May, the month of Mary

     How can you not think of the Blessed Mother in the lovely month of May. The often present blue skies remind us of her mantel of love, protecting us always.
     If you went to Catholic school as a child, chances are you remember participating in a May crowning. Perhaps you were the lucky child chosen to place a wreath of flowers on the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. If not, you probably remember singing this hymn:

O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.

     On Wednesday, May 5, there will be a May crowning in the atrium of the St. Ambrose rectory, following the 12:05 p.m. Mass. All are invited to the event, led by the Legion of Mary.
     May is also the perfect month to return to saying the daily rosary. At the web site for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, you can find The Rosary for Life, featuring mysteries for the different days of the week to meditate upon.
The University of Dayton has a web page devoted to Marian Prayers.
      At the Ambrosian Café on May 25, there will be a presentation on how to create a Marian garden, that is planting flowers in your yard to symbolize the Blessed Virgin Mary. If you’re interested in attending, make your reservation by May 21 at 754-2330.

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Praying for Vocations

     Sunday, April 24, is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. This year’s theme is “Witness Awakens Vocations.” You can read the Holy Father’s message on this special day here.
      On this day we pray for our priests, brothers, deacons and women and men in consecrated life, that they be great witnesses to the whole Church and that their examples strengthem within our youth the desire to seek God’s will for their lives.
     In the latest issue of The Catholic Sun, staff writer Claudia Mathis interviews priests and religious in the diocese about their responses to God’s call. One of the priests interviewed, Father Richard Dellos, grew up in Endicott. Here is his story of answering the call:

Father Richard Dellos has served as pastor at St. Joseph-St. Patrick in Utica for the last seven years and has served as a priest for close to 42 years. “It’s been full of surprises and I wouldn’t want to do anything else,” said Father Dellos.
     Even when he was an altar boy at St. Anthony’s Church in Endicott, Father Dellos enjoyed serving the church. “I liked the Mass and the priest, Father Richard O’Neil — he still helps me,” he said.
     While attending St. Ambrose Catholic School and Seton Catholic High School in Endicott, Father Dellos was impressed by the spirituality of his teachers, the Sisters of Charity. Also playing a major part in his decision to become a priest was Father Matthew Wieczorek, his high school religion teacher.
     Father Dellos said that when he entered the seminary at 17, he knew nothing of the Charismatic Renewal, which later played a major role in energizing his ministry. “The Charismatic Renewal in 1974 ignited my priesthood with its spiritual opportunities,” he said. “It gave me encouragement and enthusiasm.”

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Help CHOW plant a future food source

Edy’s is sponsoring a contest that has a strong local contender.

From their web site:

Communities across the United States are ripe for renewal, ready to receive a complete fruit orchard provided by the Edy’s Fruit Bars brand and the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. Cast your vote for one of our Communities Take Root participants and help them reap the rewards of their own fresh fruit supply.

Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (Broome County Council of Churches) Conklin, NY
CHOW, the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse, is the hunger relief and advocacy program of the Broome County Council of Churches. We provide emergency food to our 30 food pantries located in congregations throughout Broome County. We also provide recovered/rescued food to some 35 soup kitchens and community meal programs in the county. In 2009, nearly 2 million pounds of emergency food was distributed through our warehouse. Over the past few years we have focused on providing more fresh produce to our pantries and soup kitchens. As part of this focus we are starting a CHOW Farm Project to grow our own fresh produce to be distributed to the emergency food sites in Broome County. An orchard has been added to our farm project so that we can distribute fresh fruit as well as fresh vegetables to those who face hunger here in our community. In 2009 about ten acres of corn was planted for CHOW that was harvested by our volunteers and distributed to the emergency food sites. In 2010 we are planning to begin a CHOW Farm on land in the Town of Conklin that was rendered unusable for housing because of a major flood in 2006. The land has remained unused since then and we have partnered with the town of Conklin to begin using the land to grow fresh fruits and vegetables for the local food pantries and soup kitchens. The orchard we hope to win is part of that plan.

To cast your vote, visit the Communities Take Root contest web site to cast your vote daily through Aug. 31. Our food pantry, Mother Teresa’s Cupboard, would benefit from a CHOW win.

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What’s new in the Syracuse Diocese?

Did you know you can read The Catholic Sun online now? It’s filled with great stories of faith as well as reflections by Bishop Robert Cunningham and others, including our parochial vicar, Fr. Don Bourgeois, who serves the newspaper as the episcopal liaison.

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Q&A with Deacon Tom Picciano

 St. Ambrose Parish welcomes Deacon Tom Picciano who has been appointed to serve our parish by Bishop Cunningham. Deacon Tom answered 10 questions about himself so we can get to know him better.

