Sharing our bounty

     This year the requests for Thanksgiving baskets have doubled! It’s just another sign of the tough economy in the Southern Tier (as well as nationwide).
     We will be collecting food from now until Nov. 15 to fill baskets for the less fortunate. Please help by providing any of the following items that you can:

Foods needed: Canned Vegetables (corn, green beans, peas, mixed vegetables), Canned Yams, Instant Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing Mix, Canned Pie Filling (pumpkin, apple or cherry), Evaporated Milk (for pumpkin pies), Pie Crust Mix/Pie Pans, Canned Gravy, Canned Fruits (peaches, pears, fruit cocktail, applesauce), Cranberry Sauce, Jell-O/Pudding, and Cake & Brownie Mixes/Frosting.

     Please do not bring in anything in a glass container. Monetary donations are also accepted. Place your food in a grocery bag, labeled for Thanksgiving baskets, to the elevator lobby (atrium).
     Thank you for your generosity!

Preserving our stained glass windows

UPDATE No. 2: The response from parishioners has been overwhelming! There are just NINE windows left to sponsor!

As you heard last weekend, we have launched a preservation drive for our historic stained glass windows here at St. Ambrose Church.
     These windows are century-old priceless treasures. The work represents a level of artistry that you’d be hard-pressed to find today.
     The painterly scenic windows were created by the Franz Mayer studio of Munich, Germany. His work was so valued worldwide at the time that Pope Leo XIII declared his studio a “Pontifical Institute of Christian Art.”
     The opalescent glass symbolic windows in the upper, or clerestory, level of the church were created by Henry Keck’s studio in Syracuse. Keck was an apprentice to renowned glassmaker Louis Comfort Tiffany. 
     It will cost the parish about $59,500 to have these windows preserved through repairing rotting millwork around the windows, re-cementing them and placing new acrylic protective covers over them to replace the ones that have clouded over. On a sunny day, you can already see the difference the preservation work by Associated Crafts is making.
     This week all parishioners have been mailed a brochure explaining the process of sponsoring a window to help defray the substantial (but necessary) cost to our parish. Pledges have already been made toward several windows, so if there is one that you are interested, act quickly. Call the parish office at 754-2330 to make an appointment with Joe Maher or Phyllis Gonzales.
     A century ago, our parish was founded by just 25 families. The gift they gave us, this beautiful church, must be preserved in their honor, for our own spiritual inspiration, and to preserve Western Broome County’s first Catholic church, St. Ambrose.

Q&A with Father Don

 

 

 St. Ambrose Parish welcomes Father Don Bourgeois to the staff as our new parochial vicar. Father answered 10 questions about himself so we can get to know him better.

1. Full name: Donald Edward Bourgeois
2. Birthplace: Waterford, N.Y.
3. How long have you lived in the Southern Tier? Since 1985
4. What do you like best about the Southern Tier? The hometown feeling of the area
5. Name the saint whose life you find most inspiring: St. Marguerite Bourgeois
6. Favorite quote or scripture passage: Jeremiah 20:9
   (“I say to myself, I will not mention him, I will speak in his name no more. But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it. “)
7. Favorite music genre: Oldies from the ’50s & ’60s/Broadway shows
8. Favorite sports team: DODGERS!
9. Name a book, besides The Bible, that influenced your life: “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles
10. Favorite movie: “It Could Happen To You” (old) and “Up!” (new)

Funeral this evening for St. Ambrose’s cook

 Tonight our parish celebrates the life of Darlene Sacco, our cook and housekeeper since 1997.
Darlene was a kind-hearted person with amazing self-taught culinary skills.
She’d come to work with her beloved dog, Riley, who had his personal teacup of water waiting for him in the rectory kitchen.
Darlene’s family will welcome friends at the church this evening from 4-6 p.m. A funeral Mass will follow.
We extend heartfelt condolences to her family and friends. We were blessed to have her as our co-worker.

What are YOU missing?

(The following is an e-mail pass-along. Its message is universal. The video above shows the story described below.)

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and without stopping continued to walk.

6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The boy stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made – how many other things are we missing?

Getting more involved

    

RCIA candidates are baptized at St. Ambrose last April.

 Have you ever wanted to participate in a spiritual ministry in our parish? Here’s your opportunity. The Diocesan Formation for Ministry Program is accepting applications for the coming year. The program prepares adults for ministry within their parish community: catechetics, family ministry, life/justice ministries with specific duties in respect life, social justice and parish outreach. You may also become certified in liturgy, parish business administration, parish initiation ministry (RCIA), pastoral care and youth ministries.
     An information night will be held on Thursday, August 27 at the Religious Education Office, 705 West Main Street, Endicott from 7-8 p.m.
     Please call 786-9649 or e-mail srreledrsc@aol.com to register.

Tune in to Catholic sounds

The Internet offers many ways to hear contemporary Catholic music.

• For example, check out catholicjukebox.com.
• If you prefer the sound of Catholic Pop Rock, “tune in” to the web site omegarock.com.
• It’s not radio, but try out the playlists on spiritandsong.com’s Music on Demand page.
• If you go to www.pandora.com, you can create a radio station based on your musical preferences. Enter the name of an artist and you will get like artist suggestions. They have preset categories for contemporary Christian, Christian rock and gospel artists.

Listening to such music can fill you with positive thoughts, hope and trust in our Lord. Tune in and give it a try.

Share your harvest

One of the nutritional basics often missing in the diets of the poor is fresh, organic produce. If you’re a gardener, you can help. Even donating just a couple of tomatoes, squash or bags of lettuce from your garden is a big help.
Mother Teresa’s Cupboard, the food pantry in the school next to St. Ambrose Church, is always grateful for such fresh produce. You can drop off a share of your harvest Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
A little help may mean a lot to a poor family in our community.

Parish Picnic time!

Chuck & Joan Swetich and Fran DeGregorio relax at the 2007 St. Ambrose Parish Picnic in Glendale Park.

This Sunday parishioners are invited to join us at our annual St. Ambrose Picnic at Glendale Park, Pavilion #1, 1:30 p.m. Bring a dish to pass. We’ll provide the meats to be grilled. Other treats include Pat Mitchell’s ice cream, raffle prizes and music by Frank Korosec and Gene Perry. Don’t miss the fun!

UPDATE:  See a gallery of photos from this year’s picnic here.

Pope’s encyclical focuses on world economy

In his third encyclical, Caritas in veritate, Pope Benedict XVI addresses problems besetting the world economy. Issued Tuesday, the document stresses that “every economic decision has a moral consequence.” Pope Benedict writes:

Today’s international economic scene, marked by grave deviations and failures, requires a profoundly new way of understanding business enterprise. Old models are disappearing, but promising new ones are taking shape on the horizon. Without doubt, one of the greatest risks for businesses is that they are almost exclusively answerable to their investors, thereby limiting their social value. Owing to their growth in scale and the need for more and more capital, it is becoming increasingly rare for business enterprises to be in the hands of a stable director who feels responsible in the long term, not just the short term, for the life and the results of his company, and it is becoming increasingly rare for businesses to depend on a single territory. Moreover, the so-called outsourcing of production can weaken the company’s sense of responsibility towards the stakeholders — namely the workers, the suppliers, the consumers, the natural environment and broader society — in favour of the shareholders, who are not tied to a specific geographical area and who therefore enjoy extraordinary mobility.