The Sanctuary Lamp The Sanctuary Lamp near our...

Tabernacle burns this week

In Loving Memory of

In Thanksgiving

2020 Cardinal’s Annual Appeal

Pledge Today! The 2020 Cardinal’s Appeal is

underway at our Parish.

Please make your gift today! Know that your gift

to the Appeal helps to strengthen and support the

following ministries and services in the Archdiocese

of New York:

Support for Needy Parishes & Schools

Academic & Spiritual Formation of Children

in Religious Education

Works of Charity

Support for Retired Priests & Religious

Preparing Men for the Priesthood

Members of our Parish Family have already

contributed almost $39,000 to the Appeal. Join

your gift to theirs and help our Parish reach its

Goal of $90,500.

Please put our Parish Number #130 on your gift.

Thank you for your generosity.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“GOD LOVED US FIRST …” This is where everything begins: letting yourself be loved by God. But it’s not so simple. Why is it that some Catholics find it so hard to believe that they are loved? They say to

themselves: God loves others, but not me. Human beings are sometimes severe. God, for His part, comes to clothe us in compassion. He weaves our life, like a beautiful garment, with the threads of His forgiveness. He buries our past in the heart of Christ and He has already taken care of the future. God loves you before you love Him. That is how the Gospel turns things upside down. The contemplation of God’s forgiveness becomes a radiant kindness in the simple hearts that let themselves be led by the Spirit.

─Brother Roger of Taizé Essential Writings

Works of Mercy As His disciple, Jesus calls you to

be the “salt of the earth” and the

“light of the world.” One of the

best ways to answer the Lord’s

call in your everyday life is by

doing works of mercy for others.

Listed below are the most basic works of mercy,

through which you can minister to people’s

physical (Corporal Works) and spiritual (Spiritual

Works) needs in Jesus’ name.

The Corporal Works of Mercy Found in St. Matthew 25: 31-46

† Feed the hungry

† Give drink to the thirsty

† Clothe the naked

† Shelter the homeless

† Visit the sick

† Visit the imprisoned

† Bury the dead

The Spiritual Works of Mercy Based on Christ’s Teachings

and early Church Practice

† Counsel the doubtful

† Instruct the ignorant

† Admonish the sinner

† Comfort the sorrowful

† Forgive injuries

† Bear wrongs patiently

† Pray for the living and the dead

Presidents’ Day

Holiday Mass Schedule

Masses—8:15am & 12:10pm NO 7:00am & NO 5:30pm MASS

The Parish Office will be closed.

The Church will close at 2:30pm.

Prayer in Time of Temptation Lord Jesus, You know what temptation is like. You

know how strongly the wrong thing fascinates me,

and how much the forbidden thing attracts me.

Lord Jesus, help me not to fall.

Help me to remember my own self-respect, and to

remember as a child of God that I cannot do a thing

like this.

Help me to remember the unseen crowd of holy

witnesses who surround me, and pray for me.

Help me to remember Your Presence, and in Your

Presence to find my safety. This I ask for Your love’s

sake. AMEN.

Prayer of Those Who Live Alone I live alone, dear Lord, stay by my side in all my daily

needs. Be Thou my guide. Grant me good health, for

that indeed, I pray, to carry on my work from day to day.

Keep my mind, my thoughts, my every deed pure and

good. Let me be kind, unselfish in my neighbor’s need.

Spare me from malicious tongues, from jealousy, from

fear, and evil ones.

If sickness or an accident befall, then humbly, Lord, I

pray, hear Thou my call. And when I’m feeling low, or

in despair, lift up my heart and help me in my prayer.

I live alone, dear Lord, yet have no fear, because I feel

Your Presence always ever near. AMEN.

A Family Prayer Our Father, we thank you for Your love and for the

many good things You have given to our family. Help us

show our gratitude by loving each other as You love us.

Give us patience and understanding to bear with one

another—generosity to share our joys and sorrows—

honesty to admit our faults and correct them.

We entrust our family to Your Fatherly care and

protection. We ask that we may grow daily in wisdom

and grace, that some may hear your call to following

Your Divine Son in the priesthood or religious life, and

that all of us may one day share with You the joys of

heaven. AMEN.

In prayer, you lift up your mind and your heart to God. St. Paul reminds you to “Pray constantly!”

That is, use prayer to invite God to be part of every time and circumstance in your daily life. The following prayers are intended to help you do this.

Morning Offering

Eternal Father, I offer You everything I do this day:

my work, my prayers, my time with family and friends;

my hours of relaxation; my difficulties, problems,

distress, which I shall try to bear with patience. Join

these, my gifts to the unique offering which Jesus Christ,

Your Son, renews today in the Eucharist.

