EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

EVERY FRIDAY FROM 8:30 AM TO 10 PM

ROSARY

11:30AM Marian Holy Hour w/ Rosary on Monday

7:00PM   Rosary Hour in chapel on Monday

After the 6:45 AM and 8 AM Masses Monday through Friday and after the 8AM Mass on Saturday.

BABYSITTING FOR THE 9:30 AM MASS

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11

Adult Volunteers: Judy Bonhaus, Sharon Felix

Designate a gift to Saint Antoninus Church in your will and give witness to your faith. 

Dear Parishioners,

     The Forty Hours devotion is a great blessing for our parish.  The practice dates back to 1527 in Milan, Italy.  According to the new Catholic Encyclopedia “The most common explanation for the choice of 40 is that it signifies the approximate number of hours that our Lord’s body lay in the tomb between His death and His resurrection on the third day”.   “Supplication usually formed the dominate theme of the Forty Hours, as the Church sought divine protection from material, political and spiritual calamities”.   It also included a spirit of reparation.  I am confident that the Lord will hear our supplications, hymns of thanksgiving and chants of praise for so great a sacrament as the Most Holy Eucharist.  I would also like to thank all who organized the hours of watching and various ceremonies.  A special note of thanks goes to our parishioner, Mary Hirlinger, who donated the material and her labor for the new canopy over the Blessed Sacrament.  Thanks, Mary!

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    The John Metz Family wishes to thank everyone for the outpouring of sympathy, prayers and support upon the death of their wife and mother, Georgia.  May she and all the faithful departed rest in peace.

--- Rev. Christopher R. Armstrong

PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES

   Because of popular request, Fr. Armstrong will lead a tour to Lourdes (including Barcelona, Paris, and Lisieux) September 18-27 ($2995, exclusive of air taxes and insurance) in honor of the 150^th anniversary of the Apparitions of Our Lady to St. Bernadette.  For info call Best Catholic Pilgrimages 1-800-908-BEST.

THE 2007 GOLDEN WEDDING ANNIVERSARY MASS at Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral will be on Saturday, May 5^th, at 2:00 PM.  Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk will be the principal celebrant.  Please call the rectory by March 9^th, with your name, spouse’s name, address and the date you were married.

25^th, 50^th, 60^th, 70^th, and 75^th YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY COUPLES should call the rectory office at 922-5400 from 8 AM to 3 PM, Monday thru Friday by March 9^TH.  Leave your name, spouse’s name, address, and the date you were married.

FROM MR. JACK COREY, PRINCIPAL

Dear Parishioners:

      In the past two weeks Catholic Schools have received quite a bit of media attention.  Part of the attention was positive as our schools were showcased during Catholic Schools Week.  Other attention was on the closing of certain schools next year.  School viability is a concern of the pastors in the St. Lawrence Deanery (of which we are part).  

       The pastors commissioned a group called the Future Schools Committee to gather and present data in order to make good decisions on how to plan for the future of Catholic education.  Monday, February 5, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at the Elder Schaeper Center the results of the study will be shared with all parishioners.  Once the information is presented, local pastors are looking for reactions and suggestions to the data to help plan for the future.

      I encourage you to come and listen to the presentation and share your reactions and suggestions with Father Armstrong.  I need to emphasize that no formal plans have been made to address Catholic schools in the deanery.  Pastors felt that decisions should be based on good information and with input from parishioners.

      While the specific night for St. Antoninus is scheduled for Monday, the exact presentation will be made on Tuesday (2/6) and Wednesday (2/7) nights to other parishes.  If you cannot make it Monday, feel free to go on Tuesday or Wednesday night. 

FROM THE BUSINESS MANAGER

The window replacement project is now underway.  We have a scheduled delivery of mid to late April.  We have received commitments for 7 of the 10 windows.   If you would like to donate a window, please contact the parish. (We are asking for a $10,000 donation per window). Capital improvement funds will be used to cover the remaining costs if there are no additional donors.  At the upcoming finance commission we will discuss moving ahead on some other major improvements (church carpet replacement and rectory patio repairs).  This is possible owing to the positive response by parishioners to our ongoing stewardship needs.  As a reminder, our weekly need of $24,500 includes major improvement funding, but we do not execute these unless the funds are available.

HOLY SPIRIT PRAYER GROUP

      One of our most popular speakers, Joe Brinck, will be our guest Tuesday night.  He is deeply involved in the Pro-Life movement.  Joe recently returned from the March on Washington.  His talk and slide presentation includes facts, anecdotes and information on what to expect of the new Congress.  Always knowledgeable and interesting he is a welcome guest.  In chapel, 7:30 PM.

FROM OUR PASTORAL ASSOCIATE

DEACON BOB SCHROEDER

     Next weekend, February 10/11, 2007, members of the St. Antoninus Worship Commission will be briefly speaking at the end of each Mass.   Their brief talk will serve as an invitation for any Catholic who is fully initiated, i.e. baptized, confirmed and has received the Eucharist, to consider participating in a liturgical ministry.

    If you have considered serving as an usher or as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, you will have the opportunity to do so.  The members of the Worship Commission who speak at Mass will also be present after Mass to answer your questions.

OUR TRAVELING CHALICE. We encourage parishioners of all ages, those with families and those living alone, to participate in this special mission of praying for vocations. Call Jennifer Ruwe at 451-0963 if you would like to participate.

