Parish Mission Statement Immaculate Conception Catholic Church celebrates the Eucharist and proclaims the gospel in worship through our love of God and for each other and with our ministry to the marginalized. We journey together in our faith, united by our trust in Christ s love and mercy and the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Staff Connection... April 23, 2017 Have you ever received a post card from friends who were on vacation that said, Having a wonderful time...we wish you were here! You would have wanted to have been there but you didn t have the funds to go on some fancy vacation. Now, your friends have a lifetime memory to share and all you have is a post card! And then, when your friends come home, you have to look at their photos and listen to them telling you about how exciting everything was! Immaculate Conception Church It s difficult to become excited about an experience, even a great experience, that you only know about second hand, isn t it? Oh, you can listen politely and smile at the appropriate times, but the experiences of other people are just that...their experiences. And so it was with Thomas, when the other disciples told him that they had seen the Risen Lord. For whatever reason, Thomas wasn t with them on Easter Sunday. Who knows why?! But, when he heard their news, he was incredulous. He thought that they were pulling his leg and doubted their entire story. Thomas wanted proof. This didn t mean that Thomas was a bad person. In fact, perhaps many of us, too, have had doubts about some things that we ve been taught about Jesus and His church. And that doesn t make us bad people either! The story of Jesus rising from the dead after a horrible crucifixion sounds too good to be true! It s ok to doubt. After all, by human standards, Christianity doesn t make sense! By human standards, it doesn t make sense that God would become a man; that Jesus would die so that we might have eternal life; that we can eat His flesh and drink His blood at every Mass; that we can shar in His life right now and that we can live in peace, joy and love...forever! But, with doubt, comes hope. And Christian hope is not just some sort of wishful thinking like I hope I win the lottery this year! Christian hope, on the other hand, is clear, precise and unwavering. Christian hope tells us that we can truly trust and expect that God will give us all we need to live like Christ, to die in the peace of Christ and to enjoy God with all of our loved ones...forever! That, my friends, is the hope that Christ gives us. And... it s not just wishful thinking! Now maybe Thomas wanted to believe the other disciples, but he just couldn t. And maybe that s why Jesus appeared to the disciples one week later...this time with Thomas in the room! You see, Jesus didn t want andy of His disciples to believe in His resurrection with a second hand faith. You can die from second hand smoke and you can get the flu from a second hand virus but you cannot be a second hand Christian. True Christianity is not something that you can catch from hanging around other Christians! So, how do we get this true faith, since we were not there to actually see and touch Jesus? Well, to begin with, faith doesn t come from absolute proof or it wouldn t be faith...it would be fact. In addition, faith doesn t require actual seeing or touching or anything else for evidence. No, faith is the personal choice that we make to completely trust in God. We do have excellent evidence, however, to trust in God. After all, not many people can predict their own death and resurrection three days later! We have to make a choice and the choices are really quite simple...yes or no...there is no middle ground. You cannot hedge your bets. By not making a choice, you have already made a choice and the answer to God is No! My mother used to say not to decide is to decide! As I said, our choices with God are really quite simple; yes or no. May we always make the correct one...our eternity depends on it!!! Blessings, Deacon Dan MASS SCHEDULE Monday & Thursday 12:10PM Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday 7AM Vigil Mass Saturday 4:30PM Sunday 8:30 & 10:30AM George Green Parish Center 113 North Geneva Street Ithaca, NY 14850 *** 607/273-6121 SACRAMENTS BAPTISM: A preparation session is required before the baptism of your child. Please call 273-6121 prior to your due date for an appointment. RECONCILIATION: Saturday 2:30P 4PM MARRIAGE: Please call 273-6121 at least 6 months in advance of your anticipated wedding date. ANOINTING OF THE SICK: Call 273-6121 to request this sacrament. HOSPITALIZATIONS: Call 273-6121 if your loved one is in the hospital.
Date Sunday 4-23 Monday 4-24 Tuesday 4-25 Wednesday 4-26 Thursday 4-27 Friday 4-28 Saturday 4-29 Sunday 4-30 NEXT SUNDAY APRIL 30, 2017 THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER SECOND COLLECTION CATHOLIC HOME MISSIONS Mass Intentions 8:30AM John Nolan from Barbara J. Colbert & Family 10:30AM DM of the Rudan & Heuchert Families from John & Doreen Rudan 10:30AM Mary VanOstrand Yaple from Mary Edsall-Golway 12:10PM COMMUNION SERVICE 7:00AM COMMUNION SERVICE 7:00AM COMMUNION SERVICE 12:10PM Jim Harvill from his Family 7:00AM Peter Potorti from Fluffy Saccucci & Ann Hayland-Bolton 4:30PM Louis Golway & DM of the Golway/Edsall Family from Mary Edsall-Golway 8:30AM For Parishioners 10:30AM Nancy Nazer from the Nazer Family The Week Ahead... SUNDAY, APRIL 23 COFFEE HOUR 3:00P DIVINE MERCY SERVICE MONDAY, APRIL 24 10:30A CAYUGA RIDGE MASS TUESDAY, APRIL 25 1:00P FOOD PANTRY 6:00P ADULT CHOIR-CH WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26 10:00A SCC-PC 5:00P CONTEMP GRP-CH 7:00P K OF C 4TH DEGREE-PH THURSDAY, APRIL 27 7:00P SERVICE TEAM SATURDAY, APRIL 29 11:00A LIGHT WEIGH-PC Fr. Chumo Out Fr. Chumo will be out of the office next week from Monday through Wednesday, attending the Priests Convocation. For Sacramental emergencies, contact the Parish Office 273-6121 Page2 CMA 2016-2017 CMA due date is fast approaching! Help us reach our goal. Thanks in advance and