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주보

주보 2022년 1월16일 연중제2주일

Updated Covid safety measures for January 2022

In response to the current Covid surge in New York City and surrounding areas the Church of St. Francis of Assisi is implementing the following Covid regulations for January 2022. If your ministry or group has any questions how these affect your particular group, please contact your staff liaison.

Mass:

Masks continue to be required at Mass and Communion continues to be only given in the hand.
Holy Water basins remain empty. Holy Water is available in individual bottles in the church lobby.

Confession:

Masks must be worn in Confession and the door to the confessional will be left open for air circulation.

Ministry and Group Meetings:

All groups and ministries are asked to meet remotely for the month of January.

Exceptions:

Self help and 12 step groups may continue to meet in person
groups that hold liturgical celebrations (First Friday Mass, etc.) may continue to have their gathering for prayer, but social gatherings after the liturgical celebration is suspended for January
volunteers whose work cannot be done remotely (breadline volunteers, Franciscans delivers, etc.) are not affected by this regulation

The staff is hopeful that these restrictions will only be needed for January 2022 and that normal in person activities will resume as soon as this surge starts to recede.

Save the Date: St. Francis Volunteer Retreat

February 11 – 13
Loyola Retreat Center in Morristown, NJ

We are bringing back our annual St. Francis Volunteers retreat for members of our St. Francis of Assisi Community for a weekend away at the beautiful Loyola Jesuit Center in Morristown, New Jersey. This has been a popular event and a great opportunity to get away to refresh your spirit with a weekend full of prayer, reflections, and sharing of our faith. And it is a great way to get to know others in your church community better.

The weekend is structured around the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours: Night prayer on Friday, Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer on Saturday, and Morning Prayer and Mass on Sunday. Between the times of prayer are 5 reflections on different aspects of our faith and we leave free time for individual reflection and prayer as well as time on Saturday evening for a social.

Proof of vaccination will be required to attend.

Registration will open on Sunday, January 16, 2022

Happy Three Kings Day!

Today, January 6th, is the traditional Feast of the Epiphany, also called “Three Kings Day.” We would like to wish everyone who celebrates the Epiphany today a very happy feast day!

Why isn’t the feast celebrated today in Church?

This is a good question. In the United States, and some other countries, the bishops have moved the celebration of this feast to Sunday. They did this because the Epiphany is such an important Christmas feast that our bishops wanted to make sure that people would attend the Mass. In countries like the US, where the secular society does not recognize the Epiphany as a holiday, the bishops felt that too many people would miss the celebration if it fell during the work week. And so the feast was moved to Sunday. In many countries around the world the Epiphany is still celebrated on the traditional date of January 6th.

For people from those countries where this is an important holiday – with celebrations with family and friends – this can cause some confusion how to celebrate.

While we can’t move the Liturgical celebration of the feast back to the 6th, there is nothing wrong with gathering with family and friends today to continue to celebrate the Birth of Christ. It is still the Christmas season and with the Wise Men, wise men and women today still seek the King.

May the Light that they traveled far to find enlighten those who believe today and everyday.

Happy Three Kings Day!

Adopt a Christmas Poinsettia

Our Christmas poinsettias need a new home. The plants are still beautiful and thriving.

Beginning at the end of our 5 PM Mass on the last day of the Christmas, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord (January 9, 2022 this year) we invite you to take home a plant.

On Monday the remaining plants will be placed in our 32nd street entrance. Please feel free to drop in and take a plant or two.

주보

주보 2022년 1월9일 주님 세례 축일

Still Christmas in January?

When you enter St. Francis this Sunday, or watch Mass on livestream, you’ll see that we will still have our Christmas trees up. Some people wonder, why are the Christmas decorations still up on January 9th?

Most of us know the song the 12 days of Christmas, with its list of strange Christmas gifts (who needs eight maids-a-milking???). The traditional 12 days of Christmas counted the days from Christmas to the Epiphany, which is traditionally celebrated on January 6th, even though in some countries, like the US, it is now celebrated on a Sunday. These 12 days were the days of the Christmas season when the mystery of the incarnation was reflected upon and celebrated by the Church.

Today the Christmas season has been expanded. It now extends from the evening of December 24th until the Sunday after the Epiphany. The Sunday after Epiphany is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This is why our Christmas decorations are still up and we are still celebrating Christmas on January 9th.

So what unifies the Christmas season? The liturgy during this season celebrates everything from the birth of Christ, to the visit of the Magi, to the presentation of the Lord in the temple 40 days after His birth. But it also celebrates the Baptism of Jesus when he was 30 years old. How do all of these episodes of Jesus life fit together?

While December 25th definitely celebrates the birth of Jesus, the Christmas season really celebrates the identity of Jesus. It celebrates who He is. Jesus is the incarnate Son of God. He is Emmanuel, God with us, in the flesh. All of the Christmas feasts point to this reality. The angels announced him as Lord, and Christ and shepherd at his birth. The Magi recognize this and offer him gifts honoring him as King, and God and sacrifice. Simeon and Anna recognize and proclaim who Jesus is at his Presentation in the Temple; and at His baptism, the voice of the Father reveals that Jesus is the Son of God. That is why this event from Jesus’ adult life is celebrated in the Christmas season.

Christmas is a season of revelation and epiphany. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the great event of the incarnation of God in history. The many days of Christmas allow us to immerse ourselves in the great love God has for all of us. One day is no where near enough time to take in the reality of what Christ’s birth means. Maybe a lifetime is not enough time to take in just how much God loves us.

So Merry Christmas, again, yes, in January.

-Joseph Nuzzi
Director of Evangelization