MASS INTENTIONS

St Martin’s PRAYER FOR PEACE is held every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in church.  Please consider coming to pray for our country, for peace in the world and for our brave soldiers in Iraq and around the world.  All are welcome.

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14^th Sunday in ordinary Time:

Jesus is not recognized in His hometown area.  In today’s Gospel, He teaches in the synagogue and, although the people are astonished, they cannot honor who Jesus is.  He does not meet their expectations of a prophet or the Messiah.  Faithful Christians are alert to meeting Jesus in others.  They do not judge the worthiness of others based on details like their hometown or country of origin.  They do not measure the wisdom or knowledge of others based on their occupation or amount of education.  Rather, they listen for the wisdom of Jesus in all people.

Prayer Moment:

Dear God, I am humbly in your presence. Please open my heart and my mind so that I may dwell in your Spirit in the midst of your assembly.

A Vocation View:  

Who should you encourage to think about religious vocation?  What would people think if you became a priest/brother/sister?

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SUNDAY CHURCH COLLECTION: Due to the 4^th of July bulletin deadline the June 28^th and July 5^th Church Collection will be posted in the July 12^th bulletin.

Over the months of July and August, try to be faithful in your contributions to the Sunday Offering.  The parish expenses continue during the summer.

Stock Donations: If you are going to donate stocks to St. Martin of Tours Church, please call the parish office to let us know.

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PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK OF OUR PARISH:

Remember in your prayers those who are in nursing homes, sick at home, and all who have received prayer blankets.

In April, 2003, new national hospital-patient privacy laws were enacted.  Therefore, many hospitals will not notify St. Martin's of your admission.  If you would like someone from St. Martin's to visit you in the hospital, please call the parish office to notify us.

The following parishioners have entered Life.  Please remember them in your prayers.

Raymond Gundrum, beloved husband of Lucy Rose Gundrum, devoted father of Raymond Jr., Paul, Bryan, Eileen, Darryl Gundrum, Patti Cruse and Tracy Crosby.

Elmer Teuschler Jr., beloved son of the late Elmer and Pearl Teuschler.

Philip Larry Becker,   dear brother of Marietta , Tom, Dave Becker, Gerry Kreutzjans, Beverly Meyer, Nancy Finke and Anita McDonald.                

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Telephone Prayer Chain:  Are you or someone you know in need of prayers?  St. Martin’s Telephone Prayer Chain will take your request for prayers without a lot of questions and call it through to a team of 28 devout people who will be praying for your request.  Give us a call and put your needs in God’s hands.  For prayer requests or to join the prayer group, call Bob or Mary at 662-0178 or call Peg at 922-7575.

Summer Festival 2009:  We have only a week to go before our annual Summer Festival.  The various Committees and Booth Captains have been hard at work planning and organizing the event and many final preparations will be taking place in the next few days.  In addition to the Festival being a fund raiser, it is also an opportunity for us to come together as a parish family and extend our Catholic Christian Hospitality to the local community.  Let’s do our best to extend a warm welcome to our guests and visitors and let them know that we really appreciate their patronage.  Be sure to invite your friends and relatives to join us for a fun-filled weekend at Harvest Home.

            Also, a gentle reminder to return your tickets for the Major Award Raffle.  We are making progress toward our goal of selling 1,500 tickets and we need your help to make that a reality.

            Finally, please join me this week in praying for good weather!

            Convent Update:  For many years an ongoing concern of the Property and Grounds Commission has been the disposition of the Parish Convent.  Built in 1926, the rambling building was the home of the Sisters of Notre Dame until the end of the school year in 1998.  At that time only a couple of sisters were still serving here and since many costly repairs were needed the sisters moved to a neighboring apartment building until they completed their ministry here at St. Marin’s in 2000.

            Many different uses of the building were explored after the sisters moved out but none were found to be feasible or cost efficient.  It has been used as a storage facility for various parish needs but at the same time the elements of weather and moisture have taken their toil over these last eleven years. 

            This spring the Archdiocesan environmental and structural inspection revealed an advanced stage of deterioration and the building was declared to be hazardous for any use whatsoever.  Consequently, the Property and Grounds Commission recommended that the facility be demolished this summer and the area be restored to a green space. The Parish Pastoral Council accepted and affirmed this recommendation at their June 25^th meeting.

            The environmental abatement project in the interior of the building will take place during the middle of July and the actual demolition will start on August 3^rd.  The wrecking and removal of debris will be completed well in advance of the beginning of the new school year at the end of August.

            Removing a familiar structure from a parish campus is always a difficult decision, but for reasons of safety and environmental protection and health, this demolition must take place.

