LARKSVILLE – As the month of March ended, so too did a series of 12 Lenten Holy Hours celebrated by the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton.

Beginning at Saint Rose of Lima Parish in Carbondale Feb. 23 and ending at Saint John the Baptist Parish in Larksville March 29, Bishop Bambera joined the faithful of each deanery to proclaim and adore the presence of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

Hundreds of faithful attended each of the Lenten Holy Hours – meaning overall that several thousand people experienced the love of Jesus poured forth from the Cross.

Organized to help highlight the National Eucharistic Revival that has been underway for nearly one year – the Lenten Holy Hours were a time for the Church to discover anew the life-giving strength of the Eucharist – the living presence of Jesus among us.

During his homily at each stop, Bishop Bambera emphasized three important realities that he hoped the faithful would take from each Holy Hour.

First, through the Eucharist, we learn that we are incorporated into Christ’s Paschal Mystery – His suffering, death and resurrection – through which we are saved.

Bishop Bambera stated,

“‘For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup,’ Saint Paul reminds us, ‘you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.’ What does that mean for us? It means that we do not suffer alone, for Christ suffers with us. It means that the deaths that we experience are known and grieved by Christ. It means that like Jesus who rose, despite our suffering and deaths, we have hope for new life in this world and the world to come.”

“But to make this mystery our mystery, Christ, in the Eucharist, first beckons us to remove the facades that we so often use to mask our troubles and disappointments, our suffering and pain, our failures, sins and death and to come to him as we are to be forgiven, healed and created anew through the power of his resurrection. His death is our death. His rising to new life is our rising as well.”

Second through the Eucharist, we are bound together as brothers and sisters.

Bishop Bambera continued,

“Recall the words of Pope Benedict in this first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, ‘I cannot possess Christ just for myself … Communion draws me out of myself towards him and thus also towards unity with all Christians.’ That means that while the love of God given to us through Christ is without conditions, it is not without consequences. Communion with the Eucharistic body of Christ must be accompanied by our communion with the mystical body of Christ, which is the Church – our brothers and sisters.”

Third, Through the Eucharist, we are sent forth on mission – to be the living presence of Jesus in our world today.

The bishop noted,


“Saint Paul challenges the Corinthians, ‘You who share the same bread and cup receive the same Christ in the Eucharist, and as such, you become one with each other and with the Lord whom you receive.’ You become one with your husband, your wife; one with your child; one with the neighbor you find intolerable; one with the person of color or ethnic background or lifestyle that you’d rather not accept; one with the poor.”

“Eucharist compels us, brothers and sisters, to remember that we not only receive the risen Christ but also are called to something more. Early in his pontificate, Saint John Paul II wrote to the bishops of the world about the gift of the Eucharist. As he spoke of the sublime gift of God in the sacramental presence of Jesus that we honor and adore this night, he also said this: ‘The authentic sense of the Eucharist is that it becomes the school of active love for my neighbor. If authentically received, Eucharist must make us grow in awareness of one another.’”

As he concluded his remarks each evening, Bishop Bambera told the faithful there is nothing that cannot be forgiven and healed by Jesus.

“Allow his mercy and forgiveness to envelop your lives and to recreate your spirits,” Bishop Bambera ended by saying. “Trust in His promise to save. Open your hearts and let His love fill you with peace. Receive Christ and then, filled with His life, become Christ for our broken world.”

To read Bishop Bambera’s full homily from the Lenten Holy Hours, visit the Bishop’s Office page here on the Diocesan website.

ROME (CNS) – Pope Francis used his third day at Rome’s Gemelli hospital to visit children hospitalized in the oncology ward and to confer the sacrament of baptism on a tiny infant named Miguel Angel.

The child, who was just a few weeks old, was sleeping peacefully in a portable hospital bassinet as the pope and the mother prepared for the sacrament and medical staff looked on March 31. The Holy See press office provided a video of the baptism and other images of the pope’s visit to the pediatric ward.

