The Sunday Good News Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time The Church of Saint John Bosco February 23, 2014

HIS WORD TODAY BY Rev. William J. Reilly

First Reading: Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18

The Lord urges Moses to tell the Israelite Community to love their

neighbors as themselves. They should bear no grudge or hatred against

another.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:16-23

Paul, once again, reminds the Corinthians that they are the temple of God,

and, as such, must avoid internal disputes and wrangling. He tries to make

them realize that they belong to Christ and that the Spirit of God dwells

within them.

Gospel: Matthew 5:38-48

In this part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus exhorts his followers to do

an extraordinary thing — to love their enemies and to pray for their

oppressors. He reminds them that there is nothing laudatory in loving those

who love them for even the “pagans” do this. He urges them to “turn the

other cheek” and to “walk the extra mile.”

THIS WEEK & IN THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Adult Choir ………….….…... Monday, February 24, 7:00—9:00 PM Liturgy Committee Meeting …... Thursday, February 27, 6:30 PM

Ash Wednesday, Lent Begins ……….……… Wednesday, March 5th

Stations of the Cross ………………...….…. Fridays in Lent, 7:00 PM

“The Light is On For You” Reconciliation ………….. Mondays in Lent, 5:30—7:00 PM

Evening Lenten Liturgies ……..….. Wednesdays 2/12, 2/19/, 2/26 & 3/2 at 6:30 PM

Diocesan Workshop: Intentional Discipleship …….... Saturday, March 15, 12:30 PM

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell

them: Be holy, for I, your Lord, your God, am holy. You shall not bear

hatred for your brother or sister in your heart. Though you may have to

reprove your fellow citizen, do not incur sin because of him. Take no

revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people. You shall love

your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.’ ‘But I say to you…’”

We still are on the mountain with Matthew’s teaching of Jesus. We have

passed from the beauty of the beatitudes with promised reward, to the

reminder that we are salt and light for others. Today we are challenged

about what we find in our hearts.

The lawgiver of the old law, Moses, was instructed to teach that there is no

place for hatred, revenge or grudges. Jesus the lawgiver of the new

dispensation tells us we are to love those who try, taunt and tempt us,

which He even called our enemies. We find many excuses and reasons to

justify our actions. We find road rage gratifying, if we are getting even. We

can’t accept ‘forgive and forget’. A better route is to ‘forgive and remember

without bitterness.’ We find ‘I don’t get mad, I just get even’ a mantra for

our attitudes and actions. We judge easily, without justice and mercy.

A suggestion is, at this moment, consider the person or event which

challenges me, and give the person and the problem to the Lord. Why

carry it? Does it seem to make me feel better?

What a wonderful way to lift our burden and live the Great

Commandment ‘love of God and love of neighbor’. Perhaps only in this

way can I consider myself holy.

A Prayer for Spiritual Vision

O God,

Open wide

the eyes of my soul

that I may see the good

in all things;

grant me this day

some new vision

of your truth;

inspire me

with the spirit

of joy and gladness;

and make me

the cup of strength

to suffering souls.

Amen

PAGE 2 The Sunday Good News

SUNDAY STEWARDS

1285 families receive envelopes

February 15th 170 people attended the 4:00 PM Liturgy

67 families used their envelopes and offered $1,440.00

February 16th 174 people attended the 7:30 AM Liturgy

83 families used their envelopes and offered $1,313.00

285 people attended the 9:00 AM Liturgy

98 families used their envelopes and offered $1,761.00

278 people attended the 11:30 AM Liturgy 96 families used their envelopes

and offered $1,344.00

February 15th/16th’s Tithe from

344 families was $5,858.00

Our loose offering was $669.00

Weekly Operating Budget $12,019.08

Thank you for sharing in our vision by giving of your time, talent

and treasure . . . .

Your generosity is most sincerely valued and appreciated!

2013 Tax Statement Request

NAME: ___________________________________

ENVELOPE #: ___________________________

ADDRESS: _______________________________

EMAIL: ___________________________________

That’s all we need at the parish office to send

your statement. Thank you!

