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February 28th, 2016
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Join our parish community — and nearly 14,000 Catholic communities across the United states — in a life-changing Lenten journey with CRS Rice Bowl. CRS Rice Bowl is a faith-in-action Lenten program for families, individuals and faith communities with family activities, meatless meals, prayers and reflections. Rice Bowl invites Catholics to live in
solidarity with our most vulnerable brothers and sisters through the Lenten pillars of Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.
Please pick up a Rice Bowl with a Lenten calendar and a flyer for more information at the church entrance.
What you give up for Lent changes lives:
“Lent is a time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty.” —Pope Francis
COLLECTION
Thank you so very much for your generous response to the needs of the parish. Our collection last Sunday was $9,792. $3,375 was received in ParishPay for a total of $13,167.
COMMITTEE FOR PASTORAL PLANNING
Make a difference in our future, join the Committee for Pastoral Planning, a newly formed group that seeks to clarify our mission as a parish and then find ways to implement and fulfill it. The Pastoral Plan is a commitment made by the Pastor and parishioners to further the mission of the parish, the reason the parish exists.
We are looking for volunteers who can share their talents and skills to join sub-committees of data gathering, survey design, analytics, communications and meeting planning and facilitation.
Please join us on March 5th from 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM for our first Committee for Pastoral Planning assembly.
The planning process began in mid-January and should be complete by Thanksgiving. In order for our Pastoral Plan to be inclusive and collaborative, the process will require frequent
communication with the various parish ministries, groups, individual parishioners, parish staff, Parish Council and the Pastor. Planning committee members will be seeking input from as many parishioners as possible. Data gathering will begin very soon and a parish Town Hall will be held. We will provide ongoing communication as the plan unfolds.
We hope you will consider giving your time and talent to Blessed Sacrament Parish in this way. For more information, please leave your name and email address in the rectory office and a committee member will be in contact with you.
REMINDER
This Tuesday is the first Tuesday of the month. Parents who wish to present their children for baptism, the Preparation Session takes place on March 1 at 7:30pm in the record. It doesn’t matter the month of the Baptism - come to the conference.
Our parish endowment is held in a joint Merrill Lynch/ Black Rock Account. If you’d like to review the February 2016 portfolio review, please see Matt Collins in the rectory.
Easter FLOWERS OFFERING
Should you wish to make an offering for the Easter flowers in memory of a loved one, please place your offering in an envelope and on paper within, print clearly the name or names of those in whose memory the offering is made. The names will be listed in all the Easter Mass Programs as well as the Church bulletin. Prayers will be prayed for them throughout the Easter Season.
Sunday School Volunteers Needed
With the growing number of students in our Sunday School program the need for volunteers is also growing. Catechists, assistants, and substitutes are needed. All volunteers who work with children will need to complete a background check form and an abuse awareness and prevention class as provided by the Archdiocese. Please call Tina Silvestro at 212-877-3111.
LENTEN SIMPLE SUPPERS
Please join us during any or all of the Wednesdays of Lent: 3/2, 3/9, and 3/16 for our Lenten Simple Suppers. Prayers and meditation begin at 7PM in the rectory, followed by a meal of soup and salad…and fellowship. The suppers are a wonderful way to not only deepen one’s Lenten experience, but also to be able to reflect in a very comfortable and quiet setting with fellow parishioners. For more information, please call John Gasdaska at 646-345-7350. We look forward to seeing you then.
SMACK
Do you need help running errands? Is it difficult for you to grocery shop? Or travel to places in the winter-time? Do you know someone who could use just a little help or a small act of kindness (SMACK)? Contact the rectory for assistance and we'll connect you to one of our parishioner-volunteers. This program is not appropriate for people that need medical assistance or skilled nursing care. (Note: We are no longer accepting volunteers at this time, only people in need of assistance.)
Food & Faith Connect!
This spring (for the first time!) parishioners can buy fresh, organic, locally grown vegetables from the Dominican Sisters' Harmony Farm in Goshen, NY. After all masses on February 27 & 28, March 5 & 6, and March 12 & 13 you can purchase a membership to the Sisters' farm and receive a box of produce each week from April through November. We'll deliver the food to Blessed Sacrament and you can pick it up on the Church steps! Also included in membership is the opportunity to go on retreat at the farm.