THANK YOU TO ALL who contributed $9,351.00 to the Retirement Fund for Religious during the month of December.  And another thank you from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development which received $1,939.00 from our parishioners.

ADULT SOCIAL GROUP On February 12^th, there will be a Communion Service at 12:30 PM in the chapel followed by a lunch.  Send check for $8.00 per person to the rectory or drop in the collection basket in an envelope marked Adult Social Group Lunch. Reservations are due by Feb. 7^th.  All parishioners 55 years of age and older are invited to the meeting and the lunch.

to a rare blood disease; Kelly, who is a physician in Family Practice, Sean, who is married to Karianne, and their youngest, Caitlin, a bright eighteen year old who is an honor’s freshman at Northern Kentucky University.  The children have likewise been blessed…with parents who do the extraordinary in the ordinary days of life.  Besides running their own thriving business in investment and insurance, Russ has had “The American Dream” radio program; Eileen is also auditing two classes at NKU with Caitlin. 

     Caitlin, an Oak Hills High grad and student council co-president, loves the theater and has worked on both sides of the curtain as an actress and in production.  An advocate for those with disabilities, she and her family support “Renegade Garage Players”:  an organization to bring people with and without disabilities together through theater, education and service.  She has addressed her senior class and St. Antoninus’ community.  She remains an avid chess lover and sports fan (especially the Reds, Cubs, Bengals, Notre Dame and of course the Buckeyes).  She has been honored both at school and in the community for her dedication to education. 

     Caitlin and her family continue to be promoters of “Walk and Roll”, a fund raiser for Families of SMA to support research towards a cure.  Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a congenital disorder that worsens with age, a disease that Caitlin has battled since birth.  Despite now being confined to her wheelchair, her smile tells it all, “If God brings you to it, He’ll get you through it.  That’s why God gave me a bad body and a great mind:  my job is to educate people and teach them out of their ignorance.”

     In the face of today’s ignorance about the role of suffering in life, Caitlin wisely reminds us that the moral wrong of euthanasia is being “a coward…if you survive, God did it for a reason.  There is always a way to overcome something.  You may not have control over your body but you have control over your mind.”  Eileen confidently smiles, “Caitlin keeps us going and God holds me up.”  Our strength, Russ tells us, is the confident knowledge one finds in being carried by Christ and those He sends into our lives…Footprints in the Sand.   Caitlin loves to quote the playwright, Victor Hugo, from Les Miserables:  “TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD.”

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING classes begin Wednesday, Feb. 28^th, at Mercy Hospital Western Hills from 7 to 9 PM.  To register call John and Mary at 661-6928.

December, 2006

Dear Fellow Deanery Pastors:

We have been able to get all of the dates, times, and locations scheduled for the Future Schools Committee presentations.  All of the Group II and Group III sessions will be held in either the Seton Auditorium or the Elder Schaeper Center as listed below.  The schedule is as follows:

Group I Session   January 25, 2007  Our Lady of Victory Convocation Center     1:00-2:30 p.m.

Audience: Pastors, Associate Pastors, Deacons, Principals, Business Managers, and DREs       

Group II Sessions              Location:  Seton Auditorium                 Time:  7:00-8:30 p.m.

Audience: School faculty & staff, members of your Pastoral Council, Finance Council & Education Comm. The goal is to have all of the council/commission members attend, but at a minimum, at least three or four from each council/commission.  Also, please make sure that several persons from Group I are present for your Group II presentation and that several from both Groups I and II are present at your Group III presentation.  If persons cannot make their scheduled session, please encourage them to attend any one of the other sessions.

St. Catharine,   Holy Family     

  Tuesday January 30, 2007                         

St. Dominic, Resurrection, St. Joseph, St. Lawrence, St. William, Our Lady of Victory

  Wednesday January 31, 2007                    

Our Lady of Visitation, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Jude, St. Teresa, St. Aloysius-Sayler Park,

St. Vincent DePaul, St. Simon

Group III Sessions          Location:  Elder Schaeper Center            Time:  7:00-8:30 p.m.

Audience: PTO/PTA Executive Boards, Athletic Association Executive Boards, and all parishioners at large. Please make sure persons from Groups I and II attend your Group III session.

  Tuesday February 6, 2007                          

St. John-Harrison, St. Bernard, St. Martin, St. Aloysius-Bridgetown

  Wednesday February 7, 2007                    

St. Dominic, Holy Family, St. Teresa, St. Aloysius-Sayler Park, St. Vincent DePaul, St. Simon 

  Thursday February 8, 2007                        

Our Lady of Visitation, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Jude, St. Catharine

The agenda for each session will be:

•   Call to order, prayer, welcome

•   Introductory remarks

•   PowerPoint presentation on the current state of the St. Lawrence Deanery Schools

•   Silent reflection and jotting down personal notes

•   Open floor for clarification, questions, reactions

•   Instructions for the future

•   Closing prayer

            Please do all you can to get as many from your parish to attend, particularly at the scheduled date, time, and location.  I will count on you to make sure that the members of your Pastoral Council, Finance Commission, Education Commission, and school faculty and staff will get the invitation to the Group II session and the encouragement to be there.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Jim Walsh,   Dean