Church of St. Patrick in Armonk P.O. Box 6, 29 Cox Avenue, Armonk, N.Y. 10504 (914) 273-9724 FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT FEBRUARY 14, 2016 MASSES: FEB. 13—FEB. 21, 2016 Calendar: Sat 2/13 9:00 Jack Coviello (D) SUNDAY, February 14, 1ST SUNDAY OF LENT 5:30 Elizabeth McKegney (D) Sun 2/14 8:30 Fr. John F. Quinn (D) FOOD FIRST —Each Sunday the food collected goes to support a local food pantry. 10:30 Douglas Parrish (D) 12:00 People of the Parish Mon, Feb. 15 — Presidents’ Day Mon 2/15 8:30 —— Tue 2/16 8:30 John Hollingsworth (D) Wed 2/17 8:30 —— Tue, Feb. 16 — Weekday Thu 2/18 8:30 —— Contemplative Prayer Group: 12:30-1:30 Walking With Purpose : 9:30-11:30 Fri 2/19 8:30 —— Wed, Feb. 17 — The Seven Holy Founders of the Sat 2/20 9:00 —— Servite Order 5:30 People of the Parish Sun 2/21 8:30 Fr. John F. Quinn (D) Thu, Feb. 18 — Weekday 10:30 Nicholas Troiano (D) Bible Study: 7:00-8:30 pm 12:00 Peter Sarubbi (D) Fri, Feb. 19 — Weekday Contemplative Prayer Group: 1:00-2:00 Sat, Feb. 20 — Weekday Confession: 4:30-5:15 SUNDAY, February 21, 2ND SUNDAY OF LENT Collection: Feb. 6-7: $3,737.50 in 97 envelopes FOOD FIRST —Each Sunday the food collected goes Peter’s Pence $525.00 in 38 envelopes to support a local food pantry. Collection Feb. 20-21 for Energy Expenses ParishPay for January Reg. Collection: $10,017.00 Please consider using Parish Pay Thank you for your generosity Choir practice will be this Tuesday in the Church at 7:00 pm. New members are encour- aged and welcomed to join. If you have any questions, please speak to John Failla, Director of Music Ministries. * * * * Food First Sunday — We are looking for volun- teers to help deliver the donated food to the Food Pantry in Mt. Kisco. If you can help with this job, please call or email the office: 914-273-0724 or [email protected] There is another aspect to this that I will not develop at this time but the sacramental life of the Catholic Church The Gift of is beneficial to all of humanity and not just Catholics, even though non-Catholics either do not participate in Confession the sacramental life of the Church at all, or only to a partial degree. Remember, most Christian faiths have a I want to begin with a simple question: “Is the sacra- valid sacrament of Baptism and marriage, although they ment of Confession (Reconciliation, Penance – however may not recognize marriage as a sacrament. To sum up: you prefer to call it) a gift of Jesus Christ to us? The Christ gave us the seven sacraments and wants us to use answer should be obvious. A working definition of the them. If we know this to be true, it would be a serious term “Sacrament” is: any outward sign (in other words sin not to use the sacraments. Christ, however, is not something tangible to our senses) that was given to us bound by the sacraments and can give His salvific grace by Jesus Christ, of an invisible reality (something real- as He sees fit. But even those who do not know of the ly present but not tangible to our senses) that gives us necessity of the sacraments still receive grace that has grace. Grace, incidentally, is our participation in the fundamentally flowed from the sacramental life of the mystery of God’s life and love. The sacraments guaran- Church. The sacramental life of the Church is nothing tee the gift of grace, of participating in the Trinitarian less than a participation in the paschal mystery of life of God. They are no ordinary gifts to the Church. Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. It is only through Participating in the Trinitarian life of God (the love be- Jesus Christ, His life, death, and resurrection, that any- tween the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is the very mean- one can be saved. This mystery is made present and its ing of Heaven and the sacraments are at the same time a graces made available through the Eucharist. foretaste (a small participation in the reality of Heaven already here on earth) and the means to Heaven. They So why must we go to confession? Because it is a gift are absolutely necessary for our salvation. of Jesus Christ to us so that we can participate more ful- ly in the Trinitarian life of God and the paschal mystery The necessity of the sacraments for our salvation is part of Christ’s sacrifice. If this is not sufficient enough rea- of the profession of our Catholic faith. Some will protest son