SAINT JOHN VIANNEY MARCH 30, 2014 Catholic Church In the Peace of Christ Saint john Vianney Catholic Church Archdiocese of Galveston — Houston 625 Nottingham Oaks Trail Houston, TX 77079 Tel.: 281-497-1500 Fax: 281-584-2024 www.stjohnvianney.org ______________________________ PARISH CLERGY Rev. R. Troy Gately Pastor Rev. Charles J. Talar Rev. Daniel L. Warden Priests in Residence Deacons Dale Steffes Al Vacek Fred Kossegi Randy Graham Louis Provenzano ______________________________ PASTORAL STAFF Adult Formaon Yvonne Gill Youth Formaon Daniel Marcantel Music Ministry Michael Madrid Pastoral Care/ Spiritual Life Louis Provenzano Parish Life/ Acvity Center Richard Fairly Social Service Ministries Deborah Montez Business Office C.J. Pete Prados Dear Friends in Christ: You have probably heard me say more than once “The key to happiness is holiness!” And indeed it is. I don’t know when I first heard this said or if I made it up myself. I know that it is something that I have tried to impress on children, especially in the confessional. It is simple, to the point and profoundly true. The key to happiness is holiness! Now what I am about to say is not meant to be judgmental or discriminatory in any way, but… While we are all sinners, this fact alone is not an excuse to sin, to ignore sin or deny that sin is sin. What am I talking about? Much of our culture is immersed in sinful behavior. So much so, that most people don’t even bat an eye. The media is filled with people engaged in every kind of immoral acvity. Drug and alcohol abuse is glorified. Hubris is considered strength of character. Cursing, swearing, profanity and insults are so common that few noce, much less are offended. Blasphemy is considered humorous. Immodesty is considered fashionable. Selfishness is just looking out for #1. Promiscuity, adultery and homosexual acvity are viewed as life style choices or self-expression. There are sll some taboos, but not many. It has to be prey bad to be condemned or acknowledged as wrong. Most sinful and immoral behavior is at best ignored, or you may get a “tsk, tsk”. At worst many sins are glamorized and exulted as right conduct! It seems that right is now wrong and wrong has become right. There can be no doubt that our social mores and sensivies have changed. The deeper queson is are we happier? Recently, one of our parishioners was relang how difficult it is to raise a family in our contemporary American culture. The person was immigrant from another country and culture. They readily pointed out how many advantages there are in America and how numerous were the opportunies for prosperity, but they also lamented that in other ways our naon and our culture were impoverished and harmful. The human side of things is trampled upon by materialism, desire for wealth and convenience and the coarseness of our interacons. Personal, familial and social relaonships suffer in this climate. Being rich and prosperous does not guarantee happiness. Pope Francis has pointed this out on numerous occasions during the first year of his ponficate. Here he is following Pope Benedict and Blessed John Paul and the 2000 year-old teachings of the Catholic Church rooted in the Gospel of Jesus. When considering our culture, I would encourage a serious examinaon of our behavior. Are we a holy people? Is holiness esteemed and cherished in our culture and society? Pride, Lust, Avarice, Sloth, Wrath, Gluony and Envy are the Seven Deadly Sins. Too oen, we are not ashamed of these, but we relish in them! When was the last me that you saw on a TV show or in a movie that fornicaon was treated as a sin? When was dishonesty or indulgence treated as sinful? To say that sexual inmacy is sinful outside of marriage is considered silly, quaint or bigoted. To call lying or dishonesty a sin is to be a simpleton or unsophiscated in the ways of the world. To claim that pride is a sin invites charges of mental abuse to someone’s self-esteem. To say that slothfulness (laziness) is a sin is challenging one’s liberty and right to self-expression! To call anything a sin is to be intolerant and insensive. Ironically, being intolerant, insensive and unaccepng of sin are some of the few acts considered bad behavior in our society. But the queson is are we happier because of our sinful behavior and our acceptance of sin? As people of faith, we must call sin what it is. Sin is not just a wrong acon or the breaking of a rule. Sin is our displeasing God. Sin is our disobedience to God. Sugarcoang, whitewashing, being polically correct does not change the fact that sin is wrong! The way we start to change our society and culture is to change our own lives first. We need to stop lying to ourselves and others and simply admit and acknowledge sin for what it is. We need to do this for ourselves, but also for our families, especially for our children. Yes, there are gray areas in life, but there is also black and white. Not everything and every situaon is gray. The sooner we acknowledge sin for what it is, the sooner we can seek forgiveness and move on. If we don’t acknowledge sin, how are we going to avoid it and grow in holiness? And if we aren’t growing in holiness, can we ever be happy? The key to happiness is holiness! In Pace Chris,
