Daily Readings

St. Ambrose Masses 25th Week in Ordinary Time

FAMILY CATECHESIS

2020-2021 UPDATE:  Families will gather monthly using Zoom.  While in-person sessions will resume at an appropriate time, the online option will remain throughout the 2020-2021 Session for families who are not comfortable gathering in a face-to-face setting.

First Session:  Sunday, September 20th @ 6 pm

FIRST RECONCILIATION & FIRST EUCHARIST

2020-2021 UPDATE:  Students will meet for two sessions per month using Zoom.  A parent/guardian is asked to be present while the child is online. While in-person sessions will resume at an appropriate time, the online option will remain throughout the 2020-2021 Session for families who are not comfortable gathering in a face-to-face setting.

First Session: Sunday, September 13th @ 6:00-7:15 pm

CONFIRMATION

2020-2021 UPDATE:  Students will meet for two sessions per month during the respective semester using Zoom.  Level 8 will meet throughout the Fall semester. Level 7 will meet throughout the Spring semester. While in-person sessions will resume at an appropriate time, the online option will remain throughout the 2020-2021 Session for families who are not comfortable gathering in a face-to-face setting.   

Level 8 First Session:  Sunday, September 13th @ 7:30-8:45 pm

REGISTRATION

Registration is completed online. To Register Using a Computer:
(Please note that the software does not always play nice with smart devices.)

• Visit https://allentown.parishsoftfamilysuite.com.
  • If you previously created a My Own Church account, then log in.
  • If you need to create a My Own Church account, then click on “New User” and submit your account information. You will then receive a temporary password in your email to complete your account setup.
• Once you are logged in to My Own Church, open the “Religious Education PREP” tab.
• Click on “Online Registration” and provide the requested information for each student. Please note that the system prompts you to enter a first, second and third choice. However, you only need to indicate your first choice.
• Once your registration request is reviewed, you will receive an email confirmation.

Registration Fees:

• Levels 1,2,4,5,6 A Family of Faith:  $45 per FAMILY (no matter how many children are registered per family)
• Level 3 Reconciliation/Eucharist: $40 per STUDENT
• Level 7 Theology of the Body:  $35 per STUDENT
• Level 8 Confirmation: $35 per STUDENT

Options To Submit PREP Tuition:

• After submitting the online registration, click on the "Pay Now" button at the bottom of the summary page.
  
  
• If you previously set up your parish online giving:
  • Return to the My Own Church home page.
  • Open the “My Offering” tab.
  • Click on “Online Giving” and open the “Give Now” tab.
  • Select “PREP” from the Funds drop down menu.
     
• To set up online giving:
  • Visit https://giving.parishsoft.com/app/giving/stambrose or search for “ConnectNow Giving” in your app store.
  • In the “Sign In” tab click on “Register for an Account” and submit the required information.
  • After your online giving is set up, follow the instructions above.

In advance of the November elections, Bishop Alfred Schlert has written a letter to the faithful of the Diocese on our obligations as Catholics when voting. The text of the letter is below:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Voting is a solemn civic ceremony that has been won and defended by the blood of countless American men and women throughout our Nation’s history, up to the present day. Please exercise this precious right. For the Catholic, voting also has grave moral obligations and consequences. Voting can never be taken lightly nor be contrary to a well-formed conscience.

A “well-formed conscience” for the Catholic is one that has been formed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit through prayer, studying Scripture, and honestly informing oneself about the moral teachings of the Catholic Church. In 2002, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) wrote, “Democracy must be based on the true and solid foundation of non-negotiable ethical principles, which are the underpinning of life in society.” (Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life, 2002, no. 3)

While there is no initiative on the part of the Church to support one candidate over another, it is an indispensable obligation of bishops, priests, and deacons to inform the faithful about the hierarchy of issues that must be considered in conscience by every voting Catholic.

In consistent Catholic teaching, recently re-affirmed by our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and the body of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, abortion and euthanasia are the “preeminent” issues in forming an opinion about how to vote. “…[T]he right to health, to home, to work, to culture is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.” (Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, 1998, no. 38, emphasis in the original)

Hence, a Catholic voter is to approach the ballot box with the defense of innocent human life uppermost in his/her mind and conscience. As voters, we must carefully examine our consciences to determine if our vote cooperates with a candidate’s promotion of the grave sins of abortion and euthanasia. The United States Bishops gave stark guidance to politicians in 1998, “No public official, especially one claiming to be a faithful and serious Catholic, can responsibly advocate for or actively support direct attacks on innocent human life.” (Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge for American Catholics, no. 32)  While this statement addresses public officials once elected to office, in intellectual and moral honesty, we must extend these words to us citizens who, by our vote, elect the candidate to office.