• Full name: Deacon Tom Picciano 
• Birthplace: Binghamton, N.Y.
• How long have you lived in the Southern Tier? 47 years
• What do you like best about the Southern Tier? The wonderful people and the change of seasons.
• Name the saint whose life you find most inspiring: St. Thomas More
• Favorite quote or scripture passage: Psalm 118: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.”
• Favorite music genre: Classical
• Favorite sports team: B-Mets
• Name a book, besides The Bible, that influenced your life:
  “St. Benedict’s Rule”
• Favorite movie: “Angels In the Outfield”

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Diocese Takes Up Special Collection for Haiti Relief

Most Rev. Robert J. Cunningham, Bishop of Syracuse, has announced a special collection for Haiti Relief. All parishes have been asked to take up a second collection this weekend, January 16-17 and/or next weekend January 23-24, 2010. Individual donations can be made to Haiti Relief- Diocese of Syracuse and mailed to Diocese of Syracuse, 240 East Onondaga Street, Syracuse New York 13202, marked Haiti Relief. These funds will be forwarded to Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic Church.
Catholic Relief Services announced today that they are already mounting a major emergency response to this severe disaster and have committed an initial $5million to fund relief efforts which will most likely go on for sometime.

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Year for Priests continues

As the Year for Priests continues in the Syracuse Diocese until June 19, as per Pope Benedict XVI’s request, the Office of Vocation Promotion is encouraging all of us to say the Prayer for Priests:

Loving God, hear our prayer for an increase in priestly vocations. You continually call some men to be priests. Touch their hearts and minds to answer your call and instill in them a burning desire to serve you. Let them see that a simple “yes” by Mary to you brought Jesus into the world and their “yes” to you will allow them every day to share Jesus with us, particularly in the celebration of the Eucharist.

Reveal to them a vision of your Kingdom and their essential role in your plan of salvation and redemption. Let them see the joy of priestly ministry and the joy of doing your will. Lead them to follow in the footsteps of your Son, Jesus Christ.

Strengthen them to overcome worldly temptation. Keep them humble, faithful and diligent as they seek to serve you. Let your love for us shine through them. Let Jesus’s heart beat in them.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives anbd reigns now and forever. Amen.

If you haven’t visited the Office of Vocations web site, click here for some inspiring stories and videos.

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Former St. Ambrose School teacher dies

Sr. Rose Logan D.C., who taught at St. Ambrose School in the late 1960s-early 1970s, has died. Sr. Rose grew up in Bryn Mawr, Pa., and began teaching at St. Ambrose in 1965.
     St. Ambrose School was staffed initially by the Daughters of Charity at the request of pastor Msgr. Alexis Hopkins. When the school opened in 1934, there were five Daughters of Charity on staff.
     Sr. Rose was well-liked by her students for her warmth and good sense of humor. She was one of the last Daughters of Charity to teach at the school.
     To learn more about Sr. Rose’s life of service, click here.

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Hungry fed well

Last night was the Thanksgiving Dinner at our Soup Kitchen. Students in our High School Faith Formation program helped serve the dinner to more than 120 people! As always, wonderful music was provided by keyboardist Gene Cothran (joined by a friend on saxophone).
The night before, these same students packed Thanksgiving baskets to be distributed to the needy families of our parish this Saturday. We’re thankful for the efforts of these fine students, the cooks and other servers at the soup kitchen and the beautiful music that enhanced the dining experience.

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Giving thanks

We have so much to be thankful for at St. Ambrose Parish:

•  For our priests, who offer guidance and celebrate the Eucharist with us.
• For our staff and boards who ensure the parish runs smoothly.
• For our parish members who volunteer countless hours of service.
• For the members of our music ministries, whose beautiful voices enhance our Eucharistic celebrations.
• For the Basically Bach Ensemble and Parlor City Boys Chorus for the gift of their beautiful singing.
• For those who guide the faith formation of our children.
• For those who visit our sick and shut-ins.
• For those who help feed the hungry through our soup kitchen, holiday food baskets and Mother Teresa’s Cupboard.
• For those who help run our social hours after the 10:15 a.m. Sunday Mass.
• For those who take care of our altar linens and floral decorations.
• For those who knit and stitch gifts for our seniors.
• For our CYO athletes whose efforts fill us with pride.  For those who pray for our sick and needy.
  The list goes on and on………..
  This Thanksgiving we add some other names to the list:
• We’re thankful for the people who have come forward to sponsor one or more windows in our Preservation Drive. Their generosity has been overwhelming!

On Thanksgiving Day we have one Mass at 9 a.m. Parishioners are invited to bring their food and have it blessed at that Mass.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

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