Saint Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church June 14, 2015

Saint Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church
33 New Hyde Park Road, Franklin Square, New York 11010-3692
Parish Social Ministry
Coordinator
Maureen Miedreich
Pastor
Rev. Msgr. Richard M. Figliozzi
Faith Formation
Coordinator
Debbie Hurley
Associate Pastors
Rev. Allan Arneaud
Rev. Johnny Mendonca
Rev. Charles N. Srion
Music Director
Jennifer Wells
Deacons
Joseph Benincasa
Frank Gonzalez
Trustees
Dennis Canese
Marion G. Dreyfus
Parish office: (516) 352-0146
Parish FAX: (516) 326-7427
Faith Formation: (516) 354-4554
Social / Outreach: (516) 775-0840
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT: www.stcatherineofsienna.org
Sunday Masses
Saturday: Saint Catherine Chapel-Sienna Center
5:00PM & 8:00PM
Sunday: Saint Catherine Chapel, Sienna Center
7:30AM, 9:30AM, 11:00AM, 1:00PM
& 5:00PM (Spanish)
Parish Membership
Weekday Masses
Adoration: Saint Catherine Chapel, Sienna Center
Every Friday after 8:00AM Mass to 9:00PM
and 24 Hour Exposition every First Friday
Miraculous Medal Novena: Mondays after 8:00AM Mass
Monday through Saturday: 8:00AM
Parish Office Hours (990 Holzheimer St.)
Monday to Thursday: 9:00AM—8:00PM
Friday: 9:00AM—7:00PM
Saturday: 9:00AM—4:00PM
Sunday: 10:00AM—1:00PM
Parish Social Ministry Outreach Hours
(995 Lutz Street)
Monday through Friday, 11:00AM-1:00PM
Thursday, 4:00PM - 6:00PM
(Beginning 7/1/15 Wednesday, 4:00PM - 6:00PM)
Additional hours by appointment only.
Anointing of the Sick
Communal Anointing of the Sick on Thursdays during the
8:00AM Mass. Please notify priest if family member is sick
at home. Emergency Sick Calls: Call 352-0146
Celebrate Baptism
We welcome Children & Adults to Catholicism through
Baptism. Call the Parish Office to make arrangements.
Children: Baptism Celebrated First & Third Saturdays of
each month at 12:30PM.
Baptism Preparation Class: 2nd Tuesday of each month at
7:30PM (pre-registration is required).
Adults: Adults to be Baptized (or Confirmed) are
invited to call the Parish Office for assistance.
ALL are welcome to join our parish family; please REGISTER
on the First Sunday of the Month at the Pastoral Table after
Mass or anytime at the Parish Office. We invite you to be part
of our Parish Ministry through various groups and activities.
Parish Prayer Life
Parishioners with Special Needs
The Church, Saint Catherine Chapel and Sienna Center are
accessible through doors on right side of the Church where
buildings meet. The Sienna Center is also accessible through
its front doors and has an elevator at ground level for upper
and lower levels (left side of staircase) allowing access to
Church as well.
Assisted Listening Devices are available for the hearing
impaired. Please ask an usher if you need one.
Special Needs Advocacy: Dr. Priscilla O’Connell may
be reached by calling the Parish Social Ministry Office at
775-0840; contact if you have other needs to be addressed.
Mass For Those with Special Needs is celebrated on the
3rd Saturday of each month at 3:00PM in Saint Catherine
Chapel-Sienna Center.
Professional Therapy & Counseling
Family, marriage, and individual therapies, provided by
New York licensed therapists, are available to our parish.
Call Dr. Giuliani, Catholic Counseling Ctr., 631-243-2503.
Celebrate Marriage
Please make an appointment with a priest or deacon
before making your social arrangements.
Reconciliation (Confession/Penance)
Every Saturday: 4:00PM-5:00PM & 7:30PM–8:00PM
June 14, 2015
During Week of June 14
SANCTUARY LAMP
June 13 to June 21
SAT.
5:00 PM
8:00 PM
SUN.
Sienna
Ctr.
7:30 AM
9:30 AM
11:00 AM
1:00 PM
5:00 PM
MON.
8:00 AM
TUES.
8:00 AM
WED.
8:00 AM
THURS.
8:00 AM
FRI.
8:00 AM
SAT.
8:00 AM
5:00 PM
8:00 PM
SUN.
Sienna
Ctr.
