Catholic Church
Arlington, Virginia
If you love me, you will keep my
commandments.
May 21, 2017
SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
Saint Agnes
And whoever loves me will be loved by my
Father, and I will love him and reveal myself
to him.
S I X T H
S U N D A Y
P a r i s h
Rev. Frederick H. Edlefsen
Rev. Richard A. Miserendino
Rev. Cedric M. Wilson, O.S.A.
Rev. Thomas Nguyen
E A S T E R
I n f o r m a t i o n
Liturgy at Saint Agnes
Parish Clergy
Pastor :
Parochial Vicar:
In residence:
In residence:
O F
Sunday Mass
Saturday: 5:00pm
Sunday: 7:30am, 9:00am, 10:30am (High Mass) , 12:00pm
Holy Days: as announced
Parish Office
1910 N. Randolph Street • Arlington, VA 22207-3046
Office Hours: M-F 8:00am– 4:00pm
phone: 703-525-1166 • fax: 703-243-2840
Website: www.saintagnes.org
Parish Office Personnel
Weekday Mass
Monday – Friday: 6:30am , 9:00am (Rosary after 9am Mass)
Saturday: 7:30am , 9:00am (Rosary after 9am Mass)
Monday: 7:30pm (in Spanish)
Sacrament of Penance
Saturday 8:00am—9:00am; 3:00pm– 4:00pm or by appointment
Inquiries : [email protected]
Business Manager: Meg McKnight ([email protected])
Facilities Manager: Katie Howell ([email protected])
Development Director: Marty Lerner([email protected])
Program Coordinator, Protection of Children:
Joan Biehler ([email protected])
Evangelization Coordinator :
Michael Sirotniak ([email protected])
Religious Education Office
Director (DRE): Bernadette Michael ([email protected])
Religious Education Office ([email protected])
phone: 703-527-1129
This Week’s Mass Intentions
May
M
22
6:30 am
9:00 am
T
23
6:30 am
9:00 am
W 24
6:30 am
9:00 am
Th
25
6:30 am
9:00 am
F
26
6:30 am
Youth and Young Adult Ministry
Coordinator: Gabriel Milano ([email protected])
Liturgical Music
Director of Music: Laura Theby ([email protected])
Director, Saint Agnes Ensemble: Richard Lolich
School
2024 N. Randolph Street • Arlington, VA 22207-3031
phone: 703-527-5423 Fax 703-525-4689
Principal: Kristine Carr ([email protected])
Assist. Principal: Jennifer Kuzdzal([email protected])
Sunday Mass Readings:
6th Sunday of Easter
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17, Psalm 66
1 Pt 3:15-18; Jn 14:15-21
9:00 am
Sa 27
7:30 am
9:00 am
5:00 pm
28
7:30 am
9:00 am
10:30 am
12:00 pm
Su
Sixth Week of Easter
St. Rita of Cascia, Religious
Hoye Family  (Shean Family)
Dennis Reeves  (Emilia Eglitis)
Sixth Tuesday of Easter
John West (West Family)
Joaquin Otero  (Joan Savarese)
Sixth Wednesday of Easter
Anne Sharp  (Yenson Family)
Jerry Quatman  (Ann McCausland)
St. Bede the Venerable, Priest, Doctor
of the Church; St. Gregory VII, Pope;
St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, Virgin
Oloa Pereira  (Pereira Family)
Simcox Family (St. Agnes Priests & Staff)
St. Philip Neri, Priest
Frank Kelly (Sirotniak Family)
George T. Kelley Jr. 
(St. Agnes School Families)
St. Augustine of Canterbury
Sandy Alexander  (St. Agnes Priests)
George Kennedy  (Kuzdzal Family)
Vigil, Ascension of the Lord
Sr. Mary Margaret Ann (Rev. Edlefsen)
Ascension of the Lord
Rice Family  (Shean Family)
Miriam Mahlow (West Family)
Pastor’s intention: For all parishioners
Sandy Alexander  (John Kalitka)
indicates person is deceased
Suitable Image Goes Here
Poor Boxes and Other Tabernacles
Pastor’s Column — Rev. Frederick Edlefsen
Catholic churches, traditional and modern, are
mysterious and curious places, with stories to tell
that won’t be told until the End. It has been said
that the Tabernacle, along with the Altar, should
form the center of a Catholic church. Actually,
most Catholic churches have several tabernacles
which house things that belong to God, though in
different ways. Cavernous alcoves with statues
and candles and candle boxes, back rooms with
liturgical trinkets, safes with gilded vessels,
wardrobes hanging with sacred vestments, musty
corners with dusty books, the names of long
deceased benefactors etched here and there, and
fading colorized woodcuts of Jesus and Mary,
bible scenes and saints donated years ago: these
things form an incoherent atmosphere that
evolved over time. Even “The Tabernacle” –
which houses God Himself – invites the curiosity
of onlookers who don’t quite the get the idea of
Transubstantiation. Something must be going on
inside that gilded box.
