St Patrick's of Smithtown
Welcome to the Parish
Lent Begins
Lent offers us the opportunity to deepen our relationship with God, to examine our hearts and our lives and to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Please take advantage of the following opportunites offered by our parish:
Ash Wednesday
February 6th, 2008
| 6:45 AM | Mass |
| 9:00 AM | Mass |
| 12:10 AM | Mass |
| 3:00 PM | Service not a Mass |
| 4:30 PM | Service for Religious Education students and parents |
| 7:30 PM | Service not a Mass |
Weekday Mass
Monday through Friday
6:45 AM Mass
9:00 AM Mass
12:10 PM Mass
7:30* PM Mass
* On Monday, February 11th, the evening Mass will be held at 7:00 PM
not 7:30 PM.
Confession
Saturday -- 3:45 to 4:45 PMSunday -- 8:15 to 8:45 AM
Monday -- 6:45 to 7:15 PM**
Anytime by appointment in the rectory.
Additional opportunities for Reconciliation
will be offered during the Holy Week
** No confessions February 11th & 18th.
Lenten
Evenings of Prayer
with the
Sisters of St. Joseph
WednesdaysFebruary 13th, 20th, 27th
March 5th & 12th
at 7:30 PM
in the Convent Chapel
Stations of the Cross
Every Friday during Lent
at 8:15 PM in the Church,
begining February 8th
Each week, the Stations will be led by a different
parish organization as follows:
February 8 - Catholic Daughters
February 15 - Legion of Mary
February 22 - RCIA
February 29 - Confirmation Candidates
March 7 - Knights of Columbus
March 14 - Rosary Altar Society
Lenten Regulations:Abstinence & Fasting:
All Catholics who have reached their 14th year are bound to abstain entirely from meat on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent. All Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59, inclusive, are also bound to observe the law of fast on Ash Wednesday & Good Friday. This means limiting oneself to a single full meal and avoiding food between meals. Two other light meals, which together do not equal a full meal, may be taken during the day.
The obligation to do penance and to observe the appointed penitential season is a serious one. Those whose work or health would be impaired are excused from fast and abstinence. Individual conscience should decide proper cause for excuse. A more serious reason is required to excuse oneself from Ash Wednesday and Good Friday fast and abstinence.
Lenten Suggestions:
Support those in need in our parish: Nonperishable food may be donated in the white Parish Outreach containers located at the exits of the church. Money may be donated in the poor boxes.
Support those in need in our area: This year, our Lenten Parish Project is to raise money for Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Wyandanch which recently lost its Outreach Center in a fire. Contributions may be placed in the containers at the church exits.
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.
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
Attention Children in Grades 1 - 6
Picture Yourself in Children’s Choir
St. Patrick’s Children’s Choir is looking for new members as we prepare our Lenten observances and Easter. Join us at our next rehearsal on:
in Keegan Hall
(in the main hallway of the school building)
from 6 to 7 PM
... and bring a friend or two!
Attention Young People
Each year on Good Friday, young people from our parish give a moving, live portrayal of the Stations of the Cross. Young people wishing to participate should call Cindy at 724-1261.
Rehearsal dates are as follows: February 13th & 27th, March 5th, 12th, & 19th from 6-7 pm.
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!
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
Today is the fourth Sunday in ordinary time. But everyone around the world who watches television knows that today is Super Bowl Sunday. Whether you like football or not, you probably know about this game of games. Many people in our area are wearing the colors of the local team that made it, the New York Giants.
There are tee shirts, sweat shirts, hats or other items with the New York Giants logo. People are proud and anxious to let their loyalty known.
In a few days, three to be exact, many of us will be wearing another sign of loyalty - ashes. This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of lent. Many of us will come to have blessed ashes placed on our foreheads. They are a sign of many things. First of all they are signs that we are followers of Jesus who have not always been what we should be as the children of God. Ashes are a public admission of sinfulness. They are also a reminder that someday we will no longer be part of this world. "Remember that your are dust and unto dust your shall return." Death and our own mortality are not subjects we like to think about, but they are realities we must all face one day. Finally ashes are a sign of a desire to repent. We are sinners, but we are pledging by the ashes on our foreheads that we are going to change and be more faithful to the Gospel and Jesus during these next forty days.
The beginning of repentance or the intention to change is to see where we are right now at this moment in our lives. If we were to describe who we are in a sentence or two what would we say. My first thought is to say what I am - "I am a priest." Am I the best priest I can be? Where do I need to change and be better? Like all of you, I am a Christian, baptized and so transformed into a child of God. Am I a good image of who Jesus is? I am a son and a brother. What can I do to love my family better? I have been blessed with friends. What can I do to be a better and more loving friend? I am a brother priest here at St. Patrick’s. What can I do to appreciate and benefit from the gifts, goodness, faith and love of these wonderful men that I live, work and pray with? What can I do to nurture them? Each one of us is invited during these forty days of Lent to look into our hearts and to see who we are before God. A good honest look is not something to fear, but a wonderful opportunity to see how we have been blessed in so many ways and how we can better respond to all we are and have. And as we are honest we will see very clear areas where we can use the graces of this holy season to be more fully the person God created us to be and we have the potential to become.
The three traditional areas where we focus on ourselves during Lent are prayer, fasting and good works. Prayer is the life line into God’s presence and is a great source of hope, peace, and life. Fasting is giving up what we like or really do not need so we can share who we are or what we have with others. Real fasting enables us to lose the weight of sin and nourish the lives of others at the same time. We clearly see that as much as we have a personal relationship with God, he trusts us to share ourselves with one another. The third area where we focus is good works. Everyday we do good things for one another. Is our motive pure, unconditional love? That is the motive of Jesus and anything less takes life and goodness away.
Fr. Jilson put up a beautiful display of the center his order was able to build for the people India from the money we all gave as a Lenten Project in Lent 2006. Together we were able to help our fellow brothers and sisters halfway around the world. This year our Lenten Project will be to collect as much money as we can to help one of the poorest parishes in our diocese, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Wyandanch. Recently a fire destroyed a center where they help the poor and the rectory. These are our brothers and sisters right here on Long Island. Together we have made a difference around the world, now we can do the same for those who live just a few miles from us.
May we all hear and respond wholeheartedly to God’s call this Lent to become all he knows we can be with his love and mercy.
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.