D A ILY R E AD I NG S

Sunday Lv 19:1-2, 17-18; 1 Cor 3:16-23; Mt 5:38-48

Monday Jas 3:13-18; Mk 9:14-29

Tuesday Jas 4:1-10; Mk 9:30-37

Wednesday Jas 4:13-17; Mk 9:38-40

Thursday Jas 5:1-6; Mk 9:41-50

Friday Jas 5:9-12; Mk 10:1-12

First Saturday Jas 5:13-20; Mk 10:13-16

This Sunday: CLOW at 9AM FF classes Levels 1-8 at 10AM High School class at 12:30PM

First Communion Parents please return question/permission forms asap. ~~~ Upcoming Dates ~~~

Confirmation Make-Up Class—Sunday, March 2nd at 11 AM

First Communion Retreat—Saturday, March 8th

Volunteer Info Session for all Confirmation/HS Students — Sunday, February 23rd after Class in Room 1 from 11 to 11:30 AM. All students are asked and invited to attend this info session to learn about a variety of Faith Formation volunteer opportunities for next year. Hope to see you all there!

High School volunteers are needed for the First Communion Retreat on March 8. If interested, please contact Carrie at carrie.grandzol@yahoo.com.

AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY …..

to become an even more amazing disciple than you already are, is coming to the Greater Hazleton Area! On Saturday, March 15th, the Diocesan Office for Parish Life will offer an afternoon of workshops for Catechists, Liturgical Ministers, other servant-leaders and all parishioners who want to enter more deeply into the life of our wonderful parish. You may choose from six no-charge workshops beginning at 12:30 PM, followed by dinner and a performance of “Godspell” by the Sweet Charity Players. Most Precious Blood Parish and Holy

Family Academy will host the day’s activities. For more information and to register, please call Sr. Marilyn at 570-788-1997, ext. 203 or logon to www.stjohnboscochurch.org. Don’t miss it!

BELIEVE IT or NOT!

Spring IS coming !!! And so is our annual Spring Fling on Saturday, May 17th. Now is a good time to do a little housecleaning and reserve some of your unwanted treasures to be donated to our flea market. And mark your calendar for a day of food, fun, tricky trays, treats and more!

CELEBRATE THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

Every Monday in Lent, beginning on March 10th, our parish and all parishes in the Diocese will be open for individual confessions from

5:30 to 7:00 PM. What better way to experience Christ’s healing love as we journey through Lent, than by participating in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Please come! And please reach out to Catholics you know who have been away for awhile and invite them to begin again. What a wonderful opportunity to be reconciled and renewed in faith.

“Thank You” and an INVITATION ….

Thank you, Fran Jurewicz, for fourteen years of dedicated service to STJB’s Salvation Army Lunch Program Committee. Fran has baked dozens and dozens of cookies every month for needy clients. Now, at age eighty-seven, she is retiring from this ministry. Do you like to cook or bake? We invite you to join our volunteer cooks for the Salvation Army’s Lunch Program. Questions? Call Arlene Stagg 570-926-7144

PAGE 3 The Sunday Good News WE REMEMBER...

TABERNACLE CANDLE

The Tabernacle Candle burns this week in memory of George Waschko by wife, Marie and Family.

SYMBOLS SPEAK ! ‘...let us listen with the ear of our heart.’

Saturday, 4:00PM February 22 Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Maxine Spencer

By The Facciolla Family

Sunday, 7:30AM February 23 Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Priest’s Intention

Sunday, 9:00AM February 23 Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time John Horwath By Marianne Horwath

Sunday, 11:30AM February 23 Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Living & Deceased Members of St. John Bosco Parish

Monday, 8:00AM February 24 Ruth Tolotti By A Friend

Tuesday, 8:00AM February 25 Michael Arlotto By Susan & Peter Merker

Wednesday, 8:00AM February 26 The Staudenmeier & Bernotas Family By Dennis Palmer

Thursday, 8:00AM February 27 The Kruger Family By John & Jeanette Donahue

Friday, 8:00AM February 28 Linda Filbert By Michael & Nancy Washinsky

Saturday, 4:00PM March 1 Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Sally Ritz

By Carolyn Hyde

Sunday, 7:30AM March 2 Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Priest’s Intention

Sunday, 9:00AM March 2 Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Marie Stark By Greg & Helen Braskie

Sunday, 11:30AM March 2 Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Living & Deceased Members of St. John Bosco Parish

Blessed Candles are always available in the Church Office. Just stop by during business hours or call Linda at 570-788-1997, ext. 201

Pope Francis’ Joyful Vision

In “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), his first extensive piece of writing, Pope Francis lays out a vision of the Catholic Church dedicated to evangelization in a positive key, with a focus on society’s poorest and most vulnerable, including the aged and the unborn.

