SUNDAY PRAYER AT HOME FOR THE FAMILY
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Welcome to St Theresa Parish Website!

SUNDAY MASS May 24:

Parish Annoucement:

May 19, 2020

Dear Parishioners,

We will slowly start to introduce Masses here at Saint Theresa as Cumberland and York Counties have been cleared to enter the yellow phase of re-opening. As a parish, we are following the guidelines established by the Diocese of Harrisburg, entitled: The Phases of Restoration of Public Worship.

What does the plan mean to us:

1. We will begin public worship for Sunday Masses on May 31, 2020 (Times are
adjusted to account for cleaning in between Masses and distribution of Holy
Communion)

Sunday Morning Mass---10AM (arrive at least by 9:30AM to be seated)

Sunday afternoon Mass--1PM (arrive at least by 12:30PM to be seated)

Those who are vulnerable to being afflicted with COVID-19 and those with autoimmune disease should strongly consider remaining at home. Also, those who do not feel comfortable coming to Mass are free to remain at home, as well. If you decide to come to Mass, a mask must be worn. We will continue to provide Sunday Mass and daily Mass from our parish on our
Facebook page and our website. Due to the many uncertainties at this time, Bishop Gainer has suspended the obligation to attend Sunday Mass and all Holy Day of Obligation Masses, until further notice.

I will be sending out another letter next week that will go over the procedures for Sunday Masses.

In Christ,

Father Sahd

Diocese Annoucement:

St. Theresa Parish Weekly Schedule
Stay Connected (via Facebook + Parish Website)

Mass (streamed live) SEE BELOW
Sunday:  10am

Monday thru Saturday:  Noon  SEE BELOW
  Mon., Wed., Fri. with Fr. Dubois
Tues., Thurs., Sat. with Fr. Sahd

Morning Reflections (recorded & uploaded)
Tuesday: Fr. Dubois
Thursday: Fr. Sahd

Devotions
Rosary: Sundays @ 3pm (live)
Via Lucis: Mon., Wed., Fri. (recorded & uploaded)

Devotional Candles and Mass Intentions:
Call Parish Office

Public Mass and Confession remain suspended and ongoing Stay-At-Home order includes the priests and parish staff

SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

The Value of Spiritual Communion In the last reflection I wrote about a very contemporary young man on the path to sainthood. Now I want to share one of the most unusual saint stories that I have ever heard. I first learned of this Holy One on retreat this past January with the bishops of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The experience of this saint has a particular relevance in our present situation where almost all Catholics are prevented from receiving the Eucharist and limited to making a Spiritual Communion. The life of Mark Ji Tianxian takes us back to 19th century China. Mark was born in 1834 to a Catholic family. He became a physician who regularly treated the poor at no charge. In his mid-30’s he developed a severe stomach ailment and, according to the medical standards of the time, he began to self-prescribe opium to deal with his chronic pain. In short order he became an opium addict. Time and time again he confessed his use of opium, begging God to deliver him from his addiction. Sadly, he was hooked on smoking opium for the entire second half of his life. He was also deprived of receiving Holy Communion for those three decades. His confessor interpreted Mark’s inability to shake his addiction as lacking a firm purpose of amendment and so he withheld sacramental absolution. For 30 years Mark faithfully attended Mass but he could not receive Holy Communion. He would make a Spiritual Communion as his family went forward to receive the Body of Christ. In 1899 an anti-imperialist, anti-Christian uprising, called the Boxer Rebellion, broke out in China. There was a fierce persecution of Christians, since it was not native to China. In 1900 Mark was among the many who were arrested, along with his son, two daughters-in-law and six grandchildren. At trial Mark was given an opportunity to apostatize. He and his family refused. His only request was that he be beheaded last so that none of his family would die alone. As he watched the execution of his family members and awaited his own, he sang the Litany of the Blessed Mother. Pope Pius XII beatified Mark in 1946. Pope John Paul II canonized St. Mark Ji Tianxian on October 1, 2000, setting his feast day on July 7. He is the patron saint of all who struggle with addictions. What an extraordinary life story! What perseverance, courage and humble obedience he showed. But the fact of his being deprived Holy Communion for 30 years has a particular relevance to our COVID-19 situation. While acts of Spiritual Communion are not the same as receiving the gift of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, they can be a source of great graces when Spiritual Communion is the only way possible to unite oneself to the Lord in the Eucharist. While we pray earnestly for our return to Mass and the reception of Holy Communion, let us also not underestimate the grace and strength our Lord offers us in an act of Spiritual Communion.

In Christ, Most Reverend Ronald W. Gainer

The Path to Sainthood

When I meet with the Confirmation candidates before the Mass, I like to remind them of the great diversity that exists among the canonized saints. After all they have been browsing through the Saints’ Who’s Who to determine what name they want to be called at the moment of their Confirmation. We often have a very narrow idea regarding the saints’ personalities, virtues and behaviors. But, in fact, there is no one pattern a man, woman or child must fit into to exhibit sanctity. Some Holy Ones were kings or queens and some homeless; some were highly educated, great scholars and authors and others never had one hour of formal education; some lived into advanced old age and others died in youth. All saints don’t look alike.

