EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

Every Friday after the 8AM Mass

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.

THE PARISH LIBRARY is open every Sunday morning in the Holy Family Room of the undercroft.

CONFESSIONS

Thursday, June 4, 4:30PM - Fr. Armstrong

 7:30PM – Fr. Mick

Saturday, June 6, 3:00PM – Fr. Armstrong

Adult Volunteers: Cindy Reis, Linda DeSantis

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

FROM OUR PASTOR

    Pentecost has often been termed the "Birthday of the Church."  Although the Church really begins with Jesus, Pentecost is commonly referred to as the Birthday of the Body of Christ, i.e. the Birthday of the Church.  Today, we are reminded that the Church, born of water and the Holy Spirit, bears her rightful birthmarks: one, holy, catholic and apostolic.  The glory of the Church was brought home to me recently while I was at a Leadership Excellence Training Program in Omaha conducted by Gallup University.  At least half of the sixteen participants were Protestant pastors.  Many congregations, no matter the denomination, share many of the same issues. But what struck me as I listened to them was their longing to be Church.  I hope in some way I was able to break down anti-Catholic prejudice, but I was also deeply grateful to find myself in the Catholic Church, especially able to receive her Sacraments and to have enjoyed such a legacy of grace.   May we all experience a fresh out-pouring of the Holy Spirit and His many gifts!
 
A LEGACY OF GRACE for our parish is to share in the Mass of Thanksgiving for Father David Endres.  I especially want to acknowledge his parents.  After God, parents are any priest's most significant influence on his vocation.  I am grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Endres for their faith-filled generosity.  It is my constant hope that the parents of our parish pray that one of their sons or daughters be called to serve the Lord in His Church. 

-- Rev. Christopher R. Armstrong

Pilgrimage to Ireland:  Although many have expressed interest in the pilgrimage to Ireland, so far only four people have signed up.  I was informed by Best Catholic that the cut-off date is JUNE 13, after that the airline seats are released.  We need at least 20 people to sign up. If you wish to go, please sign up before JUNE 13.  Thanks. CRA

FROM OUR PRINCIPAL, MR. JACK COREY

Dear Parishioners,

     This is the final week of school for our students and faculty.  Our eighth graders graduate on Tuesday, June 2^nd.  Our last day of school is Thursday, June 4^th. 

      Our office hours starting on June 5^th will be from 8:00-1:00.  For those who wish to register, or know someone who does, we are still accepting enrollment for all grades except kindergarten.  For kindergarten, we have started a waiting list.

      Overall, this has been an excellent year.  Although, as many already known our eighth grade class has received over $250,000.00 in scholarships, we are still counting all their other achievements.  On the day this letter went to press we were informed Seton had recommended five of our students skip Honors Algebra I, with four students recommended for Honors Geometry/Honors Algebra II as freshmen.  It seems this year’s class continues to gather accolades!  While this class has done a great deal, this would not have been possible without our teachers, parents, and benefactors.  All of whom made it possible for these students to gain access to a great education.  Thank you for all you have done for our school, our parish and our students.     

TRAVELING CHALICE 

Sign up to help pray for our needed vocations.    Please call 451-7435 to sign up.

Biggs and Kroger Gift Cards are on sale in the church elevator hallway after all weekend Masses, and at the rectory, M-F from 8AM to 3 PM. We earn 4% of every dollar from Krogers and 6% of every dollar from Bigg’s.

Galatians
Introduction
The Galatians to whom the letter is addressed were Paul's converts, most likely among the descendants of Celts who had invaded western and central Asia Minor in the third century B.C. and had settled in the territory around Ancyra (modern Ankara, Turkey). Paul had passed through this area on his second missionary journey (Acts 16:6) and again on his third (Acts 18:23). It is less likely that the recipients of this letter were Paul's churches in the southern regions of Pisidia, Lycaonia, and Pamphylia where he had preached earlier in the Hellenized cities of Perge, Iconium, Pisidian Antioch, Lystra, and Derbe (Acts 13:13-14:27); this area was part of the Roman province of Galatia, and some scholars think that South Galatia was the destination of this letter.

