Bishop Mark celebrated the Institution to Ministry of Acolyte during Mass on September 27, 2025, at St. John Gualbert Cathedral in Johnstown, PA.

The candidates who received the Rite of Acolyte were (Pictured left to right): Walter Zapotoczny, St. Joseph Parish-Bellwood, John Fontana, Visitation Parish-Johnstown and Matthew Marafino, All Saints Parish-Boswell.



We pray for continued blessing to our candidates, their wives and families!

WHY INTERCESSORY PRAYER?

by Jeannette Martino Land

Jesus strongly recommends intercessory prayer: ''Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to

you" (Mt 7:7). The words of the Our Father as well as Jesus' example during his public ministry confirm this and form the precedent for Christian prayer.

Faith is the primary requisite for intercessory prayer. Jesus said, "Everything is possible to one who has faith" (Mk 9:23). As we grow in faith and our rela-tionship with God deepens, we realize that because we are members of a community of brothers and sisters, we can-indeed we must-bring the needs of others before God.

Intercessory prayer is praying for the needs of others. It can be public, private, or shared with the person in need, depending on the situation and the circumstances. These prayers can be for vocations to the priesthood and religious life; world peace; respect for all life; social justice; ecumenism; proper care of the environment; the needs of our family, community, and parish; and a host of other subjects about which we as Catholic Christians should be concerned. Interceding for others is praying out of the stuff of our daily lives. Read more

Article taken from Spirit & Life Magazine

CREATIVITY & SPIRITUALITY

by Susan Black

As an artist, writer, and Benedictine oblate, I thank God for the gifts of creativity and spirituality. It is my deepest desire to usethese gifts in my work and as I strive to live out the Rule of Saint Benedict. I believe that creativity and spirituality are intimately joined together as essen-tial and God-given elements oflife. I believe that creativity and spirituality permeate every aspect of our existence and all that any of us do in any part of our lives for ourselves, for each other, and for God.

God blessed us at the time of our creation. We are created in God's image and likeness, and so we are God's co-creators. God let us loose upon the Earth that he created to enjoy it and to actively continue the work of creation. Scripture tells us that after God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground and blew the breath of life into his nostrils, God "took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it" (Gn 2:15). Adam's first job was to till the Earth; his second job was to name the animals (Gn 2:19-20). God wants to be with us, to know us, and to be known by us. God liked to walk with Adam and Eve in the garden in the cool of the day (Gn 3:8)

Read more

Article taken from Spirit & Life Magazine

REMEMBERING THE CHRISTMAS STORY: OUR SPIRITUAL HERITAGE

by Jeanette Martino Land

Christmas is the remarkable story of how much a part of us God chooses to be, yet we forget that God's promise of salvation is fulfilled by his great and wondrous love-gift to the world: Jesus. We get caught up in parties and presents and ignore the Real Presence of the God who is with us. We are so caught up with the birth of the Baby that we forget the rest of the story. A story that began in the past, continues in the present, and impacts the future.

We forget the role the prophets played in the Christmas Story. The prophets, whose actions are recorded in the Bible, received their prophetic ministry from God. Their lives of penance and sacrifice were entirely devoted to this divine calling. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "Through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel, " God announced the coming of the Messiah (#522).

"When the Church reads the Old Testament, she searches there for what the Spirit, who has spoken through the prophets, once to tell us about Christ" (#702). Isaiah is said to be the greatest of all the divinely inspired prophets. Read more

Article Taken from Spirit & Life Magazine

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