CHRISTMAS MASSES! Saturday Christmas Eve! 5:00pm. 10:00pm. Sunday Christmas Day! 7:30am. 9:00am. 10:30am. 12:00 noon.

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1 SAINT MARY S PARISH CHRISTMAS MASSES! Saturday Christmas Eve! 5:00pm. 10:00pm. Sunday Christmas Day! 7:30am. 9:00am. 10:30am. 12:00 noon. Fourth Sunday of Advent December 18, 2016

2 Weekly Mass Schedule Weekday Masses are held in the Parish Center Chapel Saturday, December 17 5:30 PM Agnes Russo Sunday, December 18 7:30 AM Daniel Marone 9:00 AM Joseph Robert Connor 10:30 AM Francis V. Bigley 12:00 PM The DiStaulo and French Families Monday, December 19 7:30 AM Domenica Gencarelli 12:10 PM William Lynch Tuesday, December 20 7:30 AM Natale and Angelina Cafone 12:10 PM Anthony and Genevieve Blaskwicz Wednesday, December 21 7:30 AM Priests of St. Mary s 12:10 PM For the Intention of Lisa Nicastro (Birthday) Thursday, December 22 7:30 AM Timoteo Angbetic 12:10 PM Michael Cox Friday, December 23 7:30 AM The Nevins Family 12:10 PM Michael McHugh Saturday, December 24 (Christmas Eve) 5:00 PM People of the Parish 10:00 PM People of the Parish Sunday, December 25 (Christmas Day) 7:30 AM People of the Parish 9:00 AM People of the Parish 10:30 AM People of the Parish 12:00 PM People of the Parish Hosts for each Mass have been donated by the Rosary Society Sanctuary Lamp donated in Memory of Anthony and Genevieve Blaskewicz Chapel Lamp donated in Memory of Olympia Genovese Wine donated in Memory of Anthony Bernardo Holy Father's Prayer Intention We pray that the scandal of child-soldiers may be eliminated the world over. We also pray that the peoples of Europe may rediscover the beauty, goodness, and truth of the Gospel, which gives joy and hope to life. Christmas Wishes From Fr. Simon To all my friends at St. Mary s, my second home: Merry Christmas from Pakistan to all my friends at St. Mary's. I also want to wish you a Blessed, Healthy, Happy New Year. You are always in my prayers. Please keep my people and myself in yours. God bless you. Save the Date: O. Allen Beyer Memorial German Knight Sincerely, Father Simon January 28 th, 2017 Advance Ticket Sales Call Kevin Mauro at Thank you and Good Bye! Wow, four months at St. Mary s Church, Nutley, NJ. It was my dream, that I want to fly to a foreign land, but I did not imagine I could fly so far to America. I thank God, then Fr. Rich, Fr. Tom, and all you parishoners. Four months of stay here and collaborating with the parish staff members, CCT animators, Eucharistic Ministers, Rosarians, Catholic Daughters, Lectors, Music Director, St. Mary s Guitar Choir, you all gave different kinds of impact in my priestly vocation. Special thanks to the BINGO team, a unique and energetic people on every Tuesday, Happy Bingo. Please do remember me in you daily prayers, so that I can continue to be a faithful servant of God. I wish you all a Happy Christmas and Peaceful and Joy filled New Year. Thank you, Good Bye. God Bless you, God Bless America. Fr. Samala Marianna Michael, India 656 Page 2

3 In today's First Reading from Isaiah, we hear the prophet tell us: Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. The name Emmanuel is one of my favorite titles for Jesus. It translates from Hebrew as "God is with us." The Son of God, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, becomes like us in every way but sin to show us how to truly be alive. He comes to offer us a true vision of who God the Father is and shares his own life with us. He offers us true hope, peace, joy and love. In all that we do here at St. Mary's, we try to remember that our main goal is to be Emmanuel to others. Our hope is that our catechists, parents, students, and all of our parish families may experience God's hope, peace, joy and love in our classrooms, at our family gathering events, at our celebrations, at Mass, and in every encounter that we may have with them. We have been blessed with so many great opportunities to encounter Christ through one another so far this year. Here are just a few highlights from the past few months: We have welcomed 60 new families into our Religious Education Program and our program has grown to over 450 students Our Peer Leadership Team has grown to 23 high school students. The team meets each week to prepare to work with our Confirmation candidates and Religious Ed students, share their faith and to pray together Our Family Gathering Event at the TurtleBack Zoo, where Fr. Rich celebrated Mass, and then we had the chance to spend the day learning about animals Our 7th Graders came together to learn about how the saints are our truest superheroes We have 14 new youth altar servers (and more coming) to serve at our Liturgies Our families came together to make Advent wreaths to remind us of God's hope, peace, joy and love and to help us prepare for Christmas 81 young people received the Sacrament of Penance for the first time on December 10th, and many of their parents were able to receive God's mercy and forgiveness through this wonderful sacrament too Santa visited our parish as our children and families enjoyed breakfast together 656 Page 3

