St. John the Baptist R. C. Church 895 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, New York 10968 www.stjohnspiermont.org admin@stjohnspiermont.org 845-359-0078 Rev. Tom Kunnel, C.O. Administrator frtomkunnel@gmail.com Deacon John Cunningham Deacon Robert Pang Kathleen Dunn Religious Education Director May Pang Parish Admin: admin@stjohnspiermont.org MASSES Saturday: 5:00 PM Sunday: 8:00 AM, 10:30 AM 1:00 PM (Spanish) Weekdays: 8:00 AM Saturday: 9:00 AM Holy Days: As Announced Rectory Mon Fri 10:15 AM 4:00 PM Sat 10 AM 12 AM (Spanish) December Sponsor: Zahn Family Remembrance of John Zahn DOWNLOAD OUR FREE APP ST JOHN PIERMONT
Sat 12/15 5:00 PM Keane & Simon Family By Eileen Simon Sun 12/16 8:00 AM Anne Bazala By Mary Moss 10:30 PM Sara "Mom" Miraglia By Jake & Silvia Miraglia Mon 12/17 8:00 AM Deceased Mbrs of the KOC By Knights of Columbus Tue 12/18 8:00 AM Deceased Mbrs of the KOC By Knights of Columbus Wed 12/19 8:00 AM Helen C. Meagher By Frances Stoughton Thu 12/20 8:00 AM Deceased Mbrs of the KOC By Knights of Columbus Fri 12/21 8:00 AM Themy Dumlao By Dumlao Family Sat 12/22 Sun 12/23 9:00 AM Mamerta Soriano by Mildred Oslica 5PM John Lago by Joe & Laurie Rispoli 8:00 AM Mamerta Soriano by Helen, Anthony & Kathy Koza 10:30 AM Jerry O'Dowd By O'Dowd Family Please remember in your prayers the Sick and/ or Homebound of our Parish Family. Thomas Mooney, Molly Robinson Cameron Robinson, Ron Rebers, Helen Koza, Madlen Moson, Marge Culletto, Bill Loftus, Carolyn, Joe Dennerlein, Tommy Armstrong, Caroline Kelly, Thomas Kilgannon, Eugene Flood, father of Kelly Kohlbrenner & Christine Mascola, Alex Malfa As a Parish Family, let us remember in our prayers all our beloved departed members of our Parish Community Mark Pietro, Charles Smith, brother of Kathryn Smith, Sue Ann Esposito, Eileen Carley, Marie Berardi, Louis Berardi, John Luckie, Evelyn Wenke-Daly, sister of Carol Gibbs, Harry Gibbs, Barbara Murphy, Louisa Palermo, Casey Smith, Margaret O Brien, Rose Von Sternstein, Bridget Boyle, Christine Caleca, Michael Galella, uncle of Ted Simone, James Enright brother of Marilyn Timberger, Mamerta Soriano, mother of Romeo Soriano, Anne Bazala, John Waffenschmidt,,PLEASE ADVISE THE RECTORY (359-0078) WHENEVER A PARISHION- ER BECOMES HOMEBOUND, ILL, OR HOSPITALIZED SO ARRANGE- MENTS CAN BE MADE FOR A PRIEST, DEACON OR EUCHARISTIC MINIS- TER TO VISIT AND BRING COMMUNION TO THEM. Dear Parish Family, The 3rd Sunday in Advent is Gaudete Sunday (from the Latin meaning rejoice ) which is taken from Philippians 4:4-5, the Entrance Antiphon of the day. The color Rose will be used as the priest will wear a rose chasuble and we will light the rose candle on the Advent wreath. Rose symbolizes joy, the joy that Jesus is almost here. When parents get ready to bring a new baby home, they typically paint the baby s room pink or blue. They do this out of joy for to baby s arrival. Advent s themes of happiness and hope can annoy someone who hurts. When you are burdened with the chaff of ego or the weight of anxieties, forced joy and canned glee disgust the best of persons. Yet it is nothing but our diminishment, our losses, our sadness, our weight of sin that Advent confronts and calls us out of. Somehow it is the pathos of our own melancholy that must be laughed away. It is our sense of exile, our cramped confinement, the dross of our psychic baggage that must be burned off by the fire of love. There is in everyone a need to unburden. Sometimes we cannot put a finger to the source or tenor of our malaise. The crowds John encountered had, themselves, little reason for joy. Aware of their own need for deliverance, living under the shackles of Roman rule, they felt a glimmer of anticipation that he might be the messiah. He counseled justice and rectitude, but the promise he spoke of was something far more than they might have suspected or wanted: I am baptizing you with water, but there is one to come who is mightier than I. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn in unquenchable fire. John the Baptist is referring to the fire which is part of the baptism in Jesus and his spirit. Fire is not the fate of the lost, but the refining of the blessed. We all have our chaff, our dross, our waste. We all have our winnowing. And it is the fire of Christ that will burn it away. The burdens we carry do not make us unfit for Advent s message. They qualify us as prime candidates. The only exit from Dante s Purgatorio was a wall of fire. Once the pain was burned away by love, the other side was Paradise, sheer joy. Here is an excerpt from an article on Mother Theresa that explains the movement through pain to joy - Mother Teresa left happiness to find joy. The difference between happiness and joy is that happiness avoids suffering and joy endures suffering in hope. To say that Mother Teresa left happiness to find joy means that she went towards suffering in hope. The suffering was not first hers, though it became hers because she stayed close to those who suffer. The suffering in Teresa s joy was first of all Christ s, who suffered in and with the Poorest of the Poor. With them they who were unwanted, unclaimed, unloved Teresa heard, over and over again, the plaintive cry of Christ on the Cross: I thirst (Jn 19:28). Thirsty for care, thirsty for contact, thirsty for love. Mother Teresa left her own comfort to comfort those whom no one comforted. To leave comfort was painful, but that pain bore something beautiful for God. Fr. Tom Kunnel. C.O.
9AM Religious Ed - Advent Day Sun 16-Dec 11:30AM Christmas Pageant 11:30AM Legion of Mary AA Meeting Mon 17-Dec 6:30PM Religious Ed Tues 18-Dec Altar Server Prep Directiva Meeting Wed 19-Dec Amigos de Jesus Choir Practice RCIA Thu 20-Dec Mensajeros de Jesus Choir Practice Servidore Meeting 10AM Friday Renew Group Fri 21-Dec 9AM CDA Food Basket Prep 7:30PM Spanish Prayer Meeting Sat 22-Dec Readings No. 791 3rd week of Advent Regular classes will take place today for all our Sunday morning youngsters AND our CHRISTMAS PAGEANT will be presented. Tomorrow evening there will be a Christmas Party for Grades 6-8 during regular class time. REMINDERS: There will be NO CLASSES on December 23rd and 30th for our Sunday children AND December 24th and 31st for the Monday evening gang. Our December FAMILY MASS is on December 24th, CHRISTMAS EVE at 4 pm. Please be here with us so we can celebrate together! On Smart TV or Computer go to the Link on WWW.STJOHNSPIERMONT.ORG or https://www.sundaystreams.com/go/stjohnpiermont On ROKU Select SUNDAY STREAMS Select the Channel STJOHNPIERMONT On Smart Phone Down load the Free App st john piermont and link is under Faith Live Stream today, Sunday Dec. 16 at 10.30 AM Liturgy Schedule Dec 22/23 Saturday 12/22 Sunday 12/23 Time Lector Eucharistic Minister Altar Servers 5:00 PM Oscar Nordstrom 8:00 AM Sal Caruana Diana Gensel Charles Caruana 10:30 AM Jonathan Fanning Marge Olsen Kevin Contreras Anthony Contreras Patrick Cavanaugh 1 PM Micaelina Maldonado Irma Vazquez Jus n Recinos Yuli Mazariego Micaelina Maldonado David Or z David Nova Erasmo Maldonado April Matute Dayana Mazariego
TODAY'S READINGS REJOICE! Today has traditionally been called Gaudete Sunday. The Latin tag is derived from Paul's appeal in the second reading to rejoice always in the Lord, and the Latin Mass text based on that reading. The irony and paradox of this Christian joy is underlined by the fact that Paul wrote those words in prison. But from there he could see the progress of God's work. Is it obvious to us? We feel that this is not the time for joy when there is so much suffering and moral evil. It is interesting, then, that the first reading is from the prophet Zephaniah, who is almost exclusively concerned with gloomy visions of Judgment Day. Today the Church selects the only optimistic text in Zephaniah, in which the prophet has been touched by the