OUR MISSION St. Bonaventure-St. Benedict the ​ ​Moor is a welcoming Catholic ​ ​Faith community. ​ ​We are EXPERIENCING Christ in ​ ​our lives through the Gospel Sacraments, and lifelong faith formation. We are LIVING our faith through worship and ​ ​stewardship. And we are SERVING God’s people to reveal the presence of ​ ​Christ in our community.

SCHEDULE OF MASSES Saturday Vigil:​ 5:00PM Sunday Masses: ​10:00am​ BONAVENTURE 12:00pm​ ​ BENEDICT THE MOOR ​5:00pm​ BENEDICT THE MOOR

PARISH INFO ST. BONAVENTURE 114-58 170​th Street​ Jamaica, NY 11434

ST. BENEDICT THE MOOR 171-17 110​th Avenue​ Jamaica, NY 11434

☎ Tel (718) 526-0040 Fax (718) 526-4825  ​b​[email protected]

www.stbonaventure-stbenedictthemoor-queens.org A note from your Pastor Dear Parishioners of St. Bonaventure - St. Benedict the Moor,

PARISH OFFICE HOURS For the last month we have been hearing announcements regarding The Parish Stewardship Monday​ CLOSED Tuesday​ 9:00AM–3:00PM Program that the Diocese has requested every Parish Wednesday ​ 9:00AM–3:00PM to undertake. If you have been contributing to the Thursday​ 9:00AM–3:00PM Parish with the use of Collection envelopes you have probably Friday | Saturday |Sunday:​ CLOSED received a solicitation letter from the Diocese asking that you HOLY DAY & WEEKDAY LITURGIES: consider increasing the amount that you contribute to the As listed in the weekly Mass Parish. Even if you have not been attending Mass in person schedule. (Limited Seating Capacity) during these months of the Covid 19 pandemic, you might have BAPTISM:​ Parental instruction received this request. If you have not been contributing with the required. You are encouraged to do use of envelopes I would encourage you to do so, so that at the this prior to the birth of a child. Please contact the parish office for end of the year you could deduct your contributions from your arrangements and class registration. yearly taxes. You must be a registered parish member. This weekend of November 21/22 is Stewardship Weekend. It is COMMUNION FOR HOMEBOUND: when every member of the Parish is asked to consider increasing Contact the Parish Office. the amount that they contribute to the Parish. If you use a cell MARRIAGE:​ Contact the pastor at least six months in advance. Must be phone you can text the word 'Parish' to 917-540-7769. You would a registered parish member for at click on the link and select our parish from the drop down menu. least six months, contact the rectory, Kathleen Webb, Our Parish is located right under St. Bernadette and above St. 718-526-0040. Brendan.

FAITH FORMATION: Contact​ First, please include your contact information. Your name, Warren Rolling at 718-526-0040 or dre101071@diobrook,org. address, email and cell number. This information is for the parish and our parish only. In the next portion, please indicate your RCIA: ​For adults who wish to become Catholic, contact Warren Rolling at current level of offertory support and if you can, your renewed 718-526-0040 or commitment. (I would like to remind you that this is not a pledge dre101071@diobrook,org. of any form. It should serve as a promise between you and God.) RECONCILIATION:​ By appointment only, contact the rectory, Kathleen (The sole purpose of filling out a physical form is to help us Webb, 718-526-0040. Safe distancing protocols are in effect. budget and plan for the year ahead.) PARISH REGISTRATION:​New Next, please check if you support our parish weekly, bi-weekly or members are most welcome please contact the rectory, Kathleen Webb, monthly. Also, indicate if you are supporting us with online giving 718-526-0040. or envelopes. Lastly, if you wish to receive envelopes or need help enrolling in our parish's electronic giving, please check either box. Only, if it applies.

Finally, click "SUBMIT"

I thank you for your commitments and may God bless us and keep us safe.

Should you wish to enroll in Online Giving, you can access our E-Giving Page at: www.givecentral.org/SBSBM ​Or simply text the word SUNDAY to 631-540-1120

I noticed in a bulletin that was printed in July 2019 that it was advertised that the Parish needs $6,000 a week in collections to maintain itself. At the present time we are averaging about $2,000 a week in collection. If this amount continues then we as a Parish will have to consider selling some of the property to continue to maintain a Parish presence in this area.

Yours In Christ, We welcome your Petitions for your Dearly Departed, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Blessings, Healing, Special Intention and Fr. Jeffry Thanksgiving. $20.00 Donation. Please contact the rectory for more information.