4 Religious Education Upcoming Dates Sunday, December 18 - Class Tuesday, December 20 - Class There will be No Religious Education Classes from until after Wednesday, January 4. Thursday, January 5 - Confirmation Class Sunday, January 8 - Class Tuesday, January 10 - Class On our website this month, you will find prayers for Advent and different occasions (Blessing of a Christmas Tree, Blessing of the Christmas manger or nativity scene) that you and your family can do together to make the time of preparation, one that also helps you to prepare your heart. Wanted: Photos for Walking Tour Booklet! In Honor of the 140 th Anniversary of St. Mary s Parish this December, Fr. Tom is looking to put a walking tour booklet of the Parish together. We are asking all our Parishioners to search high and low, in their attics and basements, for any old pictures they may have of the Parish (hopefully, the two original Churches, original interior of current Church, old priests, Msgr. Owens, etc.). As this is fast approaching, we will need them ASAP. Please contact Fr. Tom at the Parish Center ( ) with any photos. Thank you! Join us for Family Bingo Night! Saturday, January 21 st at 7 PM On Saturday, January 21 st at 7 PM we will have our annual Family Bingo Night in Monsignor Walsh Hall. Come enjoy a night of fun with your family and friends from St. Mary s Parish. Feel free to bring snacks to enjoy and share but be sure to save room for our ice cream sundae bar! The Parish Center will be accepting donations of gifts (recycled Christmas or any other small gift) to be used as prizes. Gift cards in small denominations are also welcome. We hope to see you there! 656 Page 4

5 What the World Needs Now Is Those who are old enough, or eclectic enough to remember the Burt Bacharach tune might be singing love, sweet love. The song has also been used in the films: Forest Gump, Happy Gilmore and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. You re also probably wondering what a 1960 s pop song has to do with the fourth Sunday of Advent. Good, I ve got you right where I want you! This liturgical note focuses on today s recessional hymn and last week s prelude: The Whole World is Waiting for Love. (#64) The song was written Sr. Marrianne Misetich SNJM, a member of the Sisters of Providence. Here s a little background on the Sisters order: It was founded in 1843 in Montreal, Canada by Mother Emilie Gamelin. In 1852 the first Sisters travel to the American west from Montreal, but their mission is cut short by lack of preparation and support. On their way home to Quebec, they stop in Valparaiso, Chile, and remain to serve orphans and others in need. In 1856 a second group arrives in Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, from Montreal. They open their small home to orphans and the elderly. In 2001 the foundress, Mother Emilie Gamelin is beatified (the step prior to being canonized a saint). The Sisters have spent over 150 years building and staffing hospitals in the Pacific Northwest Reflect on these simple words set to simple music. We re waiting for Jesus like Mary, We re waiting for Jesus the Lord. Come down, Lord Jesus! Come quickly, Lord Jesus! The whole world is waiting for Love. The whole world is waiting for love. We re laying a manger for Mary. A manger for Jesus the Lord Come down, Lord Jesus! Come quickly, Lord Jesus! The whole world is waiting for Love. The whole world is waiting for love. We re making it lovely for Mary. So lovely for Jesus the Lord.. Come down, Lord Jesus! Come quickly, Lord Jesus! The whole world is waiting for Love. The whole world is waiting for love. NBC/Comcast s public service announcements remind us We Need a Little Christmas. I don t disagree, but I believe what the world needs now what the whole world is waiting for.. is love. Blest to be waiting with you at St. Mary s, P.S.: If you re interested in finding a way of spreading your love in 2017 consider joining our parish social concerns team. Send me an at b.mauro1@yahoo.com or call the parish office. 656 Page 5