Transcript
SAINT JOHN VIANNEY MARCH 30, 2014
Catholic Church
In the Peace of Christ
Saint john Vianney
Catholic Church
Archdiocese of Galveston — Houston
625 Nottingham Oaks Trail Houston, TX 77079
Tel.: 281-497-1500
Fax: 281-584-2024 www.stjohnvianney.org
______________________________
PARISH CLERGY
Rev. R. Troy Gately Pastor
Rev. Charles J. Talar
Rev. Daniel L. Warden
Priests in Residence
Deacons Dale Steffes
Al Vacek
Fred Kossegi
Randy Graham
Louis Provenzano ______________________________
PASTORAL STAFF
Adult Forma$on Yvonne Gill
Youth Forma$on Daniel Marcantel
Music Ministry Michael Madrid
Pastoral Care/
Spiritual Life Louis Provenzano
Parish Life/
Ac$vity Center Richard Fairly
Social Service
Ministries Deborah Montez
Business Office C.J. Pete Prados
Dear Friends in Christ:
You have probably heard me say more than once “The key to happiness is holiness!” And
indeed it is. I don’t know when I first heard this said or if I made it up myself. I know that it is
something that I have tried to impress on children, especially in the confessional. It is simple, to the
point and profoundly true. The key to happiness is holiness! Now what I am about to say is not meant
to be judgmental or discriminatory in any way, but… While we are all sinners, this fact alone is not an
excuse to sin, to ignore sin or deny that sin is sin. What am I talking about? Much of our culture is
immersed in sinful behavior. So much so, that most people don’t even bat an eye. The media is filled
with people engaged in every kind of immoral ac8vity. Drug and alcohol abuse is glorified. Hubris is
considered strength of character. Cursing, swearing, profanity and insults are so common that few
no8ce, much less are offended. Blasphemy is considered humorous. Immodesty is considered
fashionable. Selfishness is just looking out for #1. Promiscuity, adultery and homosexual ac8vity are
viewed as life style choices or self-expression. There are s8ll some taboos, but not many. It has to be
pre>y bad to be condemned or acknowledged as wrong. Most sinful and immoral behavior is at best
ignored, or you may get a “tsk, tsk”. At worst many sins are glamorized and exulted as right conduct!
It seems that right is now wrong and wrong has become right. There can be no doubt that our social
mores and sensi8vi8es have changed. The deeper ques8on is are we happier?
Recently, one of our parishioners was rela8ng how difficult it is to raise a family in our
contemporary American culture. The person was immigrant from another country and culture. They
readily pointed out how many advantages there are in America and how numerous were the
opportuni8es for prosperity, but they also lamented that in other ways our na8on and our culture
were impoverished and harmful. The human side of things is trampled upon by materialism, desire for
wealth and convenience and the coarseness of our interac8ons. Personal, familial and social
rela8onships suffer in this climate. Being rich and prosperous does not guarantee happiness. Pope
Francis has pointed this out on numerous occasions during the first year of his pon8ficate. Here he is
following Pope Benedict and Blessed John Paul and the 2000 year-old teachings of the Catholic Church
rooted in the Gospel of Jesus. When considering our culture, I would encourage a serious
examina8on of our behavior. Are we a holy people? Is holiness esteemed and cherished in our
culture and society? Pride, Lust, Avarice, Sloth, Wrath, Glu>ony and Envy are the Seven Deadly Sins.
Too oDen, we are not ashamed of these, but we relish in them! When was the last 8me that you saw
on a TV show or in a movie that fornica8on was treated as a sin? When was dishonesty or indulgence
treated as sinful? To say that sexual in8macy is sinful outside of marriage is considered silly, quaint or
bigoted. To call lying or dishonesty a sin is to be a simpleton or unsophis8cated in the ways of the
world. To claim that pride is a sin invites charges of mental abuse to someone’s self-esteem. To say
that slothfulness (laziness) is a sin is challenging one’s liberty and right to self-expression! To call
anything a sin is to be intolerant and insensi8ve. Ironically, being intolerant, insensi8ve and
unaccep8ng of sin are some of the few acts considered bad behavior in our society. But the ques8on
is are we happier because of our sinful behavior and our acceptance of sin?
