Church of St. Patrick in Armonk

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1 Church of St. Patrick in Armonk P.O. Box 6, 29 Cox Avenue, Armonk, N.Y (914) FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT MARCH 13, 2016

2 MASSES: mar. 5 Mar. 13, 2016 Sat 3/12 9:00 5:30 John Daly (D) Jane & John Sowinski (D) Sun 3/13 8:30 Georgiy Natanov (D) 10:30 Nicholas Toriano (D) 12:00 People of the Parish Mon 3/14 8:30 Vincent Giangaspro (D) Tue 3/15 8:30 Br. Benjamin (D) Wed 3/16 8:30 John Hollingsworth (D) Thu 3/17 8:30 Fri 3/18 8:30 Vincent Giangaspro (D) Sat 3/19 9:00 5:30 People of the Parish Sun 3/20 8:30 John R. O Hanlon (D) 10:15 Anna Maria Colella-Albino (D) 12:00 John Daly (D) Calendar: SUNDAY, March 13, 5TH SUNDAY OF LENT FOOD FIRST Each Sunday the food collected goes to support a local food pantry. Mon, Mar. 14 Weekday Tue, Mar. 15 Weekday Contemplative Prayer Group: 12:30-1:30 Walking With Purpose : 9:30-11:30 Wed, Mar. 16 Weekday Thu, Mar. 17 St. Patrick Bible Study: cance;;ed Fri, Mar. 18 Weekday Contemplative Prayer Group: 1:00-2:00 Stations of the Cross: 7:00pm Sat, Mar. 19 St. Cyril of Jerusalem Confession: 4:30-5:15 Collection: Mar 5-6: $4, in 95 envelopes Bishops Overseas: $1, in 46 envelopes ParishPay for February Reg. Collection: $8, Please consider using Parish Pay Thank you for your generosity Food First Sunday We are looking for volunteers to help deliver the donated food to the Food Pantry in Mt. Kisco. If you can help with this job, please call or the office: or churchofstpat@optonline.net Cardinal s Appeal Update As of 3/4/16 Goal: $43,000 Pledged: $22,715 Paid: $20,255 Gifts: 51 SUNDAY, March 20, PALM SUNDAY FOOD FIRST Each Sunday the food collected goes to support a local food pantry. Palm Sunday: 10:30 Mass begins at 10:15 in the gym with the Blessing of the Palms and Procession Holy Week Schedule: Monday, March 21: Confession 3-9 pm Holy Thursday: 7 pm, Mass of the Lord s Supper Good Friday: No 8:30 Mass 10:00 am, Children s Stations of the Cross 3:00 pm, Service of the Lord s Passion 7:00 pm, Stations of the Cross Holy Saturday: 9:00 am, Tenebrae 8:00 pm, Easter Vigil Easter Sunday Masses: 8:30 am, 10:00 am, 12:00 pm, in the church

