Saint Peter Church, Danbury, CT

Transcription

1 Weekends Saturday Vigil 5:00 p.m. Brazilian Mass 7:30 p.m. Sunday 7:30, 9:00 Children s Liturgy and Choir, 10:30 a.m. with Adult Choir and 12:00 N Spanish Mass 5:30 p.m. Brazilian Mass 7:30 p.m. Weekdays Monday through Saturday - 7:30 a.m. Monday through Friday -12:10 Noon (HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE) SACRAMENT OF PENANCE Saturday - 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. and by appointment SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE Couples planning to be married must begin to make arrangements at least 8 months prior to their wedding date by contacting the Rectory. SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM Attendance at pre-baptism class is required before the Sacrament is celebrated. Classes are held on the second Sunday of the month at 1:15 p.m. in the Rectory. Please pre-register by calling Baptisms will take place every Sunday at 1:15 p.m. except the second Sunday of the month. Saint Peter Church, Danbury, CT PASTORAL STAFF Rev. Gregg D. Mecca, Pastor Rev. Paul Merry, In Residence Rev. David J. Riley, In Residence Rev. Bruce Roby, In Residence PARISH OFFICE HOURS 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. - MONDAY through FRIDAY 104 Main Street, Danbury, CT OFFICE NUMBERS Phone: and Fax: Address - office@stpeterdanb.org Website - PARISH STAFF Dr. Glen Segger, Music Minister gsegger@stpeterdanb.org Dr. Nancy Engel, Children s Choir LATINO COMMUNITY Rev. Bernardo C. Rodriguez BRAZILIAN COMMUNITY Rev. Leonel S. Medeiros, Episcopal Vicar for Brazilians SAINT PETER SCHOOL OFFICE Mary Lou Torre Principal School Fax: RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND FORMATION Barbara Siano Director of Religious Education K or stpeterfuture@stpeterdanb.org YOUTH MINISTRY Michael Falbo Youth Group Director or ygstpeter@gmail.com Chairman of Parish Council Fred Visconti Chairman of Finance Arthur Mannion Homebound Ministry Sr. Mary Bernard Wiecezak, CSFN , Ext. 22 Prayer Line Mary Ellen Dunbar

2 ST. PETER PARISH DECEMBER 22 SAT 5:00 PM Frances Ferguson 23 SUN 7:30 AM Bernadette Ward 9:00 AM Michael Engel 10:30 AM Our Parishioners 12:00 N Rita Talarico 5:30 PM Spanish Mass 24 MON 7:30 AM Scarpetti Family 12:10 PM Julia Fitzmaurice 4:00 PM Kenny, O Connor and McCleary Families 5:30 PM Our Parishioners 12:00 M Michael Hentschel 25 TUE Nativity of the Lord 9:00 AM Brazilian Mass 10:30 AM Patricia Barrett 12:00 N Seeley, Pomeroy and Ryan Families 1:15 PM Spanish Mass 26 WED St. Stephen, the First Martyr 7:30 AM NO Mass 12:10 N Msgr. Kevin Wallin 27 THU St. John, Apostle and Evangelist 7:30 AM Special Intention 12:10 N Annette and Kenneth Adams 28 FRI The Holy Innocents, Martyrs 7:30 AM Taime and Flora Llorca 12:10 N The Fermin Family 29 SAT 7:30 AM Souls in Purgatory 5:00 PM Florence Vulcano 30 SUN 7:30 AM Joseph Lemoine 9:00 AM Thomas Kelly 10:30 AM Maria Ba 12:00 N Our Parishioners 5:30 PM Spanish Mass On the weekend, if the intention of the Mass is yours, please see an usher about bringing up the gifts. SACRIFICIAL GIVING December 16, $ 7,849 Online-Giving December 16, $ 765 Our weekly goal...$ 10,500 Parking Lot Collection December 16, 2018.$ 3,120 Parking Lot Online-Giving December 16, $ 190 Thank you for your support. Father Mecca Please remember St. Peter Parish when preparing your will. A legacy to the church eases your tax burden and helps continue the good works of our parish. DANBURY, CT My father and my aunt Rosalie may be coming to our church on Christmas Day for Mass. My sister and I settled on the idea last week of finding a driver to drive the two of them here. I don t have the ability, really, to pick them up and be prepared to celebrate the 10:30 a.m. Mass. My sister normally goes to get them, but this year her daughter is flying in on Christmas morning. My father enjoys Mass here and his enjoyment has nothing to do with me so you know. He likes hearing a real organ, as he says, and he likes to hear the bells pealing. Each time he has been here, he will comment on how nice it is to hear church bells, again the real thing and not some electronic ones. I mention the latter because I, too, love the sound of our bells pealing on Sunday morning prior to Mass. On Christmas, we peal them after Mass as well. After all, if you don t ring them on Christmas, they are going to waste! Bells are associated with Christmas. They ring out joy, don t they? They express the joyful consequences of Jesus coming among us. There is a Christmas carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, the text of which was written by the 19 th century American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Two years ago, in the diocesan newspaper of the Byzantine Catholic Diocese of Pasaic (New Jersey), the bishop, Kurt Burnette, wrote a column about this poem. His essay taught me something about this Christmas carol and about Longfellow. The essay also reminds us of a truth about the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. So, without expressed permission, I offer for your reading two days before Christmas a portion of Bishop Burnette s words. At Christmas of 1863, in the middle of the Civil War Henry Wadsworth Longfellow found himself vexed. His beloved wife died a slow painful death from a house fire in And then, his oldest son, Charles Appleton Longfellow, ran off to join the union army without telling his father. Henry found out the whereabouts of this son when the commander contacted him from Washington, D.C. The father gave his permission, and Charles joined the 1 st Massachusetts Artillery. Charles was sent home soon with malaria and typhoid fever. Recovering, he returned to battle, and on November 27, 1863, he was severely wounded at the battle of New Hope Church, Virginia. The family heard on December 1 and traveled to Washington to bring Charles home, arriving on December 8. And so it was that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a recent widower, with the Civil War raging, and caring for his badly wounded eldest son, wrote a poem of hope and light in the pain of family tragedy and the darkness of human evil. His poem is sung now at Christmas in many settings, WE WELCOME THE NEWLY BAPTIZED Elijah Medina Anthony Pacheco Lorenzo Sardi Jonas Soto KINDLY REMEMBER THE SICK OF THE PARISH Richard Botelho Marie Carrolll Patricia Dean Nubia Dekker Paul Hart Karen Lanigan Jack Maher Teddy Marchione Dylan McBeth Christopher McLaughlin John Palinkas Rick Sarcia Sean Siegle