Grant, I pray, that, enlightened by the Holy Spirit and

united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, my life this day may

be of service to You to Your children and help consecrate

the world to You. AMEN.

Prayer During Illness

Father, I find it hard to accept this illness. I am

impatient. I find it hard to speak to anyone I find it hard

to talk to You. I am wrapped up in pity and worry for

myself. I worry over my health. I worry about the

things I would like to do, ought to do, but now I can’t.

At a time like this I find it hard to believe in You, to trust

in You, to love You.

And yet, I want to believe, to trust, to love. I know

You really care for me. I cast all my care upon You. I

leave myself entirely in Your kind hands. Not my will

but Yours be done.

Lord Jesus, I think of the pains You endured for me.

The great sadness of the Garden , Your Scourging and

Crowning, Your Cross, Your Death. You had to suffer to

enter into Your Glory. In this you teach me that my present

sufferings are not to be compared to the glory that is to

come. In the strength of Your Spirit I join my sufferings to

Yours for the Redemption of the world. AMEN.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2020 5:30pm Intentions of Margo Everts (Vigil Mass for Sunday)

SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 7:30am +Sister Catherine Crumlish 9:00am +Ninetta Bettini 10:30am For Our Parishioners 12:00pm Living & Deceased Members of the Aufiero Family 5:30pm Intentions of Maria Caridad Dominique Mellon

PRESIDENT’S DAY—HOLIDAY SCHEDULE THE SEVEN FOUNDERS OF THE SERVITE ORDER MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2020 7:00am NO MASS 8:15am Intentions of Marie Colwell, Healing 12:10pm +Vanessa Borg 5:30pm NO MASS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020 7:00am +Gerhard Huebner 8:15am +Marie Louise Andrei 12:10pm +Rose & Andrew Gull 5:30pm +Massimo Bazzini

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 7:00am +Marie Germaine Theriault 8:15am Intentions of Rev. Bernward Weiss, Healing 12:10pm +Gail R. Schipski 5:30pm +John W. Kelliher

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020 7:00am +William J. Kaiserman 8:15am Intentions of Annelies Milz 12:10pm +Margo & Douglas Coldwell 5:30pm +Lucille Choquette

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 ST. PETER DAMIAN 7:00am +Marie Louise Andrei 8:15am +Ethel Talabovich 12:10pm +Mary Doyle 5:30pm +Msgr. Charles Roselli

THE CHAIR OF ST. PETER THE APOSTLE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2020 8:15am +Mary Clare Bergin-Specht 12:10pm +Betty O’Hara 5:30pm +Helen Ryan (Vigil Mass for Sunday)

2020 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time $7,081

2019 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time $6,894

THANK YOU! WE ARE GRATEFUL TO THOSE WHO USE OUR

ENVELOPE SYSTEM. LET US KNOW IF YOU WISH TO RECEIVE

OFFERING ENVELOPES THROUGH THE MAIL.

PARISH STEWARDSHIP

For Our Sick: Sabrina Bertucci

For Our Deceased: Anne Bricker, Mary Goldstein,

William Pitassy, Mary Clare Specht, Thomas G. Voss

Please call the Parish House to have a Parishioner’s name placed on

this list. Check to see if someone who is ill consents to having their

name published. We only publish the names of recently deceased

Prayer Requests

dear Padre A Protestant friend says all the Catholic rituals aren’t necessary to get to heaven. What can I say to help her understand the truth about what we believe?

Your friend is correct about heaven: God wants all people to be saved—not just Catholics (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church [Lumen Gentium], 13). Even so, Catholics believe—and Christ taught us—that certain Sacraments are necessary to enter heaven. Baptism is one example.

But being Catholic isn’t just about getting to heaven. Earthly benefits abound in your Catholic Life! Take the Mass: in Holy Communion you receive Jesus Christ’s true Body and Blood. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) the Lord absolves your sins, bringing you peace, comfort, and a closer relationship with Him. The saints and the Blessed Mother inspire you and intercede on your behalf. Our Church leaders—ordained and religious—bring Christ into your life. Our Catholic hymns and prayers help you offer praise and thanks to God in a unique and meaningful way. Your priest and the Catechism of the Catholic Church can explain in detail the spiritual and temporal benefits of Catholic Sacraments, rituals and rich traditions.

Once you get to heaven, the need for distinctions among those of different Christian faiths dissolves. But until then, you shouldn’t follow the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church simply because it’s the religion of your parents or spouse; you should follow them because you know and believe they show you how to deepen your relationship with God and live as a disciple of Jesus.

So the truth is “all the Catholic rituals” do prepare you for heaven, they also enrich and inform your earthly life in ways we can’t find anywhere else. I thank God for my Catholicism every day—and you should, too.

—Fr. Scott Katzenberger, CSsR