December 6, 2020

Second Sunday of Advent

Dec. 6, 2020

JUST A WORD From our Pastor (Page 9)

PARISH LIFE (Page 5)

FIVE MINUTE JESUS (Page 8)

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Mission Statement The Roman Catholic Parish of St. Monica-St. Elizabeth of Hungary-St. Stephen of Hungary opens its doors to welcome and embrace all in our community. We strive through worship, hospitality and service to receive those seeking a spiritual home. In the midst of diversity of thought, life style, nationality, economic status & age, we endeavor to live as a community of faith and invite you to join our family - a family seeking to know and love Jesus Christ.

Parish Staff

Pastor: Rev. Donald C. Baker .......................... frdcab@stelmo79.org Rev. Msgr. Leslie J. Ivers ........................... msgrlivers@stelmo79.org Weekend Associates: ...............................................Rev. Tony Ciorra Pastoral Associate: Ms. Maryann Tyrer ........ mtyrer@stelmo79.org Pastoral Associate: Ms. Jasmine Gomez ..... jgomez@stelmo79.org Parish Manager: Mr. Michael Ward ............. mward@stelmo79.org Music Director: Mr. John Zupan .................... jzupan@stelmo79.org Wedding Coordinator: Ms. Debbi Burdett . dbweddingsnyc@gmail.com Plant Manager: Guillermo Vanegas ......... gvanegas@stelmo79.org Sacristan: Pedro Pizarro ................................ ppizarro@stelmo79.org Administrative Assistant: Gladys Tejada ..... gtejada@stelmo79.org Church Address: 413 East 79th Street, NY, NY 10075 Parish Center Address: 406 East 80th Street, NY, NY 10075 Tel: 212-288-6250 Fax: 212- 570-1562 Email: info@stelmo79.org Our Offices are open: Monday ............................................................. 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Mass Intentions

Saturday, December 5th Vigil

5:30 pm

Carolyn Croke (Living)

Sunday, December 6th

Second Sunday of Advent

8:00 am 10:00 am

John Leone

12:00 pm

All Parishioners

5:00 pm

Jean

Monday, December 7th St. Ambrose 12:00 pm

Souls in Purgatory

5:30 pm

Martin Casey

Tuesday, December 8th The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

7:30 am Blanco Tejada (Living) 12:00 pm Alice Freehill

Tuesday - Thursday ....................................... 9:00 am - 7:00 pm Friday ....................................................... Closed Saturday ................................................. 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Priests of St. Monica’s

Wednesday, December 9th Advent Weekday 12 pm

Sunday ..................................................... Closed

Giselle PeĂąa

Thursday, December 10th Advent Weekday

Closed for Lunch Weekdays......................1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

12:00 pm Werner Hertzel Visit us at: www.stelmo79.org Follow us on social media by searching STELMO79

Mass Schedule

Daily Mass: Mon-Sat, 12 noon Saturday Vigil: 5:30pm Sunday: 8am, 10am, 12pm & 5pm Confessions: Saturdays at 5pm or by appointment

Friday, December 11th Advent Weekday 12:00 pm Thanksgiving to St. Agata

12pm

Saturday, December 12th Our Lady of Guadalupe Norma Ester Litrenta (Living)

For Mass Intentions, please visit the Parish Center.

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament Every Friday after the Noon Mass to 3:00 pm.

Devotions Miraculous Medal on Mondays after each Mass

Divine Mercy The Divine Mercy Chaplet is Prayed each Friday Afternoon at 3:00 pm.

Sacrament of Reconciliation: Saturdays at 5pm or by appointment

Baptisms & Marriages: Please call the rectory office for more information.

Communion for the Homebound: If you know of anyone who cannot attend church because of illness or age, and world like to have communion brought to them, please contact the Parish office, so that we can arrange for a Eucharistic Minister to bring communion to them.

PRAYERS FOR THE SICK Blanco Tejada &Ananias Angeles

All Victims of Military Activities

PRAYERS FOR THE DECEASED John Lynch, Rev. John Conti, Deacon Walter Brady, Janet Beas, Ricardo Canieso, Jesus Canieso, Jesus Barney, Jean M. Stephens, Zulma Power & Victoria Tiongson

Treasure of Our Tradition

FEAST OF FAITH Watching for Christ’s Coming In the season of Advent, we look to the coming of Christ at the end of time, and we prepare ourselves to celebrate his first coming among us at Christmas. Remembrance of the past is combined with preparation for the future. Memory meets action.