There is a small wooden neo-gothic Altar in the
chapel at the Catholic Campus Ministry at the
University of Mary Washington, where I was
Chaplain. Once upon a time, it was a side Altar in
a church somewhere in Pennsylvania, built in the
days before concelebration. One of the gothic
arches on the Altar’s wooden frontispiece is in
fact a little “door” that opens if you push it
inward. It makes the straining sound of a steel
spring when pressed open; and it snaps shut, like
an old screened-in back door, when you let it go.
A student discovered this after a Holy Thursday
Mass as we were clearing the chapel and
stripping the Altar in preparation for Good
Friday. When he showed me his discovery – as if
he had just found the way to Narnia – I put my
hand inside the old Altar and felt around its
dusty interior to see if I would find a treasure or
two. And, indeed I did. I found a birth certificate
and a fourth grade report card from the 1940s.
The report card was mediocre, and I can
understand why it was placed in an Altar.
It’s not hard to imagine. Little Johnny was lined
up to serve a 6:00AM Mass for Father Muda at a
side Altar in St. Josaphat Catholic Church in
Unionburgh, PA. A handful of steelworkers, on
their way to the morning shift, would be present.
Sixth
Sunday
of Easter
Johnny didn’t do so well in Sister Annunciata’s
Math, Science, History and English classes at St.
J’s Elementary, save for a B- in Religion. He was
banking on dad overlooking the quarterly report,
as the steel mill was running overtime for the war
effort and dad’s union was cocking to strike
when it was over. Mom had her day job at
General Electric, and she would be too
preoccupied fixing dinner for dad, Johnny and
his five older siblings when she got home. As
long as there were no calls or comments after
Sunday Mass from the big wigs at St. J’s, Johnny
figured that he could hide out with his little stash
of baseball cards, comic books, bubble gum and
Lucky Strikes until the time for report card
questions had safely passed. Appealing to Divine
Mercy, seconds before Fr. Muda arrived to say
his “Prayers at the Foot of the Altar,” Johnny –
with mousse-slicked hair and angelic face –
furtively slipped Sister Annunciata’s report from
under his cassock and surplice into the little
gothic door, hoping that the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass would persuade Providence to turn a blind
eye. His trust in Jesus paid off. No one would
ever see that report card again until Good Friday
of 2011. Whatever really happened, there’s a
story behind it.
Catholic churches are like that. They accept little
offerings from one hand and pass them on to
another. When I arrived at St. Agnes, Fr. Burchell
and I cleared out the sacristy, which was quite
cluttered. Among other things, I found a bottle of
Tylenol that expired in June of 1984. When I later
asked some parishioners to inspect our First Aid
kits, they found a 1965 kit with a bottle of
“Revivo” smelling salts. For those of you who are
inclined to be “concerned,” we’ve obtained new
First Aid kits. Tony Bennett, a seminarian from
our parish, found an old-time nun’s crucifix
encasing saints’ relics in a closet behind the
sanctuary. I suppose if someone decided to clear
out the Vatican’s basement, they might find a
reliquary containing a feather of the Holy Spirit
or, even better yet, a corked vial labeled
“Tenebrae Aegypti” – “The Darkness of Egypt.”
One of those curious tabernacles that receives
and gives is the poor box. According to the little
plastic labels that still survive above two of our
poor boxes, they are protected by Eico. When I
arrived here in June of 2014, I wondered if anyone
ever put anything in them. They looked to me like
once thriving but long forgotten places, like an
old boarded up shop on the down-and-out end of
town, or like a defunct bar on an abandoned back
street. If I opened the box, would I find only a few
bubble gum wrappers and an old melted lollipop
imbedded with sticky pocket change? In my
mythical imagination, I could picture a reclusive
elf living inside the poor box with a little bed and
a TV, pocketing the money, escaping at night to
buy food and beer, and returning before Father
opens up the church at 5:30AM.
