September 29, 2019

Church of Saint Monica Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Saint Stephen of Hungary ———————————————————————————————————————

413 East 79th St. New York, NY 10075

Church Offices and Parish Center: 406 East 80th St. New York, NY 10075 (212) 288-6250 Fax: (212) 570 - 1562 Twenty Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time –September 29th, 2019

Office Hours Our Offices are open: Mo. 9am – 5pm Tu.-Th. 9am – 7pm Fri. Closed Sat. 10am -2pm Sun. Closed Our offices close for lunch: 1pm – 2pm daily

Parish Staff Pastor

Rev. Donald C. Baker

frdcab@stelmo79.org

Associate:

Rev. Msgr. Leslie J Ivers

msgrlivers@stelmo79.org

Weekend Associates:

Rev. Jim O’Shea

Parish Manager: Music Director

Rev. Tony Ciorra Ms. Maryann Tyrer Ms. Jasmine Gomez Mr. Michael Ward Mr. John Zupan

Wedding Coordinator:

Ms. Debbi Burdett

Pastoral Associates:

mtyrer@stelmo79.org jgomez@stelmo79.org mward@stelmo79.org jzupan@stelmo79.org DBweddingsnyc@gmail.com

Mass Schedule Saturday: 12:00pm Saturday Vigil: 5:30pm Sunday: 8:00am 10:00am 12:00pm 5:00pm Monday – Friday: 12:00pm Confessions: Saturday 5:00 – 5:30pm and by appointment Our church is open: 7:15am – 3:30pm daily for private prayer Vespers (evening pray) 5:10pm Fridays in Parish Center Chapel

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. Kelly Burke

www.saintstephenschool.org

Interested in admissions to our parish school?

admissions@saintstephenschool.org

MISSION STATEMENT The Roman Catholic Parish of St. Monica, St. Elizabeth of Hungary and 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 and 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.

TODAY’S READINGS First Reading -- Woe to the complacent, stretched comfortably on their couches! (Amos 6:1a, 4-7).

Psalm -- Praise the Lord, my soul! (Psalm 146) Second Reading -- Pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness (1 Timothy 6:11-16).

Gospel -- There was a rich man who dined sumptuously each day. Lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).

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

SATURDAY 5:30PM

September 28thVigil Sebastiana Nicosia

SUNDAY

September 29 Twenty sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Joseph Teklits Victor Vensas All Parishioners Christopher Wagner

8:00AM 10:00AM 12NOON 5PM MONDAY 12NOON TUESDAY 12NOON

September 30th St. Jerome Christopher Warner October 1st St. Therese of the Child Jesus Mary Collins

WEDNESDAY October 2nd The Holy Guardian Angels 12NOON Walter & Mary Ferber THURSDAY 12NOON

October 3rd Weekday Cecilia & Denis Tyrer

FRIDAY

October 4th St. Francis of Assisi Frances, Gladys & Jacky Marzek

12NOON SATURDAY 12NOON

October 5th Weekday Mary O’Donoghue

READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday:

Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday: Saturday: Sunday:

Zec 8:1-8; Ps 102:16-21, 29, 22-23;Lk 9:46-50 Zec 8:20-23; Ps 87:1b-7; Lk 9:51-56 Neh 2:1-8; Ps 137:1-6, 10-11; Mt 18:1-5, 10 Neh 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12; Ps 19: 8-11;Lk 10:1-12 Bar 1:15-22; Ps 79:1b-5, 8-9; Lk 10:13-16 Bar 4:5-12, 27-29; Ps 69:33-37; Lk 10:17-24 Hb 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Ps 95:1-2, 6-9; 2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14; Lk 17:5-10

SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES

Sunday:

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Priesthood Sunday; Monday: St. Jerome Tuesday: St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus Wednesday: The Holy Guardian Angels Friday: St. Francis of Assisi; First Friday Saturday: Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos; Blessed Virgin Mary; First Saturday

If you wish to add the name of a loved one to the prayer list, please notify the parish center: (212) 288-6250

K-8 Religious Education is in session, but registration is still open! th • 10:15-11:45am in the Parish Center (406 East 80 Street) • Parents who were unable to join us for the parent meeting, please come in and pick up your Parent Folder with the calendar for the year and other important information.

• If you haven’t registered your child yet, please come at 10am to complete the forms. Please bring your checkbook and if this is a new registration, a copy of your child’s baptismal certificate. You can also register during the week at the parish center. st th • If you have a rising 1 or 7 grader, please remember that two years of Religious Education (or Catholic School) are required for reception of First Communion or Confirmation.

