Entries for September 2023

Dear Parishioners:

During these coming glorious days of October, we as a Church celebrate respect for life. Life in all of its manifestations from the beginning in the womb until the last final breathe. We pray that the Gospel of Life will overcome the culture of death in our land. We continue to work to do away with the intentional death that is abortion. We strive against assisted suicide and the lack of life values that leads to euthanasia. We call for an end of the execution of criminals. We respond with love and care to the life force of the infant in the womb, the child mentally incapacitated, people with disabilities among us, the alienated and lonely, the elderly and infirmed.

As we tinker with the beginnings, the end and even the intimate cell structure of life, we tinker with our own identity as a free nation dedicated to the dignity of the human person. When American political life becomes an experiment on people rather than for and by them, it will no longer be worth conducting. We are arguably moving closer to that day. Today, when the inviolable rights of the human person are proclaimed and the value of life publicly affirmed, the most basic human right, the right to life, is being denied or trampled upon, especially at the more significant moments of existence, the moment of birth and the moment of death.

As the Pope has expressed: “God's love does not differentiate between the newly conceived infant still in his or her mother's womb and the child or young person, or the adult and the elderly person. God does not distinguish between them because he sees an impression of his own image and likeness (Gn 1:26) in each one”.

Let us especially keep in our prayers all expectant mothers and all who care for children. Finally, I would like to thank all of you for your support of life and for all your words, prayers and actions that proclaim the sacredness and dignity of all life.

Blessings!

Msgr. John Shamleffer

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Dear Parishioners:

We are called to be Missionary Disciples to bring Christ to one

another. I encourage anyone who is interested or knows of someone interested in the Catholic Faith to please contact me at the parish. I also ask for your prayers for our all those who are preparing to enter the faith this year. Your solidarity with these men and women is a great source of support to them.

The Catechumenate is an extended period during which the candidates are given suitable pastoral formation and guidance, aimed at training them in the Christian life.

This is achieved in the following ways:

• Suitable catechesis; solidly supported by celebrations of the Word.
• The Catechumens and Candidates learning to:
  • Turn more readily to God in prayer
  • To bear witness to the Faith
  • In all things to keep their hopes set on Christ
  • To follow supernatural inspiration in their deeds
  • To practice the love of neighbour, even at the cost of self-renunciation

Our parish community has been blessed over the years with men and women who are journeying in the faith and preparing for reception into the Church at the Easter Vigil.

Please keep those women and men in your prayers as they begin their journey of faith in the Catholic Church.

Blessings!

Msgr. John Shamleffer

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Dear Parishioners:

This year we are blessed to celebrate 94 years as a parish family. Milestones give us the opportunity to reflect more deeply on our mission and ministry as daughters and sons of Jesus Christ. Consider for a moment the countless number of people who have worshiped and celebrated the sacraments with us. Think of the classmates that we attended school with. Think of the Annunziata activities you have been a part of. Think of the baptisms and the weddings and First Communions and Confirmations we have participated in.

In response to all these gifts we say Thank You! Those two words might be the most important words we speak each day. They evoke an understanding and awareness that we have been blessed by our God and others. Think about that for a minute. What did you thank God for yesterday? Did you thank God for your family and friends, your health, your home, your job or livelihood? Did you thank God for the gift of faith or the abundant love that he showers upon you each day?

Prayer is the engine behind it all. Through prayer and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are able to further our mission ‘engaging others as disciples’ to love God and neighbor as Jesus taught.

As we strive to be disciples, good stewardship is certainly a disciple’s response. Stewardship, quite simply, is recognizing that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God and being grateful and generous with those gifts. Stewardship isn’t a process, or a campaign, or an accounting of our gifts.

Rather, it is a lifestyle rooted in gratitude and generosity.

The whole point of stewardship is to help each other strengthen our relationship with God and get to Heaven! The foundation of stewardship is prayer – talking and listening to God every day, throughout the day.

We at the Church of the Annunziata have the responsibility to continue to be a beacon of hope and light in our community. Now, our energies need to focus on the ‘new evangelization’ with programming, staffing, services, and facilities to welcome and grow new disciples, and engage others to meet the varying needs of our school, church and neighborhood.

Thank you for your generosity, prayers, and commitment to Annunziata Church!

With Prayers and Blessings,

Msgr. John Shamleffer

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Dear Parishioners:

It has been uplifting to me to see so many parishioners at our weekday masses thanks to all of you for your faith-filled lives. I also want to encourage all to invite others to the faith if you know of anyone interested in joining the church please invite them or contact me and I will get in touch with them.

RITE OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION OF ADULTS—RCIA

The Church’s RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) is the process through which adults enter into the Catholic faith. RCIA is a spiritual journey designed in phases and implemented through various rites. The participants' spiritual growth is encouraged and enhanced through reflection on God's Word and the teachings of Catholic doctrine and traditions.

Becoming a Catholic is one of the most profound and joyous experiences of life. Some are blessed enough to receive this great gift while they are still infants, and over the course of time they grow into a recognition of the enormous grace that has been bestowed upon them, of the dignity and wonder of their identity as Catholics. Others come into the Catholic fold while they are older children or adults. In these cases it is important for people to have a grasp of the joyful process by which one becomes a Catholic.

If you know someone who might be interested in joining the Church, be that family member, fellow worker, or neighbor, please contact the parish office with their name and phone number. Our parishioners are always the best evangelists. Your faith and how you live it will speak volumes to those around you.

Let us pray for those who are contemplating joining the Catholic faith and encourage them through our words, actions and prayers. God bless you for sharing your faith!

Msgr. John Shamleffer

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Dear Parishioners:

This Monday is Labor Day, which is celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday in September to honor the laborer. It was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor in 1882 and made a national holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1894. It is a day to give thanks for all those who labor for us.

One the feast days of St. Joseph is that of Joseph the Worker. Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955. While this is a recent feast, the relationship between Joseph and the cause of workers has a longer history. In a constantly necessary effort to keep Jesus from being removed from ordinary human life, the Church has from the beginning proudly emphasized that Jesus was a carpenter, obviously trained by Joseph in both the satisfactions and the drudgery of that vocation. Humanity is like God not only in thinking and loving, but also in creating. Whether we make a table or a cathedral, we are called to bear fruit with our hands and mind, ultimately for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Also, coming next week is the twenty-second anniversary of the attacks and tragedy of September 11, 2001. With so much violence and fatal shootings in our world, country and our own city I invite you to take some time in the coming week either at Mass or in prayer to remember those who died, their families and to pray for an end of terrorism, racism and violence in our homes, city, country and world.

Pope John Paul II said. The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard-of ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in a moment the normal daily life of a people, but faith comes to our aid at these times when words seem to fail, he stressed. Christ’s word is the only one that gives a response to the questions which trouble our spirit. He continues; Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say. Christian hope is based on this truth; at this time our prayerful trust draws strength from it.

Through prayer and solidarity, we will remember those who lost their lives, and pray with the still-grieving families and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy and unfortunately the many that have followed. Hopefully our thoughts and prayers will be a source of comfort for all and help to console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace, religious freedom and love reign among nations and in the hearts of all.

God Bless!

Msgr. John Shamleffer

Thank you to all who labor for our parish community, all our employees, volunteers, parishioners and benefactors.  Blessings on your labor!

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