Pope Francis comforts Miguel Angel after baptizing the baby boy in Rome’s Gemelli hospital March 31, 2023. The pope spent about half an hour in the hospital’s pediatric oncology ward the afternoon before he was scheduled to be released from Gemelli after being treated for bronchitis. (CNS photo/Holy See Press Office)

The pope was given a small metal emesis basin filled with water. Reciting the baptismal formula in Spanish, he sprinkled the water with his hand on the baby, who loudly protested the sudden shower. He urged the mother to go ahead and try and comfort the infant while the pope made his own attempts by soothing the child’s face and tapping his mouth.

The pope wrote out by hand the baptismal certificate as seen in another image, which also showed the pope’s left wrist wrapped in gauze and an elastic bandage.

The pope spent about 30 minutes visiting the ward, bringing the children rosaries, large chocolate Easter eggs and copies of the book “Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea.”

The surprise visit came the day after the pope enjoyed a pizza “party” with staff on his second night at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.

In the evening of March 30, “Pope Francis had dinner, eating pizza together with those assisting him throughout the days of his hospital stay,” that is, doctors, nurses, assistants and members of the Vatican police, the Vatican press office said March 31.

After breakfast on March 31, “he read some newspapers and resumed work,” it said.

Pope Francis was expected to be able to return to his Vatican residence April 1, the press office said, although the final decision would depend on the results of tests carried out early March 31.

Pope Francis writes out a baptismal certificate after baptizing Miguel Angel, a baby boy, in Rome’s Gemelli hospital March 31, 2023. The pope spent about half an hour in the hospital’s pediatric oncology ward the afternoon before he was scheduled to be released from Gemelli after being treated for bronchitis. (CNS photo/Holy See Press Office)

Matteo Bruni, head of the press office, later confirmed the 86-year-old pope’s “presence” at the Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square April 2.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, said, “With the pope at each celebration, there will be a cardinal celebrant who will be at the altar,” the Italian newspaper, La Repubblica reported March 31.

According to Cardinal Re, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri will be the main celebrant at the Palm Sunday Mass and Cardinal Re will be the main celebrant at Easter morning Mass, although the pope will read his traditional message and give his blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world).

According to Vatican press office reports, Pope Francis has been showing continued and “marked” improvement for what tests revealed was a case of bronchitis, after he was admitted to the hospital the afternoon of March 29 for breathing difficulties.

The pope was treated with intravenous antibiotics for the respiratory infection that was not COVID-19. The Vatican had said that the pope had complained of “some respiratory difficulties” in recent days.

The Vatican originally said the pope was taken to the hospital for “previously planned tests,” and later stated that he would remain at the hospital for a few days. Pope Francis’ scheduled meetings for March 30 and 31 had been canceled “to make room in his agenda for the tests to continue,” an official said.


March 31, 2023

His Excellency, Bishop Joseph C. Bambera, announces the following appointments.

Reverend Kenneth M. Seegar, from Pastor, Holy Rosary Parish, Hazleton, and Holy Name of Jesus Parish, West Hazleton, to Leave of Absence for reasons of health, effective March 30, 2023. 

Reverend Binesh Joseph Kanjirakattu, from Assistant Pastor, Holy Rosary Parish, Hazleton, and Holy Name of Jesus Parish, West Hazleton, to Administrator, Holy Rosary Parish, Hazleton, and Holy Name of Jesus Parish, West Hazleton, effective May 17, 2023.

Reverend Michael J. Piccola, from Administrator, Holy Rosary Parish, Hazleton, and Holy Name of Jesus Parish, West Hazleton.  Father will remain Pastor, Saints Cyril and Methodius Parish, Hazleton, effective May 17, 2023.

ROME (CNS) – Pope Francis enjoyed a pizza “party” with staff on his second night at Rome’s Gemelli hospital and was expected to be released from the hospital April 1, the Vatican press office said.

Matteo Bruni, head of the press office, later confirmed the 86-year-old pope’s “presence” at the Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square April 2.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, said, “With the pope at each celebration, there will be a cardinal celebrant who will be at the altar,” the Italian newspaper, La Repubblica reported March 31.

