Bulletin_20170716

Saint Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church
600 South Main Street, Atmore, Alabama 36502
Rectory: (251) 368-3615 Office/Fax: (251) 368-1801
E-Mail: strobertparish@frontiernet.net
Reverend Arulappan Jayaraj, Pastor (251-229-5071)
Reverend Charles Hirudhayam, Parochial Vicar (251-253-7921)
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 16, 2017

WEEKEND:
Saturday:
Vigil Mass…………………………..5:00 PM
Sunday:
Mass………………………………...9:00 AM
CCD (Sep—May)…………………10:15 AM
Hispanic Mass (1st Sun)…...……11:00 AM
Church Schedule
WEEKDAY:
Monday: Mass…………………...5:00 PM
Tuesday: Mass…………………..5:00 PM
Wednesday: No Mass
Thursday: Mass……………...…..5:00 PM
Friday: Mass……………………...5:00 PM
First Friday Exception
Mass………………………………..5:00 PM
Adoration follows Mass
Reconciliation: 15 minutes before Saturday and Sunday Mass or by appointment
Sacrament of Baptism: Requires one month prior notification
Marriage: Requires a six-month notice in advance of the marriage date
Hispanic Mass
Sunday, August 6th, 11:00 AM
Parish Meetings
Parish Women’s Group—Wednesday, July 19th, 5:15 PM
Stewardship
LAST WEEKEND’S COLLECTION
(Last two weeks combined)
Regular Collection $3353.00
Building Fund $214.00
Peter’s Pence $75.00
Special Collections
Missionary Co-Op—July 15th / 16th
Building Fund—August 5th / 6th
Cover Art: Unknown Artist

News and Announcements
Fr. Jay’s Corner
Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
I am happy to be back in my parish in Atmore.
I enjoyed my visit with my mom and
my family, and they send their best regards
to all of you for letting them “borrow”
me for a little while. They also express
their condolences to the Crenshaw family
and sent flowers for Paul’s funeral.
I want to sincerely thank Fr. Milsted, Fr.
Conry and Fr. Mesa for filling in for me
while I was gone. They are a blessing!
—Father Jayaraj
Parish Women’s Group: The next meeting
of the Parish Women’s Group is
Wednesday, July 19th at 5:15 PM. All
women of the parish are invited to participate.
Church Office Equipment Damage: The
heavy thunderstorms and lightning we experienced
this past Tuesday caused damage
to our church office computer and internet
modem. Parts for the computer are
on order and repairs should be completed
by the latter part of next week. Also a new
modem will be delivered and installed
Thursday of next week. As a result of the
damage, we do not have a printed bulletin
this week. It will, however, be on our
church Facebook page, if you wish to see
it. Also, we will not be able to stream the
video program for our regular Tuesday
session of “The Mass Readings Explained”,
so the program is cancelled
for Tuesday. Sorry for the inconvenience.
We should be up and running again soon!
In Thanksgiving
We send our heartfelt thanks to all of our
parish family for your prayers and support
in our time of grief. It is very much appreciated.
Special thanks to the folks who put
together the reception and delicious food,
the choir for the beautiful music, the altar
servers for their solemn dedication, and, of
course, to our wonderful priests who celebrated
the Mass: Father Milsted, Father
Mesa and Father Babu. Paul loved St.
Robert Bellarmine Church and Parish and
felt very much at home here. Thank you
all.
Brigitte, Benjamin and Martin Crenshaw
In Memoriam
We were saddened this week to learn of
the passing of
Elena Patacsil,
mother of former parishioner and choir
member, Dr. Rob Patacsil, previously
deceased.
Elena passed away Tuesday, July 11th,
at the Atmore Nursing Home. We extend
our most sincere condolences to the
Patacsil family. Please pray for the
peaceful repose of Elena’s soul and for
the peace and comfort of her family and
friends.
Rest in peace, Elena.

