Mailing Address:

285 W. Water Street

Chillicothe, OH 45601

Office Telephone

740-774-1407

Office Hours

Mon-Thurs:

9:00-12:00

1:00-4:00

Fri:

9:00-12:00

St. Vincent DePaul

740-772-2812

Bishop Flaget School

740-774-2970

Mass Schedule

Saturday: 5:00 pm

Sunday: 8:00 am

11:30 am

Monday: 5:30 pm

Tuesday: 8:30 am

Wednesday: 8:30 am

Thursday: 5:30 am

Friday:

9:30 am

(at Bishop Flaget

during school year)

8:30 am

(summer in church)

Eucharistic

Adoration

In Chapel:

Tuesdays 6:00 a.m. to

Thursdays 5:00 p.m.

In Church

Thursdays 6:00—9:00

p.m.

A Community founded on Ad-

oration and presence to the

Poor

From the desk of Fr. Hahn

The Rock Newsletter of St. Peter Catholic Church

Chillicothe, Ohio

Fall 2018 / Winter 2019

“ . . . You are Peter, and upon this

rock I shall build my church, and the

gates of the nether world shall not

prevail against it.” — Matthew 16:18

Dear Parishioners, We recently heard in the readings at Sunday Mass “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ” (1 Cor 12:12). It is the basis of the doctrine of the Church as the Body

of Christ. Every one of us has a part to play in the Body of Christ. In addition, we know that a body must have structure in order to be healthy. This is what I intend to talk about in this column today: the structure of the local church. As St. Paul, con-cludes that section he lists a variety of gifts and positions in the church and then asks, “Are all apostles? Are all teachers?...” In other words, each has his role and place; not everyone is meant to be an apostle, not everyone is meant to be a teacher, etc. Who is the head of our local church? It is the Bishop. He is ordained to represent Christ the head. “See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the priests as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop.” -Ignatius of Antioch c100 A.D. We may at times be frustrated with a Bish-op but just like our fathers it doesn’t change the fact of who they are and what authority God has given them. The local pastor and priests then are con-sidered “co-workers of the Bishop.” The pastor represents the leadership of the Bishop, and the priests together represent the pastoral ministry of him. The deacons too, are considered particularly in service to the Bishop. The Bishop assigns priests and deacons to perform their ministry in the various parishes and institutions of his dio-cese. Within the local parish there are at least one, sometimes two, consultative boards that as-sist the pastor in carrying out his duties of leading the community. They are the Finance Council and the Parish Council. The first is required by Can-on (Church) Law, the second is left to the discre-tion of the pastor. The pastor meets with members of the finance council who help him oversee the material aspects of the parish (finances, maintenance, etc.). The finance council helps ensure good practices concerning fiscal responsibility, financial integri-ty, and advice regarding issues of buildings and

grounds. In all of this, however, they are con-sultative not deliberative, which is to say they offer advice, they don’t make the decisions. Parish Council deals with the things more primary to the Church, namely its mis-sion. We can have a parish without the build-ings but we don’t have one without a mission. Parish Council is there to help me discern what is the direction of mission the Lord is leading us in. It is also the way that concerns and op-portunities are communicated. Each organiza-tion in the parish (Knights of Columbus, choir, St. Vincent DePaul, etc.) have a liaison from parish council who is assigned to them. Be-fore each meeting the parish council members contact their corresponding organizations and ask if there is anything they would like to share with the parish or the council – any news to report or concerns to address. This is struc-tured to help the flow of information between the community and the leadership and vice-versa. Also, as an individual you can always bring your concerns affecting the mission of the church, to a parish council member to communicate. Members of Parish Council are listed on the front of the bulletin. In addition, the paid staff of a parish are there to help support the clergy in the actu-al day to day operations. They are there to help strengthen the community by their service to the Body through their specific areas of expertise. Finally, at the level of the diocese there is a similar paid staff. Among others, there is a Finance Director for the diocese who sets the policies of the parishes, and is the main resource for questions concerning financ-es. There is also a Director of Facilities for the Diocese of Columbus. Because he and his office deal exclusively with over 100 churches and campuses in the diocese, they have a breadth of experience and knowledge that is extremely helpful to pastors. He is consulted whenever we do capital or larger maintenance projects. Likewise there are diocesan staff members supporting work in liturgy, educa-tion, etc. I hope this gives you a deeper insight into the structure, or “bones,” of the Body of Christ at the local level. The goal in the parish is through that structure to provide you with what you need (the sacraments, Faith and Scripture education, service opportunities, etc.) to do what you are called to do (to ad-vance the kingdom of God, His Life, His Vir-tues, etc. in your family and community).