Admittedly, the coming elections pose many challenges and much soul-searching for Catholic voters.  There never are, and are not now, perfect candidates for office. Most likely for us, none completely matches our desires on temperament, social justice, immigration, or foreign, domestic, or economic policies.  For this reason, the Church offers guidance for Catholic voters in correctly forming their consciences, especially on the overriding, foundational issues of abortion and euthanasia.

Some may see these words of guidance as an intrusion into the political arena. To the contrary, the Church and her bishops have a serious obligation and right to participate in public discourse and to assist the faithful in properly forming their consciences to be able to participate fully, with free and informed will, in the moral and civic act of voting.

Please pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance as you prepare to cast your vote, and God bless you for participating in such a profound American tradition.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Alfred A. Schlert

Bishop of Allentown

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Throughout history, the recitation of the Rosary has obtained many miracles, especially in desperate times, whether during the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 or the Soviet invasion of Austria in 1955. 

Our modern times are desperate indeed.  Our Faith and our families are under attack.  Yet now more than ever, we pray, and we hope!  We hope in God’s mercy, we hope in Our Lord and in Our Lady.  We hope in the power of the Holy Rosary. 

Our Lady, Saints, and Popes have told us The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life.  It is the remedy for all our evils and the root of all our blessings.  It is a ‘weapon’ for these times.  The United States Grace Force led by Father Richard Heilman, Queen of Peace Media, an organization of Catholic volunteers including priests and lay people; along with Catholic Action for faith and family led by Cardinal Raymond Burke promote praying the Rosary together as a force against the temptations of Satan. 

Our Parish Retreat team invites you to pray the Rosary with us the first of each month immediately after the daily Mass in unity with Cardinal Burke in his ‘Operation Storm Heaven’ movement.  Become a Rosary Warrior!

For more information, about how you too can become a Rosary Warrior, visit catholicaction.org.

When our choir is struggling to learn a new special piece of music for Christmas or Easter, our choir director sometimes is forced to remind us that, ‘whatever we do, we do together.’  What begins as chaotic song over time becomes a beautiful coordinated melody with four-part harmony.   For the past several months, we have seen the chaos and the destruction that individuals ‘doing together’ can do, the billions of dollars of damage and the homes and businesses that have been destroyed, the billions of dollars of damage that somebodies are going to have to pay not only with money but with time and effort to rebuild if rebuilding is ever possible.

We as a Christian community are called by Our Lady in particular during the month of October which is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary to come together as a T-E-A-M, together each achieve more, a ‘Grace Force’, and an ‘Army for the Lord’ to pray Our Lady’s Rosary.   Our Parish Retreat Team in communion with Our Lady make available to you the praying together of the Most Holy Rosary on Thursday, October 1^st after the daily Mass as part of Father Richard Heilman’s U.S. Grace Force, on Saturday, October 3^rd at 3PM, the first Saturday of the month as a TEAM at Our Lady’s request to Sister Lucia,  and on Saturday, October 10^th at 12 noon in conjunction with thousands of churches all over the United States as an Army for the Lord, the America Needs Fatima Rosary Rally.

When we come together, great things can happen.  When we come together to pray the Rosary, even greater things can happen.  History has shown us that the Rosary has the power to impact the lives of our loved ones, our communities, our nation, and the world.  As Our Lady asks, we need to pray for peace, for the healing and salvation of souls, for lives lost, for so many things in our present world.  Please make time to join our retreat team on at least one of these days in October to pray the prayers Our Lady has given us as she leads us to her son, Jesus.

Thanks to newly acquired technology, parishioners will be able to participate in Arise Season Three from the comfort of their homes. 

No Internet – no problem!  You can participate by phone.

Starting on October 19^th and continuing for six consecutive Mondays from 7 pm to 8:30 pm we will join in small groups to journey in the footsteps of Christ to pray, to share and to learn together and, most importantly, stay connected with one another during these unprecedented times.  For many of us this will be stepping out of our comfort zones, but we are blessed to have this opportunity to continue to grow spiritually with Arise Together in Christ!  Help is available if needed to learn how to access the meetings.

We will even have a virtual social hour on Monday, November 30^th at 7 pm.  Grab your favorite beverage and enjoy some social time with your fellow participants.

Registration forms including details on dates, how to join and where to pick up your book are available on the parish web site, the Our Parish Facebook page, the St. Ambrose Religious Education Facebook page or by calling the Rectory.

We look forward to coming together for Season Three Arise Together in Christ!