THE CANDIDATES.

Monday August 14th Tuesday, August 15th Vigil Mass at 7:00 PM Mass at 7:00 AM At Our Lady of Mercy and again at 7:00 PM Church. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church.

PRO-LIFE CORNER

“[Our] faith requires us to oppose evil and to do good, to oppose abortion on demand and to provide help to mothers facing challenging pregnancies. … Moreover, we are being urged to concentrate only on reducing the number of abortions. Our response is unequivocal and absolutely clear: our goal is not the reduction of abortions but the elimination of all abortions! … ++ Bishop Paul Loverde ++

St. Thomas……..$3,980 pledged

(Goal: $10,510) 38% of goal met.

Our Lady of Mercy …$3,520 pledged (Goal: $3,800) 93% of goal met

EVENTS ON THE HORIZON!!! Aug 13 – In honor of the 100th anniversary of Fatima, rosary will be held immediately following Mass in Thomas and at 10:30 before Mass in Parsons. Aug 15 – Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (A holy day of obligation.) Aug 20 – Parish Picnic at 1:00 PM in the Knights of Columbus Park. Aug 24 – 4th Degree Knights meeting at 7:00 PM in Parsons.

St. Thomas: $2,924.00

Our Lady of Mercy: $882.00

Mark your calendars for our annual parish picnic on Sunday, August 20th at 1:00 PM at the Knights of Columbus Park! We will begin with our usual procession in honor of Our Blessed Mother and her feast of the Assumption. Then we will have a delicious variety of foods with the Knights of Columbus providing their signature hamburgers, hotdogs, etc. and beverages for all. Then the real fun begins with some very exciting games!!! You won’t want to miss this annual event! Bring the whole family to enjoy a day to remember!

CONTRIBUTIONS FOR AUGUST 6, 2017

PARISH PICNIC

2017 CATHOLIC SHARING

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

ASK FATHER QUESTION OF THE MONTH

WHY DID GOD CREATE US? HE DOESN’T NEED US. HE IS COMPLETELY SELF SUSTAINING AND SELF CONTAINED.

We are here in this world because God is not selfish. God is Almighty. He is powerful. He is Perfect. He is loving. In fact, He is love. Since He is love, and love is good, then God is good. He has infinite power, blessedness, and love. Since He is Perfectly Good, Perfectly Love, then everything He does must be good. His will and action must be good because He is good. Knowing this, did God have to create us?

No, He did not have to. But because He is so good, He wanted to create us. It is like having a secret or knowing something which you did not already know. Because the knowledge or secret is so good, you do not want to keep it to yourself. You can keep it to yourself whenever you want, but there is some urge to tell it to others because you do not want it to be a secret. This is like how God is. God can keep His glory and blessedness to Himself, but He did not want to. He chose not to keep his glory to Himself. He wanted to share it. This is why we are here. God created us so that we can know and love Him and be happy with Him in heaven forever.

But why can't God create heaven and put us there instead of putting us here on earth? Because if He did, then we would be like robots. We would not have the choice of doing what is right or wrong. When a father buys a son a bike, he does not put his son on the bike and let him ride it alone. Nor does he force him. He does not say, "Go ride your bike!" It would make the son scared. Instead, a father would say, "Son, here is a bike. If you want to ride it, tell me and I will help you, but don't do it yourself because you will get hurt."

This is like how God created man. God created man good. He gave him happiness as long as he did not abandon him. He did not make him a robot and force him to do the things He wanted because if He did, then man would not truly be happy. A son can only truly be happy if he wanted to ride the bike. So too, man can only truly be happy if he wanted to love God. So God gives us this choice, of wanting to love Him or not just as we have the choice of riding the bike or not. We would not truly be happy if we were forced to do something. Only when we want to, when we choose it ourselves, which makes your desire of happiness satisfied. This is why God created us here on earth first.

Are we here alone? No. God is with us. God helps us to come to Him. He helps us to become happy. To become happy is to do what is good. And since God is good, then we should do everything which leads us to Himself. And since God is good, He leads us to Himself. It is like a father who teaches his son to ride a bike so that when the father sends him out, he can come back. So God helps us to do what is good so that we can come back to Him.

This is why we are here. As the Catechism says in its opening paragraph:

"God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength."

HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Please pray the Rosary remembering reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary and For the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and

for all those serving in our armed forces.

PARISH ROSARIES PRAYED Total Rosaries for 2 weeks……….163

Total Rosaries for the year…….….8,650 (since May 2016)

FOOD PANTRY BLACKWATER MINISTERIAL FOOD PANTRY: The Food Pantry is in need of “valued” food items. This month we are seeking dried beans . In subsequent months we will let you know what items are needed and ask your assistance in this need for our community.