Our Lady of Good Counsel FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT December 23, 2018 Merry Christmas 137 West Upper Ferry Road West Trenton, New Jersey 08628 Rev. Michael Hall, Pastor Rev. Jason Parzynski, In Residence Deacon Steven Szmutko
Our Lady of Good Counsel Church SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2018 5:00 PM Eleanore & Paul Gofus r/o Gail Ann Palatine Richard Palatine r/o Gail Ann Palatine SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2018 Fourth Sunday of Advent 8:30 AM Janet McMyne r/o Daughter David Gummel r/o Andria & Jeffrey Sgro & Family 10:30 AM Al Venanzi r/o Family Nicholas Muscente, Sr. r/o Marie & Carol Muscente MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2018 CHRISTMAS EVE 7:30 AM Gloria Buttaci r/o Norman Buttaci 5:00 PM Stephen Schragger r/o Wife, Mary Ellen & Family Jean Trainor r/o Husband, Jack & Family Children s Choir will sing at 5:00 PM Mass 10:30 PM Andrew J. Tobias, Jr. r/o Mom & Dad Mass at Midnight TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018 CHRISTMAS DAY The Nativity of Our Lord 8:30 AM Anne & James Newell r/o Family 10:30 Laura & Antonio DeLellis r/o Children JoAnn R. Palmucci r/o Carl & Josephine Ceposki WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2018 7:30 AM Robert Thorward r/o Meagher Family THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2018 7:30 AM Judith Peoples r/o Husband, James Angelo Fruscione r/o Louis, Gina & Jack FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2018 7:30 AM Yvonne DeSouza r/o DeSouza Family EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS 5:00 PM Anna Adomaitis, Elaine Palatine, Fran Zenchak 8:30 AM Carol & Michael Lake, Tom Voorhees 10:00 AM Preferred Care Visits: Patricia Voorhees 10:30 AM Ellen & Tim Everett, Tony Jones MONDAY, DECEMBER 31 Adoration Cancelled MONDAY, DECEMBER 31 Vigil Mary Mother of God 5:00 PM Anna Adomaitis, Butch Kramer, Fran Zenchak TUESDAY JANUARY 1 Mary Mother of God 9:00 AM Joyce Christensen READERS 5:00 PM Theresa Gregorio 8:30 AM Laura Shea 10:30 AM Mike Delehanty MONDAY, DECEMBER 31 Vigil Mary. Mother of God 5:00 PM Mary Szmutko TUESDAY JANUARY 1 Mary, Mother of God 9:00 AM Sean Feddema ALTAR SERVERS 5:00 PM Alex Medwick 8:30 AM Nora Shea 10:30 AM James Gummel MONDAY, DECEMBER 31 Vigil Mary, Mother of God 5:00 PM Michael Montagna TUESDAY JANUARY 1 Mary, Mother of God 9:00 AM Brayden Spina PARISH EVENTS, 2018 8:00 AM Special Intention 5:00 PM Marie & William Dolton r/o Helen Marie Dolton Don Smith r/o Jack & Bonny Kelly SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2018 The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph 8:30 AM Joseph Cebulski r/o Dolores DeBlasio Joseph Maloney r/o Family 10:30 AM Helen Thompson r/o Czelusniak Family David Gummel r/o Michael & Diana Pellegrino COLLECTION Registered Parishioners 775 families Parishioners using envelopes 234 Envelope Contributions $4,643.00 Average Contribution $19.84 Loose Cash $713.00 Contributions for December 16th $5,356.00 0533olgc 1 Saturday, December 22 Novenas in honor of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and St. Jude follow morning Mass. The Sacrament of Reconciliation will take place at 4:00 PM Monday, December 24 Adoration is cancelled for Christmas Eve. Religious Education Classes are Closed. Parish Office is Closed December 24, 25, 26, 31, January 1. Pray for our Sick. Bob Arcadipane, Andy Brunetto, Rosemarie Buker, Peter Carabelli, Gregory DeFillippo, Nancy Finn, Nick Gregorio, Sherri Hanlon, Debra Kern, Carol Lake, Rebecca Lynn, Thomas McGuire, Dolores Megyesy, Keith Mello, Marie Muscente, Angelika Niranjan, Vincent O Dell, Jeff Papp, Lucy Saganowski, Kristy Shanahan, Elayne Smith, Linda Solinski, Stephen Thoma, Gary Vanderbilt & Laura Varone and all parishioners who are sick or homebound. Please call the parish office at 609-882-3277 to add a name to the prayer list and to inform us when all is well so we may take a name off the list.