spirit of joy. This, we are assured on all sides, is the season of joy. Let us recapture that feeling of joy in our lives and reflect it to those who are joyless. It can't get any better than this, can it? Well, yes, it can. For a voice calls out in the desert. Here is the beginning of the salvation of God. READINGS FOR THE WEEK First Reading -- Your God will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals (Zephaniah 3:14-18a). Psalm -- Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 12:6). Second Reading -- Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! (Philippians 4:4-7). Gospel -- Whoever who has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. Whoever who has food should do likewise (Luke 3:10-18). READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: Gn 49:2, 8-10; Ps 72:1-4ab, 7-8, 17; Mt 1:1-17 Tuesday: Jer 23:5-8; Ps 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19; Mt 1:18-25 Wednesday: Jgs 13:2-7, 24-25a; Ps 71:3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17; Lk 1:5-25 Thursday: Is 7:10-14; Ps 24:1-6; Lk 1:26-38 Friday: Sg 2:8-14 or Zep 3:14-18a; Ps 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21; Lk 1:39-45 Saturday: 1 Sm 1:24-28; 1 Sm 2:1, 4-8abcd; Lk 1:46-56 Sunday: Mi 5:1-4a; Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19; Heb 10:5-10; Lk 1:39-45 12/9 $4904 Retired Religious $1048 Will be announced next time Congratulations on your 50th Anniversary Mr. & Mrs. Alex Samson May God bless and carry you through a lifetime of blessings and happiness. St. John s Church is looking for girls and boys to join the altar server ministry. If you know anyone who might be interested in joining and who is at least in the 4 th grade, you can contact Deacon Rob or the rectory for more information. (Altar Servers) are servers of Jesus Christ, the eternal High Priest. Pope John Paul II MONDAY, DECEMBER 17
John the Baptist is the beginning of the Good News. This is literally so, in the case of Mark and John, who do not include Infancy Narratives. Regardless, in all four Gospels, John begins the proclamation of the Good News. All beginnings, by definition, are moments of incompleteness, the commencement of something that is not yet fulfilled. So, revivingly for those stuck in ruts or routines or periods of spiritual dryness, beginnings and Advent is a season of beginnings are filled with freshness, a sense that anything, especially something new, can happen. Yet, for precisely that same reason, beginnings are also filled with uncertainty, some disorientation, even some fear and anxiety. We long for the new, while we also fear it. Who has embodied this dual, even oppositional, nature of the new more than John the Baptist? So perhaps it s not surprising that when we first encounter John, we do so where many new beginnings in Scripture take place in the precariousness of the desert. From the Israelites Exodus through the wilderness, to Isaiah s periodic vision quests on Carmel, to the Adventine gospels of the preaching of John the Baptist (and, still later, Jesus own preparatory battle with the devil) all of these beginnings occur in the desert. In the midst of these Advent days, so filled with the anticipation of making new beginnings in our own life, perhaps there is something spiritually resonant about contemplating this nomadic prophet John, crying out, in the desert. For whenever we begin something, we do so, not from a place of total strength and certainty, but with the future necessarily somewhat unknown, the outcome somewhat in the balance. As St. Mark describes John the Baptist s desert, life there teeters on the brink. No one s home is there, and judging by John s wardrobe and menu, strip malls are in short supply as well. Imagine, then, the decision of the first disciples to make the trek from the known comfort of their villages out into this desert to listen to John. Perhaps they journey to the desert for reasons similar to