April 25, 2015. A message from Fr. Ron Sajdak to the parish communities of St. Martin de Porres and St. Lawrence - Please read the entire message:
This is “Good Shepherd” Sunday. We rejoice that our shepherd is the Lord Jesus! We give thanks for Richard J. Malone, our Bishop and shepherd here in the Diocese of Buffalo. His responsibility is the spiritual care as well as guidance of the Church of Jesus Christ in the eight counties of Western NY. We priests, deacons, women & men religious, and lay leaders work with and support his shepherding task of the whole people of God.
More and more we are keenly being made aware of the challenges of taking care of the spiritual needs of such a large church. Larger numbers of priests are retiring from active administrative duties and deserve to for their many years of faithful leadership. Faced with these challenges our Bishop has broadened the variety of parish leadership styles including the appointment of lay, religious, and permanent deacon parish administrators. These are working out well in many arenas. The Journey of Faith and Grace still guides us for the merging, linking, closing of certain parishes making sacrifices in order to facilitate more vibrant, creative, and life giving congregations. At the same time many international men are being received into our Diocese as seminarians as well as ordained priests; all coming with a missionary spirit to serve the needs of our local church community.
Last year, Msgr. Fred Leising met with me and inquired if I would be willing to follow him as pastor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish. I told him that I would take that to prayer and pray I did until the Lord placed upon my heart a truly unique and creative possibility for future care of our churches. This idea was shared, prayed upon, and discussed in many forums that advise our bishop.
The Bishop has approved and decided that on July 30th, I will be appointed Pastor of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish as well as remain pastor of St. Martin de Porres and St. Lawrence. Two international priests will be named in the near future who will also be appointed as Parochial Vicars/Associate Pastors to assist in the pastoral needs of all three church communities. Retired clergy will always be welcomed to assist in fulfilling the Pastoral needs of the three congregations.
This model of church leadership has happened recently in the NW-Central Buffalo Vicariate with the linking of Holy Angels, Holy Cross and Our Lady of Hope. They too have one Pastor and two International Parochial Vicars present to all three communities of faith.
In order to accomplish this model of ministry, during the months leading up to this new assignment, I will render my resignation as Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies of the Diocese of Buffalo as well as Vicar Forane of the NW-Central Buffalo Vicariate. Details concerning parish Liturgical responsibilities, the residence where the team of three priests will live together, etc. will all be worked out in the near future after the additional priests are named and appointed.
During the month of May, listening and dialogue sessions will be organized and held in all three parish communities in order to help us all journey through the reality of this new and creative solution to our joint ministerial needs.
May the Lord, the Good Shepherd, continue to inspire, strengthen, and enable us to work together to shepherd God’s people here in the Diocese of Buffalo.
This is “Good Shepherd” Sunday. We rejoice that our shepherd is the Lord Jesus! We give thanks for Richard J. Malone, our Bishop and shepherd here in the Diocese of Buffalo. His responsibility is the spiritual care as well as guidance of the Church of Jesus Christ in the eight counties of Western NY. We priests, deacons, women & men religious, and lay leaders work with and support his shepherding task of the whole people of God.
More and more we are keenly being made aware of the challenges of taking care of the spiritual needs of such a large church. Larger numbers of priests are retiring from active administrative duties and deserve to for their many years of faithful leadership. Faced with these challenges our Bishop has broadened the variety of parish leadership styles including the appointment of lay, religious, and permanent deacon parish administrators. These are working out well in many arenas. The Journey of Faith and Grace still guides us for the merging, linking, closing of certain parishes making sacrifices in order to facilitate more vibrant, creative, and life giving congregations. At the same time many international men are being received into our Diocese as seminarians as well as ordained priests; all coming with a missionary spirit to serve the needs of our local church community.
Last year, Msgr. Fred Leising met with me and inquired if I would be willing to follow him as pastor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish. I told him that I would take that to prayer and pray I did until the Lord placed upon my heart a truly unique and creative possibility for future care of our churches. This idea was shared, prayed upon, and discussed in many forums that advise our bishop.