Fifteenth Sunday in
Ordinary Time
"A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed,
some seed fell on the path, and birds came and
ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it
had little soil. It sprang up at once because the
soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was
scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some
seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up
and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil
and produced fruit, a hundred- or sixty- or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear" (Matt
13:3-9).
The feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, which is
ordinarily celebrated today, is superseded by the
Sunday liturgy.
Sunday Readings
The first reading is taken from the Book of the
Prophet Isaiah 55:10-11. The word of God which
came to the Chosen People through the prophets,
and the divinely inspired writers, came out
of God's loving interest in His people. He wanted
to prepare them for the inheritance, the real
"promised land," that, when the messianic age
(the "fullness of time") came, would be theirs,
provided their lives on earth were lived as they
should be.
— The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan,
O.F.M.
The Week Ahead
Monday
Mass: 5:00 PM
Tuesday
St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest
Mass: 5:00 PM
Wednesday
No Mass
Thursday
St. Apollinaris, Bishop & Martyr
Mass: 5:00 PM
“Knit Pickers”: 6:30 PM
Friday
St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest &
Doctor of the Church
Mass: 5:00 PM
Saturday
St. Mary Magdalene
Vigil Mass: 5:00 PM
Sunday
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Community Rosary: 8:30 AM
Mass: 9:00 AM
The second reading is from the Letter of St.
Paul to the Romans 8:18-23 and is about present
suffering and the glory of God. Suffering is
an essential part of the Christian life and one
who truly believes will have his or her share of
hardships and trials. Yet, these are not ends in
themselves, as there is hope that they will termi-

nate with the full revelation of the glory of God. The theme and message of St. Paul is
not to lose hope in the Lord into whose risen life we have been initiated by Baptism.
— A Celebrants Guide to the New Sacramentary - A Cycle by Kevin W. Irwin
The Gospel is from St. Matthew 13:1-23. Christ's description of His audience, that day
in Galilee, is unfortunately as true today as it was then. His message of salvation has
been preached to a great part of the world's population, but the proportion of those who
accept it and live up to it, is about the same today as it was then. There are millions of
men and women today, in what was once Christian Europe, who are like the seed sown
on the unplowed path. They refuse to accept the message, they have no thought for
their future, they are content to end in the grave after their few years of misery and
hardship on this planet.
There are others who see the truth and the consolation of the Christian gospel, but
when it comes to making sacrifices for it, they give up. The message did not sink into
their hearts and minds. They are like the seed which fell on rocky ground because the
faith had no deep roots in their lives. Others again, and they are legion, are like the
seed that fell among the briars and thorns. They accepted the faith and it took root in
them, but later on, "the cares of the world and the delight in riches chokes the word and
it proves unfruitful,"—these are our Lord's own words.
The last class of Christians, are like the seed sown on good soil. They not only accept
Christ and his teaching, but they live up to it, and, come what may, they are faithful to it.
These will produce fruit and will earn for themselves eternal happiness.
Each one of us can look into his own conscience today and discover to which class he
or she belongs. Are some of us perhaps, like the seed that fell on the rocky ground?
While Christianity makes no very difficult demand we are all for it, but when it demands
mortification, the curbing of passion, real sacrifices for our neighbor, do we forget our
Christian calling then and ignore its precepts? And how does our type of Christianity
stand up to the temptations of the world—the desire to get all the enjoyment we can out
of this life, licit or illicit, breaking God's commandments weekly or maybe daily? Are we
chasing after wealth and power, using all our energies to rise in the world to be above
our neighbor by fair or foul means? If the above are our aims in life, our Christianity has
been or is being choked out of us.
There are millions of saints in heaven today, enjoying eternal happiness, who had
some, if not all, of our present failings. We, too, can be with them one day, provided we
do what they did. They repented sincerely and remained God's close friends, until he
called them to himself. May the merciful God give us the grace to imitate them while we
yet have time.
—Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.
(From www.catholicculture.org (Trinity Communications))