Take for instance, a young Italian boy, born in London in 1991. His mother describes him as an average teen with an above average knack for computers. In 2006 he died at age 15 from leukemia in Monza, Italy. His name is Carlo Acutis and he is already on the road to sainthood. He was to be beatified in Assisi this month. The miraculous healing of a young Brazilian boy afflicted with a rare congenital disease of the pancreas is attributed to Carlo’s intercession. Last February the Vatican approved that miracle. Because of the pandemic, the Beatification ceremony, most likely, will have to be rescheduled.

Oh, did I mention Carlo’s extraordinary love for the Most Holy Eucharist? He wanted everyone to have his love for our Eucharistic Lord. Every day he went to Mass and spent time in Eucharistic Adoration. Using his technological savvy, he created an online database of Eucharistic miracles from around the world. The online project was turned into an exhibit of posters of the miracles which travels around the world. In 2018 the Vatican Dicastery for Communication made the exhibit into a movie called “Signs”.

Pope Francis has honored Carlo as a model for young men and women today. The Holy Father even mentioned him in his Apostolic Exhortation, Christus Vivit (Christ Lives). Pope Francis wrote this: “Carlo was well aware that the whole apparatus of communications, advertising and social networking can be used to lull us, to make us addicted to consumerism and buying the latest thing on the market, obsessed with our free time, caught up in negativity. … Carlo didn’t fall into the trap. He saw that many young people, wanting to be different, really end up being like everyone else, running after whatever the powerful set before them … In this way they do not bring forth the gifts the Lord has given them; … As a result, Carlo said, “Everyone is born as an original, but many people end up dying as photocopies.” Don’t let that happen to you.” (n.105-106)

Quite the insight and contribution from someone who was given relatively little time on earth. Carlo is someone worth getting to know and ponder during these days when you just might be spending more time with technology than usual. I know I am regularly now using technology for meetings and of course, the celebration of Mass. If you are a step up from just being computer literate, maybe you can use some of your God given gifts to explore ways of using technology to communicate the Gospel, Christian values, and authentic beauty. You might help others avoid the trap of becoming just a photocopy in our secular world. Of course, first we must all take care that we ourselves haven’t fallen into that tempting trap.

In Christ,

Most Reverend Ronald W. Gainer

On Line Resource: FREE
Online Resource: Magnificat (FREE!)
● Magnificat @ https://us.magnificat.net/free
o Readings for each day, as well as readings and follow-along guides for Holy Week
● Magnifikid https://us.magnificat.net/flipbook/KID/sample/

SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

What is Spiritual Communion?
For those who are unable to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus in Holy Communion, making a
conscious desire that Jesus come spiritually into your soul is called a spiritual communion.
Spiritual Communion can be made through an act of faith and love throughout one’s day and it is
highly commended to us by the Church. According to the Catechism of the Council of Trent, the
faithful who “receive the Eucharist in spirit” are “those who, inflamed with a lively faith that
works in charity, partake in wish and desire of the celestial Bread offered to them, receive from
it, if not the entire, at least very great benefits.” (cf. Fr. John Hardon, SJ, Modern Catholic
Dictionary”)

How do I make an act of Spiritual Communion?
Like the acts of contrition, faith, hope, or love, there are traditional prayers already composed.
However, sometimes we do not have the prayer memorized. In those cases, using your own
words to make a profession of faith in the True Presence of Jesus Christ, Body and Blood, Soul
and Divinity, in the Most Blessed Sacrament while expressing your desire in receiving Him is
sufficient.

Can you recommend a traditional act of Spiritual Communion?
This act was composed by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori.
My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

Where can I read more about this?
Here is a good article. It even shows that many saints made Spiritual Communions.
https://www.ncregister.com/blog/armstrong/if-you-cant-receive-communion-make-a-spiritual-communion

Prayer For This Time

Litany for the Sick

Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Jesus, refuge of sinners, have mercy on us.
Jesus, strength of the weak, have mercy on us.
Jesus, hope of the despairing, have mercy on us.
Jesus, comfort of the afflicted, have mercy on us.
Jesus, near to all who call upon You, have mercy on us.
Jesus, help of all who confide in You, have mercy on us.
From fear and anxiety, free us, O Lord.
From impatience and discord, free us, O Lord.
From sickness and disease, free us, O Lord.
By Your holy wounds, save the sick, O Lord.
By Your precious Blood, save the sick, O Lord.
By Your Passion and Cross, save the sick, O Lord.
By Your Sorrowful Death, save the sick, O Lord.
By Your glorious Resurrection, save the sick, O Lord.
By Your wondrous Ascension, save the sick, O Lord.

Let us Pray:
Dearest Jesus, Divine Physician: You told Martha and Mary that the sickness of Lazarus was ‘for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Show us now Your Glory by relieving the sick of their suffering, healing their illness, and restoring them to fullness of health. We ask this through the intercession of Saint Theresa, patroness of our parish; Saint Patrick, patron of our Diocese; Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States; and all the angels and saints. Amen.

Saint Theresa School Link

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1300 Bridge Street

New Cumberland, PA 17070

(717) 774-5918

Mass Schedule

Saturday: 8:45am and 5:30 pm

Sunday: 8 am, 10 am and Noon

Weekdays: Monday 6:30am; Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 6:30am and 8:45am; Thursday 8:45am.

Holydays: Depending on the feast and day of week-check bulletin

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Every Saturday at 4 pm to 5 pm or by appointment

Accessibility

We have wheelchair accessible bathrooms and seating in the back of the church. Assisted listening devices are also available. Please ask an usher to provide a headset.

There are 12 handicap parking areas as well as 3 ramps around the church driveway.