Pope Francis’ suite sits on the top floor of Rome’s Gemelli hospital, whose entrance is pictured here, March 30, 2023. The pope was admitted to the hospital March 29 due to concerns over breathing difficulties and was diagnosed with a “respiratory infection,” according to the Vatican. (CNS photo/Justin McLellan)

According to Cardinal Re, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri will be the main celebrant at the Palm Sunday Mass and Cardinal Re will be the main celebrant at Easter morning Mass, although the pope will read his traditional message and give his blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world).

According to Vatican press office reports, Pope Francis has been showing continued and “marked” improvement for what tests revealed was a case of bronchitis, after he was admitted to the hospital the afternoon of March 29 for breathing difficulties.

In the evening of March 30, “Pope Francis had dinner, eating pizza together with those assisting him throughout the days of his hospital stay,” that is, doctors, nurses, assistants and members of the Vatican police, the Vatican press office said March 31.

After breakfast on March 31, “he read some newspapers and resumed work,” it said.

Pope Francis was expected to be able to return to his Vatican residence April 1, it said, although the final decision would depend on the results of tests carried out early March 31.

The pope was treated with intravenous antibiotics for the respiratory infection that was not COVID-19. The Vatican had said that the pope had complained of “some respiratory difficulties” in recent days.

The Vatican originally said the pope was taken to the hospital for “previously planned tests,” and later stated that he would remain at the hospital for a few days. Pope Francis’ scheduled meetings for March 30 and 31 had been canceled “to make room in his agenda for the tests to continue,” an official said.

ROME (CNS) – More than 24 hours after he entered the hospital, Pope Francis’ doctors reported a “marked improvement” in his condition, which they attributed to treatment with intravenous antibiotics.

The tests the pope underwent after entering Rome’s Gemelli hospital with difficulty breathing revealed he had bronchitis, said a medical bulletin released by the Vatican press office March 30. “Based on his expected progress, the Holy Father could be discharged in the coming days.”

Earlier in the day, the Vatican said the pope “rested well” his first night in the hospital and was “steadily improving” from what it described as a respiratory infection.

A videographer films outside of Rome’s Gemelli hospital March 30, 2023. Pope Francis was admitted to the hospital March 29 due to concerns over breathing difficulties. The pope was diagnosed with a “respiratory infection,” according to the Vatican. (CNS photo/Justin McLellan)

He spent the morning reading some newspapers, eating breakfast and had “resumed working,” the Vatican had said. Before lunch, he went to the chapel near his hospital room to pray, and he received Communion.

The evening bulletin said, “Pope Francis spent the afternoon at Gemelli devoting himself to rest, prayer and some work duties.”

The Vatican said that the pope had complained of “some respiratory difficulties” in recent days and was admitted to the hospital for medical tests, the results of which detected a “respiratory infection” but excluded COVID-19.

The 86-year-old pope is missing a piece of his lung that was removed in 1957 when he was 20 years old and training to become a priest in his native Argentina. He has insisted the operation has had no lasting impact on his health.

Photographers, television cameras and reporters waited outside the hospital March 30, but they formed the only crowd gathered there for the pope.

Before going to the hospital, Pope Francis held his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square and showed no obvious signs of breathing problems.

The Vatican originally said the pope was taken to the hospital for “previously planned tests,” and later stated that he would remain the hospital for a few days. Pope Francis’ scheduled meetings for March 30 and 31 were cancelled “to make room in his agenda for the tests to continue,” an official said.

“Pope Francis is touched by the many messages received and expresses his gratitude for the closeness and prayer,” the Vatican said in its second statement March 29.

Italian media reported that the pope was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, but the Vatican press office refused to comment on those reports.

The Gemelli hospital, part of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, keeps a suite of rooms reserved for the popes on its 10th floor.

Pope Francis had spent 10 days there in July 2021 after undergoing a three-hour surgery that included a left hemicolectomy, which is the removal of the descending part of the colon, a surgery that can be recommended to treat diverticulitis.