3 THE FOUR LAST THINGS Heaven You may be wondering what happened to purgatory: Why isn t purgatory included in the Four Last Things? Purgatory belongs to the topic of Heaven because everyone who goes to purgatory is going to Heaven. Purgatory is not a last thing. It is temporal. Purgatory is the place where those who die in sanctifying grace but in justice need to make amends for their sins and be purified from all attachment to sin before entering Heaven. I use the term entering Heaven and it sounds like we enter into a place where the saints are present along with Jesus and Mary. God the Father is present there and so is the Holy Spirit. It is said as if we are privileged to be in their company. I am in no position to describe the place of Heaven. Its nature as a place I will leave for the Theologians to discuss. However, most fundamentally we know Heaven is a state of being: being fully and intimately united to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We will not be seeing God as we see the reality of creation around us now. Now we perceive reality through our senses. We say reality is mediated through our senses. Unfortunately, at times our senses can deceive us. However, when we speak of seeing God we do not mean mediated through our senses but immediately, as He really and truly is. Exactly how this is, is beyond my ability to describe. We see objects now as separate from us but we will see God, not separate from us but as intimately united as one with God. We will remain distinct from God of course. We will not be God in the strict sense of the term be, but we will be so one with God that we will be like God. This reality has already begun for us in Sanctifying Grace. Through Sanctifying Grace we participate in the Life and Love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. However, while on earth our participation is imperfect and incomplete. Imperfect in that it is inhibited by sin and incomplete in that we do not yet see God face to face, i.e., as He really and truly is, unmediated by our senses. In Heaven we will be more intimately one with God, body and soul, than a man and woman in marriage. In fact, the union of a man and woman in marriage is a sacrament, an outward sign of our eventual union with God. Of course, THE sacrament of this union with God is the Eucharist. In the Eucharist our Body and Soul become one with the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. This union with God is so intimate and so complete that it cannot be with the slightest defilement. It absolutely must be pure and complete. Imagine, by way of example, a glass that is so perfectly clean that nothing is in or on it to deflect the rays of light from the sun. A single dust particle or the tiniest smudge or defect in the glass when held up to the sun will stand out because it deflects or inhibits the light. There can be nothing in us to inhibit or take away from reflecting the absolute purity and holiness of God. We can also use the analogy of a drinking glass. The same must be true with the purity of the Glass but here we can also speak of its capacity. If I have an 8oz glass but in the glass are objects that displace the water (Grace) by 4oz then Glass does not contain its true capacity of water. Not only will the object block the light but it will inhibit the glass from being full of water. So, too, with our souls. We are finite and so are our souls. They have a finite capacity to participate in the Life and Love of God which we call Grace (symbolized by water). We can merit and increase in our capacity to participate in God s Life only in this life on earth. When we die our capacity is set for all eternity. Image the 8oz glass being dropped in the ocean. When we enter into Heaven we will enter into the infinite ocean of God s Life and Love. We will participate in it to the fullest of our being and there will be nothing in us, not even in the slightest, to detract, deflect or inhibit our participation and reflections of God s Life and Light. If my soul is to be likened to an 8oz glass, the soul of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta (soon to be canonized as Saint) might be like the Pacific Ocean. Regardless of our capacity, for all eternity we will be completely filled with God s Life, Love and Light to the complete and perfect satisfaction and happiness of our being. We will be intimately one with God and sharing in the Life and Love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the company and communion of all the saints in Heaven. In Jesus and Mary,

4 It is with great sadness that our religious Ed Program says good-bye to Sr. Barbara Heil, who has been with us for at least 30 years, helping our second graders prepare for the sacrament of First Holy Communion. As most of you know, Sister was killed in a car crash last week as she ran errands following her daily stint as a Latin teacher and Admission s Officer at Kennedy Catholic High School. Sr. Barbara has been a fixture here at St. Pat s, always arriving an hour or so before class to set everything up in the classroom. She would create a little altar in the front of the classroom out of one of the desks, draping it in a lacy covering. She had little cups stuffed with crayons, one for each child and a kind word and smile for them when they came in off the bus. Over her many years here, she diligently kept refining her lesson plans until they were effortless, seamless and masterful. There was never any doubt that Sister s students would understand why they were receiving First Communion and know exactly what to do on that day. And when the day of First Communion arrived, Sister would be in the Church with her students. She would sit among them, helping any who were nervous. During her final weeks with us, Sr. Barbara was suffering from severe arthritis and could barely make it to her classroom on a walker. She was awaiting hipreplacement surgery. Because she could barely get around the classroom, she said her students became her hands and feet, getting things for her, passing out the papers and helping her anyway they could. They are the best class I ve ever had, she said about them. What a wonderful testament to Sister. PLEASE SAY A PRAYER FOR SR. BARBARA!. Teen Life News 8th Graders: You are cordially invited to join St. Patrick's Teen Life! Please register on the St. Patrick of Armonk website. Teen Life has some terrific upcoming events. Volunteers Needed for Soup Kitchen Homeless people and struggling families can find shelter, a warm meal and friendly faces in soup kitchens. All volunteers at soup kitchens make a difference in somebody's life. And while you may find yourself short on free time, the rewards of volunteering at a soup kitchen will be worth it. Soup Kitchen Volunteering takes place on Sat. Afternoons between 12-3 (5 kids max) on March 12th and April 9th (7 teens max). Teens must be at least 15 years old to volunteer. The soup kitchen is called the Meatloaf Kitchen and is located in NYC. Please contact teen life asap if your child is interested in participating. Adults interested in bringing a group to a soup kitchen should also contact Teen Life. Teen Rec. Night We are also going to be sending out announcement regarding some Teen Rec. nights and other things so you must regularly check the St. Patrick of Armonk Google Plus Community. So...how do you do that? You must provide a gmail address (students school works!) asap. We will then send you an Invitation to join the google plus community you must "accept invitation". In order to find the invitation, you must have a google account, or gmail account. In your gmail make sure you check "All Mail" and/or "Social" or "Categories" to find your invitation to join. Sometimes it does not show up in the standard Inbox. It is important that you do this asap as we would like to use Google Plus as a means of communicating. AOL, Verizon and others do not work with Google plus. Parents are welcome to join our Google Plus Teen Life Community but you too must provide us with a gmail address..