Mass Intentions
Sunday, July 16th:
St. Robert Parishioners
Monday, July 17th:
Special Intention
Tuesday, July 18th:
Special Intention
Wednesday, July 19th:
No Mass
Thursday, July 20th:
Special Intention
Friday, July 21st:
Special Intention
Saturday, July 22nd:
Special Intention
If you are interested in having a Mass offered up for
a special intention or for a deceased person, contact
Father Jayaraj. The suggested stipend is $10.00.
Voices of the Saints
“The patient and
humble endurance
of the cross,
whatever nature it
may be, is the
highest work we
have to do.”
--St. Katherine Drexel
Prayer Requests
General Intentions
Blessed Virgin’s Intentions, Pope
Emeritus Benedict XVI, Pope
Francis I, Archbishop Rodi, Father Jayaraj,
Father Milsted, Father Charles, Father Mesa,
Priests of the Archdiocese, Bonnie Latino,
Tim DiVincenti, Curt Beck, Brigitte Crenshaw,
Richard and Mary Powers, Bob Vale, Persecuted
Christians, Ken & Maria Engleson,
The USA, Susan & Carl Bowen, Ron & Blinda
Smith, Catherine Lambert, Mr. & Mrs Leo I.
Bellard, Sr., Mr. & Mrs. Bernard Siulborski,
Mary McPherson, Ray & Joyce Bolden, President
Donald J. Trump & Family, Frank Rodrigues,
Clyde & Iva Burkett, Amanda Matta,
Bill Stark, Mazie Burkett, Ann Staff, Elizabeth
& Mabel Munoz, Elizabeth Scardina, Steve &
Jennifer Scalise & Family, Marylee LeCocq,
Bonita Dupuis, Joan Lindsey, Edward, Eddie,
Scottie, Jeremy Andrews Davis, Brad Byers,
Lois Smith & Family, Maggie Richardson,
Robert Snyder, The Family of Paul Crenshaw,
Mary Back, Kathy Kirchofff, Wayne & Cecil
Clark and Paul Naylor.
Our Military Family
Dan Markush (USAF), Scott Stanford (USN),
Andrew Markush (USN), Will Markush (USN),
Joshua Wilson (USAF) and Anthony
Berneche (USN).
Repose of Souls
Paul Crenshaw, John King, Jim Kizer, Jaimie
Foley, John Rompinen and Ruth Tyner.

St. Mary Magdalene
SATURDAY, JULY 22ND
Mary Magdalene wasted the great beauty that God had given her in a
life of sin, but one day she saw Christ and was touched by grace. On
the day of our Lord's crucifixion, she stood with the Mother of Jesus at
the foot of the cross. At early dawn on the first Easter morning, Mary
Magdalene and other women who had ministered to Jesus went to the
Lord's sepulcher. Two angels said to them, "He is not here, but is risen....Go,
tell his disciples." Mary Magdalene ran to tell the Apostles
what she had seen and heard. Then Peter and John, hastening to the
sepulcher, saw and believed.
St. Mary Magdalene
The feast of St. Mary Magdalene is considered one of the most mystical
of feasts, and it is said that of all the songs of the saints, that of
Mary Magdalene is the sweetest and strongest because her love was
so great. That love was praised by Jesus Himself who said that because
much was forgiven her, she loved much. Where she is buried, no one knows. Legend has
her dying in Provence, France, in a cavern where she spent her last days, and her body resting
in the chapel of St. Maximin in the Maritime Alps. Another has her buried in Ephesus where she
went with St. John after the Resurrection. This latter view is more likely, and St. Willibald, the
English pilgrim to the Holy Land in the eighth century, was shown her tomb there.
The true identification of St. Mary Magdalene is not quite clear. The Greek Fathers gave her a
separate identity than Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus, but most Latin Fathers say
she is the same Mary.
She was the first recorded witness to the resurrection of Jesus, His most ardent and loving follower.
She had stood with Mary at the foot of the Cross on that brutal Good Friday afternoon and
had been by the side of Mary during these difficult hours. On Easter morning, she went with the
other women to the tomb and it was there, in the garden near the tomb, that Jesus appeared to
her. It was she who brought the news of the Resurrection to the Apostles, and Peter and John
raced to the tomb to see what had happened.
She was from Magadala, a small fishing town on the Sea of Galilee, between Capernaum and
Tiberias. She was known to be a "great sinner," a woman of the streets who heard Jesus speak
of the mercy and forgiveness of God and changed her life completely. Her matter-of-fact witness
to the Resurrection moved Peter and John to go and see for themselves: "I have seen the Lord
and these things he said to me." Jesus had chosen her to bring the news to them and she simply
told them what had happened.
She has always been the example of great love and great forgiveness, one of those close to Jesus
who grasped the truth of God's love for human beings and spent her life bearing witness to
that love.
—Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints by Rev. Clifford Stevens