OUR PARISH MISSION STATEMENT

Striving to make Jesus known by our response to the Gospel, and guided by the Holy Spirit, thecommunity of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is committed to being a vibrant, worshipping family

that reaches out in love and friendship to all of God’s people.MASSES:

Saturday: 5:00PM Sunday: 8:30AM, 10:00AM & 12 Noon Daily: 9:00AM (Monday - Thursday)Holy Days: To Be Announced

Sacrament of Baptism: Visit our website atwww.steas.org for information and follow theinstructions. It is highly recommended that thisbe done during the pregnancy.

Sacrament of Marriage: A couple must makearrangements for their wedding at least 6 monthsin advance. ***Please secure your weddingdate at the Church before reserving areception date*** A marriage preparationprogram is required for every couple intending aCatholic Wedding. Visit our website atwww.steas.org for information and follow theinstructions.

Sacrament of Reconciliation:Saturday at 4:00 PM & Sunday following the10:00 AM Mass. The priest will remain in theReconciliation Room only until the lastconfession has been heard.

Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick:Is offered to Parishioners who are seriously ill orin danger of death. Please call early in the illnessof a loved one to arrange for the Sacrament. TheSacrament is administered to the living. In theevent of death prayers are offered.

WELCOME New Members (RCIA)Anyone interested in becoming a member of theCatholic Church is invited into the Rite ofChristian Initiation of Adults Process (RCIA).We also invite baptized persons who wish toreceive Eucharist and Confirmation to becomepart of this process. Please call Gerry at 585-9291.

Parish Registration: It is important to belongto our parish Family. Please call the office if youare not registered or pick up a registration formafter mass.

REV. KEVIN A. THOMPSON, PASTORREV. RICHARD M. FINEO, TEMPORARYADMINISTRATORREV. VITUS EZEIRUAKU, WEEKENDASSISTANTDEACON JOSEPH MAFFEODEACON JOHN GREBEDEACON DAVE VALLONEPHYLLIS BENANTI, MUSIC DIRECTORPAT MYSTKOWSKI, PASTORALASSOCIATEMICHELE HAHN, DIR. OF RELIGIOUS FORMATIONMARYANN O’CONNOR, OUTREACH COORDINATORBARBARAWELLS, RELIGIOUS EDUCATION SECRETARYLORI MARANDO, BUSINESS MANAGER

Parish Office Hours: Monday - Thursday: 9:00am - 12:30pm; l:30pm -5:00pmFriday: 8:00am - 12:30pm; 1:30pm - 4:00pm

Outreach Hours: Monday &Wednesday 9:30am - 12:30pm, 1:30pm - 3:00pmTuesday & Thursday: 1:30pm - 4:30pm, CLOSED Friday

Religious Education Hours: Monday - Thursday 9:00am - 12:30pm; 1:30pm- 5:00pm. CLOSED Friday

PARISH DIRECTORYOffice: 737-4388·Fax: 737-4389·Religious Education: 737- 8915Outreach: 737-4416 · E-Mail: steas@optonline.net · www.steas.org

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Church800 Portion Road, Lake Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-1997

SACRAMENTS TODAY:

Third Sunday of AdventDecember 17, 2017

Rejoice the Lord is near!

MASS INTENTIONS THIS WEEK

Today, Sunday, December 17th 8:30 a.m. - + Brendan Dugan

10:00 a.m. – + Josephine Macri, + John D. Rick, + James W. Foley,

+ George Anthony McMahon 12 Noon— People of the Parish

Monday, December 18th

9:00a.m.— + The Lipp & Crone Families

Tuesday, December 19th 9:00a.m– + William Thompson

Wednesday, December 20th 9:00 a.m. – + Mario Cione

Thursday, December 21st

9:00 a.m. — +Audrey Thompson

Saturday, December 23rd 5:00pm – + Rose & Joseph Gatto

Sunday, December 24th

4th Sunday of Advent 8:30 a.m. - + Thomas Sullivan Jr.