our own new ventures not to be confirmed in what they already know about themselves, but to lose, at least momentarily, their daily comforts and securities, so as to encounter something fresh and new. This they will encounter indeed, in the person and preaching of John. The first disciples take a risk in journeying to listen to John. These first disciples were dissatisfied with some aspects of their daily lives whether it was personal, social, political, spiritual and one day, they allow that restlessness to lead them to someone new. They wander into the desert, let go of their daily, insulating routines and complacencies, and open themselves to the outrageous, yet somehow resonant and thus compelling, propositions of the Baptist. Who knows how long they waited, in that desert of uncertainty? What we do know is that one day, the Baptist, finally, proposed the new beginning they had so yearningly desired Look, there is the one we have been waiting for. Follow him. What is the message John preaches to prepare his listeners for this moment? Repentance, conversion a change in their normal routine. A shaking up of their spiritual complacency. As if to indicate that only those who have been shaken out of their complacency would be ready to follow at that decisive moment. Perhaps, then, it was not a coincidence that Jesus went precisely to the desert the destination of adventurers, risk-takers to call his first disciples. Would he find us there? Perhaps in this story of the beginning of the Good News, in the desert with John the Baptist, we can see some semblance of our story, here in these first weeks of Advent. All of us no matter who we are enter this season in some degree incomplete and restless. This is great news! Beginnings demand restless hearts, the embrace of, the facing up to, what has not been brought to life in us yet. John the Baptist asked questions that cut to the core, and burned within the hearts of his listeners long after the words had been spoken. Identifying the burning questions inside of us can be a great spiritual exercise this Advent. In fact, the Gospels suggest that in the following of our restlessness precisely the questions about ourselves, our world, our God, whose answers escape us, the questions and people that are on our minds and in our hearts when we go to bed and when we wake up are often the promptings of the Holy Spirit... or as John the Baptist might say: Look, approaching you in the desert is the One we have been awaiting. Prayer Lord, through the intercession of St. John the Baptist, stir up a holy restlessness within me, and help me to recognize in this Advent season my longing for you. Prepare the way of the Lord within me. https://ace.nd.edu/resources/2014-advent-reflection-st-john-the-baptist
LECTURAS DE HOY Primera lectura -- Canta! Da gritos de júbilo! Gózate y regocíjate! El Señor tu Dios está entre ustedes y es un poderoso salvador (Sofonías 3:14-18a). Salmo -- El Señor es mi Dios y salvador (Isaías 12). Segunda lectura -- Alégrense! El Señor está cerca. Presenten sus peticiones a Dios (Filipenses 4:4-7). Evangelio -- Juan dice a sus oyentes que compartan sus posesiones con los necesitados (Lucas 3:10-18). LECTURAS DE LA SEMANA Lunes: Gn 49:2, 8-10; Sal 71:1-4ab, 7-8, 17; Mt 1:1-17 Martes: Jer 23:5-8; Sal 71:1-2, 12-13, 18-19; Mt 1:18-25 Miércoles: Jue 13:2-7, 24-25a; Sal 70:3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17; Lc 1:5-25 Jueves: Is 7:10-14; Sal 23:1-6; Lc 1:26-38 Viernes: Cant 2:8-14 o Sof 3:14-18a; Sal 32:2-3, 11-12, 20-21; Lc 1:39-45 Sábado: 1 Sm 1:24-28; 1 Sm 2:1, 4-8abcd; Lc 1:46-56 Domingo: Mi 5:1-4a; Sal 81 :2-3, 15-16, 18-19; Heb 10:5-10; Lc 1:39-45 REGOCÍJATE! El día de hoy se le ha llamado tradicionalmente Domingo Gaudete o de la Alegría. El nombre latino se deriva de la petición de Pedro en la segunda lectura de alégrense siempre en el Señor, y del texto de la Misa en latín en el que está basada esta lectura. La ironía