Category: News

 

“Food is not a luxury, it is a necessity”

WILKES-BARRE – Just five days before Easter, Saint Vincent de Paul Kitchen and Food Pantry opened its doors to the community for a special holiday food distribution on March 30.

“A lot of people are struggling. We’re here to help them and support them,” Kitchen Director Mike Cianciotta said. “Food is not a luxury. It is a necessity.”

The Easter food distribution was open to anyone in need, no pre-registration was required. It took place at the Kitchen and Food Pantry property on East Jackson Street.

Volunteers Mary Ann Wills and Bill Leonhardt assisted members of the community that came looking for help.

“I feel like I’m doing something to help somebody that needs help, rather than sitting at home on the couch,” Wills said. “This is eye-awakening down here when you see the people coming through that are needy in the community.”

“They are so grateful to be getting something. It does me good (to help),” Leonhardt added.

The food distribution lasted from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Individuals and families were given ham and other essential items to help them cook an Easter feast at home.

“They’re going to have a nice Easter dinner that everybody should have,” Wills explained.

The special Easter food distribution held on March 30 comes in addition to meals served at the kitchen every day of the year, including holidays.

On Easter Sunday, April 4, Saint Vincent de Paul Kitchen will provide an Easter dinner to anyone in need. The meal, which will be served in to-go containers, will be a ham dinner, including a starch, vegetable and dessert. There will also be assorted fresh fruit that clients will be able to take home.

The Easter dinner at Saint Vincent de Paul Kitchen will be served from 11:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., which is the same time that meals are served on a daily basis.

In addition, Saint Vincent de Paul Kitchen plans to reopen its clothing room to the public on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. The clothing room will be open on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

“We will only be able to allow two or three people inside at a time, with masks and physical distancing measures, but we want to get it open to help people for summer,” Cianciotta said.

Anyone who has spring or summer clothing that they would like to donate to the clothing room can start dropping items off at Saint Vincent de Paul Kitchen any day of the week between 9:00 a.m. and noon. The community is kindly asked to refrain from donating winter clothing items at this time.

 

 

 WILLIAMSPORT – The senior project of a Lycoming County teenager is having an impact around the globe.

Zach Lisi, a senior at Saint John Neumann Jr./Sr. High School, recently sent 24 special Easter boxes to members of the military stationed throughout the country and the world.

“It made me feel good to brighten their day,” Lisi explained.

The Easter boxes were filled with candy and notes of appreciation written by students at Saint John Neumann Regional Academy.

To raise money to ship the boxes, Lisi put together a “Penny War” fundraiser at his school from March 10-19.

“I put jars out in front of the office and each class put money in them. Each penny was worth one point. If you put nickels, dimes or quarters in other jars they lost a certain amount of points,” the high school senior said.

A total of $234 was raised from the “Penny War” fundraiser. The senior class raised the most money and earned a pizza party as a reward.

“I used that money to ship the boxes. People donated the candy and other items to put in the boxes,” Lisi added.

All seniors at Saint John Neumann must complete a service project prior to graduation. In keeping with the Gospel message of helping others, Lisi explained what sparked his interest in helping military members.

“I just felt bad that they weren’t home with their families so I wanted to make them feel appreciated,” he said.

The first Easter box arrived less than a week after it was shipped out.

 

 EXETER – Exactly one year after transitioning to distance learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic, students from Wyoming Area Catholic School came together in-person on March 12 to mark the anniversary with a prayer service.

“It was beautiful. It was a chance to reflect and that was the whole point, focusing on where we’ve come and where we’re going and that we are so lucky to be in school now and look at what we’ve accomplished,” principal Eileen Rishcoff said.

Rishcoff said teacher Toni Griseto first suggested marking the anniversary with some type of event filled with hope. School administrators and teachers quickly settled on holding a prayer service. Initially, the event was going to be held inside the school gym but that is when the weather warmed up and they were able to go outside.

“The fact that it was such a beautiful day, it all fell into place. I’m a true believer that God intervenes and we were able to go outside,” Rishcoff added.

Wearing masks and remaining six feet apart, the students all came together on the front lawn of Wyoming Area Catholic School.

The prayer service was actually the first time all 146 students came together for an event in the last year.

