Category: News

 

Please ask your PA senator and representative to contact the PA Department of Education to encourage them to process textbook orders for our Catholic schools in a timely fashion.

For whatever reason, this is not happening and does not seem to be a priority with PDE officials. Classes have already started for many of our schools and are very close to beginning for the rest.

Thank you so much!

Click the link below to log in and send your message:
https://www.pacatholic.org/resources/voter-voice/?vvsrc=%2fCampaigns%2f97235%2fRespond

 

Reverend Edward Michelini said his final morning Mass at Peter and Paul Church in Towanda, Pennsylvania on July 27th, 2022.

Faithful members of his daily congregation gathered after the Mass for a photo with their devoted pastor who will be dearly missed.

 

 

Scranton Catholic Charismatic Conference
Celebrates Its 40ᵗʰ Year!
August 5 -7ᵗʰ

The Scranton Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) is proud to announce that the
Catholic Charismatic Conference, celebrating its 40ᵗʰ year, will be held IN PERSON at the
University of Scranton August 5, 6, 7ᵗʰ! Anointed worship, inspiring speakers, mass, Eucharistic
adoration, and fellowship will make up the weekend culminating with the closing liturgy by the Most
Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton.

Weekend speakers include Father Anthony Mario Ozele, PhD, Alice Hartle, Bob Valiante, and Father
Trevor Nathasingh. Registration is available for the entire weekend ($65 total) or individual
sessions (see day rates and schedule below). Adults are welcome to attend any or all of the
sessions. Covid vaccination is recommended but not required.

“If anyone needs to experience the love of God, I encourage them to come! We expect a Spirit-filled
weekend of Praise and Worship, Signs and Wonders,” says Karen McLain, CCR Liaison and Coordinator.

For more information about CCR and to register for the Catholic Charismatic Conference, VISIT
https://ccrscranton.org/conference or via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CCRScrantonDiocese),
CALL 570-344-2214, or EMAIL office@ccrscranton.org.

Speaker Bios:
Father Anthony Mario Ozele, PhD was for many years a Parochial Vicar, as well as a professor of
Religion at Saint Francis College, in Brooklyn, New York. He is presently the Director of
Evangelization, and Pastor of St. William’s Catholic church in his home diocese of Warri, Nigeria.
Rev. Ozele is the author of such books as Why Catholics Honor Mary, Christian Maturity (Dynamics of
Growing in the Faith), Secrets of Effective Prayer, Victorious Living in a Dangerous World, and
most recently, Return to the Altar
He is involved with organizing workshops on the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA),
Catechetical Seminars, Retreats, Revivals, Bible Study Sessions, and preaching at Conferences
around the world. In 2006,

Rev. Anthony Ozele was featured in Fishers of Men, an 18-minute DVD that is a major resource in a
vocational recruitment project sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
(USCCB), and the winner of the 2007 Gabriel Award.

Alicia Hartle serves as executive director of Pentecost Today USA (the National Service Committee
of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the US) and is a founding member of an ecumenical household,
The
Oakland Prayer Group, Abba’s House, Unbound Pittsburgh-Greensburg, and Catholic Women’s Fellowship
ministries. Born into the fire of Renewal in the Pittsburgh area, she has worked in ministry and
business development on local, national, and international levels. Knowing God and making Him known
are her greatest passions.

Bob Valiante and Sue Valiante have been married for fifty-nine years; they are parents of one
child, Maria. The Valiante’s live in Moosic, Pa. Bob has been involved in the Charismatic Renewal
of the Catholic Church for forty-nine years. In that time, he has served in various capacities. He
is a past coordinator of the Service Team for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of the Diocese of
Scranton, a founder and former coordinator of the annual Catholic Charismatic Conference of the
Diocese of Scranton, which is in its fortieth year. Bob served as Pastoral Associate in his parish
for seven years. A frequent speaker at days of renewal, conferences, retreats, parish missions, and
regional gatherings; Bob shares his gift of exhortation. He is a former Liaison to the Bishop and
Coordinator of the Charismatic Renewal for the Diocese of Scranton, and a former member of the
Service Committee of the Association of Diocesan Liaisons.

