THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF

SAINT MATTHEW & OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP

The Week of December 25, 2016 - NATIVITY OF THE LORD

If you would like to bring the gifts up during the

offertory procession, please see an Usher before Mass begins.

Sunday 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 Dawn: Is 62:11-12; Ti 3:4-7; Lk 2:15-20 Day: Is 52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 or 1:1-5, 9-14 Monday Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59; Mt 10:17-22 Tuesday 1 Jn 1:1-4; Jn 20:1a, 2-8 Wednesday 1 Jn 1:5—2:2; Mt 2:13-18 Thursday 1 Jn 2:3-11; Lk 2:22-35 Friday Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 or Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17; Mt 2:13-15, 19-23 Saturday 1 Jn 2:18-21; Jn 1:1-18

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24 - Daily Masses

8:00 am (A)

9:00 am (H)

SATURDAY & SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24 & 25 See Mass Schedule on Page 4

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26 8:00 am (A) Sal Capoli

9:00 am (H) Patrick & Mary Ryan

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27 8:00 am (A) 9:00 am (H) Special Int. Norman Dannen on His 100th Birthday

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28 8:00 am (A) Troadio Ybay

9:00 am (H) Special Int. Kristin Harkin

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29 8:00 am (A)

9:00 am (H)

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30 8:00 am (A)

9:00 am (H) Myrna Donodeo

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31 8:00 am (A) 9:00 am (H) 5:00 pm (A) Marija Tarasz Kiewiez

5:00 pm (H) Susan Franco & Gloria G. Franco

SUNDAY, JANUARY 1, 2017 See Mass Schedule on Page 4

Key: (A) = Ardsley (H) = Hastings

WEEKLY COLLECTIONS - Thank You!

ST. MATTHEW & OLPH 2016 2015 Collection: $7,336 $7,287 Christmas (to date): $3,169 $35,479 Christmas Flowers (to date): $3,670 $2,412

Thank you very much for your contributions to

the parish. Your generosity is appreciated!

Banns of Marriage

I - Peter Kowal & Gina Piashera

First Reading: Isaiah 52:7-10

Isaiah rejoices that God is bringing his exiled people home to Jerusalem. He calls out to the people to be glad because God will restore Jerusalem.

Second Reading: Hebrews 1:1-6

Paul explains to the Hebrews that although God had spoken through the prophets, people could not always completely understand the message. Now God has spoken to us by sending Jesus, the son, a reflection of God’s glory and forgiver of our sins.

Gospel: John 1:1-18

John describes how the Word came into the world in the form of Jesus. All those who accept Jesus become children of God by sharing in Jesus’ love. No one has seen God, but through Jesus, God was revealed to us.

DECEMBER 25, 2016: NATIVITY OF THE LORD

A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON THE SUNDAY READINGS HIS WORD TODAY by Rev. William J. Reilly The Nativity of the Lord - December 25, 2016 “The grace of God has appeared, offering salvation to all men. It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and live temperately, justly and devoutly in this age as we await our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of the great God and of our Savior Christ Jesus… to redeem us and to cleanse for himself a people of his own… eager to do what is right.” Why this passage from St. Paul’s letter to Titus as part of our worship on this great Christmas day? It is easy for us to be so caught up in many distractions that we overlook some basic points. Do I realize that there were centuries of waiting for the Messiah and people grew weary and forgetful? Paul tells them, the savior has appeared. If the coming of the redeemer speaks to me today, my Christmas joy reminds me that godless ways and worldly desires are not the focus. Gifts, consumerism, travel and visits are ours because the gift, Jesus, who travelled to earth and Bethlehem, placed salvation at our disposal. God did His part, we now must do ours. He has redeemed and purified us and claims us as His. My response is eager acceptance of what He has come to offer me. As I look around, who needs to know of my experience of this redeeming savior? The books, the songs, the traditions can tell me of Him and this day. They encourage me to seek Him. Prayer is where I meet Him. The virtues of temperance, justice and piety reflect our serious and joy filled acceptance of Jesus Christ this Christmas of 2016. May you be blessed.

Please keep in your prayers the ill of our parish especially: Peter Rasulo, Christopher Liva, Richard Dosin Sr., Mary Michna, John Trevor Dabenigno, John Kelly, Kristin Harkin, Susan

Sullivan Manuele, Ambrosio Maldonado, Aurea Cabanillas, Rita Stitham Gavin, William Bates, Guy Trepanier, Louis Cillo, Beatrice Smith, Richard Ryan Sr. & Rosemarie Distelhurst.

And for those who have died marked by the sign of

faith, especially:

If you know of any parishioners who are ill and would like to be visited by a priest, please contact the rectory at 914-478-2822. Names will be left on the sick list for 4 weeks. Please feel free to call the rectory to add names of immediate family members at any time.

We are very grateful to those in the military who have dedicated themselves to protect our liberty and freedom. Please keep our

troops in your prayers, especially: Brian Dunne-Navy, Christopher Gaulin-Army, George Moore-Navy, Nicholas Sestito-Marine, Donald Wemer Jr. - Marine, Michael Germain-Navy, Brandon King - Army.

