SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM: Infant baptisms are celebrated on Saturdays at Noon and Sundays at 11:30AM. Parents are asked to attend a one-evening presentation on Baptism prior to the celebration. Please phone the Parish Office to register for the class and Baptism. SPONSOR CERTIFICATES for sacramental sponsors can be issued only to registered & active members of the parish. Please call the office.SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY: Please call the Parish Office at least 12 months prior to the date of the intended wedding. Church date and arrangements should precede all other wedding plans. Pre-Cana conferences are mandatory and are available several times a year. SACRAMENT OF THE SICK: Call the Parish Office to notify us about admission to a hospital or extended confinement to one’s home.COMMUNION TO SICK AND SHUT-INS: Call the Parish Office if someone is unable to attend Mass. Communion is taken to the sick and homebound on First Fridays and at other arranged times.BABYSITTERS are on duty at 10:30am Mass in church basement.

BULLETIN DEADLINE Due by MONDAY @ noon.

RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults): Adults interested in learning more about the faith or becoming Catholic may join this on-going program of formation and instruction. Classes now meeting on Thursday evenings in the School Library from 6:30PM-7:30PM. Please call the Parish Office to register. ALTAR FLOWERS: Flowers may be placed in the sanctuary for special occasions or in memory of a loved one. Call Deborah Breon at 717-986-1959 for details. SCRIP: This is a successful program earning Seven Sorrows rebate money on all your gift card purchases. Each card you buy is purchased at face value. The rebates we receive are placed into a scholarship fund to help offset tuition and fees. Cards are available after Masses (excluding 6:00PM). Inventory also available in the Rectory (Mondays 8:30-9:30AM & 3:00-4:00PM; Tuesdays & Wednesdays 8:30-4:00PM; Thursdays 1-4:00PM and Fridays (excluding summer) 8:30-4:00PM). For more information, contact Lisa Fortunato (lfortunato@ssbvm.org).PRAYER CHAIN: Need prayers? Reach out to our Prayer Chain coordinator, Donna Jennings at 717-566-3184 or via email at djennings2095@comcast.net.

Zoe Martin—zmartin@ssbvm.orgKristin Stetler-kstetler@ssbvm.org

Carole Larry—clarry@ssbvm.org

Evangel D.—ldimarco@ssbvm.org

Ray Kerwin 717-944-5371 x208

Mrs. Rebecca Harvey, PrincipalSchool Phone 717-944-5371School Fax 717-944-5419

Bishop McDevitt 717-236-7973

The word “love” appears 57 in the Gospel of John . More often than all the other three gospels combined.

The Virgin comes from Nazareth of Galilee (Luke. 1:26).

FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK

THE GIFT OF INNER PEACE

Let us dive in the Word of God to prepare our hearts

for the big feast of the Nativity of our Lord. This

Lectio Divina can be prayed alone or with your family

and friends.

Read slowly Luke 2:1-20 and Matthew 2:1-12,

Reflect on the different characters and answer:

1.What shows Mary’s obedience and trust in God?

2.Why was Christ the King born in a stable instead of

a palace?

3. Why was Jesus laid in a manger in Bethlehem, a

town meaning the House of Bread.

4. To whom did the angel announce the birth of the

Savior? To the priests, the magi or the powerful and

VIPs of society?

5.What were the Shepherds doing when the angel

appeared to them? Did they wait for day light or for

the end of their shift to head to Bethlehem?

6. Compare the Shepherds and the magi’s attitude

with that of Herod and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

7. How would you react in if you were one of the

shepherds or magi?

King of the universe, out of love for me, you chose to

take flesh, be visible and accessible through the mystery

of Your incarnation. You come, not for the wise and the

healthy, but for the poor in spirit, the lowly and the sick.

Bread of life, Jesus Christ, laid in a manger, you come to

ransom and feed me through the sacrifice of your holy

body and blood.

Lord, my heart is sometimes like an inn, crowded with

worldly distractions, worries, fears, work/family

obligations…Holy Spirit, set me free from all my fears

and worldly cares; tidy my cluttered heart, teach me to

trust like Mary, to live my life determined, with one

destination in mind, like the zealous magi, walking on a

journey that leads to You. Holy Spirit, teach me to pray,

to humbly kneel, adore and glorify, with all my heart

and soul, the incarnate God. Blessed Mother, from your

hands, I long to receive Jesus my Savior, on Christmas

day. May He dwell in me and I in Him, forever. Amen. MARANATHA, COME LORD JESUS CHRIST

GUIDED PRAYER

The fourth candle lit today is the candle of peace.

Christ, our Lord tells us : “Peace I leave with you; my

peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give it to

you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be

afraid.” Jn14:27. It’s not a worldly, exterior,

circumstance-dependent peace that Jesus is talking

about. He wants to give us interior or inner peace.

This peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, a gift from

Christ. Alas, we cannot receive nor experience this

gift unless we grow in trust, unless we are set free

from all fear, but how? “Do not be anxious about

anything, but in every situation, by prayer and

petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to

God. And the peace of God, which transcends all

understanding, will guard your hearts and your

minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:6-7

Inner peace is fueled by hope (trust in God) and

agape love, just like joy is. When we choose to

love, hope and trust in the Lord, with the help of

the Holy Spirit, we experience, as a result, inner

peace and supernatural joy.

The more we grow in trust, love and hope in God, the

freer we become and the deeper grows our inner

peace.

Today all four candles are lit, may the light of hope,

love, joy and peace increase in us and make of us

welcoming mangers, rejoicing Shepherds and zealous

magi, worthy and free to receive the Prince of Peace.

