ST. STEPHEN RC CHURCH A Respect Life Parish PARISH OFFICE 2100 Baseline Rd., Grand Island NY 773-7647 Opt#1 ststephenswny.com Fax 773-5792 CLERGY Pastor Business Manager Rev. Raymond G. Corbin Karen Sweet / Ext. 104 [email protected] [email protected] Ext. 102 Admin Asst. Sandra Beyer Parochial Vicar - Fr. Chris Ext. 101 Emminger Ext. 107 Admin Asst. Lori Lenz [email protected] Ext. 114

Deacon Frank Kedzielawa Cemetery Inquiries Ext. 101 773-3364 [email protected] Music Director - Max Mauro

Ext# 126 Deacon Tom Sutton [email protected] 329-2292 [email protected] PARISH SCHOOL PK3 – GR 8

TRUSTEES 773-7647 Opt#2 Fax 773-1438 Carl Walbert 773-2518 Richard Sander 773-3929 www.ststephensgi.org

FAITH FORMATION Principal - Lynn Ortiz 773-7647 Opt. #3 4th Sunday of Ext 119 Fax 773-2231 [email protected] Coordinator - 14 March 2021 Admin Asst. Ramona Dewitt Rebecca Cambria - Ext 122 Ext 119 [email protected] Admin Asst. Denise Ricotta - Ext.117 SCHEDULE Saturday~ 4:30pm (Organ/ Piano) Sunday~ 7:30am (Organ), 9:00am (Choir) 11:00am (Contemporary Ensemble) DAILY MASS Monday to Friday~8:00am *Holy Days: Check Bulletin or Website PARISH MEMBERSHIP New parishioners can register online or stop at the rectory for more information. WEDDINGS Arrangements must be made with a parish priest no less than six months before the wedding.

Pre-marriage preparation is required. MINISTRY TO THE SICK AND HOMEBOUND Call the rectory to make arrangements for the Sacramentof the Anointing of theSick or to have Holy Communion brought to the home. A Communal Annointing of The Sick is held on the last Friday of each month at the 8:00am Mass. BAPTISMS Please call the parish deacons to arrange a baptism. Parents must be registered parishioners. Baptisms may be scheduled during any weekend Masses or privately. Parents must attend aone-time preparation class which is offered monthly. RECONCILIATION (CONFESSIONS) Saturday: 3:00–4:00 or anytime by appointment. Reconciliation Room is in the daily Mass chapel.

Monday, March 15~ Lenten Weekday 8:00am~Norman Graesser (Jeff & Eileen Stone)

Tuesday, March 16~ Lenten Weekday 8:00am~Peter McKown (Elaine Gorman)

Wednesday, March 17~ Lenten Weekday St. Patrick 8:00am~Janet Sheehan (Family) Maureen Corrao (Family)

Thursday, March 18 ~ Lenten Weekday 8:00am~Barabara Becker (Holly Arundell)

Friday, March 19~ St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary 8:00am~Agnes & Peter Tomczyk (Hedwig Babich) Catherine Burden (Ted & Jody Slipko)

7:00pm ~ Stations of the Cross

Saturday, March 20~ Lenten Weekday 4:30pm~Charles Romanchock (Family) Rita Desemone (Connie & John Vandervoort) St. Patrick

Sunday, March 21~ Fifth Sunday of Lent 7:30am~Barbara Becker (7:30 Rosary Group)

9:00am~Ezequiel Ruiz (Michele Tornabene)

11:00am~Robert Depew (Bill & Diane Lapp) Perpetua Poveromo (Respect Life Committee)

