Church of Saint Monica Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Saint Stephen of Hungary 413 East 79 th St., New York, NY 10075 Church Offices and Parish Center: 406 East 80 th St., New York, NY 10075 (212) 288-6250 Fax: (212) 570-1562 The Epiphany of the Lord Sunday, January 7th, 2018 Office Hours Our Offices are open: Mo. 9am 5pm Tu.-Th. 9am 7pm Fri. Closed Sat. 10am -2pm Sun. Closed Our offices close for lunch: 1pm 2pm daily Parish Staff Pastor Rev. Donald C. Baker frdcab@stmonicanyc.org Associates: Rev. Msgr. Leslie J Ivers msgrlivers@stmonicanyc,org Rev. Joslin K. Jose frjoslin@stmonicanyc.org Pastoral Associate: Ms. Maryann Tyrer mtyrer@stmonicanyc.org Parish Manager: Mr. Michael Ward mward@stmonicanyc.org Interim Music Director: Ms. Lora Cohan lcohan@stmonicanyc.org Cantor: Mr. Joseph Neal Wedding Coordinator: Ms. Debbi Burdett DBweddingsnyc@gmail.com Mass Schedule Saturday: 12:00pm Saturday Vigil: 5:30pm Sunday: 7:30am 9:00am 10:30am 12:00pm 5:00pm Monday Friday: 7:30 & 12:00pm Confessions: Saturday 5:00 5:30pm and by appointment Our church is open: 7am 4pm daily for private prayer St. Stephen of Hungary School Pre-K through 8 th Grade Catholic Parochial School 408 East 82 nd St., New York, NY 10028 (212) 288-1989 Fax: (212) 517 5788 Ms. Caroline Walker www.saintstephenschool.org Principal: Interested in admissions to our parish school? admissions@saintstephenschool.org
TODAY S READINGS First Reading -- You shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow (Isaiah 60:1-6). Psalm -- Lord, every nation on earth will adore you (Psalm 72). Second Reading -- The Gentiles are copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6). Gospel -- The magi were overjoyed at seeing the star (Matthew 2:1-12). The English translation of the Psalm Responses from Lectionary for Mass (c) 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: Is 42:1-4, 6-7 or Is 55:1-11 or Acts 10:34-38 or 1 Jn 5:1-9; Ps 29:1-4, 3, 9-10 or Is 12:2-3, 4bcd- 6; Mk 1:7-11 Tuesday: 1 Sm 1:9-20 or 1 Sm 1:1-8 and 1 Sm 1:9-20;1 Sm 2:1, 4-8abcd; Mk 1:21-28 or Mk 1:14-20 and Mk 1:21-28 Wednesday: 1 Sm 3:1-10, 19-20; Ps 40:2, 5, 7-10; Mk 1:29-39 Thursday: 1 Sm 4:1-11; Ps 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25; Mk 1:40-45 Friday: 1 Sm 8:4-7, 10-22a; Ps 89:16-19; Mk 2:1-12 Saturday: 1 Sm 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1a; Ps 21:2-7; Mk 2:13-17 Sunday: 1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19; Ps 40:2, 4, 7-10; 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20; Jn 1:35-42 SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES Sunday: Monday: Tuesday: Saturday: The Epiphany of the Lord; National Migration Week; Julian Calendar Christmas The Baptism of the Lord First Week in Ordinary Time begins St. Hilary; Blessed Virgin Mary Bread & Wine This Week s Bread & Wine In Memory of Pedro Ant. Litrenta, Sr. Offered by Maria Litrenta SATURDAY January 6th Vigil 5:30 PM Michael White SUNDAY January 7th The Epiphany of the Lord 7:30 AM Adam Armetta 9:00 AM Charlie Hili 10:30 AM Lucy Hili 12 NOON Parishioners of St Monica, St Elizabeth of Hungary, St Stephen of Hungary 5:00 PM John Zollner MONDAY 7:30AM 12NOON TUESDAY 9:00AM 12NOON January 8th The Baptism of the Lord Dee Harnett Walter & Mary Ferber January 9th Wekkday Mrs. Lucariello Mary Marrero WEDNESDAY January 10th Weekday 7:30 AM Betty Natoly 12 NOON Helen Pavalis THURSDAY January 11th Weekday 7:30AM Joseph B. William, Sr. 12NOON Anne Collins (Living) FRIDAY January 12th Weekday 7:30AM Marilyn Gratentein 12NOON Charlie Grahan SATURDAY January 13th Weekday 12 NOON Maria Encarnacion Litrenta PRAYERS FOR THE SICK Please remember in your prayers Fr. Peter Colapietro, Fr. Jim Gavin, Rosemary Catalano, James Baker, Kathleen Reddington,, Roger & Franklin White, John Healey, John Shegina, Tobias Bustamante, Victor Worizid, James Leung, Raymond Feeley, Broley Gus, Frank Krescanko, Luis Gonzalez AND ALL VICTIMS OF MILITARY ACTIVITY PRAYERS FOR THE DECEASED Bridget Murray, Donald Fitzgerald, Patricia McGuire-Randt, Larry Eivens, John Gambino, Donald Fitzgerald & Gerhard Goede, Sotero Matta & Sebastian Fernandez Begne Please pray for our deceased parishioners and family members If you wish to add the name of a loved one to the prayer list, please notify the parish center: (212) 288-6250