Page 2

Little Flowers Girls Club —Judy Harness

The use of incense in our worship has many meanings. In one sense, it is a “burnt offer-ing” to God - incense and the smoke of burning incense have been offered as gifts to God for thousands of years. However, incense is also a sacramental which is used to venerate, bless, and sanctify. Some Eastern Rite Catholic Churches even use its smoke to purify the sacred ves-sels in their liturgies by inverting the vessels over the smoke.

As we have all noticed, the use of incense is also a sensory experience, due to its smell and the visi-ble imagery it creates. The smoke creates a sense of mystery and adds a feeling of solemnity to the Mass. Evoking the visions of John in the Book of Revelation - as the fragrant smoke ascends - it also symbolizes our prayers rising to Heaven. Finally, the smoke and the scent also reinforce the imagery of our co-celebration of the Mass with the hosts of Heaven.

So, if someone asks you about the “smoke at Mass”, there’s a lot you could say!

And there’s a lot more I could write, but allow me to conclude with a simple prayer found in the Psalms:

LORD, I call to you; hasten to me; listen to my plea when I call. Let my prayer be in-cense before you; my uplifted hands an evening offering (Psalm 141: 1-2).

By Deacon Hauser

Occasionally, people ask questions about some of the things they see and hear during our liturgies. One example is incense – why do we use it and what does it mean? Incense is one of the “smells & bells” people joke about in Catholic worship. The things most often in-censed are The Most Blessed Sacrament when exposed for adoration, the altar (by walking around it), the offer-ings for the sacrifice of the Mass, the altar cross, the Book of the Gospels, the Paschal Candle, the priest, oth-er clergy and the people.

The word incense comes from the Latin verb, incendere meaning "to burn". For many thousands of years, cultures all over the world have used the burning of specialized materials to produce sweet fragrances. For example, the ancient Egyptians used incense in religious ceremonies; it was thought to deter malevolent demons and appease the gods with its pleasant aroma. The Baby-lonians also used incense while offering prayers to please the gods, and its use spread to Greece and Rome. Incense burners were used in ancient India, China, and East Asia, burning combinations of native plant materi-als. The trading of incense and spices provided the eco-nomic basis for the famed 1,500-mile-long Middle East-ern Incense Route which flourished from the third centu-ry BC to the second century AD. According to one source I found, incense (or frankincense/myrrh) is mentioned 170 times in the Sa-cred Scripture, 159 times in the Old Testament and 11 times in the New Testament. Frankincense and myrrh are specific products from different plants and used in burning, but “incense” could actually be a mixture of materials. In the Book of Exodus, an Altar of Incense (Exodus 30:1-10) stood adjacent to the Ark of the Cove-nant. God even directs Moses in the precise combination of an incense mixture which was to be used exclusively as an offering to the Lord – the blend was to have no other use.

In the ancient world, a gift of incense had great value. Having celebrated the Epiphany recently, we re-call the Maji offering gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh to the newborn Jesus, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. Myrrh was also known to be a pain reliever - in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is offered wine drugged with myrrh at his crucifixion, which he refused (Mark 15:22-23). And after his death on the cross, the body of Jesus was prepared for burial using myrrh (John 19:39-40). In the Book of Revelation, incense symbolizes the prayers of the saints in heaven - the "golden bowl full of incense" are "the prayers of the saints".

Little Flowers Girls Club has been meeting since Septem-ber and the girls have been learning and having great fun! Each month the girls learn about a Saint and a vir-tue. From St. Katherine Drexel to most recently St. An-gela Merici, the girls are growing in knowledge and faith! This spring we will be visiting a nursing home and planning our mother-daughter tea for May.

