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Third Sunday of Lent March 15, 2020

13623 Rockside Road Garfield Heights, Ohio 44125

Parish Office: (216) 662-8685

fax: (216) 662-1245 website: saintmonicachurch.net

St. Benedict: (216) 662-9380 Early Learning Center

(216) 475-3633

OCFCU (216) 663-6800

MASSES: 7 days a week Saturday: 4:00 p.m. Sunday: 9:00 a.m.

and 10:45 a.m. Monday-Friday: 8:00 a.m.

PARISH OFFICE HOURS

Monday, Tuesday, & Thursday 8:00 a.m.‒7:00 p.m.

Wednesday & Friday 8:00 a.m.‒4:00 p.m.

(Closed 12:30-1:30 p.m. for lunch)

Saturday 9:00 a.m.‒12:00 p.m.

PARISH CLERGY

Rev. Thomas A. Haren, Pastor Rev. Theodore Marszal,

Senior Parochial Vicar Rev. Jerome Lukachinsky, Retired, in Residence

Rev. Thomas G. Montavon, Retired, in Residence

Stan Drozell, Deacon

PASTORAL STAFF

Sister Helene Skrzyniarz SSJ-TOSF,

Parish Catechetical Leader srhelene@saintmonicachurch.net

Bob Soeder, Director of Liturgy and Music

Stan Jakosh, Business Mgr

Mrs. Sue Shepka, Office Mgr

Kathy Piggford, Pastoral Council Chairman

Kathy Wendling, Finance Council Chairman

BAPTISM: Please make arrangements in advance. Baptisms are performed on Sundays, immediately following the 10:45 a.m. Mass. Pre-Baptismal instruction is required for parents. Please call the Parish Office for time of next scheduled class.

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA): Adults and school-age children seeking full membership in the Catholic Church through the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist can make an appt. to continue their conversion process by calling the Parish Office.

RECONCILIATION: Opportunities to celebrate God’s forgiveness in one’s life are available on Saturday afternoons from 3:15‒3:45 p.m. Individual appointments with a Priest can be arranged.

MATRIMONY: The Diocese of Cleveland requires a 6-month preparation period for marriage. Call the Parish Office to set your wedding date and plan your celebration.

CONFIRMATION: Any adult or high school student needing Confirmation, please call the Parish Office to schedule preparation.

ANOINTING OF THE SICK: Celebrated upon request. Call the Parish Office to make arrangements with one of our Priests.

NEW PARISHIONERS: Please call the Parish Office to register.

ST. BENEDICT CATHOLIC SCHOOL: Provides Catholic education for students K‒8. School hrs.: 8:00 a.m.‒2:30 p.m. Before & After Care available. Mrs. Lisa Oriti, School Principal

EUCHARIST FOR THE HOMEBOUND: Parish Team and Staff Members visit the homebound on a monthly basis. If you or someone you know is homebound and would like to receive communion, call the Parish Office.

Bulletin Announcements due to

smedvetz@saintmonicachurch.net

by NOON on Monday

St. Monica St. Monica Catholic Church

MARCH 15, 2020

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Third Sunday of Lent March 15, 2020

LITURGY SCHEDULE Monday –Friday 8:00 a.m. Morning Prayer and Rosary

following 8:00 a.m. Mass

Sunday, March 15 THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

9:00 People of the Parish 10:45 Jim Polak

Monday, March 16 Lenten Weekday

8:00 Adam Gregg 8:30 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 6:30 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

Tuesday, March 17 Lenten Weekday

8:00 Margaret McCarthy

Wednesday, March 18 Lenten Weekday

8:00 Raymond Stachowiak

Thursday, March 19 Lenten Weekday

8:00 Living & Deceased of Diana Rickard Family

Friday, March 20 Lenten Weekday

8:00 Living & Deceased of Kate Hetman Family 3:00 Lenten Scripture Narrative 3:30 Stations of the Cross

Saturday, March 21 Lenten Weekday 3:15 Confessions 4:00 Marge Konkowski

Sunday, March 22 FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

9:00 People of the Parish 10:45 Daniel J. Stanowick

Religion Question of the Week Who is the Holy Ghost?