FOR THOSE IN NEED OF HEALING: Charles & Ethel Adams, Teresa Addai, Ethel Boyd-Journette, Helen Broady, Georgeann Campbell, Doris Colon, Beverly Correia, Bernadette Creswell, Lotess Priestley Cright, Rose Marie Dorvilly, Cynthia Fairly, Joyce Hunt, Vida Isles, Dolly Jankee, Lucy Johnson, Fr. Paul Palmiotto, Evelyn Washington, Virginia Wikkies, Mary Williams

Also, please remember those who are suffering with COVID-19 as well as the souls of those from our Parish who have died recently and their families. St. Bonaventure-St. Benedict the Moor Parish Pastoral Council Kathleen Gilbert Denise Sanker Terri Rhymes-Lowery Mynette Peat Jose Pongolo Trevor Wilson George Yeaboah Warren Rolling Raphael Monfunya Ann Marie Hutton

Parish Finance Council Patrice Gibbs Gabrielle Rolling Kassandra Wilson John Koudossou Purdelle Hilaire Spiritual Communion: A Christian practice of designing union with Jesus Christ in the Holy Eugharist. It is used as a preparation for Holy Mass and by individuals who cannot receive Holy Communion. The practice of Spiritual Communion has been especially used by Christians in times of persecution, as well as in times of plagues, such as during the current COVID-19 pandemic, when many Christians are unable to attend mass An Act of Spiritual Communion (TO BE READ WHEN VIEWING THE VIRTUAL MASS DURING THE LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST) My Jesus, I believe you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen

We’re Updating the Parish Directory! As this is the year of the Census, we would also like to make sure our Church Directory is up-to-date. Please take a moment to click on the link below and complete the form online. ​Parish Directory Update​ Thank you! If you are unable to complete the form, please contact Ms. Kathleen: (718)526-0040 Parish Stewardship Program

After much prayer and discernment, our parish has decided to embark on a Stewardship Program this fall. Our objective is simple: allow us to get better at connecting with you, make it Parish Stewardship Reports easier for you to connect with your faith community, and help Weekly Offering Report sustain our parish. Saturday 5 PM: $ 450.00 Sunday 10 AM : $604.00 You will receive a mailing at your homes detailing the Program Sunday 12 Noon: $ 691.00 Sunday 5 PM: $ 394.00 and its necessity. To ensure it is a true success, we ask that you kindly respond by Total: $2,139.00 one of the following ways. Together let’s make our weekly goal of $6,000.00 1. Your mailing will include a response form. Please complete it and mail it to our Annual Catholic Appeal Goal: $28,993.00 parish office. Pledges: $22,698.40 2. Complete the form online at Paid: $16,078.40 www.cfbq.org/PSP Balance: $ 6,620.00 To make a pledge text (917) 336-1255 Help Sustain our Spiritual Home or visit: ​annualcatholicappeal.org As resilient as we are, COVID-19 has exposed some underlying Generation of Faith financial vulnerabilities, especially considering that our parish Pledged to Date: $497,370 relies heavily on cash and envelopes. We need to come together Paid to Date: $206,501 to sustain our spiritual home. You can help us now by enrolling in Balance: $193,297.30 electronic giving.

St. Augustine of Hippo is the patron of brewers because of his conversion from a former life of loose living, which included parties, entertainment, and worldly

ambitions. His complete turnaround and conversion have been an inspiration to many who struggle with a particular vice or habit they long to break. Augustine, also known as “the sinner”, was a convert who became a great doctor of the and is the person who set-up the church calendar as we know it today. His famous mother, St. Monica was born in and spent many years of her life praying that he would transform from his wicked living and in false beliefs. Little to nothing is known of his as Father. He was baptized, became a priest, a Bishop, a famous Catholic writer, Founder of religious priests, and one of the greatest saints that ever lived. His thousands of letters, sermons and tracts, combined with 232 books, instructed the Early Church and have relevance for the Church today. It is said that Christian scholars through the ages owe much to St. Augustine and that the full impact of his psychology and his embryonic theology will be felt in years to come.

We owe much to St. Augustine, the full impact of his psychology and his theology will be felt in years to come. After his conversion he lived a very devout life, performing great acts of mortification and penance. He wrote, "I pray to God, weeping almost daily." Two of his most famous books are "Confessions" which is an autobiography and "City of God". His memorial day is celebrated on August 28. On the wall of his room he had the following sentence written in large letters: "Here we do not speak evil of anyone.

