The Nativity of the Lord 12/25/2022

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 familya 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 Associate: .................................... Rev. Anthony Ciorra, IVD Weekend Associate:...............................................Rev. Edward Beck, CP

Pastoral Associate: Ms. Maryann Tyrer ........ mtyrer@stelmo79.org

Music Director: Mr. John Zupan .................... jzupan@stelmo79.org

Wedding Coordinator: Ms. Debbi Burdett.....dbweddingsnyc@gmail.com

Parish Manager: Jennifer DeSpirito.............................jdespirito@stelmo79.org

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: Note: Please go to page 10 for our Holiday Schedule

Monday & Wednesday................................. . 9am - 4pm Tuesday - Thursday ....................................... 9am - 7pm Friday ....................................................... Closed Saturday ................................................. 10am - 2pm Sunday ..................................................... Closed Closed for Lunch Weekdays..................1pm - 2pm 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

Mass Intentions

Saturday, December 24th Vigil

5:30pm Walter & Mary Ferber 12mn Anita Spota

Sunday, December 25th

The Nativity of the Lord

8:00am William & Mary Mitchell 10:00am Jozsef Tomahatsch 12:00pm The Anderson Family (Living & Dec.)

Monday, December 26 St. Stephen 9am Michael Facciola

Tuesday, December 27th St. John 9am Anna Corra

Wednesday, December 28th

The Holy Innocents 9am Maria Litrentas (Living)

Thursday, December 29th Fifth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord 9am Michael Egan

Friday, December 30th

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph 9am For the Health of Lourdes Imperio

Saturday, December 31st Seventh Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord 12pm Sarah Ferrara

For Mass Intentions, please visit the Parish Center

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

Every Friday after the Noon Mass until 3pm in the church and live on-line

Devotions

Miraculous Medal on Mondays after Mass in the church and live on-line

Divine Mercy

Prayed every Friday at 3pm in the church and live on-line

Vespers (Evening Prayer)

Every Friday at 5:10pm in the Chapel and live on-line

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Saturdays at 5pm or by appointment

Anointing of the sick

Every third Saturday of the Month after the noon Mass.

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 would 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 Bruna Centurion Pagin, Msgr. Leslie Ivers, Cindy Garnica Castro, Madeline Tipton, Jennie Marmo, and all those ill with or recovering from the COVID-19 virus and all Victims of Military Activities

PRAYERS FOR THE DECEASED Andrew Lawler, Carmine Malatesta, Fabio Tavarez & Eladio Ant. Tejada

Today’s Readings

First Reading — All the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God (Isaiah 52:7-10).

Psalm — The whole world has seen God’s salvation (Psalm 98).

Second Reading — God has spoken to us through the Son, the very imprint of God’s being (Hebrews 1:1-6).

Gospel — The Word became flesh; from his fullness we have all received grace (John 1:1-18 [1-5, 9-14]).

Readings for the Week

Monday: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59; Ps 31:3cd-4, 6, 8ab, 16bc, 17; Mt 10:17-22 Tuesday: 1 Jn 1:1-4; Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12; Jn 20:1a, 2-8 Wednesday: 1 Jn 1:5 — 2:2; Ps 124:2-5, 7b-8; Mt 2:13-18 Thursday: 1 Jn 2:3-11; Ps 96:1-3, 5b-6; Lk 2:36-40 Friday: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 or Col 3:12-21 [12-17]; Ps 128:1-5; Mt 2:13-15, 19-23 Saturday: 1 Jn 2:18-21; Ps 96:1-2, 11-13; Jn 1:1-18 Sunday: Nm 6:22-27; Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21

Sanctuary Lamp

This Week’ Sanctuary Lamp

In

Memory of Eladio Ant. Tejada Offered

Eladio &

by

Gladys

Tejada

St. Stephen of Hungary School

Pre-K through 8th Grade Catholic Parochial School 408 East 82nd St., New York, NY 10028

(212) 288-1989 Fax: (212) 517 – 5788

Principal: Ms. Allyson Genova-Hall www.saintstephenschool.org

Interested in admissions to our parish school? admissions@saintstephenschool.org

Did You Know?

- St. Stephen of Hungary School, the parish school of St. Monica, St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Stephen of Hungary Church, is a warm, welcoming community on East 82nd Street between First & York Avenues.

