Paul Was the Great Evangelist; Peter with the Keys Was the 'Pastor Bonus.'

Parish Office (863) 453-4757 Fax (863) 453-2620 13th Sunday in Ordinary Times June 30, 2019 Parish Office Hours Monday through Friday 9 AM to 2:30 PM Pastor Assisting Clergy Fr. Leo Frechette Fr. Gerald Grogan Retired Deacon Dan Hoppe Schedule of Masses Saturday Confession 3:30 PM English 6:30 PM Spanish Vigil Mass 4 PM English 7 PM Spanish Sunday 8 AM and 10:30 AM Holy Days Vigil Mass 5:30 PM 8 & 10:30 AM Daily Mass Monday-Friday 8 AM First Friday Mass and Holy Hour The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul – June 29 8 AM Paul was the great evangelist; Visit us on the web! www.ologap.org Peter with the keys was the ‘Pastor Bonus.’ Page 2 Our Lady of Grace Feast of Saints Peter and Paul – June 29th. Every Sunday we profess our faith in “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.” What is the “Apostolic Church?” If you broke the first century into thirds, the first one third had to do with the life, teaching and miracles of Jesus. The second one third had to do with the mission of the Apostles, the transmission of the teaching of Jesus. The final one third of the first century had to do with the committing of that teaching of Jesus, handed on by word of mouth by the apostles, 30 – 60 A.D., to writing. The Gospels are the written down oral teaching of the Apostles. The “Apostolic Church” was the period immediately after the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. The best day-to-day record of the Apostolic Church is contained in Luke’s Acts of the Apostles. The first twelve chapters deal mostly with the ministry of Peter. Chapters 13 – 28 deal exclusively with the three missionary journeys of St. Paul throughout the known world of the first century. The Two great apostles of the Apostolic Church are Saints Peter and Paul whose feast day we celebrate June 29th. Peter is normally referred to under the title “Pastor Bonus.” That title arises from the conferral of the primacy on Peter by Jesus in John 21: 15-19. Peter had denied Jesus three times. When Jesus appeared to the apostles after his Resurrection, he said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” To which he answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus, then, gives him his commission, “Feed my lambs”, “Tend my sheep”, and “Feed my sheep.” This is why we refer to the Pope today by the title “Pastor Bonus” – “The Good Shepherd,” because the primary role of the Pope is one of “Shepherding” God’s people. We have a wonderful example of that with the present Holy Father Pope Francis. If Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI were great teachers, Pope Francis is seen as a great pastor. We refer to Peter under a second title which comes directly from Matthew’s Gospel (16: 13-16). Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say I am?” One of the disciples answering for the rest said, “Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah. Others say you are Jeremiah. Still others say you are one of the great prophets.” Jesus put a more focused question to his disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter, answering for the rest said, “You are Christ, the Son of God.” To which Jesus responds and then confers a second role on Peter, “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church…I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” The Church is founded on the “Rock” of Peter’s faith, “You are Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus gives Peter primacy of authority over the whole Church, the source of the Pope’s authority today. He is the final authority in matters of faith and morals in the Church. 13th Sunday in Ordinary Times Page 3 FIRST FRIDAY DEVOTION Years later she repeated her request to Sr. Lucia, the only one still living of the three What is the origin of this devotion? young Fatima seers, while she was a postulant Our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary sister living in a convent in Spain: Alocoque (1647-1690), a French nun in the “Look, my daughter, at my Heart, surrounded Visitation Order, and gave her the special with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce task to spread devotion to His Most Sacred me at very moment by their blasphemies and Heart at a time when religion was growing ingratitude. You at least try to console me, cold in the hearts of mankind. and say that I promise to assist at the hour of Jesus asked for special prayers and practices death, with the graces necessary for salvation, to make reparation for great neglect to the all those who, on the first Saturday of five proper reverence owed to God. For those consecutive months, shall confess, receive who did this faithfully, he made what St. Holy Communion, recite five decades of Margaret Mary referred to as the “Great the rosary, and keep me company for 15 Promise” which was the last and greatest of minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries the Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart of the rosary, with the intention of making of Jesus. reparation to me.” “I promise you in the unfathomable mercy st of my heart that my omnipotent love will 1 Saturday Mass & Confession – July 6th, 2019 procure the grace of final penitence for all Saturday of this week, July 6th, is the first those who receive communion on nine Saturday of the month. The 8 a.m. Mass will successive first Fridays of the month; they be followed by Confessions at 8:30 a.m. will not die in my disfavor [the grace of The intention at the First Saturday 8 a.m. final repentance], or without having received Mass is for deceased benefactors of Our the sacraments, since my divine heart will be Lady of Grace Parish. They include: Sarah their sure refuge in the last moments of their McDonald, Frances & Audrey Peffer, Orlan- life.” do Nardone, Maria Guerrero, Mary Litwinski, Norma George, Fred Bruno, Loumella Faust, First Friday Mass & Exposition – July 5th, 2019 Friday of this week, July 5th, is the first Paul Brazinski, Donald McCormack, Lester Friday of the month. The 8 a.m. Mass will Reinbolt, John Lacenski, Mary Ann Bland, be followed by Exposition of the Blessed William & MaryAnn Patterson. Sacrament, which will conclude with Benediction at 9 a.m. FIRST SATURDAY DEVOTION - Explained The practice of the First Saturday devotion was requested by Our Lady of Fatima, who appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, multiple times starting in 1917. She said to Lucia, the oldest of the three children: “I shall come to ask . that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions of Bring Box tops for St. Catherine School next reparation be made in atonement for the weekend to all masses. Drop off at Main Church sins of the world.” entrance in a box for that purpose. Thank you. Page 4 Our Lady of Grace The Most Cherished of American Freedoms – Religious Liberty In 1634, a mix of Catholic and Protestant settlers arrived at St. Clement's Island in Southern Maryland from England aboard the Ark and the Dove. They had come at the invitation of the Catholic Lord Baltimore, who had been granted Maryland by the Protestant King Charles I of England. While Catholics and Protestants were killing each other in Europe, Lord Baltimore imagined Maryland as a society where people of different faiths could live together peacefully. This vision was soon codified in Maryland's 1649 Act Concerning Religion (also called the "Toleration Act"), which was the first law in our nation's history to protect an individual's right to freedom of conscience. Maryland's early history teaches us that, like any freedom, religious liberty requires constant vigilance and protection, or it will disappear. Maryland's experiment in religious toleration ended within a few decades. The colony was placed under royal control, and the Church of England became the established religion. Discriminatory laws, including the loss of political rights, were enacted against those who refused to conform. Catholic chapels were closed, and Catholics were restricted to practicing their faith in their homes. The Catholic community lived under these conditions until the American Revolution. By the end of the 18th century, our nation's founders embraced freedom of religion as an essential condition of a free and democratic society. James Madison, often called the Father of the Constitution, described conscience as "the most sacred of all property." He wrote that "the Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate." George Washington wrote that "the establishment of Civil and Religious Liberty was the Motive that induced me to the field of battle." Thomas Jefferson assured the Ursuline Sisters—who had been serving a mostly non- Catholic population by running a hospital, an orphanage, and schools in Louisiana since 1727— that the principles of the Constitution were a "sure guarantee" that their ministry would be free "to govern itself according to its own voluntary rules, without interference from the civil authority." It is therefore fitting that when the Bill of Rights was ratified, religious freedom had the distinction of being the First Amendment.

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