Welcome back! K-8 Religious Education, Adult Faith Formation, and RCIA all resume sessions today! Save the Date! Our next Family Faith Formation event will be on Sunday, February 11, 9-11:30am in the Parish Center! This will take the place of K-8 Religious Education and Adult Faith Formation on that day. This Mardi Gras themed event will help all of our families get ready for Lent! All adults are welcome in the Parish Center, 10:45-11:15am on Sunday mornings, to discuss the Scriptures over a cup of coffee or tea, led by one of our clergy or our pastoral associate. This Adult Faith Formation program is open to any adults drop in any Sunday and check it out! Considering becoming Catholic? Catholic adult but not yet confirmed? Contact Maryann to continue your faith journey with our Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults or Adult Confirmation processes. You can join at any time of the year! It s still Christmas! While many have already packed away decorations, and we ve returned to work and school, the Church continues to celebrate the Christmas Season until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (January 8 th, this year). Today we celebrate Epiphany. The word means manifestation, and we remember how Jesus birth was manifested, made known, far beyond the borders of his town or even nation. The Magi who come to honor Jesus with their symbolic gifts are pagans and foreigners, and yet they recognize in Jesus birth something that would change history forever. Jesus comes for, and includes, all nations, all peoples. We Christians, following Jesus, are called to do the same. How can we reach beyond our borders, our comfort zones, and include and welcome those we call others? How can we learn from, and be enriched by, other cultures, faiths, traditions? Could this be a part of our New Year s resolutions?
Discover the Trail of Martin Luther The Reformation in Germany Hosted by Father Donald C. Baker September 12 22, 2018 11 days 14 meals included Highlights... Mainz Worms Gutenberg Museum Erfurt Wartburg Castle Lutherhaus Eisleben Dresden Leipzig St. Thomas Church Wittenberg St. Mary s Church Berlin For information contact Maryann Tyrer Pastoral Associate St. Monica St. Elizabeth of Hungary St. Stephen of Hungary mtyrer@stmonicanyc.org 212-288-6250 Annual Epiphany Home Blessing Above the main door of your home, write (traditionally in chalk) the following: 20 + C + M + B + 18 C M B stands for Christus Mansionem Benedicat (May Christ bless this house) and Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar (the traditional names of the Three Magi.) Prayer: Lord God of heaven and earth, you revealed your only begotten Son to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who live here and all who visit. May we be blessed with health, kindness of heart, gentleness, and the keeping of your law. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our love for each other may go out to all. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
SPECIAL DEVOTIONS 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. TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION Where on earth would you go to honor the magi? Iran or Saudi Arabia, Tarshish or the Isles come to mind, but Cologne, Germany would be a good choice. There the Shrine of the Three Kings has been the centerpiece of the city's cathedral since the fourth century. Today it is the largest reliquary in the world: a gilded and ornamented triple casket gleaming high above the altar. In the fourth century, the supposed relics of the wise men were taken from Constantinople to Milan, where they remained until the German Emperor with the unlikely name Frederick Barbarossa (Red Beard) gave them to the Archbishop of Cologne. Ever since, pilgrims have streamed into the city to honor the magi, the first of all pilgrims, and thus the heavenly patrons of all who have some holy wanderlust. This largest Gothic cathedral in Europe today was begun in the mid-1200s to house the relics. In medieval times, the relics in a city's possession were often the key to a sound international economy. The reliquary was last opened in 1864, and the remains of three men were indeed discovered. The cathedral is well worth a visit, with enormous twin spires forming the largest façade of any church in the world (it is the model for St. Patrick's in New York). Construction began in 1248 and ended in 1880, a six-hundred-year project. Today, it is a World Heritage Site, described by the U.N. as "an exceptional work of human creative genius." This great treasure of our tradition suffered fourteen direct bomb hits in World War II but did not collapse. It survived while the city burned around it, preserved, the townspeople say, by three heavenly patrons. -Rev. James Field, Copyright (c) J. S. Paluch Co.
