Finance Committee Corner Last Sunday $7,298 was received in the offertory baskets at Mass and $5,012 was received through Parish Pay, for a total of $12,310. Our average weekly operating budget is $15,000. Thank you for so generously giving to our regular collection. The second collection in support of Communications and The Catholic University of America totaled $1,488. An additional $1,435 was received toward the Christmas collecting bringing the total to $103,475.5. Thank you.
OUR PASTORAL PLAN: JOIN THE MOVEMENT After months of research, and your participation and feedback, the Committee for Pastoral Planning would like to invite you to join in the implementation of our Pastoral Plan. We are hopeful that 40 of you will want to share your time and talent in this collaboration of faith.
Committee members will be at the church entrance after all Masses this weekend ready to sign up volunteers. Our Pastoral Plan will guide Blessed Sacrament Parish for the next 3-5 years. Copies of the Pastoral Plan and a detailed implementation plan are available at the church entrance, on www.blessedsacramentnyc.org or in the rectory.
Please stop by the Pastoral Planning table and learn more about how you can join this effort.
SUNDAY SCHOOL UPDATE A reminder to parents and students:
*Sunday School classes will not meet on January 15 since it is the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
*Also, we will not have class on January 29. The Blessed Sacrament School open house will take place in the school.
School Progress Reports for the 1st semester will be given out on February 5.
ARCHDIOCESAN - WIDE FOOD CAMPAIGN Once again, Blessed Sacrament Parish will participate in Feeding Our Neighbors, an Archdiocesan - Wide Drive to replenish dwindling Food Pantries in our community. From January 28 through February 5, you can Feed Our Neighbors by replenishing the Blessed Sacrament Food Pantry, our sister pantry at the Kennedy Center on West 134 Street and pantries across the Archdiocese. It only takes one small action to feed the hungry. Together we can change lives.
Four simple ways to participate are: (1) Bring non-perishable foods to Saturday and Sunday Masses between January 28th and February 5th (2) Support by donating money during a Mass
collection or make an on-line donation at
www.catholiccharitiesny.org/feedingourneighbors (3) Volunteer at a Food Pantry near you and 4) Tell your legislators we must feed children at risk of hunger by using Bread for the World at bread.org/write-congress.
Pick up a flyer with Feeding Our Neighbors information and food list at the church entrance.
NEXT SPIRIT SUNDAY JANUARY 29th Please join us 1/22 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.
Interfaith Gathering Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, chairman of Cordoba House, a multi-faith organization, will speak about the fundamentals of the Islamic faith and how people of all faiths can forge relationships of trust and solidarity.
Saturday, January 28, 7PM
Church of the Blessed Sacrament (lower level)
Refreshments will be served
JANUARY GAY FELLOWSHIP MEETING Please join us after the 5:30PM Mass on Sunday evening January 22nd for the Gay Fellowship. The meeting will be held on the 2nd floor of the rectory from 6:45PM-8:15PM. Refreshments served. The group is a safe and comfortable place to share and meet other LGBT Catholics. All are welcome. For more information, please call John Gasdaska at
646-345-7350.
Lector/Eucharistic Minister Training
Sunday Jan. 22, 2017, 930am in the Church Rectory.
Become more involved in the Mass. We are in need of more Lectors to minister the Word and Eucharistic ministers. If you have a love for Scripture and would like to serve as a lector or would like to administer Communion to your fellow parishioners as a Eucharistic minister, please come to the training session. All training will be held in the Church Rectory. RSVP appreciated but not required.
Email Kimberley LaMarque Orman (
[email protected]) or Thomas Davis (
[email protected]) with any questions.
NYC Thomas Merton Society to reinforce non-violence as a path to social justice in “A Tribute to Daniel Berrigan, S.J., and His Relationship to Thomas Merton”.
Internationally recognized voice for peace and nonviolence, priest, retreat leader and author, will reflect on Fr. Berrigan's significance for the Church, the nation and the world and what Thomas Merton meant to him personally.
Gordon Oyer, author of
Pursuing the Spiritual Roots of Protest, will recount the 1964 retreat Thomas Merton hosted at Gethsemani Abbey for 13 peace and civil rights activists including Merton’s friend Fr. Berrigan.
Saturday, January 28th 2-4 pm Corpus Christi Church
529 West 121st Street, NYC