Page 3 The Rock

St. Vincent de Paul Society

A Community founded on Adoration and presence to the Poor

Infant of Prague Adoration Chapel

Open to the public:

Tuesdays-Thursdays

7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Entrance at other times

by Access Code.

Call the parish office for current

code.

Have you signed up to spend an hour with our Lord in the Adoration Chapel? We now have an online system for tracking this and it has the ability to send you a reminder either by text, email, or telephone call. Sign up at:

stpeter.weadorehim.com

Passcode ROCK

I've been coming weekly now since September, and I feel so close to Jesus. Like I know he is real and have a relation-ship with Him.

How do parishioners / adorers feel about the chapel and spending an hour in adoration?

The Adoration Chapel has meant so much to me. It is a place I can go and feel an over-whelming sense of calm, a retreat from all the craziness of daily life...I find it easier to pray when I'm in the adoration chapel. We are so blessed to have this 'retreat' at our parish. I look forward to my holy hour all week!

One grace I have received is to accept what-ever Our Lord desires to give me, be it good or ill. If illness or trial, then I offer it joyful-ly as a sacrifice for those who might need it such as the souls in purgatory. If it be bless-ings than to share it to the best of my ability with those around me.

By the Numbers a Comparison FY October 1, 2015 through September 30, 2016 and FY October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018

— Information Provided by Bob Weisenberger, SVDP Secretary

FY 2016 FY 2018

Individuals given food from the shelves 3,776 4,454

Home visits, prison visits, hospital visits Eldercare visits, spiritual aid, sacraments 1,548 2,250 Vouchers for Good Samaritan, Goodwill Store Children’s Clothing Bank to individuals 1,147 1,546 Gas Vouchers & Bus Fare for individuals 320 473 Total Expenses for the Society $51,700 $58,000 Dollar Value of Food donated to the pantry $31,400 $47,400 Dollar Value of Food distributed by the pantry $31,100 $45,000 Cost of Food purchased by the pantry for stocking $ 3,000 $ 6,500

Current needs of St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry, include: canned fruit, corn, and peas; pasta meals in pull top cans; pasta sauce; cere-al; tuna; peanut butter; and SOUP. Items can be placed in the contain-ers in church or brought to the par-ish center.

The Society thanks the Franciscan Sis-ters for their presence at the monthly meetings and during the food pantry hours to offer prayer with individuals. The Society also thanks those who helped stock their refrigerator and freezer as well as the Knights of Co-lumbus Fr. Charles Griffin Council 15793 who have truly become partners in assisting the Society with the food drives. They thank those who have contributed financially over the year. Most importantly, they thank all of our parishioners for the support and pray-ers that help them provide for those in need.

Page 4

Another successful March for Life Pilgrimage in the books for St. Peter Parish! Even with a shortened pilgrimage due to the threat of Winter Storm Harper (not sure why we are naming winter storms now), it was definitely an honor to pray and march for the unborn. This year, we had 18 youth and adults from St. Peter Parish. We were joined with Wash-ington Court House St. Colman, Waverly St. Mary, and all four of the FIH Sisters. In total, we had 47 pilgrims from the Consortium. We began our pilgrimage with Mass at St. Peter’s on the morning of Thursday January 17th. And then, we began our journey on the bus! About 1.5 hours into the trip, I gave a brief tour of Zanesville as we drove on I-70. Everyone was enthralled (actually a lot of blank stares) as I gave interest-ing facts about my hometown (Did you know? Amelia Earn-hardt said “Zanesville was the most recognizable city in the country” because the Y-Bridge was a perfect aid in naviga-tional travel). Anyway, our pilgrims learned so much about the wonderful city of Zanesville! As soon as we arrived in the evening to Washington D.C., we attended the Life is Very Good Rally in Fairfax, Virginia. A night of music, prayer, and witness talks. The speakers included: Chris Stefanick and Steve Angrisano with music from the band I Am They. The highlight of the event was Eucharistic Adoration with the thousands that were gathered for the evening. You could hear a pin drop in the basketball arena as we prayed in front of the Eucharist. Our next day was just as busy! In the morning, we visited the powerful U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Each of us was given a small booklet with the biography of an individual who either survived or died during the Holo-caust. Various artifacts and photos were on display in the museum of this atrocity. After the emotional visit, we made our way to the National Mall to formally begin the March for Life. If you notice on the March of Life, it is a collective gathering of young and old, Catholics, Protestants, those with no religious affiliation, and others. It is not just a Catholic event, but it is one where many people agree that life is worth defending and promoting: born and unborn. Our youth proudly displayed the banner from our Knights of Columbus Council 15793. We continue to pray for the defense of life and may the Holy Spirit allow us to echo this prayer from the Mass of Peace and Justice: “ O God, who have revealed that peacemakers are to be called your children, grant we pray, that we may work without ceasing to establish that justice which alone ensures true and lasting peace.” Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support for this important pilgrimage!