In late January, the pope told the Associated Press that his diverticulitis had returned, but insisted he was in good health for his age.

In an interview with the Reuters news agency in July 2022, he dismissed as “court gossip” rumors that cancer was found during his colon operation.

ROME (CNS) – After spending the night in the hospital, Pope Francis is “steadily improving” from a respiratory infection and continuing his planned course of treatment, the Vatican press office said.

After he “rested well overnight,” the Vatican said March 30, he “read some newspapers after eating breakfast and has resumed working.”

Before lunch, Pope Francis received the Eucharist in the chapel near his room at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, the statement said.

A videographer films outside of Rome’s Gemelli hospital March 30, 2023. Pope Francis was admitted to the hospital March 29 due to concerns over breathing difficulties. The pope was diagnosed with a “respiratory infection,” according to the Vatican. (CNS photo/Justin McLellan)

Pope Francis was admitted to Gemelli hospital March 29 after having trouble breathing.

The Vatican said that the pope had complained of “some respiratory difficulties” in recent days and was admitted to the hospital for medical tests, the results of which detected a “respiratory infection” but excluded COVID-19.

The 86-year-old pope is missing a piece of his lung that was removed in 1957 when he was 20 years old and training to become a priest in his native Argentina. He has insisted the operation has had no lasting impact on his health.

Photographers, television cameras and reporters waited outside the hospital March 30, but they formed the only crowd gathered there for the pope.

Before going to the hospital, Pope Francis held his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square and showed no obvious signs of breathing problems.

The Vatican originally said the pope was taken to the hospital for “previously planned tests,” and later stated that he would remain the hospital for a few days. Pope Francis’ scheduled meetings for March 30 and 31 were cancelled “to make room in his agenda for the tests to continue,” an official said.

“Pope Francis is touched by the many messages received and expresses his gratitude for the closeness and prayer,” the Vatican said in its second statement March 29.

Italian media reported that the pope was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, but the Vatican press office refused to comment on those reports.

The Gemelli hospital, part of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, keeps a suite of rooms reserved for the popes on its 10th floor.

Pope Francis had spent 10 days there in July 2021 after undergoing a three-hour surgery that included a left hemicolectomy, which is the removal of the descending part of the colon, a surgery that can be recommended to treat diverticulitis.

In late January, the pope told the Associated Press that his diverticulitis had returned, but insisted he was in good health for his age.

In an interview with the Reuters news agency in July 2022, he dismissed as “court gossip” rumors that cancer was found during his colon operation.

 

Your tax dollars could pay for abortions for veterans!

The U.S. Senate will be voting soon on whether to overturn a recent Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) rule that provides taxpayer funded abortions on-demand for veterans, and their spouses and kids. For decades, the law has stopped the VA from providing abortions in its health care benefits packages. Last September, the VA violated this law, as well as long-standing practices preventing taxpayer funding for elective abortion, and issued a regulation to provide such abortions – even in States where they’re now illegal. Further, the rule does not protect the conscience rights of workers who could be forced to participate in abortions. The U.S. Senate will vote soon to overturn the VA’s rule, and your senators need to hear from you. Please tell them to not turn VA hospitals into illegal abortion clinics. Women — especially our heroes in need of care — and their children deserve better.

Messages in your own words can be more effective. Please consider customizing with your own story.

To learn more about how the VA rule has these effects and the USCCB’s response, you may view our original regulatory comment letter to the VA here.

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(OSV News) – The Archdiocese of Hartford is investigating a possible Eucharistic miracle at one of its parishes, where Communion hosts seemingly multiplied during a March 5 Sunday Mass.

Father Joseph Crowley, pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Thomaston, Connecticut, said in a YouTube livestream of his March 12 homily that an unnamed extraordinary minister of the Eucharist at the previous week’s liturgy had begun to run out of Communion hosts — only to find that “all of a sudden there (were) more hosts in the ciborium.” The St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish is comprised of three church locations — St. Thomas, Immaculate Conception and St. Casimir — and the alleged multiplication of Communion hosts took place at St. Thomas.