Saint Monica (AD 331 – 387), also known as St. Monica of Hippo, an African laywoman is a saint with whom most black women can readily and easily identify, because Monica epitomized the present-day black women. St. Monica was born in Tegaste in northern Africa in about 331. She was a devout Christian and an obedient disciple of St. Ambrose. Through her patience, gentleness and prayers, she converted her pagan husband.

Her son, St. Augustine of Hippo, whom she loved dearly, lived a life of disrepute and saddened her by scorning religion despite receiving religious training as a boy. However, before her death, St. Monica had the great joy of knowing that Augustine had returned to God and was using all his energies to build Christ's Church and that her youngest daughter had become a nun. St. Monica's feast day is August 27th.

St. Josephine Margaret Bakhita, F.D.C.C., was born in Sudan in 1869. She was a Sudanese-Italian Canossian religious sister who lived in Italy for 45 years, after having been a slave in Sudan. This African flower, who knew the anguish of kidnapping and slavery, bloomed marvelously in Italy, in response to God's grace, with the Daughters of Charity, where everyone still calls her "Mother Moretta" (our Black Mother"). Mother Bakhita breathed her last on 8 February 1947 at the Canossian convent in Schio, surrounded by the sisters. A crowd quickly gathered at the convent to have a last look at their "Mother Moretta" and ask for her protection from heaven. The fame of her sanctity has spread to all the continents and many receive graces through her intercession. Josephine Bakhita was beatified on the 17th of May 1992 and was canonized on the 1st of October 2000. Because she was sold to slavery at a young age, St. Josephine is known as the of victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. Her Feast Day is on February 8, also known as the World Day of Prayer, Reflection and Action Against Human Trafficking.

St. Benedict the Moor, O.F.M., a lay brother, was born in in 1526. He was the son of African slave parents, but he was freed at an early age. When about twenty-one he was insulted because of his color, but his patient and dignified bearing caused a group of Franciscan who witnessed the incident to invite him to join their group. He became their leader. In 1564 he joined the Franciscan friary in and worked in the kitchen until 1578, when he was chosen superior of the group. He was known for his power to read people's minds and held the nickname of the "Holy Moor". His life resembled that of St. . Canonized on the 24th of May in 1807 by Pope Pius VII, St. Benedict’s major is the Church of Santa Maria di Gesù, in Palermo, Italy. His feast day is April 4 (April 3 in the Franciscan Order) and he is the patron saint of African missions; ; black missions; black people; as well as Palermo and San Fratello; Sicily.

PARISH LEADERS & MINISTRIES CLERGY Very Rev. Jeffry T. Dillon, Pastor PARISH SECRETARY Kathleen Webb FAITH FORMATION DFF & Youth Minister: Warren Rolling Bonaventure: Sally Davidson Benedict: Carolyn Isles RCIA: Debra Hamilton MUSIC MINISTRY Minister of Music: Julie Milgram Choir Director: Rey Lewis Children’s & Young Adult Choir: Roxanne Richards-Jones Weekday Mass: Merceider Williams DANCE MINISTRY Parish Liturgical Praise Dancers Paulita DaCosta-Campbell Rhymes Lowry Theater Arts Guild Terri Rhymes-Lowery GHANAIAN COMMUNITY COORDINATOR George Yeboh & Turkson Samuel NIGERIAN COMMUNITY COORDINATOR: Raphael Monfunaya SPANISH COMMUNITY COORDINATOR: Angel Mora ALTAR GUILD St. Bonaventure: Lorraine Simpkins & Kassandra Wilson St. Benedict :Harriett Scott & Paulette Atkins ALTAR SERVERS St. Bonaventure: Anthony Osuji St. Benedict: Annette Hunt Walker SACRISTANS St. Bonaventure: Anthony Osuji St. Benedict: Carolyn Isles MEN’S MINISTRY:Roy Pinkard Rosary Society: St. Bonaventure: Patrice Gibbs St. Benedict: Denise Francis St. Vincent de Paul Ministry St. Benedict: Kathleen Gilbert Young Adult Ministry Y.A.M.S. Gabrielle Rolling ATHLETIC DIRECTOR Rey Lewis GIRL SCOUTS Angela Robinson, Sandy Robinson & Gabrielle Rolling MINISTRY OF CONSOLATION Renee Hartwell BIBLE STUDY Georgeann Campbell OFFERING COUNTERS Barry Francis, Patrice Gibbs, Lorraine Simpkins, Kassandra Wilson, Pascale Victor