7:30 AM
9:30 AM
11:00 AM
1:00 PM
5:00 PM
June 13 - BVM
Antonio Sicignano - Giuseppe Lattanzio
Robert E. Currie,Sr.- Manuel Marino
For The Intentions of William Hale
Calogera Schipani
June 14– 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
For The People of the Parish
Stephen and June Coffey - St. Anthony Society
Guiseppe Tetro – Mario Pagano
Mary Avilos
For the Parish Family Festival Volunteers
June 15
Frank DiBella
will burn
In Loving Memory of: John Scalice
With the prayers of: Your wife - Kathleen Scalice
and Children
BREAD AND WINE
will be used at all Masses
In Loving Memory of: Gregory Clare
With the prayers of: Josephine Wood & Family
OUTREACH
Work We Do To Help Others This Week Is
In loving memory of: Frank & Nicole Garrish
With all our Love: Amelia & Jean Ann Garrish
PARISH ‘IN HOME’ PRAYER PROGRAM
Host Family/Individual
June 16
Joseph R. Spano
PILGRIM STATUE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA
June 17
Aileen Proce
Mayra Payano
June 18
Gloria Schiro
TheCUP
CUPOFOFPRAYER
PRAYER
June 19 - St. Romuald
Dennis Rogan
June 20 - BVM
Joseph DiGiorgio
Pietro Mastroserio & Nicola Molignano
Nicolina Coizza - Vera Galante
Joseph Toscano & Charles Iovino
Joseph Spano, Sr.
Jack Kernaghan
June 21 - 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Father’s Day
For The People of the Parish
Father's Day Novena - Anthony Labate
Warren Miedreich, Sr. - Serafina Vagnini
Paul Brito
Naftali Diaz
PRAY for DECEASED and their Families:
Rose Russo
Clorinda T. Young
MAY THEY REST IN PEACE
Elizabeth & Family
PRAY for those serving in MILITARY
USMC
U.S.ARMY
Sgt. Patrick Brady
Maj. Thomas Babbitt
PFC Erik Jacobsen
Maj. Catherine Babbitt
LCpl. Michael P. Kelly
Capt. Shaun R. Cullen A.N.G.
Cpl. Thomas R. Kroez, Jr.
M. Sgt. Peter Jacobsen
Sgt. Michael Salemi
Lt. Col. Christopher Congalise
Cpl. Christopher Montes
Lt. Col. Andrew Phillips
Cpl. Joseph Blaikie
U.S.NAVY
Robert Vitale
Esn. Anthony Patrick Huskisson
USAF
ET3 Peter J. King
A1C Phil Gautiere
E3 Thomas Mannle
Lt. John DeBonis
Chaplain Col. Msgr. Mark Rowan
PRAY for the SICK:
Jorge Sanz, Linda Simes, Gilbert Lozada,
Debbie Klein Balderoma, Josephine Ardolino,
Karen O’Connor
OUR PARISH MISSION STATEMENT
As members of Saint Catherine of Sienna Roman Catholic Parish, we are committed by our Baptism to spread the
teachings of Jesus Christ by living our faith in loving service to all people. Inspired by the Holy Spirit and through
worship and prayer, we use our time, talent and treasure, to nourish the soul, care for the needy, minister to
the alienated, nurture the children and WELCOME all people into our community of faith.
From Msgr. Figliozzi
Scriptural Reflection for the Week
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so
that each may receive recompense, according to what he did
in the body, whether good or evil.” (see 2 Corinthians 5:6-10)
Today, it seems that everyone thinks that testing is always
and everywhere bad for you. According to these, tests in
school should be eliminated and testing regarding requirements for a job should be carried out in a way that guarantees
everyone will pass whether they can do the job or not. How
disappointed will all these be when they find out that their very
lives have to appear before the judgement seat of Christ as
Saint Paul tells us. God is indeed merciful towards those who
tried their best in the test that is life. But God is also just!
Which means that, reading the hearts of every person, God
will make transparent their true motivation for the decisions
they made in life. Those whom God judges to have lived lives
pleasing to Him will be welcomed to eternal life. Those whom
God judges to have lived selfish lives knowingly and deliberately will meet their eternal reward – eternal death!
Fortnight for Freedom
“Freedom to Bear Witness” is the theme for the 4th Annual
Prayer Period to preserve Religious Freedom in our country.