Did You Know….. the Diocese of Cleveland has been guided by six different Bishops since St. Monica Church was founded in 1952?

One Liner “Wisdom includes the ability to discover alternatives”.

Answer to the Religion Question of the Week

located on page 4 of this bulletin

Please keep in your prayers the following members of our Parish Community:

Bill Paluscsak, Joe Leone, Louis Neptune, Veronica Reil, Sarah Burket, Stanley Faiken, Joanne Reddinger, Chris Korow, Judy Watter, Geri Gryzbowski, Thom and Chris

Machar, Aaron Benjamin, Richard Dolnicek. The names will remain in the bulletin for two weeks. Please call the parish office if your name or a loved one’s name needs to be added to the list. If you have a special intention you would like remembered in prayer, please call Lillian Neptune (216) 662-5464.

COFFEE-DONUTS-FELLOWSHIP

Please join the members of the St. Vincent de

Paul Society this Sunday, after the 9:00am Mass.

NEXT WEEK’S HOST: Members of Tri-M and Ushers.

Our sincere sympathy and prayers are extended to the family and friends of those who were recently buried: Josephine Seme, and John Spirka. May they, and all our faithful departed, rest in peace.

Winterfest Report Thanks to all who participated in any way in our

parish Winterfest. In a special way we thank Bill and Angie Noyes for their organization of this event. The tally was Income: $18,184 ; Expenses: $7,524 ; Profit: $10,660.

Catholic Relief Services Collection Next week, our parish will take up The Catholic Relief Service Collection. Funds from this collection provide food to the hungry, sup-port displaced refugees, and bring Christ’s love and mercy to all people here and abroad. Next week, please give gen-erously to the CRSC and help Jesus in disguise.

STRUDLE SALE COMING SOON! The Catholic War Veterans Auxiliary

Post #1812 will have a strudel sale on

Saturday & Sunday, March 28 & 29,

2020 after all Masses in the back of the

church.

LYDIA’S STRUDEL—$8.00 each

(the best in town)

APPLE—CHERRY—CHEESE—APRICOT

Freezes well for Easter. Support our Veterans Aux.

RECYCLE BINS - ST. MONICA PARISH GROUNDS Please be aware that we will no longer be dealing with Royal Oak Recycling for paper and cardboard recycling. PLEASE DISCONTINUE BRINGING YOUR PAPER AND CARDBOARD TO THE BINS, WHICH SHOULD BE REMOVED SHORTLY. If we are able to go with another company to continue our recycling pro-gram, we will let you know as soon as possible. Thank you for your participation and support for this pro-gram in the past.

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Third Sunday of Lent March 15, 2020

Pastoral Scene

Why Four Days?

Now, I am not complaining! In many ways, I have been very

blest to be at the side of three “just like family” individuals at the

times of their deaths, and to have attended and been part of the

funerals of three of my former “Sister” teachers and two of my

closest Sister friends. All of them touched my life in very rich

and specials ways. Nevertheless, whenever the Gospels describe

Jesus’ actions in raising people from the dead, I often wonder

what the effect of having ‘more time’ with them might have

been.

When I was mentally writing this article, I could only remem-

ber three people Jesus had raised from the dead. ‘There must

have been a few more,’ I thought. But, no, there are three: A

Widow’s son in the town of Naim (Luke 7:11-15); Jairus’ daugh-

ter (Mark 5:22-43), and his friend Lazarus (John 11:1-44). Both

the Widow’s son and Jairus’ daughter almost appear to be

‘accidental incidents’ but Jesus never did anything by accident!

There always was a purpose.

