Saint John XXIII Roman Catholic Church
3390 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3K 0Z3
Telephone: 204-832-7175
•Fax: 204-885-2447
Email: office@johnxxiii.ca
•Website: www.johnxxiii.ca
Office Hours:
As announced in the schedule for the week _____________________________________________________________________________________________________S
ACRAMENT OF THEH
OLYE
UCHARISTS
UNDAYL
ITURGIES(M
ASSES)
Due to limits imposed by public health orders, please call ahead of time to make reservations
W
EEKDAYL
ITURGIESYou may call ahead of time to make reservations
A
SSISTANCE TO THES
ICK ANDS
HUT-
INFor emergencies, you may contact the parish office
S
ACRAMENT OFR
ECONCILIATION(C
ONFESSIONS)
As circumstances permit, when the Pastor is available on Friday afternoons and/or by appointment
P
ARISH
B
ULLETIN
T
WENTY
-T
HIRD
S
UNDAY IN
O
RDINARY
T
IME
– September 6, 2020
T
WENTY
-F
OURTH
S
UNDAY IN
O
RDINARY
T
IME
– September 13, 2020
P
ARISHP
ASTORALT
EAMPastor: Reverend Fr. Robert Polz Administrative Assistant: Joanna Mason
204-832-7335 rpolz.johnxxiii@gmail.com 204-832-7175 joanna@johnxxiii.ca
Pastoral Assistant: Sharon Camier Head Custodian: José Barrera
204-832-7206 sharon@johnxxiii.ca 204-888-9340
Ministry Coordinator/Office Volunteer: Lynda Hunt Music Ministry: Donna Vendramelli
204-832-7175 lynda@johnxxiii.ca 204-888-8200 d_vendramelli@mymts.net
Trustee: Loris Vendramelli Building and Maintenance Chair: Claude Precourt
204-888-8200 loris@mymts.net 204-898-1893 cfp3899@gmail.com
Trustee: William Gould Fundraising and Development Committee
204-832-7175 william.d.gould@gmail.com 204-832-7175 call if interested in serving
Parish Stewardship Committee Parish Pastoral Council Facilitator: Loris Vendramelli Facilitator: Laurette Burch
204-888-8200 loris@mymts.net 204-885-6988 burchd@mymts.net
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FAITH FORMATION: In regular circumstances, catechism sessions for children (K to Grade 8) are held on Sunday mornings, September through May, from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. Periodically other programs, workshops, and/or study sessions are offered for adults. Contact our Pastoral Assistant (Sharon) for further information.
SACRAMENTS OF INITIATION (BAPTISM,CONFIRMATION,EUCHARIST): Contact the parish office for further information. SACRAMENT OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK: Contact the Pastor (Fr. Robert).
SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE: Arrangements for preparation and celebration should be made at least six months in advance.
UPDATED PROTOCOLS:
In keeping with updated protocols from the Government of Manitoba easing some restrictions for faith-based gatherings and following guidelines issued by the Archbishop of Winnipeg, Saint John XXIII Parish has increased the numbers of those permitted in our parish facility for public worship. NOTE: This change does NOT apply to socialgatherings, weddings and funerals, or other organized gatherings or events. Although revised protocols allow up to a
maximum of 30 per cent of our site’s capacity for faith-based gatherings, members of the public must be able to reasonably maintain a separation of at least two metres from others, except for brief exchanges.
Please cooperate with us in respecting our revised limit of 90 PERSONS in the church nave/sanctuary at any one time.
Remember that all required social distancing and sanitation requirements must continue to be followed. PLEASE
CONTACT THE PARISH OFFICE AHEAD OF TIME TO MAKE RESERVATIONS FOR ALL WEEKEND MASSES. For weekday
liturgies you may register beforehand or take your chances for “rush seating” provided space is available.
HAND SANITIZING, FACE COVERINGS, ETC.
All assisting ministers, parishioners and visitors are to SANITIZE THEIR HANDS UPON ARRIVAL and to observe appropriate PHYSICAL/SOCIAL DISTANCING (i.e. stay 2 metres apart) during their time at the church.
Especially given the increase of COVID-19 cases in the province, THE WEARING OF A FACE COVERING (MASK) IS VERY MUCH ENCOURAGED. Nevertheless, at the present time the use of a face covering is still left to the discretion of the individual.
The offertory procession at Masses is suspended at this time. An OFFERING BOX to receive your collection envelopes is available in the narthex on a table near the main aisle or you may drop your donations off at the parish office. If at all possible, we ask that you USE THE WASHROOM AT HOME before you come to church. We need to sanitize
areas appropriately after you leave the building. It is an even bigger job if someone has to guess your tracks all through the building and downstairs into the washrooms. Please be respectful of your place in the greater picture for the good of all.
