God our Father, You made each of us to use our gifts in the Body of Christ.

We ask that You inspire young people whom you call to priesthood and consecrated life to courageously follow Your will.

Send workers into Your great harvest so that the Gospel is preached, the poor are served with love, the suffering are comforted, and Your people are strengthened by the sacraments.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

CHRISTIANS IN ACTION (Youth Group)

Our linked-parish youth group will meet on Sunday, January 15 at 5:00 PM in Kelley Hall, Holy Cross Parish, Olyphant.

Come join us as we begin a new year of activities, service projects and events. All are most welcome.

THE CONFRATERNITY OF CHRISTIAN WOMEN is seeking new members!

The Confraternity is one of our parish’s oldest and most dedicated ministries. Members of the Confraternity serve Holy Cross Parish by living out their call to holiness distinctively as women, who are the backbone of this spiritual and charitable organization, which is under the banner of our Blessed Mother. They share a social bond as well as a love of their parish, and the need to participate in helping it grow and prosper. While primarily a spiritual group, the Confraternity also helps organize and run a number of different events throughout the year. Members are also active in volunteering with other parish ministries. Meetings are held monthly. The Confraternity of Christian Women welcomes women of any age for prayer, community, spirituality, service and friendship.

Let us put our hope in Jesus, the name of salvation given to men and women of every language and race. Confessing his name, let us walk trustfully toward the future, certain that we will not be disappointed if we trust in the most holy name of Jesus. Lord, I offer you my life. All my dreams, plans, hopes and fears are yours. Give me the Faith to follow you today, knowing that you will work all things together for my good.

NEED HELP PAYING FOR GROCERIES?

If you are:

1. aged 60+

2. a resident of Lackawanna County

3.have a monthly income below $1,916 for single individuals and $2,586 for married couples

4. and resources under $9,000, excluding your home, primary vehicle and other items.

You could qualify for SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Approximately 2 out of 3 seniors who qualify to receive SNAP are missing out on benefits. Don't be one of them. Contact The Voluntary Action Center at 538 Spruce Street, Scranton, PA 18503, 570-347-5616 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to see if you qualify.

Catholics are exposed to Scripture primarily through the Sunday readings from a book known as the Lectionary. The Lectionary is a book of selected passages from the Bible set in the context of a liturgical season, such as Advent, Lent, or Ordinary Time. There are four readings assigned to any Sunday: the first reading (usually from the Old Testament), the responsorial psalm, the second reading (usually from a New Testament letter), and the Gospel reading.

These readings together give them a new context. The selected readings relate to one another in a unique manner that is not present in the Bible text itself. In close proximity to each other, these readings now have the opportunity to converse with each other in a way that would have not been possible before. A homilist pays attention to all four readings, preparing a reflection that speaks of this conversation among the readings. Thus, the homily can be a good way of connecting the readings, enabling us to zero in on what this unique combination of God's word has to say to us this particular Sunday. Next time that you celebrate Sunday liturgy, prepare by reading the Scripture ahead of time and see how this new relationship among the readings addresses and challenges you to be a better Christian here and now.

The ultimate test of your greatness is the way you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenseless. If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life.

The irony is that many people think of us Catholics as people of No -- don’t do this, don’t do that. In reality we are the people of Yes -- yes to God, yes to life, yes to compassion for the poor and suffering, yes to the solidarity and community that make us messengers of joy even in a valley of tears.

Almighty God, Father of all nations, for freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus (Gal 5:1). We praise you and bless you for the gift of religious liberty, the foundation of human rights, justice, and the common good. Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties; by your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land. We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness, and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, with whom you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Good Friday Pontifical Collection Provides: Pastoral care for parishes in the Holy Land Housing and health care for the poor and elderly. Care for the shrines and chapel Schools often at no charge to students. Thank you for your generosity.

Pope Francis offered another gesture to Catholics who are estranged from the church, saying Monday he respects them but that God is waiting for them.

