EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

After the 8AM Mass on Fridays in the chapel

ROSARY

7:00 PM Fatima Prayer Group on Monday

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

Moms and children’s Rosary group every Friday from 10AM to 11:30AM.  Call MaryAnn at 922-3461 before you come for the first time.

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

Adult Volunteers: Betty Bauer, Susan Fluegemann

FROM OUR PASTOR

Dear Parishioners,

            I received a Christmas card and on its front was the word “Hope” in gold letters of italic script. At the final stroke of the ‘e’ was a star.  Below the word “Hope” was the three Magi on camels riding toward the star.  I suppose this particular card caught my imagination because I had just finished reading the Pope’s encyclical “Spe Salvi” wherein he repeatedly used the image of a star.   In paragraph five he refers directly to the magi and the star: “In this regard a test by Saint Gregory Nazianzen is enlightening.  He says that at the very moment when the Magi, guided by the star, adored Christ the new king,  astrology came to an end, because the stars were now moving in the orbit determined by Christ.  This scene, in fact, overturns the world-view of that time, which in a different way has become fashionable once again today.  It is not the elemental spirits of the universe, the laws of matter, which ultimately govern the world and mankind, but a personal God governs the stars, that is, the universe.”

            In paragraph thirty-nine he returns to the image of the star and the role of suffering in our lives.  “It has shown us that God – Truth and Love in person – desired to suffer for us and with us.  Bernard of Clairvaux coined the marvelous expression: “Impassibilis est Deus, sed non incompassibilis” – “God cannot suffer, but he can suffer with.”  Man is worth so much to God that He Himself became man in order to suffer with man in an utterly real way – in flesh and blood—as is revealed to us in the account of Jesus’ Passion.  Hence in all human suffering we are joined by one who experiences and carries that suffering with us; hence con-solatio is present in all suffering, the consolation of God’s compassionate love – and so the star of hope rises.”

            In paragraph forty-eight, he reminds of the solidarity of the whole human-race in hope:  “It is never too late to touch the heart of another, nor is it ever in vain.  In this way we further clarify an important element of the Christian concept of hope.  Our hope is always essentially also hope for other; only thus is it truly hope for me too.  As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking:  ‘How can I save myself?’  We should also ask: ‘What can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them too, the star of hope may rise?’ Then I will have done my utmost for my own personal salvation as well.

In paragraph forty-nine, the Pope proclaims Mary as the star of Hope: “With a hymn composed in the eighth or ninth century, thus for over a thousand years, the Church has greeted Mary, the Mother of God, as “Star of the Sea”: ‘Ave maris stella.’  Human life is a journey.  Towards what destination?  How do we find the way?  Life is like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we watch for the stars that  indicate the route.  The true stars of our life are the people who have lived good lives.  They are lights of hope.  Certainly, Jesus Christ is the true light, the sun that has risen above all the shadows of history.  But to reach him we also need lights close by – people who shine with His light and so guide us along our way.  Who more than Mary could be a star of hope for us?  With her “yes” she opened the door of our world to God Himself;  she became the living Ark of the Covenant, in whom God took flesh, became one of us, and pitched His tent among us  (cf. Jn 1:14).

            Finally, on this feast of the Epiphany it may be worth asking: Who are the stars of hope in our lives?

THANK YOU FOR your contributions of $9,675.00 to the Retirement Fund for Religious.  St. Antoninus Parish has consistently given generously to this Appeal.

BIGGS VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR the 4:30PM Mass on the 1^st, 3^rd and 4^th Sunday of each month; 8AM Mass on the 4^th Sunday and the 11:30AM Mass on the 1^st and 3^rd Sunday. If you can help, please call Carol Jacob at 451-1344.

Biggs and Kroger Gift Cards and the 2008 Entertainment and Zone Books are on sale in the church elevator hallway after all weekend Masses, and at the rectory, M-F from 8AM to 3 PM.

Did you know that many corporations provide a Matching Gift Program for their employees in support of education?  Here is a list of companies that have recognized St. Antoninus Parish School with matching funds:  Duke Energy, Citigroup, GE, Pfizer, Hospira and Fidelity. 

   If you are an employee of one of these companies, or if you think your company may offer a similar program, see your company contact for the forms to complete.  Call the St. Antoninus business manager, Peggy James, for further assistance.

REPORT ABUSE IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF CINCINNATI by calling Sister Mary Garke, the Victims’ Assistance Coordinator of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati at 421-3131 ext. 352 or 1-800-686-2724 as well as the victims’ secular legal authorities.

      Catholic Bible Study for Adults every Monday at 7:00PM in the undercroft, Holy Family Room.

     The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) every Tuesday at 7:30 PM, in the Holy Family Room.            

      Pre/K and Kindergarten and PREP Religion Classes every Sunday. Call Deacon Bob at 922-4759 for information.

      Youth Club singing practice is on Saturdays at 9AM in the church.  For info call Julie Heil at 922-3848. 

    Please sign up for the Traveling Chalice to promote vocations.  Call our coordinators Joe and Mary Beth Nolan at 451-7435 or e-mail them at MBNOLAN@cinci.rr.com.

ORIENTATION ON THE CHILD PROTECTION DECREE  will be held at St. Antoninus in the Holy Family Room on the following dates 7:30PM Thursday, January 24, 2008; 1PM February 20; and 7:30PM, April 9.

COUNSELING ASSISTANCE FUND

    The Catholic Bishops, through the Catholic Conference of Ohio, have created a fund, independent of the Church, to help adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse.  The Counseling Assistance Fund is designed to provide counseling or similar mental health services for persons who were sexually abused as minors by clergy or other representative of the Catholic Church.  The Counseling Assistance Fund is different from existing forms of assistance offered by Dioceses throughout Ohio, because it is directed toward those who are reluctant to contact the Church for help.  For more info, please call 1-800-366-0494 or go to this website, www.counselingassistancefund.org.  The Counseling Assistance Fund will accept claims for 18 months, beginning November 16, 2006.

 

CATHOLIC MINISTRIES APPEAL will present a 90 minute Ministry Reception Supper beginning with Evening Prayer, followed by a half-hour presentation on the ministries of Catholic Social Services, and then end with a supper.  Space is limited. Register on line at www.catholicappeal.info for Tuesday, January 8, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish or Thursday, January 17, at St. John the Baptist Parish in Dry Ridge.