Join us on Sunday, June 21st at 8:00pm for a Special Hour of
Prayer in the Sienna Centre Chapel.
Everyday beginning Monday, June 22 nd to July 4th, 3:00pm to
4:00pm, “Holy Hour” Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will
take place in the Sienna Center Chapel. Join us also at
7:30pm when we will pray the Rosary in the Parking Field
(corner of Holzheimer St. and Pacific Ave.).
Father’s Day Novena
begins June 21st. Please place the envelope with your intentions and donation in any collection between now and then.
Pray for Good Weather!
for our Festival which begins on WEDNESDAY, June 24th.
Stop by our Festival Ambassador table after Mass and pick up
your POP for the rides and your Super 50/50 Raffle Tickets
which can yield a grand prize of up to $5000.
Sons of San Paolino
invites you to a BAR-B-Q TODAY in the Parking Field from
2pm to 5pm. Also those interested in becoming “Giglio Lifters”
can sign up. We will even have a practice with the GIGLIO
SPOGLATO or undecorated tower. All BOCCE players
welcome also!
We Need More Help!
towards our goal of $500,000 for our new Church ceiling. We
would like to add your name to the Honor Roll of Donors if you
have not yet pledged. Also, we could use some extra help
from those who may wish to increase their initial pledge. Let’s
have everyone do what they can to do our Parish proud!
Welcome!
to the members of the St. Anthony Association who are
attending the 9:30am Mass today in honor of their patron
saint. Join them Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night at
their Festival on Meacham Avenue in Elmont.
One Final Thought
“Souls of prayer are souls of great silence. We cannot put
ourselves directly in the presence of God if we do not practice
internal and external silence.”
-Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
Stewardship…..
Reflection
Like the sower in today’s Gospel, I scatter as seed my
gifts of time, talent and resources; and I trust that, by
God’s grace and in God’s time, these small gifts of
myself may grow and flourish and help to bring about
the Kingdom of God.
Living Stewardship
We are grateful this week for all stewards in our parish
who strive to be the good seed mentioned in the
Gospel story and that their example inspires others to
become good stewards, too!
SACRIFICING FOR
ONE ANOTHER
or “speaking about Parish funding & finance”...
We demonstrate being good stewards of our Parish by
sharing our blessings through our weekly offertory
gift, and as donors of special funding for others in
need.
Mass
AVERAGE
ATTENDANCE
Sat.
5:00 PM SC
8:00 PM SC
Sun. 7:30AM SC
9:30AM SC (Family)
11:00AM SC
1:00PM SC
5:00PM SC (Spanish)
Received by Mail
Received thru Faith Direct
453
157
185
434
486
309
70
Gift
TOTAL
2,890
560
1,909
2,111
2,483
2,128
428
752
1,250
Last Week’s Offertory
Last Week’s Collection Total:
$14,511
Average Weekly Parish Expenditures: $32,000
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR CONTINUED SACRIFICE & SUPPORT OF
OUR PARISH.
lit · ur · gy
n. a form of public worship;
a collection of formularies for public worship;
the celebration of the Eucharist
Saint Catherine of Sienna Parish
LITURGICAL CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS
June 2018
(Month of the Sacred Heart)
20 Mass for Those with Special Needs
(3:00PM Sienna Center Chapel)
21 Fortnight for Freedom Begins
21 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
28 Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Scripture Readings for
the NEXT SUNDAY. . .
The Twelfth Sunday in
Ordinary Time
6.21.15
Reading I - Job 38: 8-11
Reading II - 2 Corinthians 5: 14-17
Gospel Mark 4: 35-41
For weekday readings visit our diocesan website at
www.drvc.org and go to THE DAILY READINGS
Prayer Corner
Father, Creator of all, thank You for summer!
Thank You for the warmth of the sun and the
increased daylight.
Thank You for the beauty I see all around me
and for the opportunity to be outside and
enjoy Your creation.
Thank You for the increased time I have to be
with my friends and family, and for the more
casual pace of the summer season.
Teach me how I can pray no matter where I
am or what I am doing.
Warm my soul with the awareness of Your
Presence and light my path with Your Word
and Counsel.
As I enjoy Your creation, create in me a pure
heart and a hunger and a thirst for You.
AMEN
SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS
By Rev. Johnny R. Mendonca
June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart. The devotion to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus is centered on the heart of Jesus as the emblem
of Divine love, and in gratitude for Jesus' redeeming love for mankind.