Sunday: 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23/Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6 [6ab]/Eph 2:4-10/Jn 3:14-21 or 1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10- 13a/Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4m 5, 6 [1]/Eph 5:8-14/Jn 9:1-41 or 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38 Monday: Is 65:17-21/Ps 30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b [2a]/Jn 4:43-54 Tuesday: Ez 47:1-9, 12/Ps 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9 [8]/Jn 5:1-16 Wednesday: Is 49:8-15/Ps 145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18 [8a]/Jn 5:17-30 Thursday: Ex 32:7-14/Ps 106:19-20, 21-22, 23 [4a]/Jn 5:31-47 Friday: 2 Sm 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16/Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29 [37]/Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22/ Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a or Lk 2:41-51a Saturday: Jer 11:18-20/Ps 7:2-3, 9bc-10, 11-12 [2a]/Jn OF THE CROSS 7:40-53 Next Sunday: Jer 31:31-34/Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15 Every Friday during Lent at 7pm [12a]/Heb 5:7-9/Jn 12:20-33 or Ez 37:12-14/Rom 8:8- Spouse of the 11/Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 [7]/Jn 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45 Blessed Virgin Mary Fourth Sunday of Lent

GOSPEL MEDITATION - ENCOURAGING DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE

Is there something to Lent that goes beyond our own spiritual house cleaning and spiritu- 4th al refinement? Yes, there is! It has to do with listening and learning so that we can take up the task of the Gospel with greater clarity and fortitude. While the spiritual refocusing of Lent is necessary, the fruit of this Lenten conversion has much more to do with learn- ing how we can be a better Church than it does about our eternal salvation. Salvation is a gift that flows out of God’s unconditional Mercy and cannot be merited. The spiritual maturity we can experience as a result of our Lenten disciplines serves to reduce the anxiety and apprehension we may experience as messengers of good, but very challenging, and unsettling, news.

St. Oscar Romero said that, “a church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed, what gospel is that?” When we listen to those descriptive and provocative words, do they resonate with anything in our expe- rience? As messengers of the Gospel, we are called to bring an unsettling message to the world. If our main concern is protect- ing our self-interests, then we are missing something huge! Many really struggle with being rejected, dismissed, or perceived as someone who is speaking out of turn. There is a counter cultural message that must be preached that clearly sides with the poor, marginalized, victimized, oppressed, neglected, disregarded, and lost souls throughout the world. There is a widespread misery among the peoples that is all too often allowed to fester with no one coming forward to offer a change or resolution.

The Church can speak to the needed structural changes that will allow people to earn just wages, feed their families and share abundantly and equally in the gifts of God’s good earth. Such a vision is not some optimistic fairy tale, but the vision of the Creator himself. Lent reminds us, as St. Oscar Romero also states, that, “we are workers, not master builder, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.” We are not called to labor simply for the benefit of the here and now but of the “what is to come.” Our myopic vision can be replaced by a more far reaching Lenten vision that is much greater and deeper in scope. As long as we are carrying the right blueprints with us and our thoughts extend beyond ourselves, then even the little things we do and the simplest prayer we utter go a long way. They give witness to our preference for the light of Christ and not the darkness of error and sin

Lou Macro † Kevin Beyer Jr. † Pat Fitzgerald, † Susanne McMahon † Megan Johnson † Brett Lombardo † Richard Pyc † Linda, Lisa ,Jacinta & Gianna Morinello † Frank Costanzo † Bethany Dzielski † Olga Demicke † Bill Ortiz † Fr. Dan Fiebelkorn † Eveylen Strobel †Brian Fitzpatrick † Dorothy Jourdain † Bill Appenzeller † Denise N. Baker † Don Bartus † Francis Roman † Maria DelSignore † Luann Moliterno † Mary Pascucci † Pat Paolucci † Nina Leskiw † James Purpora

And the Deceased…….Barbara Paloni

Respect Life Committee meets every 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7 PM, however, we will be meeting on the 4th Wednesday in February (2/24/21). NEWS Questions? Call Mark or Kathy (773-5726). We welcome new members for our committee! “When we consider that women are treated as property it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit.”

