CHRISTMAS MASS SCHEDULE
Christmas Eve, December 24th
5:30 p.m. – Family Mass (English)
7:15 p.m. Noche Buena (A Mass in Spanish)
11:00 p.m. – Choral Mass
(Carols begin at 10:30 p.m.)
Christmas Day, December 25th
8:30 a.m. (English) 11:00 a.m. (English)
NEW YEAR'S SCHEDULE
PENANCE/RECONCILIATION
New Year's Eve, December 31st
4 – 5:30 p.m.
MASSES
5:30 p.m. (English) 7:00 p.m. (Spanish)
New Year's Day, January 1st
8:30 a.m.(English), 11 a.m. (English) & 5:30 p.m. (English)
The advent wreath has been offered in memory of Eleanor Gasdaska. Please remember her in your prayers throughout this Advent Season.
SPECIAL NEEDS MASS AT BLESSED SACRAMENT
You're invited! Please join us today for a Special Needs Mass, welcoming families with loved ones on the autism spectrum and other challenging behaviors.
All families' members are invited!
SEEKERS RETREAT—Friday, Jan. 30—Sunday, Feb. 1
Are you wondering: What’s important in my life? What am I looking for? How can I let God in? You’re not the only one. Take time in the new year to reflect on your journey, your desires, and God’s hopes and dreams for you with a peer-led retreat experience presented by Charis NYC for young adults in their 20s and 30s. Mariandale Retreat Center in Ossining, NY (accessible from Manhattan via MTA Metro-North Trains)
$250 per person. Sign-up before Dec. 16 and take advantage of our early registration discount rate of $225.
FOOD FOR FAMILIES COLLECTION
This weekend (and the 3rd weekend of every month) is our non-perishable grocery collection for FOOD FOR FAMILIES. Shopping lists can be found on the table behind the last pew in the Church. Please put your donations in the boxes in front of the side altars.
Many thanks from our parish community!
(In order to provide the highest quality service to those who seek our help, we may only accept freshly bought, unopened non-perishable items. If this is not convenient, we also accept monetary donations)
THE JOYJ INITIATIVE
2014 has been a year of extraordinary growth for the JoyJ Initiative. To date, 324 volunteers have participated in activities “on the field”, distributing bags to the Homeless and caring for the spiritual needs of the elderly and the sick. In addition, many others have donated time and money to support the work for the neediest.
During this special season, we want to say THANK YOU to the volunteers, the donors, and the local groups and businesses (The Boy Scouts Troop 777, Bistro Citron, Tarallucci e Vino, and Grays Papaya) that have worked very hard during the year. We are very fortunate to be part of such great a parish and neighborhood!
JESSE TREE: This weekend is the collection of the items at the back of the Church at all Masses. THANK YOU for your generous donations and for making the winter more bearable for our less fortunate brothers and sisters who live on the street.
The Parish will hold a MONTHLY BOOK DISCUSSION in 2015. The first discussion will be held on Thursday, January 8, beginning at 6:30 PM and ending at 8 PM in the rectory. The first book we will read is "Against the Tide: The Radical Leadership of Pope Francis," by John Allen, who has covered the Vatican for CNN and several newspapers for many years. It's a short book, a little over fifty pages. In the book Allen reveals a pope who has fixed his sight on reform, on accountability, on the Social Gospel, on shaking up a complacent hierarchy, as well as showing how his leadership, while beginning a new era, has roots that stretch back 2000 years.
Books will be available for purchase in the rectory.
JOIN A CHURCH SOCIAL GROUP
The Young Adults, The Forties, The 55+ Group, etc.