This Feast has been a Solemnity in the Roman Catholic liturgical
calendar since 1856, and is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost. The
devotion to the Sacred Heart is an expression of our faith in Jesus'
mercy and our way to express our gratitude for His mercy and love.
The devotion to the Sacred Heart began on Calvary when the Heart of
Christ was pierced on the Cross; it opened the door to realizing how
deeply Jesus loves us. In return, He wants nothing other than our total
love. God wants us to love Him without reserve. This is what devotion
to the Sacred Heart is all about. Christ, in His appearances to Margaret
Mary, has promised many blessings to those who practice devotion to
His Sacred Heart.
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French nun, (1647-1690) was
instrumental in spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart after she had
visions of Jesus beginning in 1673, when Jesus asked her to have a
special feast established in honor of His Sacred Heart. He also gave
her instructions on how the faithful can offer sacrifices in reparation for
the offenses inflicted on His Sacred Heart such as receiving Holy
Communion every first Friday of the month, an hour vigil every
Thursday night in memory of His agony in Gethsemane and the
celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus every year. This
year, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is observed on June 7, also the
First Friday of the month.
Pope Benedict XVI said, "Every person needs a 'centre' for his own life,
a source of truth and goodness to draw from in the daily events, in the
different situations and in the toil of daily life. Every one of us, when he/
she pauses in silence, needs to feel not only his/her own heartbeat, but
deeper still, the beating of a trustworthy presence, perceptible with
faith's senses and yet much more real: the presence of Christ, the heart
of the world. Therefore, I invite each one of you to renew in the month
of June his/her own devotion to the Heart of Christ, also using the
traditional prayer of the daily offering and keeping present the intentions
for the whole Church.
The heart that resembles that of Christ more than any other is without
a doubt the Heart of Mary, His Immaculate Mother, and for this
very reason the liturgy holds them up together for our veneration.
Responding to the Virgin's invitation at Fatima, let us entrust the whole
world to her Immaculate Heart, which we contemplate on the next day
(Saturday, this year June 8) in a special way, so that it may experience
the merciful love of God and know true peace."
The call which comes from this important feast day is a call to
Eucharistic adoration, because in the Sacred Host the Lord Jesus is
truly present and He offers each of us His Heart, His Merciful Love. To
spend time in the Presence of the Eucharistic Lord, to adore Him, is the
best expression of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
SPEND TIME WITH JESUS IN ADORATION
2016 Mass Book Opens
June 17, 2015
(For Intentions May — August 2016)
The opening of the 2016 Mass Book begins at 9:00am
in the Lobby of
Parish Activity Complex
ST. CATHERINE OF SIENNA
PARISH SOCIAL MINISTRY— OUTREACH OFFICE
As of JULY 1, 2015 we will have a slight change to our Pantry schedule.
We will now be open WEDNESDAYS, 4pm to 6pm (rather than Thursdays)
We will continue to be open:
Monday through Friday, 11am to 1pm
Please make note of this change and contact us if you have any questions. Thank You!
OUTREACH PANTRY REQUEST
Our pantry is always in need of peanut butter; jelly; tuna fish; canned meats;
canned fruit; prepared spaghetti sauce; red and black beans; juice; (boxed/
powdered) milk; cereal; rice; spaghetti, pasta; soap; toothpaste; toilet paper.
Please keep in mind that regular size items are most needed by those we serve.
This week we are especially in need of:
Cereal, canned fruit, toilet paper
If you, or someone you know, are in need of assistance, please call us at 775-0840.
We are here for you. All information is kept strictly confidential.
Thank you to our generous parishioners for being the “Hands of Christ” to those in need!
________________________________________________
JESUS IS OUR TORCH
God is a protective and loving father, with us always. In fact, at every moment and in every situation, He's reaching out to us to bring us home to His heart. He has given us the greatest book ever,
the Bible, to guide us back to a relationship with Him, and He has given us a torch, the Light of the
World, His only begotten Son, to light the way.
-from Created to Relate
“Whatever you did to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me” Matt 25:40
Together as a parish family we will pray during the 14 days nation-wide event!
SUNDAY, JUNE 21—SATURDAY, JULY 4
Sunday, June 21, 2015
@8:00PM
Special Hour Of Prayer
Saint Catherine of Sienna Chapel (Sienna Center)
EVERYDAY
Beginning June 22, 2015
at Saint Catherine of Sienna Parish
“HOLY HOUR”
ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
3:00PM to 4:00PM
Saint Catherine of Sienna Chapel (Sienna Center)
“RECITATION OF ROSARY”
7:30PM
Join us a we Pray the Rosary in the Parking Field
(corner of Holzheimer St. and Pacific Ave.)