Way of the cross over the Brooklyn bridge
On Good Friday, March 25 th, 2016, Communion and Liberation will sponsor the Way of the Cross over the Brooklyn Bridge. Participants will congregate for the first station of St. James Cathedral, Brooklyn, at 10:00am. After a station on the Brooklyn Bridge, the procession will follow the cross to a third station at City Hall Park in Manhattan, and a fourth station near Ground Zero. The final station will be at St. Peter’s Church, on Barclay Street, concluding at 1:30pm. At each station, there will be readings from the Passion, a meditation, a reflection and hymns. All are invited. For more information, please call Communion and liberation at (212) 337-3580 or
visit its website at www.wocbrooklynbridge.org.
Be the Change: Climate Commitments for Lent
Lent is an opportune time to evaluate our lifestyles and make conscious decisions that contribute to a happy, healthy planet. Together, we can follow Pope Francis’ lead to choose what is good by adapting our behavior and being better stewards of the earth and her resources. Each week through Easter, we will be providing advice and tips on how to decrease your carbon footprint this Lent. You can begin to incorporate these actions and changes in your daily life, creating a sustainable and more earth-friendly lifestyle.
Fourth Week: February 28
Unplug this week! When you’re not using an outlet, unplug the phone charger, computer charger, or cable box to help conserve energy. Do a quick check to unplug and turn off lights before you leave your home, and help save energy while you’re gone! Consider getting your electricity from renewable sources (ask your company for wind and solar) and switch all those lightbulbs to CFLs or even better to LEDs if you haven’t done so already.
To be involved in the parish’s Care for Creation efforts, contact Luke Mayville at 208-610-1783.
YOUNG ADULT MASS WITH CARDINAL DOLAN
You are invited to join the Office of Young Adult Outreach on Wednesday March 9th, 2016 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (5th Avenue between 50th and 51st street, New York, NY) for a Mass with his Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan. Adoration and confessions will be available from 6:30 – 7:30pm. Mass begins at 7:30pm. Music by Audrey Assad and Josh Blakesly. There will be a social after the Mass at Vermillion, 480 Lexington Ave, New York, NY. For more information and to join CatholicNYC events newsletter please visit www.catholicnyc.com. Once a week you will be updated with all the amazing events happening for young adults. Go to www.catholicnyc.com to sign up!
TREAT THE PATIENT, HEAL THE PERSON:
Embracing Spiritual and Cultural Diversity in Contemporary Health Practices.
Tuesday, March 8 th, 2016 from 8:30am – 5:45pm
Fordham University, E. Gerald Corrigan Conference Center,
12 th Floor Lounge
113 West 60 th Street, NYC
Join us for a daylong gathering of leading practitioners and scholars who represent diverse approaches to medicine, culture, and spirituality. We will examine cross-cultural perspectives in well-being, explore best practices, and propose innovative approaches to healthcare delivery.
FREE ADMISSION – RSVP: [email protected]Margaret F. Grace Lecture
“Where Do I Find Hope?”
Dorothy Day and the Solution of Love:
A Conversation with Robert Ellsberg, John L. Allen Jr., and Sr. Simone Campbell
April 12, 2016
7pm – Smith Hall
College of Mount Saint Vincent
6301 Riverdale Avenue,
Riverdale, New York 10471
For more information and to register, visit: www.mounsaintvincent.edu/grace
ABC’s of Catholic Relief Services
This week - CRS/Kenya: Over 1.5 million Kenyans are served by Catholic Relief Services with the help of American Catholics. Kenya is advancing economically but still more than half the population lives below the poverty line and the rural poor suffer everyday obstacles we would fine incomprehensible - such as walking for two hours to fetch dirty drinking water. Last week - CRS/Jordan. Next week - CRS/Liberia. For more info visit: www.crs.org
NYC Catholic Families Meetup Group
Parents are invited to join our NYC Catholic Families Meetup Group. We are +130 families striving to raise our children in the love and knowledge of Christ. In addition to seasonal events, we host "night out" events for mothers and fathers here at the rectory.
For more info: www.meetup.com/NYC-Catholic-Families/