then let me add that to reject the sacrament is ulti- saying, “does this mean that non-Catholics who do not mately to reject the gift of God’s mercy, love, and the have the seven sacraments cannot be saved?” Of course Trinitarian life of God – in essence Heaven. they can be saved. The implication at first then seems to be that the sacraments are necessary for Catholics but Pope Francis is encouraging all of us to go to confes- not for non-Catholics. However, this is not true. The sion, especially those who have not been in a long time. sacraments are necessary for everyone, not just Catho- At the heart of the Jubilee year of Mercy is the call to go lics. The sacraments are not binding on us because the to confession, a necessary part to receive the indulgenc- Church binds us to them, but rather because Christ, who es offered. gave us the sacraments, binds us to them. But here is the point: It is Christ who binds us to the use of the sac- raments as the ordinary means of grace, but Christ does In Jesus and Mary, not bind Himself. It would be helpful to recall a most basic tenet of sin: the act must be offensive to God (any act contrary to His will), one must know what they are doing is wrong, and they must consent to the act. The obvious presumption here is that most non-Catholics do not know of the necessity of the seven sacraments and therefore they can still be saved. Nor is this to be under- stood in such a way that we must receive each and every sacrament. However, it can be a grave sin to deliberate- ly reject the sacrament when it is appropriate to receive it: to reject confession when guilty of a mortal sin, to refuse to be confirmed, to get married outside of the Church. Connecting with youth and young adults using in- sightful examples, comedy, powerful messages from Scripture, and heart-moving music, Paul challenges The following grades will host the 10:30 Mass and his audiences to see that everyone has a hunger for social on the respective dates: God in their lives, whether they realize it or not. The world often tries to present a solution to that hunger Feb. 28 6th Grade with money, sex, drugs, popularity, and power; but Mar 6 7th Grade none of those things can satisfy a person’s heart. Mar 13 8th Grade Apr 11 3rd Grade Apr 18 4th Grade MARCH MADNESS - March 6th Teen Life News 8th Graders: Volunteers Needed for Soup Kitchen You are cordially invited to join St. Patrick's Teen Homeless people and struggling families can find Life! Please register on the St. Patrick of Armonk shelter, a warm meal and friendly faces in soup kitch- website. Teen Life has some terrific upcoming ens. All volunteers at soup kitchens make a difference events. in somebody's life. And while you may find yourself short on free time, the rewards of volunteering at a 2/20/16 *Special Olympics* soup kitchen will be worth it. Soup Kitchen Volun- Contact us asap to Volunteer at the Special Olym- teering takes place on Sat. Afternoons between 12-3 pics! St. Pats teens and families will be stationed at (5 kids max) on March 12th and April 9th (7 teens the figure skating event in Poughkeepsie. This event max). Teens must be at least 15 years old to volun- goes from 9-12:00 and is indoors. We are "social vol- teer. The soup kitchen is called the Meatloaf Kitchen and is located in NYC. Please contact teen life asap if unteers" which means we will cheer for the athletes your child is interested in participating. Adults inter- and greet them as they come into compete. We will ested in bringing a group to a soup kitchen should also also be able to make signs for them. Lots of fun, and contact Teen Life. very meaningful to the competitors! Contact Melissa Gordon if you are interested in participating or leave a post on our new St. Patrick of Armonk Teen Life Teen Rec. Night Google Plus Community. We are also going to be sending out announcement regarding some Teen Rec. nights and other things so Mark your Calendar for March 4th you must regularly check the St. Patrick of Armonk Google Plus Community. So...how do you do *Dynamic Speaker Paul Kim * that? You must provide a gmail address PAUL J. KIM is coming to St. Pats!!! Attendance is (students school email works!) asap. We will then mandatory for Teen Life members. send you an Invitation to join the google plus commu- Paul Kim has earned a growing international reputa- nity you must "accept invitation".