Francis made the comments after he celebrated Epiphany, a major Catholic feast day that recalls the visit to the infant Jesus Christ by three kings.

"I would like to tell all those who feel far from God and the church — and I say this respectfully to those who are afraid or indifferent: The Lord calls you and wants you to be part of his people and does so with great respect and love!" Francis said. "The Lord doesn't proselytize, he gives love and this love looks for you, waits for you — for you who don't believe or have drifted away. This is the love of God."

Parents who are sitting in the choir loft with their children, are asked NOT to sit in the first row due to safety issues. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated.

Pope Francis leads a meeting with the poor in Assisi, Italy. In his first extensive piece of writing as pope, our Holy Father lays out a vision of the Catholic Church dedicated to evangelization, with a focus on society’s poorest and most vulnerable, including the aged and unborn. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In his first extensive piece of writing as pope, Pope Francis lays out a vision of the Catholic Church dedicated to evangelization in a positive key, with a focus on society’s poorest and most vulnerable, including the aged and unborn.

Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”), released by the Vatican Nov. 26, is an apostolic exhortation, one of the most authoritative categories of papal document. (Pope Francis’ first encyclical, Lumen Fidei, published in July, was mostly the work of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.)

The pope wrote the new document in response to the October 2012 Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization, but declined to work from a draft provided by synod officials.

Pope Francis’ voice is unmistakable in the 50,000-word document’s relatively relaxed style – he writes that an “evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral!” – and its emphasis on some of his signature themes, including the dangers of economic globalization and “spiritual worldliness.”

The church’s message “has to concentrate on the essentials, on what is most beautiful, most grand, most appealing and at the same time most necessary,” he writes. “In this basic core, what shines forth is the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead.”

Inspired by Jesus’ poverty and concern for the dispossessed during his earthly ministry, Pope Francis calls for a “church which is poor and for the poor.”

The poor “have much to teach us,” he writes. “We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voices to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.”

Know a Marriage That Needs Help?  Throw them a lifeline and tell them about Retrouvaille, an international program that helps couples who are experiencing marital difficulties. This program is for all couples, at any stage of marriage that needs help to communicate with each other in a more attentive and loving manner. The next program in the Scranton Diocese begins Feb. 26-Feb. 28, 2016, at The Ramada Inn, Clarks Summit, PA. Please call 800-470-2230 for more information or to register or visit the website at www.helpourmarriage.org.

Parking around Holy Cross Parish and the Parish Center is very limited. However, Olyphant Borough has asked us to remind all parishioners, for safety reasons, parishioners should not park illegally. Recently, the Olyphant Police have been issuing citations to all cars that are parked illegally, especially on Grant Street. Those who are able to walk, please consider using the Holy Ghost parking lot. Also, please do not block the rectory garage as the priests need to exit and travel to other Masses.

Say this prayer every day for nine months to save a baby’s life! “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion.

Realize above all that you are in God’s presence. Empty yourself completely and sit waiting, content with the Grace of God, like a chick that tastes nothing and eats nothing except what its mother gives it.

God blesses those who come to the aid of the poor and rebukes those who turn away from them: “Give to him who begs from you, do not refuse him who would borrow from you.” The Church’s love for the poor…is a part of her constant tradition. This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and his concern for the poor. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2443) The works of mercy (spiritual and corporal) are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his/her spiritual and bodily necessities. (#2447)

Spiritual Works of Mercy

1. To instruct the ignorant
2. To counsel the doubtful
3. To admonish sinners
4. To bear wrongs patiently
5. To forgive offenses willingly
6. To comfort the afflicted
7. To pray for the living and the dead

Corporal Works of Mercy

1. To feed the hungry
2. To shelter the homeless
3. To give drink to the thirsty
4. To clothe the naked
5. To visit the sick and imprisoned
6. To ransom the captive
7. To bury the dead

The time we spend in having our daily audience with God is the most precious part of the whole day. ~Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

We are called to be contemplatives in the heart of the world by seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, everywhere, all the time, and his hand in every happening.