Saints Peter and Paul Church

Announcements

• Vigil Mass for July 25

  https://youtu.be/HS6eetcaFMg

• Legislative Action - Please read and link to NoTaxpayerAbortion.com

  June 14, 2021

   

  Reverend and dear Father,

   

               This week, the House Committee on Appropriations will be addressing the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations bill, which currently excludes the 46-year-old Hyde Amendment and other longstanding, bipartisan provisions including the Weldon Amendment.

   

  Eliminating these provisions would force taxpayers to pay for elective abortions and force health care providers and professionals to perform and refer for abortion against their deeply-held beliefs, as well as force employers and insurers to cover and pay for abortion.

   

  Without the Hyde Amendment and Hyde-related policies, billions of taxpayer dollars could be used to pay for abortion in the United States and throughout the world. Eliminating the Weldon Amendment would be an egregious violation of conscience rights by forcing individuals and entities to perform, pay for, or otherwise participate in an abortion against their beliefs.

   

  I encourage you to share this information with your faithful parishioners – and encourage them to take action to help ensure the Hyde Amendment and all similar life-saving appropriations remain in place.

   

  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities is sponsoring a petition to legislators asking them to preserve the Hyde Amendment. All are encouraged to sign it at

  NoTaxpayerAbortion.com

   

  The Diocese of Scranton is sharing links to this petition via its social media platforms. Additional information is also located on the Diocese of Scranton website and this week’s edition of The Catholic Light Newspaper.

   

  Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

   

  Faithfully yours in Christ,

  †Joseph C. Bambera

  Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.

  Bishop of Scranton

   

   

• Sunday Mass Obligation

  July 15, 2021

   

  Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

   

  For more than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed unique challenges in our lives. It has brought hardship and struggle to some – separation, anxiety and isolation to others. We pray for those who have been directly affected by the virus, those that are still impacted by its effects and those who have lost loved ones.

   

  Since March 2020, there has been a dispensation in the Diocese of Scranton from the obligation to participate at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation.  In light of the continued decline in cases and hospitalizations locally, that dispensation will end on Sunday, August 15, 2021, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This change will occur in each diocese in Pennsylvania on the same date.

   

  The Sunday celebration of Mass is the center of the Church’s life. The importance – and necessity – to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days is rooted in our Baptism as Christians. Baptism compels us, as Christians, to unite ourselves with Christ at the altar in his saving Sacrifice of the Cross. Put simply, attending Mass is an encounter with Our Risen Lord.

   

  This is a moment to thank God anew for the great gift of the Mass and the Real Presence of Jesus to us in His Holy Body and Blood as well as the joy of gathering together as people of faith.

   

  As Pope Francis reminded us in his 2013 Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus.” Long before we knew a pandemic was on the horizon, the Holy Father reminded us the Sunday encounter gives us the strength to experience the present with confidence and courage and to go forth with hope.

   

  I invite and encourage all of the faithful in our community – including those who may have left the Church long before the pandemic – to return to the Table of the Lord – and be nourished by the Bread of Life! Our participation at Mass in-person is a gift for our own spiritual well-being, happiness and eternal salvation. It is also our responsibility to our brothers and sisters with whom we journey in faith.

   

  It is important to note that people who are seriously ill or have a serious health risk, as well as those who have significant fear or anxiety of being part of a large group will continue to be legitimately excused from participating in Mass on Sundays and Holy Days. Those individuals are still encouraged to spend time in prayer, meditating on the Death and Resurrection of the Lord, reading Sacred Scripture and uniting themselves to Christ in his worship of the Father of us all.

   

  Please continue to pray for all of our clergy and religious – who work tirelessly to make sure our

  parish communities remain safe and vibrant!

   

  Faithfully yours in Christ,

  †Joseph C. Bambera

  Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.

  Bishop of Scranton

   

   

• COVID VACCINES - BISHOP BAMBERA SAYS, "GET ONE!"

  “The COVID-19 pandemic has caused tremendous grief and fear in our country and world over the last year, leaving more than 500,000 dead in the United States alone.

   

  “I want to be clear and concise in my pastoral guidance regarding COVID-19 vaccines. Given the grave danger this virus poses, it is morally acceptable to receive any of the current COVID-19 vaccines that have been determined to be clinically safe and effective. This position is supported by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

   

  “People should not delay getting a vaccine. Receiving a vaccine not only protects an individual’s health but also serves the common good by protecting the community – including the weak and vulnerable.

