HOLY INNOCENTS PARISH “WE GATHER TO PRAISE, TO BLESS AND TO PROCLAIM.”

431 BEDFORD ROAD, PLEASANTVILLE, NY DECEMBER 23, 2018

PARISH STAFF Fr. Hugh L. Burns, OP, Pastor

Fr. Frank Sutman, OP, Parochial Vicar Sr. Donna Kelly, CND, Pastoral Associate, Fr. Gregory Doherty, OP (In Residence)

Maria Lamorgese 769-3297, x1 Director of Religious Education Joe DeSanctis 514-8731 Music Director Loretta Hotter 769-0025 Sacristan Eileen Bruehl 769-0025 x11 Parish Coordinator Thomas Conaty 769-0025 x30 Youth Minister Barbara Mackin 769-0025 x22 Business Manager

Nativity—El Greco

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12/22—Evening Vigil 5:15 Michaelangelo & Filomena Salottolo

12/23—FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT 7:30 Our Parishioners 9:00 Madeline Garvey 10:00 (OLP) Salvatore Talio 11:00 The Brown & Bradley Family 5:15 Anneliese Parziale 12/24—Monday, Late Advent Weekday 4:00 Special Intentions 6:00 Special Intentions 10:00 Special Intentions

12/25—Tuesday, The Nativity of the Lord 7:30 Special Intentions 9:00 Special Intentions 10:00 (OLP) Special Intentions 11:00 Special Intentions 7:00pm Blue Mass

12/26—Wednesday, Saint Stephen 7:00 Deceased of the Zacarolli & Timpone Families & All Forgotten Souls

12/27—Thursday, Saint John, Apostle & Evangelist 7:00 Martha Napolitano

12/28—Friday, The Holy Innocents, Martyrs 7:00 Fr. Dan Davies, OP

12/29—Saturday, 5th Day with the Octave of the Nativity 8:30 Rose Sebold

12/29—Evening Vigil 5:15 Elizabeth Flanagan (Anniversary)

12/30—THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY, JOSEPH 7:30 Our Parishioners 9:00 The Leahy & Sanborn Families 10:00 (OLP) James Coyle 11:00 Kyle Empey 5:15 Albert Sorrentino & William Bonnell

The Sanctuary Lamp at Holy Innocents Church burns

In Memory of David & Jane Murden

2018 FINANCE CORNER

Regular Maintenance Dec. 2 $ 11,004.00 Dec. 9 $ 8,438.36 Immaculate Conception $ 1,343.00 Retired Religious $ 2,217.00

Please pray for the safety of our men and women in the military, especially those

who are serving overseas.

Jimmy Fleming, Joyce Scholz, Deborah Migliorini, Antonio

Soto, Betty Burns, Mary Renna, Barbara Walters, Juan Portillo, Jacques Padawer, Kathy FioRito, Bonnie Proudian, Jeanne Cibirka, Lucia Carlucci, Jennifer Schneider, Elsie Vernon, Richard and Maryann Colucci, Maria Provenzano, Gabrielle Sanchez, Olivia Bendus, Linda Iorizzo, Judy Chriss, Jane Chitty, Jean Balzone, Bernadette Harris, Angela Lynch, Beth Frankoviac, Robert Sarro, Irene Ramirez, Nate Smith, Matthew Ryan Taylor, Nicholas Torres, Cathy Policastro, Mary Bachmann, Stephen Mercatili, Ray Aldes, Cissy Patane, Arthur Woods, Hernan Rebagliati, Bridget Tidd, Helen Burton, Sean Murphy, Kathleen Shortall, Baby George Driscoll, Michael Garris, Kevin Keane, Barbara Brady, Gavin Brady, Tara Morstatt, Emma Murphy, Gina Linss, Jackie Mastrolillo, Brendan Lennon, Claudia Brooks, Lil DeCarlo, Gidget Jimenez, Nicholas Kochek, Brian Egitto, Walter Morris, Anna Hutchinson, Kathy McCann, Mary Sheehan, Joseph DeSanctis (father of Joe DeSanctis), Bobby Murphy, Kevin Lange, Rebecca Conroy, Marie Silviotti, Chris Grammas, Timothy Stanton, Hailee Kalle, Christine Brown, Matthew Mancuso, Jim O’Connell, Herb Holzer, Suzanne Bartlett

DONATE ONLINE Do you like the idea of no longer fumbling with church envelopes... WeShare provides parishioners a simple, secure and convenient way to support their church by transferring donations directly from their checking, savings, or credit card accounts. Parishioners can opt to change amounts, switch between debit dates, or even skip a month at any time. Simply, go to: HIparish.org

1. Click on the Online Giving link (located on the lower right hand side of page)

2. Select the collection you wish to donate to and click to make a donation.

3. Enter your payment information You can return at any time to edit your donation or view your financial records.

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Pastor’s Poetry Post-Its

THE WEEK AHEAD IN THE PARISH

The Parish Office will be closed December 24th through December 26th.