y paradoja de esta alegría cristiana se manifiesta en el hecho que Pablo escribió esas palabras en la prisión. Pero desde allí podía ver el progreso de la obra de Dios. Nos parece obvio a nosotros? Sentimos que este no es un tiempo para la alegría cuando hay tanto sufrimiento e inmoralidad. Es interesante, entonces, que la primera lectura sea del profeta Sofonías, que está casi exclusivamente preocupado con sombrías visiones del Día del Juicio. Hoy la Iglesia selecciona la única parte optimista de Sofonías, donde el profeta es tocado por el espíritu del gozo. Esta es, se nos asegura en todas partes, la temporada de la alegría. Recuperemos ese espíritu de alegría en nuestra vida y que se refleje en los que no tienen ese gozo. Para los cursos pre-bautismales llamar a:.alex Aguilar 845-480-1502 y Natalia Lemus 845-480-1682. Los cursos Del 16 de diciembre al 24 de diciembre. Hora: Dia Fecha Familia Lugar Domingo 12/16 Mirna Leiva Nanuet Lunes 12/17 Daniel Trinidad Valley Cottage Martes 12/18 Sandra Bolaños Nanuet Miércoles 12/19 Cruz Molina Nyack Jueves 12/20 Maria Quintuna Nanuet Viernes 12/21 Iglesia de San Juan Piermont Sábado 12/22 Humberto Augustin Nanuet Domingo 12/23 Veronica Narvaez Pomona Lunes 12/24 Iglesia de San Juan Piermont
PARISH MINISTRIES & CHAIR Buildings & Grounds Pat Miele, Alex Aguilar Eucharistic Adoration Dcn Robert Pang Health Mary Loftus Hispanic Community Mario Zamora, Marili Mendoza Palma Ministerios Marianos Luis y Aida Cachichabla Hospitality Robin Miller Men s Club Bill Loftus. Ralph Olsen Ushers Jake Miraglia Music Elise Espinosa, Chris & Carolyn Yates, Ted Simone & Eileen Petersen Spanish Choir Carlos Cerna, William Martinez Outreach Maria Nest Parish Council Ralph Olsen Parish Worship Dcn John Cunningham Religious Education Kathleen Dunn RCIA Dcn Robert Pang, Jose Bolaños Catholic Daughters Marge Olsen Right to Life Scott Giblin Social May Pang Spiritual Life Johanna Krumm St. Vincent De Paul Fr. Tom Kunnel PARISH COUNCIL Alex Aguilar, Kathleen Dunn, Jonathan/Dominika Fanning, Lucia/Sal Caruana, Alex Flores, Andrew Lee, Maria Nest, Ralph Olsen, Marge Olsen, May Pang, Ray/Beverly Sambrotto TRUSTEES Phil McCartin James Pontone Our Sacramental Life Baptism: Please call the Rectory well in advance of the expected day of Baptism to arrange an appointment for an interview. Pre-baptismal meeting for parents is required. Godparents must be confirmed, practicing Catholics. Generally Baptisms are celebrated the third Sunday of each month at 12:00 pm. Reconciliation: Confessions are heard from 4:30-5:00 pm on Saturday. You may also make an appointment with Fr. Tom. Spanish confessions is available from 12:30 1:00 PM on Sundays. Marriage: Marriages should be arranged at least six months in advance. Participation in Pre-Cana is essential. Please call the Rectory to schedule an appointment with Fr. Tom. Anointing of the Sick: Before you enter the hospital for elective surgery or other serious treatment, and for those who have need of spiritual healing. In an emergency, please call Fr. Tom s mobile 845 608 9358. Holy Orders: Any gentleman interested in exploring the question of vocation to the priesthood or the permanent diaconate should contact Fr. Tom Kunnel. We would also be happy to direct anyone interested in living their lives as Religious Sisters or Brothers. Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults: For instruction for Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist for adults and to learn about Catholic Faith. If interested please contact Dcn Robert Pang. For more details and forms www.stjohnspiermont.org Parish Registration: All adults (over age 21) should register in the parish themselves and should use envelopes or parishpay.com. Tithing is 5% of income. This registration is our only means of certifying anyone as a member of the parish, especially for Baptism and Confirmation sponsorship letters and for scheduling Baptisms and Weddings.