- Our campus features unique learning spaces. Our dedicated, experienced faculty work collaboratively to offer our students top-notch educational opportunities. We are now accepting applications for PreK 3 – Gr. 8. -

Consider St. Stephen of Hungary School for your family!

www.saintstephenschool.org

admissions@saintstephenschool.org

Christmas Music Points Past the Season

In the Catholic Church, Christmas Time is a liturgical season that continues through the first or second week in January, so we sing Christmas carols long after December 25. Christmas carols boost spirits, nurture souls and flood hearts with memories of Christmases past. The familiar melodies bring comfort in a season that can be chaotic.

The Scripture readings of the season remind us that the first Christmas too was steeped in chaos. Jesus was conceived in an unmarried woman and when born, he was placed in a feeding trough intended for animals. After his birth, his family was forced to flee a jealous king who planned to kill him. Despite all this, God chose to be born.

While most of our Christmas carols “repeat the sounding joy” of the season, at least two carols offer a message that goes past the usual refrain of this time of year. These songs connect the Incarnation with the suffering, death, and Resurrection. The lyrics of one version of “What Child Is This” note the nails and spear that would pierce the one born in the manger. Likewise, in the hymn “We Three Kings of Orient Are” a verse highlights the gift of myrrh, foretelling the suffering and death of Jesus.

These lyrics remind us what it meant for Jesus to be born as a human being. His birth led to pain and sorrow and death on a cross.

throughout the year.

Singing these carols at Mass, where we proclaim the death and Resurrection of Christ, assures us that through Emmanuel, God is with us and that all is well and that all shall be well, even in the midst of chaos, even in the face of death.

When the Christmas season is over, we know that God remains with us throughout the year. As we bring the liturgy to the world through our actions, we assure others that God is with us.

Connecting the Liturgy with Our Lives © 2019 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications. 800-933-1800; www.LTP.org. Text by Kathy Kuczka.

Photo © John Zich. Permission to publish granted by the Archdiocese of Chicago on October 25, 2018.

Music during Christmas Time connects to the work of Christians

Five Minute Jesus

Using the Gospel for Prayer – Mary, Mother of God January 1, 2023

It is simple. Read the Gospel for the following Sunday slowly, reflecting on the story it tells. Consider the questions asked each day. What conversion of heart, mind, and life might the Lord be asking of you? Make a resolution about how what you read and reflect upon might be lived that day. Thank God for speaking to you through this reflection.

Lk 2:16-21

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Monday, December 26

What word or words in this passage caught my attention? Comforted me? Challenged me? What conversion of heart, mind, and life is the Lord asking of me?

Tuesday, December 27

Luke and Matthew have different Christmas stories. In Matthew there are the Magi and no shepherds. In Luke, shepherds, and no Magi. That is because Luke and Matthew want to say different things about Jesus. In Luke’s world, shepherds lived on the margins of society. They were often poor, usually nomadic, certainly not “our” kind of people. Who would the shepherds be in our day and age? What do I think Luke is saying about them in this Gospel? How do I feel about that?

Wednesday, December 28

The message the shepherds heard from the angels was that a “savior”, a “Lord”, a “Christ” (chosen one) whose birth brings peace. We don’t notice it, but for the first hearers of this Gospel, all these titles would be used for a king, an emperor, most notably the Roman Emperor. What Luke is doing is making a point about who the true Emperor is – it is Jesus, not Caesar Augustus. Luke Is mixing politics and religion – which for him would have been natural – as in his day politics was religion and vice versa. However, we like to maintain that there should be a difference. How comfortable am I with allowing my faith to be challenged by the world of politics? And how comfortable am I will all owing my faith to challenge my politics?

Thursday, December 29

“Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart”. Why would Luke feel the need to say this? Some think that Luke wants to say that Mary is the source for these stories. But he never says that – and yet he could. Maybe Luke is trying to say something to us about Mary’s reaction to these amazing events. What does Mary’s reflection teach me about my own reaction to the mystery of Christ’s birth?

Friday, December 30

Eight days after his birth Jesus was circumcised. Indeed, the name of this feast used to be The Feast of the Circumcision. Luke mentions it because he was to remind everyone that Jesus was, is Jewish. Nowadays we don’t make much of Jesus’ religion – but Luke did. Why? Why was Jesus’ Jewishness important for Luke and his hearers? Why should it be important for us? Does it make a difference in my faith life?

