St Patrick's of Smithtown
Welcome to the Parish
Christmas Tree Lighting
Saturday, December 1st
following the 5 PM Mass
Join us for a Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony outside of church. Christmas caroles will be performed by the St. Patrick School Chorus and hot chocolate and cookies will be available!
You are invited to take a stroll downCandy Craft Lane
Sunday, December 1st 10am to 4pm
Raffles -- Craft Vendors
Face Painting -- Home Baked Goods
Visits with Santa
and a
Gingerbread House Contest!
To enter, call MaryEllen McCrossen at 360-8896.
Hospitality Sunday
Sunday, December 2nd
After 9 AM and 10:30 AM Masses
St. Patrick’s will celebrate Hospitality Sunday. Please join with fellow parishioners in Canning Hall for coffee and cake. We look forward to seeing all of you there.
Bring a Bear If You Care
7th Annual Help a Child Restore a Smile
The Knights of Columbus Councils of Suffolk County are collecting stuffed animals that will be turned over to local agencies and given to children who are victims of crime, abuse and trauma. These small tokens will mean a great deal to the children in their times of trouble.
NEW STUFFED ANIMALS WILL BE COLLECTED
NOW THROUGH DECEMBER 11TH
Holy Mother Mary Council #3958 Knights of Columbus will be collecting stuffed animals in the Smithtown area. For more information contact Tom Keane at 631-882-7755 or email
St. Patrick Choir CD
The Perfect Christmas Gift to Yourself or Someone Else
Give the gift of Christmas music to yourself or someone else this Christmas by buying our choir’s Christmas CD. For only $10 you can bring a little piece of Christmas at St. Patrick’ home with you.
To purchase a CD, speak to a choir member after the 10:30 AM Sunday Mass or call Lenny Scotto at 979-8478.
Masses For The
Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(A Holy Day of Obligation)
Friday, December 7th at 5 PM and 7 PM
Saturday, December 8th at 9 AM and 12 PM
18th AnnualNational Night of Prayer for Life
December 8th thru 9th
9 PM Saturday to 1 AM Sunday in the church
"And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us"
Prayerfully join with us in Unity of Prayer across the country, in our cathedrals, churches and chapels, highlighting Eucharistic Adoration and the Rosary.
National Hour of Unity is 12 Am to 1 AM (EST). At this time, churches from coast to coast will be joined in unitied prayer.
Breakfast with Santa
Sunday, December 9th
Following the 9 AM Mass
Don’t miss this annual favorite - a day for the whole
family. Festivities will include a breakfast
buffet, music, raffles & entertainment . . . as well as a
visit from You-Know-Who!
$20 for adults,
$10 for children
Free for children under 3.
on Saturday, December 1st
and Sunday, December 2nd
For more information,
call Mary McKee at 724-9031.
Mark Your Calendar for
The St. Patrick Youth
Christmas Show
Sunday, December 16th from 2-4 PMTickets are now on sale in the Youth Office (open Monday thru Friday from 9 AM to 3 PM) and during rehearsals.
For more information, call 360-0185.
Choir Robe Memorials
The St. Patrick’s Choir is in need of 25 new choir robes. Each of the robes will be memorialized. This is a wonderful way to honor a loved one, living or deceased, since our choir plays such an important role in our worship and celebration of Mass. The name of your loved one will be sewn into the robe. The cost of a Choir Robe Memorial is $125. To order one, simply fill out the form available here attach it to a check for $125 made payable to St. Patrick Church. Forms and checks should be dropped off or mailed to the rectory or placed in the collection basket in an envelope marked "Choir Robe Memorial" by November 30th. Please order early since only 25 robes will be available as memorials.
"Today you will be with me in paradise." This is the promise that brought comfort and peace to one of the criminals crucified with Jesus, the one we call the "good thief." What images or thoughts does the word paradise bring to mind? None of us has died, so we cannot really envision the details of a heavenly existence. We believe we will experience the fullness of God’s presence with all those who have gone before us when we are called home to heaven. There will be no more suffering or pain, separation or alienation. The gospel last Sunday spoke of the end of the world as we know it. When Jesus was asked when it would happen and what the signs would be, he spoke of wars, insurrections, earthquakes and disasters. In other words, the signs will be those events where we as human beings separate and threaten to annihilate one another as well as natural disasters. The natural disasters are out of our control. We cannot stop earthquakes, tsunamis or famines. But we can stop wars and insurrections.
As individuals we are powerless to end the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places in our world that take the lives of the people there as well as those in our armed services. We can petition our government and pray for peace. But beyond that we are powerless as individuals. The conflicts and destruction we can end are those where we are separated from one another because of hatred, anger, mistrust, greed, injustice and prejudice. All of these are negative and drain life out of us whether we are on the winning or the losing side. It is only the power of Jesus and his love that will enable us to rise above all that kills, harms and destroys life. Forgiveness, patience and understanding are the only "weapons" that will bring about a victory for everyone involved in conflicts. Jesus’ power of love is seen on the cross as he promises paradise to the man who was a convicted thief and as he prays for even those who crucified him. Injustice did not get into his heart and soul. It resulted in the end of his earthly life, but revealed his Sacred Heart. That is the heart fueled with divine love, the heart that warms us with his life so we can warm one another with that life. His Sacred Heart is the foundation of the Kingdom of God.
In his chapter entitled "A Spirituality of Justice and Peacemaking" Ronald Rolheiser says, "All of our actions for peace must be rooted in the power of love and the power of truth and must be done for the purpose of making that power known and not for making ourselves known. Our motivation must always be to open people to the truth and not to show ourselves as right and them as wrong. Our best actions are those which admit our complicity and are marked by a spirit of genuine repentance and humility. Our worst actions are those that seek to demonstrate our own righteousness, our purity and our moral distance from the violence we are protesting." Victory does not come for those who follow Christ the King when one side or person wins and the other side or person loses. Victory only comes when we rise above our differences, see the goodness and love in one another and respect and accept one another for who we are. Jesus accepted a convicted criminal on the cross for the kingdom of heaven. Who are we to reject or exclude people from our love, goodness, mercy, compassion and forgiveness?
Each one of us is very powerful when we give our hearts, minds and souls to Jesus. We are privileged and blessed to be invited to be part of and to be his kingdom in the world. That kingdom, as we hear in the preface of today’s mass is: "An eternal and universal kingdom, a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace." In other words we are invited by Jesus, as the thief in today’s gospel, to be one with him in paradise. The spread of his kingdom on earth depends on us who believe in living out truth, justice, love and peace which we can only do because we are enlivened by his life and grace. The world as we know it will end and the experience of Paradise will begin when we work to answer the words we pray everyday in the Our Father: "thy kingdom come!"
Father Walden
The Roman Catholic Community of St. Patrick, Smithtown sees itself as:
- The People of God, The Body of Christ.
- Enlightenment by the Word of God.
- Nourished by the Life of Christ in the Sacraments.
- Supported by our love for and our forgiveness of each other.
- Empowered to bring the love, justice and peace of Christ to our families, our neighbors, our friends, our enemies, the poor and the powerless.
- Called to reach out to the unchurched and the non-practicing members of our community and to assist in the spiritual, intellectual and social growth of all whose lives we touch.