10:00 a.m. – + Ray Hirt, + Donna Vincent 12 Noon— +Mary & Edward Carragher

Sunday, December 24th

CHRISTMAS EVE 4 p.m. (Church) - +Artie Francis Tomasino

4 p.m.(Hall) - +Michael Flynn

6 p.m.— +Alice & Warren Haney

10 p.m- +Marie D. Aiello

Monday, December 25th CHRISTMAS DAY

10 AM : Dominick, Rose, & Anthony Scarfone, Joe Scarglato

12 PM: Bob Batewell

SUNDAY, December 17th, 2017

Christmas Flower collection is this weekend December 16th-17th. Thank you for your generosity!

CELEBRANTS weekend of December 23rd & 24th and Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

Saturday December 23rd 5:00 PM: Fr. Richard Fineo

Sunday, December 24th

8:30 AM: Fr. Richard Fineo 10 AM: Fr. Vitus Ezeiruaka

(Deacon John Grebe preaching) 12 PM: Fr. Vitus Ezeiruaka

(Deacon Dave Vallone preaching)

Sunday, December 24th– Christmas Eve 4 PM. (Church) -Fr. Richard Fineo

4 PM. (Hall) - Fr. Vitus Ezeiruaka

6 PM—Fr. Jude Okafor 10 PM—Fr. Richard Fineo

Monday, December 25th Christmas 10 AM : Fr. Richard Fineo 12 PM: Fr. Vitus Ezeiruaka

NOTE: SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE

PARISH PENANCE SERVICE

Monday, December 18th- 7:30 p.m.

WEEKLY SACRIFICE for the PARISH

Last Week = $7,467.00 Credit Card/Automated donations= $ 264 .00 (10 contributed)

Total Last Week= $7,731.00 # of Envelopes returned: 272 Last Week’s Expenses Paid : $9,450.00 Expenses include: payroll, clergy medical/pension,

choir equipment, landscaping for church & rectory , etc...

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

From the Pastor’s Desk

Grace and Advent Blessings! The Lord approaches! In today’s Gospel according to St. John, some Jewish priests, Levites and Pharisees are questioning St. John the Baptist. He is highly regarded by the locals as the holy man who lives out in the wilderness and baptizes in the name of God. These church leaders want to know how John is authorized to speak for God. Such a person is always a threat to their own authority and challenges their comfortable lifestyle. John promptly denies that he is the return of any of the famous holy figures from scriptures, and when he is asked whether he is the Messiah, he denies it clearly and without hesitation. He does mention, howev-er, that the Messiah lives and walks among them, and yet none of these men of God have come to know him. A holy man himself, John claims that he is not worthy to untie the sandal strap of the one who will come after him. He himself is the man of whom Isaiah spoke when he wrote of “... a voice crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’” John is the forerunner of the Christ, not the Christ him-self. He prepares the way for He Who Is To Come. In our day, Christmas is coming upon us. The third week of Advent is our third week in preparation of the coming of the Christ. Are you getting ready? Many of us have been preparing for Christmas; decora-tions are going up, presents are being bought, plans are being made. I ask though: Where does Jesus him-self fit into your plans? Yes, the birth of the Son of God into the world is what Christmas is all about, but how often do we focus on that? Sometimes we prepare so hard for Christmas that we just run out of time: we plan glorious meals full of traditional dishes, we clean the house and arrange large parties for relatives and friends. We shop the best decorations and hunt for the most amazing and meaningful presents to give - it takes so much time! This makes me ask: Do we spend so much time preparing for Christmas that we leave no time to prepare for Christ? Have you ever worked so hard for the Christmas festivities that you were too busy, or too tired, to go to Christmas Mass? Is that OK? Does that even make sense? Of course not! This year, let our festivities be meaningful. As we plan for Christmas to come, let us pre-pare to embrace Christ. John, the voice in the wilderness, calls to us: “Make straight the way of the Lord!” The time is now! Let us not leave obstacles on the Lord’s road and place limits and detours in the pathway of God’s Son. Let us, instead, welcome Christ in joyously and light the doorway into our hearts. Let us welcome his love and his joy and his life-giving presence. And let us share our joyful faith with our friends and family. They may find that the greatest present we share with them this year, greater than an iPhone and diamond earrings, is the gift of Jesus himself. He is love and life eternal! Make straight the way of the Lord! Truly, Advent is the time to turn away from sin and prepare for the coming of the Lord. With this in mind, I happily remind you that we are holding our annual Advent Penance Mass this Monday, Decem-ber 18, 7:30PM at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church. It is open to all - parishioners and visitors - so bring a friend! What better way is there to respond to the call of St. John the Baptist: “Make straight the way of the Lord!” than to present to the Lord our clean and polished souls? What better presents can we offer to God? Come one, come all!