In fact, the poor boxes are alive and well.
Parishioners are generous. And the proceeds are
clearly earmarked for assisting the needy. But
how are those funds dispersed? For starters, we
don’t give out cash, not even in small amounts.
Nor do we help everyone who requests it. Some
people are clearly operators. Some are clearly
needy. Some are a little of each. Therefore, we
have a system. Not long after I arrived, I
regularized our vetting process by creating an
intake form for each new requestor. I got the idea
from when Fr. Gould assigned me to live and
work at Christ House for the summer of ’98,
when I was a seminarian. Christ House is the
Catholic Charities homeless shelter for men,
which also serves daily free meals to the needy
(some St. Agnes parishioners currently help with
this), maintains a food pantry and helps the poor
in various ways. Among other things, I was
charged with doing some “intake interviews,”
which involved determining who we could help,
how we could help them and who we could not
help. Every do-good organization must define its
possibilities and its limits.
At St. Agnes, everyone requesting assistance for
the first time is interviewed by a priest, who asks
a series of questions from the intake form. The
person must also present an official ID. After the
interview, a file is created. All help given to that
person is recorded. Not all requests are granted.
Applicants are told that St. Agnes is not a longterm provider. We do assist with Giant Food
Cards (which are good for food and medicine),
rent and utility bills (which are paid directly to
the landlord or utility company) and the
purchase of basic necessities like utensils or
bedding. We do not pay for transportation, gas,
taxes,
traffic
tickets,
debts
or
home
improvements. We do not make loans. Some
parishioners who are social workers gave me an
extensive directory of organizations in Arlington
that can help people in ways that we cannot. This
helps us to connect people with organizations
that can better assist them, according to their
particular needs. Everyone can do something. No
one can do everything. Finding the organization
with the right niche is key.
We must never judge the poor. We must always
be polite and courteous to them, even if they are
not. Empathy is part being a Christian. As one of
our Christ House volunteers said, “If it wasn’t for
God’s grace, they would be serving us a hot
meal.”
I would like to recount a story. When I was a
college Chaplain at UMW, a student named
Keith, who was pulling off an all-nighter in the
Catholic center, called me at around 1:00AM on a
cold rainy winter night. He said that a runaway
teenager, who graduated high school last spring,
was at the campus ministry and asking to spend
the night there. I knew that I could not allow
this, but I thought it best to see what was going
on. Half asleep, I got out of bed, put on my
clerics and drove over. When I arrived, I asked
Keith to be present with me while I talked with
the young man. I got the story. His dad kicked
him out of the house that night after he returned
from a long stay at a homeless shelter, where he
had also been treated for drug abuse. I could not
in good conscience send the boy back outside into
the winter rain. I asked Keith to accompany me in
driving him to a nearby Best Western. On the
drive there, the boy told me more about his drug
problem and that he had been clean for six
months. I said, “Congratulations!” There were a
few awkward seconds of silence. I could sense
emotion. The young man didn’t weep, but it
seemed as if he wanted to. “No one’s ever told me
that before,” he said in a faltering voice. I felt pity.
I still have a hard time imagining that there are
sons who are never affirmed by their fathers.
When we arrived, I purchased a room for him
and told the innkeeper that I would not cover any
additional charges. When the boy got his room
key, you’d think he was at the Ritz-Carlton rather
than a Best Western off of I-95. He was polite and
grateful. As I sent him on his way, he walked
down the corridor beaming with content. On the
ride back, I talked with Keith about the whole
matter, and we wondered what would come of
him. I never saw the young man since then.
However, one afternoon, an older woman came
to the Catholic center with a blank check. “How
much did the motel room cost?” It was the boy’s
grandmother. She reimbursed me and told me
about the father’s meanness toward his son. The
young man was staying with her.
I’ve thought about this often. If it wasn’t for
God’s grace, that young man would be driving
me to a Best Western on a cold rainy night. We
will rarely know much about a poor person. But
one thing is certain: they have stories known to
God alone. They are tabernacles of human
suffering. To love the poor is to be grateful to the
Father.
Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament Chapel of Perpetual Adoration
Eucharistic Adoration at Saint Agnes Catholic Church:
Updates, Needs, & Information
May 2017 A.D.
