Welcome
Updates for our parishioners
Update: July 5, 2020
The annual Home for the Holidays November Wine Walk sponsored by the Knights of Columbus has been cancelled for this year.
The annual Breakfast with Santa has been cancelled for this year.
The annual Yard Sale at St. Timothy Church hall has been cancelled for this year. We will assess where we are next year with regards to the COVID - 19 crisis if it lingers into the new year.
The celebration of the Feast of St. Bonaventure which falls annually on July 15th has been postponed until Sunday, September 20, 2020, at the 11:00 am Mass followed by a covered dish luncheon if we are not social distancing at this time.
Our first weekend of public Masses went very smoothly for our partnered parishes. Parishioners were patient and co-operative and didn't lose a beat in the responses. I want to thank our protocol ushers for their service to their respective parishes to ensure that the protocols were followed. And kudos to those who remained after the Masses to sanitize the pews, kneelers, etc. Attendance is low in each parish of the diocese at this time. It is understandable.
Bishop Persico has continued to dispense Roman Catholics in the Diocese of Erie from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation during the COVID-19 crisis. YOU MAY DECIDE TO PARTICIPATE IN A DAILY MASS INSTEAD OF A SUNDAY MASS. IF ILL OR FINDING IT VERY HARD TO MANEUVER BECAUSE OF AGE OR ILLNESS, PLEASE WORSHIP FROM HOME AT THIS TIME. IT IS AS IMPORTANT THAT WE CONTINUE TO KEEP OUR YOUNGEST PARISHIONERS SAFE AS WELL.
Daily public Masses have begun using the same time and day schedule which we followed before March 17, 2020.
For weekend Masses please come 20 minutes before Mass begins in order to be seated by the Protocol Ushers. Masks must be worn in church and throughout Mass. They are uncomfortable but wearing a mask protects yourself and those around you. It is an act of charity.
The process for receiving offertory envelopes is reverting back to the procedure we had when we had public Masses. However, since we are not permitted to have an offertory procession at Mass, please drop your envelopes in the offertory boxes at the entrances of your church if you are attending Mass. If not attending Mass, you may continue bringing or mailing your offertory envelopes to the parishes' office.
For those who serve in lay ministries for Masses, please note that only Lectors will be utilized until further notice. One of the protocols directs that only the priest and/or deacon will distribute Holy Communion. There will be no need for Altar Servers because the chalice must be prepared by the priest before Mass begins. The prayers for the Mass will be done from the Altar of Sacrifice as will the entire Mass.
Evening Change: The evening for Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament will be changed from Thursday evenings to Wednesday evenings, 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm, beginning July 1, 2020. St. Bonaventure Church and St. Timothy Church will alternate weekly. Adoration will be at St. Bonaventure Church on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. St. Timothy Church will be the site the following Wednesday, July 8, 2020.
Sanitizing Stations in our churches will be part of the "new normal". We must have hand sanitizer before we begin public Masses. Please avail yourselves of this safety measure when you enter and exit church. The ushers will make sure this is done. Masks will have to be worn in church as well. If you are not willing to wear a mask, then please remain home and watch Mass on television or Facebook streaming.
The Sacrament of Penance is offered 4 days a week, Monday through Thursday at St. Timothy Church for the present time, mornings, afternoons and evenings by appointment only. Parishioners from St. Bonaventure Church and St. Timothy Church may call the office and set up a time with Father Steve Collins for confession. Masks must be worn and there will be distancing between the priest and the penitent at the selected site in the Church. The Office phone number is 814-236-1845. Thank you! Confessions will continue to be by appointment for a while after we return to public Masses.
By the direction of Bishop Persico, face masks/coverings must be worn when entering the premises of Catholic churches/halls/schools in accordance with his Decree on Protocols issued first to pastors on Wednesday, May 20, 2020. No one may attend Mass or other para-liturgical services without wearing a mask.
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During the Pandemic period, Saint Bonaventure Church is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 am to 12 Noon for individual (private) prayer.
St. Timothy Church is open Mondays through Thursdays from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. Enter through the secure parking lot doors by the parishes' office.
The parishes' office is closed on Fridays through July.
Beginning Monday, July 6, the office hours will be Monday through Thursday from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.