       If it is addressed to the Galatians in the north, the letter was probably written around A.D. 54 or 55, most likely from Ephesus after Paul's arrival there for a stay of several years on his third missionary journey (Acts 19; Acts 20:31). On the South Galatian theory, the date would be earlier, perhaps A.D. 48-50. Involved is the question of how one relates the events of Gal 2:1-10 to the "Council of Jerusalem" described in Act 15 (see the notes on each passage).

      In any case, the new Christians whom Paul is addressing were converts from paganism (Gal 4:8-9) who were now being enticed by other missionaries to add the observances of the Jewish law, including the rite of circumcision, to the cross of Christ as a means of salvation. For, since Paul's visit, some other interpretation of Christianity had been brought to these neophytes, probably by converts from Judaism (the name "Judaizers" is sometimes applied to them); it has specifically been suggested that they were Jewish Christians who had come from the austere Essene sect.

      These interlopers insisted on the necessity of following certain precepts of the Mosaic law along with faith in Christ. They were undermining Paul's authority also, asserting that he had not been trained by Jesus himself, that his gospel did not agree with that of the original and true apostles in Jerusalem, that he had kept from his converts in Galatia the necessity of accepting circumcision and other key obligations of the Jewish law, in order more easily to win them to Christ, and that his gospel was thus not the full and authentic one held by "those of repute" in Jerusalem (Gal 2:2). Some scholars also see in Gal 5; 6 another set of opponents against whom Paul writes, people who in their emphasis on the Spirit set aside all norms for conduct and became libertines in practice.

      When Paul learned of the situation, he wrote this defense of his apostolic authority and of the correct understanding of the faith. He set forth the unique importance of Christ and his redemptive sacrifice on the cross, the freedom that Christians enjoy from the old burdens of the law, the total sufficiency of Christ and of faith in Christ as the way to God and to eternal life, and the beauty of the new life of the Spirit. Galatians is thus a summary of basic Pauline theology. Its themes were more fully and less polemically developed in the Letter to the Romans.            Autobiographically, the letter gives us Paul's own accounts of how he came to faith (Gal 1:15-24), the agreement in "the truth of the gospel" (Gal 2:5, 14) that he shared with the Jewish Christian leaders in Jerusalem, James, Kephas, and John (Gal 2:1-10), and the rebuke he had to deliver to Cephas in Antioch for inconsistency, contrary to the gospel, on the issue of table fellowship in the racially mixed church of Jewish and Gentile Christians in Antioch (Gal 2:11-14; cf Gal 2:15-21). At the conclusion of the letter (Gal 6:11-18), Paul wrote in his own hand (cf 2 Thes 3:17-18) a vivid summary of the message to the Galatians.

      In his vigorous emphasis on the absolute preeminence of Christ and his cross as God's way to salvation and holiness, Paul stresses Christian freedom and the ineffectiveness of the Mosaic law for gaining divine favor and blessings (Gal 3:19-29). The pious Jew saw in the law a way established by God to win divine approval by a life of meticulous observance of ritual, social, and moral regulations. But Paul's profound insight into the higher designs of God in Christ led him to understand and welcome the priority of promise and faith (shown in the experience of Abraham, Gal 3:6-18) and the supernatural gifts of the Spirit (Gal 3:2-5; 5:16-6:10). His enthusiasm for this new vision of the life of grace in Christ and of the uniquely salvific role of Christ's redemptive death on the cross shines through this whole letter.

      The principal divisions of the Letter to the Galatians are the following:

1. Address (Gal 1:1-5)

2. Loyalty to the Gospel (Gal 1:6-10)

3. Paul's Defense of His Gospel and His Authority (Gal 1:11-2:21)

4. Faith and Liberty (Gal 3:1-4:31)

5. Exhortation to Christian Living (Gal 5:1-6:10)

Conclusion (Gal 6:11-18)

ADULT SOCIAL GROUP

June 2^nd, “Cincinnati City Tour” hosted by Bob Doolan.  Trip is sold out.  Bus will leave from the parking area by the priests’ garage at 9:30AM.  The tour will last about 3 to 4 hours.