-Elizabeth Cady Stanton Leader of Women’s Rights Movement

14 March 2021

GENERATIONS IN of St. Stephen Parish

Meeting - The next prescheduled, monthly meeting (for officers and key members only) is on Sunday, April 11, in the Community Room (Library), following the Materials are still available at the Faith Formation Office 9:00 a.m. Mass. Attendees must wear masks and ob- for those families that are beginning their formation at serve social distancing. home. Please contact us anytime. Cancelling Events - Since the 2021 fundraiser was Confirmation Candidates: All forms and materials from cancelled, we have no choice but to cancel both the two your red Confirmation Packet are due now. Please drop annual awards (May & June) and the annual scholarship off at the Faith Formation building, the collection bas- (June). To maintain a minimal treasury balance, the ket, mail or email [email protected] at your remaining expenses are the Diocesan and the District 10 annual dues and a Catholic Charities donation. earliest convenience.

St. Stephen School’s Home School Association is hosting their Annual Series of Lenten Fish Fry Dinners on Friday, Feb.19th! Fish Fry Dinners will be offered every Friday for the seven (7) Fridays of Lent, (through April 2nd). Menu includes your choice of beer-battered or baked haddock, coleslaw; and choice of their famous potato salad or French fries. Creamy macaroni and cheese are also offered! Shrimp & Scallop Dinner, and Captains Combo also available. This is a reduced menu in order to help with the CDC guide lines. SCHOOL NEWS Friday Fish Fry Dinners will be served from the school cafeteria at St. Stephen School, 2080 Baseline Road, We currently have openings in our PK3 program Grand Island, NY, 14072. Take-Out Dinners ONLY, will for the 2020-2021 school year. For information be served from 4 – 7pm. Take-Out orders will be tak- please call the school at 773-7647 option 2 or en by phone at 773-4347 or 336-4581 from 3:30 to email [email protected] 7pm on Fridays. Because of Covid-19 restrictions we are NOT able to take walk-up orders.

For additional information, visit http://www.ststephensgi.org. regularly.

14 March 2021

If you have received your first communion, your parish community needs you! Consider taking on the responsibility of altar serving!

St John Paul II said of altar servers: "Your commitment to the altar is not only a duty, but a great honor, a genuine holy service...the altar server occupies a privileged place in the liturgical celebration. The altar server presents himself (herself) to a community and experiences firsthand that Christ is present and active in every liturgical act." This has certainly been a difficult year for our community as we continue to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. I understand that some families are still hesitant to gather in-person for liturgy and continue to join us via our parish livestream. However (if you feel comfortable), there will be an altar server training session on March 20, 2020 at 1:00 pm at St. Stephen. This training will be for both new and returning servers.

In Christ, Fr. Chris What we mean by

Single, twice divorced, under 30, gay, filthy rich, black and proud, poor as dirt, can’t sing, no hable Ingles, married with pets, older than God, more Catholic than the Pope, workaholic, bad speller, screaming babies, three-times divorced, passive- aggressive, obsessive -compulsive tourists, seekers, doubters, bleeding hearts…..

Lent Around the World Germany In some parts of Germany, old Christmas trees are burned during Lent to welcome in spring (Lent being the old German- ic for “spring.”) is also honored by the staging of processions and passion plays to remind the faithful of Our Lord’s suffering. The most famous of these is held every 10 years in Oberammergau, Germany, a custom that dates back to 1633 when the people of the town vowed to stage a passion play should God be merciful and end an outbreak of the plague. The first play was held the next year. Holy Thursday is known in Germany as “Green Thurs- day” (Grundonnerstag), for reasons that remain a mystery. The same name is used among the Czechs and the Slovaks. Normally, green foods are eaten, especially green salads and spinach.

Bulgaria The Lazarouvane festival is celebrated on the Saturday before Easter and honors spring and young girls. A beloved event every year, the Lazarouvane represents a kind of debut for girls. They gather on the Saturday before , decorate the gates of the village with wil- low twigs, and then walk through the village singing. The next day, they make Palm Sunday wreaths. According to superstition, young girls who refuse to take part will never find a husband.

