ST STEPHEN OF HUNGARY SCHOOL Sunday July 16th, 2017 UPCOMING EVENTS 408 East 82nd Street Phone (212) 288-1989 Fax (212) 517-5877 New York, NY 10028 Early Bird 2's Program Pre-K 3-8th grade Caroline Walker Principal Website: http://www.saintstephenschool.org Email: info@saintstephenschool.org PARISH STAFF PASTOR: Rev Donald C. Baker frdcab@stmonicanyc.org ASSOCIATES: Rev Joslin K. Jose frjoslin@stmonicanyc.org Msgr Leslie Ivers ORGANIST & DIRECTOR OF MUSIC: Mr. David Schaefer CANTOR & LEADER OF SONG : Mr. Joseph Neal PASTORAL ASSOCIATE: Ms. Maryann Tyrer: mtyrer@stmonicanyc.org BUSINESS MANAGER: Mr.Mike Ward: mward@stmonicanyc.org WEDDING COORDINATOR: Ms. Debbi Burdett: DBWeddingsnyc@gmail.com MASS SCHEDULE Sundays: 7:30 AM; 9:00 AM; 10:30 AM 12 Noon (Principal Liturgy & Choir) & 5:00 PM Saturday Vigil: 5:30 PM Weekdays: 7:30 AM & 12 NOON Saturdays: 12 NOON CONFESSIONS ARE HEARD AT 5 PM SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN CHURCH FRUIT OF THE WORD Church of St Monica St Elizabeth of Hungary St Stephen of Hungary Church The seed is the word of God. The agricultural metaphors in all of today s readings give richness to the message that the word of God, cultivated in our hearts, bears much fruit in our lives. Creation itself awaits the redemption of all, even as our bodies await the resurrection. Just as we will rejoice in the fulfillment of God s word, so will all of creation sing for joy in the Reign of God. The word of God is effective and holy; it brings about exactly what it says. It is not futile or empty, but rich in meaning for those who hear and are healed. Those who hear the word of God and keep it will, with all creation, bear much fruit and sing for joy. Copyright J. S. Paluch Co., Inc. Parish Center 413 East 79th Street 406 East 80th Street New York, NY 10075 New York, NY 10075 Tel: (212) 288-6250 Fax: (212) 570-1562 website: www.stmonicanyc.org Starting this Wednesday Encountering God and Jesus in Holy Scripture Wednesday s July 19th, 26th August 2nd, 9th & 16th See Flyer in rear of church CHURCH HOURS OUR CHURCH IS OPEN MONDAY, TUESDAY, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY 7 AM 5 PM WEDNESDAYS 7 AM 4PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY According to Mass Schedule PARISH CENTER HOURS Monday 9 AM to 5 PM Tuesday 9 AM to 7 PM Wednesday 9 AM to 7 PM Thursday 9 AM to 7 PM Saturday 10 AM to 2 PM The Parish Center is closed on Friday & Sunday Parish Center will be closed for lunch daily from 1 PM to 2 PM Visit and like our Facebook page At https:// www.facebook.com/ Church of St Monica St Stephen of Hungary St Elizabeth of Hungary
TODAY S READINGS First Reading My word will achieve the end for which it was sent (Isaiah 55:10-11). Psalm The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest (Psalm 65). Second Reading We, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves awaiting the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:18-23). Gospel Some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit (Matthew 13:1-23 [1-9]). The English translation of the Psalm Responses from Lectionary for Mass 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved. READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: Ex 1:8-14, 22; Ps 124:1b-8; Mt 10:34 11:1 Tuesday: Ex 2:1-15a; Ps 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34; Mt 11:20-24 Wednesday: Ex 3:1-6, 9-12; Ps 103:1b-4, 6-7; Mt 11:25-27 Thursday: Ex 3:13-20; Ps 105:1, 5, 8-9, 24-27; Mt 11:28-30 Friday: Ex 11:10 12:14; Ps 116:12-13, 15, 16bc, 17-18; Mt 12:1-8 Saturday: Ex 12:37-42; Ps 136:1, 23-24, 10-15; Jn 20:1-2, 11-18 Sunday: Wis 12:13, 16-19; Ps 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16; Rom 8:26-27; Mt 13:24-43 [24-30] SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES Sunday: Tuesday: Thursday: Friday: Saturday: St. Camillus de Lellis St. Apollinaris St. Lawrence of Brindisi St. Mary Magdalene Remember your loved ones by dedicating, in their honor, the weekly Bread & Wine, or Sanctuary Light BANS OF MARRIAGE III. Richard Calle & Maria Sa SATURDAY July 15th Vigil 5:30 PM Carl Finkelstein SUNDAY July 