St Patrick's of Smithtown
Welcome to the Parish
As you may know, on Sunday, April 20, 2008, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate a Solemn Pontifical Mass at Yankee Stadium. Our diocese has been given a limited number of tickets to distribute to the faithful. They will be apportioned by lottery. Due to restrictions that have been placed on attendees by the United States Secret Service and the New York City Police Department, each ticket will be issued to an individual - tickets are non-transferable (similar to an airline ticket). Everyone entering Yankee Stadium needs to have a non-transferable ticket and will be required to show a government-issued photo identification card (passport, driver’s license) and will be subject to search by either the Secret Service or the Police Department. Inside the bulletin or available for download here is a form for all those wishing to enter the lottery for Papal visit tickets. Please complete it and return it to the Chancellor’s Office by January 31st.
Hospitality Sunday
Sunday, February 3rd
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.
What are the principles of Catholic Christian morality
and decision-making?
How do they apply to today’s moral issues?
Investigate these questions and more through this Basic Theology Course offering. The course may be used for credit toward a Basic Theology Certificate or for personal faith enrichment.
Wednesdays, January 30th,
February 13th & 27th,
March 5th & 12th
from 7:30 to 9:30 PM in the Emmaus Room
Instructor: Mrs. Elaina Kedjierski, M.A.
An Invitation For Families with Babies
baptized in August, September or October
Msgr. Walden and the St. Patrick Legion of Mary invite all families who had a baby in November or December of 2007 to the 5 PM Family Mass on Saturday, February 8th. Children and families will be invited to come forward to recieve a special blessing and to join in the final procession. Come and celebrate the birth of you child into the Church!
Ignite the Flame in Your Heart!
Join St. Patrick’s Youth Community
on our
Amazing Race Retreat
at Frost Valley Retreat House, Claryville, NY
for young people in grades 7 to 12
April 18th (4 PM St. Patrick’s Departure)
to
April 20th (5 PM St. Patrick’s Arrival)
Please call the Youth Office for Reservations, 360-0185
Details Upcoming
CPR & First Aid Trained Adult Chaperones
The Marriage Alive community
is sponsoring a
Marriage Enrichment Day
entitled
"Time for Us"
Moderated byMarriage and Family Psychologist,
Dr. Henry Malone
How many times have all of us said or heard, "We do not have enough time for ourselves?" Well, now you will have a great opportunity to spend a few hours together. This mini-retreat will help you to revitalize your relationship and learn some ways about how to enrich the love in your marriage.
When: Sunday, March 1st
Where: St. Patrick’s Emmaus Room from 9:30 AM to 5 PM
Cost: $50 includes breakfast, lunch and refreshments
Space is limited so advance registration is necessary. Please complete the registration form downloadable here. Include your check for $50, and return the completed form by February 15th to:
Questions? Call Harry & Evelyn Nadler at 979-6481.
"Family Film Night"
Join us on
Friday, February 8th
and see
"The Ultimate Gift"
Bring the whole family for a night out at the movies at the movies here at St. Patrick’s, free of charge. See next week’s bulletin for more details!
Family Challenge Night
Hosted by the St. Patrick Parents’ Guild
Come and enjoy a Pasta Dinner
followed by a Family Game Show on:
Saturday, February 2nd following the 5 PM Mass in Canning Hall
Cost: $18 per adult
Children 4 to 14: $10
Children under 3 free
Family Maximum: $60
For Information and reservations
call Cathy Lynch at 979-6362.
Science Night with
The Dirtmeister
Saturday, January 30th from 7:30 to 9:00 PM in Canning Hall
Cost: $5 per person
This hands-on workshop, presented by author and scientist Steve "The Dirtmeister" Tomacek, explores the inner self by taking a wild and wacky look at the human senses. The program begins with a look at the process of biofeedback and how the brain uses our senses to control our bodies at work and play. Then it is on to the wonderful world of optical illusions where participants discover why seeing isn’t always believing. The program concludes with an investigation of hearing and how humans have the ability to "see with sound." The program is especially designed for families to play and learn together and features many "dirt cheap" activities that can be done at home for little or no cost. Because parents and children will be experimenting together, it is recommended that all children be accompanied by at least one parent.
For Information and reservations
call Cathy Lynch at 979-6362.