In a certain sense, the Mass is an Advent prayer. At the Last Supper, Jesus did not tell his disciples, “Never forget what I did for you.” Instead, he said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” He calls us to remember by doing, to combine memory with action. In the celebration of the Eucharist, remembering and doing become one. Jesus is as present in our midst as he was in that upper room, breaking the bread and sharing the cup; but it is a new kind of presence, seen only with the eyes of faith. In the heavenly liturgy, there will be no need of sacraments, for there, “celebration is wholly communion and feast” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1136). Here, things are different. We have only glimpses and flashes of the beauty that is yet to be. And yet, in the liturgy, we truly participate in the heavenly liturgy. The Mass is our foretaste of the joys of heaven.

—Corinna Laughlin, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.

Today’s Readings First Reading — The rugged land shall be made a plain; the rough country, a broad valley (Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11).

Psalm — Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation (Psalm 85).

Second Reading — Conduct yourselves in holiness, hastening the coming of the day of God (2 Peter 3:8-14).

Gospel — I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:1-8).

The English translation of the Psalm Responses from the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.

Readings for the Week Monday: Is 35:1-10; Ps 85:9ab, 10-14; Lk 5:17-26 Tuesday: Gn 3:9-15, 20; Ps 98:1-4; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38 Wednesday: Is 40:25-31; Ps 103:1-4, 8, 10; Mt 11:28-30 Thursday: Is 41:13-20; Ps 145:1, 9, 10-13ab; Mt 11:11-15 Friday: Is 48:17-19; Ps 1:1-4; Mt 11:16-19 Saturday: Zec 2:14-17 or Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab; Jdt 13:18bcde, 19; Lk 1:26-38 or Lk 1:39-47, or any readings from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary, nos. 707-712 Sunday: Is 61:1-2a, 10-11; Lk 1:46-50, 53-54; 1 Thes 5:16-24; Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

Parish Life The Green Team had a great

SECOND SUNDAY SOCIAL!

meeting this past Thursday! New

We are hosting a live

projects and initiatives are on the horizon. You can connect with this ministry by

Second Sunday Social on

emailing greenteam@stelmo79.org Lastly, there are

Sunday, December 13th at 1pm.

opportunities to purchase our handy reusable bags, which cost $5 each. Find them at the back of the church on December 11th, 12th, and 19th- they make

This is an opportunity to learn more about the parish and hear about the opportunities to get involved. If

great gifts!

you are interested in joining, please email Pastoral Associate, Jasmine Gomez at Jgomez@stelmo79.org by Dec. 9th

ANNUAL TOY DRIVE This is the last weekend to drop off your donations for our yearly Toy Drive which will go to benefit the families at Little Sisters of the Assumption. Please

Stay up to date with all things STELMO by

bring Lego sets, puzzles, art supplies, soccer games,

following us on social media!

outdoor games,

Watch videos and view images of parish gatherings,

action figures

find out about events and other information by

and educational

following us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and

games to St.

Twitter! Search for STELMO79 on your preferred

Joseph’s Altar.

platform to find us.

K-8 Parish Religious Education: •

•

We continue to meet online each Sunday morning – but will be taking December 27 off for the Christmas holiday.

First Penance will be celebrated on Saturday, December 12. Please pray for our children who are preparing to celebrate this Sacrament!

Adult Faith Formation: • •

Our Sunday morning Adult Faith Formation, an informal discussion of the Sunday Scriptures, led by a facilitator, is open to all. We will meet on Sundays, Dec. 6, 13, and 20, 10:15 to 11:30am, in the Parish Center. Social distancing and face masks are required. Please join us!

Our Adult Faith Formation Series, Advent: Christ Comes in History, Mystery, and Majesty, continues with part two of three, this Wednesday, December 9, 7-8:30pm, in the St. Elizabeth Chapel (406 E. 80th St.), with face masks and social distancing. Please join us for a reflective evening!

Adult Sacraments of Initiation (RCIA):

If you have ever thought about becoming Catholic, or if you are a baptized Catholic who has not yet celebrated First Communion or Confirmation, please contact Maryann Tyrer at mtyrer@stelmo79.org to discuss our adult initiation process (commonly known as the RCIA). You can begin this process at any time throughout the year, and options are available for face-to-face or Zoom meetings.