“We’ve kept everybody in their own classrooms for the whole year, lunches and everything and this was the first time they were all together anywhere for the whole school year,” Rishcoff explained.

“When I mentioned that, they all started cheering.”

In addition to the prayer service, students also spent time in their religion classes reflecting on how “good things” can come from something that is “bad.”

The gathering of students was visible to many drivers passing by the school. That is because the former Saint Cecilia Church’s abandoned convent, rectory and garages were razed earlier this year.

The demolition has made the school much more visible.

“Our school is beautiful and nobody even knew we existed back here!” Rishcoff joked.

 

 SCRANTON – Saint Joseph was a simple, quiet and humble man who listened carefully to the voice of God and we should all give thanks for the example of his life, his faith and his trust in God’s plan.

That was the message Bishop Joseph C. Bambera delivered in his homily during a Mass celebrating the Solemnity of Saint Joseph on March 19, 2021 at the Cathedral of Saint Peter. The Mass also served as the ‘Closing Mass’ for a Year of Saint Joseph celebrated in the Diocese of Scranton, which began exactly one year earlier.

“It is not at all by coincidence that while we in the Church of Scranton have dedicated this past year to Joseph, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, on behalf of the universal Church, dedicated a year to him as well,” the bishop said.

As the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and caretaker of Jesus, the bishop said Saint Joseph’s life speaks to our lives as well.

“Saint Matthew, in the opening chapter of his gospel, lays groundwork for the birth of Jesus. He reminds us that when Mary was engaged to Joseph – but before they lived together – she was found with child through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph was rightly confused about this and wanted to divorce her quietly, when suddenly an angel appeared to him in a dream saying ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife,’” Bishop Bambera said. “These are key words in the life of Joseph, ‘Do not fear to take Mary as your wife.’ With these words, God entrusts to Joseph – the carpenter of Nazareth – the mystery of salvation.”

As the result of Saint Joseph’s openness to embrace the mystery of God’s plan, Bishop Bambera told the faithful gathered at the Cathedral that Joseph grew as a man of faith and found himself committed to his vocation.

“Saint Joseph teaches us so very much about our lives in relationship to God, doesn’t he?” the bishop asked. “Despite the fact that not a single word spoken by this great saint is recorded in the scriptures, he speaks eloquently through the example of his life, his faith in God, his generous embrace of his vocation as husband and father and his care for the lives entrusted to him by God.”

Bishop Bambera also mentioned Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde (With a Father’s Heart), that was released in late 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In his letter, the pope explained how Saint Joseph, who lived in the shadows of the Holy Family, is like many others that often get overlooked like doctors, nurses, storekeepers and supermarket workers.

In Patris Corde, The Holy Father writes, “Each of us can discover in Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence – and intercessor, a support, a guide in times of trouble. Saint Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation.”

As he has done numerous times of the course of the ‘Year of Saint Joseph,’ Bishop Bambera ended his homily by asking for the help of this important intercessor, simply saying, “Saint Joseph, pray for us.”

If you would like to read Bishop Bambera’s entire homily, the text is located on the Diocese of Scranton website. The Mass is also available to view on the Diocese of Scranton’s YouTube channel.

 

LAFLIN — A year ago, faithful followers of Saint Joseph entered into the Annual Novena to their patron and model at Saint Joseph’s Oblate Seminary with more enthusiasm than ever, uplifted by Bishop Joseph C. Bambera’s declaration of the “Year of Saint Joseph” in the Scranton Diocese. The devotional event proved short-lived as the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly shut down the Novena halfway through.

The disappointment only heightened the resolve of devotees in 2021, who were able to return to their place of worship emboldened by Pope Francis’s proclamation in December of a worldwide “Year of Saint Joseph” to mark the 150th anniversary of the foster father of Jesus being declared patron of the Universal Church.

Cathy Mack was raised in an atmosphere of devotion to Saint Joseph as she recalled how the spirit of the Guardian of the Holy Family permeated her home parish of Saint Rocco in Pittston as a child.

The ethnic parish was staffed by the Italian-immigrant Saint Joseph Oblate priests, whose commitment to fostering veneration to their patron saint was also evident to Mack as a student at the former parish’s Saint Rocco Elementary School.

“We were educated to know all about Saint Joseph,” Mack said. “In our home, in our church and in our school, we were always taught that whatever the need, you ‘go to Saint Joseph.’”