Blessings and Peace,

Fr. Kevin Thompson

Joyous in the Lord

SUNDAY, December 17th, 2017

10th ANNUAL SUPER BONANZA $25 winners Sunday, 12/10/17 #03343 Reilly Family Monday, 12/11/17 #16549 Janine Feehan Tuesday, 12/12/17 #00684 Madeline Davide Wednesday, 12/13/17 #00241 Raymond Young Thursday, 12/14/17 #08652 Orabona Friday, 12/15/17 #16864 J. Gill Saturday, 12/16/17 #14975 Carol Haskell CONGRATULATIONS!

Quarterly winner 12/15: $100 #03277 Sylvia & Joseph Messina

Payment will be mailed to all Winners on the following Thursday after results are posted in Bulletin.

10th Annual Super Daily Bonanza Drawing Every day until May 31, 2018 we will draw a winning ticket number. The owner of that ticket will win the prize for that day. Then the ticket will be put back into the drum for the next drawing, giving you another opportuni-ty to WIN.

MEMBERS NAME_______________________ PHONE NUMBER____________________ ADDRESS______________________________ Number of Tickets__$25.00=__ 5 for $100.00= ___ TOTAL =_______ Please mail your check to: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 800 Portion Rd, Lake Ronkonkoma, NY 11779

Parish Outreach Ministry Christmas Thank you for all the gifts and gift cards that have been returned. Thank you for all the supermarket gift cards, cash, as well as checks. It would be appreciated if all gift cards or gifts be returned as soon as possible. Food Pantry Our Pantry is in need of coffee and boxed or canned po-tatoes. Blood Drive Our 1st Blood Drive of the year will take place on Sun-day, February 4, 2018 after all the masses. Please put that date on your calendar. Thank you again and God Bless!!!!!!!!!

SPOUSAL/PARTNER BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT GROUP: Rockville Centre

Good Shepherd Hospice Bereavement Services are opened to anyone in the community who has experienced a loss through death at no charge. Upcoming Bereavement Support Groups, led by a Bereavement Specialist, include: Spousal/Partner Loss Group- 1/9/18 – 2/27/18; 2:00PM-3:30PM Spousal/Partner Loss Group- 1/9/18 – 2/27/18; 5:30PM-7:00PM Groups held at Good Shepherd Hospice Inpa-tient Center, 200 Belle Terre Road, Port Jeffer-son, NY Registration required – (631) 828-7636.

REMEMBER A LOVED ONE

MEMORIAL DONATIONS AVAILABLE for:

Announced Masses Bread & Wine— 1 week

Missalettes - 1 month Flowers—1 week, Charcoal - 1 month

7-Day Sanctolites—1 week Altar Candles—1 month

Contact the Parish Office to reserve your memorial.

Wedding Banns

2ndTime Kimberly Fitzpatrick—St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Robert Steinkopf — Our Lady of Perpetual Help, NJ

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

CHRISTMAS EVE IS ON A SUNDAY THIS YEAR

Christmas Eve, December 24th, is on the 4th Sunday of Advent this year….. We will have our regular Sunday Masses for the 4th Sunday of Advent, followed by the

Christmas Eve Masses in the afternoon. See schedule below :

Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 24th 8:30am

10:00am 12 Noon

Christmas Eve, Sunday December 24th

4:00 p.m. (Church & Hall) 6:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m.

COMPLETE CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE

CONFESSIONS AND MASS SCHEDULE

PENANCE SERVICE Monday, December 18th- 7:30 p.m.

