St. Bernard of Clairvaux St. Francis of Assisi
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St. Bernard of Clairvaux Our Mother of Perpetual Help St. Francis of Assisi (A Secondary Mission Church) ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX CHURCH BRADFORD,MAY 9, 2021 PA Today, as we celebrate Mother’s Day, I would like to share with all of you an oldy but goody. It was recorded by Eddy Arnold and written by Theodore Morse and Howard Johnson. The Title of the Song is “M-O-T-H-E-R” M – is for the million things she gave me M – is for the mercy she possesses O – means only that she is growing old O – means that I owe her all I own T – is for the tears she shed to save me T – is for her tender sweet caresses H – is for her heart of purest gold H – is for her hands that made a home E – is for her eyes with love-light shining E – means everything she’s done to help me R – means right and right she’ll always be R – means real and regular you see Put them all together they spell mother Put them all together they spell mother A word that means the world to me A word that means the world to me May the words of this song put us in the true spirit of this day that we honor all mothers living and deceased and all those who have acted as a mother to us. We may now look on the definition of motherhood quite differently from previous years, but what remains constant is Love. How often the love of a mother mimics the same type of unconditional love that our God has for each of us. The notion of unconditional love looks past our warts, etc. to see our inner beauty and strives to bring it out. Today’s reading from Saint John truly gives us a lot to reflect upon. It talks about the notion of love and the source of that love – rooted in the love that the Father and Son have for each other. So very much like a mother’s love. Today, as we honor all mothers, let us realize the heart beat of our life is rooted in the ability to love. May God bless all mothers living and deceased. God Bless, Fr. Ray PRAYER FOR MOTHERS Heavenly Father, from the beginning you have chosen to entrust the human person to mothers in a special way. We thank and praise you for the gift of mothers; for their tenderness, care, and compassion, for their intuition and encouragement, for commitment and sacrifice. Bless all mothers this day. Keep, strengthen, and refresh them in your loving care. May they be blessed by our open-hearted love and gratitude. Amen +1 LAST WEEK’S COLLECTIONS St. Bernard Needed Weekly: $ 4,627 May 2 ..…….....….$ 5,844 2021 SB CSA Assessment……………$ 34,619 Father Ray Gramata Ordination Date: May 7, 1970 SB 2021 CSA Collected………$ 27,278 Celebration Date: Sunday, May 23, 2021 St. Francis of Assisi Needed Weekly: $ 2,892 A 3 pm Mass will be held at St. Francis, with Fr. May 2 ……….…….$ 2,560 Ray as the celebrant, followed by a reception for all 2021 SF CSA Assessment……………$ 22,249 at Fr. G. Carlton Ritchie Social Hall! SF 2021 CSA Collected………$14,230 Please plan to join us as we celebrate 50 plus one OUR PARISHES THANK YOU FOR YOUR years of God’s faithful servant. CONTRIBUTIONS MAY 9, 2021 UPCOMING MEETINGS CATHOLIC WOMEN Catholic Women: Tues, May 11th @ 6:30 pm @ Church The Catholic Women’s group will Rosary Altar: Thurs, May 13th @ 6:30 pm @ Ritchie Hall be meeting on Tuesday, May 11, K of C #403 : Tuesday, May 11th @ 7 pm 2021 at 6:30 pm in the church. This gathering will be for fellow- ship and completion of the rosary. All parishioners are welcome to attend. Let us get together and pray with one another. ATTENTION CONFIRMATION STUDENTS & FAMILY LIFE SPONSORS: NEW DATE/TIME/PLACE Today’s gospel challenges us to “love one another as I have This year Confirmation will be celebrated by loved you.” Jesus is our model and he asks us to “lay down Father Raymond Gramata at St. Francis of our life” (our time, attention, opinions and needs) for each Assisi Church on June 5, 2021 at a 4:30 pm other. This is the sacrament of the family, when God is mass. In light of the Covid19 pandemic, Bishop made visible in our sacrificial love for one another. Persico has given Father Ray permission to confirm this year’s candidates. **Due to COVID restrictions we are still mandat- ed to wear masks and socially distance. There will NOT be a social gathering afterward. BLESSING OF MOTHERS During the season of Easter, what a great time to remem- ber our mothers and ask for God's blessing on them. It is God who ultimately gave us life. It is through God's unself- ish love--mirrored in our mothers' willingness to associate their love with God's and take the risk