5 Please keep the Following in your Prayers Lillian Ward Eileen Sullivan Jaspare Miranda John Puttre Joy Lichten Patricia Tkach Mario & Gloria Guiliano Sal & Barbara Grasso Paul Benfari Katherine Dubiell Jeannie Morris Katerinna MacNeil Perinna Ruggerio Elsewhere in the Archdiocese Spiritual Retreat Offered by the Legionaries of Christ, the retreat is based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola and is comprised of guided meditations, private reflection, Mass, opportunities for Confession and spiritual direction. Women s Weekends: Feb , Mar , June Men s Weekend: Feb Retreat weekends begin Friday at 5pm and end Sunday after 3pm Mass. For more information call or go to From the Office of the Vicar General, Archdiocese of New York Anyone who needs to report an alleged incident of sexual abuse of a minor by a priest, deacon, religious, or lay person serving in the Archdiocese of New York is asked to contact Sr. Eileen Clifford, O.P. at x 2949 or Deacon George J. Coppola at Both may be reached via at victimassistance@archny.org. Information can also be found on the archdiocesan website, In keeping with the archdiocesan policy regarding sexual abuse of minors, this information is provided to ensure that our children remain safe and secure. The Archdiocese of New York takes the stewardship of your donations and its resources seriously. If you have knowledge of financial misconduct or suspect that it might be occurring, please report your concerns via a toll-free hotline at , or on the internet at Both are available 24 hours per day. The Catholic schools of Northern Westchester/Putnam represent one of the greatest educational values and there are seats available in our PreK through 8th grade programs for the school year. We invite you to experience Catholic education in action by attending Touring Tuesday or by scheduling a private tour. Upcoming Touring Tuesday events will be held on March 8 th, and April 12th from 9-11am or by appointment. Please call to make a reservation! Families may apply to a Northern Westchester/Putnam regional Catholic school and learn about Financial Assistance in three ways: Using our NEW Online Application via 1. Over the phone by calling our bilingual assistance line: In person by visiting the Catholic school of your choice We look forward to welcoming you to our family! Readings for the Week of March 13, 2016 Sunday: Is 43:16-21/Ps 126:1-6/Phil 3:8-14/Jn 8:1-11 Monday: Dn 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, or 13:41c-62/Ps 23:1-6/ Jn 8:12-20 Tuesday: Nm 21:4-9/Ps 102:2-3, 16-21/Jn 8:21-30 Wednesday: Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95/Dn 3:52-56/Jn 8:31-42 Thursday: Gn 17:3-9/Ps 105:4-9/Jn 8:51-59 Friday: Jer 20:10-13/Ps 18:2-7/Jn 10:31-42 Saturday: 2 Sm 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16/Ps 89:2-5, 27, 29/Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22/Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a or Lk 2:41-51a Next Sunday: Lk 19:28-40/Is 50:4-7/Ps 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24/Phil 2:6-11/Lk 22:14--23:56 or 23:1-49 Liturgical Publications Inc -