The minister continued to distribute the hosts to some “100, 150 people in the congregation,” after which “there was the same amount, if not more hosts” in the ciborium, said Father Crowley, who had celebrated the March 5 liturgy. “What happened is Our Lord multiplied himself. … I have no doubt. I know what I gave the person. I know what (was) returned (to the tabernacle). It was just very obvious and plain to me as to what happened.”

Father Crowley said in his March 12 homily he wanted to tell parishioners “from the horse’s mouth as to exactly what happened,” and “stick to the facts” to avoid confusion.

In a livestream video of his post-Communion remarks at the March 5 liturgy at St. Thomas, a visibly struck Father Crowley said the experience was “very powerful, very awesome, very real, very shocking.”

David Elliott, associate director of communications for the Archdiocese of Hartford, told OSV News that the archdiocesan judicial vicar, Father George S. Mukuka, “has been looking into the possibility of a Eucharistic miracle” at the parish.

Following the investigation, the judicial vicar will prepare a report for Hartford Archbishop Leonard P. Blair, “who will make a determination from there” regarding the event’s supernatural nature, said Elliott.

Several of the seemingly multiplied hosts had been distributed at daily Mass March 6 and 7, but were then kept in reserve as the archdiocesan investigation is still underway, said Father Crowley in his March 12 homily.

He said that the incident — which he described as “one of those moments where God showed up in a very powerful, powerful way” — had stunned him.

“I haven’t been praying for anything like this,” he said. “I’ve heard of this happening. I don’t know of any person out of my 20-plus years of dealing with the church … (and) dealing with hundreds of priests … hundreds, thousands of people, (and) many, many bishops. I know that the Lord can do anything. He does all things for nothing is impossible for God.”

At the same time, “the real miracle is the fact that we’re able to take simple bread and wine, and through the prayers of the church, through the hands of the priest, Christ is made present through transubstantiation,” said Father Crowley. “Our Lord then becomes the flesh and blood hidden under the mere presence of bread and wine.”

Through the apparent multiplication of hosts, “Our Lord gave us one of the best moments of reflection this Lent about himself, about the Eucharist,” said Father Crowley.

Father Crowley acknowledged that people often go through situations where “God seems so removed, so hidden … not part of our everyday moment because we don’t see him.”

“It’s sometimes hard to see a God that seems to be so hidden,” he said. “Perhaps the Lord had done this before, where you just give Communion out and all of a sudden there’s plenty of hosts and you just keep going. But to … be made aware is part of the miracle.”

A local saint in the making also may have played a role, Father Crowley said, since Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, served as pastor of St. Thomas Church from 1884 until his death in 1890.

“I think in a very profound way that … because of Blessed McGivney’s life here … it shows that this is a very special place. And it’s important to God,” said Father Crowley. “And I think good things are coming. I think great things are coming.”

As a parishioner pointed out to him, “we’re so easy to accept an act of evil, an act of harm,” but “it’s hard for us to accept an act of goodness or a God moment or a moment with Christ,” said Father Crowley.

“As we move forward, we really need to see our world through the lens of faith, through the eyes of faith,” he said. “And the more we get closer to our Lord, the more we’re going to see him in our everyday lives.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis’ message of hope for humanity will be shot into earth’s orbit as a “nanobook” embedded inside a small satellite and his words will also be transmitted back to earth each day for ham radio reception.

The new space mission, called “Spei Satelles,” is being promoted by the Dicastery for Communication and coordinated by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The project was unveiled at the Vatican March 27, the anniversary of Pope Francis’ prayer service he led in an empty St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Msgr. Lucio Adrián Ruiz, secretary of the Dicastery for Communication, said at the Vatican news conference that they have found many ways to spread the pope’s words and images from that historic evening three years ago: first as a global livestream, then a book “Why Are You Afraid? Have You No Faith?” which gathers together Pope Francis’ most significant speeches and comments during the pandemic.