Father Trevor Nathasingh was called to conversion, from a Hindu/Muslim background, over 30 years
ago, Fr. Trevor Nathasingh joined the Catholic Church and was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on
June 18th, 1989 for the Archdiocese of Port of Spain. Fr. Trevor, as he is fondly called, currently
serves as the Parish Priest of The Laventille/Morvant Pastoral Area, in the North West of Trinidad.

The seeds planted during his period of conversion as a covenanted member of a Lay Charismatic
Community and his years in the Seminary have begun to bear fruit. Fr. Trevor’s charism of teaching
and preaching throughout his home country of Trinidad, the Caribbean Islands, North and South
America, Africa and the United Kingdom at crusades, missions, revivals and Life in the Spirit
Seminars have made him one of the most outstanding Caribbean Catholic Evangelists.

Fr. Trevor remains committed to the growth of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, for the building up
of the people of God. Fr. Trevor continues to dedicate himself to a life of service in order “to
proclaim without compromise the action of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church today.”

Day Rates:
Friday night $15 Saturday
All Day $35
Morning $15
Afternoon $10
Evening $10 Sunday $15

Schedule:
(https://ccrscranton.org/documents/2022/4/General%20Weekend%20Schedule%202022.pdf)

CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC CONFERENCE 2022
August 5 to 7, 2022

FRIDAY
5:00 pm TRAVELERS’ MASS in Byron Center.
Fr. Gus Ricciardi: Celebrant and Homilist
6:00 pm EXPOSITION begins in the Moskovitz Theatre, 4th Floor of the
DeNaples Center. 5:00-7:00 pm DINNER DeNaples Center
7:00-7:30 pm MUSIC MINISTRY leads and teaches songs. 7:30-8:45 pm Prayer and Praise
8:50-9:45pm SESSION I – Rev. Anthony Ozele

SATURDAY DAY
6:30 – 9:00 BREAKFAST
9:00-9:30 am PRAYER AND PRAISE – Deacon Poyo, leader 9:35-10:20 am SESSION II – Alicia
Hartle
10:35-11:20 am SESSION III – Rev Trevor Nathasingh
11:30 – 2:00 pm LUNCH
2:00- 2:30 pm Prayer and Praise
2:30-3:15 pm SESSION IV – Rev. Anthony Ozele
3:15-3:30 pm` TRANSITION – PRAISE
3:30 pm LITURGY – Celebrant … Rev. August RIcciardi
Homilist … Rev. Trevor Nathasingh

5:00-7:30 pm DINNER SATURDAY NIGHT

7:30–8:25 pm Prayer and Praise
8:25-9:40 pm SESSION V – Alicia Hartle – and Team Ministry
9:40-10:15 PM EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
RECITATION of Rosary; approx. ½-hour after closing session. Location is in front of library: (in
case of rain, it will be held in the Byron Center)

SUNDAY
7:00 am TRAVELERS’ MASS John Long Center: Celebrant & Homilist: Rev.
Anthony Ozele
6:30-9:00am BREAKFAST
9:00-9:30am Prayer and Praise
9:30-10:10am SESSION VI – Rev. Trevor Nathasingh
10:25-11:00 am SESSION VIII – Bob Valiante
11:05-1:30 pm LUNCH
1:30 – 1:45 pm Prayer and Praise
1:45 pm LITURGY: Celebrant & Homilist….Bishop Joseph Bambera

 

 

Last week, dozens of young people learned more about their faith during Vacation Bible School at St Catherine of Siena Church in Moscow. The theme for this year’s camp was “Rocky Railway…Jesus’ Power Pulls Us Through.”

The parish invited CTV: Catholic Television to learn more about the week’s interactive program, which all of the students enjoyed.