In raising the Widow’s son, Jesus provided continued life for

the Widow who would have been penniless and homeless after

her son’s death. Perhaps the raising of Jairus’ daughter provided

an opportunity for her to achieve her destiny in life. Whatever

the reason is for each, it will never be revealed. These two mira-

cles of individuals Jesus never met were spontaneous – so I al-

ways wondered why it took Jesus four days to get to Bethany to

heal ‘someone he loved’? Perhaps the reason is buried in Jew-

ish belief and in the Father’s plans for His Son. Jewish law required that a dead body be buried by sunset on

the day of death. However, Jewish Rabbinical practice believed

"For three days after death the soul hovered over the body intend-

ing to reenter it." (Lev. Rabbah 18:1). Although Elisha and Eli-

jah had raised individuals from the dead, nowhere in the Old Tes-

tament is there an instance of someone being raised from the

dead after four days. Being brought to life on the fourth day

must have been both astounding and very unbelievable and the

crowning miracle of Jesus’ ministry!

John’s Gospel credits it as the main reason leading to Jesus’

death. Thousands of people gathered in Jerusalem for the Passo-

ver Feast heard about Jesus’ raising of Lazarus, and this miracle

alone would have been reason enough for both the triumphant

entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem and the trigger that set the legal

process for crucifixion in motion. What really was the intent in

God’s plan? What is it that we, 2000 years later, see as relevant

to our own lives?

Perhaps it was what I learned about myself from this ‘four

day’ wait? Too often I expect God to answer my prayers in my

time, forgetting that God’s time is very different from mine. Per-

haps it is my tendency to doubt or say God can’t or won’t do any-

thing for me when it is less than ‘four days’. More importantly,

perhaps it is the realization that if Jesus can restore a body that

has been in the tomb for four days and has begun to decompose,

then Jesus can certainly mend the brokenness and wounds of my

life and everyone else. Sister Helene

Join Us Each Friday in Lent For S , S , and S

3:00 p.m. Scripture Narratives (in Church)

Session 3: The Gospels of Mark and Matthew –

Close but not a perfect fit. Although Mark’s and Matthew’s Passion narratives report the

same train of event, they differ in many aspects and offer differ-

ent descriptions of Jesus’ passion and death. One does not even

include the resurrection scene! Come and learn why the fit is

not perfect for these two Gospels.

3:30 p.m. Stations Of The Cross

(in Church) AND

4:00 p.m. Supper (aka Lenten Fish Fry) (in the school Cafeteria)

THE FLU – PRECAUTIONARY

MEASURES

As we respond to growing concerns of the COVID 19 flu virus, these commonsense hygiene precautionary measures are recommended that people should take: - Cover mouth/nose with tissue/sleeve when coughing/sneezing -- Wash hands often with soap and water; - Avoid close contact with sick persons

In an effort to safeguard the faithful, the following liturgi-cal changes are to be observed, effectively immediately:

HOLY COMMUNION We encourage all who serve in any official capacity at our Masses to practice good hygiene – wash hands, use anti bacterial solution before distributing Holy Communion. Liturgical ministers who are sick should not serve if they are sick. Parishioners who are sick should stay at home- (missing Mass is not a sin if one is sick). Parishioners who have sick family members should protect others by abstaining from receiving the Precious Body on the tongue.

DISTRIBUTION OF PRECIOUS BLOOD The Distribution of the Precious Blood to liturgical ministers and the faithful will be suspended. As Catholics, our faith informs us that the whole Christ, that is his Body and Blood, is present when only the host is received.

SIGN OF PEACE At the invitation to the Sign of Peace, we will replace the hand-shake with a simple nod of the head.

Additionally, holy water blessing fonts will be drained. Everyone is encouraged both during the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy and at all times to be thoughtful and vigilant in practices that prevent the spread of sickness and disease and protect the good health of one another.