• No K-8 Religious Education or Adult Faith Formation on Sunday, September 29, so our catechists and volunteers can attend their Catechist Breakfast.

• Family Faith Formation – Saturday, November 2, 2-5pm – on the theme of Reconciliation and Forgiveness – mark your calendar!

• No K-8 Religious Education or Adult Faith Formation on Sunday, November 3, due to NYC Marathon street closures.

Adult Faith Formation • Our Sunday Morning Scripture Discussion Group is in session, and runs 10:15-11:45am in the Parish Center each Sunday that Religious Education is in session. This group is open to any and all adults – you can become a “regular,” or just drop in occasionally as your schedule allows. Parents – this is an excellent way for your family to grow in faith together, and for you to set an excellent example for your children as to the value of formation in the faith at all ages.

Adult Sacraments • Adults thinking about becoming Catholic, or Catholic adults who have missed First Communion or Confirmation – it’s never too late! Contact Maryann Tyrer, Pastoral Associate, to discuss our adult initiation process. You can begin the process any time throughout the year.

Sessions are held on Sunday in the Parish Center following the noon Mass.

All inquirers are welcome!

Volunteers • Subs and hall monitors on Sunday mornings, and special event assistants (various times) needed for our various Faith Formation programs.

Contact Maryann for more information.

Mass every Sunday is ‘so important’ says Pope Carol Glatz

catholicherald.co.uk

6 February, 2014

It’s so important to go to Mass every Sunday because that’s where people receive Christ who saves, forgives and unites everyone to his father, church and each other, Pope Francis said.

It’s also “important that children are well prepared for first Communion because … after baptism and confirmation it is the first step toward belonging strongly, really strongly, to Jesus Christ,” he said yesterday at his weekly general audience.

The Pope continued a series of talks on the sacraments of Christian initiation, focusing on the Eucharist as the source and summit of the life of the church.

“In fact, every authentic journey of faith, communion and witness springs from this sacrament of love,” he said.

In his catechesis, Pope Francis said that by celebrating the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, “we participate in the mystery of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ.”

“By making himself broken bread for us, the Lord Jesus pours out to us all of his mercy and his love, renewing our heart, our existence and our way of relating to him and our brothers and sisters,” he said.

Taking part in the Eucharist “conforms us in a unique and profound way to Christ,” he said, granting Christians a foretaste of full communion with God in heaven, “where with all the saints we will have the unimaginable joy of contemplating God face to face.”

“We will never thank the Lord enough for the gift he gave us with the Eucharist,” the pope said.

“It’s such a great gift and that’s why it’s so important to go to Mass on Sundays,” he said.

Mass is a time “not just to pray, but to receive Communion — this bread that is the body of Christ that saves us, forgives us, reunites us to the father. It’s beautiful to do this.”

Mass on Sundays is particularly important, he said, because “it is the day of the resurrection of the Lord, and with the Eucharist we feel our own belonging to the church, to the people of God, to the body of God, to Jesus Christ.”

SPECIAL DEVOTIONS

TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION

After all weekday masses Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament Every Friday after the Noon Mass to 3 PM, with Benediction following the Divine Mercy Chaplet Devotions Miraculous Medal on Mondays after each Mass Divine Mercy The Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed each Friday afternoon at 3 PM Sacrament of Reconciliation: 5:00 PM on Saturdays Anytime 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 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

Over the past century, a desire to recover a deep sense of unity among all believers in Christ has grown. The ecumenical movement (from the Greek word meaning the the whole inhabited world) began among Protestant Christians, but was given great energy in 1920 with a letter from the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, calling for closer dialogue and cooperation among Christians. In 1960, Pope John XXIII invited Protestant and Orthodox observers to the Second Vatican Council. In 1964, the Council’s Decree on Ecumenism named these Christians separated brethren, a huge leap forward from the time of labeling them as outside the Church. A year later, a new pope, Paul VI, and the Orthodox Patriarch officially nullified the condemnations that walled off East from West for nine hundred years.

The pace and optimism of the 1960s has sadly waned, and the signs of progress toward unity are few; yet there are wider agreements on sharing Communion among various Christian denominations, and among Protestants agreements regarding sharing of ecclesiastical life and ministry. Among the success stories of the ecumenical movement are greater cooperation among Christian clergy, a similar Lectionary for Protestants and Catholics, and even experiments in the monastic life and common worship.

