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Fr. Linus Paul Klucsarits Ordained June 3

Fr. Linus Paul Klucsarits, son of the late William and Alice Klucsarits, was ordained a priest on June 3rd 2017 in his Abbey in Cullman, Alabama. Fr. Linus grew up in the Cathedral parish, attended the Cathedral School ('79) and was an assistant Sacristan and Altar Server. He will be celebrating a Mass of Thanksgiving at the Cathedral on Saturday June 17, 2017 at 10:00 AM. All are welcome.

Fr. Zambelli’s Farewell

Please join us next weekend (6/17 & 6/18) in the PAC after Mass to wish Fr. Zambelli well in his new assignment at St. Thomas More and to thank him for faithful ministry to our parish these last two years!

Fathers Day is on June 18

If you wish your father (or grandfather) remembered in the Masses on Father’s Day and the rest of June, please write their name on the envelope. Then place the envelope in the collection this weekend. These and those intentions noted by online givers will be placed on the altar on Father’s Day. Late envelopes and online intentions will be added as they are received.

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Father John Rother Ordained as Diocese of Allentown Priest
by Tara Connolly, reprinted from the AD Times

“When a Christian man is ordained, he receives and accepts something new that never disappears, something that changes him and makes him different from all others. God takes possession of him in a special way,” said Bishop Edward Cullen, bishop emeritus of Allentown, June 3 during the Rite of Ordination to the Priesthood.

Bishop Cullen was the ordaining prelate and principal celebrant for the ceremony at St. Catharine of Siena, Allentown, where John Rother, 26, was raised to the order of priest for the diocese.

In his homily, Bishop Cullen told the newly ordained and an estimated 200 faithful that the priesthood is a call, not a career; a way of life, not a job; a state of being, not just a function; and an identity, not just a role. “God consecrates him to his service for the benefit of the rest of mankind. He makes him a sharer in Christ’s priesthood and gives him an altered personality. He is a priest continuously and internally. He is a priest always and at every moment. He is a priest whether he is performing the highest and most sublime office or the most humble action of ordinary life,” he said.

“Just as Christians cannot leave aside their baptismal character and then act as if they were not Christians, so neither can priests leave aside their priestly character and behave as if they were not priests.”

According to Bishop Cullen, a priest is always a priest because of his unique configuration to Christ and is seen with his identification with the cross.

“The more pronounced the cross is in the life of a piest, the more effective his priesthood is for those he is sent to serve,” he said.

Bishop Cullen maintained it is paradoxical that a priest says “yes” to the cross to bring greater insight and deeper compassion toward those in need.

“Through the power of prayer, a priest will experience the great consolation of never being abandoned by God while carrying his particular cross. Fervent prayer, while coping with the hardships of his cross, will bring the priest to experience a whole new intimacy with Christ,” he said.

Bishop Cullen also pointed out that two precious gifts are given to a priest after Je- sus invites him to draw closer to him and as he fulfills his “yes” to God.

“One gift is being liberated from all fear. The other is God enlightening him to expe- rience a whole new appreciation of the di- vine presence, which is the presence of the Holy Spirit,” he said.

He then told Father Rother that he will find himself living in a “spiritual place” that will profoundly influence his views on everything pertaining to God and the Holy Spirit.

“There is nothing more exciting, more liberating, more comforting and more strengthening than to be alive in the Holy Spirit’s mission and mankind’s sanctifica- tion,” he said.

“The truth of the matter is, that only being alive in the Holy Spirit will a priest develop personal sanctification which God desires his priests to possess. And when the priest possesses this degree of personal sanctifica- tion, the magnificent beauty of God’s love will shine forth in his whole being as it did on the day of his ordination.”

Rite of Ordination

After the Gospel reading, Bishop Cullen initiated the Rite of Ordination with the call- ing and presentation of the candidate to the bishop as a sign of worthiness for ordination. At the consent of the people, the con- gregation indicated their acceptance of the bishop’s decision to ordain Father Rother by applauding.

Bishop Cullen then examined the candi- date’s willingness to embrace the duties and obligations of the priestly office, before Fa- ther Rother kneeled before him and vowed to obey him and his successors.

Next, the bishop invited all present to pray for Father Rother as he prostrated him- self before the altar as a sign of his submis- sion before God during the Litany of Saints. Rising to his feet, Father Rother knelt before Bishop Cullen again for the Laying on of Hands. This gesture, together with the Prayer of Consecration, is the outward sign of the ordination to the Order of Priests. In a like manner, those priests present imitated the motion as a sign of oneness of the priesthood they share.