“Moonless Darkness Stands Between”

Moonless darkness stands between.

Past, the Past, no more be seen!

But the Bethlehem-star may lead me

To the sign of Him Who freed me

From the self that I have been.

Make me pure, Lord: Thou art holy;

Make me meek, Lord: Thou wert lowly;

Now beginning, and alway:

Now begin, on Christmas

Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. (1844-1889)

PRAY THE ROSARY Please join the Rosary Altar Society of Holy Innocents parish as we pray the Rosary on Sunday, January 6th,

at 9:30am at Our Lady of Pompeii Chapel. All are welcome!

“THANK YOU” We wish to thank all those who have contributed so generously to our recent requests for donations to those in need. Thank you to those who brought in gift cards; food for the Food Pantry as well as cash donations to purchase fresh food for the holidays., gifts for the Giving Tree for the children of the Highbridge Community in the Bronx, gifts for the women and children of the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Also to those groups who donated food baskets to us for distribution. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

Sunday, January 20th, 7:30pm

The Holy Innocents Lecture Series presents:

“The Promised Land: Race, Religion and Hatred in America”

Guest Speaker: Dr. Mehnaz Alfridi, Ph.D

Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Holocaust, Genocide, and

Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan College

NEW YEAR’S DAY SOLEMNITY OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD

(Holy Day of Obligation)

Holy Innocents—December 31st

5:15pm Vigil Mass

Holy Innocents— January 1

st

7:30am, 9:00am & 11:00am (No 5:15pm Mass)

Our Lady of Pompeii 10:00am

Pastor’s Post-Its The Fourth Week of Advent slips away after little

more than a day. The last candle on our wreath hardly gets a chance to burn and suddenly we’re at Christmas Eve. Mary is our guide in Advent’s waning days to take us to the celebration of her Son’s birth. Christmas is best seen through Mary’s eyes. For those who struggle with the Christmas holidays, the Blessed Mother is a perfect guide reminding us that the First Noel was far from ideal and picturesque: a birth in a barn—cold, filthy and lonely. Only love caused the Creator of all to enter our world in such a hidden and impoverished way. The Savior in a manger is born again inside us. Listen to your heart and you’ll hear the angels sing. I wish all of our parishioners a very Merry and more importantly a Blessed Christmas and a healthy and faith-filled New Year.

Father Hugh, O.P.

SUNDAY COFFEE

Thank you to all the volunteers who hosted the coffee after the Sunday 9am and 11am coffee this past year. The 2019 Sign Up Board is available in the Social Hall. Please consider hosting a Sunday coffee. You may choose a 9am or 11am time to host.

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Holy Innocents Youth Ministry is directed by Youth Minister, Tom Conaty. Youth Ministry consists of our Youth Group and the CYO Basketball program. To join Youth Group, teens should just show up at any meeting and sign in with the youth leaders. ALL 9th-12th graders are welcome. The YG’s main focus is on service and social justice. We meet most Sundays @ 6:15pm. We have Youth Masses the first Sunday of each month (Starting in Oct). The CYO Basketball Program consists of K-2 Clinics as well as teams from 3rd-12th grades. When we have enough adult volunteers we will also run a CYO track and field program. If you have any questions please email: Tomconaty@hiparish.org

YOUTH GROUP

●Dec. 25th—Merry Christmas

CYO BASKETBALL

K-2 Clinic Dates: Jan. 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th

K-2 Clinic Times:

VIP: 11am to Noon Coordinator: Colleen Wagner

Kindergarten: 12:10pm to 1:10

Coordinator: Brian McCarthy

1st Grade: 1:20pm to 2:20pm Coordinator: Bill Cahill

2nd Grade: 2:30pm to 3:30pm

Coordinators: Brian McCarthy & Greg Dolan

The 5th grade Boys GOLD team, as part of their community service, took part in a letter writing campaign for an organization called 100,000 Thank Yous. They wrote notes of gratitude & promise of prayers to our deployed military that they will receive this holiday season.

Team Members Riley, Brian, Declan, Nate, Trey, Dylan, Martin, Mason,

Hayden, Nolan & Jack G.

“The Christmas Crèche”

Boys and girls don’t forget that the most beautiful of all the Christmas decorations in our homes, in our Religious Ed program, and in our church is the Christmas Creche. Can we remember which of our beloved saints created the first crèche? Just ask one of our 8

th graders and they

will tell you as they are studying the lives of the saints.

Some people refer to the Crèche as the manager or the nativity. Whatever we call it we know it represents the night when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came in to the world. God loved us so much that he came to us in human form to live amongst us. Let us welcome him into our hearts and share him with others.