 

On Sunday, July 17^th, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Carbondale celebrated its 50th annual Feast of the Lady of Mount Carmel.

Following the feast day Mass celebrated by Bishop Joseph C. Bambera, the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was carried through the streets of Carbondale’s Westside.

The parish holds this procession each year to bring Our Lady of Mount Carmel out for the entire community to see, especially for those living in nursing homes and those who are homebound.

The procession on Sunday marked the end of the parish’s weekend-long festivities leading up to the feast day procession.

 

 

The Feast of Corpus Christ  Members of the Polish Community celebrated the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ) on June 19th at St Luke’s Parish in Stroudsburg.  After the celebration of the Mass in Polish, the community honored the Blessed Sacrament with a procession and prayers of thanksgiving.

In other countries like Poland, Austria, and Germany, this feast is celebrated on June 16th but in the United States, the date has been changed to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday. The people of the Polish community remembered their Catholic heritage in Poland and processed around the Church building stopping at altar shrines to pray.

Before Mass, members of the congregation made four altars each honoring the Body of Christ. Each of these altars were beautifully decorated with many flowers, banners, and pictures meant to honor Jesus Christ in this sacrament of the Eucharist. Many ethnic groups from Poland came to the celebration with their respected attire from each region as Polish Highlanders or Cracovian.

The Mass ended with all congregants walking in procession to each of the altars, ringing bells and throwing flower petals as they solemnly moved along.  Father Sylwester Pierzak, a Polish priest from the Diocese of Paterson, NJ, presided at Mass and led the procession while carrying the Monstrance which enshrined the Blessed Sacrament.  He is one of a small team of Polish priests who come to serve the growing Polish population in the Poconos.

We are happy to have our parish home in St. Luke’s Church.  The doors of the church are open to us by our pastor, Father Michael Quinnan, Deacon Phil Zimich and entire pastoral  staff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marcin Bienias Student of Jan Paul II  Polish School, Stroudsburg, PA

 

Statement of the Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera,
Bishop of Scranton, on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

June 24, 2022

“One of the fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church is that all human life is sacred – from the moment of conception until natural death – and it must be respected and protected. In its opinion for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, issued on Friday, June 24, 2022, I am thankful that the majority of Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have recognized and upheld the sanctity of human life.

“For Catholics, respecting life, especially the unborn, is intrinsic to our identity as people of faith. While political and ideological divisions often drive us apart, we must remember that the Sacred Scriptures call us to be one, reverencing every life that comes into our world. It is critical to note, however, that valuing human life is not simply confined to life in the womb. We must never dismiss or ignore our responsibility to care for, protect and defend our brothers and sisters from other serious threats to human life, including poverty, racism and oppression.

“While already the largest private provider of social services in the United States, the Catholic Church must redouble its efforts and always stand ready to assist young women and couples who are facing unexpected or difficult pregnancies. Everyone in our Diocese and parishes should be familiar with ways to help mothers in difficult circumstances. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recently launched its “Walking with Moms in Need” initiative to continue building relationships with community resources and make sure people in all parish communities know where to refer a pregnant woman in need.

“Our diocese is blessed to have many parishes filled with faithful people who regularly donate diapers, clothing, money and other resources to help expectant mothers each year. On the diocesan level, Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton provides educational, emotional and material support to expectant parents and operates Shepherd’s Maternity House in East Stroudsburg which provides housing, care and assistance for pregnant women and their newborn babies. Along with so many other community agencies and programs, including, but not limited to, Saint Joseph’s Center, Rachel’s Vineyard and the Pennsylvanians for Human Life, any mother needing assistance can receive life-affirming support.

“As we strive to build a true culture of life in our nation, the Gospel of Matthew reminds us that our welcome into God’s eternity will be determined by our willingness to reverence, respect and serve the most vulnerable among us in whom Christ is present: ‘Whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me’” (Matthew 18:5).