Parish Staff Deacon Valentin Acabeo
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The Piarist Fathers Pastor Rev. David Powers Sch.P. Parochial Vicars Rev. Nelson Henao Sch.P. Rev. Richard Wyzykiewicz Sch.P. Parish Staff Deacon Valentin Acabeo Parish Secretary Mrs. Rosemarie Ortiz Business Manager Anne Kathy Rice Facilities Manager saint Lillian Nazario Music Director Mr. Daniel Ambe Helena Musicians Mr. Jim Donaldson parish Mr. Alex Henriquez Bronx, NY Mass Schedule (Horario de Misas) May 2019 St. Helena’s School (718) 892-3234 http://www.sthelenaelementary.org Early Childhood (3Yr Olds & Pre-K for All) Elementary School (Grades K-8) Principal: Mr. Richard Meller 2050 Benedict Avenue Bronx, New York 10462 High School: Monsignor Scanlan H.S. (718) 430-0100 http://www.scanlanhs.edu/ Arrangements must be made at the Rectory for Baptismal Principal: Mr. Peter Doran Class. Bring a copy of the child’s Birth 915 Hutchinson River Parkway Certificate and Godparent documents. Bronx, New York 10465 Arrangements for St. Helena Rectory: weddings should be made as soon as 1315 Olmstead Avenue possible at the Rectory. Bronx, N.Y. 10462 All Catholics Phone: (718) 892-3232 who live within the parish boundaries Fax: (718) 892-7713 should fill out a registration card at the Rectory. www.churchofsthelena.com Email: [email protected] Alumni: [email protected] Alumni: [email protected] ST. L BRONX, Before Mothers Day, the Church Celebrated Mothering Sunday builder with Abraham. Her faith serves as a shining example for Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can every person who has to wait on God to act. be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Rebekah, like her mother-in-law Sarah, was barren. When her Romans, who held festivals in honor of the husband Isaac prayed for her, God opened Rebekah's womb and mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, but the she conceived and gave birth to twin sons, Esau and Jacob. clearest modern precedent for Mother’s Day During an age when women were typically submissive, Rebekah is the early Christian festival known as was quite assertive. At times Rebekah took matters into her own “Mothering Sunday,” which fell on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent and was hands. Sometimes that worked out, but it also resulted in originally seen as a time when the faithful disastrous consequences. would return to their “mother church”—the Jochebed, the mother of Moses, is one of the under- main church in the vicinity of their home—for appreciated mothers in the Bible, yet she also showed tremendous a special service. Mothering Sunday became faith in God. To avoid the mass slaughter of Hebrew boys, she set a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their her baby adrift in the Nile River, hoping someone would find him mother church, usually with their own mothers and other family and raise him. God so worked that her baby was found by members. It was often the only time those entire families could Pharaoh's daughter. Jochebed even became her own son's nurse. gather together since on other days they were prevented from doing so by conflicting working hours. God used Moses mightily, to free the Hebrew people from their 400-year bondage of slavery and take them to the Promised Over time, the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more Land. Although little is written about Jochebed in the Bible, her secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with story speaks powerfully to mothers of today flowers and other tokens of appreciation. This custom eventually faded in popularity before merging with the American Mother’s Hannah's story is one of the most touching in the entire Bible. Day in the 1930s. In 1868, Ann Jarvis of West Virginia organized Like several other mothers in the Bible, she knew what it meant to “Mothers’ Friendship Day,” at which mothers gathered with former suffer long years of barrenness. In Hannah's case, she was cruelly Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation. taunted by her husband's other wife. But Hannah never gave up However, the American incarnation of Mother’s Day was created on God. Finally, her heartfelt prayers were answered. She gave by Ann’s daughter, Anna Jarvis in 1908, as a way of honoring the birth to a son, Samuel, then did something entirely selfless to sacrifices mothers made for their children, and President Woodrow honor her promise to God. God favored Hannah with five more Wilson declared it an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Jarvis would children, bringing great blessing to her life. later denounce the