Let us all continue the everyday activities that can help reduce exposure to COVID-19 and protect the health of one another: wash your hands often with soap and water; sneeze or cough into your sleeve; avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth; IF YOU ARE SICK or in a vulnerable state, PLEASE STAY AT HOME.
TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
September 6, 2020
Ezekiel 33:7-9
Ezekiel is given a sobering responsibility to speak God’s truth to the wicked.
Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7ab, 7c-9
God speaks today to those whose hearts are open and available.
Romans 13:8-10
Paul underscores that love is the fulfillment of the law.
Matthew 18:15-20
Jesus outlines how to approach a sister or brother in the wrong.
EXPLORING THE WORD
To tell the truth
Most of us have a friend who is determined to tell the truth at any cost. Or perhaps we should say that the truth comes at everyone’s cost. No sooner does the next victim of this relentless honesty leave the room when the “truth” descends in the form of gossip, criticism, a rehashing of the person’s past actions or present motives, even a forecast of future probabilities. This kind of frankness serves no one but the speaker, of course. Anyone who listens to this onslaught of information comes away feeling sullied by association.
Telling the truth, we feel sure, is more than conveying data, however accurate it may be. That’s where many media sources get it wrong, mistaking the search for truth with serving up the “dish.” The truth is bigger than a mere smorgasbord of the facts—especially as the facts are often so darn selective. Should a person be judged on the basis of the worst or best thing she’s done? Should a person be judged at all by fellow human beings incapable of seeing the big picture that God’s truth necessarily implies?
You shall warn them for me
Prophets are given the undesirable commission to point out to their fellow mortals what wrong they are doing in order to dissuade them from their chosen path. The aforementioned truth-telling friend may see himself or herself in that role but is most likely wrong about that. For one thing, prophets are called to speak God’s truth, not their own. This requires a degree in discernment often earned in the school of the desert, after long bouts of fasting and prayer. Anyone who hasn’t personally suffered for the sake of this truth probably doesn’t qualify for the job.
Prophets also dare to speak God’s truth directly to the person involved in wrongdoing. As far as scripture reveals, no one has yet been called to tell the truth about others behind their backs or for the benefit of large audiences. Not only do prophets deliver their message directly, but they begin by doing so privately: one-on-one with the offender in question. This gives the wrongdoer the freedom to choose the way of repentance without shaming him or her out of the chance to embrace the truth.
Finally, prophets are motivated by two things: love and responsibility. The love is for God, the truth itself, and for the one whose soul is in jeopardy. The responsibility part is a little more complicated. As Ezekiel understands it, God holds the prophet personally accountable for the word he receives. If Ezekiel fails to warn the sinner, he himself is put on notice when that sinner is subsequently lost.
The obligation to speak
Although some folks feel an urgent desire to speak the truth into the lives of their loved ones, often that may amount to no more than speaking their minds. They may accept little responsibility for what happens after they open their mouths. By contrast, the prophet bears the sober commission to speak as well as the full weight of the consequences after the message is delivered. Perhaps fewer of us would be anxious to be truth-tellers if we faced flogging, imprisonment, or stoning for the privilege of telling others how to behave. One good measure of a prophet’s sincerity has always been the willingness to take some licks for the sake of the word.
If this discussion makes us anxious about telling the truth under any circumstances, it fulfills its purpose in conveying just how serious a commission prophecy is. Still, none of us is absolved from the necessity of delivering the truth when it needs to be spoken. Jesus offers queasy disciples a simple blueprint to follow in our truth-telling. First, go to the one who has injured you privately. Two ideas are key here: that we are personally involved and that the ensuing encounter is private. Jesus offers no advice for getting involved in anyone else’s conflicts, which could be a case against vigilante meddling.
If this step succeeds in producing reconciliation, great. If it fails, the next step does involve the community. After all, if an individual suffers an offense, the community is already affected through that person. A few witnesses are enough, Jesus says. These folks corroborate the original discernment and provide a second chance at reconciliation. But if this step also fails, then the matter must pass into the view of the entire community. This public assessment comes last, we should emphasize, whereas blasting it across the Internet and through the tabloids tends to be our first choice these days.
At no time does Jesus recommend a small posse devoted to the moral or social destruction of the offender, much less a committee of one judging and condemning the person to ostracization. Nor does Jesus ever say, “At this point, go ahead and sue the dickens out of him!” These may be our preferred methods of dealing with those who cause us harm, but they are not Christian ones.