The rite continued with the Prayer of Consecration and the Investiture with Stole and Chasuble with vesting priest Father William Linkchorst, pastor emeritus of SS. Peter and Paul, Tamaqua. Bishop Cullen then performed the Anointing of Hands with sacred chrism.

The ordination concluded with the bishop and priests welcoming the new priest into the presbyteral order with a fraternal kiss of peace.

Father Rother looking ahead to serving God’s people Moved by the rite and Bishop Cullen’s remarks on the priesthood, Father Rother, whose first priestly assignment will be at St. Catharine of Siena, Reading, said he was particularly inspired by the Laying on of Hands

“I knelt there, not knowing exactly which priest was laying his hands on me. Looking back, I realize that this, and the entire ordination liturgy, reinforces one point: we are totally dependent on God’s grace,” he said.

Father Rother also said he will heed Bishop Cullen’s reminder that the priesthood is not a job. “We can’t take it off and then put it on again each day, because it’s a way of life. All a priest has to do is be available and open to God, in every situation, and God will do the rest,” he said.

During his years at the seminary, Father Rother said he came to realize that the priesthood is not an “achievement.”

“It is not something that I earned. It is God working through me. All I had to do was to be open to him. This helped me breathe a big sigh of relief and I think solidified my vocation,” he said.

While serving St. Catharine, he said, he is anxious to meet the good people he has heard about and to be invited into their lives. “It is a real honor and privilege. I really look forward to that, and of course, celebrating the sacraments. I know, though, that I will not really experience those things to the fullest unless I’m open to God every day,” said Father Rother.

Father Rother is the son of John and MarySue (Liaw) Rother and a parish son of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Whitehall. He has two younger sisters, Melinda and Gracia.

He earned a master’s degree in theology in 2016 from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia and a master of arts degree from the seminary in 2017.

Father Rother earned a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from St. Charles Borromeo in 2013. He graduated from Allentown Central Catholic High School in 2009 and St. Elizabeth Regional School, Whitehall in 2005.

He was ordained to the diaconate in May 2016 at the cathedral by then Bishop John Barres, now bishop of Rockville Centre, New York.

Concelebrants were priests of the Diocese of Allentown and Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Connolly, Tara. “Father John Rother new priest for the diocese.” AD Times, 8 June 2017, http://www.allentowndiocese.org/files/1214/9692/7627/ADTimes_web_6-8-2017.pdf

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Note: Reverend John F. Rother is now a Parochial Vicar at Saint Catharine of Siena Parish, Reading.

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Prayer for a New Bishop

Lord God,
from age to age you appoint
Shepherds to lead your Church.
Grant to our Diocese a Shepherd
after your own heart:
courageous, faithful,
and a humble servant.
May his witness to true holiness
inspire us to conform our lives
to the Gospel,
to seek our nourishment
in the power of the Sacraments,
and to become ever more your Holy Church.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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Relics at the Cathedral

You may have noticed the presence of two gold vessles placed under the statues of the Blessed Vigin Mary and child Jesus and St. Catharine of Siena in the sancturay of the Cathedral. These are relics, or holy objects of religious veneration, which may vary from the bones of a saint to an object which was touched a martyr during his or her lifetime. Each relic is housed in a distinctive container referred to as a reliquary.

Beneath the statue of St. Catharine (right side of sanctuary as you face the tabernacle) is a relic of St. Catharine of Siena. A relic of the True Cross of Christ is located beneath the statue of the Blessed Vigin holding the Child Jesus.

Former Pastor Msgr. Baker commented, "relics remind us of the holiness of the lives of the saints and brings to mind their heroic sacrifice in living the faith. The relics remind us of the link we all continue to have with the entire communion of saints, especially as we participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Relics also helps us turn to the intercession of the saints for all our needs."

"As attested to in Scripture, relics are instruments of divine power. The bones of the Prophet Elisha brought a dead man to life (2 Kgs. 13:20-21). A woman was cured of a hemorrhage by touching the hem of Christ’s cloak (Matt. 9:20-22) and the sick were healed when Peter’s shadow passed over them (Acts 5:14-16). Handkerchiefs and aprons of St. Paul cured the sick and drove out demons (Acts 19:11-12)," Msgr. Baker added.

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The Siena Society

The Siena Society has been established to build long-term financial stability for our parish or St. John Vianney Regional School; and to encourage, support and celebrate gifts that ensure that our parish remains vital and vibrant for those who come after us. Click here to learn more about this important program.

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Today's Mass Readings