            Days of Summer:  I do hope you have the opportunity to enjoy some of these summer days with your family and friends.  These “lazy days of summer” can also provide some quiet time for prayer and conversation with the Lord.  Our parish bookrack (located in the vestibule at the main entrance of the church) has many spiritual books and periodicals that make for enjoyable and nourishing reading under your favorite shade tree.

Summer Blessings,

Fr. Terry

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Don’t forget to turn in your Major Award tickets.  Your chance of winning one of our cash prizes is greatly improved since we are only selling 1,500 tickets.  The success of our festival depends so much on the Major Award.  It only takes one to win.  Winning tickets will be drawn at 10:00 p.m. on next Sunday, July 12.

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ST. MARTIN OF TOURS SUMMER FESTIVAL

Friday July 10—6:00 to 11:00 p.m.

Saturday July 11—5:00 to 11:00 p.m.

Sunday July 12—1:00 to 10:00 p.m.

Harvest Home Park

More Booth Sponsors:  Thanks to Huebner-Kaplan-Smith Families, Brigitte & George Pacitti, Mr. & Mrs. Luken, Catholic Order of Foresters, Gonzaga Court 1572, Thurner Family and Smalls Hardware.

Bid & Buy: Thank you to everyone who has been sending in items for the Bid & Buy.  The number of items continues to grow.  Help us reach our goal of 500 items. Many parishioners work at restaurants, hair salons, retail stores, etc.  It would be a great help if you could get a donation from your place of employment for the Bid & Buy.  Donations can be dropped off at the parish office.  All these wonderful gifts will be available at the Bid & Buy Booth located in the barn at Harvest Home.

The following businesses and schools have made donations to our Bid & Buy Booth.  We thank them for their generosity to our parish festival. Abby’s Pub & Grill, Arby’s Restaurant, Back Street Studio’s,  Busken Bakery, Buster’s Creamy Whip, Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati Zoo, Curves Miami Heights, Del-Fair Bowling Lanes, Elder High School, Gold Star Restaurant- Western Hills, Graeter’s, Hillview Golf Course, Jiffy Lube, Kennings Circle K, Kroners Dry Cleaners, LaPetite Salon, LaBell Salon, Madcap Productions, Medical Laser & Cosmetic Institute, Mother of Mercy High School Neidhard Minges Funeral Home, New Dimensions Hair Salon,  Newport Aquarium, Nick & Tom’s Restaurant, Perfect North Slopes, Price Hill Chili, Rally’s, St. Lawrence Bakery, Schwab Nursery & Garden, Seton High School, Sullivan’s Family Foods, Sunshine Cleaners, Trinity Church Supply, United Dairy Farmers, University of Cincinnati, Vandergriff Gymnastics, Werk House Pizza, YMCA Gamble Nippert.

Cake plates and covers will be given out again this weekend after all Masses at all doors.  If you were on vacation last weekend and didn’t get one or two, we still have some left.  Here are two ways to help the parish and the cake booth.  Buy your grocery certificates after Mass and then stock up on cake mixes and cans of icing.  For a successful cake booth and in order to supply desserts for the Chicken dinner, we need 400 baked items.  Bring your cakes to Harvest Home.  We thank you in advance for your support.

If you can help with booth set-up and lighting, please show up at Harvest Home Park on Wednesday, July 8 and Thursday, July 9 after 5:00 p.m.

Bring all your friends to our new Media Mania Booth at the Festival.  You can find any kind of book you want, hardbacks and paperbacks.  Our selection includes history books, cookbooks, romance novels, coffee table books, children’s books and so much more.  We also have many, many record albums, CDs, DVDs and VHS and cassette tapes.  We even have old ’78 records.  Over 1,000 titles by hundreds of artists and writers are available.  Most items will be a couple bucks or less.  You’ve got to see these items we’ve collected to believe it.

Parking can be a challenge around Harvest Home Park, so hop on our free shuttle bus, running Saturday, July 11 from 5:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. and Sunday, July 12 from 1:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.  Every half-hour you can be picked up at St. Martin’s school parking lot or in front of the Cheviot Field House.  You will be dropped off right at the entrance to the park.