God Bless. (Please make checks payable to Catholic Ministries Appeal) Goal $59,694 Current status: 235 Families 80.17% $45,631 We welcome into our church community the following who were fully initiated into the Catholic Faith at the Easter Vigil! Taylor Merritt Brianna Gasque Sonja Gasque Lee A. Johnson II Jacob Gasque Patricia Ramer Lisa Gasque Home Missions Collection Next week we will take up the Catholic Home Missions Appeal. Right now, over 40 percent of dioceses in the US are considered home missions because they are unable to fund pastoral work needed in their communities. Your support of this appeal helps ease the struggle of these dioceses. Please prayerfully consider how you can support this appeal. More information can be found at www.usccb.org/home-missions. Bring flowers of the fairest, bring flowers of the rarest to our Annual May Crowning on Monday, May 1st at 5:45-6:30pm. Everyone Welcome! *We are looking for people to help bake a few dozen flowershaped cookies for the reception. Please contact Rich at the office if you can help. OUR SANCTUARY LAMP WILL BURN THIS WEEK IN MEMORY OF LOUIS GOLWAY FROM MARY EDSALL-GOLWAY Thank You! Thank you to all who helped to make our celebration of the Easter Triduum so meaningful decorators, musicians, cantors, choirs, altar servers, Communion ministers, sacristans, foot washers, and those who assisted in ways not visible. What gifts you are to our parish. May God bless you for all you do for His Church! A Sincere Thank You to the family of James Harvill for remembering Immaculate Conception Church in the obituary of their loved one. OUR OFFERING TO THE LORD April 16, 2017 Collection 2017 $13,790 *********************************************** School Support $2,671 *********************************************** Attendance 1,113
NEXT SUNDAY APRIL 30, 2017 THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER SECOND COLLECTION CATHOLIC HOME MISSIONS Page3 Learn Swahili with Fr. Chumo Watu wa Mungu = God s people Ukristu ni Maisha bora = Christianity is a good life Ongea pole pole = Speak slowly The Auction is coming! Immaculate Conception School will be hosting its annual For the Children Auction on May 20th. Tickets are available at the school and parish offices. Don t miss the opportunity to have a great night out with friends and family while raising funds for Ithaca s Catholic School Thank you from the Knight of Columbus to everyone who brought non-perishable food to the church during our recent drive. Your response was wonderful! Many people will have something to eat due to your generosity. Join Catholic Charities on Friday May 5 at 7 pm for an evening with locally-grown, nationally-known author Amy Dickinson ( The Mighty Queen of Freeville ) speaking on the theme Second Chances. Amy will share from her wideranging experience as a writer, Ask Amy advice columnist, and proud native of Freeville, and take questions from the audience. Dessert reception and book signing following the presentation. Tick4ets are $40 and available at Catholic Charities, Green Star Market, Buffalo Street Books in DeWitt Mall, online at cctt.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 607-272-5062 ext 15. Lighthouse Catholic Media CD sets Jesus & the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: By taking us back to the Jewish roots of our faith, Dr. Brant Pitre gives us a powerful lens through which to see anew the bread of the presence, the manna, the Last Supper, and ultimately the meaning of the Eucharist; thereby providing a fresh look at the heart of Catholic practice the Eucharist. Nomination Form for Parish Pastoral Council Spiritual leadership is key to vitality of the parish and its ministries. When spiritual leading is lacking in a parish even the best of plans will not come to fruition. This noble leadership role is done best by those who are motivated by the love of Christ and its mission to the world. With this in mind, kindly nominate persons, or yourself who will serve with joy the needs of our parish. Consider gender, age and other existing diversities of the Parish. I nominate to serve a regular three-year term on our Pastoral Council. I nominate to serve a one-year member as a youth member of our Pastoral Council. Please return your nomination by placing it in the collection or delivering it to the Parish Center by Monday, May 15th. Our First and Second Graders are putting together an echo themed basket Pre-K3, Pre-K 4 and Elementary School Registration: Immaculate Conception School is now accepting registrations for all of our academic programs, Pre-K through sixth grade, for the 2017-2018 school year. Our three and four year-old Pre- Kindergarten programs are filling up quickly! Tuition assistance and parish subsidy are available. Call the school at 273-2707 or visit icsithaca.org for more information. As a Spiritual Gift to Mothers, Immaculate Conception Church will offer a Mother s Day Remembrance at all Masses that weekend. You may pick up an envelope at the Parish Office to include your mother in this Spiritual Bouquet. Included in the envelope is a card you can send and an offering envelope to list your name and the name (names) of mothers living or deceased to be remembered. PARISH STAFF Fr. Augustine Chumo ext. 105 Pastor fchumo@dor.org Larry Wasser ext. 110 Director of Finance & Admin lwasser@dor.org Erika Linsdell ext. 101 Parish Administrative Assistant elinsdell@dor.org Gary Vrabel ext. 111 Music Ministry holyspearrats@gmail.com Cynthia Miller ext. 108 Bookkeeper cmiller@dor.org Colleen Sforzo ext. 109 Business Management CONTACT INFORMATION Main Office 607/273-6121 Fax: 607/273-0185 www.immconch.org IImmacul@dor.org www.facebook.com/immconch YOUTH & FAMILY Rich Rasmussen ext. 102 Catechetical & Youth Ministry rrasmussen@dor.org Don Mills School Principal 273-2707 dmills@dor.org Dan Hurley-Deacon 585-319-8205 usatfofficial@gmail.com BULLETIN REQUESTS: E-mail: iimmacul@dor.org no later than Mondays @ 4p Calvary Cemetery 272-5780 Mike Moravec-Cemetery Manager
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