APPLYING THE WORD
Love fulfills the law
Jesus once summed up the law and the prophets with the new command to love God and one another. The command itself is nothing new, but the emphasis is. Love must be viewed as the law’s fulfillment, which means the law cannot be fulfilled by merely coloring inside the guidelines. Love completes what the law only suggests. Our motivation in telling the truth is therefore plain: We tell the truth because the truth is good and because it serves our neighbor’s good to tell it. “Love does no evil to the neighbor,” Paul reminds us. When we seek reconciliation with one who has wronged us, we are bringing to our neighbor the best possible good.
Can we seek the best good for someone who has hurt us? Ah, this presumes we have been paying attention to the rest of what Jesus says: that we love our enemies and are willing to do good to those who hate us, even to bless those who persecute us. Speaking the truth, it seems, involves a prior commitment to live the truth ourselves. If truth is to be spoken at
all costs, then integrity is the price we must pay. – Alice Camille
Alice Camille is a religious educator, scripture commentator, and author of many books including This Transforming Word and other titles found at alicecamille.com
Reprinted with permission from PrepareTheWord.com
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TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
September 13, 2020
Sirach 27:30 – 28:7
How can we hold onto anger and expect healing from God?
Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
God’s kindness far surpasses all our sins.
Romans 14:7-9
Christ is Lord of the dead and the living.
Matthew 18:21-35
Jesus tells the parable of one who is forgiven and yet fails to forgive.
EXPLORING THE WORD
Forgiveness lessons
Years ago I wrote a little book on forgiveness. It was supposed to be a quick read, something you could absorb in one sitting. But the longer I spent at the task, the more I realized that forgiveness is not a short subject. I tried to contain it in four easy chapters like the publisher asked. I wanted to encircle the topic neatly in categories of “Confession, Contrition, Compensation, and Correction,” in the clever terminology of my cowriter Father Paul Boudreau. The four C’s, as any Catholic will recognize, are the four steps involved in the Rite of Reconciliation. But I’m found that forgiveness is bigger than a ritual, more than a method to be taught, deeper than just cleaning up the mess behind us, and more expensive than saying I’m sorry. Forgiveness won’t stuff all nice and docile into a little pocket-sized book. Like an octopus, it dangles its multiple limbs in every direction most inconveniently.
Take the issue of rites, for example. Is forgiveness another name for the sacrament more formally known as Penance? Well, yes, but the Eucharist is our premiere sacrament of Reconciliation, according to our theology. Baptism, too, accomplishes the forgiveness of sin. Already, you can see the octopus curling through our sacramental system, taking up far more room than you anticipated.
Is forgiveness a matter of mending the breach between you and me, or us and God? Frankly, both; and also mending the tear between my true self and the false self I often inhabit. Is forgiveness a spiritual business or a psychological one? Again, it’s both. But let’s not forget it also has a physical dimension, because the gnawing consequences of unforgiveness can break the health of mind and body, and also a social one, since patterns of unforgiveness can affect families and communities for many generations, as scripture was early to point out. Far from being a short subject, the matter of forgiveness becomes a fundamental and critical one with ramifications at every level of human experience.
What would Jesus do?
I wish there were a simple solution to the problem of forgiveness. But even Peter, who had Jesus in front of him in person on a daily basis, didn’t seem to know what Jesus would do the eighth time a brother might sin against him. Peter experiences the limits of human patience and forbearance in his own relationships. He wants to know how long a truly good person ought to put up with the abuse of his or her charity.
But Jesus refuses to consider forgiveness in terms of what’s reasonable or even humanly possible. When Jesus tells his parable about the servant forgiven a great debt, there is no discussion at all of how long to forgive someone who offends, or
even how to do it, period. The emphasis in the story is not on the mechanics of forgiveness but only on the motivation. We forgive our fellow human beings, umpteen times seven times, not because they deserve it but because we ourselves have been forgiven a king’s ransom.
As far as Jesus is concerned, this is the whole of forgiveness in a nutshell: Our obligation matches the largess we have received, which is incalculable. Never mind ruminating on who did what to whom and how often. Yes, there may be pain and anger and certainly there can be just cause for grievance. Jesus doesn’t argue those points. But gnawing on those components will not free us to do the one thing we are expected to do as servants relieved of all our debts, and that’s to forgive our debtors, free and clear.
But how do we do that?
Ben Sira prefers the spiritual purge: “Remember death and decay,” he recommends. Some of us might make use of the negative notion of being caught dead with unforgiveness on our souls as the cattle prod to keep the spiritual slate clean. But others might also consider the terrible debt we pay in this life when we carry wrath and bitterness around in our hearts. Many mental health professionals and wellness experts are suggesting that the trap of unforgiveness plays a large share in what causes human suffering. And because sin tends to skip from the microcosm to the macrocosm, a glance at the international political scene reveals the damage done when one community chooses to escalate offenses rather than reconcile with their offenders. If forgiveness “looses” the effects of sin, then unforgiveness holds history bound to them, and each new generation in bondage as well.
We “cherish” our wrath, Ben Sira observes, and “nourish” our anger with frequent recitations of our neighbor’s culpability. “Remember the Most High’s covenant,” he concludes. But we are tempted to remember only the wrongs committed against us and uphold our own situational innocence.
The person who practices habits of forgiveness, however, remembers God’s surpassing kindnesses above all, as the psalmist suggests. This is the same God who prefers not to recall our guilt but pardons and releases it. If we dedicated the same amount of time normally spent nursing our injuries on giving thanks for God’s mercy and goodness to us, the forgiveness habit might overtake us quite naturally.
APPLYING THE WORD
First things first
An exploration of the immensity of forgiveness is too much for one homily, one book, maybe one lifetime. But the multitudes who struggle with the task of forgiveness will find that tackling the problem from Peter’s end—“How much and how long am I expected to forgive?”—only entangles us in a numbers game, meting out pardon by the spoonful. That may seem reasonable. But God’s forgiveness, which comes first, is hardly reasonable, and it is by God’s standard alone that we are to measure our own obligation to forgive. If we approach the daunting task of forgiveness from the human side of the equation, we may never find the heart for the job. But if we begin at the beginning, in the quiet contemplation of how human history floats on an ocean of divine mercy that has no beginning or end, we may find ourselves buoyed along on the current
of forgiveness despite ourselves. – Alice Camille
Alice Camille is a religious educator, scripture commentator, and author of many books including This Transforming Word and other titles found at alicecamille.com
Reprinted with permission from PrepareTheWord.com
“We must be saved together. We must reach God together. We must present ourselves to him together. We must not expect to find God without the help of others. We must all come back together into our father’s house…
We must work a little for others. What would he say to us if we arrived separately?” — Charles Péguy
PLEASE PRAY FOR THOSE OF OUR COMMUNITY IN NEED OF HEALING AND COMFORT
Darrell Aucoin, Gladys Barton, Annette and Maynard Bates, Catherine Blaquera, Freda Broughton, Bill Camier, Marilyn Crakewich, René Defries, Alice Edwards, Ray Fleury, John Foucart, Audrey Fraser, René Gobeil, Helen Hallack, Darryn Hellofs, Bev and Steve Hewitt, Rosario Jequinto, Tracy Kingsland, Amanda Klaasen, Angela Krassie, Marie Mangin, Norman Mangin, Tim Mangin, Yvonne Mason, Frances Mijker, Susan Murphy, Zonia Patson, Shirley Payment, Larrie Pushka, Owen Robertson, Janice Skene, Jerome Strachan, Joe Wallack and Helen Yankoski.LIVESTREAMING OF SUNDAY MASS FROM SAINT JOHN XXIII CHURCH
To access livestreaming of liturgies via YouTube and/or an archive of liturgies posted online, go to links found on the home page of our parish website www.johnxxiii.ca
T
WO
W
EEK
S
CHEDULE FOR
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EPTEMBER
6
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20,
2020
As circumstances suggest, the schedule published here may be subject to change.
