Finance Committee Corner Last Sunday $7,413 was received in the offertory
baskets at Mass and $4,413.5 was received through Parish Pay, for a total of $11,826.5. Our average weekly operating budget is $15,000. Thank you for so generously giving to our regular collection.
St. Nicholas Fest! December 6th is the Feast of St. Nicholas. This
Sunday December 4th, our regular Coffee Hour will be a bit more festive to help prepare us for the coming days of Christmas. Coffee and muffins will be served after the 8:30am mass, but from 11:00 to 5:00pm we would love if you could join us to share each other’s company and enjoy some wonderful food donated by some of our local businesses. We would like to thank James Palazza and Pam Cravens who have organized this Sunday’s St. Nicholas Fest. Also, thanks to our local businesses that generously donated food for this occasion:
Joanne Trattoria,
Franceso’s Pizza,
Amber, and Chris Vitale, and those that donated prizes for our Raffle to help raise money for our Christmas music: Stefani Germanotta (Lady Gaga), Joe Germanotta,
Caffe Tallulah,
Polpette 71, Madame Paulette, and
Saks Fifth Avenue. And don’t forget Spirit Sunday will take place this Sunday after the 5:30pm mass.
Spirit Sunday Please join us 12/4 following the 5:30PM Mass (in the parish hall below the church) for the first Fall Spirit Sunday. Appetizers, drinks, and a whole lot of Spirit will be served! Join us for a drink, a bite, and some friendly fellowship. If you have any questions or would like to be part of the planning for Spirit Sunday, please contact John Gasdaska at 646-345-7350.
MAGNIFICAT Magnificat Advent Companions will be on sale in the back of Church after Masses on this weekend for $3.00 each. This little book of prayers and spiritual readings is a perfect way to better enter into the richness of the Advent Season.
Blessed Sacrament School Applications are currently being accepted for the School of the Blessed Sacrament Early Childhood Program. Interested families should visit our website
www.sblsnyc.org or contact Julie Park by phone
(646-998-3037) or email (
[email protected]). The next opportunity to visit our school will be on Tuesday, December 6th at our Touring Tuesday.
BENEFIT CONCERT Join us Saturday, December 10th from 7-8 PM for a benefit concert entitled 'Giving Back on the Upper West Side,' featuring musicians from the Juilliard School! All are welcome! Donations will be collected for the JoyJ Initiative, a ministry of Blessed Sacrament, in hopes of creating more care packages than ever for those in need in our city.
CHRISTMAS WREATHS OF THE GREEN MOUNTAIN MONASTERY Consider ordering a fresh wreath from the Green Mountain Monastery to support the work of the sisters in Greensboro, Vt and the Global Catholic Climate Movement. Please see the flyers on the back table for more information.
GAY FELLOWSHIP MASS AND CHRISTMAS PARTY Please join us for Mass on Tuesday evening, December 13
th, at 6:30PM, followed by dinner at Joanne’s Trattoria, 70 West 68
th Street. Dinner will be $25 per person and RSVP’s are
required by Tuesday, December 6. You may RSVP to either John Gasdaska,
[email protected] or Chris Williams,
[email protected]. All are welcome and the evening promises to be a beautiful and fun-filled way to celebrate and embrace the upcoming Christmas Season. We hope you can join us.
Annual New York Cares Coat Drive On behalf of the needy within our local community, members of the Social Action Committee and New York Cares will be accepting
USED-COAT donations at the entrance of the church before each of the Masses on the weekend of December 10
th and 11
th.
Coats for children should be “gently used”, just cleaned and in fair condition or better.
Jesse Tree The JoyJ Initiative will again this year host the Jesse Tree for our Homeless Outreach, which will be held in January, 2017. We will be requesting new items including McDonald or Subway gift cards; hats; gloves; scarves; warm socks; and sweatshirts. If you cannot provide an item, please consider a cash donation instead. Thank you.
We will be collecting the items or donation in the vestibule of the Church on Saturday, December 17
th and Sunday December 18
th.
God bless you for your generosity and Merry Christmas!
Advent Simple Suppers Please join us during the remaining 3 Wednesdays during Advent:
Dec 7
th, Dec 14
th and Dec 21
st for prayer and meditation followed by a light dinner of soup, salad and bread. Prayers begin promptly at 7pm in the dining room of the rectory. It’s a wonderful and contemplative way to prepare for Christmas. We hope to see you there. For more information please call/ email Chris Williams 304-337-1252/
[email protected] or John Gasdaska 646-345-7350/
[email protected]
YOUTH CHOIR Children (from grade 3 up) and Teenagers are invited to JOIN the CHRISTMAS EVE YOUTH CHOIR which sings at the 5:30 pm Christmas Eve Family Mass. Rehearsals are on Wednesdays from 4-5 pm in the Church NOVEMBER 30 TO DECEMBER 21.
The Parent Permission Form to sign up can be found on the Sunday School website under the YOUTH CHOIR tab. (
www.blessedsacramentsundayschool.org) or you can pick up the form at the rectory office. Please call Tina Silvestro if you need more information 212-877-3111.
VISITING FRIENDS PROGAM Do you have a relative, neighbor or friend who is homebound and might appreciate a visitor from time to time? He/she need not be a parishioner or necessarily share our Catholic faith, only live in the neighborhood of our parish. An assigned volunteer will visit your referral once a week for an hour or so to provide companionship and the comfort of social interaction. We are happy to visit people in nursing homes as well, should they be in need of some company. If you know of someone who might benefit from our program, please email us at
[email protected] (put “Visiting Friends” in the subject box) or leave the information at the Rectory. Our wonderful group of volunteers happily serve in this fine ministry.