Rogier F. van Vlissingen will teach a 13-week class in Quantum Forgiveness at St. Helena’s on Sundays from 3 PM to 4:30 PM, beginning Sunday, January 10 through April 3. It will be a study group on A Course in Miracles, with a focus on the application of forgiveness every day and every minute of every day. Pope Francis calls us to Forgive during this Extraordinary Year of Mercy. Forgiveness is still and quiet; it looks and waits and does not judge. An unforgiving thought makes a judgment that it will not raise to doubt. The mind becomes closed and will not be released. This bilingual workshop (English and Spanish) will center on forgiveness from a very different perspective. Rogier F. van Vlissingen is the author of “Closing the Circle, Pursah’s Gospel of Thomas and A Course in Miracles.” The required text for the class is A Course in Miracles, 3rd Ed., which is available from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.Priority seating is $7 and is limited to 20 seats or one can make a cash donation at the door. For more information, call 917-549-0959.
will be held this year at St. Helena's gymnasium, 1315 Olmsted Avenue, on Saturday, December 26 from 3 - 8 PM. Kwanzaa is a cultural event that celebrates an area's many diverse cultures and showcases the creative arts. Come and celebrate traditional family values, community responsibility, commerce, self improvement, and our diverse cultural connections. The event will feature African Attire, an African Market, cultural performances, speakers, food, raffles, children's games, and vendors. The event is free and open to the public, but participants are invited to bring a donation of toys or books. Vendors are welcome. For more information, contact DeBra Oguamah at 718-409-5253 or 347-525-4943.
Unlike most holidays when people traditionally go out somewhere to celebrate, Thanksgiving is most commonly celebrated at home, with family and friends. In the United States, in 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt established the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. However, there were two very early Catholic thanksgiving celebrations in what is now the United States, and one of them also involved a meal with the Native Americans. In 1541, the Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led a thanksgiving Communion celebration at the Palo Duro Canyon in what is now West Texas., and in 1565, Pedro Melendez de Aviles and 800 settlers gathered for a thanksgiving meal with the Timucuan Indians in St. Augustine, Florida. Of course the most famous celebration is the harvest feast celebrated in the autumn of 1621 between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Native Americans in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Squanto, who was a Catholic Patuxet Native American, taught the Pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn and served as an interpreter for them. But according to the historians, the pilgrims never repeated what most people refer to as the first Thanksgiving feast. In fact, most devoutly religious pilgrims observed a day of thanksgiving with prayer and fasting, not feasting. Yet even though this harvest feast was never called Thanksgiving by the pilgrims of 1621, it has become the model for the traditional Thanksgiving celebrations in the United States because detailed firsthand accounts of this feast were written by both Edward Winslow and William Bradford. On July 8, 1630, puritan settlers observed the first Thanksgiving of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England, and in 1777, George Washington and his army on their way to Valley Forge, stopped in blistering weather in open fields to observe the first Thanksgiving of the new United States of America. Later, in 1789, then President Washington declared November 26, 1789 as a national day of “thanksgiving and prayer.” Thanksgiving was celebrated off and on, but in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln resumed the tradition of presidents issuing thanksgiving proclamations, and ever since that date, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the United States.
The Second Annual St. Helena Christmas Party will take place on Saturday, December 19 after the 5:30 pm Mass, from 6:30 to 11:00 pm in the School Gymnasium. There will be a D.J. and live entertainment as well as lots of food and treats for the children, including a visit from Santa. The cost is $15 per person or $25 per couple and $10 for children 12 and under. For more information, call the rectory at 718-892-3232.
75th Anniversary CDs ARE NOW available either at the rectory or at the Parish Bookstore. The cost is $10 each. We can also mail it to you, please call the rectory at 718-892-3232 to place your order.
Please inform the parish office if there is anyone who IS SERIOUSLY SICK and wishes to be placed on our prayer list or who needs Holy Communion brought to them at home or in a facility. Call 718-892-3232.
These are classes for adults who would like to become Catholics or who have not yet received Baptism, Holy Communion, Reconciliation, or Confirmation are being held on Sundays at 10:15 in Spanish and at 3 pm in English. If you are interested in becoming a Catholic or are in need of any of these Sacraments, please call Fr. Richard at 718-892-3232. These Sacraments will be received at the Easter Vigil in March 2016.
If you are a teen or an adult who has not yet been baptized or received Holy Communion, First Penance, or Confirmation, OR if you are not a Catholic but would like to become a member of the Catholic Faith, THEN we have the classes for you. It is called the RCIA Program, which stands for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Classes are held in Spanish every Sunday at 10:15 am and in English every Sunday at 3 pm. Also, there may also be some other days and times that would be available for the instruction. If you know you really should be receiving these sacraments or becoming a member of the Catholic Faith, contact either Fr. Nelson (en Espanyol) or Fr. Richard (in English) at 718-892-3232 to get more information.
A special thank you to those members of the parish who have spent so many hours cleaning the stone in front of the church as well as pointing and fixing the grout on both the stone rectory stairs as well as the church stairs. The church is looking much nicer because of your efforts, and we very much appreciate them.
Empty baby bottles may be returned to the back of the church to the special table during the weekend of November 21-22. Your cash, coins, and checks will support expectant mother care Frontline Pregnancy Care Centers. Operating for 30 years throughout New York City, Expectant Mother Care counsels thousands of distraught expectant mothers annually, providing free testing, ultrasound, practical and spiritual help. Your gift saves lives. For more information, go to www.EMCFrontline.org or call 212-213-4690.