As people of faith, we must call sin what it is. Sin is not just a wrong ac8on or the breaking of
a rule. Sin is our displeasing God. Sin is our disobedience to God. Sugarcoa8ng, whitewashing, being
poli8cally correct does not change the fact that sin is wrong! The way we start to change our society
and culture is to change our own lives first. We need to stop lying to ourselves and others and simply
admit and acknowledge sin for what it is. We need to do this for ourselves, but also for our families,
especially for our children. Yes, there are gray areas in life, but there is also black and white. Not
everything and every situa8on is gray. The sooner we acknowledge sin for what it is, the sooner we
can seek forgiveness and move on. If we don’t acknowledge sin, how are we going to avoid it and
grow in holiness? And if we aren’t growing in holiness, can we ever be happy? The key to happiness is
holiness!
In Pace Chris8,
4th Sunday of lent
Let us Pray
For the souls of the recently deceased,
Eternal rest grant unto them
O Lord and let Perpetual light shine upon
them.
MASS SCHEDULE
Saturday Vigil
5:30 p.m.
Sunday
8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m.,
11:00 a.m.,
12:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m.
Spanish: 2:00 p.m.,
7:00 p.m.
Weekdays
Monday - Friday
9:00 a.m.
Tuesday & Thursday
7:00 p.m.
LITURGY OF THE
HOURS Monday - Friday
6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
NOVENA & ROSARY Our Lady of
Perpetual Help
Wednesdays 6:30 p.m.
Novena of the
Sacred Heart
1st Fridays following
9:00 a.m. Mass
Divine Mercy Chaplet
and
Rosary a er 9:00 a.m.
daily Mass _________________________________________________________
There is no fee to a>end the series; all speakers donate their 8me. Dona8ons are appreciated! For more informa8on contact
Barbara Gannon at 281/773-3819. For the complete schedule of speakers, check the parish website.
Since 1987
ADULT LEARNING PROGRAM SERIES Saint John Vianney
Ac$vity Center 10-11:30AM
Adult Formation
Couples.... experience the life giving waters of
Christ at a Marriage Encounter
Weekend. Allow our Lord to refresh
your marriage.
For informa8on on the next
Weekend, April 11-13 or
May 16-18, contact Tina & Brian
Li>le, 281/773-4014 or go on-line
to: www.houstonme.org
Rite of Chris8an Ini8a8on of Adults
“Father, I Pray That They All Be One
As You Are In Me and I am In You” John 17:21
Please con8nue to pray for the women and men in the RCIA process
who have been called to the Easter sacraments.
As part of their final prepara8on they will celebrate the Scru8nies
on the third, fourth and fiDh Sundays of Lent during the 11am Mass.
May they be strengthened by the Holy Spirit to “strain forward to what lies ahead, ...the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.”
April 3: Our Most Holy Week
Holy Week contains the most solemn liturgies of the liturgical year as it celebrates the great mystery of our faith: the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The most notable feature of Holy Week’s celebrations is their processional character. At no time in the liturgical year do we experience so much movement within liturgical rites.
Presented by: Fr. Troy Gately, Pastor at Saint John Vianney since 2008. Fr. Gately is the former rector of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston and served previously, as Vice-Chancellor for the Diocese of Galveston-Houston for 12 years.
First Thursday
Breakfasts Presents
THE MAIN COURSE
April 3
St. Jude Hall
Breakfast:
immediately following
9am Mass.
Presentation:
10:15am—11am
Tuesday, April 1
SUSAN BAKER
AUTHOR
Susan Baker, wife of former Secretary of State James Baker,
discusses her book, “Passing It On – An Autobiography With Spirit.” In it
she describes how her strong faith gave her the strength to meet the
challenges of raising eight children amid a very public life in
Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, April 8
MIKE ROBERTSON
RADIO SHOW HOST
Mike Robertson hosts “Straight Talk Money,” weekdays on KTEK 1110 AM
Radio. His presenta8on is “straight talk” about the economy,
inves8ng, finance and straight answers to audience ques8ons.
Tuesday, April 15
LINDA BURCH
MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE
AND AUTHOR
Author of “Growing Up Borderline, A Mother’s Memoir”. Linda, a former
college professor, will present a candid account of her family’s journey as
they dealt with mental illness. She will also discuss the importance of
early diagnosis and treatment, especially in children.
SAINT JOHN VIANNEY MARCH 30, 2014
Catholic Church
Saturday, April 12th, 9 a.m
Terry Hershey Park
Walk, Witness, & Pray
Registra8on begins at 8:30 a.m. Meet in the
SJV parking lot by the playground. We will pray
the Rosary as we walk, remembering the
babies lost to abor8on, praying for our
na8on’s leaders, and an end to abor8on.
Registra8on is $10 per person and $5 per child. The Respect Life
Ministry will provide water, rosary rings, and Walk for Life t-shirts.
