DIAKONIA Newsletter

DIAKONIA

LENT NEWSLETTER

February 2024

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

XXXII WORLD DAY OF THE SICK

Pope Francis

“It is not good that man should be alone” (cf. Gen 2:18). From the beginning, God, who is love, created us for communion and endowed us with an innate capacity to enter into relationship with others. Our lives, reflecting in the image of the Trinity, are meant to attain fulfilment through a network of relationships, friendships and love, both given and received. We were created to be together, not alone. Precisely because this project of communion is so deeply rooted in the human heart, we see the experience of abandonment and solitude as something frightening, painful and even inhuman. This is all the more the case at times of vulnerability, uncertainty and insecurity, caused often by the onset of a serious illness.

In this regard, I think of all those who found themselves terribly alone during the Covid-19 pandemic: the patients who could not receive visitors, but also the many nurses, physicians and support personnel overwhelmed by work and enclosed in isolation wards. Naturally, we cannot fail to recall all those persons who had to face the hour of their death alone, assisted by healthcare personnel, but far from their own families. Read More

Academic Weekend

March 8-10, 2024

Antiochian Village Retreat Center

Annual Diaconate Retreat

"Responding to the Spirit in the Soul, in the Church, and in the World"

Fr. Bruce Nieli, Retreat Director

June 9 - 13, 2024

Antiochian Village Retreat Center

Annual Deacon Picnic

Saturday, August 11, 2024

1:00 PM

St. Michael Parish, St. Michael

Annual Dinner with Bishop Mark for Deacons and Wives

Thursday, September 19, 2024

5:00 PM

U.S. Hotel Tavern, Hollidaysburg

Rite of Lector

Saturday, September 21, 2024

5:00 PM

Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament

Annual Marian Celebration

Sunday, October 6, 2024

3:00 PM

St. Benedict Parish, Johnstown

POPE FRANCIS: Let the Word of God renew our lives in hope and charity

We have just heard that Jesus said to them: “Come, follow me… Immediately they left their nets and followed him” (Mk 1:17-18). The word of God has immense power, as we heard in the first reading: “The word of God came to Jonah, saying: ‘Get up, go to Nineveh… and preach to them… So, Jonah set out and went… according to the word of the Lord (Jon 3:1-3). The word of God unleashes the power of the Holy Spirit, a power that draws people to God, like those young fisherman who were struck by Jesus’ words, and sends others, like Jonah, towards those distant from the Lord. The word draws us to God and sends us to others. It draws us to God and sends us to others: that is how it works. It does not leave us self-absorbed, but expands hearts, changes courses, overturns habits, opens up new scenarios and discloses unthought-of horizons. Read more

Article taken from the Vatican Website

Exciting News for the Diaconate Community:

A New Deacon Website for Deacons within the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese

by Deacon Dan Heiser

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our new website which fosters connections and empowers the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese Diaconate Community! We are delighted to unveil the heart and soul of our mission — www.deaconaj.org — a vibrant online space that stands as a testament to the vision of a small group of deacons and their wives.

The journey to create this website began with a passion to not only embrace but also expand the already vibrant diaconate community within the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese. The result? A central hub that is designed to promote vocations, offer invaluable resources, present unique educational opportunities, broaden foreign missions, and deepen our understanding of the deacons' role in the Catholic faith. Read more

Annual Diaconate Retreat

June 09-13, 2024

Responding to the Spirit in the Soul, in the Church, and in the World

Directed by Fr. Bruce Nieli, CSP

FATHER BRUCE NIELI, CSP was ordained a Paulist priest in 1973. He is an evangelist and missionary based at St. Austin Church in Austin, TX. As part of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, he was named a Missionary of Mercy of Pope Francis.

A native of Long Island, NY, Fr. Bruce was ordained in 1973. He is past director of evangelization of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Pope Francis announces start of a year of Prayer

PPOPE Francis announced the start of a Year of Prayer on Sunday in preparation for the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year.

In his Angelus address, the pope said that a Year of Prayer starting on January 21 will be “a year dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in one’s

personal life, in the life of the Church and in the world”.

“Dear brothers and sisters, the coming months will lead us to the opening of the Holy Door, with which we will begin the jubilee,” Pope Francis said from the window of the Apostolic Palace.

“I ask you to intensify your prayer to prepare us to live this event of grace well and to experience the power of God’s hope. That is why today we begin a Year of Prayer.”

The pope said the Vatican’s Disaster for Evangelization will publish resources to help Catholic communities to more fully participate in the Year of Prayer.

Article is taken from Catholic News Agency