16th Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 7:30 AM Dudley Anderson 9:00 AM Helen, John Flack and Family 10:30 AM John Borg 12 NOON Parishioners of St Monica, St Elizabeth of Hungary, St Stephen of Hungary 5:00 PM Thanksgiving to St Agata MONDAY July 17th Weekday 7:30 AM John Sciacca 12 NOON Adam Armetta TUESDAY July 18th Weekday 7:30 AM John A. Telesco 12 NOON Donna Marie Cutrone WEDNESDAY July 19th Weekday 7:30 AM Ellen Mulvey 12 NOON Johanna Stephens THURSDAY July 20th Weekday 7:30 AM Michael Crimmins 12 NOON Istvan Csiki FRIDAY July 21st Weekday 7:30 AM Robert LaForest 12 NOON Mary McHugh SATURDAY July 22nd St Mary Magdeline 12 NOON Joseph Flynn (9th Anniversary) PRAYERS FOR THE SICK Please remember in your prayers Rosemary Catalano, Sotero Matta, James Baker, Fr Peter Colapietro, Kevin McCarthy, Pasquale Ionta, Nilufer Joseph, Rita Mara, Bill Banks, Lorraine Paradiso AND ALL VICTIMS OF MILITARY ACTIVITY PRAYERS FOR THE DECEASED Jose Rafael Gutierrez, Molly Dricot, Mr & MrsRobert Laforest Please pray for our deceased parishioners and family members If you wish to add the names of your loved one to the prayer list, please notify the parish center: (212) 288-6250 or e-mail us at contact@stmonicanyc.org
SPECIAL DEVOTIONS Rosary After all weekday masses Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament Every Friday after the Noon Mass to 3 PM, with Benediction following the Divine Mercy Chaplet Devotions Miraculous Medal on Mondays after each Mass Divine Mercy The Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed each Friday afternoon at 3 PM Sacrament of Reconciliation: 5:00 PM on Saturdays Anytime by appointment BAPTISMS & MARRIAGES: Please call the rectory office for more information. COMMUNION FOR THE HOMEBOUND: If you know of anyone who cannot attend church because of illness or age, and would like to have communion brought to them, please contact the parish office, so that we can arrange for a Eucharistic Minister to bring communion to them. Catholic Homeschool Conference July 28 & 29, 2017 The IHM New York Homeschool Conference will be held at Ramapo College Student Center, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, in Mahwah, New Jersey, on Friday, July 28th (12:00pm 6:00pm) and on Saturday, July 29th (9:30am 3:30pm). This is the perfect event for those who are curious and want to discover more about Catholic homeschooling. Admission is free and pre-registration is not required. For more information, please visit www.ihmconference.org or email: info@ihmconference.org. FRASSATI SUMMER HOLY HOUR - Sunday, July 23 Frassati Fellowship Catholic Young Adults of NYC invites you to a Summer Holy Hour with praise and worship music and confessions available at St Vincent Ferrer Church (869 Lexington Ave, NY NY 10065) on Sunday, July 23. There will be Vespers at 5:30pm and the 6pm Mass will be celebrated by newly ordained Fr. John-Mary Johannssen, CFR. Holy Hour will follow from 7:00-8:00pm. More info at http://frassati.nyc/holy-hours-and-dinners/ or email:contact@frassati.nyc BUSINESS CORNER Staff Changes Last week the business column was Renew & Rebuild specific. For those that missed it, let me share again that we have exceeded $1,000,000 in pledges. Any additional pledges will be retained in full by the parish, and allocated to air conditioning the church. Thank you to all our families who have pledged and helped get us to this extraordinary level of pledges. I will share a full update in the next week or so. This week s column is to inform you of some staff changes we are making. Father Baker had a column last week that spoke to clergy and how he, as our Pastor, utilizes lay staff. Father and I over the last few weeks, taking into consideration the growing parish and areas we thought we could be more efficient, began to look at ways we could fine tune the lay staff. This past Monday, we had Gladys Tejada start working as our full-time receptionist. Gladys previously worked at St. Gregory the Great parish as their parish administrator for the last several years. Gladys will be here Monday-Thursday, from 9-5; she will handle the preparation of the weekly bulletin, the church