2019 March for Life Pilgrimage —Fr Sean Dooley

Page 5

Remembering our faithful departed at the All Souls Day Mass and reception on November 2, 2018.

Members of the Ross County Right to Life committee march in the Halloween Parade.

Knights from Council 15793 escort Mary during the annual Rosary Procession in October.

Fr. Hahn was the speaker at this year’s Veterans Appreciation Dinner

Parishioner Dan Kulhanek plays the bagpipes at the Veterans Appreciation Dinner in honor of deceased Veterans.

Fr. Hahn blesses the wreath lain at St. Margaret’s Cemetery in conjunction with Wreaths Across America.

The generosity of the Harvest!

Page 6 The Rock

Knights provide a wonderful Christmas party for the Veterans at the VA Hospital in Chillicothe.

Christmas at St. Peter’s

Little Flowers Girls Club

Bishop Flaget Students at Lego Robotics tournament in Columbus.

Three Wise Men? Three Amigos? Three . . . . . .?

Page 7

ROSS COUNTY MARCH FOR LIFE 2019—ROSS COUNTY COURT HOUSE, CHILLICOTHE

A CHALLENGE FROM THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS! Fr. Charles Griffin Council 15793 of the Knights of Columbus offers a challenge to all families at St. Peter’s parish this Lent. All are challenged to give “40 cans for Lent”! All families are asked to donate 40 cans of food (or personal hygiene items) or comparable financial donation rep-resenting each day of Lent and Christ’s 40 days in the desert. All donations will be giv-en to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry to help with the ongoing need for their assis-tance in our community. Any donation (food, personal hygiene items or monetary) should be marked “40 cans for Lent” the do-nations can be tracked accordingly. For more information, contact the program’s coordinator, Joe Zupi at740-773-4707, 740-772-4759 or by email atjzupi2002@yahoo.com. Joe can also be contacted for pick up if someone is unable to deliver donations to the church. What a perfect way to increase our attention towards prayer, fasting, and alms giving this Lenten Season.

LENT BEGINS

MARCH 6, 2019

Knights of Columbus 15793 —Bob Kight, Grand Knight

Page 8 The Rock

Military Ministry By Jenny French

Divine Mercy Cenacle By Judy Harness

This year’s Veteran’s Appreciation Dinner was held on Sunday, November 11. Fr. Hahn was the guest speaker. He shared with the attendees what he experi-enced with the military during his sabbatical in the Holy Land. For those who were not there or may have forgot-ten, Fr. Hahn was living in the Holy Land during the US strike on Damascus as well as the transfer of the embassy to Jerusalem. Thank you to parishioners Dan Kulhanek, who played the bagpipes at the close of the dinner in hon-or of our deceased veterans. We are always taking pic-tures of our parish’s soldiers whether living or deceased or active or retired. If you have not submitted one, you can do so at any time to Jenny French. We continue to add to our collection to display during the dinner. Our goal is to fill the walls with our veterans’ pictures! On December 15, during a shower of cold rain, Fr. Hahn blessed the wreath laid at St. Margaret’s ceme-tery in honor of our deceased Veterans. The laving of the wreath is in conjunction with Wreaths Across America and the laying of the wreaths at Arlington Cemetery. Thank you to those who purchased the wreaths and helped lay them on graves.

