Rectory 2918 E. Thompson St. Phone: Fax: Web Site:

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2 MOTHER OF DIVINE GRACE CHURCH East Thompson and Cambria Streets, Philadelphia, PA Rev. Walter Benn Pastor Ms. Nellie Hohenstein Parish Secretary Mrs. Clare Briscella School Tuition Secretary Mrs. Jane Lockhart Principal Mrs. Frances Harrigan School Secretary Rectory 2918 E. Thompson St. Phone: Fax: Web Site: School 2612 E. Monmouth St. Phone: Fax: Web Site: MASS SCHEDULE SATURDAY: 4:30 PM SUNDAY: 8:30 AM and 10:30 AM WEEKDAYS: Mon., Tues., Wed. & Sat. 8:00 AM; Thurs. Communion Service 8:00 AM in Rectory Chapel HOLY DAYS: Evenings before: 7PM Holy Day: 8AM, Noon and 7PM PARISH REGISTRATION Our parish community welcomes all to join us for worship. We invite everyone to be an active and participating member in every aspect of parish life. To be recognized as a member of the parish, one must be registered on the parish census. We cannot issue certificates of eligibility for sponsorship, nor give recommendation for character references if a person is not properly registered. Please register at the Rectory. Notify the Rectory, if you are moving from the parish, or if you have changed your address or telephone number. APPOINTMENTS The members of the parish staff are most willing to be of service to all. You are asked, if possible, to arrange an appointment in advance with the person you wish to see. RECTORY OFFICE HOURS Monday, Wednesday & Thursday: 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM Parents must be registered members of our parish to have their children baptized. Parents also must participate in a Pre-Jordan Class. The Sacrament of Baptism is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month immediately after the 10:30 AM mass. Parents requesting Baptism for their child are required to make arrangements by appointment with the Pastor. GODPARENTS/SPONSORS The role of Baptismal sponsor is primarily a spiritual role to help the newly baptized lead a Christian life. Therefore, a sponsor must be a practicing Catholic, in good standing (married validly), at least 16 years of age, and have received the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist). CONFESSIONS Saturday: 3:15 to 4:15 pm SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY Couples wishing to be married here at MDG must contact the Pastor at their earliest convenience but no less than six months before the wedding. Archdiocesan policy requires all couples preparing for marriage to attend the Pre-Cana Program. Information on the Pre-Cana Program can be obtained at CARE OF THE SICK Before entering the hospital feel free to contact the rectory to arrange for the Sacrament of the Sick. Communion is brought to all of our shut-ins monthly. Call the rectory to arrange the monthly visits. Medical Emergencies requiring the Sacrament of the Sick, call (215) , press 9. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PROGRAM For information, call the rectory. DEVOTIONS Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament - Wednesdays 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM in the Rectory Chapel Novena to the Sacred Heart at the First Friday Mass. Miraculous Medal Novena - every Saturday 8 AM Mass. Recitation of the Rosary - Monday through Saturday before 8 AM Mass. PARISH ORGANIZATIONS Pastoral Council Finance Council Eucharistic Ministers Lectors Cantors Ushers Technology Fund Family Prayer Group Home & School Parish Youth Group Alumni Association Home & School Festival Committee Parish Scripture Study RCIA Men s Prayer Group For information on any of the above contact the rectory.

3 PASTOR S CORNER January 3, 2016 Today is the Feast of the Epiphany, that occasion when the Magi visited the Holy Family in Bethlehem. It is a beautiful story, but one in which St. Matthew already begins to prepare his readers for the mission, message and purpose of Our Lord, as Messiah, all of which will include the Cross of Calvary. Even though He is only a few days old, Jesus goodness is perceived as a threat to some as displayed by King Herod. For others, He has the opposite effect; He draws people to Himself and in doing so, He draws them to the Father. He inspires them. Most importantly, we see in the Three Magi, that He draws all people to God, not just the Chosen People of Israel, but those who were perceived to be foreign to God; namely, the Gentiles. The Magi take risks traveling many days at their own expense, through dangerous lands; arriving as foreigners. Yet, because they are persons who seek to become close to God, they come without fear and only with joy. These men were not fools, nor were they religious nuts. The Magi were men of Faith, and because they were, like Joseph & Mary, their efforts to be holy predisposed them to hear the Holy Spirit of God and to respond to it. They display one of the essential ingredients of any disciple; namely, because they know that God is greater than them, they are comfortable in placing Him ahead of themselves. The burden is not on God to chase them around or to struggle to get their attention; rather, they are quite comfortable in surrendering.submitting to the greatness of God. This becomes their Peace, their source of Joy, their source of direction. Their compass was not so much the Star, as it was their Faith! What can we say of ourselves? Are we like the insecure and selfish Herod, who trusts in only what he can control and destroy what he can t? Or, are we like the sleepy town of Bethlehem who is oblivious to the Divine goodness while He is in their midst? Or, can we say that we are working at being like the three Magi? At this stage in our lives, do we put the burden on God to fight for our attention? Have we worked at drawing closer to Him so that when He speaks to us, we can recognize His voice? Each day of our lives, do we work at making room for Him in our heart, so that when He arrives, we are comfortable with Him and His Way? If God were to perform a spiritual autopsy on you today, what would he find? A self-serving Herod? A spiritually ambivalent Bethlehem? A Seeker; someone who is aware of God s love; someone who is so comfortable with the goodness of God and inspired by it, that he/she opens the treasures of their heart to Him through every person in his/her life? As we begin another year, what will you make of 2016? Where will you let God take you? 067-3