Parish Staff
Mrs. Ronda Hamilton, Office Manager
Mrs. Terri Clarkson, Faith Formation Leader
Mrs. Jill Test, Director St. Timothy Pre-School
Rev. Stephen Collins, Pastor
St. Bonaventure
461 Main Street
Grampian, PA 16838
814-236-1845
Mailing Address: 306 Walnut Street, Curwensville PA 16833
Sunday Mass: 11:00 AM
(Confessions at 10:30 AM)
St. Timothy
306 Walnut Street
Curwensville, PA 16833
814-236-1845
Saturday Vigil: 4:30 PM
(Confession at 4:00 PM after COVID-19)
Sunday Mass: 8:30 AM
sttimothychurch@atlanticbb.net
Mass Schedule & Intentions
Mass Schedule & Intentions
Mass Schedule & Intentions
Public Mass Intentions for the week beginning July 6 through July 12, 2020
St. Timothy Church
Monday, July 6, 2020:
Josephine McNaul
by Jerry and David McNaul
St. Bonaventure Church
Tuesday, July 7, 2020:
Randall Shurr, Jr.
by Chuck & Mary Ann SIpes
St. Timothy Church
Wednesday, July 8, 2020:
Donald Evanko
by John Evanko
St. Bonaventure Churc
Public Mass Intentions for the week beginning July 6 through July 12, 2020
St. Timothy Church
Monday, July 6, 2020:
Josephine McNaul
by Jerry and David McNaul
St. Bonaventure Church
Tuesday, July 7, 2020:
Randall Shurr, Jr.
by Chuck & Mary Ann SIpes
St. Timothy Church
Wednesday, July 8, 2020:
Donald Evanko
by John Evanko
St. Bonaventure Church
Thursday, July 9, 2020:
Francis Nelen
by Tom & JoAnn Johnson
St. Timothy Church
4:30 pm Saturday, July 11 2020
For the People
8:30 am Sunday, July 12, 2020
Cindy Spencer
by Ed Spencer and Family
St. Bonaventure Church
11:00 am , Sunday, July 12, 2020
Francis Nelen
by CJ & Gidget Spencer & Family
Mass Schedule & Intentions
Faith Seeking Understanding
Father Steve: How do we tell if we are truly Catholics? I wonder about myself sometimes but I always go to Mass.
Answer: In the past five years the Church has been considering an appropriate answerto what it means to be Roman Catholic or Eastern Rite. Before the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the underst
Faith Seeking Understanding
Father Steve: How do we tell if we are truly Catholics? I wonder about myself sometimes but I always go to Mass.
Answer: In the past five years the Church has been considering an appropriate answerto what it means to be Roman Catholic or Eastern Rite. Before the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the understanding of what it meant to be "Catholic" was that if one was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into the Church already having been baptized, that that person was "Catholic" even if he/she did not practice the Catholic Faith.
I have always had a problem with the pre-Vatican II approach. Such an approach takes away the responsibility which all Christians have of living their faith within a faith community. Otherwise, Christ's founding of the Church was a waste of time and effort. We know better. While bishops and those priests in authority within the diocesan structure of governance, in general, will bind themselves by Canon Law, there remains the question about one's personal responsibility to God and to the Faith community (Church). I believe that we must respect the faith decisions of people. If they were baptized Catholic but have decided to become a member of a different Christian tradition, then we must respect the decision.
The approach now in Faith Formation or what we used to refer to as Religious Education is that one continues to be "formed" in the Faith through personal responsibility for one's spiritual life. Therefore, I would draw from this that just because one has been baptized in the Roman Catholic Church or Eastern Rite Churches, there remains the duty to practice the Faith 24/7, with the stipulation that we can fall "short of the mark" and sin when we withdraw ourselves from our spiritual responsibilities. Faith formation would respond that after sin comes the contrite heart asking God to take one back into His love and His Church.
Just attending Mass each weekend and doing absolutely nothing else spiritually does not guarantee that the Gates of Heaven will be opened for us after we die. We need more than the weekend Mass to sustain us because of our human nature. We need daily prayer. We need to practice the virtues. Parents need to be the first religious educators of their children,, helping them to become holy. There are so many ingredients which go into living a good Catholic Christian life.
Just being baptized does not suffice. On-going faith formation is the clue to a practical Catholic Christian life.
A baptized person who has left the Catholic Church may return anytime after the separation from the Faith Community. It requires that one goes to the Sacrament of Confession in order to be "restored" to God and His Church and therefore be able to once again enjoy the Sacramental life of Grace.
Father Collins, My sister has been married for a while to her husband (7 years). He was married four times previous to marrying my sister. The wedding was done my a magistrate I think. Anyway, she receives the sacraments just about every week at Mass and going to confession. I tell her she can't do this because she is out of the church. Am I correct?
Answer: In this situation, she needs to sit down with her priest and explain her entire story with regards to her marriage to a man who has been married four times previously. It would take some time to figure this all out but you are correct in that she has separated herself from the Sacramental Life of the Church in her marriage to her husband who was married four times before he met her. Too, she was married outside of the Church. This means that an ordained minister was not present to hear the vows. She may not officially understand the circumstances of her actions and needs, instead, to converse with a priest regarding her status in the Church. Because she is a sibling of yours she may simply be selective in what she wants to hear from you.
God is the God of mercy and forgiveness. I might let her go to confession with the stipulation that it is not being celebrated as a Sacrament but as a different way to show her contrite heart and her desire for forgiveness. But she have to promise not to go to the Sacraments until the marriage situation could be resolved.