DECEMBER 23, 2018 ST. JOSEPH CHURCH 120 CLIFF STREET NORWICH, CT 06360

PHONE: 860-887-1565, Fax 889-3560 EMAIL: [email protected] Parish Priests: Fr. Robert Washabaugh, Fr. Tomasz Albrecht Parish Secretary: Mrs. Lauren Pitkin Office hrs: Mon., Tues. Thurs. 9-2, Fri. 9-1 CARE OF THE SICK: Please advise us of anyone in your family who is ill at home or hospitalized for pastoral visits, Holy Communion, and the Sacrament of the Sick. BAPTISMS& MARRIAGES Please contact the Parish office to begin preparations Visit us at jnccfaith.org

VISIT US AT http://jnccfaith.org/ LIKE US AT: https://www.facebook.com JointNorwichCatholicCluster St. Mary Church Ss. Peter &Paul Church 70 Central Ave 181 Elizabeth St. Norwich, CT 06360 Norwich, CT 06360 860-887-2565 860-887-9857 Fax 860-892-1692 Fax 860-886-4728

[email protected] [email protected]

Masses Vigil - Saturday Masses Vigil — Saturday 5:30 4:00 p.m. p.m. Sunday 9:45 a.m. (Spanish) Sunday 7:00 a.m. 12:30 p.m. (Creole) 10:00 a.m. Holy Days 8:30 a.m.(English) Holy Days 5:15 vigil; 10:00 a.m. (Creole) 7:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m.(Spanish) Wednesday 8:00 a.m. Tuesday 8:00 a.m. Thursday 8:00 a.m. 6:30 p.m. (Spanish) Friday 8:00 a.m.

Christmas Message 2018

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, May the spirit of this holy season fill your SATURDAY December 22, 2018 hearts with joy and your homes with peace! celebrates the great truth sent by the Father, “the Word 4:00 pm +Ralph Ritacco, Jr. became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” (John 1:14) From Pat, Mike and Family From generation to generation, we remember the events of that holy night and we celebrate His SUNDAY December 23, 2018 Nativity. Recounting ’ birth, we rejoice in our churches, in our families, and in our communities. At 8:30 a.m. .+Michalina Brzycki the coldest, darkest time of the whole year, God’s love From Sue Olszewski, Lucia Leise and Family warms our hearts and illuminates our journey in this world. MONDAY The message and meaning of Christmas can be December 24, 2018 lost in the noise heaped upon us by our secular culture’s 12:00 am For the People of the Parish message of consumerism; by an ever-growing divide in TUESDAY our political discourse regarding contentious issues of the day; and yes, even by some church leaders whose December 25, 2018 actions, or, in some cases, inactions have caused pain to 8:30 am For the People of the Parish many of our brothers and sisters. It is in these uncertain times, that our feelings Next Sunday Masses of anxiousness and loss can grip our lives, leaving us SATURDAY December 29, 2018 vulnerable to despair. It is important for us to remember that the world is mostly good. Why? 4:00 pm +Blanche Jankowski Because we, as followers of the Risen Lord, can experience and share the birth of Christ not just on From Family th SUNDAY December 30, 2018 December 25 but every second of every day. We give birth to the Lord when we share the Love of Christ.

The darkness of humanity’s evil can be 8:30 a.m +Evelyn A. Sienkiewicz overcome by the light cast by Jesus’ birth. We are reminded in the first reading from the Christmas Mass at Dawn of the words of the prophet Isaiah – They shall be called “The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Sanctuary Candle LORD.” (Isaiah 62:12) Earlier this year, Pope Francis Is lit in Memory of the gifted us with his Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Lewis and Izbicki Families Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad). In it he encourages From +Deacon Tom Lewis each one of us to be holy. We are frequently tempted to think that holiness is only for those who can withdraw from ordinary affairs to spend much time in prayer. Church Support 12/16/2018 That is not the case. We can be holy by laboring with Weekly offertory $ integrity and skill in the service of our brothers and Immaculate Conception $ sisters, by living out our commitments with joy and Memorial $ working for the common good. Christmas teaches us of Due to early publishing deadlines, our weekly offertory the generosity of God and how generous we must be to amounts will be listed in a future bulletin. Thank you one another, generous with our time, our good fortune, but most of all our forgiveness. Merry Christmas! May your New Year be filled with the abundant blessings of the newborn Alleluia ! Savior and may you embrace each day as an opportunity to welcome Christ with joy in your hearts, ever increasing in holiness. “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” (Matthew 1:23)