CONFESSIONS

Saturday, December 16th 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 17th following 10 a.m. Mass

(No confessions Christmas Eve)

CHRISTMAS MASSES Christmas Eve

4:00 p.m. (Church & Hall) 6:00 p.m.

10:00 p.m.

Christmas Day 10:00 a.m. 12:00 noon

SNOW CLOSINGS- for MASS REMINDER:

For snow or severe weather during the week days…

we follow the Sachem SD schedule. Tune in to News12 or WALK F.M. Radio. If Sachem SD is closed, there will be no Mass that day. If severe weather happens on the weekend and Mass needs to be

cancelled, call into the Parish Office at 737-4388 and the recording will be updated with any cancellations. Thank you.

Or you can sign up with “REMIND” for instant

notifications by text or email. See website for more info at www.steas.org

Join Us With Mary When life got overwhelming and too big for us as children, we turned to our mother for support and guidance. As adults, we thank her for all she had done for us. Now we are blessed with the op-portunity to turn to our Heavenly Mother Mary to ask for her support and guid-ance, and thank her for the many bless-ings she has given us. Every Wednesday after 9:00 AM mass (at 9:30), you are invited to join us as we pray the rosary to ask for her help and guidance and to thank her for her abounding love.

WELCOME! The following new parishioners have

registered with the parish this past week:

Mr. & Mrs. Gary & Amanda Lyons Mr. & Mrs. Patrick & Lindsay Barry

Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Lerro

Prayer Blanket Ministry Meetings are held on Saturdays from

9:30am to 12:30pm. Contact Janice by email: pbministry16@gmail.com

Next meeting is Saturday, January 13th, 2017 New members are always welcome. Come join this exciting ministry—we create prayer blankets, lap

robes, baby blankets, preemie hats, Christmas stockings, “pink scarves”, etc. and donate them to

various organizations, nursing homes, etc. We also share ideas, patterns and offer instruction for any-one wishing to learn to knit or crochet or brush up on their skills. For more information call the Parish Outreach. If you have yarn to donate, we will gladly

accept it and use it. Thank you!

Bookkeeper - Help Wanted The Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre is

seeking (3) part-time Bookkeeper positions (Eastern Suffolk, Central Suffolk, and Nas-

sau). This part-time position is 21 Hours per Week, 8:30am - 4:30pm. Individual be ex-

pected to work with all Parish Support Man-agers and Associate Parish Support Staff, in providing financial services and administra-tive support to a select group of parishes and schools. Position Requirements - Knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel, Associate de-gree, preferably in the discipline of account-ing or bookkeeping preferred, Good verbal and written communications skills, Ability and willingness to learn new tasks and sys-tems Please email your cover letter and re-

sume in word format as an email attachment. Please note Part-Time - Bookkeeper in sub-ject of e-mail to our Human Resources De-partment: Diocese of Rockville Centre, P O Box 9023, Rockville Centre, NY 11570 -

Email: employment@drvc.org - Fax: 516-678-9566.

SUNDAY, December 17th, 2017

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

11th Annual Christmas Raffle !!

The PRIZE MONEY is over $8,000

(which is to be split by 2 lucky winners, $4,000 each) and rapidly growing daily.

With your continued support, we can make this the best

Christmas raffle yet!

Raffles will be sold in the rear of the Church after each Mass up until the day of drawing.

This is a major fund raiser for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Drawing will be held this weekend, Sunday,

December 17th after the 12 Noon Mass.

You have to be in it to win it!!

SUNDAY, December 17th, 2017

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

SUNDAY, December 17th, 2017

Page 1 of 2

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Page 2 of 2

We need your help to reach our goal. Let’s welcome our new bishop, The Most Reverend John Barres, and our new pastor Fr. Kevin, by making a pledge to this years

Catholic Ministries Appeal for a successful CMA campaign. The programs and services supported by the Appeal have a significant

impact on hundreds of thousands of parishioners throughout our Diocese **Supporting the Catholic Ministries Appeal gives each of us a remarkable opportunity to “show mercy to others” and touch the lives of so many who are in our family of faith and in our community—a neighbor in need of food or shelter, a young man or woman finding their way to God through our youth or campus ministry programs, or a deacon or seminarian studying to serve in our Diocese.

Thanks to the generosity of 195 of our parish families, we have received over 42,803 in pledges to this year’s Catholic Ministries Appeal. The bad news is that last year at this time we had received over 45,000 from 192 families. So we have a long way to go to reach that total. The good news is we have over 3,000 families in our parish and we still have 3 months left in this years campaign to make and complete new pledges. So we have the potential to not only reach our goal of $51,100 but we can surpass last year’s total of $51,256. In a world of so many troubles, it’s easy to feel like there is nothing we can do to make a difference. But we can help feed the hungry. We can see that our seniors are provided with services and shelter. We can provide guidance through troubled times. We can make sure that no one feels alone. If you have not already made a donation to this year’s appeal you can make a difference. Please support the ministries of our diocese & parish by making a pledge to the Catholic Ministries Appeal. Please participate!! We need everyone’s help!! To make a pledge, simply fill out the form below and place it in the collection basket or mail it back to the parish office. No down payment is necessary. The diocese will send monthly reminders. To help you decide here are some sug-gested gift plans:

$90 pledge = $30 per month $60 pledge = $20 per month

One time payment = any amount

Whatever you are able to give, large or small will be accepted gratefully. For more information or to make an online donation you go to the CMA website at www.CatholicMinistriesAppeal.org Thank you for your support & continued generosity.

John Romaine – CMA Chairperson

Please make check payable to: Catholic Ministries Appeal Pledge: $________

Down Payment: $________

Balance: $________

Parish:__________________________________ Payment Plan: __Monthly __Quarterly Name:_____________________________ __Annually __Other

Address:_________________________________

City, State, Zip:___________________________

Phone:_________________Donor Signature________________________Date________

51,100

42,803

51,256

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

GOAL TO DATE LAST YEAR

TOTALS for the 2016 APPEAL

Parish Goal: $50,800 Number of Pledges: 241 Total Amount Pledged: $51,256 Parish Rebate: $10,800

2017 TO DATE Goal: $51,100 Number of Pledges: 195 Amount Pledged: $42,803

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

SUNDAY, December 17th, 2017

Shop for everyone on your gift list this holiday at http://smile.amazon.com/ch/11-2898829 and Ama-zon donates to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church. #YouShopAmazonDonates

YOUTH GROUP

PLEASE CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING

We are looking for young adults around the ages of 18 to 25 to join us at Youth Group as small group leaders. Youth group meets every other Friday from 7pm to 9pm from October to early June. This is our 5th year and we have about 40 steady members. Many of the successful YG's devote the first 15 minutes of the meeting to small groups. It consists of one young adult leader and about 4 or 5 members. The idea behind this is that this group becomes a comfortable place for our young members to share experiences with the others in the group and form a bond where they feel safe to discuss issues they may not feel comfortable sharing with a larger group. Since our YG consists of grades 6 through 12, with some college students also involved, we would like the small groups to be all the same grade. This way the children start the meeting with their own age group and then we all interact together. We have been extremely fortunate to have our college age kids as great role models for our younger ones, and it is amazing to me to see such a wide range of ages all participating in games and events together! If you are interested please contact Joy Milillo at joym8103@yahoo.com or (home) 631-585-0938 or (cell) 631-664-4915

ARE YOU A REGISTERED PARISHIONER? Many parishioners support St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in the weekly collection and we do not have them listed in our census. We would like to make sure you are given proper credit for your donations. Please fill in the bottom of this page and we will send you a registration form. ***You are not automatically registered if you received a sacrament in the parish, i.e. Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony, etc.

NAME________________________________ ADDRESS_______________________________ _________________________________________ Phone___________________________________

BAPTISMS

Owen Michael Wetherell Christopher Robert Lerro

If you are available during the winter

months and able to help shovel the

Church sidewalks and entrances,

please contact Lori in the office @

631-737-4388 to have your name

and number added to our call list.

Thank you

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

SUNDAY, December 17th, 2017

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

SUNDAY, December 17th, 2017

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

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