Be with us here each day or in spirit at home, office or during your travels. For additional information call
the Parish Office at 516-352-0146, email us at [email protected] or check websites:
drvc.org, licatholic.org or stcatherineofsienna.org
www.CFFOR.org 631-896-8331
4th Annual Fortnight For Freedom: Freedom to Bear Witness
Designated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
“Freedom of conscience is the core of all freedom.” - Pope Benedict XVI
Today, America’s rights of conscience are routinely vilified and denied.
In schools- children are told they can’t bring their religious beliefs into their writing and speech. A 5th grade
girl on Long Island was told she could not pray her rosary at lunchtime or she would be sent to the
principal’s office. A 4th grader wrote about Jesus so his teacher called him in, tore up his essay and said,
“We don’t write about Jesus in this school. You have to write another essay.”
In the military - Walter Reed Military Medical Center issued guidelines in 2011stating, "No religious items,
Bibles, etc. are allowed to be given away or used during a visit." In Texas, officials at Houston's national
cemetery barred any religious services at graveside and ignored denunciations by Congress and families.
In business- Florists, bakers and photographers are fined, prosecuted and driven out of business for
following their consciences in declining to celebrate same sex unions.
In religious organizations- The Little Sisters of the Poor are told they are “not religious enough” to be
exempt from the Health and Human Services Mandate requiring them to provide contraception, sterilization
and abortion inducing drugs to their employees or face bankrupting fines. Catholic hospitals, charities and
universities face the same heavy hand of regulation denying deeply held religious beliefs.
The United States Constitution and Bill of Rights have protected freedom of conscience and religion for over
two hundred years. Tragically, Americans became complacent about their religious freedom. Pope Francis
reminds us, “Freedom is a gift and a personal responsibility. It is a challenge held out to each generation
and it must constantly be won over for the sake of good.”
*Fortnight Opening Mass. St. Agnes Cathedral, June 21, 11am
*Rally for Religious Freedom. Robert P. George, Keynote speaker.
Darby Auditorium of Chaminade H.S, 340 Jackson Ave, Mineola. June 25, 7:30pm
To register for rally call: 516-766-0161 or 631-896-8331
*Fortnight Closing Mass. St. Agnes Cathedral, July 4, 9am
COMUNIDAD HISPANA

SANTA MISA
Todos los domingo a las 5:00 PM, por favor no faltes e
invita a otros a asistir a la Santa Misa

BAUTISMOS
Charla pre bautismal: Todos los terceros viernes de cada
mes, a las 7:00 PM. Lugar: Mt. Carmel (pequeño salón ubicado dentro de la misma parroquia). Por favor,
hacer una cita previa a la charla durante la semana en la
oficina parroquial con el P. José Luis Tenas. No olvides
traer contigo el registro de nacimiento del niño/a Cele-
Kiddie Camp: ages 3 - 6
Children’s Camp: 7- 12
Teen Camp: 13 to 14
GROUPS ARE FILLING UP!
TIME IS RUNNING OUT!
SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION TODAY
TO GUARANTEE A SPOT FOR YOUR CHILD!!!!!
DON’T MISS OUT!
WELCOME PACKAGES HAVE BEEN MAILED TO
THOSE WHO ALREADY REGISTERED.
IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED YOUR PACKAGE,
PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY!!!
bración del bautismo: Todos los cuartos domingos de
Call 516-352-0146 ext.403, for more information.
cada mes a las 6:00 PM, o inmediatamente después de
Camp Session: June 29th – Aug 7th
misa, por favor quedarse a escuchar misa
PADRE PIO PRAYER
GROUP
(Closed July 3)
Regular Hours (9:00AM-3:00PM) or
Extended Day (9:00AM-6:00PM)
Come for the entire season of 6 weeks OR
select the weeks that work for you
OR
join us for the day.
Please join us for our next meeting on
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
at 7:30pm
in the Saint Catherine Chapel.
ALL ARE WELCOME!!!
Summer Show
Next week
our diocese will take up the
Peter’s Pence Collection, which provides
the Holy Father with the funds he needs to
carry out his most important charitable works.