All proceeds from the Walk for Life will benefit SJV’s Gabriel
Project. The Gabriel Project helps women in crisis pregnancies and
their babies throughout the Archdiocese by offering Chris8an love
and prac8cal solu8ons. Rain date is Saturday, April 26th.
For more informa$on, contact Social Service Ministries at
281-497-4434.
1641
Free E-File Tax Assistance Kendall Library
609 N. Eldridge
Wednesdays 12-4 p.m. &
Saturdays 10-2 p.m. (from 2/1 through 4/12 )
Social Ministries
Support Services at SJV
Food, Clothing, & Other Emergency Assistance—Mondays,
Wednesdays, & Fridays, 9:30 to Noon at the Social Services Ministry
Office or call 281-497-4434.
The Gabriel Project—support services for expectant and new mothers;
call 281-497-4434.
Professional Counseling available at SJV—Individual, Marriage, &
Family; call Catholic Chari8es at 713-874-6590 for an appointment.
CanCare—support for cancer pa8ents & family members; Call Emily
Prus at 281-558-6502.
The Samaritan Ministry provides visita8on to the sick and homebound.
To arrange a visit, contact the Parish Office at 281-497-1500.
Employment Assistance
If you need assistance in preparing your resume, please call us at SJV
for an appointment at 281-497-4434.
For a list of employment opportuni8es, please see the SJV website at
www.stjohnvianney.org. Under the Ministries tab, click “Social
Services,” then “Employment Ministry.”
Addi8onally, please visit the MAM Job Finding Network at h>p://
mamjobsnetwork.org. Or, plan to a>end an orienta8on session at
10:30a.m. Monday through Friday or 1:30p.m. Monday through
Thursday. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early. MAM is located at
1625 Blalock. Call 713-468-4516 for more informa8on.
Respect Life Ac$vi$es
Our Respect Life Ministry will have a planning mee8ng on
Thursday, April 3rd at 5:30 p.m. in the Social Services Ministry
office. The Respect Life Ministry meets the first Thursday of
every month.
During the 40 Days for Life, SJV Respect Life members will pray
the Rosary at Planned Parenthood every Thursday (remaining
Thursdays are April 3rd, and April 10th). Please join us when
you can. To carpool, meet in the SJV parking lot by the parish
office aDer 9 a.m. Mass. When people are present in prayer at
an abor8on site, through the Grace of God, hearts are changed
and lives are saved.
The Gabriel Project is currently accep8ng dona8ons of new or
gently used baby items. Dona8ons will be given to expectant or
new mothers throughout the Archdiocese. Please drop off your
dona8ons to the Social Services Ministry office any8me from
8:30 to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday or call 281-497-4434
for more informa8on.
Finally, don’t forget to pray for your spiritually adopted child this
month! Con8nue to watch the bulle8n and SJV website for
monthly reports describing your spiritually adopted baby’s
development. For more informa8on about the spiritual
Like us on Facebook for store sales, news and updates!
See Craigslist and EBay for JC Lis8ngs! Go to www.ebay.com and
Click on ADVANCED top right, then click on SELLERS on leD and
type Josephresaleshop.
Spring Cleaning Reminder: Remember us when you’re
cleaning out your closets, drawers & cabinets!
All proceeds support our Social Service Ministries (no electronics
or furniture, please!). No donation goes to waste!
Dona$ons accepted during business hours.
Mon-Fri: 10 am - 4 pm
Sat: 10 am - 2 pm
Joseph’s Coat is SJV’s Resale Shop located in the Social
Services Building
Now accep$ng Visa & M/C !
4th Sunday of lent
All Junior High students are
welcome to join our
JH Youth Group on
Thursday nights.
We meet 6:30-8:00pm in the Youth Lounge
Join us this Thursday, April 3
No registra8on required, just come!
Youth Formation
Mark your calendars, “Weird Animals” VBS is
coming this summer! We are offering VBS on the
following dates this summer:
Week 1—June 23 thru June 27
Week 2—July 21 thru July 25
Registra8on will open
mid-April.
Volunteers are needed!
Contact the Youth
Forma8on Office
For more info. 281-497-6665
High School Spring RetreatHigh School Spring RetreatHigh School Spring RetreatHigh School Spring Retreat
April 4-6, 2014
ReverseReverseReverseReverse Come encounter Christ in new ways as we prayerfully and joyfully “reverse” back to basics. Join us as we break open the “Our Father” with reflection, prayer, and
fellowship.
Where: Camp Cho Yeh Cost: $130
For more information or questions please see Kristin Wegenka