Please remember in your prayers Louis Fusco, Judith Brenna, Juan Herrera, Dee Dee Mitchell, Bob Mullin, James Lana, Lucia Kinsley, Glenn Allen & Albert Walsh

ALL VICTIMS OF MILITARY ACTIVITY

--James Field, Copyright (c) J. S. Paluch Co.

Bread & Wine This Week’s Bread & Wine Intentions for the O’Mara Family Offered by

PRAYERS FOR THE DECEASED Please pray for our deceased parishioners and family members Roberta Desalle, John Blasko, Marie Hallenback, Joachim Wypior, Lula Mendez & Paul Caputo

Kitty O’Donoghue Sanctuary Lamp This Weeks’ Sanctuary Lamp Intentions for Rita Coyne

Offered by Kitty O’Donoghue

Family Mass

SENIOR MINISTRY NEWS

Our next Family Mass will be Saturday, October 5th at 5:30PM

TOUR OF THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE 1047 AMSTERDAM AVENUE MORNINGSIDE DRIVE NEIGHBORHOOD Friday, October 18th, 2019 Organized by Father Donald Baker

All Families & Parishioners are invited

PLEASE SING UP WITH GLADYS AT THE PARISH CENTER: 212-288-6250 THANK YOU, ANNE SABATINI

Baptism Announcements Next Sunday, October 6th, there will be a baptism service in the church at 1:30pm At that service we will be baptizing: Anastasia Grasiella Sweeney

Time to be determined CHRISTMAS CONCERT & COCKTAIL PARTY WITH SILENT AUCTION Please mark your calendars for our Christmas Concert, Saturday, December 14th at 8PM

Please join us in congratulating: Aaron & Nadezda Sweeney on their children’s new life in Christ.

Baptism Services are open for members of the parish to join in the welcoming of our newest members.

We will again host a cocktail party with a silent auction in conjunction with the concert. Tickets and more details will be available soon

From your Pastor September 29th, 2019 Back in the first years of the Church, everyone was a saint. At least according to Saint Paul.

He regularly addressed his letters to “the saints” in the church in Rome, or Corinth, or Ephesus. These letters, which make up most of the New Testament are clear: because we are baptized believers and members of the Church, we are holy. We are saints. . . nevertheless, in the decades that followed St. Paul, some people lived lives of special faithfulness. First there were those who gave their lives for the faith during the Roman persecutions in the 2nd through the 4th centuries. These were the martyrs, and they were the first people whose lives were held up as role models for us to follow. After the persecutions ended, and the Church became the religion of the empire, other women and men were identified by the Church as living lives of such holiness that they were examples for us all to follow in our lives as saints. These saints were put on an official “list” or canon of saints, for people all over the Church to honor. To this day when a new name is added to that list, we say that that he or she has been canonized. One of the reasons for the Canon of Saints is to hold up their lives as examples of faith. However, there is another reason. As part of the canonization process, the Church examines the life of the saint and determines whether they are appropriate for public veneration. However, the Church also asks that two miracles be offered as proof of the intercession of the person who is being canonized. If you prayed for healing and asked the possible saint in question to pray for you and then you were miraculously healed, the Church presumes that that saint is in heaven, is interceding for you and the request was granted.

Thus the intercession of the saints is also a reason for canonized saints. They are like our big brothers and sisters in heaven, who pray for us and with us to God. Saints are important in the religious practice of the Church. We name our children after them.

We name our churches after them. Many of us have favorite saints, our patron saints. Here at St. Monica – St. Elizabeth of Hungary – St. Stephen of Hungary, the installation of the air conditioning has allowed us to create a series of shrines along the walls of our church where we will hang images of our favorite saints.

Who will they be? Well that will be largely up to you! I am asking you to nominate your favorite saints. All you have to do is email me at FRDCAB@stelmo79.org and suggest which saint or saints you would like to see us honor. You can also drop me a note by mail. In three weeks, I will tabulate your nominations, and We will vote! The shrines will look like the one we have already erected to Our Lady of Perpetual Help over by the piano. Once the final list is decided upon, I will offer the opportunity for anyone who wishes to memorialize the pictures in honor of their own loved ones.

Let the voting begin! … Oh, and just to be clear: St. Monica, St. Stephen and St. Elizabeth will be honored with their OWN shrine in the alcove nearest the altar on the pulpit side of the church in the near future. So, we won’t be putting images of them in the new shrines.

Father Baker