The proceeds benefit the most disadvantaged:
victims of war, oppression, and natural
disasters. Through your generosity, we can
cast the peace of Christ upon the world.
Bubble Soccer
Camp Sienna is inspected by the Nassau County
Department of Health twice yearly. Inspection reports
concerning such camps are filed at 200 County Seat
Drive, Mineola NY 11501
T – SHIRT PICK – UP
6/22/15 — 4 to 6pm
6/23/15 — 2 to 7pm
Welcome Desk Lobby
If you can’t pick up during this time
please call 352-0146 ext. 400
To make arrangement
ALL VOLUNTEERS MUST FILL OUT THIS FORM
Where cardinals and rabbis go to forgive, and pray
Conference marking 50 years of Catholic-Jewish ties sees 120 rabbis and hundreds of Catholic clergy learn together
by Sea of Galilee BY AMANDA BORSCHEL-DAN May 12, 2015
Hundreds of faithful gathered last week on the shores of the
Sea of Galilee to recite a foundational Jewish prayer, the
“Shema Yisrael.” Among those attesting to the one God of
Israel were some 120 leading international rabbis. However,
these rabbis were the religious minority at the interfaith conference marking five decades to the historic Catholic
“Nostra Aetate declaration,” which formally rejected the
Jewish people’s blame for Jesus’s death.
Located at the Domus Galilaeae, the aesthetically stunning
Israeli headquarters for a million evangelicals belonging to a
global Catholic stream called the Neocatechumenal Way,
the meeting was formally supported by the Vatican as a tool
for fostering interfaith fraternity. For the three-day early May conference, Pope Francis sent a personal message to be
read to the seven cardinals, 20 bishops, Israeli politicians, and dozens of renowned artists and educators of both
faiths who formed the 400 in attendance.
Although the challenges addressed by the Nostra Aetate declaration 50 years ago are still felt in an increasingly antiSemitic European climate, rabbis there noted the “dramatic change” the declaration has had on Jewish-Catholic relations.
“An immense change from the prejudices and divisions of the past is being born. This event foreshadows a new
spring, the birth of something new in the relationship between Judaism and Christianity,” said rabbis in a joint statement. Among the signatories were the American Jewish Committee’s Rabbi David Rosen and Rabbi Yitz Greenberg,
both well-known for their interfaith work.
The setting of the conference couldn’t be more idyllic. The stone and concrete artistic modern facility is located on a
hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee and affords postcard-perfect views. Domus Galilaeae was tasked by Pope John
Paul II to be “a center for initiatives aimed at establishing a more fruitful dialogue between the Catholic Church and
the Jewish World” at its inauguration during a 2000 papal visit. The immense guesthouse and learning center was
funded — and built — by volunteers who took up hammers and nails alongside the priests and seminarians who live
there. Influenced by monastic and Jewish study practices, it houses a sacred text library whose focal point is a kosher
Torah scroll.
Although the center has seen 100,000 Jewish visitors, for many of the conference’s rabbis this meeting was their first
experience with the Neocatechumenal Way. The Catholic stream emphasizes a return to the Jewish roots of the early
Church in its practices. Seminarians at its 100 institutions learn Hebrew, and include its use in prayer or song. There
are several Neocatechumenal Way congregations throughout Israel and each year thousands of lay adherents from
around the globe make pilgrimages to the Holy Land to mark their group’s “graduation” from a decade-long committed
spiritual journey together. (Not surprisingly, Israeli Minister of Tourism Uzi Landau also spoke at the conference.) “We
were impressed by how, in the Neocatechumenal Way, faith is been transmitted to the children, by how families are
rebuilt and by how people come to know the Scriptures and the roots of Christianity: the faith of Abraham, the passage of the Red Sea, the Exodus, the history of salvation. From this a great respect and love for the Jewish people is
born,” said the 120 rabbis of all Jewish denominations in a joint statement. “We expressed our shared commitment to
the presence of God in the world and our common desire to engage in tikkun olam, in repair of the world for all humanity, including the growing concern for the suffering of the poor, a greater respect for creation and the strengthening of the family,” said the rabbis. ‘We expressed our shared commitment to the presence of God in the world and our
common desire to engage in tikkun olam’
The Neocatechumenal Way focuses on the reeducation of baptized adults who have gone off the religious path.