Sunday, September 6 THE TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
4:00 pm Saturday MASS (livestreamed) – “Pro populo” – call office for reservations
9:00 am MASS – Deceased members of the Strachan family, – call office for reservations
requested by Margaret and Jerome Strachan
11:45 am MASS – “Pro populo” (Intentions of parishioners) – call office for reservations
1:30 pm Confirmation Rehearsal for Thursday evening, September 10th
3:00 pm Confirmation Rehearsal for Friday evening, September 11th
Monday September 7 FERIAL –LABOUR DAY HOLIDAY
Parish office closed Monday
MASS (offered in private) – Gorgonio Agcaoili+, requested by Hermalyn Agcaoili
6:30 pm Baptism Preparation Meeting
Tuesday, September 8 FEAST:THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Parish office closed Tuesday
5:00 pm – 6:40 pm Sacrament of Reconciliation for Confirmation Candidates 7:00 pm MASS – Bob Corrigan+, requested by Corrigan family Wednesday September 9 FERIAL
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Parish Office Open in the afternoon
1:00 pm – 3:45 pm Adoration Time (Blessed Sacrament Chapel) – ring door buzzer for access
6:45 pm OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP DEVOTIONS
7:00 pm MASS – Jean François and Ferdinand Reesink+, requested by Reesink family
8:00 pm Baptism Preparation Meeting
Thursday, September 10 FERIAL
Parish office closed Thursday
7:30 pm MASS including conferral of the Sacrament of Confirmation – by invitation only Friday, September 11 FERIAL
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Parish Office Open in the afternoon
1:00 pm – 3:45 pm Adoration Time (Blessed Sacrament Chapel) – ring door buzzer for access
3:00 pm Recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
7:30 pm MASS including conferral of the Sacrament of Confirmation – by invitation only Saturday, September 12 FERIAL
4:00 pm MASS (livestreamed) – call office for reservations
– Deceased family members+, requested by Linus Endacott and family
Sunday, September 13 THE TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
9:00 am MASS – John Baziuk+, requested by José Barrera – call office for reservations
11:45 am MASS – “Pro populo” (Intentions of parishioners) – call office for reservations
1:30 pm Confirmation Rehearsal for Friday evening, September 18th
Monday, September 14 FEAST:THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
Parish office closed Monday
MASS (offered in private) – James Polz+, requested by Claude and Pat Precourt
Tuesday, September 15 MEMORIAL:OUR LADY OF SORROWS
MASS (offered in private) – Arthur McNaughtan+, requested by McNaughtan family
11:00 am Fr. Robert is scheduled to participate in a SCCS Corporate Board Meeting via Zoom
12:00 pm Praying of the “Angelus”
12:10 pm Liturgy of the Word with the distribution of Holy Communion
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Parish Office Open in the afternoon
Wednesday, September 16 MEMORIAL:SAINT CORNELIUS,Pope, and SAINT CYPRIAN,Bishop, Martyrs
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Parish Office Open in the afternoon
1:00 pm – 3:45 pm Adoration Time (Blessed Sacrament Chapel) – ring door buzzer for access
6:45 pm OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP DEVOTIONS
7:00 pm MASS – Alfred and Marietta Gendive (health), requested by Nina Turner and Henrietta Zhanel
Thursday, September 17 FERIAL
Parish office closed Thursday
Friday, September 18 FERIAL
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Parish Office Open in the afternoon
1:00 pm – 3:45 pm Adoration Time (Blessed Sacrament Chapel) – ring door buzzer for access
3:00 pm Recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
7:30 pm MASS including conferral of the Sacrament of Confirmation – by invitation only Saturday, September 19 FERIAL
4:00 pm MASS (livestreamed) – “Pro populo” – call office for reservations
Sunday, September 20 THE TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
9:00 am MASS – “Pro populo” (Intentions of parishioners) – call office for reservations
11:45 am MASS – Roberta Florida+, requested by the Sigue family – call office for reservations
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TABERNACLE LAMP OFFERING
September 6 – 12, 2020 For the intentions of our parish’s confirmation candidates September 13 – 19, 2020 TBA – This week is available for an intention
If you wish to have the Tabernacle Lamp in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of Saint John XXIII Church burn in memory of a loved one, to honour a special occasion, or for a particular intention, you may make arrangements through the Parish Office. Call or email for assistance. The offering to cover one week (from Sunday through Saturday) is $25.00.
ARCHDIOCESAN WEBSITE:
For the latest regarding COVID-19 protocols, the Season of Creation, other news and events in and around the Archdiocese of Winnipeg, please to go the website: www.archwinnipeg.caPONTIFICAL COLLECTION IN SUPPORT OF THE HOLY LAND
– “The Lord is merciful and gracious”: Due to thecoronavirus pandemic, this year Pope Francis approved moving this special collection from Good Friday to Sunday,
September 13, 2020 which is the eve of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Many of our parishioners have
already responded to this collection over the last few months. If you are willing and able to respond at this time, please use the special yellow-coloured envelope “Needs of the Church in the Holy Land” dated APR 10 2020 found in your offering envelope box. Cheques should be made to St. John XXIII Parish. Monies received will be forwarded to the Archdiocese which will in turn send the proceeds of the collection to the Commissariat of the Holy Land. Thank you.
"FROM YESTERDAY TO TOMORROW IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC", A RETREAT
– September 11-12, 2020: Thepast months have required us to live differently. For some, the adjustment to this journey has been slight, for others monumental. In whatever way we’ve experienced this time, we are called to find new ways of living as we transition from yesterday to tomorrow. Using themes from the Paschal Mystery this retreat will provide an opportunity to reflect on yesterday’s losses and its accompanying process of grieving. These insights will allow us to open space within ourselves to live tomorrow with a new richness in our daily lives. Resident: $170; Commuter: $120. For more information and to register, call 204-339-1705 or go to https://www.stbens.ca/retreat-centre.