Recently a person came to the rectory who was hungry and asked if we had any fast food restaurant coupons they could use to buy some food. We see these coupons all the time and usually ignore them, but there are some people for whom these coupons could make a difference between eating and not eating. Therefore, I am asking that whenever you receive or see these bargain coupons that you cut them out and either drop them in the collection basket or bring them to the rectory to help the many people who need them. This is one good and easy way for neighbor to help neighbor.
It was an exciting game. The St. Helena varsity Horsemen came back from an eight point deficit to take the Catholic Basketball League Tip Off Tournament Championship 49-41 against Our Lady of the Assumption on Monday evening in the St. Helena gym. Francisco Mattei put up a game-high 23 points, more than the top two Assumption scorers combined. Our Lady of the Assumption used their height advantage well in the first half. While the Horsemen took a quick start with an early 3-0 lead off a Mattei tip intercept, Assumption came back and led 5-10 at the quarter. However, the Horsemen slowly fought back and tied the game 17-17 in the second quarter, but Assumption pulled out and put up eight quick points and led 17-25 at the half. But, as in any good horserace the Horsemen once again fought back until they finally tied the game 29-29 with two minutes to go in the quarter, and then……. charge; It was full steam ahead, and the Horsemen never looked back, jumping out to a 36-29 lead by the end of the third quarter just after a Matthew Manning three-point buzzer beater, and they then finished the game 49-41, having the same lead at game’s end they were behind at the half. Mattei was the only player from either team who scored in all four quarters, with seven twos and shooting nine for twelve from the free throw line. Manning also scored in double digits, with two twos and two threes for 10 points. Matthew Rodrigues scored six points in the second half, and Sammy Lugo put up two twos in the fourth quarter, as did Jordan Providence. Dylan Carrasquillo also had a fourth quarter bucket. The Horsemen hit 9/17 from the free throw line. Eighth graders Ethan Butler and Malike Diallo both had 11 points for Assumption, which was 7/10 from the free throw line. Congratulations and three bales of hay to the Horsemen for taking the Tip Off Tournament.
The Junior Varsity Championship Game of the Catholic Basketball League Tip Off Tournament got off to a very slow start, with the Horsemen of St. Helena leading Our Lady of the Assumption 4-2 at the end of the first quarter, but the pace picked up in the second quarter and both teams fought hard for the rest of the game. Assumption had a one point lead, 13-14 at the half, but in the end the Horsemen sprinted down the stretch and won 31-26. St. Helena’s Justin Hernandez put up a game-high 13 points. Only John Napoli with 9 points for Assumption and Hernandez scored in all four quarters. Both Chris Colter of the Horsemen and Assumption’s Ryan Picard scored in double digits, putting 10 points each on the boards. William Manning scored his five points in the second half, and Antonio Martinez hit for two points the fourth quarter, while Jose Velez sank his free throw in the second quarter. Assumption was 7/18 from the free throw line, and the Horsemen were 7/19. Congratulations to the junior Horsemen for a good game.
Recent studies show that the Bronx in the unhealthiest county in New York State. “No More 62” is a health summit that will take place on Saturday, December 5 from 8am to 2pm at 450 Saint Paul’s Place in the Bronx. It will feature guest speakers and networking opportunities. To RSVP, text TXTRSVPNOMORE62 to 313131 by November 30. It would be nice to have someone from St. Helena attend this summit, especially if you are an active or retired medical professional.
The Bronx Concert Singers present their 34th Annual Holiday Concert on Sunday, December 13 at 4:30 pm, featuring selections from Vivaldi, including his Magnificat at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1891 McGraw Avenue. Admission: $20/adults, $15/seniors and college students, and $5/children. For more information call 917-743-4641.
The Family Life Office is offering a Facilitator Training Session to learn how to guide the 12-week Catholic’s Divorce Survival Guide course. The Facilitator Training will be held on Saturday, December 5 at St. Joseph’s Seminary from 10 am - 3 pm. Lunch will be provided and there is NO COST for this training. For more information, contact Carmen Noschese at 646-794-3194. Remember, St. Helena is the patron saint of divorced people.
Join Cardinal Dolan on an 8-day pilgrimage to Rome, April 1-8, 2016, and participate in the Papal Mass on the Feast of Divine Mercy. Deposit deadline is November 20. For more information and a detailed brochure, call 516-605-1551 or E-mail [email protected]
The Archdiocese of New York Organist Training Program seeks to provide the qualified keyboardist with the skills and training to successfully serve as an organist in a parish setting through a low-cost, goal-oriented, and flexible pedagogical structure. Ten half-hour lessons are taught each semester by members of the archdiocesan Music Commission. The cost is $400/semester. The program offers two skill certificates. For more information, call 914-968-6200, X 8177.
Cardinal Dolan will celebrate Vespers at the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, 263 Mulberry Street, on Sunday, November 22 at 3:30 pm to commemorate the arrival of Bishop John Connolly, OP, the first resident Ordinary of the Diocese of New York. He arrived on November 24, 1815 to take canonical possession of the cathedral that had recently completed construction. The Vespers will include a blessing of a memorial to Archbishop John Hughes. The Basilica is completing a restoration that reveals many features unseen since the 19th century, including the crypts of the first two Ordinaries of New York.
You may be eligible for SNAP and not know it. You can work and have money in the bank and still be eligible. Many immigrants are eligible for SNAP. Find out if you qualify. This is a bilingual workshop. Friday, December 4 at 12:00 noon at Mercy Center, 377 East 145th Street, Bronx 718-993-2789.