4 JANUARY 3, 2016 WEEKLY MASS INTENTIONS Sunday, January 3: The Epiphany of the Lord 8:30am Julia Panaccio by Rev. Msgr. Gregory Gordon 10:30am Dolly Pandaleno by Family Monday, January 4: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton 8:00am Joe Porter Church by Terry Wahl Tuesday, January 5: St. John Neumann 8:00am Patricia Friel by Your Friends Wednesday, January 6: St. André Bessette 8:00am For those serving in the Armed Forces Thursday, January 7: St. Raymond of Penyafort 8:00am Communion Service Friday, January 8 8:00am For those in the Priesthood and Religious Life Saturday, January 9 8:00am Artemio Manso by Wife & Family 4:30pm Thomas McGovern White-Lockhart Family Sunday, January 10: The Baptism of the Lord 8:30am Don Grosso by Wife Pat & Family 10:30am Anna & Walter Szaruga by Daughter-in-Law Anelka PARISH WEEKLY SUPPORT DUE TO PUBLISHER S DEADLINE, DECEMBER 20TH, 27 TH AND JANUARY 3 RD COLLECTIONS WILL BE POSTED IN THE JANUARY 10 TH BULLETIN Please pray for the sick Especially Jonathan Joseph Devlin, Phyllis Kelly, Louise DiPietro, Jaime White, Ernie Earle, Gus Wildonger, Pat Hart, Pat Grosso, Aidan Blakla, Denise Flores This week in Mother of Divine Grace Parish! 8:00am Mass on Monday will be in the Church MDG s Special Funds? Many parishioners want to express their love of Mother of Divine Grace Parish, but aren t sure of how to go about it. Others wish to make a donation in remembrance of a loved one. We would encourage you to consider one of three ways in which you can do this, by making a contribution to one of the following Special Funds: MDG s Audio Fund, whose purpose is the replacement of the church s current audio system. MDG s Church s Handicap Accessibility Fund, which would finance one of a variety of ways to make our church accessible to those who experience mobility problems. MDG School s Tech Fund, which helps MDG School maintain and replace all of its technology on a yearly basis. For details refer to the Parish WEB site at or contact the Parish Office at [215] FATHER JUDGE/ST. HUBERT FINANCIAL AID NIGHT Confused about Financial Aid for Colleges or Trade Schools? The Guidance Departments of Father Judge and St. Hubert will host a Financial Aid Night on Wednesday, January 6, 2016, 7:00-9:00 p.m. in the auditorium of St. Hubert High School. All parents of Seniors are encouraged to attend; Junior parents are also welcome. Bring your FAFSA on the Web Worksheet and bring your questions! 067-4

5 Reflection by Rev. Leonard N. Peterson The picture of St Peter s Successor, Pope Francis, at the UN headquarters in New York addressing the representatives from nearly every country in the world is replete with meaning. For one such, it takes only a short leap of imagination to see St. Peter himself standing in that same great hall fulfilling the original mandate given him by Christ to preach to all nations. Akin to this is the central meaning of today s feast, which commemorates the manifestation of Christ to representatives of the Gentile world. While He could not yet literally speak to the magi, their presence certainly spoke to the original gospel hearers. This constituted a quiet revolution coming into the world, one without drums and cymbals, announcing a change of heart for all the world to experience. It was a new way of thinking about God. An invitation to believe that the Creator so loves His creatures that He would leave His heaven and walk the earth as one of us. His mission would be to teach us how to live according to God s original design and to redeem us from the bad choice our first parents were duped into making. Epiphany means manifestation or showing. Christ showed Himself to the non-jewish world. The welcome given to these exotic Gentiles by Mary and Joseph also gives gospel notice that no nationality has a lock on God. True, God chose the Jews as His people, but they rejected His Son. Just as God is one, but also a community of Three Persons, so we as Church spring from multiple communities, racial and cultural, are called to be one family. All of this naturally leads us as to ponder our position on all the socalled hot button issues involving other people. Dare we decide that God made a mistake in creating certain races? Or that His will involved setting up grades of acceptability among us? We know better. Such is contrary to His nature. But the practical conclusion is that when distressed people knock on our doors, we can never say no as if they were not related to us in a spiritual way. This is a serious matter for consideration as we prepare for our own ultimate meeting with Christ. Meanwhile, on this Epiphany Day, we can savor the Good News that for all our failings and sins, we have a Saviour whose hallmarks include both justice and mercy. He looks only for our response to the love He has for us as His family members. How appropriate that news is in this Year of Mercy! Remember that Charity is twice blessed it blesses the one who gives and the one who receives. First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6 All the nations come to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and also to praise God. Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 St. Paul s great insight is that the Gentiles are invited to full and equal participation in the Church as true coheirs. Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12 The magi, a caste of wise men, eventually became interpreted as kings in later Christian tradition, and they even received names. They represent the Gentile world coming to adore the Messiah

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