CONTACT INFORMATION

Main Office 607/273-6121 Fax: 607/273-0185

www.immconch.org iimmacul@dor.org

www.facebook.com/immconch

BULLETIN REQUESTS:

E-mail: iimmacul@dor.org no later than Mondays @ 4PM

Immaculate Conception Church Parish Mission Statement

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church celebrates the Eucharist and proclaims the gospel—in worship, through our love of God and for each other, and with our ministry to the marginalized. We journey together in our faith, united by our trust in Christ’s love and mercy and the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

PARISH STAFF

Fr. Augustine Chumo Pastor Fr.Augustine.Chumo@dor.org x109

Erika Linsdell Parish Admin. Assistant Erika.Linsdell@dor.org x101

Gary Vrabel Music Ministry Gary.Vrabel@dor.org ext. 102 Emmanuel Berrido Music Emmanuel.Berrido@dor.org 786-312-9708

David Zellinger Finance Director David.Zellinger@dor.org

Kathleen Adessa Bookkeeping Kathleen.Adessa@dor.org

Rich Rasmussen Pastoral & Catechetical leader Rich.Rasmussen@dor.org ext. 105

Donald Woodman Maintenance Donald.Woodman@dor.org 607- 273-6121

Dan Hurley Deacon Dan.Hurley@dor.org 585-319-8205

Calvary Cemetery 272-5780 638 Five Mile Drive, Ithaca Mike Moravec

SACRAMENTS BAPTISM: A preparation session is required before the baptism of your child. Please call 273-6121 prior to your due date for an appointment.

RECONCILIATION: Saturday 2:30P—4PM

MARRIAGE: Please call 273-6121 at least 6 months in advance of your anticipated wedding date.

ANOINTING OF THE SICK: Call 273-6121 to request this

sacrament.

HOSPITALIZATIONS: Call 273-6121 if your loved one is in the hospital.

George Green Parish Center

113 North Geneva Street Ithaca, NY 14850

Hours: Mon.—Fri. 8:00AM—4:00PM Closed for Lunch

12 - 1 pm

JOIN US FOR OUR LITURGIES

MASS SCHEDULE Monday & Thursday

12:10PM

Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday 7AM

Saturday 8:30AM

Vigil Mass Saturday 4:30PM

Sunday 8:30 & 10:30AM

JANUARY 5, 2020

FEAST OF EPIPHANY

Our Vision: To be a community of God’s

Love and Service

THE NEED TO KNOW

Next Sunday—January 12, 2020 Baptism of the Lord

YOUTH AND FAMILY CORNER

FOOD PANTRY

CMA APPEAL

2020 SANCTUARY LAMP

AREA EVENTS

APPRECIATION

• To all Ministers, Musicians, and Deco-rators for the visual and audible beauty at the Christmas Masses.

• Thanks to all the singers who went caroling to the homebound and pro-vided the joyful visit.

• To the volunteers who provided the delicious treats upon the carolers’ re-turn.

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of Epiphany; the time in which the Wise Men from the East journey a great distance to worship Jesus and bring him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. As I was reading the story again in Matthew’s Gospel a sentence jumped off the page that really hadn’t the many other times I read the story. It is the line in which Herod tells the Wise Men to “go and search diligently for the child...” Herod isn’t saying to simply TRY to find Jesus but if not then no worries. He tells them to search “DILIGENTLY.” Yes, Herod’s intentions for telling them to search so hard are self serving and he wants to do harm to Jesus. Even so, that is exactly what the Wise Men did; they searched diligently. Their hearts were intent on having an encounter with Jesus. Their gifts were expensive and they brought the best of what they had to offer. We are all called to be like the Wise Men in this story. We are called to seek out an encounter with Christ in all that we do and experience every day. We are also called to bring OUR BEST to him each day in all that we do, whether at work, at school, on the court or field, with friends, family and also the stranger. So, as the Christmas begins to wind down (ending next week with the baptism of the Lord), let’s work to seek diligently for Jesus and to bring our best, not just at Christmas but every day of the year.

The Sanctuary Lamp for 2020 is available for Intentions. Please contact the Parish Office to schedule dates. A donation of $20 is requested and the intentions run from Sunday-Saturday.

WINTER WEATHER GUIDELINES If Ithaca City Schools CLOSE due to winter weather, the Office will also CLOSE. 7:00am masses will be cancelled, however 12:10pm masses will still be held. Check the MyParish app as all updates will be listed. You can download the parish app by going to the app store on your cell phone and search for MyParish App. Once it is loaded, search for Immaculate Conception Church, Ithaca. Click on the parish and you are all set.

• The Food Pantry will be CLOSED INDEFINITELY due to environmen-tal cleaning. We are working diligently to update the process.

• Coffee Hours are also postponed until the parish hall is environmentally cleaned.