The Bishop has approved and decided that on July 30th, I will be appointed Pastor of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish as well as remain pastor of St. Martin de Porres and St. Lawrence. Two international priests will be named in the near future who will also be appointed as Parochial Vicars/Associate Pastors to assist in the pastoral needs of all three church communities. Retired clergy will always be welcomed to assist in fulfilling the Pastoral needs of the three congregations.
This model of church leadership has happened recently in the NW-Central Buffalo Vicariate with the linking of Holy Angels, Holy Cross and Our Lady of Hope. They too have one Pastor and two International Parochial Vicars present to all three communities of faith.
In order to accomplish this model of ministry, during the months leading up to this new assignment, I will render my resignation as Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies of the Diocese of Buffalo as well as Vicar Forane of the NW-Central Buffalo Vicariate. Details concerning parish Liturgical responsibilities, the residence where the team of three priests will live together, etc. will all be worked out in the near future after the additional priests are named and appointed.
During the month of May, listening and dialogue sessions will be organized and held in all three parish communities in order to help us all journey through the reality of this new and creative solution to our joint ministerial needs.
May the Lord, the Good Shepherd, continue to inspire, strengthen, and enable us to work together to shepherd God’s people here in the Diocese of Buffalo.
An extra special thank you to Chris Blachowski for chairing the Feast Day this year, to Sharon Lanza for working with Fr Ron to create the beautiful Mass, and to Fr. Paul Seil for returning to set a marker for the Time Capsule from 1999. We enjoyed the wonderful music from Paul and Claire Weisenburger, too. And - to all of you - the volunteers, those who bought food and shared memories, the raffle ticket purchasers and the Theme Tray contributors - we could not have done it without you. A list of the businesses that contributed:
Wendy's The Buffalo Bills The Sabres Children's Clinic at St. Lawrence Adventure Landing Miss Buffalo Salvatore's Albright-Knox Russel's Ted's Walmart Museum of History Scharf's Pizza Hut Leonardi's Kentucky Greg's Darien Lake Chick - n- Pizza Checkers Bounce Magic.
Wendy's The Buffalo Bills The Sabres Children's Clinic at St. Lawrence Adventure Landing Miss Buffalo Salvatore's Albright-Knox Russel's Ted's Walmart Museum of History Scharf's Pizza Hut Leonardi's Kentucky Greg's Darien Lake Chick - n- Pizza Checkers Bounce Magic.
If anyone is looking to make a donation or if you want to make an additional donation……please do so!!!
You can send to the church directly or to Bonnie’s address. (IF you send to the church directly, please list CLASS OF 1976.) The Class of 1976 is currently at $ 300.00 for our class There is now mention on the facebook page for St. Lawrence Parish Alumni showing that our class ‘began the challenge”!!!
During the mass that the Class of 1976 attended on Sunday, the priest thanked our class for starting this challenge & for attending mass on Sunday! All classmates names will appear on our ‘shingles’ that we have been able to purchase (whether they contributed or not) Hopefully, this will raise a large amount for the church’s roof.
Those that were there on Sunday saw what the roof looks like (Howie has posted pictures of the roof on that facebook site as well!” If anyone needs additional information please let me know
Thank you to everyone from any class that is able to donate!
Thank you!
Kathi Wozniak (nee Blaszczyk)
You can send to the church directly or to Bonnie’s address. (IF you send to the church directly, please list CLASS OF 1976.) The Class of 1976 is currently at $ 300.00 for our class There is now mention on the facebook page for St. Lawrence Parish Alumni showing that our class ‘began the challenge”!!!
During the mass that the Class of 1976 attended on Sunday, the priest thanked our class for starting this challenge & for attending mass on Sunday! All classmates names will appear on our ‘shingles’ that we have been able to purchase (whether they contributed or not) Hopefully, this will raise a large amount for the church’s roof.
Those that were there on Sunday saw what the roof looks like (Howie has posted pictures of the roof on that facebook site as well!” If anyone needs additional information please let me know
Thank you to everyone from any class that is able to donate!
Thank you!