holiday’s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar. Naomi and her family fled to the country of Moab because of a famine in their land. Her husband died, and her two sons And speaking of mothers... The youngest mother whose history is married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. After 10 years both of authenticated is Lina Medina, who delivered a 6½-pound boy by Naomi’s sons passed away, and Naomi heard that the LORD had cesarean section in Lima, Peru in 1939, at an age of 5 years and blessed the land of her people with food again. She told her 7 months. The child was raised as her brother and only learned daughters-in-law that they could return home to find new that Lina was his mother when he was 10. On April 9, 2003, husbands. Although they both wept at her leaving, Ruth refused to Satyabhama Mahapatra, a 65-year-old retired schoolteacher in leave Naomi’s side. Orpah returned to her people and her gods, India, became the world's oldest documented mother when she but Ruth remained, gave birth to a baby boy. Bobbie McCaughey is the mother who holds the record for the most surviving children from a single birth. Ruth was already learning from Naomi’s faith even during a She gave birth to the first set of surviving septuplets - four boys time of bitterness. Naomi continued to watch out for Ruth and and three girls -on November 19, 1997, at the University Hospital, instruct her wisely in her dealings with Boaz, who became her Iowa. The highest officially recorded number of children born to kinsman redeemer. The LORD blessed Naomi, and she gained a one mother is 69, to the first wife of Feodor Vassilyev (1707-1782) son when Boaz married Ruth. Ruth and Boaz had a child named of Shuya, Russia. Finally, August is the most popular month and Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David who would be king. Tuesday is the most popular day in which to have a baby. Bathsheba was the object of King David's lust. David even arranged to have her husband Uriah the Hittite killed to get him out Ten Mothers in the Bible of the way. God was so displeased with David's actions that he Ten mothers in the Bible played key roles in the coming of Jesus struck dead the baby from that union. In spite of heartbreaking Christ. None of them was perfect, yet each showed strong faith in circumstances, Bathsheba remained loyal to David. Their next God. God, in turn, rewarded them for their confidence in him. son, Solomon, was loved by God and grew up to become Israel's These mothers lived in an age when women were often treated as greatest king. From David's line would come to Jesus Christ, the second-class citizens, yet God appreciated their true worth, just as Savior of the World. And Bathsheba would have the distinguished he does today. Motherhood is one of life's highest callings. These honor of being one of only five women listed in Messiah's ten mothers in the Bible put their hope in the God of the ancestry. Impossible, and how He proved that such hope is always well- Elizabeth was married to a priest named Zechariah, and St. placed. Luke tells us that both Elizabeth and Zechariah were righteous Eve was the first woman and the first mother. Without a single role model or mentor, she paved the maternal way to before God, observing all of His commands. She who was barren become "Mother of All the Living." She and her mate Adam lived in in her old age was another of the miracle mothers in the Bible. She Paradise, but they spoiled it by listening to Satan instead of God. conceived and gave birth to a son. She and her husband named Eve suffered terrible grief when her son Cain murdered his brother him John, as an angel had instructed. Like Hannah before her, she Abel, yet despite these tragedies, Eve went on to fulfill her part in dedicated her son to God, and like Hannah's son, he also became God's plan of populating the Earth. a great prophet, John the Baptist. Elizabeth's joy was complete when her relative Mary visited her, pregnant with the future Savior Sarah was one of the most important women in the Bible. She of the world. was the wife of Abraham, which made her the mother of the nation of Israel. Yet Sarah was barren. She conceived through a miracle Mary was the most honored mother in the Bible, the human in spite of her old age. Sarah was a good wife, a loyal helper and 2 mother of Jesus, who saved the world from its sins. Although she was only a young, humble peasant, Mary accepted God's will for FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER her life. She suffered enormous shame and pain, yet never the Goth who subscribed to the Arian brand of Christianity, but doubted her Son for a moment.