• The rest rooms in the parish hall are currently safe to use.

• Small groups are able to meet in the Youth Room while the Parish Hall is be-ing worked on. Contact the Parish Office.

We are pleased to introduce Denise Robinson and Ted Capogrossi as the new Managers of the Food Pantry, who will work as a team to continue the mission of the Pantry. We wish them well in their new endeavors and they will begin their new duties in January. They are currently working with the Food Bank in continu-ing the support to needy families through other locations as we are working to have the basement area cleaned and updated.

Goal $57,152

Current status: 124 Donors Percentage 46.23%

$26,419

Notre Dame High School, Grades 7-12, is hosting an OPEN HOUSE on Tues-day, January 28, 2020 from 6:30-8pm as part of Catholic Schools Week. Visitors can meet faculty, take a student-led tour, and hear presentations on admissions and financial aid. Busing from the Ithaca area is available for interested students daily to/from Notre Dame. The high school is lo-cated at 1400 Maple Avenue, Elmira.

The Ithaca Loves Life local March For Life will take place in Ithaca on Friday, January 24th beginning at 12:45 PM from the steps of Immaculate Conception

church. Save the date and join us!

January is Immaculate Conception Parish’s month to supply basic needs to Catholic Charities so they may help those in need. Items sought are such things as toothbrushes & toothpaste, paper towels, toilet tissue, deodorant, powder, soap, shampoo, Kleenex, detergent, etc. There will be large blue bins at the main (middle) & by the parking lot entrance of the church for your donations. Thank you in advance for your help & support.

SWAHILI CORNER: Heri ya mwaka mpya! =Happy New year Umeazimia kufanya nin mwaka huu? = What have you resolved/planned to do this year? Kufanya biddii kwa kila kitu = to put effort in everything Asante sana, Amani kwenu!

SUNDAY, JANUARY 5

11:45A—HS YTH GRP-YR

2:30P—MS YTH GRP-YR

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7

5:30P—ADULT CHOIR-CH

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8

3:00P—PIETRA FITNESS-YR

5:30P—CONTEMP GRP-CH

THURSDAY, JANUARY 9

1:30P—TITUS TOWERS MASS

6:00P—PARISH COUNCIL-PC

SUNDAY, JANUARY 12

11:45A—HS YTH GRP-YR

2:30P—MS YTH GRP-YR

THIS WEEK MASS INTENTIONS

FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD

Sunday, January 5 8:30AM Molly Elmo from Ann Herson 10:30AM Lucille Dannan from Sandie Sutfin Monday, January 6 12:10PM Jadwiga Engman from Shirley Engman

Tuesday, January 7 7:00AM Nora Ettinger from Pat Welch Wednesday, January 8 7:00AM Bertha & Peter Winnick and Connie Brown from Laurie Myer Thursday, January 9 12:10PM Harry Ellsworth from Mary Kohm 1:30PM Fr. William Burns (Titus Towers) from Edward Brown Friday, January 10 7:00AM Barbara & Roy H. Erb from Roy & Ann Erb Saturday, January 11 8:30AM Joseph Zichettella from Anne & Mary Adesso 4:30PM Ellie Romanowski from Bob Romanowski Sunday, January 12 8:30AM For Parishioners 10:30AM Joseph Zichettella from the Service Team

OFFERTORY AND FINANCE DECEMBER 29, 2019

Plate $8,841

Christmas Attendance

782

Attendance 431

PRAYER REQUESTS

• For a fruitful 2020

• For the success of our parish outreach initiatives

• For the young people of our parish

• For the RICIA Catechumens and Candi-dates

• For the sick, especially those dealing with chronic illnesses

• For the dead who have nobody to re-member them

OUR SANCTUARY LAMP WILL BURN THIS WEEK

IN MEMORY OF MARY HANCY

FROM HER FAMILY

OFFERTORY AND FINANCE DECEMBER 22, 2019

Plate 5,273

Attendance 518

The feast of Epiphany was first celebrated in Africa, in Egypt specifically, where it replaced a pagan feast that celebrated the victory of light over dark-ness. Christian Liturgy took over this theme and proposes it for our reflection in the first reading and in the Gospel. Matthew sees it in the Magi the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies.

Led by the light of the Messiah, the pagan people of the earth represented by

the Magi begin moving towards Jerusalem with their gifts of Gold, incense

and myrrh. The Magi stand for the people of the world who let themselves be

guided by Jesus’ message of peace and love. They are the image of the

Church, made up of people from every race, tribe, language and nation. To

become a member of the Church does not mean that one loses or gives up

one’s identity. It does not also mean submitting to a false uniformity. People

must allow the love of God to transform and bless all cultures so they can

enrich the Church with it. The second reading tells us what would happen if

we accept the Light; we would become one people. A family of God. This is

something worth striving for in 2020.