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Third Sunday of Lent March 15, 2020

St. Benedict Catholic School

Spotlight

Fourth Grade Do you know what a hook is? We are looking forward to learn-

ing about hooks and how to use them in persuasive writing. We

are excited for our next writing project. We have spent a lot of

time working on our pitch speeches for our products that we

have made in STEM. It will be fun to present these and even

have them videotaped. We have worked on identifying and us-

ing adjectives and are starting to concentrate on identifying and

using adverbs in our writing. The Ten Commandments continue

to be our main focus in Religion. We have mastered the first

four commandments. We are able to explain, recite, and write

them. In Reading we are working on using context clues to find

the meaning of unknown words in any text we are reading. We

are learning to think like detectives as we use the clues within

the passage to find the meaning of a word we are unfamiliar

with. In Social Studies, we are learning about the steps Ohio

took to becoming a state and what life was like for early Ohio

settlers as well as Native Americans! Our fourth grade scien-

tists have been learning about matter, how matter can be meas-

ured, what the physical properties of matter are and we will be

learning about how matter changes. We also learned what

makes a mixture a mixture and a solution a solution. A mixture

can be separated by the physical properties; however, a solution

cannot be separated. We created a density tower in the lab last

week to learn about density and how to determine how dense a

material is. We are finishing up the matter unit and will then be

studying force. In fourth grade Math, students are learning

about factors and multiples, prime and composite numbers, and

beginning our focus on fractions. Students will soon be able to

find equivalent fractions, add and subtract fractions with like

denominators, and put fractions in the simplest form. As we've

been talking all year, knowing your math facts is a key ingredi-

ent to what we do every day. Math facts will come in handy

again as we work with fractions in our daily lessons. So, spend

ten to fifteen minutes every day reviewing your facts. It has

been a very busy month. We have learned a lot and are excited

to see what this next month has in store for us.

To help build an endowment fund, please

consider St. Monica Church in your will.

Stewardship Offertory Collections

Regular Offertory………………………………….. $ 6,505.00 St. Monica Fund…………………………….…….. $ 703.00 Second Collection

Church in Central & Eastern Europe..$ 15.00

For: March 8, 2020

MONDAY, March 16 8:00 a.m. School Events (cmr) 4:00 p.m. Athletic Practice (g) 5:00 p.m. Walking Group (J) 6:30 p.m. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament (+) 6:30 p.m. Fresnel Shores (F)

TUESDAY, March 17 8:00 a.m. School Events (cmr) 3:00 p.m. SBS Faculty Mtg (AR) 4:00 p.m. Athletic Practice (g) 6:30 p.m. Yoga (J) 6:30 p.m. Fresnel Shores (F) 6:45 p.m. SVDP Mtg. (p.o kitchen)

WEDNESDAY, March 18 8:00 a.m. School Events (cmr) 12:00 p.m. Tai Chi (J) 3:00 p.m. Fish Fry Prep (c) 4:00 p.m. Athletic Practice (g) 5:00 p.m. Walking Group (J) 7:00 p.m. G.A. (AR)

THURSDAY, March 19 8:00 a.m. School Events (cmr) 3:00 p.m. Fish Fry Prep (c) 4:00 p.m. Athletic Practice (g) 6:30 p.m. Guild Mtg. (c)

FRIDAY, March 20 8:00 a.m. School Events (cmr) 3:00 p.m. Lenten Presentations (+) 3:30 p.m. Stations of the Cross (+) 4:00 p.m. Fish Fry © 4:00 p.m. Athletic Practice (g)

SATURDAY, March 21 2:00 p.m. Baptist Bible Study (F)

SUNDAY, March 22 See Liturgy Schedule 9:00 a.m. Coffee-Donuts-Fellowship (c) 8:00 p.m. A.A. (AR)

PARISH ACTIVITIES

Answer To This Week’s Religion Question This was the name used years ago for the Third Person in the Blessed Trinity. Today we use the name “Holy Spirit”.

THE CHURCH IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE Thank you for your contributions last week to the Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, to help restore the Church and build the future in more than 20 countries.