We teamed up with the Ross County Right to Life and Flaget Council 1071 on a respect life essay contest. Middle school students from Flaget, and PSR students from Saint Peter, Saint Mary Chillicothe and Saint Mary Waverly participated. Avery Brown won 1st place, Ger-aldine Noel won 2nd place and Anna Hansen won 3rd. Congratulations to the winners and all of the students who participated.

We also provided food for the reception following the All Souls Day Mass. We continue to provide a pan-cake breakfast on the 3rd Sunday of each month After the Masses. Starting in December, we began offering lunch after the 11:30 Mass, pancakes are also available.

Our biggest project of the Fall was the dinner at the VA Hospital on December 22nd. We started the day by distributing gift bags to the residents in Building 210. We then served a turkey dinner to about 125 Veterans and their families. That was followed by bingo and door priz-es. We partnered with the Columbus Chapter of VA Pro-grams, who organizes programs throughout the year at the Chillicothe VA. We are thankful to the Saint Peter parish-ioners who provided donations for the gift bags and help-ing on the day of the event. Thanks to all the Knights who put in many hours to prepare for this event, especially Joe Zupi who chaired the project. We are honored to have the opportunity to serve our Veterans and look forward to more opportunities in the future.

We have started a second cenacle group here at St. Pe-ter's and are excited to be listed as a parish cenacle with the Eucharistic Apostles of Divine Mercy. The group meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 6 pm and will be in the formation process for one year in order to begin making visits carrying the message of mercy to all! The original group continues to meet on the 2nd Friday of each month. We were saddened by the loss of one of our original cenacle members in November, Da-vid Cutright. We were blessed to have spent so much time learning and sharing the message of mercy with Dave and we know that God's mercy was active during his passing. It was no surprise to us that David passed during the hour of great mercy on All Saints Day. We will not forget all that he meant to us and all that he taught us over the past three years. For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on David's soul and on the whole world.

Page 9 The Rock

Pre– Cana dinner for engaged

couples of the consortium

Bishop Flaget School By Laura Corcoran, Principal.

Right to Life By Judy Harness

Bishop Flaget announces that three schools have been added to the traditional EdChoice program list: Chil-licothe Primary, Chillicothe Intermediate, and Southeastern Elementary. If your child is assigned to any of these build-ings, you can apply for an EdChoice scholarship for your child to attend Bishop Flaget for FREE!!! Bishop Flaget is an EdChoice provider and has been for several years. Up until this point, we were only able to offer the EdChoice Expan-sion (which is based on income) because no local schools were considered “low-performing.” Since these three build-ings have been assigned to the list, we now have this addi-tional option. The other great thing about this scholarship is that once it is awarded to your child, it can be renewed every year until they graduate from high school, even if the home school is removed from the EdChoice list. The current award is for $4650. Bishop Flaget tuition this year is $3750 for a Catholic child, so your cost would be $0. If you would decide to send your child to another private school for high school (Bishop Watterson, Fisher Catholic, etc.), your child would still re-ceive the scholarship towards their tuition. If the tuition is above the amount of the scholarship, you would be responsi-ble for the difference, but this is still a phenomenal oppor-tunity! If you do not live in one of the three areas mentioned above, but your family income falls below 200% of the pov-erty level, you can apply for an EdChoice Expansion Schol-arship. This works just like the traditional EdChoice in that it is renewable, but it may be reduced if your income rises above the 200% bar. In order to apply for the scholarships, you must first be accepted to Bishop Flaget School. Contact Mrs. Corcoran for the application materials. Once accepted, you will com-plete a one page application form and provide proof of ad-dress. Mrs. Corcoran can answer any questions that you have about any of the state scholarship programs and help your through the process. Please don’t hesitate to call or email an-ytime. (740.774.2970, lcorcora@cdeducation.org, 740.253.0433 - cell). The Bishop Flaget Lego Robotics Team competed in district competition on January 12, 2019, in Columbus. The students presented their project, “Global Fitness Constella-tion Station,” which was a design of a workout location be-tween Earth and Mars where astronauts could stop and work out their muscles and the effects of 0 gravity on their bodies while on a trip to Mars. The students designed a model of the space station, complete with exercise equipment created on the 3D printers. At the regional competition, students were commended on their research project. The students also competed in the Core Values portion of the program as well as the coding/robot programming. The team is coached by Mrs. Dianne Cryder and Mrs. Sue Blum. Catholic Schools Week will be held January 27-February 2, 2019. We will kick off events with a breakfast at