Congratulations! CYO Girls’ Teams
Congratulations to two of St. Patrick’s CYO Girls’ Teams who won first place in their divisions: A sixth grade team coached by Michael Redmond and an eighth grade team coached by Charlie Peck. Members of the sixth grade team are: Brittany Redmond, Gabriela Cabello, Alana Fitzgerald, Siobhan Kehoe, Angelica Bevinetto, Alyssa Bevinetto, Kerry Mackey, Michelle Scannell, Katherine Delanty, and Jennie Ingebretsen. Members of the eighth grade team are: Maggie Engellenner, Jenna Vinci, Lindsey Alfano, Stephanie Peragalio, Veronica Peck, Delia Phillips, Elizabeth O’Connell, Amira Jenkins, Lauren Descalzo, and Stephanie DeFazio.
Good luck in the playoffs!
Attention Young People
in Grades 6 to 12
You are invited to come and celebrate
The Feast of Don Bosco
6th - 8th Grade
Games & Ice Cream Social
6 to 8 PM
Meet in the Emmaus Room
9th - 12th Grade
Games & Ice Cream Social
9 to 11 PM
Meet in the New Gym
Mark Your Calendar for a
Parish Communion Breakfast
hosted by the Rosary Altar SocietySunday, March 9th
following the 10:30 AM Mass
at the Hamlet Wind Watch Golf and Country Club
Breakfast Buffet, Cost: $30 per person
Director & Principal of the De La Salle School,
a Catholic scholarship school that provides quality education
for grades 5-8
for young men from economically disadvantaged situations
Don’t miss the annualSt Patrick’s Day
Dinner Dance
Friday, March 14th at 7:30 PMat Flowerfields of St. James
Cost: $75 per person
Tickets go on sale
February 9th & 1oth
In the book I am reading now, "Crossing the Desert" by Robert J. Wicks the author speaks about learning how to live our lives as people of faith benefitting from the experiences and writings of the desert fathers and mothers from the early church. They have much wisdom and are human like you and I. In one of the chapters he relates this experience: "A number of years ago, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa was addressing the divinity students at General Theological Seminary. About halfway through his presentation, one of the seminarians in the audience nudged the dean of the seminary who was sitting next to him, pointed up at the stage and said: "Desmond Tutu is a holy man." In response the dean asked, "How do you know that he is holy?" To this the seminarian didn’t even blink. Instead, after a brief pause, he replied, "I know that Desmond Tutu is holy because when I am with Desmond Tutu, I feel holy." Can the same be said of us by those who we encounter in our daily lives?"
Holiness is probably the last thing we or others think of when we are with them. Yet as the beloved children of God we are called to be like God, to exhibit the family image, and in doing so we are holy. To be holy is to be like God - to have his heart and mind, to love as he has loved us. In today’s gospel we see Jesus beginning his public ministry as he goes about proclaiming the kingdom of God. To be part of that kingdom, which we become through baptism, we are on the path to holiness. We see him call Peter, Andrew, James and John in this passage to be his followers and workers with him in spreading the kingdom. Were these four men holy? Was their holiness obvious to Jesus and all others who fished with them and knew them as family members, friends and fellow fishermen? What Jesus saw in them was goodness, sincerity and openness to God’s love and truth. Their openness, sincerity and goodness are the foundation of holiness. Coupled with a strong faith in Jesus they became the foundation of the church, the family of God, we belong to today. We know their struggles and growth in their knowledge and trust in Jesus. It was a very human journey. There was joy, gratitude, confusion, betrayal, denial and ultimately trust in God’s mercy and love for them as well as his trust in them. Obviously they, in the words of the seminarian about Desmond Tutu, made those who came into their presence feel holy and loved by God and themselves.
In his continuing thoughts in the same chapter where the quote about Desmond Tutu’s holiness comes from, Wicks says, "How do people feel when we are with them? Do they feel the space of love and freedom?... Or, instead, do they feel our need to control, our desire to be appreciated or followed, our need to be like or seen as bright, attractive, wise or holy? Do they feel this openness and place of safety where they can rest their doubts, problems, and concerns, or do they feel our own anxiety, stress, and defensiveness? What do they feel? If we are filled with ourselves or the desire to be famous, powerful, even effective (as enjoyable as having this wish granted may be), then we lack the essential ingredient, either humility, ordinariness, or in some traditions, emptiness."
Humility comes from recognizing all is a gift, beginning with life itself. Every day as I prepare to say night prayer from the Divine Office we have the responsibility of praying as priests, I look back on the day to find five good things that happened and then give thanks for them. Following that I examine my conscience and ask God’s forgiveness for my faults, sins and failures during the day. It is the presence of gratitude that leads to humility. Humbly admitting the presence our blessings and our faults brings us into the presence of the giver of all gifts and his transforming love and mercy. To be in the presence of our holy God helps us to not only see the path of holiness, but to know its presence in our lives. As God is a true gift to us, so we become that true gift to him and one another.
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.