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FINGERPRINTING: Reminder to anyone who coaches, chaperones, volunteers or has any contact in any capacity with the children at St. Martin’s. BEFORE you can begin coaching, chaperoning, volunteering, etc., you must meet the requirements of the Archdiocesan Child Protection policy.  The requirements are 1: that you attend a Child Protection Workshop, and 2: that you be fingerprinted and your “prints’ are cleared through the Archdiocese.  Please note that the fingerprinting “clearance process” could take up to three weeks, and you will NOT be permitted to participate with the children at this time. If you have lived out of state at any time over the past five years, the “clearance process” could take months. St James White Oak is a permanent site where you can have your fingerprinting done.  All those who have cleared the policy process will receive a special ID card, which must be presented on the spot upon request

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Please be advised that St. Teresa of Avila Parish will be changing hours for fingerprinting beginning July 1, 2009. We will offer fingerprinting hours Monday to Friday every afternoon from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm.  Friday ONLY we will also offer fingerprinting from 9:00 to 10:00 am.  We will continue to offer fingerprinting every 2nd Thursday of the month from 5:00 pm to 6:45 pm.  If you have any questions please call the parish office at 921-9200.  Thank you.  Bill Thoman

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Play St. Martin’s BINGO on Wednesday evenings in Fr. Mick Hall.  Doors open at 5:00 p.m. games begin at 7:00 p.m.  To volunteer to work please contact Mary Noble at 941-2783 or Email her at mnoble@zoomtown.com.  If you are scheduled to work at bingo, please arrive by 6:00 p.m. 

Bingo provides a substantial amount of financial assistance to the parish.  Without bingo we would have to raise school tuition.  Please call to schedule your night to work.

We need brown paper grocery bags for Bingo.  Please drop bags off at the Parish Office. Thank You!

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St. Martin will have Market Day sales during the summer months.  Visit www.marketday.com or call Ginger at 662-1130.  Order forms will be available after all Masses.

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Weddings Without Mass

Paul Turner

            Having a Catholic wedding doesn’t have to mean having a Catholic Mass. You can celebrate a Catholic marriage in your parish church with a service that does not include a full Mass. Sometimes that is a better option. A wedding without Mass includes the procession, the opening prayer, the Scripture readings, the homily, the couple’s exchange of consent, the rings and the blessings. It does not include the preparation of the bread and wine, the eucharistic prayer and the communion rite.

            When the bride and groom come from two different faiths, or when many of those attending the wedding will be unfamiliar with the Roman Catholic Mass, the service without Mass may make a better fit. Marriage celebrates unity. If the celebration includes Eucharist, a partner who belongs to another faith will not share the great symbol of unity at the climax of Mass, communion. Neither will non-Catholic guests who came to join in the prayer. In fact, all through the service many will wonder when to sit or stand, what responses to make, or how to sing the acclamations. That much discomfort often silences the Catholics who are present, inhibiting their capable, full and conscious participation in the Eucharist.

A wedding without Mass spotlights the wedding itself and lets the whole assembly participate more equally. People can hear the Scriptures, witness the consent and join in the prayers and blessings together even if they come from different denominations. The service still takes a while - Catholic weddings are notoriously longer than most others - so all will feel as though they’ve worshiped, not just watched.

            Celebrating a marriage without Mass may also help your parish priest. If the wedding does not include Mass, either a priest or a deacon may preside for it. Although your priest wants to help families with funerals and weddings as they occur, they can add more stress for him and the parish when they fall on an already full weekend. Many priests find the wedding without Mass enables them to reserve the energy they need for the regular Masses that weekend.

Copyright © 1997 Resource Publications, Inc., 160 E. Virginia St. #290, San Jose, CA 95112, (408) 286-8505, Paul Turner, pastor of St. Munchin Parish in Cameron, Mo.

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With the gift of Jesus’ Precious Blood on the Cross and in the Eucharist let us reflect on the freedom given to us through our Baptism into Him—to be heirs of the promise and liberated from sin.  The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RICA) is the way by which persons become “citizens of the Kingdom” through Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.  Inquiry sessions are ongoing. For more information, please call Marti at 661-2000.

The Catholic Church welcomes children into our faith using the same model as the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. RCIA for children begins around age 7.  It serves children who were baptized Catholic, but have little or no religious education, children who have not been baptized, or baptized in another faith and want to become Catholic.  RCIA for children will begin in late August on Monday evenings. These sessions are age appropriate, fun and engaging activities and lessons in formation of the Catholic faith. Please call Laurie at 661-2000.  We are looking forward to hearing from you!

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Eat Pizza and help those in Need.  On July 7^th & 8^th Papa John’s will donate $1.00 for every Pizza sold.  The money collected will be used by St. Vincent de Paul to purchase fans and air conditioners for our neighbors in need.

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St. Dominic Class of 1984: A reunion is scheduled on July 25^th, 2009 from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. at St. Dominic for the class of 1984.  Please e-mail Jen (Jones) Bethel at jbethel31@yahoo.com for more information or to register.