both parishes on January 27th. The spaghetti dinner will be held on the 29th, and we will present the Distinguished Alumni Award after the All School Mass on February 1st. Please feel free to join us for the celebrations. More infor-mation will be forthcoming. Mark your calendar for the Bishop Flaget Reverse Raffle. This year’s raffle will be held on February 16th at Bishop Flaget School. Tickets are $40 each and enter one person in the raffle for prizes up to $2500! During the raffle, we will be inducting the members of the 1983 Bish-op Flaget basketball team into the Bishop Flaget Hall of Fame. In addition, there will be comedy by Mike Haller and a delicious meal. Tickets will be available at the school and by contacting Mrs. Corcoran, Billy Taylor, or Julie Henson.

St Peters Respect Life Committee had a great turnout for the Halloween Parade again this year, battling rain and cool temperatures! Those who walked handed out lifesaver candy to those watching the parade and a good time was had by all! The High School Youth and Confirmandi partici-pated in the very first "Relay for Pro LIfe" in December. The youth collected donations of 10 dollars from at least 10 people and in return, the youth spent one hour walking in the church offering prayers per their requests. The youth walked barefoot while walking and meditating on prayers of the rosary, stations of the cross and divine mer-cy during their hour. Students kept track of their steps and will total all steps from the Relay as well as their steps while attending the MFL in Washington. The prayer requests also travelled with them to the DC March and were remembered during the rosaries and masses which were a part of the 3 day pilgrimage. A group of 50 pilgrims headed to Washington DC for the annual March for Life this year. Parishioners from St. Peter Chillicothe, St. Mary Waverly and St. Colman WC participated. The group attended the Youth Rally for Life and visited the Holocaust Museum as part of the ex-perience. The March took place on January 18th. The Ross County Right to Life’s 2nd Annual March for Life was on Tuesday, January 22nd in Chillico-the. Marchers met at the Paint St. entrance to Yoctangee Park at 11:30 and began the march to the courthouse. Speakers and local choirs gave voice to praise and thanks to God for the precious gift of life. This annual celebra-tion of life is a non-political event focused on bringing the community together to share how important it is to pro-tect and love all people regardless of age or ability. For more information on joining the effort, contact Judy Har-ness at 774-1407.

Marriage preparation and pre-Cana classes are required. Thus, the engaged couple must make initial arrangements by con-tacting the parish at least six months prior to the desired mar-riage date. You or your fiancee should be a registered parishion-er for at least eight months before beginning preparation.

St. Peter Church

285 W. Water Street

Chillicothe, OH 45601

Address Service Requested

NON-PROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

Chillicothe, OH 45601

Permit No. 251

Baptism

Marriage Preparation

Pre-Baptism instruction for parents who have not previously attended, and for parents for which it has been 4 years or longer since the Baptism of their last child, is required. Please call the office to make arrangements for classes. Baptisms are held by appointment only.

Communion to the Sick

Because the sick and homebound are prevented from cele-brating the Eucharist with the rest of the community, the visits during which they receive Holy Communion are very important. In receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, the sick are united sacramentally to the Lord and are reunited with the Eucharistic community. If you or another parishioner you know is unable to attend Mass, please contact the office so that the Body of Christ can be brought to him or her.

Bethesda Healing Ministry We are a group of mothers and fathers who have suffered the experience of abortion. We gather twice a month to share, heal, and grow. We are now experiencing the gift of God’s healing love. We’ve been there: We Understand. Contact us at

We’re on the Web! See us at: www.stpeterchillicothe.com

PREGNANT & NEED HELP? Call Option Line at 1-800-395-HELP.

Confidential, caring assistance is available. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are also on Facebook! Like our Page!

St. Peter Church, Chillicothe: A Community founded on Adoration and

Presence to the poor.