Much like the many devotees of the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Greater Pittston area and beyond, Mack was over-joyed with the special designation of the “Year of Saint Joseph” by both the Holy Father and the Bishop of Scranton.

The cenacle leader of the Eucharistic Apostles of Divine Mercy and a member of Saints Peter & Paul Parish in Plains, Mack stressed, “Saint Joseph is our protector. We need him now more than ever as Father figure for all of us.”

Mary Jo Chiampi has been attending the Solemn Novena to Saint Joseph at the Oblates of Saint Joseph Seminary in Laflin for the past 55 years. Members of Saint Joseph Marello Parish in Pittston, she and her husband Anthony faithfully attended this year’s nine-day Novena at the Oblates leading up the Solemnity of Saint Joseph on March 19.

Mary Jo, who claims both the Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph as her patron saints since her middle name — Josephine — honors the Holy Spouse of the Virgin Mary, said the devotion began for her as a special intention for her niece, who battled health issues since the tender age of six.

“As a little girl, my niece was diagnosed with serious diabetes,” she related. “We were praying devoutly for her condition to improve. It was 55 years ago I said to my sister-in-law (the girl’s mother), ‘there’s a Novena to Saint Joseph on the highway,’” referring to the OSJ Seminary on Route 315.

Despite a multitude of medical problems — including cancer — Mary Jo’s niece defied the odds and lived for 53 years.

“As far as I’m concerned, that was all Saint Joseph interceding for us over the years,” she said. “Prayer is what keeps us going. Our prayer is what gets us through every day.”

She was quick to attribute the power of prayer to her husband’s successful recovery from open-heart surgery years ago, and that the couple was spared from serious illness during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mary Jo is grateful for the peace and solace she finds in the intimate chapel at the nearby seminary, where the spirit of Saint Joseph is constantly present, awaiting prayerful devotion. “Prayers are answered,” she said, “and if they are not, there is a reason.”

Jim Liberski of Saint Barbara Parish in Exeter was grateful for the livestream broadcast of this year’s Saint Joseph Novena, in additon to the services being aired over JMJ Catholic Radio which broadcasts from its facilities within the Oblates seminary.

The noon livestream broadcast of the Novena was an extension of the daily Mass from the seminary chapel that has been airing online since Saint Joseph Oblate Father Paul McDonnell returned to his duties as rector of the religious congregation in the Diocese in July after serving seven years with the OSJ community in California.

“The Masses at the Oblates are very serene and you feel good about going to church during this pandemic,” Liberski said. “If I can’t make it to the (chapel) or watch it on TV, I can hear it on JMJ. The Oblates of Saint Joseph is very conducive to prayer and helps you feel God is close to you.”

A parishioner of Saints Peter & Paul in Plains, Maureen Kelly referred to the Oblates chapel in Laflin as “a special holy place with kind and compassionate priests.”

“We are so fortunate to have the annual novena to Saint Joseph celebrated in our area,” Kelly said, noting the widespread devotion to the guardian and protector of the Child Jesus and Blessed Mother.

“Saint Joseph is known as the patron saint of workers and people in our area relate to that title. He answers our prayers so often, and with this being the ‘Year of Saint Joseph’ I feel it is his time to do great things in our world.”

Kelly is also appreciative of the devotions regularly held at the seminary, including the weekly Holy Hour for Vocations and Novena to Saint Joseph and Saint Joseph Marello, the Italian bishop who founded the Oblates religious order nearly 150 years ago.

“It always makes me smile when I am riding on the highway and look over and see the beautiful grounds of the Oblates, with Saint Joseph the Worker on the building,” she added.

 

For more than a decade, performing the ‘Living Way of the Cross’ to a room filled with family, friends and parishioners has been a Lenten tradition for young adults at Saint Faustina Kowalska Parish. After last year’s performance was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers were determined to bring it back this year

The ‘Living Way of the Cross’ is a prayerful journey through the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It features members of the parish youth ministry program and would traditionally take place on Palm Sunday at the Saint Faustina Parish Cultural Center in Nanticoke.

Because large crowds are still being discouraged and physical distancing is still a necessity, the parish has spent considerable time over the last few weeks recording scenes with individual students.