BUSINESS CORNER Holiday Benefit & Air Conditioning On Saturday December 16 th we held a Holiday Benefit. Forty of our fellow parishioners and neighbors bought tickets to a cocktail party that included music and a silent auction. The evening was a lot of fun, our music ministry provided entertainment and we shared in food and drink together. In addition to the enjoyable evening, the event was also held as a fundraiser for air conditioning, and I am very happy to report we made a net profit of $14,800 that night. Thank you to the very generous families that donated such wonderful items to our silent auction. Also, the members of our music ministry that donated their talents. I also want to thank Karen Olah for chairing the event. For those of you that do not know Karen, hopefully you will get a chance to know her over the next year. Karen is working with the parish office to put on a few of these social gatherings as we continue to work toward our goal of air conditioning the church. Her events are a truly a lot of fun, and a great way to meet your fellow parishioners and neighbors. Please keep an eye out for information on some upcoming events. For a few weeks now, we have had a poster in the back of the church. As it states, and as many of you have heard Father Baker say from the pulpit, a very generous (and anonymous) donor has offered to match the church in fundraising up to $400,000 to help fund air conditioning the church. For us to receive the $400,000, we need to raise $400,000- this $800,000 plus the monies from Renew & Rebuild that are for air conditioning, will fund the costs of the project. We will be working on various means to achieve the parish side of the goal, which includes seeking funding from outside of parishes sources via potential grants- more information to come on this. The in-pew is another. Should you like to make a contribution, where the money donated would be restricted to only be used toward air conditioning, please use the envelopes in the back of the church, or contact me at the parish office. And again, keep an eye out for some events we will put together as well. We recognize we are just coming off Renew & Rebuild, and that campaign plus the regular offertory and other contributions, can make it feel a lot of times that we are always asking for money. This is why we try to think outside the box where we can, like seeking grants for this air conditioning project. This is also why we do projects like the Chapel in the Parish Center, without soliciting specifically for funding for the project. But, we all have been presented with a generous gift from a fellow parishioner, whose generosity is making air conditioning something that can happen in a timeline that wasn t imaginable before. We have to respect this gift and make every effort we can to achieve this goal together; we hope you will consider helping us. To take a step back to the poster, we will make monthly updates on the actual poster starting in February. I am happy to report via this article, we currently have $24,321 restricted toward air conditioning since the poster went up on Saturday 12/16. Thank you for all that you do to better this parish and school community. I love working here. I love seeing how this place continues to mold and grow, and none of that is possible without each of you. I hope all of you find happiness and success in this new year, and I hope together we can share in the same here. As always, any questions on these, or other topics, please feel free to contact me as needed. Mike Ward Parish Manager
From Your Pastor January 7th, 2018 Time Travel I don t know about you, but during the Holiday Season, time seems to contract one moment we are eating the last of our Halloween candy, and the next we are taking down our Christmas trees. One aspect of that weird time dilation is our Sunday bulletin. Because of days off and printing schedules, we have to send our bulletins to the publishers in advance Sometimes much in advance. As I write this, I am spending a couple of days in North Carolina following Christmas with my brother Dan, who turns 70 on the 27 th. Most of you won t have missed me as I will be home on the 30 th for Sunday masses. But this is the first time since Christmas that I have written a column, and so the first time I get to put into writing what I will say this weekend Thank You to all the people who decorated and sang, rehearsed, played and served (and celebrated and preached thank you Msgr. and Fr. Joslin) during the crazy 4 th Sunday of Advent/Christmas weekend. It was a wonderful celebration midnight mass was particularly beautiful and Msgr. s homily at the family mass was particularly well received. We are blessed to have such a wonderful parish community and I feel particularly blessed to serve you as its pastor. And on behalf of all the parish priests, I thank everyone for their Christmas gifts. You are all so generous to us. Other Travels Many years ago, John Cardinal O Connor saw how the declining number of priests meant more work for priests during the Christmas holidays, and established the tradition of a week off between Christmas and Easter for priests of the Archdiocese. During the next couple of months we will take advantage of that custom. Fr. Joslin has been gone this past week. Msgr. Ivers will be gone later this month. And I will take my week at the end of February. We also get a week of continuing education, and Msgr. Ivers and I will be using part of that from the 7-12 th. Msgr. and I are part of a year-long preaching program involving a group of priests from all over the Archdiocese. (You occasionally have seen us recording each other at mass. Those recordings are part of the program.) There is a winter retreat for this program, and takes place in... Tampa, FL. Yes, I know, tough life. Still it will be work and not play, as our preaching is evaluated and critiqued. And yes, I know you feel so sorry for us (not). Most people will not notice our comings and goings - at least at first. But is has been a challenge to schedule them. Back in the 1980s when Cardinal O Connor established this custom, there were well over 1,000 active diocesan priests in the Archdiocese of New York. Now there are less than 400. It is increasingly difficult to find replacement priests for guys who want to get away. So these next few months will be something of an experiment in creative scheduling for the time when we have even fewer priests. Welcome, John Zupan! This weekend we welcome our new Music Director, Mr. John Zupan. Those who have been reading these columns over the past few months, know how the search committee settled on John after interviewing many candidates. Welcome, John! We look forward to many years of working with you. Fr. Donald Baker
COVER SHEET CHURCH NAME AND ADDRESS 511510: Church of St. Monica/ St Elizabeth of Hungary / St Stephen of Hungary 406 East 80 th Street, NYC., NY 10075 PHONE: 212 288-6250 CONTACT PERSON: Office SOFTWARE: Windows XP Professional Microsoft Word 2010 Adobe Acrobat X Microsoft Publisher PRINTER: Adobe PDF NUMBER OF PAGES: Cover + 6 content pages + this page = 8 (8-S-JL) SUNDAY DATE OF PUBLICATION: January 7th, 2018 TRANSMISSION TIME: SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: Please use this copy for print