Updates
† The Return of Nighttime Exposition & Adoration (9:00 p.m.-7:00 a.m.)!
Nighttime Exposition & Adoration will resume between 9:00 p.m. & 7:00 a.m.
after enough adorers have committed to each hour.
Two adorers are required for each nighttime hour, one of whom must be a man.
† New Monthly Adoration Teams!
Can you adore Jesus one hour a month? Then you can join a Monthly Adoration Team!
Ideally, this Team includes 4-5 members who share responsibility for the same adoration hour,
and work out a rotating coverage schedule among themselves each month.
† New Adoration Website!
We are having a brand new, customized Adoration Website built by CatholicWebsite.com,
who also built our beautiful, new parish website, https://saintagnes.org.
Would you please prayerfully consider making a donation to help pay for it?
† Adoration Volunteer Appreciation Brunch!
All regular weekly, monthly, and substitute adorers are cordially invited to our
Volunteer Appreciation Brunch on Sunday, June 4th (Pentecost),
after the 12:00 Noon Mass, in the Parish Hall. Please RSVP at [email protected].
Needs
† Monthly, Weekly, & Substitute Adorers Needed now!
Jesus needs adorers once a month, once a week, and once in a while (as substitutes)
every day, every night, every hour, 24-7!
Information
† To make a commitment to adoring Jesus in the Eucharist, or for more information,
please complete a “Eucharistic Adoration Commitment Form”
and/or contact Michael Sirotniak at [email protected] or 703-525-1166 x127.
“May the Heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved
with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world,
even until the end of time. Amen.”
Eucharistic Adoration Commitment Form
First & Last Names: ______________________________________________________________
Phone Number: _______________________________________
E-Mail Address: _________________________________________________________________
Jesus needs adorers once a month, once a week, and once in a while (as substitutes)
every day, every night, every hour, 24-7!
Yes, I would like to adore Jesus in the Eucharist:
Once a month, as part of a Monthly Adoration Team.
What specific day(s)/night(s) and time(s) are you most available?
(1st Preference)______________________________
(2nd Preference)_____________________________
(3rd Preference)______________________________
Once a week.
What specific day(s)/night(s) and time(s) are you most available?
(1st Preference)______________________________
(2nd Preference)_____________________________
(3rd Preference)______________________________
Once in a while, as a Substitute.
What specific day(s)/night(s) and time(s) are you most available?
(1st Preference)______________________________
(2nd Preference)_____________________________
(3rd Preference)______________________________
Yes, I would like to make a donation to our brand new, customized Adoration Website!
After completing this perforated form, please detach it from the bulletin and return it to the Parish Office.
Looking for Men
We Call Knights
The Knights of Columbus, Edward
Douglass White Council is having
Admission Ceremonies in May and
June. This is the opportunity for
Catholic Gentlemen to join the Knights
of Columbus.
Free Subscription
To FORMED:
Unlimited access to the best eBooks, talks,
and videos in the Church today. Register
at FORMED.org
Parishioners, enter code: f1a3f2
PARISH LIFE
EDW’s membership degree dates are:
Thurs. June 15 candidates need to
arrive no later than 7pm
Potential candidates need to contact our
membership chairman, Greg Strizek, in
advance [email protected] for
a qualification interview and to
advance paperwork.
Music Ministry:
10:30am Choir
All are invited to join the Parish
Choir! We sing for the 10:30 am
Mass
every
Sunday
from
September-June, as well as for
special
liturgical
celebrations
throughout the year. Rehearsals
are on Thursday evenings from
7:30-9 pm in the lower Church.
Contact Laura Theby at:
[email protected]
or
703.525.1166, x 131 for more
information.
Text App to 88202 to download our
parish app. The calendar, mass times, Fr.
Rich's homilies and the weekly bulletin
will help you stay connected to what's
going on at our church.
Saint Agnes Essentials:
Infant/Child Baptism:
Register for class. Held 1st Monday of each
month at 7:00pm. Plan to attend before Baptism.
Baptisms celebrated bi-weekly, after the Noon
Sunday Mass
Marriage Preparation:
Call parish office for Pre-Cana at least 7 months
prior to wedding.
Anointing of the Sick:
Call parish office to request the Anointing of the
Sick. Anyone with a serious illness should
request this sacrament before being admitted to
the hospital.