Founded by Spanish artist Kiko Argüello after his own spiritual journey in the 1960s, it is led by the International Team
of the Neocatechumenal Way, a triumvirate of Argüello, Carmen Hernández and Father Mario Pezzi, who hold the
posts for life.
It is a socially conservative missionary stream within Catholicism and can be found in 25,000 communities in 124
nations. While its clergy joins the stream’s seminaries with the understanding they will be sent, alongside two laypeople, to serve within communities wherever there is felt to be a need — sometimes there are mixed results. A few
Catholic communities have asked the missionaries to leave their congregations or suspend activities for five years.
The Catholic Church takes on modernity at Vatican II
Held some 100 years after Vatican I (which made papal infallibility Church law and attempted to combat liberal rationalism), the 1962-65 Vatican II council concurrently redefined the role of the Church vis-a-vis the world while shoring up
its own internal unity against an increasingly secular society. (A Pew survey of religions in the United States published
this week attests to Christianity’s ever-present fight against secularism and noted a three percent drop in seven years
in the Catholic population.)
‘The Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but
by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against
Jews at any time and by anyone’
The Nostra Aetate and the Neocatechumenal Way are both products of the Vatican II Council, which saw the Catholic
Church address modernity through a new historical lens.
“As the sacred synod searches into the mystery of the Church, it remembers the bond that spiritually ties the people of
the New Covenant to Abraham’s stock. Thus the Church of Christ acknowledges that, according to God’s saving design, the beginnings of her faith and her election are found already among the Patriarchs, Moses and the prophets,”
stated the 1965 Nostra Aetate.
“Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares
with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone,” stated the declaration.
Neocatechumenal Way founder Argüello expressed his anguish over history’s largest display of anti-Semitism in a
symphony he composed after a visit to Auschwitz.
“The Suffering of the Innocents: A Symphonic Homage and Prayer” was first performed at the Vatican before Pope
Benedict XVI and has since toured the world, including a 2013 concert before an interfaith audience of 15,000 at the
Auschwitz “Gate of Death.”
Those at the Israel performance were told the piece was inspired by the death camp’s gate, alongside Jesus’s suffering on the cross, “with his mother Mary crying for him, like all mothers of children slaughtered,” wrote Rabbi Joshua
Levine Grater in a post-conference Times of Israel blog post.
“I still am not sure I am okay with this imagery and metaphor, but it is theirs, not mine, so I just tried to appreciate the
love and repentance that Kiko was seeking to offer through his symphony,” wrote Grater, the spiritual leader of the
Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center in Pasadena, California, and co-founder of the Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking
Initiative.
Grater wrote he was “nourished spiritually” in seeing Jews and Catholics from all over the world, “Holocaust survivors
and those that hid Jews,” together reciting the “Shema Israel” prayer.
“As one human family, taking different religious paths, we stood together praying and hoping that the history of hatred,
fear and persecution between our peoples could morph now into a more loving, respectful and prosperous future, each
on our own paths, yet each trying to improve our world,” he wrote.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
OUR PARISH
Saint Catherine of Sienna
June 21–July 4, 2015
Fortnight for Freedom
Join us in Community Prayer
for Volunteers and Parishioners
More details in future bulletins.
June 24-28, 2015
Family Festival & Feast
Days filled with fun, great rides,
a variety of foods and drinks,
variety of music and live entertainment.
More details in future bulletins.
DIOCESE & COMMUNITY
June 19, 2015
St. Thomas the Apostle Divine Mercy
Holy Hour
7:30pm
Eucharistic Adoration and the
Divine Mercy Chaplet in Song
24 Westminster Road, West Hempstead
For more details email
[email protected]
“Marriage is not merely a private institution. It is the
foundation of the family, where children learn values and
virtues that make them good Christians as well as good
citizens. Marriage is important for the upbringing of the
next generation, and therefore it is important for society.”
An excerpt of the Pastoral Letter by the US Catholic Bishops.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
(USCCB) has set up a website to help support all areas
of marriage and parenting. There is even a section for
those contemplating marriage while they are dating or
engaged. For more information log onto: http://
www.foryourmarriage.org. You may even sign up for
a monthly newsletter to help your marriage flourish.
Sacred Heart Academy
Hempstead, New York
Catholic High School Entrance Exam
Prep Course
August 24-28, September 12, and
October 17, 2015
PSAT Review Course
August 17-21, September 12, and
September 19, 2015
For information and applications,
please call: 516-483-7383 ext.249