Please help us put up the Nativity in the Church and finish our Christmas decorating following the 10:30 Mass on Sunday, December 23rd. CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR S MASSES Christmas Eve, Monday, December 24th 5:00 (With Children s Choir) and 10:30 PM (Mass at Midnight) Christmas Day, Tuesday, December 25th 8:30 and 10:30 AM Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, & Joseph Vigil Mass, Saturday, December 29th 5:00 PM Sunday, December 30th 8:30 and 10:30 AM Our Christmas Schedule will be the same as last year, which seemed to work well. Please note that we will celebrate the Mass During the Night (Mass at Midnight) with the Proclamation of the Incarnation at 10:30PM on Christmas Eve. We are looking for a few parishioners who would be willing to help up plan a multi-generational Cohort social event here at Our Lady of Good Counsel in March. There will be a planning meeting on Saturday, January 5th after the 5PM Mass. Please let me know if you are interested in being a part of this. Fr. Mike. CHURCH CALENDARS The 2019 Calendars are available in the vestibule of the church. We offer a very special thank you to the Murphy Funeral Home, for donating the calendars. Mary, Mother of God Vigil Mass, Monday, December 31st 5:00 PM New Year s Day, Tuesday, January 1st, 2019 9:00 AM PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS Daily Prayer for Vocations Heavenly Father, Your divine Son taught us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His vineyard. We earnestly beg You to bless our Diocese and our world with many priests and religious men and women who will love You fervently, and gladly and courageously spend their lives in service to Your Son s Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We pray that their lives may be always centered on our Eucharistic Lord; that they be always faithful to the Holy Father, and that they may be devoted sons and daughters of Mary, our Mother, in making You known and loved; and that all may attain Heaven. Bless our parish families and our children and choose from our homes those whom You desire for this holy work. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen Church Office is CLOSED December 24, 25, 26, 31 & January 1 May God s richest blessings continue with you through the coming year. God bless you and your family, Rev. Michael Hall, Pastor Rev. Jason Parzynski, In Residence Deacon Steven Szmutko, Brenda O Callaghan, CRE and the Parish Staff of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church. 0533olgc 2
December 23, 2018 Deacon Steve Szmutko s Reflection Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. (Gospel Acclamation Luke 1: 38) Christmas is upon us; the time of waiting is over. Although today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, tomorrow is already Christmas Eve. Our thoughts are fixed upon the birth of the Messiah as well as the final preparations for the celebration of the Feast. Very often, we have allowed the secular activities associated with Christmas to take precedence over God s great gift of His Only Begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity. As once Christ entered into history, he is with us, today and always, through his words, and his true and abiding presence in the Holy Eucharist. In the reading from the Gospel of Luke this Sunday, we learn of Mary s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, who was also with child. When Mary greeted her, Elizabeth s child leaped in her womb in recognition of the one whom Mary bore for the sake of all humanity. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth cried, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Both mother and unborn child recognized the special gift that the Blessed Mother nurtured in her own womb, the infant Jesus. The bond between these two women was a precursor to the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist at the beginning of Jesus public ministry. The scene also illuminates the faith of both women and their willing participation in God s divine plan. Elizabeth recognized the absolute faith and trust held by Mary in response to God s invitation to her to be the vessel by which the Savior would enter into the world. Elizabeth s words are profound testimony to the Blessed Mother s submission to the will of God: Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. In just a few days, the Season of Advent will be fulfilled in the Solemnity of the Nativity. This great feast, accompanied by prayer, joyful liturgy, and festive celebration, is a reminder of God s great love for us, a love so great that he sent his only begotten son into the world for our salvation. Jesus came into the world as a helpless infant, yet from the moment of conception he was at once fully human and fully divine. And he would change the world in ways that could only imagined by those who lived at the time of his earthly existence. While we celebrate Christmas with the exchange of presents, let us never forget the greatest gift: the gift of the Joy and Peace of Christ! It is a time to celebrate the coming of the Lord, to offer him praise and thanksgiving, and to demonstrate our discipleship in an outpouring of kindness and compassion to all men and women to give to those who cannot repay, just as the gift of grace is given to us, who cannot possibly repay in full measure of that which God has bestowed upon us. Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI once said, Joy is the true gift of Christmas, not the expensive gifts that call for time and money... Let us pray that this presence of the liberating joy of God shines forth in our lives. May the Lord Jesus Christ, whose birth set in motion, the means of our redemption, bestow every grace and blessing upon you and your families this Christmas, and indeed in every hour of every day throughout the year. Let us, with loving and faithful hearts, join in the chorus of the heavenly host and sing: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. Deacon Steven K. Szmutko Christmas Gifting Outreach for 2018 Success! Many thanks to all parishioners who participated in this year s gift giving opportunity to help brighten Christmas morning for struggling families in our Trenton Diocese. The turnout was tremendous. Together we helped provide 401 gifts to Catholic Charities of Trenton and Mount Carmel Guild. A special thanks to those who participated in the Adopt-a-Family program this year. Thanks also for the hard work of our Social Service Committee members and other volunteers who helped process the gifts, and to everyone for your generous support of our Christmas Outreach program. Pictured above is just a small sample of the wonderful gifts we received. Have a Merry Christ mas! 0533olgc 3
END OF BULLETIN CHURCH NAME: CHURCH CITY: Our Lady of Good Counsel West Trenton, NJ ROUTING CODE: 0533 FILENAME: 0533text122318 PHONE NUMBER: 609-882-3277 FAX NUMBER: EDITOR/ CONTACT: Debbie Smith CURRENT FORMAT: -- 6th Columns: Note to Press: This document printed at: 12/17/18 11:04 AM