Religious Education CCD CLASSES K-7 To find out more or to sign up as a sponsor, see one of Next classe Jan. 13, 2019 the greeters after Mass, visit our web site, or contact the CONFIRMATION CLASSES parish office. Can you think of a gift to fit the mystery Lifeteen! of Christmas than reaching out to a child in a land of At Sts Peter and Paul’s poverty? Sign up as a sponsor today! visit our website, www.jnccfaith.org Celebrate Christmas during All Twelve Days! Brothers and Sisters: Fr. Tomasz and I wish to echo Bishop Cote’s Wednesday, December 26: The Feast of St. Stephen. greeting: You are in our thoughts and prayers! May How odd to celebrate the feast of the first Christian Christ give you the rich blessings of peace and joy! martyr during such a happy season! On the other hand, May you shine as lights in our world, cold and dark what does the coming of Christ’s light to a world though it may be! darkened by sin bring if not contradiction, challenge Fr. Washabaugh and a share in Christ’s cross? Thursday, December 27: The Feast of St. John the Apostle. John’s gospel begins “In the beginning was Christmas Masses the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was god….and the Word became flesh and dwelt 4:00 p.m. Saints Peter and among us.” Paul Friday, December 28, The Feast of the Holy Innocents. Christmas is a happy time, but the world without Christ 4:00 p.m. Saint Mary (multicultural) is not a happy place. Herod’s massacre of children 10:00 p.m. Saints Peter and Paul reminds us of what is at stake. Apart from the light that 12:00 a.m. is Christ, people are capable of the worst evils Christmas Day imaginable. 8:30 a.m. Saint Joseph (Polish & English) Sunday, Dec. 30, The Feast of the Holy Family. The 10:00 a.m. Saint Mary (multicultural) family is the domestic church, the basic building block 10:00 a.m. Saints Peter and Paul of our larger community of faith. We celebrate the mystery of love in the home expressed in Jesus’ life in Christmas in ! Nazareth with Mary and Joseph as we pray for our own The Knights of Columbus Museum, at 1 State Street in families here and now. New Haven, has a new Christmas exhibit, Christmas in Tuesday, January 1, The Octave of Christmas. This Poland. The show features more than 100 items, some day is a “holy day of obligation”. This important day from the museum’s own collection. Highlights include: encompasses many celebrations: The Solemnity of Szopki from Drakow, hand carved wooden creches and Mary, Mother of God, New Year’s Day, World Day of traditional Polish clothing. The museum is also featuring Prayer for Peace, and Independence Day for Haiti. its annual Festival. Open 10-5 daily Masses are as follows through February 3. Free admission & parking. More at Vigil Masses (Dec. 31) 203-865-0400 or kofcmuseum.org. 4:00 p.m. St. Joseph 4:00 p.m. St. Mary Church A Christmas Invitation: Help A Child! 5:30 p.m. St. Peter and Paul Church This Christmas, consider giving a gift that will give life to a 7:00 p.m. St. Mary Church (in Spanish) poor child in a terribly poor place. Fr. Fanel Florestal is the Masses during the day, Jan. 1 pastor of Ste. Marie Magdalene Church, Port de Bonheur on the 8:30 St. Joseph Church (Polish and island of LaGonav in Haiti. He oversees one of the poorest English) parishes in the poorest country in the Americas. Fr. Fanel’s 10:00 St. Peter and Paul parish school gives an education and a daily meal to 100 12:00 St. Mary (Haitian Creole) children. Poverty in LaGonav is so intense that for many Sunday, January 6, The (Feast of the Three Kings) children, that will be the only meal of the day. The Parish of Ste This is the great 12th Day of Christmas when the Wise Men, Marie Magdalene doesn’t have the funding to serve more following a star, found the king of kings in a bed. children, to improve its school, or even to pay its teachers All Sunday Masses will be joyful celebrations, but the 10:00 regularly. So we are inviting you to sponsor a student at Ste. multilingual Mass at St. Mary’s will be very special with Marie Magdalene School for $300/year. If you become a sounds and flavors of many lands, pageantry, and a grand sponsor, Fr. Fanel will have the means to give schooling and party for children and their families after Mass. All are food to one child. You will change a child’s life! invited, but let us know if you’re coming to the party.

Information Page

Church Name: St. Joseph

Bulletin # 511597

Date: August 21, 2017 Contact Lauren Pitkin (860)-887-1565

Software: Publisher 2013 Adobe Acrobat Standard 9 Windows 7

Printer HP 1401

Transmission Time: Tuesday, 1:00 pm.

Special Instructions: