The Church of the Incarnation 544 Prospect Street Wethersfield, CT 06109 Rev. James M. Moran Pastor Mrs. Noranne Wamester Pastoral Associate Mrs. Audrey Saharek Pastoral Assistant Mrs. Teri Aiudi Rectory Office Assistant Faith Formation Secretary Mrs. Theodora Niver Director of Music Robert & Diana Hamel Musicians Vanessa Crowley Lorissa Heath Rosanne Sweeney Gowdy Andrew Russo Heather Picard Bonney Cantors Toni Munoz Sacristan Maggie Seaver Youth Minister Mass Schedule Confessions on Saturdays from 3:45-4:30p.m. Vigil Mass: Saturday at 5:00p.m. Sunday Masses: 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 a.m. Daily Mass: (Mon. - Fri.) 9:00 a.m. Recitation of the Rosary before 9:00 a.m. daily Mass Sacrament of Baptism By previous appointment Sundays at 1:00 p.m. in the Baptistry of the Chapel. Weddings Please contact a priest 6-10 months prior. New Parishioners and Faith Formation Registration The Church of the Incarnation welcomes new parishioners. All forms are available at the main entrance of the church. Please mail or place in the collection basket. You may also visit our website for printable forms at: www.thechurchoftheincarnation.com Rectory Hours 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Rectory Fax Church E-Mail Faith Formation Website address: (860) 529-2533 (860) 721-6595 cincarnation@sbcglobal.net (860) 529-6765 www.thechurchoftheincarnation.com gotellit@aol.com 50th Anniversary Jubilee Founding of The Church of the Incarnation Parish 1963-2013
Page Two The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph...December 29, 2013 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28TH 5:00pm - Thomas DiMarco SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29TH 8:00am Tommaso Maccarone 9:30am Anthony W. Melillo 11:00am - Angelina Nowik MONDAY, DECEMBER 30TH 9:00am David Dolge TUES., DEC., 31ST - NEW YEAR S EVE 9:00am Deceased members of Incarnation Men s Association & Women s Club 5:30pm John Woods WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2014 SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, NEW YEAR S DAY 9:00am For all our parishioners 11:00am For all our parishioners THURSDAY, JANUARY 2ND 9:00am Hubie & Peg Marcotte FRIDAY, JANUARY 3RD 9:00am Deceased members of the White Family SATURDAY, JANUARY 4TH 5:00pm Mary & Nicholas Champ & the Deceased members of the Champ & Fanelli Families SUNDAY, JANUARY 5TH 8:30am Rosa Capasso 10:30am John M. & Rita B. Biancamano The Sanctuary Candle will burn from 12/30/2013 1/5/2014 in memory of Lillian Gogulski. The Blessed Virgin Mary Candle will burn from 12/30/2013-1/5/2014 in memory of the Deceased members of the Camilliere & DiSilvestro Families. The Last Liturgy of our 50th Anniversary Year 2013 will be celebrated on Tuesday, December 31st at the 9:00am Mass. We invite you to come and give thanks for so many blessings this past 50 years, for the many ministries within our faith community and for the distinguished leadership extended to us by our pastors, Fr. John Crawford, Fr. John Edwards and Fr. James Moran who have inspired us by their word and deed to live lives of Christian witness. New Year s Mass Schedule: SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD IS A HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION...A VIGIL MASS WILL BE HELD ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31ST AT 5:30PM. MASSES ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2014 WILL BE AT 9AM & 11AM. We extend a sincere thank you to our musicians, Bob and Diana Hamel, for their many years of service to our parish. We wish them much success as they pursue many avenues to praise God with their extraordinary musical talents and faith filled witness. Rectory closed on January 1, 2014, New Year s Day. Emergency calls only please. Friday is the first Friday in January.mass will be held at 9am with Vocations Holy Hour held after mass in the Chapel.
Page Three The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph...December 29, 2013 Saturday, January 4th Faith Formation: Children s Liturgy of the Word will gather for the first time at the 5pm mass next wkd. We will be welcoming our children to participate in C.L.W. We welcome Maura Buyak & Kathi Stickley as presiders and catechists, Cindy Amoddio, Connie DiGiacomo and Mena Niro. Children s Liturgy of the Word 2014 schedule: C.L.W. will meet 10 times during the Spring Season, 5 of those gatherings will be at the 5pm Vigil Mass on Saturday evenings and 5 will be at the 10:30am mass on Sunday mornings. The first C.L.W. for 2014 will be next Sat., Jan. 4th, 2014 at the 5:00pm Mass. Thank you to all of our most generous parishioners who participated in the Angel Tree Ministry. Thank you to our Confirmation 2014 candidates for helping in such a wonderful way to organize the gifts. Thank you to the Carcia Family who brought this ministry to our parish 15 years ago. SNOW CANCELLATIONS: will be announced on WFSB, WVIT & WTIC and also via our website. Please do not call the rectory regarding class cancellations. On December 14th there was an announcement entitled: Town of Wethersfield Parking Ban: no religious education. If this is seen again, please disregard and only rely on the name of our church for accurate cancellations. Emerson-Williams communities will meet at 9am. Grade 6 will meet at 8:45am in Fr. Crawford Hall. Parish Family Home communities will meet at designated times. Dear Friends: On behalf of the Kid's Cafe team, I thank you all for participating in the Goodie Bag collection for Kid's Cafe. 562 Bags were collected. Also, many sandwich bags were collected. This is totally amazing and definitely reflects the spirit of giving that our parish embraces. Can you just imagine the joyful faces on each of the 500 children fed each day by Kid's Cafe as they see a Goodie bag placed at their table setting? It is hard to imagine the needs that exist in our world today. Yet, the Gospel message is being spread by the goodness of caring people in our parish and beyond. Thank you to our Kid's Cafe team for continuing to remind us of the needs of the children who come to Kid's Cafe. We also pray for Norman, the director of Kid's Cafe and his staff, for God to continue to bestow many graces upon them as they serve the children. Please send this message along to your families if you can. May the gentle smile of the Christ Child fill you all with a sense of hope and peace this Christmas season and always. Noranne S. Wamester, Pastoral Associate and The Kid's Cafe Team of Cathy Beers, Phyllis DiFiore, Filomena Marinelli, Gina Zaino.
Page Four The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph...December 29, 2013 A Weekly Bible Study The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Matthew 2:13-23 He is a quiet man, often depicted in the background of Jesus s life. But Joseph once again takes center stage in Matthew s nativity passages. And once again the uprightness we witnessed in last Sunday s Gospel is evident in his understanding of God s will and his courageous actions. Joseph s righteousness (right relationship with God) enabled him to hear the voice of God in the warnings of the angel, and to trust his own spiritual intuition in protecting his family and carrying out the will of the Father. How do we get there? How does our own righteousness translate into courageous action? A simple prayer tucked away in the scriptures enlightens us: You built up strength within me. Constancy in prayer and in sacramental life build up that strength within. Quietly we build and when the time comes for us to act we are often amazed at our inner resources. Somehow I got through this illness My family survived a setback and now we are stronger My friend was so grateful I was present to her in her grief. These are the strengths we build up within us as we embrace the workings of God s love and grace within our hearts. Quietly they do their work and miraculously they appear as we need them to encounter our difficulties. And with Joseph, we also attune our hearts to that voice of God within. It is at times the discerning voice that tells us to trust our spiritual intuition about the Lord s will for us. It is sometimes the still, small voice that sets us on the right path of action. It is often the voices of others who act as God s messengers to us. And it is the gentle nudge of an angelic presence leading us out of danger. In our liturgical and spiritual life we look often to Mary as our model of faith, trust and acceptance of God s will. Today let us look up to Joseph, a man whose wisdom and integrity of heart enabled him to act with trust and courage to allow God s plan of salvation to unfold. The Men s Association wants YOU. Our annual membership drive continues and renewal letters have been mailed to all current members. Applications are at entrances. All men are invited to join! Dues -$10 per year. Call Michael White (860)-667-2099. The Church of the Incarna on Commemora ve 50 th Anniversary Jubilee Deluxe Insulated Bags are available for $10.00 each. Call Audrey at the rectory 529-2533. Thank you for your generous donations to the Annual Collection. We have collected $93,017.00 so far. Envelopes at exits. This past year we completed numerous renovations. Continued repairs/improvements in the near future necessitate rebuilding this fund. We continue to graciously accept your donations. Goal $100,000. There will be a Project Baby Love collection next weekend. Disposable diapers & wipes are requested. To benefit St. Gerard s Center for Life, a Catholic Crisis Pregnancy Center. BAPTISM CHRISTOPHER ERIC HALLE
Page Five The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph...December 29, 2013 Thank you to the Men s Association for their $500.00 donation to the church from the proceeds of their fundraising for the year 2013. SAVE THE DATE: Incarnation Men's Retreat will be February 21, 22, & 23, 2014 at the Holy Family Retreat Center in West Hartford. For retreat info, an alternate weekend or for the five Women's Retreat weekend dates call (860) 760-9705 or visit their web site at www.holyfamilyretreat.org. There are still some 50th Anniversary Books available for purchase at $25 per book. Call the rectory at (860) 529-2533. The Priests, brothers and sisters of the new century are in the care of your family today. Tend to them well; encourage their gifts; pray for their happy response to God s call. If you desire to respond to God s call as a priest or religious, call Fr. Anthony Smith, Director of Vocations, Archdiocesan Center at St. Thomas Seminary, (860) 761-7456 or e-mail him at: vocations@stseminary.org or visit the web at www.vocationshartford.org. The Men s Association Christmas pictures with Santa are available in Fr. Crawford Hall. Beginning in January 2014, our Sunday Mass schedule will be: 8:30am and 10:30am only. Our vigil mass will remain at 5pm on Saturday. The Incarnation Parish Council came to this decision based on a number of factors. We appreciate the cooperation of our parishioners. Baptisms will take place at 12:30pm on Sundays in 2014. Fr. Moran wishes to thank all parishioners for their kindness, cards, prayers and Christmas wishes. Thank you and God s Blessing upon you and yours! We will begin accepting the 2015 Masses, Sanctuary & Blessed Virgin Mary Candles on Monday, January 6, 2014 at 10am and not prior to that date. Please keep in mind that our parish has a large number of parishioners who remember their loved ones with Memorial Masses and we request that you limit your Masses to two per household. Thanks for understanding.fr. Moran We still have a few 2014 candles.
Page Six The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph...December 29, 2013 LOVE For genera ons, various cultures regarded family life merely as a u litarian necessity. Sirach introduces honor and respect. For Jews and Chris ans alike, the value of family goes even further. The family is seen as the indispensable school where love is learned. Paul addresses the Colossians and offers a list of virtues that make for a solid and happy church. These values also make for a happy family at ease with itself and its members: mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, pa ence, forgiveness. As a capstone, Paul urges love, which brings all of these domes c virtues to perfec on. Paul seems to be on a roll as he lauds the virtues of the church at Colossae. With such hear elt virtues, it is no wonder Paul bursts into song. Who wouldn t? It s clear that the center of the church is love. It is clear that no ma er how far from home the members travel, the heart remains and all the members are connected by the gravita onal pull of mutual love, a love first learned in family life. TODAY S READINGS First Reading Those who honor and comfort their parents shall never be forgo en (Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14). Psalm Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways (Psalm 128). Second Reading You are called into one body. Bear with one another; forgive one another; let Christ s peace control you (Colossians 3:12-21 [12-17]). Gospel Joseph rose, took the child and his mother, and fled to Egypt (Ma hew 2:13-15, 19-23). READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: 1 Jn 2:12-17; Ps 96:7-10; Lk 2:36-40 Tuesday: 1 Jn 2:18-21; Ps 96:1-2, 11-13; Jn 1:1-18 Wednesday: Nm 6:22-27; Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21 Thursday: 1 Jn 2:22-28; Ps 98:1-4; Jn 1:19-28 Friday: 1 Jn 2:29 3:6; Ps 98:1, 3cd-6; Jn 1:29-34 Saturday: 1 Jn 3:7-10; Ps 98:1, 7-9; Jn 1:35-42 Sunday: Is 60:1-6; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13; Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6; Mt 2:1-12 SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES Sunday: The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph Monday: Sixth Day within the Octave of the Na- vity of the Lord Tuesday: Seventh Day within the Octave of the Na vity of the Lord; St. Sylvester I; New Year s Eve Wednesday: The Octave of the Na vity of the Lord; Mary, the Holy Mother of God; World Day of Prayer for Peace; New Year s Day Thursday: Ss. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen Friday: The Most Holy Name of Jesus; First Friday Saturday: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton; First Saturday TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION We are in the season of the Incarna on, the mystery of God s love poured out in Christ s birth. The word derives from the La n carnis meaning flesh. Throughout history, some Chris ans have distrusted the flesh, and stressed a hatred of this world and its pleasures. Perhaps they have not paid enough a en on to how embodied the sacraments are. One third-century author put it plainly in an image that may alarm dietconscious Americans, explaining that we wash the body so the soul can be cleansed, that we anoint the body so the soul can be strengthened, and that we eat the body and blood of Christ so that the soul can fa en on God. Catholics get that God is revealed in this world. The sacraments use the stuff of crea on: water and oil; the senses of the body, touch and taste and smell. We use the things of this world rightly. A er all, God s love poured out into human flesh means the world has eternal value. Why else would Jesus describe the kingdom to come as a teeming city or a marriage banquet? Catholics are realists, and nowhere is that more evident than when we gather for a sacrament. WINTER WILD It was winter wild While the Heav n-born child All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies. NEW YEAR The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year, but rather that we should have a new soul.