St. Philip Neri Catholic Church sex and marriage. ... St. Philip Neri Catholic Church Parish ......
2
Fr. Neil Pfeifer, Pastor neil.pfeifer @fargodiocese.org Cell: 701-208-1124 stphilipnerinapoleon.org 754-2860 St. Philip Neri Catholic Church A Discipleship Parish Gospel Reflections from Fr. Pfeifer… We all rely on each other. Our Lord commands us to ask, seek, and knock in our Gospel today. In First Timothy 2:1 St Paul urges us to use "petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.” That admonition is still valid today. * How often do we pray for others? * Do I empathize with the sufferings of others: even people I don’t know? Do I pray for them? Today, as we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, let’s remember that he is listening To us. A while back I read a quote that said, "if I only had today what I thanked God for yesterday, what would I have?" A Message of "Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." – Luke 11:9 Jesus assures us that if we ask Him, God will take care of what we need. The problem is that in our culture we often confuse what we really need with what we simply want. Many people need very little. However, we usually want so much more. A good steward only asks God for what he needs. “Be Her Joseph!” By Tom Mealey When we first married, my wife, Misty, and I were the typical secular couple. We relied on hormonal contraception. Due to bad side effects, that didn’t last long. Misty found out about Natural Family Plan- ning (NFP) through a Catholic friend. Admittedly, I was suspicious of all the “hocus pocus” involving thermometers at o’ dark-thirty in the morning and observations written down in cryptic symbols on the NFP chart. That would all change in surprising ways once we got into living the NFP lifestyle. Before having children, Misty had been an atheist and I had been an agnostic. With our first child, the miracle of life spurred a spiritual awakening in us. We realized the Holy Spirit had already led us into a Catholic life. Even after our conversion, however, NFP grew our relationship with each other and with God in ways we never expected. We studied Pope John Paul II’s “theology of the body” and became excited about living out our faith and sharing it. It was thrilling to learn the compelling reasons behind the Church ’s beautiful teachings on sex and marriage. Much to my surprise, I also learned how grateful my wife was that I was willing to learn how her body worked. Sharing the family planning responsibility, as well as finding non-sexual ways of expressing affection and intimacy when we had good reasons to postpone pregnancy, strengthened our marriage and made me a better husband and father. When we became Catholic, I knew I wanted to be the spiritual leader of our family, but I didn’t under- stand what that entailed besides herding our children to church on Sundays. Through NFP and Scrip- ture, I discovered that I had a choice in the kind of man—the kind of husband—I was going to be. We often blame Eve for eating the forbidden fruit. But in Genesis, we learn that after taking a bite, she turned and offered the fruit to Adam, who was with her. Adam didn’t stop her and say, “This is a bad idea, let’s go.” He did not protect his wife, but stood by silently while the serpent convinced her to sur- render her holiness and damage her relationship with God. Then there was St. Joseph. When Joseph obeyed the angel who told him to bring Mary into his home, he was accepting the public shame and embarrassment of a pregnant fiancée. He sacrificed his personal honor and reputation to obey God and protect Mary and Jesus. The choice for a husband is clear: he can be his wife’s Adam or he can be her Joseph. A man can stand by silently and allow his wife to suffer the physical and spiritual consequences of contraception. Or he can defend her virtue, body, and soul by using NFP. Today, contraception is accepted and expected. Any man who forgoes it for NFP will likely be exposed to ridicule and criticism. But as St. Joseph taught us, there are some things more important than the opinion of others. May we husbands choose to be Joseph to our wives! Tom and Misty Mealey have four children and live in the Diocese of Richmond. For more info on NFP, visit: usccb.org and click on NFP Awareness Week. National NFP Awareness Week is July 24-30, 2016
Transcript of St. Philip Neri Catholic Church sex and marriage. ... St. Philip Neri Catholic Church Parish ......
Fr. Neil Pfeifer, Pastor [email protected]
Cell: 701-208-1124
stphilipnerinapoleon.org 754-2860
St. Philip Neri Catholic Church A Discipleship Parish
Gospel Reflections from Fr. Pfeifer… We all rely on each other. Our Lord commands us to ask, seek, and knock in our Gospel today. In First Timothy 2:1 St Paul urges us to use "petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.” That admonition is still valid today. * How often do we pray for others? * Do I empathize with the sufferings of others: even people I don’t know? Do I pray for them? Today, as we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, let’s remember that he is listening To us. A while back I read a quote that said, "if I only had today what I thanked God for yesterday, what would I have?"
A Message of
"Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." – Luke 11:9
Jesus assures us that if we ask Him, God will take care of what we need. The problem is that in our culture we often confuse what we really need with what we simply want. Many people need very little. However, we usually want so much more. A good steward only asks God for what he needs.
“Be Her Joseph!” By Tom Mealey
When we first married, my wife, Misty, and I were the typical secular couple. We relied on hormonal contraception. Due to bad side effects, that didn’t last long. Misty found out about Natural Family Plan-ning (NFP) through a Catholic friend. Admittedly, I was suspicious of all the “hocus pocus” involving thermometers at o’ dark-thirty in the morning and observations written down in cryptic symbols on the NFP chart. That would all change in surprising ways once we got into living the NFP lifestyle. Before having children, Misty had been an atheist and I had been an agnostic. With our first child, the miracle of life spurred a spiritual awakening in us. We realized the Holy Spirit had already led us into a Catholic life. Even after our conversion, however, NFP grew our relationship with each other and with God in ways we never expected. We studied Pope John Paul II’s “theology of the body” and became excited about living out our faith and sharing it. It was thrilling to learn the compelling reasons behind the Church’s beautiful teachings on sex and marriage. Much to my surprise, I also learned how grateful my wife was that I was willing to learn how her body worked. Sharing the family planning responsibility, as well as finding non-sexual ways of expressing affection and intimacy when we had good reasons to postpone pregnancy, strengthened our marriage and made me a better husband and father. When we became Catholic, I knew I wanted to be the spiritual leader of our family, but I didn’t under-stand what that entailed besides herding our children to church on Sundays. Through NFP and Scrip-ture, I discovered that I had a choice in the kind of man—the kind of husband—I was going to be. We often blame Eve for eating the forbidden fruit. But in Genesis, we learn that after taking a bite, she turned and offered the fruit to Adam, who was with her. Adam didn’t stop her and say, “This is a bad idea, let’s go.” He did not protect his wife, but stood by silently while the serpent convinced her to sur-render her holiness and damage her relationship with God. Then there was St. Joseph. When Joseph obeyed the angel who told him to bring Mary into his home, he was accepting the public shame and embarrassment of a pregnant fiancée. He sacrificed his personal honor and reputation to obey God and protect Mary and Jesus. The choice for a husband is clear: he can be his wife’s Adam or he can be her Joseph. A man can stand by silently and allow his wife to suffer the physical and spiritual consequences of contraception. Or he can defend her virtue, body, and soul by using NFP. Today, contraception is accepted and expected. Any man who forgoes it for NFP will likely be exposed to ridicule and criticism. But as St. Joseph taught us, there are some things more important than the opinion of others. May we husbands choose to be Joseph to our wives! Tom and Misty Mealey have four children and live in the Diocese of Richmond. For more info on NFP, visit: usccb.org and click on NFP Awareness Week.
National NFP Awareness Week is July 24-30, 2016
St. Philip Neri Catholic Church
Parish Announcements
Confessions: 1/2 hr before eve-ry Mass, 1 hour before Saturday Mass, OR by appointment any time
Weddings: Contact Fr . Pfeifer at least 8 months prior.
Baptisms: Contact Fr . Pfeifer before Godparents are chosen.
July 24, 2016
Seventeenth Sunday In Ordinary Time
Stewardship of Treasure
This Week: $ 3,180.04
Area Events and News
Saturday, Jul 30
Sacristan Phyllis Johnson
Lectors Phyllis Johnson, Brendal Weigel
Ushers/ Gift
Bearers
G. Marquart, S. Holt, R. Kerzman,
T. Silbernagel
Servers Charmine Haas, MckenzieHaas
EMHC Char Young, Helen Braun,
Phyllis Johnson
Sunday, Jul 31
Sacristan Mark Wangler
Lectors Tom Gross,
Jackie Weigel
Ushers/ Gift
Bearers
Jerome & Christine Schwartzenberger,
Terry Weigel Family
Servers Blaise Bitz, Jacob Bitz
EMHC Anita Fettig, Lori Gross,
Cindy Weigel
Exposition of the Blessed Sacra-ment takes place from 6 AM Thursday until midnight Friday.