3 FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT but most of them leave out some of the darkest verses about the war. It begins with a naïve view of Christmas: I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, and wild and sweet The words repeat Then Longfellow describes the horror of a nation divided by hate and violence: Then from each black, accursed mouth The cannon thundered in the South, And with the sound This carol drowned It was as if an earthquake rent The hearth-stones of a continent, And made forlorn The households born Next Longfellow describes his own personal hopelessness hearing the church bells: And in despair I bowed my head; There is no peace on earth, I said; For hate is strong, And mocks the song But despite his gloomy feelings, the great Christmas bells continue to ring, and they bring about a transformation in him. He remembers that Jesus Christ has conquered death, that God is more powerful than our evil, and love is more powerful than hate: Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men. The real bells in St. Peter s tower will ring Monday night and Tuesday morning. As we hear them coming and going from our Christmas Masses, may our hearts be gladdened and our spirits uplifted by the Good News of Jesus birth and His life with us now. Love has come to earth. Born in us, now, we as the Christs radiate love, righteousness, peace and good will. Fathers Dave, Leonel, Paul, and Bruce join me in extending to all our wishes for a blessed Christmas. -Fr. Mecca St. Peter Church Office will be closed from Saturday, December 22 through Januay 1. In case of an emergency, please call the Rectory at ANGEL TREE Thank you to all who participated in our Angel Tree helping to make Christmas happier for those in need. May God bless you this Christmas and always. Letter to Jesus Project: To kick off the Advent season the Religious Education students were asked to write a letter to Jesus describing how they plan to show acts of kindness and mercy. They also had to include who they were going to pray for during this time and finally they could make a wish for a special gift. We were so touched with the sincere and heartfelt requests that with the help of donations from our Catechists we were able to grant some of the requests. While we were not able to fill all the requests, each child was given a small gift to take home. Parents if your child came home with the letter they wrote, please take the time to read it --- your children have very big hearts! -Barbara Siano, DRE

4 DECEMBER 23, 2018 Christmas Schedule Christmas Eve Masses: 4:00 p.m. Children s Liturgy Children s Choir will begin singing at 3:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m. Organ and Cantor, Traditional Carols 7:15 p.m. Brazilian Liturgy 11:30 p.m. Traditional Carols & Seasonal Music 12:00 Midnight - Solemn Mass with Organ and Choir Tuesday, December 25, Christmas Day Masses: 9:00 a.m. Brazilian Liturgy 10:30 a.m. Organ, Choir 12:00 Noon Organ and Cantor 1:15 p.m. Brazilian Liturgy *No Brazilian evening Liturgy. Solemnity of Mary the Holy Mother of God Vigil Mass Monday, December 31, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 1, :30 a.m. and 12:00 N. Brazilian Liturgy 1:30 p.m. Parish Council FROM ALL OF US! Parish Life Committee Community Concerns Committee Finance Committee

5 DECEMBER 23, 2018 COMUNIDAD HISPANA SAN PEDRO Hoy la alegría inunda la Iglesia, ya lo siente tan cercano, tan próximo que no puede si no explotar en gozo. El mismo que María sentía al cantar para Isabel: Proclama mi alma la grandeza del Señor, se alegra mi espíritu en Dios mi Salvador. Qué gozo! El Deseado de los siglos ya está al alcance de la mano. Mi Mi página: Visítenla. Confesiones Domingos a las 4:00 p.m. en la Iglesia. Bautizos Cuartos Domingos de cada Mes. Contacten con Ana Espìnal para el formulario y la información sobre la clase prebautismal. Bodas Deben contactar con el P. Bernardo al menos con 6 meses de antelación. Es necesaria la preparación requerida por la Diócesis. Horario de Oficina De Lunes a Viernes, de 1:30 p.m. a 3:30 p.m. En español pregunten por Ana Espinal. Lunes a partir de las 7:00 p.m. con el P. Bernardo Intenciones Misa dominical En el vestíbulo de la Iglesia, 15 minutos antes de la Misa, puede pedir su intención al servidor allí apostado. Grupo de Oración Todos los Lunes, a las 7:00 p.m. en el subsuelo de la Iglesia. Líder: Jorge Ordoñez Coro Parroquial El coro parroquial tanto de niños como de adultos se reúne para ensayar todos los Domingos a las 3:30 p.m. bajo la dirección de Alejandro Servin. Clase de Biblia En mi blog, cada Lunes una nueva clase. Hora Santa Los segundos y cuartos jueves de cada mes, de 7:00 a 8:00 p.m., tendremos la Exposición y Adoración del Santísimo en la Iglesia. No faltemos a esa cita para adorar al Señor.