Saturday, December 31

Ever since 1968, we have also celebrated January 1 as the World Day of Peace. What is the relationship between Mary and her role as mother of the Son of God, and peace? Perhaps because she bears the one who brings peace into the world. Do I continue Mary’s task of being a peace bringer? IF so, how? If not, why not?

From the Pastor 12.25.22

What is in a name?

In my years of working with students, preaching to children and youth ministry, there are certain “tools” I have learned to catch kids’ attention. They say in preaching class that you have an average of 30 seconds at the start of your sermon to interest the congregation in it. After that, they tune you out. I think for kids it is more like 3 seconds!

And so, you have to have something to hook them into listening. For me, it is to ask them what their name means. Most kids don’t know that names have meaning. They are rooted in old languages, stories, and heroes. Most kids have no idea why their parents gave them their names, and many believe it was simply because they sounded nice, or because a relative had the name first.

But they are fascinated to learn that names have meanings. That Nathaniel for example means “Gift from God” or Michael means “who is like God”. (Donald is Gaelic and means “world ruler” when I was told this as a child – I was thrilled!). They are thrilled because they think that their name is a revelation about some hidden quality they have, and they hope that this quality might one day be revealed.

Sorry to say, most names are chosen only because a beloved friend or relative had them, or because they sound nice. But that was not always the case. The Bible is full of names given because of meaning. Isaac is a Hebrew name related to the word “to laugh” because Sarah laughed when the angel told Abraham she would give birth to a son in her old age. Moses because he was “pulled or drawn out” (the meaning of the name in Hebrew) of the water by pharaoh’s daughter at the start of his story. Jonathan from the Hebrew “God has given” and Jesus, a name which was given him by the angel Gabriel and means “God saves”.

In the Bible, names reveal who the person is, not just what the parents want to call them. Thus, we have names for Jesus. Most are titles: King of Kings, Messiah, Savior, Prince of Peace. One however, rooted in a prophecy by Isaiah (7:14) and applied by Matthew to Jesus in his Gospel, is Emmanuel. In Hebrew it means “God is with us”. Isaiah promised that one day a young woman would conceive, and her child would be a sign that God was with the people of Judah. Matthew saw in the birth of Jesus the fulfilment of that promise (1:23), but more importantly its continuation. For Matthew did not write just about the birth of Jesus, but about his resurrection. For Matthew, Emmanuel meant that in Jesus God would always be “with us”.

All of us know the name Emmanuel. Perhaps even some of us bear it. All during the Advent seasons we sing hymns, such as the beloved “O Come O Come Emmanuel”, without ever thinking about the promise this name portends. That promise bookends Matthew’s gospel, with his citing the Isaiah prophecy in chapter 1 and Jesus last worlds in Chapter 28, “Lo, I am with you always”. Clearly Emmanuel meant something to Matthew.

Maybe it takes years like the last several we have experienced: Instability, terror, pandemic, inflation, misinformation, and revolution, to hear that name the way Christians throughout history have heard it: that the child whose birth we celebrate today is a promise, that “God is with us always” – not just when times are good, but especially when they are bad. That when we make it through, we can look back (should we choose to) and see that we did not do it alone. God was, is with us.

That is a Christmas message we can take with us, into the New Year.

Merry Christmas!

Father Baker

Parish & Parish Office Holiday Office Hours 2022-23

Our Parish office of St. Monica, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Stephen of Hungary will be closed beginning Friday, December 23rd, and opening again on Tuesday, January 3rd at 9:00 am. All phone calls will come to our answering service, we will check them periodically and answer them as needed. Please see below for the Mass schedule during the holiday period:

Friday, Dec. 23rd 12 PM Noon

Saturday, Dec. 24th 12 PM Noon

Saturday, Dec. 24th 5:30 PM Christmas Eve Family Mass

Saturday, Dec. 24th 11:10 PM Lessons and Carols

Christmas Midnight Mass

Sunday, Dec. 25th 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM Noon Mass *Please note, there is no 5:00 PM Mass

Monday, Dec. 26th through Friday, Dec. 30th: 9:00 AM Mass *Please note on 12/30 there is no Noon Mass, Exposition or Adoration

Saturday, Dec. 31st 12 Noon & 5:30 PM

Sunday, January 1st 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 12:00 Noon *Please note, there is no 5:00 PM Mass

Monday, January 2nd 9:00 AM