I wish you all a very blessed and Merry Christmas. I thank you for your acceptance, love and support

throughout the year.

Maria Lamorgese Ph 914-769-3297 Ext. 1 mlamorgese@hiparish.org

Looking Ahead: No Classes beginning December 24 through January 5th. Classes will resume on

January 7, 2019.

Happy 4th Sunday of Advent ! We light the last candle on

our Advent wreath and acknowledge that our preparation for Christmas is almost finished. The fourth candle symbolizes Peace, and reminds us of the message of the angels, “Peace on Earth, Good will toward men.” The Music Ministry of Holy Innocents, extends our warmest wishes for a very Merry Christmas! We look forward to your participation in the beautiful songs of the Christmas season that will be used to fill our parish liturgies with the joy of this special time of year. Each of these special, musical treasures has a unique way of portraying the poignant details of the birth of our Savior. We welcome and encourage you to join in singing them with the love and spirit that Christmas inspires in all of us!!

We thank you for your support all year, and wish you a very Merry Christmas!

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2018

CHRISTMAS MASS SCHEDULE

CHRISTMAS EVE MASSES—Monday, December 24th

Holy Innocents

4pm, 6pm & 10:00pm

CHRISTMAS DAY MASSES—Tuesday, December 25th

Holy Innocents: 7:30am; 9:00am; & 11:00am

(No 5:15pm Mass)

Our Lady of Pompeii Chapel: 10:00am

NEW YEAR’S EVE – Monday, December 31st

Holy Innocents: 5:15pm

NEW YEAR’S DAY – Tuesday, January 1st

Holy Innocents: 7:30, 9:00am & 11:00am

(No 5:15pm Mass)

Our Lady of Pompeii Chapel: 10:00am

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A BLUE CHRISTMAS MASS

December 25th at 7:00pm

A Quiet Eucharist for Those Who Find This

Season Very Difficult

For some, memories of past experiences, present pain, and recent loss can become just overwhelming during this season. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day can churn up so many things that perhaps we simply need some space, some stillness, and some calm to steady ourselves to move forward to a new year. Or, maybe we’re just not up to more hymns, more singing, more crowds, more noise, and more giddy “ho-ho-ho’s. So, we invite all of us who carry heavy burdens of loss and loneliness, or simply need a tranquil pause to come and join for the Eucharist of the Christ child on one of the longest nights of the year. We shall join at 7:00pm for about forty-five minutes of a very still celebration of the Eucharist accompanied by meditative music. We trust that each person will find hope and comfort in knowing that none of us is every really alone.

VOLUNTEERS TO THE MINISTRIES OF THE MASS

Have you ever considered serving in one of the ministries of the Mass? Have you received a calling to assist in the liturgy and sacrament of the Mass? If you have, but are unable, or reluctant, to step forward, here is your opportunity to serve. We are seeking additional ministers who wish to volunteer to be fully trained to serve in one of these ministries:

Lector, Eucharistic Minister, Usher

Scheduling for Masses is always set to meet your wishes/needs, typically for the Mass you regularly attend. Convenient training dates (for one session) will be available to meet most busy schedules.

If you are interested, please contact the Parish Office at 769-0025.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT December 23, 2018

First Reading: Micah 5, 1-4a Micah speaks to the ruler who will come from Bethlehem. He discusses how the people of Israel will be saved from corruption and live in peace.

Second Reading: Hebrews 10, 5-10 Paul describes to the Hebrews how Jesus came into the world and offered to do God’s will. We were saved through his sacrifice, the only offering sufficient for the sins of the world.

Gospel: Luke 1, 39-45 Mary paid a visit to Elizabeth, whose baby stirred in her womb upon hearing Mary’s greeting. Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Elizabeth was deeply overjoyed that the words God has spoken to Mary had now been fulfilled.

FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS December 28, 2018

Celebrated on December 28

th, Matthew 2: 1-18 tells this

story: Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the East came asking the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They found Jesus, offered him their gifts and, warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus escaped to Egypt. Herod became furious and “ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” The horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah,/sobbing and loud lamentation;/Rachel weeping for her children…” (Matthew 2:18).

BE-INFORMED We hope you are enjoying the free parish subscription to www.formed.org which gives you access to quality Catholic on line programs, movies, audios, and books. Simply register with parish code CKV8KK and enjoy. Today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Study: Advent, session 4: The Gift. Tuesday is The Solemnity of the Na-tivity of the Lord. Study: Symbolon, Knowing the Faith, session 4: The Story of Salvation, or watch: The Story of the Nativity. You can also listen to: The True Meaning of Christmas, God Made Man, The Story of Christmas, The King is Born or The History of Salvation