Mon., Jul 25 .…….…...7 PM +Alfred Gross by Phyllis Bar-nick
Tue., Jul 26 .……...…...7 PM +Roger Wingerter by Tony & Alvera Leier
Wed., Jul 27 .….....…...8 AM +Loren Moch (Anniv.) by Clar-ence & Liz Moch & Family
Thurs., Jul 28 ...…........8 AM +Leo Unser by Tom Wald & Family
Fri., Jul 29.….......NO MASS
Sat., Jul 30 ……...…….8 PM +Reiny Eissinger by Theresa Eissinger & Family
Sun., Jul 31 ……..…..10 AM For Our Parishoners
Sunday Care Center 8:45 AM Helper: Phyllis Johnson
Catechist Retreat: Fri., Aug. 26, Valley City or Sat., Aug. 27, Lake Metigoshe: Fr. Andrew Jasin-ski will direct us on retreat with a series of talks on Pope Francis’ motto, “Pitiable and yet Cho-sen”, which is also the theme for the Jubilee of Catechists. This is a retreat for anyone who is
involved in Catechesis. There will be Mass, lunch, sharing, and re-flection time with the chance to enjoy the beautiful grounds. 9:00am to 4:00pm. Deadline to register for both retreats is Wednesday, Au-gust 17. Fee of $20 per person. Please register on-line at www.fargodiocese.org/catechistretreat. Any questions please contact [email protected]. Extra Ordinary Eucharistic Ministers: If you are interested in
becoming an EMHC please contact Fr. Pfeifer.
The Diocese of Fargo has 80 pilgrims heading to Wor ld Youth Day in Krakow, Poland on Sunday, July 17-August 3. Please pray for their physical safety, their enjoyment of Polish culture, and their spir-ituality, that they find peace and contentment by growing closer to Christ as they encounter Him on pilgrimage.
Putt 4 a Purpose - Join the fun at the 10th annual Bishop’s Charity Golf Classic benefiting Seminarian Education and Youth Programs. The event is at Edgewood Golf Course in north Fargo and will be held on Mon., Aug. 8th. Register 3 golfers and bring your Priest, Dea-con or Seminarian as your 4th player free! Register online at: www.fargodiocese.org/puttpurpose. For further information please contact Steve Schons in the Stewardship and Development Office, at 701-356-7926 or by email [email protected]. *If you are a golfer, and would like to golf, Fr. Pfeifer is looking to put a team to-
gether, and also looking for pledges. If you are interest-ed, please call the parish or notify Fr. Pfeifer.
Retreat for Couples who have Experienced Pregnancy and Infant Loss : A couple' s healing retreat will be Sat-urday, July 30, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at Holy Cross Catholic Church, West Fargo. The retreat is free and breakfast/lunch will be provided. The day will consist of prayer, presentations by Nathan and RyAnn Carr (Founders of Immaculate Hope Ministry), time for couples dia-
logue, and will close with Mass. Registration is required. To register or for more information please visit www.immaculatehope.org.
Next Weekend: We will have a visiting pr iest as Fr . Pfeifer will be traveling to St. Paul for the Steubenville Conference. Fr. Tom Poisson will be visiting us from Cross Catholic Outreach which was founded to create a meaningful link between parishes in America and the priests and nuns working in the Church overseas in the Car-ibbean, Africa, Asia, Central & South America. Please give him a warm Napoleon welcome as he shares their outreach and mission.
Come to adoration and talk to the Lord. Trust that He will listen to your concerns and questions, making them part of your prayers. Trust that God will listen and bring you peace. You will find an an-swer to most questions if you wait with the Lord to answer.
Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth Grotto: Dedication will take place Sunday, August 7th after the 10:00 Mass. This grotto was built in memory of Jane Sil-bernagel, and is by the parking lot entrance to the church.
Baptism: Evan and Jessa Gross br ing their baby gir l, Marga-ret “Gretta” Ann, for baptism this weekend. Please welcome the newest member of St. Philip Neri.
Condensed St. Philip Neri Finance Council Minutes of July 13, 2016: Fr. Pfeifer requested purchasing a durable flooring for the church entrance area. Printing of the bulletin was discussed. St. Philip Neri will be hosting a NET Retreat for students grades 9-12 on Tues., Dec. 6. Fr. Pfeifer reported someone is looking to con-tribute money as part of a trust. Fr. Pfeifer said possible projects could be social hall construction/expansion or social hall air condi-tioning. Council agreed the fund could be used for social hall con-struction/expansion. Fr. Pfeifer reported he is hoping to recruit more servers and suggested offering some type of incentive. Fr. Pfeifer will work out details of offering a scholarship for servers. Fr. Pfeifer will check with a plumber to repair the leaking drain pipes under the sinks in the parish center social hall.
Reminder: There is a mandatory Steubenville meeting for all youth, parents, & chaperones this Sunday after mass in the Holy Family Hall. Students will leave on Friday, July 29th for the Steubenville North Conference in Minneapolis/St. Paul. They will meet at the church at 6 a.m. Please keep them in your prayers