Preparing for the Feast of the Nativity

View this bulletin online at www.DiscoverMass.com

SEVEN SORROWS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PARISH—MIDDLETOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

MASS & CONFESSION SCHEDULE SUNDAY OFFERING

Sunday Offering -Week of Dec. 13, 2020: $ 17,591.00

Online giving –November $ 19,638.01

Thank you for your continual support.

ROSARY LEADERS DECEMBER 19/20, 2020

Saturday 5:30PM Vincent Varankar

Sunday 8:00AM Linda Hartzell Sunday 10:30AM Paulanne Loutinsky

Mon. Dec. 21: Sg 2:8-14 or Zep 3:14-18a/Lk 1:39-45

Tue. Dec. 22: 1 Sm 1:24-28/Lk 1:46-56

Wed. Dec. 23: Mal 3:1-4, 23-24/Lk 1:57-66

Thu. Dec. 24: Day: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16/Lk 1:67-79;

Vigil: Is 62:1-5/Acts 13:16-17, 22-25/Mt 1:1-25

or 1:18-25 Night: Is 9:1-6/Ti 2:11-14/Lk 2:1-14

Fri. Dec. 25: Is 52:7-10/Heb 1:1-6/Jn 1:1-18 or 1:1-5, 9-14

Sat. Dec. 26: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59/Mt 10:17-22

Sun. Dec.27: Gn 15:1-6; 21:1-3/Heb 11:8, 11-12, 17-19/Lk

2:22-40 or 2:22, 39-40

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2020 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

8:00 AM + JULIE GUTIERREZ 10:30 AM + OUR PARISH FAMILY 6:00 PM + MADELEINE & ELMER VERSARI Sr.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020 [Saint Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church ] 8:30 AM + WEDDY MUTO

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2020 8:00 AM + FRANKLIN BRODNICK WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 [Saint John of Kanty, Priest] 8:00 AM + SOPHIE NOVAK

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2020 8:00 AM + Deceased Members of the VEET & DEGATIS Families 2:00 PM All Special Intentions 4:00 PM All Special Intentions 6:00 PM All Special Intentions 9:00 PM All Special Intentions

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2020

THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD (Christmas)

10:00AM + OUR PARISH FAMILY

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2020 Saint Stephen, The First Martyr Feast 7:30-7:50AM CONFESSIONS 8:00 AM + CHRISTOPHER KREISER 4:30-5:10PM CONFESSIONS

5:30 PM + BARBARA PRISTELLO

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2020

THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH Feast

8:00 AM + ANDY LEE

10:30AM + ENES PANZA

6:00 PM OUR PARISH FAMILY

The Parish Family of Seven Sorrows of

the Blessed Virgin Mary welcomes

JOHN PHILIP DALE Jr.

(Child of John and Jordan Dale)

baptized by the Water and the Spirit on December 21

Children’s Rosary The First Sunday of the month, all children are

invited to come pray the rosary after 10 AM Mass

2020 Diocesan Annual Campaign

Seven Sorrows’ Goal $176,000

Total Pledge/Paid $141,277.00

Please consider pledging or making a donation online.

May God bless and reward you for your contribution.

EASTER EGGS 2021

THANK YOU to all those who contributed so far with

the 40oz and 48oz jars of Jif Creamy Peanut Butter!

128 jars received toward our goal of 1,000 jars

Please consider donating if you haven’t already. We

Look for the cart in the Narthex of the Church, where

you can place your donations. THANK YOU!

.

CHUCH CLEANERS VOLUNTEERS

If you would like to volunteer and offer 1 to 2 hours

of your time, there is a need for helpers in the church.

please contact Sue Dussinger 717-5662787 or email

nbsd284@comcast.net

View this bulletin online at www.DiscoverMass.com

SEVEN SORROWS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PARISH—MIDDLETOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

DECEMBER 20, 2020 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

THE MAN AND THE BIRDS– A CHRISTMAS TALE

BY PAUL HARVEY

The man to whom I’m going to introduce you was not

a scrooge, he was a kind decent, mostly good man.

Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with

other men. But he just didn’t believe all that incarna-

tion stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas

Time. It just didn’t make sense and he was too honest

to pretend otherwise. He just couldn’t swallow the

Jesus Story, about God coming to Earth as a man.

“I’m truly sorry to distress you,” he told his wife, “but

I’m not going with you to church this Christmas

Eve.” He said he’d feel like a hypocrite. That he’d

much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait

up for them. And so he stayed, and they went to the

midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow

began to fall. He went to the window to watch the

flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went

back to his fireside chair and began to read his news-

paper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding

sound…then another, and then another. Sort of a

thump or a thud. At first he thought someone must be

throwing snowballs against his living room window.

But when he went to the front door to investigate he

found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow.

They’d been caught in the storm and, in a desperate

search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large

landscape window. Well, he couldn’t let the poor

creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the

barn where his children stabled their pony. That

would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the

birds to it. Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes,

tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He

opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the

birds did not come in. He figured food would entice

them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched

bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a

trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the

stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread

crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in

the snow. He tried catching them…He tried shooing

around them waving his arms…Instead, they

scattered in every direction, except into the warm,

lighted barn. And then, he realized that they were

afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, “I am a strange

and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some

way to let them know that they can trust me…That I

am not trying to hurt them, but to help them.” But

how? Because any move he made tended to frighten

them, confuse them. They just would not follow.

They would not be led or shooed because they feared

him. “If only I could be a bird,” he thought to

himself, “and mingle with them and speak their

language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid.

Then I could show them the way to the safe warm

barn. But I would have to be one of them so they

could see and hear and understand.” At that moment

the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his

ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood

there listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of

Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

Come let us adore our Kind and our God!

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