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Third Sunday of Lent March 15, 2020

CATHOLIC MEN’S FELLOWSHIP OF NORTHEAST OHIO

Men of the Vine St. Monica / St. Martin of Tours

Men! It’s still not too late to “Answer the Call.” Make plans to attend the Catholic Men’s Fellowship of Northeast Ohio annu-al conference at Holiday Inn in Independence, Ohio. The Sat-urday, March 21th conference will be a day of dynamic speak-ers, music, fellowship and much more. Featured speakers are Greg Wasinski, An internationally recognized Catholic speaker and author. Greg is also a daily contributor to Sirius XM Ra-dio’s The Catholic Channel. The other speaker will be Gary Zimak. Whose presence is on Catholic radio, TV and at confer-ences around the U.S. and Canada. Gary is a dynamic Catholic evangelist and bestselling author. The conference begins with a light breakfast at 8:00 a.m. and concludes with 4 p.m. Mass. Last year 500 men attended the conference. Call Jerry Perchinske at 216-269-9525 for group registration. Log on to www.cmfneo.com for more information. If you need a ride to get there, St. Monica men are planning to car pool on that morning.

Cleveland

Retrouvaille

Weekend

March 27 - 29, 2020

This is a Lifeline for Troubled Marriages

Has your marriage become unloving or uncaring – your

relationship cold, distant – thinking about a separation or

divorce? Are you already separated/divorced but both of

you want to try again? Then the Retrouvaille program

may help.

RETROUVAILLE, which means rediscovery, is sup-

ported by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, but it is

open to couples of all faiths. This program consists of a

weekend experience for couples and six follow up ses-

sions. A registration fee of $150 is required to confirm

your reservation. For more information concerning the

program, or to register, please call Marce or Liz Gliha at

440.357.6580 or 1.800.470.2230, or go online to

www.helpourmarriage.org.

Annual Candlelight Vigil April 5, 2020 at 3:00pm

Golubski Deliberato Funeral Home will host its Annual

Vigil Light Ceremony in the Garfield Heights Civic Cen-

ter on Sunday, April 5, 2020 at 3:00pm. Residents within

the community who have experienced a loss in their lives

are encouraged to attend this free Vigil Light Ceremony.

We open this invitation to not only those families we

have served, but to every family who has experienced a

difficult time

The afternoon service will include a guest speaker. Since

seating is limited, we ask that you call Golubski Delibera-

to Funeral Home at (216) 883-3900 for reservations or

questions. You may also call to reserve a Vigil Light

even though you are unable to attend.

Knights of Columbus—Garfield Hts. Council #4130

10806 Granger Rd., Garfield Hts., OH. 44125

MARCH 25—4 to 7 p.m. (RESERVATIONS REQUIRED)

Call: 216-662-2277 Option #2 BY SUNDAY March 22 - 8:00 p.m.

STUFFED CABBAGE DINNER By Maple Heights Catering

Dinner consists of: 3 Stuffed Cabbages, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Garden Salad, Roll & butter

Cost Adults - $10 ..... Children Under 12 - $8

ALL DINNERS INCLUDE COFFEE TEA, WATER, AND

NON‐CARBONATED BEVERAGES

Take-outs are available Isabella Guild will be selling bakery

EASTER FLOWER ENVELOPES You are encour-aged to remember your deceased loved ones by using the Easter Flower envelope in your latest envelope packet. We ask that you please CLEARLY PRINT the names on the envelope. Turn your en-velope in to the Parish Office or drop it in the collection basket as soon as possible but no later than Palm Sunday, April 5th, so the names will appear on the bulletin boards in the Rockside Road vestibule on Easter.

RESPECT FOR LIFE - Please join us this month for

the St. Monica Respect for Life Ministry monthly meeting on March 23, (the 4th Monday of the month), at 6:45 pm in the Francis Room of the Parish Office. You are wel-come to bring your donations for Maggie’s Place. Everyone is welcome! For more information, phone Re-gina at 216-744-3263.

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