   

  “While fully recognizing the complex moral and ethical issues involved in vaccine development, at this time, most people are not being given a true choice of which vaccine they receive, and likely won’t be able to make such a choice without a lengthy delay.

   

  “Given that risk to public health, the faithful can in good conscience receive any of the current vaccines.”

   

  To view the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s December 2020 Note on the Morality of Using some anti-COVID vaccines, please (control+click) here or visit the Diocese of Scranton Website.

• Weekday Masses Schedule

  8:30 AM on Mon./Tues./Wed./ Fri ; no Mass on Thursday.

  Face masks, designated seating, social distancing, hand sanitizing are required. Reservations not needed.

• Do You Miss Holy Communion?

  Spiritual Communion Prayer

  SPIRITUAL  COMMUNION  PRAYER

  My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.

  I love you above all things and I desire to receive you in my soul.

  Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.

  I embrace you as if you were already there and unite myself wholly to you.

  Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen.

   

• CONFESSIONS -

  Weekdays before 8:30 am Mass

  Saturday at 4:00-4:45 PM.

  By appointment:   Fr. Ed phone:  570-265-2113.

• Difficult to Get to Confession? * * *

  Act of Perfect Contrition

  first is to pray an act of contrition "out of love for God," Father Pietrzyk said. Being sorry out of love for God has often been described as having a desire to be reunited to God because of who he is-- because of God's perfect love for us, and because of sorrow for having offended God by sin. It means wanting to live in unity with God, and to put aside the sins that stand in the way. There is no set formula for making an act of contrition, but a common one reads as follows: “My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against You, whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin.”

   

  Second, a Catholic must make a firm commitment to go to confession when that becomes possible.

  59745678. Pietrzyk explained that an act of perfect contrition is not a replacement for the sacrament of penance— far from it. “Even perfect contrition is never separated from the sacrament, at least in intention...if one makes a perfect act of contrition, it's not 'Oh, I don't have to go to confession any more.' Quite the opposite," Pietrzyk said. "The person who says: 'I have perfect contrition, but I'm not going to the sacrament' does not in fact have perfect contrition," he said.

  The sacrament of penance remains the sole, ordinary means for the forgiveness of mortal sins after baptism, Father Pietrzyk said. Contrition is about conversion, he said, which means turning away from attachment to sin, and turning toward the sacraments.

  ~ Johan McKeown quoting Father Pius Pietrzyk, OP; Catholic News Agency.com, Mar. 27, 2020, © CNA.com

   

  ***A Private Confession may be arranged by calling Father Ed at

  570-265-2113.

   

   

• July 18: Wyalusing Picnic

  Annual Family Picnic at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish is Sunday, July 19 at St. Mary's Church Hall and campus, from 11 AM to 4 PM.  Cornhole tournament, basket raffle, cash raffle, happy wagon raffle, games and plenty of food --Everyone welcome.

• Jul 28: No Mass today

• July 25: Prayer for the First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly

  I thank You, Lord,

  for the comfort of Your presence:

  even in times of loneliness,

  You are my hope and my confidence,

  You have been my rock and my fortress since my youth!

  I thank You for having given me a family

  and for having blessed me with a long life.

  I thank You for moments of joy and difficulty,

  for the dreams that have already come true in my life and

  for those that are still ahead of me.

  I thank You for this time of renewed fruitfulness to which You call me.

  Increase, O Lord, my faith,

  make me a channel of your peace,

  teach me to embrace those who suffer more than me,

  to never stop dreaming

  and to tell of your wonders to new generations.

  Protect and guide Pope Francis and the Church,

  that the light of the Gospel might reach the ends of the earth.

  Send Your Spirit, O Lord, to renew the world,

  that the storm of the pandemic might be calmed,

  the poor consoled and wars ended.

  Sustain me in weakness

  and help me to live life to the full

  in each moment that You give me,

  in the certainty that you are with me every day,

  even until the end of the age.

  Amen.

   

• July 25-31: Troy Fair - Can you volunteer?