In his characteristically relaxed style, he writes that an “evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral!” He continues: the church’s message “has to concentrate on the essentials, on what is most beautiful, most grand, most appealing and at the same time most necessary. In this basic core, what shines forth is the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead.”

Inspired by Jesus’ poverty and concern for the dispossessed during his earthly ministry, Pope Francis calls for a “church which is poor and for the poor.” He says, “The poor have much to teach us. We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voices to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.”

When we are discouraged, he invites us to “keep in mind the early Christians and our many brothers and sisters throughout history who were filled with joy, unflagging courage and zeal in proclaiming the Gospel.”

“Write down the vision ……”

In answer to the prophet Habakkuk’s lament in a crisis: “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not listen? Or cry ‘Violence’ and you will not save?” God replies: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. Hb 3:2-3

Habakkuk determines to wait on God for resolution of the crisis. Waiting in the biblical tradition is not passive or forgetful but active, eager, yearning and engaged. A vision written in the present tense, as if the vision has already been accomplished, really describes what the future will look like once its mission is fully realized. It counsels us to “act as if” in our present situation for the most fruitful results.

The potential of a vision is that is can direct us to our personal and communal mission. Our mission is to act out the vision and so exercise integrity in word and in deed. Both Jesus and Pope Francis, following in his footsteps, appeal to us so much because their words and deeds have integrity. They have a vision, they know their mission and they “walk the talk.” Do you?

PAGE 4 The Sunday Good News

It’s often said, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” But Saint Ignatius Loyola reverses the saying: “When I believe it, I’ll see it.” He observes that our vision largely controls our perception. If we think the world is a bleak place, full of evil, greedy, selfish people who have no love for God or each other, that’s what we will see when we look around. If we think that our world is full of goodness and opportunity, a place that God created and sustains and loves, that is what we’ll find. Ignatius believes that the right vision lies at the heart of our relationship with God.

Ignatian spirituality offers us a vision. It is a vision of life, of work, and of love -- a three-part vision that helps us see what is really true about God and about the world he created.

The Ignatian vision is contained in the Spiritual Exercises, the book that Ignatius Loyola assembled to help people come into a more intimate relationship with God. The essence of the Ignatian vision is contained in a reflection at the beginning of the Exercises called the Principle and Foundation:

God who loves us creates us and wants to share life with us forever. Our response to his love takes shape in our praise and honor and service of God.

All the things in this world are also created because of God’s love and are given to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily.

As a result, we show reverence for all the gifts of creation and collaborate with God in using them so that, by being good stewards, we develop as loving persons in our care of God’s world and its development.

In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance before all created gifts. We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one. For everything has the potential of calling forth in us a more loving response to our life forever with God.

Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening life in me.

The Principle and Foundation is a life vision. It asks, “what is life all about?” It is a vision that directs us to the source of life. It also offers a work vision. What is our work in this world

all about? Why do we do what we do? What values should govern our choices? And finally, it is a vision of love. Above all, God loves us, and he invites us to love him in return. Ignatius tells us: “love ought to show itself in deeds over and above words.”

The ultimate expression of self-giving love is Jesus’ death. He shares his very life with us. He also shares with us the work he is doing in the world. By inviting us to join him in his work, God is showing his love for us. In our willingness to accept this invitation, we show our love for him and for all his creation.

Saint Ignatius’ Vision: It’s All Good

Excerpted from www.ignatianspirituality.com and based on the book What Is Ignatian Spirituality? by David L. Fleming, SJ.

Food for Thought: What is your vision? For an organization to succeed, it needs to have a well-defined purpose. From the smallest community group to the largest, multi-national corporation, a statement of goals and ways to achieve those goals is essential. The same is true for our lives. Jesus offers us the vision we need to live the life God has planned for us, to achieve the purpose for which he made us. It’s a vision of child-like trust, always listening for and being receptive to God’s voice (WORD); a vision of humility and deep gratitude to God for his unconditional love (WORSHIP); a vision of graciousness and welcome to the strangers in our midst (COMMUNITY); a vision of energetic and generous help for those in need (SERVICE). Do you share Jesus’ vision?