management responsibilities and any parishioner requests via reception during that time. Please join me in welcoming Gladys to our parish community, we wish her the best of luck in this new chapter of her life. Judy Baron, who has already been on staff with us as a parttime receptionist and handling the server schedule, will continue in that roll, and will work a few extra hours each week. Judy and Gladys will basically cover reception for almost all our office hours. I am confident that those of you who need to contact our office with a request are in good hands. Maryann Tyrer and I are keeping our office hours but, we will not be assigned reception hours (as we had been previously). This allows us to focus more directly on our specific rolls as Pastoral Associate and Parish Manager. Michael Blecha, who has been our man of many hats, will now be our full time Sacristan. As many of you see, Michael does a wonderful job on the weekends aiding in our worship. Moving Michael into the role of Sacristan will benefit our clergy, servers and parishioners at mass and will allow for better focus on the behind the scenes needs that our church requires. As we continue to grow in this still newly merged community, we all, including Father and I, have had to adjust. Candidly, we recognized areas we could be better in the day to day operation of the parish. I truly believe these changes will do that. These changes will allow for us as a staff to be better at what all our jobs are, clergy or lay, regardless of title, and that is to be here to serve you, our parish community. As always, questions or comments of any kind, I can be reached in the parish office, or by email at mward@stmonicanyc.org Mike Ward Parish Manager
TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION Two centuries ago, Archbishop John Carroll worried that Americans would not appreciate the linguistic veil over our worship, and asked that the liturgy in the new United States be in English, not Latin. How did our liturgy come to be in Latin in the first place? In the first century, the dominant language in the regions where the church first flourished was Greek. Today in much of the world, almost everyone speaks at least a bit of English. Recently, the European Union even considered making English its official language, a curious proposal since only two English-speaking countries are members. Just as English is a unifying language today, it was hard to function in the ancient world without a smattering of Greek. Even the word Eucharist comes from the Greek for thanksgiving. For a long time, Greek was the language of worship, even in Rome. Slowly, society in the west shifted to a bias for Latin and against Greek. Latin first appeared in public prayer at the end of the second century, in the colonial outposts of North Africa. Soon, Latin became the language of culture, and so as fixed prayer forms were written, they were transmitted in Latin. From Rome and Africa, over the next four centuries, the new liturgical language of Latin spread north to Gaul and Britain. Rev. James Field, Copyright J. S. Paluch Co. Invitations, News, Thoughts and Prayers Got questions? Come to Inquiry! Non-Catholics who might be considering becoming Catholic are welcome! Inactive Catholics who might be considering returning to the Church are welcome! Active Catholics who have questions about what we believe or why we do what we do are welcome! Anyone with questions about Catholicism is welcome! July 16th,2017 Ongoing: Adult Faith Formation Fr. Jim Dugan s Scripture Series runs on Wednesday evenings, July 19-Aug. 16, 7-8:30pm. Come and hear this engaging speaker. This year, the series will be held in the air conditioned Fr. Angelo Room in our Parish Center! Families The web site www.masstimes.org can help you to find Catholic churches and Mass schedules when you are traveling, so you won t have to miss Mass during the summer! Inquiry (for those considering becoming Catholic, and for Catholics who have questions about being Catholic!) - 7pm, Parish Center, 2 nd and 4 th Thursday of each month, year-round you may join us any time! Registration is now open for