  In the U.S., there is the need to restore legal protection for human life from conception to natural death.  At this time of year, the BCPHL is seeking volunteers for their booth at the Troy Fair, July 25-31, 2021.  Their visible presence is done in a low-key way to promote life by a quiet witness.  Volunteers are needed to maintain the booth in 2-hour increments.  No experience is necessary, as the booth continuously displays models of  12-week-old babies, while  balloons are distributed to Fair attendees.  The scheduling person for the booth is Marilyn Burke 570-746-1280,  or at her e-mail:  

  fatimamiracle13 @ frontier.com

  Monetary donations to defray the $2100 booth and materials costs would be greatly appreciated.  Monies not used for the Fair will later assist in funding the Pro-Life bus to Washington,  D.C. in January.   Donations can be sent to BCPHL, c/o Nancy Schrader, Treasurer, 313 Harrison St. Sayre, PA  18840. 

  Thank you for your concern and assistance – visit us at the Fair.

   

• July 25-31: Natural Family Planning Week

  Natural Family Planning (NFP) is the general title for the scientific, natural, and moral methods of family planning that can help married couples either achieve or postpone pregnancy.
             NFP methods are based on the observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman's menstrual cycle. No drugs, devices, or surgical

  procedures are used to avoid pregnancy.
  Since the methods of NFP respect the love-giving (unitive) and life-giving (procreative)

  nature of the conjugal act, they support God's design for married love!

   

  In July of each year, along with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, we celebrate

  National Family Planning Awareness Week (July 25-31, 2021). To learn more,  please visit the USCCB site: https://www.usccb.org/topics/natural-family-planning/national-nfp-awareness-week or our diocesan website:  dioceseofscranton.org.   Some of the resources offered include:  Liturgy & Prayers;  Church Teachings; More information and related resources for Natural Family Planning.

   

• July 26: The Feast of Saints Anne and Joachim

  The Feast of Saints Anne and Joachim, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and  grandparents of Jesus, 

  is celebrated on July 26 (Monday this week).   They are powerful intercessors for all married couples, expectant mothers, and married couples who are having difficulty conceiving, as well as for those who are aging..

   

• July 28: Spiritual Life Program

  Food for the Soul  -  Wednesday, July 28 - 6:30 pm in Grotto Hall

               On Wednesday, July 28, seminarian Marc Philips will offer the parish a program about Faith, Prayer, and Spirituality at 6:30 pm in Grotto Hall.  As we are emerging from a long period of “virtual” (if any at all) programs, we are now free to meet in-person again and enjoy parish activities.   Take this opportunity to refresh your spiritual life along with your social life, and put this program on your calendar.

   

• July 31: "Make a Taco"

  Come and "Make a Taco" in Grotto Hall after 5 PM Mass

  Please sign up in advance or through office, so we have enough food.

• Jul 6 First Friday Mass at 8:30 am

  Immediately  after the 8:30 am Mass and continue until 8 pm.   Look for sign-up sheets next weekend to select an hour to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.  Questions? Call Rosemary Hoffmann at 570-265-7126.

   

• Aug 6: Eucharistic Adoration

  Eucharistic Adoration will take place Friday, August 6, in the Church. It will begin at  about 9 am,

  Immediately  after the 8:30 am Mass and continue until 8 pm.   Look for sign-up sheets next weekend to select an hour to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.  Questions? Call Rosemary Hoffmann at 570-265-7126.

   

• Aug 7 First Saturday 8:30 am Mass

• August 8: "Ice Cream Social"

   After 11 AM Mass, in church parking lot.

  Please sign up in advance at church or through office so we will have enough ice cream for all.

• Nov. 10: Bus Trip to American Music Theater Christmas Show

  The Wyalusing Parish will sponsor this bus trip to "Winter Wonderland" at the American Music Theater.  The cost of $135 includes transportation and driver tip, the show, and dinner.  Bus pick-ups at Wyalusing, Meshoppen and Tunkhannock.  Breakfast stop on your own, and a stop at Rockvale Mall before the show at 3 pm.  Information contact Marilyn Burton 570-833-4851 or

  mammymarilyn@epix.net.  For reservations, send $25 deposit or the full amount made out to Marilyn Burton, 320 Fannon Muldoon Rd., Meshoppen PA,  18630.  Seating in order of reservation.  Include name, address, phone and email, and an emergency contact.

• Masses online or televised

  Saturday Vigil Mass at SS Peter & Paul Church, Towanda, is now on youtube to view on Sunday: new link each week posted above.

  Daily 8 AM, Noon, and 7 PM on EWTN television station

  Sunday 8 AM and Noon on EWTN television station

  Weekdays 12:10, 3:30 and 7 PM on CTW; also streamed on website www.dioceseofscranton.org; and on Diocesan facebook, twitter, instagram and youtube

  Saturday Vigil 4 pm on CTW and streamed on Diocesan website www.dioceseofscranton.org and Diocesan facebook, twitter, instagram and youtube

  Sunday 10 am on CTW and streamed onDiocesan websiter www.dioceseofscranton.org and Diocesan facebook, twitter, instagram and youtube

  Weekdays 9 AM livestream at TheDivineMercy.org facebook page

  Weekdays 7 pm in Spanish at LaDivinaMisericordia (Official) facebook page

   

   

   

• Diocesan Mass Televised Schedule and online access

  A pivate Mass will be celebrated daily in the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton, and made available on CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton.

  On weekdays, the Mass will be broadcast at 12:10 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

  On weekends, the Saturday Vigil Mass will be broadcast at 4:00 p.m. and rebroadcast on Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m.

  The Masses will also be streamed on the Diocese of Scranton’s website (www.dioceseofscranton.org), made available on the Diocese of Scranton’s social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) and will be accessible on the Diocese of Scranton’s YouTube channel.  

• EWTN Mass Schedule

  Daily Mass is available on EWTN (Comcast channel 63). 

  The schedule is 12:00 a.m. (midnight), 8:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. (noon), and 7:00 p.m.

  Sunday Mass is on EWTN at 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. (noon).

• Diocese of Scranton Notice Regarding Sexual Abuse of a Minor

  It is the policy of the Diocese of Scranton to report any allegation of sexual abuse of a minor to law enforcement.  If you are a victim of sexual abuse committed by a priest, deacon, religious or lay employee or volunteer of the Diocese of Scranton, you are encouraged to immediately report the matter to law enforcement.  If any priest, deacon, religious, lay employee or volunteer of the Diocese of Scranton has cause or reason to suspect that a minor has been subjected to any form of abuse, including child sexual abuse, the matter will be reported to law enforcement.  It is also the policy of the Diocese to adhere to all civil and state regulations.  In accordance with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Laws, reports of suspected child abuse should also be made immediately by phone to the 24-Hour Child Abuse hotline (ChildLine) at 1-800-932-0313 or electronically at www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis.  To this end, the Diocese is equally committed to adhering to the norms of the Code of Canon Law and to upholding the tenets of the USCCB Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which includes supporting victims of sexual abuse in their pursuit of emotional and spiritual well-being.  As such, information regarding an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor should also be reported to the Victim Assistance Coordinator, Mary Beth Pacuska at 570-862-7551.

  Aviso al Respecto de Reportar el Abuso Sexual de Un Menor de Edad Ed la norma de la Doceses de Scranton reportar cualquier alegacion de abuso sexual de un menor de edad a las autoridades.  Si usted ed una victima de abuso sexual cometido por un sacerdote, diaconon, religioso o empleado laico, o voluntario de la Diocesis de Scranton, usted esta obligado a reportar el asunto immediateamente a las autoridades de la ley.  Si algun sacerdote, diacono, religioso, empleado laico o voluntario de la Diocesis de Scranton tiene sospecha de que un menor de edad ha sido sujeto a cualquier forma de abuso, inluyendo abuso sexual de menor de edad, el asunto sera reportado a las autoridades de la ley.  Es la norma de la Diocesis defender todas las regulaciones civiles y del estado.  De conformidad con la Comunidad de los Servicios de Proteccion Infantil de Pennsylvania Leyes, informes de sospecha de abuso de ninos tambien debe hacerse inmediateamente por teefono las 24 horas maltrato infantil hotline (ChildLine) al 1-800-932-0313 o electronicamente en www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis.  Al fi n de que la Diocesis este comprometida igualmente a defender las normas del Codigo de Derecho Canonico y defender los principios de la Carta Para la Proteccion de Ninos y Jovenes (Conferencia de los Obispos Catholicos de los Estados Unidow), lo cual incluye apoyar a las victimas de abuso sexual en pos del bienesar emocional y espiritual.  Por eso, informacion respecto a una alegacion del asunto sexual de un menor de edad, debe ser reportada a la Coordinadora Diocesana de Asistencia para Las Vctimas, Mary Beth Pacuska, a 570-862-7551.