June 5^th, Steering Committee Meeting in the Holy Family Room, at 1PM.

June 8^th, Communion Service at 12:30PM followed by Lunch and Bingo.  Cost is $9 per person.  Get your reservation in by June 3^rd.

In Process – Trip to “Our Lady of the Snows Shrine” and “Way of Lights”. Leave on Tuesday, December 1, return Thursday, December 3^rd.  Stay two nights at the Shrine hotel and sightseeing in St. Louis. Cost tentatively under $200 per person.

ST. ANTONINUS ATHLETIC CLUB BID-N-BUY COMMITTEE FOR THE FESTIVAL is accepting donations of gift cards, monetary donations; personal service donations (sewing, tutoring, catering, photography etc.) can be dropped off at the parish office between 8AM-3PM Monday thru Friday. Any questions call Mollie DiGiacomo at 922-3023.

2009 St. A Summer Festival June 12-14, 2009.  This year's event has all your favorite attractions plus new this year: Flower Booth and The Big Bash Booth (junk car meets sledgehammer!), as well as Ribs and $1 Kid's Meal Special on Sunday. Don't forget the Major Award drawing for $10,000 (only 250 tickets sold).  If interested in volunteering, or have questions, please call Brian Bohan (922-4313) or Mike Rolfes (451-6704).

MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER WEEKEND at the Comfort Inn in Erlanger, Kentucky, on July 17-19.  For questions and RSVP call Keith and Lori at 1-800-547-1251, code 00 or website www.esharing.org.

Elder and Seton will be offering Laffalot Summer Camps for boys and girls ages 6-12 years old this year.  The Elder camp will run the week of June 15^th, and the Seton camp the week of June 22.  Openings are still available.  For info, visit the Laffalot website at www.laffalotcamps.com, or call Pat at 313-2076.

Seton High School is offering the volleyball, basketball, golf, softball, and soccer camps this summer. Check the website at www.setoncincinnati.org or call 471-2600 ext. 185 for all the dates, times, costs, grades and registration forms

Seton High School Soccer Mattress Sale

Seton's soccer team is holding its 2nd Annual Mattress Sale. Name Brand mattresses at 30-60% off retail prices. All proceeds benefit the Girls Soccer Program. June 6th from 10am-5pm at Seton High School.

SAINTS RUNNING

Any 7th or 8th grade girl interested in running Junior High Cross Country can call Coach Sarah Loebker for more details at 362-9117 or loebkers1@nku.edu.

MASS OF HEALING for people with physical, emotional, and spiritual problems on the 2nd Thursday of each month at St. Teresa of Avila Church at 7:30PM. Any questions call Fr. Bolte at 921-9200.

EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITIES!

Come and see what a lay ministry formation can do for you. The Lay Pastoral Ministry Program is officially sponsored by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and allows busy men and women to study theology and ministry while maintaining current work and family schedules. Classes will begin in the Fall of 2009 at the Main Campus, 6616 Beechmont Avenue. For info call 231-1200 or email kboss@athenaeum.edu. Visit the website at www.athenaeum.edu.

CATHOLIC CHARITIES SOUTHWESTERN OHIO Is looking for volunteers and employers who can help refugees obtain employment after their arrival here. All are legally admitted by the Department of State with work authorization. Volunteers will assist in identifying potential employers, working out public transportation and helping the refugee prepare for a job. Language skills in French, Somali or Arabic are helpful but not required. Call Cindy at 241-7745 ext. 2529, if you can help.

Facing an unplanned pregnancy? Catholic Charities is here to help. We provide free, confidential counseling services and support as you consider your options to parent or make an adoption plan for your baby. Our pregnancy counselor has information and resources to help you make the best decision for you and your baby – and both of your futures. Call 241-7745.

Are you caring for an adult family member? Call the Caregiver Careline at 929-4483, for your needs. Free self-help articles for family caregivers, variety of free talks, and support groups in your area. See the website www.catholiccharitiesswo.org under “Caring Matters” ECAREline for our new family caregiver podcast and a listing of upcoming talks.