the 2017-2018 year! Register or renew your registration for K-8 Religious Education, Sacramental Preparation, and Youth Ministry (post-confirmation youth) For new registrations, a copy of each child s baptismal certificate is required See Maryann Tyrer or Mike Ward at the parish center during office hours to complete forms and make your payment. Fees are not increasing from last year. Check this off of your to do list before your family goes on vacation! Volunteers needed! While most of our catechists and volunteers are returning this year, our programs are growing. We are in need of middle school catechists, youth ministry team members, substitutes, assistant catechists, and greeters for the 2017-2018 year. If you can volunteer a few hours of your time, all training and materials are provided. See Maryann Tyrer in the parish office to discuss how your gifts and talents can meet our needs! Inquiry meets on the second floor of the Parish Center, 7-8:30pm, on the 2 nd and 4 th Thursday of each month. Light refreshments are provided. The open house format begins and ends with prayer and reflection, but discussion is determined by the questions that arise from the group. Join us as often as you would like! Spots are still available in our 2017-2018 Early Bird s program for Two Year Olds! Find out more at our website and apply online! www.saintstephenschool.org or email admissions@saintstephenschool.org for more information
Making All Things New (not really) For many Catholics in the Archdiocese, the diocesan reorganization plan Making All Things New is history. Parishes were closed, merged, and in some cases the empty properties are being sold or repurposed. Just three weeks ago a number of churches which had been left open as chapels pending review were closed. Some of you will remember that on the last weekend in June I attended the final mass celebrated at St. Gregory the Great on West 90 th St, where I was assigned from 2000-2003. A sad business, all in all. Many are glad it is over.... except for the fact that it is not. For the properties to be repurposed or sold, they must be reduced to secular use that is they must be officially designated as secular pieces of property, rather than churches. The Cardinal solicited from every parish a letter requesting this, and then in June The Presbyteral Council (an assembly of priests who advises the Cardinal much in the way a parish council advises a pastor) voted to accept these requests and to petition Rome to allow the reduction of the parishes to secular use. Upon submission of the Archdiocese s petition, groups fighting the closures have recourse to Rome to stop this process. A group of parishioners of St. Elizabeth of Hungary have informed the Archdiocese they will petition to stop this process. The Archdiocese will then have to argue why the process should continue. I will keep all of you informed as I hear of further developments... Though I seem to hear about things from my parishioners before I do the Archdiocese! The Parish Council On June 27 th the council celebrated its final meeting with a Barbeque at the Rectory. It was a wonderful time where a pot luck meal saw everyone eat more than enough and enjoy a celebration of two years of work, much of which involved the merging of three parishes and a school into one. It has been a lot of work. Over the last several months however, the council realized that that phase of an Ad Hoc Council was ending and a new more flexible structure was needed. New Bylaws were written, and they were voted on at that meeting. Starting in the Fall, the council will be smaller, and more focused on its goal to understand the needs of the parishioners, and to develop strategies for building up the ministry of the parish. One part of this refocusing was the focus groups we held in May. Out of them came a desire for a greater emphasis on hospitality. At the meeting, we introduced two new members, Patricia Warner and Eileen McCarthy, who will coordinate this new ministry. But we NEED people to be part of it, as greeters at the various Sunday masses. Thus we need you. Father Baker From Your Pastor July 16th, 2017