Sunday of the Fathers of the First Council
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever! Sunday of the Fathers of the First Nicene Council; May 17, 2026
Sat 5/16/26 4:00pm Vigil Divine Liturgy +Martha Sapar by Family
Sun 5/17/26 9:30am Divine Liturgy +John Kavchak by Drew Moniot
Fri 5/22/26 7:00pm Vespers to Holy Spirit
Sat 5/23/26 9:30am 5th All Souls Saturday
Sat 5/23/26 4:00pm Vigil Divine Liturgy +Jane Prokopchak by Betty Lou & John Nemcek
Sun 5/24/26 9:30am Pentecost Sunday Divine Liturgy Parishioners of Our Parish
Mon 5/25/26 9:30am Robert & Elizabeth Wedding Anniversary
Variable Parts: Sunday of the First Nicene Council Tone Pgs 196 - 202
Epistle Acts 20:16-18 & 28-38
Gospel John 17:1-13
Memorial Candle Request: No Candle Request
Epistle Readers 16-May Mary Troyan 17-May Liz/John Pocchiari 23-May John Baycura/Mary Motko 24-May Amanda Slavish
Please Pray for: Erik Bergh, Mike Oshlick, Kathy Moyta, Dorothy Moyta, Brian Buchkovich, Lejen Warner, Sharon King, Ole J. Bergh, Liz Moyta, Fr. Michael Huszti, Fr. Laska, Susie Curcio, Teresa Milkovich, Robert Saper, Anna Habil, Mike Dancisin, Diane Sotak, Anna Pocchiari, Larry Hamil, Beverly Jones, Maryann Russin Schyvers, Nick Russin and Ken Konchan
Attendance: 5/2 — 16; 5/3 —84; 5/9 — 21; 5/10 — 74 Collection: 5/3 - $2,549.00; 5/10 - $1,462.00
Student Food Pantry: May donations will be any canned food item, including Chef Boyardee items. Please consider donating to help with the summer months break. We will resume mid-August to help with the September back to school drive. Thank you for all the donations this past school year! Any questions, please contact Pam Gagen.
Church History and 75th Anniversary video: there was interest to obtain a physical copy of it. If interested, please sign the sheet on the bulletin board. The available options are a DVD or USB drive. A price will be determined based on the cost of reproduction. The deadline to request a copy is Sun May 17th.
Congratulation Reilly Martin! We would like to congratulate Reilly Martin on making the Dean's list with Distinction at Grove City College for her Sophomore year.
Church Picnic: The Church Picnic will be held on Sunday, August 2nd at Connoquenessing Park.
We're excited to announce that participant registration for the UPMC for Life Medicare Faith and Wellness Program officially begins Friday, April 246 till May 24 The program is for all those who are on Medicare program. Each participant can earn 50 dollars for successful participation and brings the same amount for the church. Just by registration you help bring 10 dollars for the church.
Registration Options:
1. Direct Online Registration: upmchp.us/wellness-registration Please feel free to share this link via text message or email so participants can register directly. Participant can be even a person who does not belong to the church.
2. Paper Registration Form: Participants can complete the paper form in the Participant Handbook and hand it to Fr. Radko.
Catechesis on prayer - 3. The mystery of Creation - Life, the simple fact that we exist, opens mankind's heart to prayer. The first page of the Bible resembles a great hymn of thanksgiving. The narrative of Creation has a rhythm with refrains, where the goodness and beauty of every living thing is continually emphasized. With his word, God calls to life, and every thing comes into existence. With his word, he separates life from darkness, alternates day and night, interchanges the seasons, opens a palette of colours with the variety of plants and animals. In this overflowing forest that quickly vanquishes the chaos, the last one to appear is man. And this appearance inspires an extreme exultation that amplifies his satisfaction and joy: "God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good (Gen 1:31). Very good, but also beautiful: the beauty of all creation can be seen!
The beauty and mystery of Creation create in the human heart the first impulse that evokes prayer (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2566). The eighth Psalm states: "When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established; what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him?" (vv. 3-4). The one praying contemplates the mystery of the life around him; he sees the starry sky that lies above him — and that astrophysics shows us today in all its immensity — and asks himself what loving plan must there be behind such ponderous work!" And, in this boundless expanse, what is man? 'Almost nothing', another Psalm states (cf. 89:48): a being that is born, a being that dies, an extremely fragile creature. Yet, in all the universe, the human being is the only creature aware of the great profusion of beauty. A small being who is born, who dies; he is here today and gone tomorrow. He is the only one who is aware of this beauty. We are aware of this beauty!
Mankind's prayer is closely linked to the sentiment of wonder. The greatness of man is infinitesimal when compared to the dimensions of the universe. His greatest conquests seem quite small... However man is not nothing. In prayer a sentiment of mercy is powerfully confirmed. Nothing exists by chance: the secret of the universe lies in a benevolent gaze that someone meets in our eyes. The Psalm states that we are made little less than God; we are crowned with glory and honour (cf. 8:6). The relationship with God is man's greatness, his enthronement. By nature we are almost nothing, small, but by vocation, by calling, we are the children of the great King!
It is an experience that many of us have had. If life's events, with all their bitterness, sometimes risk choking the gift of prayer that is within us, it is enough to contemplate a starry sky, a sunset, a flower..., in order to rekindle a spark of thanksgiving. This experience is perhaps the basis of the first page of the Bible.
The people of Israel were not experiencing happy days when the great biblical narrative of Creation was written. An enemy power had occupied their land; many had been deported, and they now found themselves slaves in Mesopotamia. There was no more homeland, nor temple, nor social and religious life, nothing. Yet, precisely in starting from the great narrative of Creation, someone began to find reasons for thanksgiving, to praise God for his or her existence. Prayer is the first strength of hope. You pray and hope grows, it moves forward. I would say that prayer opens the door to hope. There is hope but I open the door with my prayer. Because people of prayer safeguard basic truths; they are the ones who repeat, first and foremost to themselves and then to all the others, that this life, despite all its toils and trials, despite its difficult days, is full of a grace that is awe inspiring. And as such it must always be defended and protected.
Men and women who pray know that hope is stronger than discouragement. They believe that love is more powerful than death, and that surely one day it will triumph, even if in times and ways that we do not understand. Men and women of prayer bear gleaming reflections of light on their faces: because, the sun does not stop illuminating them, even in the darkest of days. Prayer illuminates you: it illuminates the souls, it illuminates the heart and it illuminates the face. Even in the darkest times, even in times of greatest suffering. We are all bearers of joy.
Have you considered this? That you are bearers of joy? Or do you prefer to bring bad news, things that sadden? We are capable of bearing joy. This life is the gift that God gave us: and it is too short to consume it in sadness, in bitterness. Let us praise God, happy to simply exist. Let us look at the universe, let us look at beauty and let us also look at our crosses and say: 'You exist, you made us like this, for you'. It is necessary to feel that unrest of the heart that leads to thanking and praising God. We are children of the great King, of the Creator, capable of reading his signature in all of Creation. We are not safeguarding that creation today, but that creation holds the signature of God who made it out of love. May the Lord make us understand this ever more deeply and lead us to say "thank you"; and that "thank you" is a beautiful prayer.