6 St. Mary s Church is served by: Rev. Richard Berbary, Pastor Rev. Thomas Nicastro, Parochial Vicar Anthony G. Armando, DRE/Youth Minister, armandoa@stmarysnutley.org Bruce Mauro, Music Director, b.mauro1@yahoo.com Patrick Perrone, Trustee Anne Scheidel, Trustee A Time of War and Peace We pray that our troops serving our country may be protected by the Holy Spirit, especially for Patrick Connors, Evan Keating, Collin Keating, Mark Nostro, Greg O Connell, David Nostro, Douglas Reiman, John Thompson and James Zaremba. A Time to Heal For all those who are sick or suffering, especially Mary Pedalino and all those listed on our webpage at A Time to Die For all those who have entered into eternal life, especially Joseph Tomasella and George J. Glomb A Time to be Born For all those who have joined us in Baptism Mass Schedule Readings for the Week of December 18, 2016 Sundays 5:30 (Sat. evening) 7:30, 9:00, 10:30, 12:00 Weekdays Masses in Parish Center Chapel 7:30, 12:10 (Monday - Friday), Holy Days 7:30 AM, 12:10 AM, 7:00 PM National Holidays 9:00 AM Parish Business Hours Parish Center: M-F, 9-4 Church Vestibule: Sat. 3-7 PM Sun. 9 AM-1 PM Phone Number: Confessions Saturdays, 4:30 to 5:15 or by appointment Novenas Miraculous Medal: Mon., 12:00 PM before Mass Our Lady of Perpetual Help: Weds., 7:00 PM in chapel Devotion to the Divine Mercy: Fri., 7:00 PM in chapel First Friday Novena: 1 st Friday of Month, 7:00 PM in the Chapel RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) Adults who wish to receive Baptism, First Communion or Confirmation should contact Kristen Gawlik at the Parish Center or kristen@stmarysnutley.org. Baptisms Baptisms are the third Sunday of each month, at 1:30 PM. Please call at least a month in advance to make arrangements. Baptismal prep classes will now be held on Saturday, the week before Baptisms (the second Saturday of the month), at 1:00 PM in the Parish Center Parish Membership Parishioners should register and should inform the Parish Center when moving from the parish. Monday: Jgs 13:2-7, 24-25a; Ps 71:3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17; Lk 1:5-25 Tuesday: Is 7:10-14; Ps 24:1-4ab, 5-6; Lk 1:26-38 Wednesday: Sg 2:8-14 or Zep 3:14-18a; Ps 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21; Lk 1:39-45 Thursday: 1 Sm 1:24-28; 1 Sm 2:1, 4-8abcd; Lk 1:46-56 Friday: Mal 3:1-4, 23-34; Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-10, 14; Lk 1:57-66 Saturday: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Ps 89:2-5, 27, 29; Lk 1:67-79 Sunday: Vigil: Is 62:1-5; Ps 89:4-5, 16-17, 27 29; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Mt 1:1-25 [18-25] Night: Is 9:1-6; Ps 96:1-3, 11-13; Ti 2:11-14; Lk 2:1-14 Dawn: Is 62:11-12; Ps 97:1, 6, 11-12; Ti 3:4-7; Lk 2:15-20 Day: Is 52:7-10; Ps 98:1-6; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 [1-5, 9-14] This Week s Music 5:30, 9:00 and 12:00 NOON All Advent Music is in the Booklet Good Shepherd Academy ( ; Our Catholic grade school sponsored by the Archdiocese of Newark JPPC Parish Collections: The December 11 th Collection was $14, We thank you for your generosity! Religious Vocations If you think you may have a vocation, speak to one of our priests, or call the Archdiocesan Vocations Office ( ). Care of the Sick Communion will be brought to any parishioner confined to home, upon request; those who are seriously ill, or weak from the burden of years, should request the Anointing of the Sick. Urgent calls will be attended immediately. Marriage Contact a priest to make arrangements. The Bishops have directed that the normal preparation time is a year or more. 656 Page 6