Kathi Wozniak (nee Blaszczyk)
#ONEBODY: Begun as a partnership between St Martin’s and Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary after Amy Vossen Vukelit (NBVM) and Dr. Marianne Partee (SMdP) attended a conference in June 2015, that offered training on Building Inclusive Ministries. When Alton Sterling, Philando Castille were murdered in June, Fr. Ron asked the two of them to create a peace circle around the racial relations. St. Lawrence has been invited to join the “holy conversations.”
The fourth conversation will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 6:30 in the school cafeteria at Nativity. We welcome newcomers to join parishioners of both St. Martin de Porres and Nativity to gain perspective on racial relations, specifically among the sister parishes. To RSVP or for more information, please contact Amy Vossen Vukelic, [email protected], 716-832-8838, ext. 9.
Bible Studies Offered Winter 2015 Information Coming Soon
Register Here
Adult Bible studies will be held this Fall at St. Lawrence. If interested call 308-6302 or register online www.CatholicChurchesOfCentralBuffalo.com.
Gospel of Mark Thursdays following 8:30 AM Mass in Rectory Dining Room with Pat Dyer. This is the Gospel that we begin to use for Masses in Advent 2014. Coffee provided - take turns bringing pastries. September 11 to November 13 (resumes January.)
Joy of the Gospel, the recent letter of Pope Francis, Thursdays 1:00 PM in the Parish Hall with Luke Dyer. We will also look at the scripture references used by Pope Francis. Pizza and drinks provided. Free will offering to cover the cost of food. Begins September 4.
Church History through Bible Study and Tradition. Saturdays at 10:00 AM in Rectory Dining Room with Pat Dyer. Ever want to know what makes a heresy or how the creed came to be? Deacons, priests, nuns, creed, Mass, Sacred Scripture, sacraments - just where did this all start? Coffee. Begins September 13 to November 15 (resumes after Christmas.)
Their mothers named them Eugenio, Angelo, and Karol, but these boys became important 20th century influences on the Catholic Church and the world. We will use film to explore the effects of war-torn Europe on three famous men: Pope Pius XII - often severely criticized for his actions during World War II; Pope Saint John XXIII - originally thought to be a place-holder pope, he called for Vatican II and "changed" the Church forever; and, Pope Saint John Paul II - a popular, athletic and pastoral pope who forgave his would-be assassin and spent his last years as humble sufferer. First and Third Sundays of the Month 1:15 PM with Pat Dyer. Rectory dining room - light lunch - free will offering. September 7 to November 16.
Register Here
Adult Bible studies will be held this Fall at St. Lawrence. If interested call 308-6302 or register online www.CatholicChurchesOfCentralBuffalo.com.
Gospel of Mark Thursdays following 8:30 AM Mass in Rectory Dining Room with Pat Dyer. This is the Gospel that we begin to use for Masses in Advent 2014. Coffee provided - take turns bringing pastries. September 11 to November 13 (resumes January.)
Joy of the Gospel, the recent letter of Pope Francis, Thursdays 1:00 PM in the Parish Hall with Luke Dyer. We will also look at the scripture references used by Pope Francis. Pizza and drinks provided. Free will offering to cover the cost of food. Begins September 4.
Church History through Bible Study and Tradition. Saturdays at 10:00 AM in Rectory Dining Room with Pat Dyer. Ever want to know what makes a heresy or how the creed came to be? Deacons, priests, nuns, creed, Mass, Sacred Scripture, sacraments - just where did this all start? Coffee. Begins September 13 to November 15 (resumes after Christmas.)
Their mothers named them Eugenio, Angelo, and Karol, but these boys became important 20th century influences on the Catholic Church and the world. We will use film to explore the effects of war-torn Europe on three famous men: Pope Pius XII - often severely criticized for his actions during World War II; Pope Saint John XXIII - originally thought to be a place-holder pope, he called for Vatican II and "changed" the Church forever; and, Pope Saint John Paul II - a popular, athletic and pastoral pope who forgave his would-be assassin and spent his last years as humble sufferer. First and Third Sundays of the Month 1:15 PM with Pat Dyer. Rectory dining room - light lunch - free will offering. September 7 to November 16.