Candle Dedications for the Week:

St. Matthew Tabernacle Candle: In Memory of Lino Innocenzi

req. by Lillian & Family Blessed Mother Candle:

In Memory of Lino Innocenzi req. by Lillian & family Sacred Heart Candle:

In Memory of Adele Cartwright req. by the Cartwright Family

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Tabernacle Candle: In Memory of Sal Campoli

req. by his wife Dora

63rd Annual U.S. National Pilgrimage to Lourdes June 22 - July 1, 2017

Serving the Sick and Pilgrims with Special Needs

Fr. Joseph Allen, O.P. invites you to join him on the 63rd US National Pilgrimage to Lourdes. Accompanied by a medical staff, clergy and volunteers to assist the needs of the pilgrims. For details, contact Fr. Joseph Allan, O.P., email: Joseph.Allan@opeast.org or The Lourdes Pilgrimage Office: toll free: 1-800-276-7279. website: www.lourdes-pilgrimage.com

CLASS SCHEDULE:

There are NO CLASSES on

Sunday, December 25 or January 1 Tuesday & Wednesday, December 27 & 28

Classes Resume On: Tuesday, January 3 from 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Wednesday, January 4 from 3:00pm - 4:30pm Wednesday, January 4 from 7:00pm - 8:30pm Sunday, January 8 from 10:00am - 11:15am

There will be NO Coffee Hour on Sunday, December 25th and Sunday, January 1, 2017. Merry Christmas to all!

Thank you to all who attended the St. Stanislaus Kostka Holy Rosary Society Christmas luncheon on December 11th. We collected $225, and with an additional contribution, sent $500 to Rosary Hill Nursing Home in memory of our deceased members. Your generosity is much appreciated.

A very big THANK YOU to Joe Muldoon who fixed all the leaks in the walls and then painted the affected walls in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. Our appreciation goes out to Joe for having

the church looking nice for Christmas.

CYO BASKETBALL NEWS: St Matthew's 8th grade girls team was in action Sunday vs Annunciation. In a complete team effort, St Matthew took down Annunciation 30-12. St. Matthew was led in scoring by

Marissa Minozzi (10 pts) and Chloe Caraballo (10 pts), while Emma and Kylie Korz provided great work on the boards, and Jessica Higgins, Sophia Gunther and Emily Cartwright contributed on both sides of the floor. With the win, the defending champs improve to 3-1 on the season and look to continue playing fantastic basketball the rest of the season.

The 5th grade girls A team playing out of Ardsley had a busy weekend. Traveling in the snow to undefeated St Patrick's Bedford on Saturday resulted in a tough loss, 24-15. Leah Rifas was high scorer in the loss. The girls bounced back with a big away win on Sunday at Ann Seton in Shrub Oak, 27-15. Claire Tierney and Sofia Finnerty led the way on offense and Sophia DiMartino, Kim Maggio, Samantha LaFalce, Francesca Musca, Lillian McCarron and Kayla Parikka were stars on defense and on the boards. The team is now 3-4 and ready for the Christmas break!

CHRISTMAS FLOWER ENVELOPES & CHRISTMAS OFFERING ENVELOPES

If you would like to make a donation towards the Christmas Flowers in memory of a loved one, please use the Christmas Flower Envelope that you can find in your monthly envelope packet. There are also extra Christmas Flower Envelopes on the tables in the rear of the churches.

The Christmas Flower Envelope and the Christmas Offering Envelope can be dropped into any collection on any weekend.

Christmas Eve

St. Matthew’s: 4:30 pm & 8:00 pm

Our Lady of Perpetual Help: 6:00 pm & 10:00 pm

Christmas Day

St. Matthew’s: 10:00 am & 12 noon

Our Lady of Perpetual Help: 8:30 am & 10:30 am

PLEASE NOTE: There will be NO Confessions on Christmas Eve.

New Year’s Day

St. Matthew’s: 10:00am & 12 noon

Our Lady of Perpetual Help: 8:30 am & 10:30 am

Christmas Mass Schedule

PLEASE NOTE:

The MASS SCHEDULE for SUNDAY, December 25th

and SUNDAY, January 1st DO NOT FOLLOW

the normal Sunday Schedule.

PLEASE NOTE:

There will be NO CONFESSIONS

Saturday, December 24th (Christmas Eve).

CORPORAL WORKS OF

MERCY

We are looking for volunteers for a prison ministry in our parish. If we have enough,

Fr. Paul Tolve, the Chaplin at Westchester County Jail, will come to speak to us. In the meantime, we cannot collect winter clothes but we can still collect paper back editions of the New American Bible in English or Spanish. If you wish to make a donation toward purchasing bibles, you may place it in an envelope mark it “prison bibles” and drop it in any collection. You do not have to visit the prison to do ministry to prisoners.

If you are interested in this ministry, please contact Father Henry.

CHRISTMAS/OPLATKI BREAD

The breaking of the Christmas wafer is a custom that began in Poland in the 10th century and is practiced by people of Polish ancestry around the world. It is considered the most ancient and beloved of Polish traditions. The Christmas wafer symbolizes the unity of the family, which many consider to be the main pillar of society. According to beliefs, the bond of unity should exist between family members. The father is seen as the link in the unbroken chain of One Body, One Bread, One Christ, and One Church, while other family members join him in this eternal procession. The wafer also symbolizes forgiveness and reconciliation.

The Christmas/Oplatki Bread can be found on the tables in the back of the churches. A donation of $2.00 per packet is appreciated. If you wish to have your bread blessed, please see a Priest after a Mass.