Bereavement Ministry

Seasons of Hope is our parish grief support group. The format is a 6-week series on Thursday evenings, led by trained facilitators, and including prayer, reflection, confidential discussion, and journaling, utilizing a program published by Ave Maria Press. We plan to meet live (socially distanced with facemasks), but we will utilize Zoom if necessary. The first series will be offered January 7, 14, 21, 28, and February 4 and 11. Please contact Maryann at mtyrer@stelmo79.org to register.

Toy Drive

This is the last weekend to bring in new, unwrapped toys for the children served by the Little Sisters of the Assumption in Harlem! If you haven’t had a chance to brighten a young person’s Christmas morning, please consider purchasing and dropping off a gift today.

Christmas Masses • • •

Christmas Eve at 5:30pm and Midnight Christmas Day at 8am, 10am, and 12noon TICKETS ARE REQUIRED for admittance! Only 150 per mass are available, so pick up your free tickets at the Parish Center this week, as they are going fast!

Celebrating Advent

Photo courtesy the Archives of the Jesuit Province of France

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From the Pastor 12.06.2020 Worship in the Pandemic (Part Three) Way back in September I wrote a column about the growing number of churches investing in livestreaming technology i.e., to broadcast masses on the internet. Originally something of a stopgap measure, it has now mushroomed into a whole new facet of the Church’s outreach. Staff are being hired, and cameras and computer equipment bought. The online presence of our Church’s worship, it would seem, is here to stay.

Many of us are happy with this development. In a pandemic, it has enabled us to maintain a connection with the parish without endangering our health. Parents, whose children now go to religious education online, are relived that the hectic Sunday morning ritual is calmer. And there are many who have told me, “Hey father, I like going to mass in my pajamas!” . . . which is part of the reason that a growing number of clergy have begun to kick back against this tendency. They point out that mass is not something we WATCH; it is something we DO. That can be hard for some Catholics to understand. Many Catholics were formed to believe that being spectators was exactly what we are supposed to be. We ATTEND mass; the priest is the one who celebrates it!

And yet, mass is not a spectator sport. We might call the priest a “celebrant” but we ALL really are celebrants.

Mass is rooted in the coming together of the parts of the Body of Christ; us. We come together not just to watch but to experience Christ in his self-offering in the mass. He gives himself to us in the mass so we can give ourselves to him through service of others in our lives. To use the sports metaphor; we are not the spectators, we are the team. And mass is the lynchpin. It is the “source and summit” of the Church’s life, to use the words of the Second Vatican Council.

And for that reason, many believe that watching mass on TV on online is not a substitute for the real thing and thus we should not broadcast it. A sacramental Church needs sacraments; and they require physicality and personal presence. They say we should substitute our Sunday worship and liturgy with prayers and Bible reading, as many protestant churches are doing.

This is a big debate in our Church right now, with many articles being written and opinion pieces penned. So let me tell you what our decision is. In the next few weeks, you will see workers installing the latest livestreaming equipment in the church. We hope that, by Christmas, we will have the capability to livestream both daily and Sunday masses. In fact, we intend to. I agree with the criticism that online worship is not the same as physical attendance at mass. I acknowledge that it can lead to laziness in Catholics, to think that pajamas and observing mass online is the same as celebrating together. It is not. I believe that it is every Catholic’s obligation to attend mass. Without that weekly gathering we begin to drift, and inevitably it is away. . . . and yet. We dare not make the Perfect the enemy of the Good. There will be many people who are reached by our online presence who would not be reached otherwise. People who are at home, or at their second home hours away, can still remain in contact with us. People who have permanently moved can still be a part of us. For those who are ill or homebound, the familiar rituals and prayers of the mass can still speak to them of God. As long as there have been churches, their communities have consisted of the committed, the casual and the tentatively connected. This will not change. However, our online presence will enable a larger group of people to be in contact with us. And then who knows? Maybe something they see or hear, will cause them to want more.

Father Baker

CHURCH NAME AND ADDRESS 511510: Church of St. Monica/ St Elizabeth of Hungary / St Stephen of Hungary 406 East 80th Street, NYC., NY 10075 PHONE: 212 288-6250 CONTACT PERSON: Gladys Tejada/Office

SUNDAY DATE OF PUBLICATION: December 6th, 2020 SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: PLEASE PRINT 450 BULLETINS FOR THIS WEEK’S ISSUE