to love us into life-- DESTINATIONS-BRADFORD 2021 CAMPAIGN that we have the opportunity for life. We remember our mothers this Mother's Day with much love. Let us pray for Destinations-Bradford has begun a 2021 Campaign, each of them: "Generous Acts" to help them provide for the needs of the God our heavenly Father, underserved throughout the Bradford Area. If you are willing you give to each the ability to share your generative love. to help, we are holding a collection at the parish office Bless those women in our lives who mirror your love throughout the month of May for hygiene supplies, i.e. and bring forth life through their willingness bar soap, shampoo, toothpaste, dish soap, laundry deter- to risk bringing new life into this world. gent, toilet paper, deodorant, etc. Please no food items. Help us to show them our gratitude for the gift of life and the gift of a mother's love. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT OUR NEW WEBSITE AT: May our life-giving God continue to bless them WWW.DESTINATIONSCOMMUNITYOUTREACHCENTER.ORG and show them his unfailing love. We ask this through Jesus, God's Son and our brother. Amen. GOD’S HOUSEKEEPERS May 10 - May 14 TEAM 2: D. Jadlowiec / V. Comilla TOGI’S FAMILY RESTAURANT D. & L. Williams / K. Smeal We are in need of more housekeepers. PLEASE GIVE THEM YOUR SUPPORT! MAY 9, 2021 Child Protection and Creating Safe Environments New marriage preparation retreat option Digital safety and keeping your child’s personal infor- The Marriage and Family Life Office of the Diocese of Erie mation personal: If your child gives out personal infor- is happy to offer a new, completely online, community- mation over the internet, it is easy to track and tough to completely remove. Teach your children to never give out focused option for marriage preparation beginning in 2021. personal information, such as: full name, address, phone The Mentor-Cohort option takes place over four weeks in a number, email, school, or birthday on any social media site. small group with one or two mentor couples and engaged Help your child set up strong passwords (alphanumeric) couples. It includes private time for couples to discuss and and do a yearly checkup on passwords. Adjust privacy set- grow, space in a small community to process and wrestle tings for online games, apps, social media sites and your with significant themes, and direct instruction from Dynamic child’s electronic devices. Don’t forget to check the GPS Catholic’s Better Together program. For more information, settings ability to unintentionally share your child’s location. Avoid using public wi-fi when sharing personal information. dates and a profile of couples for whom this would be a Visit https://www.eriercd.org/childprotection/ to see what benefit, please see the attached flier or visit https:// the diocese is doing to help maintain safe environments for www.eriercd.org/familylifeoffice/mentor-cohort.html. children and youth. MARRIAGE MOMENTS VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE DURING “Beloved, let us love one another because love is of YEAR OF ST. JOSEPH God.” (1 John 4:7) Sounds simple, but anyone married Pope Francis has proclaimed a Year of St. Joseph in cele- even a short time knows that love can be a challenge when bration of the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Jo- two wills conflict. Just for today, pretend you are God trying seph as patron of the Universal Church. In order to mark to love your spouse selflessly. this event, the Diocese of Erie is hosting a virtual pilgrimage featuring livestreamed Masses from each of the seven churches in the diocese named for St. Joseph. As we con- BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT SHARING tinue celebrating the Year of St. Joseph, Father Rick PERSONAL INFORMATION Tomasone and the people of St. Joseph Parish, Warren, In this age when personal data can be misused by scam invite you to join them virtually on Sunday, May 9, for artists, please be aware that the Roman Catholic Diocese the 10 a.m. Mass on their Facebook page: https:// of Erie, its clergy, and entities such as parishes and www.facebook.com/saintjosephwarrenpa. Stay tuned for schools will never solicit your personal or business infor- details on the June 20 pilgrimage stop at St. Joseph Parish, Sharon. Watch for details about the rest of the events mation by any method unless initiated by you. Should you scheduled in the coming months. receive an unsolicited request for such information — in- cluding a request for gift cards of any type — exercise ex- treme caution.