Pope Francis holds the monstrance as he delivers his extraordinary blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) during a prayer service in the portico of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican March 27, 2020. The service was livestreamed in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

That book was later turned into a palm-sized edition that went to the North Pole and Norway’s Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the world’s largest seed vault, as a symbol of the safeguarding of the planet’s biodiversity.

While more than 150,000 copies of the book have now been sold around the world, the monsignor said the next step was to send the book literally around the world in a low earth orbit satellite as a symbolic gesture of extending the pope’s loving embrace even farther.

In fact, the Latin name of the mission, “Spes Satelles,” can be translated as “satellite of hope” and “guardian of hope,” Msgr. Ruiz said, to signify the satellite is also a guardian, keeping the pope’s message of hope alive for all of humanity.

About two dozen students at the Polytechnic University of Turin built the mini satellite called a CubeSat, which will house the nano version of the pope’s book.

The nanobook was created by Italy’s National Research Council (CNR). The lab converted the 150-page book — about 86 square feet of printed material — into binary code that fits on a tiny chip, said Andrea Notargiacomo, head researcher in nanotechnology at CNR. The 2 mm-by-2 mm chip is about the size of the tip of a crayon.

Sabrina Corpino, a mechanical and aerospace engineer and professor who helped the polytechnical university students, said the satellite is set up to send radio signals back to earth.

If all goes as planned after its scheduled launch from Vandenberg Base (VSFB) in California June 10, any amateur radio receiver should be able to pick up its radio signals (437.5 MHz) transmitting papal messages of hope and peace in English, Italian and Spanish.

Like some other space missions, people are invited to submit their name to be put on a chip that will go with the satellite. However, this mission will take it one step further, said Father Luca Peyron, who is head of the Archdiocese of Turin’s apostolate for the digital world.

To get a “boarding pass” into space, people will be asked to carry out a corporal or spiritual work of mercy or non-Catholics can perform a gesture or deed that fosters human fraternity, he said.

This way, the pope’s words will have symbolic significance “up there” in the heavens, he said, and concrete action “down here” on earth.

People can take part by going to speisatelles.org where they can get their virtual boarding pass and follow the mission’s progress. Students and teachers at the Salesian University Institute in Venice created the “Spei Satelles” logo, which depicts beads of the rosary circling the earth, which is formed by two “S” letters.

Pope Francis was scheduled to bless the satellite and the nanobook at the end of his general audience May 29.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Gossip is the enemy of a parish’s sense of community and acceptance, Pope Francis said.

The pope warned of the dangers of gossip during a meeting at the Vatican March 25 with a parish from Rho, near Milan in northern Italy.

Gossip “kills,” the pope said, before recommending a “good medicine” to stop it.

“If you feel that you want to gossip, bite your tongue,” said the pope.

Pope Francis greets a child during a meeting with parishioners from Rho in the Archdiocese of Milan in the Vatican audience hall March 25, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Gossip, he said, “is a plague that ruins parishes, families and so many other things.”

The pope described parishes as “blessed places” where the church’s diversity is represented by bringing together different “generations, backgrounds, ways of serving and different and complementary gifts.”

“This is the church,” he said. “When the church is not like that it falls into worldliness, it falls into clericalism which is an ugly thing.”

The parish, Pope Francis said, “is the place where, following Jesus, we meet, we get to know one another, enrich one another as people from different generations and cultural and social backgrounds, each with something unique to give and receive.”

Parishes must remain places of welcome for whoever enters, he said. “If you are a priest, it’s for this reason; if you are on the parish council, it is for this reason: to open doors, to open windows, to always receive (others) with a smile and never say ‘not now.’ Total openness.”

Pope Francis also underscored the value of involving children in parish activities and regularly celebrating children’s Masses.

Parish life offers young people an opportunity to engage with their community’s elderly people, he added, urging young people to “talk, debate and listen to the elderly, because they will give you strength so you may go forth taking a piece from their (life) story.”