Weekly Prayer Intentions:
For those who are sick in our midst:
For Christ’s healing, we pray for: Bernardo
Labrador, Doris Hurley, Karen Akerson, Eileen
Hayase, Rafael Romero, Eva Hegerova, Dexter
Hamasaki, Sam Jennings, Malinda Galvan,
Michael Lane, Edmundo Fujita, Teresa Esteves,
Luke Kilver, Jason Liljenquist, Ercilia Zarceño,
April Garcia, Will Warren, Maria Martins,
Dorothy Hannon, Julie Cowan, Gerardo
Stratthaus, Madeleine Conte, Marielle Winteler,
Tom Grantham, Maureen Simpson, Michael
Walsh, Antonio Zarceño, Olivia Egge, John Zyla,
Loretta
Baldwin,
Grace
IIgon,
Laura
Riddlebarger, John Gido, and Jim Butler
Homebound Visitation:
Contact [email protected] or contact
parish office.
How to become Catholic:
Call the Religious Education office or a priest for
information. Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
(RCIA) meets from September to Easter.
Holy Orders/Consecrated Life:
For the repose of the soul of those that
recently passed:
Mary Ann Gallagher, mother of Mary Ellen
Bothwell
Is the Lord calling you? For information about
priesthood, the permanent diaconate, or the
consecrated life, contact a priest or the Vocations
Office (703-841-2514).
Registration/Change of Address:
Registration cards are in the racks at main
entrances of the church, the parish office, or on
our website. Return to Parish office, or send by
email to [email protected]
For those who received Baptism:
Daniel Michael Clifton II, son of Daniel & Melissa
Clifton
Youth and Young Adult Ministry
Saint Agnes School
Registration for 2017 - 2018 School Year
1st Place recognition for their Art in the 2017
Saint Agnes School still has a few remaining
Catholic Daughters of the Americas Education
spots open for the 2017-2018 school year. If
Contest. Allie and Erich both received 1st Place
you, or someone you know is interested in
awards in the Regional Competition. This
enrolling their children at St. Agnes next
qualified their work to be sent to the Virginia
school year, please contact the school office.
State Competition where they again received
ST. AGNES SCHOOL
1st Place recognition. As 1st Place state winners
First weeks of May, busy time for students
they will go on to represent Virginia at the 2017
Second graders joyfully participated in Jesus
National CDA Contest this summer.
Day activities in preparation for First Holy
Communion. Seventh graders participated in
May, the virtue of the month—Hope
Madeira's Innerquest team-building program,
The service project for the month of May is
Popsicles for Patients. Students will be selling
popsicles every Tuesday during lunch,
beginning on May 9, for 50 cents each. All
proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards
Children's Hospital.
Kindergarteners enjoyed Theaterworks for the
Arts and eighth graders performed Macbeth in
the Diocesan Shakespeare Festival.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Allie Vasquez (8th grade)
and Erich Laughlin (5th grade) who received
Parish Stewardship Report
Stewardship: Parish Support
-4 -4
Sunday collection (in pew & via mail)
Faith Direct (electronic collection) est.
Total Offertory for Week
$
$
$
20,633
8,940
29,573
Parish Needs (in pew & mail)
Parish Needs (electronic collection)
Total
$
$
$
4, 224
2,236
6,460
Poor Box
$
265
Offertory Budget (FY16-17)
Offertory Budget (through 5/14/17)
Offertory Actual (through 5/14/17)
$ 1,645,000
$ 1,462,115
$ 1,486,056
Brother Dennis
Brother Dennis and Associates are this week
donating $1,800 to the Missionary Oblates of
Mary Immaculate. The order dates back to early
nineteenth-century France and a young priest
who was appalled by the dismal living conditions
of the rural poor in the southern part of the
country. Feeling called to act, the priest, Eugene
de Mazenod (who was formally declared a saint
by Pope St. John Paul II in 1995), gathered a small
group of young priests who shared his vision of
helping the poor both materially and spiritually,
i.e., by improving their living conditions and
preaching the Word of God. Under Father de
Mazenod’s leadership, the young band attracted
more members, and the new order, the
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, was
officially founded in 1816, just over 200 years ago.
Today, nearly 4,000 priests and brothers of the
Missionary Oblates serve in more than 60 countries,
where they bring the word of God along with the kind
of aid that is most needed in each particular mission. For
more: www.oblatesusa.org