Mexico The final Friday of Lent is devoted to Our Lady. Known as Viernes de Dolores, “Friday of Sorrows,” altars are set up in churches and homes in her honor. On the fourth Friday in Oaxaca, called la Samaritana, aquas frescas, fruit drinks and ice cream are given to passersby in honor of the Sa- maritan woman who gave Jesus water at the well.

Czech Republic From Holy Thursday night, the bells of churches fell silent across parts of Europe, such as in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg. Chil- dren were told that the bells were quiet because they had gone to Rome to make confession. As there were no bells, children would be sent out with wooden clappers to call the villagers and townspeople to services for the rest of the Triduum. With dawn on Easter morning, the bells began to ring once more. In the Czech Republic, the Thursday of Holy Week is called Soot-Sweeping or Black Wednesday because chimneys were tradi- tionally cleaned this day to prepare for Easter. Fourth Sunday of Lent

Confessions:

Thursdays 6:30 - 7:30pm Saturdays 3 - 4pm I HEARD GOD LAUGH by Matthew Kelly - Have In the confessional room in the chapel you read it yet? A group will meet Tuesday Eve- nings (7:00pm) beginning March 16th to read & Stations of the Cross: review this book. If you haven't gotten into your Every Friday 7pm - in the main church Lent yet come join and have THE BEST LENT

EVER! Holy Week: Holy Thursday Mass 7pm - Registration - show up (with your mask) Repose till 12am Location - Hospitality Room The Passion Mass 3pm Cost - Free - Books available Blessing of Food 1pm Easter Vigil 8pm Easter Sunday - 7:30, 9, 11:00am

Check out what’s happening at a Parish near you

Drive-thru Spaghetti Dinner on March 14 from 11:30 am-2:30 pm at Our Lady of Pompeii Parish, 129 Laverack Ave., Lancaster. Din- ner includes spaghetti, 2 meatballs, salad and Italian bread. Pre-sale only; tickets available at the parish office during business hours.

Holy Name News Lenten Homemade Pierogi & Placek Sale at St. John Kanty, Broadway & Swinburne Sts., Buffalo will take place starting the weekend of February 20-21 through the weekend of March 27-28. Saturdays from 3-5 pm; Sundays from 9:30 am-12 pm. Drive-thru only. Want to order in advance? Go to www.saintjohnkanty.com.

St. Joseph, Our Guide. Fourteen Holy Helpers Parish has created a second webpage to promote St. Jo- seph: www.StJosephOurGuide.org. One of the features of this webpage is to highlight artwork of St. Joseph that is in our parishes. It is our hope that after the pandemic, people will visit these sites. Please help us in growing this list by provid- ing a picture and information about the artwork in your parish. Use the submission form on the website under the sec- tion “Artwork of St. Joseph.” We also encourage you to provide a digital photograph of the artwork; attach it with the submission form or send it to us via email to [email protected].

“Coffee with Sr. Jacinta.” Join Sr. Jacinta and others for a ½ hour Zoom class on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 am. The sessions are a Spiritual Journey through the Catechism of the . To get a Zoom ID and passcode, contact Sr. Jacinta at [email protected]. These classes are recorded and available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiKxEbpUfRk9NBm98VXvFug.

Diocesan social media. You can follow the Diocese of Buffalo on social media so you’re up-to-date on what’s happening in your diocese. Follow the Diocese of Buffalo on Facebook, Twitter (@buffalodiocese), Instagram (@buffalodiocese) and You Tube (/bufdiocese). Follow the Western New York Catholic on Facebook (@wnycatholic) and Twitter (@WNYCatholic).

Crossroads is a Catholic community of single adults, forty years of age and older, seeking to share diversi- fied spiritual and social needs and blessings. We welcome people of all faiths. Crossroads respects and upholds the spir- itual, moral, and ethical teachings of the Catholic Church, including respect for life. Meetings are held once every other month. For more information, contact Barbara at 716-685-2818.

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