There is Still Time to Give to St. Helena If giving to charity is still on your agenda for 2018, there's still a window of time for you to make that year-end donation. Please note that new tax rules have made it more difficult to get a deduction for your donations. That is because the standard deduction is so much higher — about $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married couples who file jointly. And your donations (plus any other deductions such as mortgage interest, etc.) must push you over the standard deduction in order for you to itemize on your tax return. When giving to charity, make sure that the organization is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) organization. Both St. Helena School and Parish are such organizations. If you plan to send your donation via check in the mail, send it early enough so that it is postmarked on or before Dec. 31. Also, note that the mailbox rule only applies to U.S. mail and not to other delivery methods such as FedEx. If you choose to give physical assets, such as artwork, the delivery and transfer of the title or deed must happen before Dec. 31. If you choose to donate stock, that transaction is only recognized as completed once the transfer request has been submitted by your financial advisor or firm. Keep in mind that if you are over age 70½, you can make a donation directly from an individual retirement account to a charity. If your gift exceeds $250, you need to get a receipt. A canceled check or a brokerage certificate showing a transfer of shares won't count. Also note that charities aren't required by law to give you a receipt, so you have to ask them for one. Contact the parish office, and we will be glad to send you one. Furthermore, you must have that receipt in hand by the time you file your taxes in April. If you file for an extension, you will need to have documentation of your gift by the time you file in October. Also, It’s not too late to set up what's known as a donor-advised fund for your charitable gifts this year. The advantage of a donor-advised fund is you can get the deduction for making the gift this year, but decide later which charities to which you want to donate the money. Most major brokerage firms can set one up for you, but they typically have a minimum requirement.

On this, the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas, we honor the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  The Feast has its origins in the 17th century when devotion to the Holy Family was quite strong, but today’s feast was instituted by Pope Leo XIII in 1893 and was extended to the whole Roman Church by Pope Benedict XV in 1921. In honoring the Holy Family, we also honor all families, big or small.  And in honoring all families, we honor the family of God, the Church.  But most especially, we focus in on the hidden, day-to-day life of the Holy Family of Nazareth. St. John Paul II once reflected on the Holy Family, how it sanctifies families and what we can learn from meditating upon the life that Jesus, Mary and Joseph shared together in Nazareth. “For every believer, and especially for Christian families, the humble dwelling place in Nazareth is an authentic school of the Gospel. Here we admire and put into practice the divine plan to make the family an intimate community of life and love; here we learn that every Christian family is called to be a small "domestic church" that must shine with the Gospel virtues,” said St. John Paul II to the crowd. “Recollection and prayer, mutual understanding and respect, personal discipline and community asceticism and a spirit of sacrifice, work and solidarity are typical features that make the family of Nazareth a model for every home.”

Are you a high school senior and a practicing Catholic attending an Archdiocesan parish or faith community? Have you demonstrated academic achievement, leadership, and good character? Apply for the $2,000 Venerable Pierre Toussaint Scholarship. Contact your pastor to receive an application and to request a reference letter. Applications are due February 15. For more info, go to www.obmny.org

All lovers of Scripture have reason to celebrate this day. Damasus was the pope who commissioned Saint Jerome to translate the Scriptures into Latin, the Vulgate version of the Bible. Damasus was a sixty-year-old deacon when he was elected bishop of Rome in 366. His reign was marked by violence from the start when another group decided to elect a different pope. Both sides tried to enforce their selections through violence. Though the physical fighting stopped, Damasus had to struggle with these opponents throughout his years as pope. Damasus may not have won this battle directly, but he won the war by initiating works that outlasted all his opponents. Not only did he commission the Vulgate translation but he also changed the liturgical language of the Church from Greek to Latin. He worked hard to preserve and restore the catacombs, the graves of the martyrs, and relics. Damasus was a writer -- but he didn't author many-volumed treatises as other Christian writers did. Damasus liked to write epigrams in verse: short sayings that capture the essence of what needed to be said. He wrote many epigrams on martyrs and saints. And he wrote one about himself that shows his humility and the respect he had for the martyrs. In a Roman cemetery is the papal crypt he built. All that is left of him there, however, is this: " I, Damasus, wished to be buried here, but I feared to offend the ashes of these holy ones." Instead, when he died in 384, he was buried with his mother and sister.

We invite everyone to bring your Christ Child figure to one of the Masses at St. Helena during the weekend of December 15-16 for a special blessing. Our Mass times are Saturday at 5:30 PM, and Sunday at 7:30, 9:00, 10:30, NOON (Spanish), 1:30 PM, and 5:00 PM The Saturday 5:30 PM Mass will also be the First Mass here at St. Helena for our newly ordained Piarist priest Rev. Vinod Angadathu George, Sch.P. Our Father General, Very Rev. Pedro Aguado, Sch.P. is flying over from the Piarist Fathers Generalate in Rome for the celebration. A reception and the Parish Christmas Party will take place after the Saturday 5:30 PM Mass in the Parish Hall. For more information, call 718-892-3232. During his pontificate, Saint John Paul II instituted the celebration of “Bambinelli Sunday” on the Third Sunday of Advent, which is also called Gaudete Sunday and is one of only two days during the year where the priest wears rose-colored vestments. It is also the day on which the children of Rome may bring their Christ Child figures from their family crèches to St. Peter’s Square for a special blessing. For over thirty years, following the Sunday Angelus address, the Holy Father has blessed the Christ Child figures which the children then take back to homes, hiding them until they could place these figurines in the family Christmas cribs on Christmas morning. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have continued this beautiful tradition, blessing the Christ Child Crèche figures that children bring to St. Peter’s Square on Gaudete Sunday. Parishes around the world are invited to join in this celebration by encouraging young children to make the important connection between the Nativity displays in their homes and those at their churches. Saint Francis of Assisi first created the Christmas crèche in the town of Grecio to assist the local people in becoming more aware of the Christmas story. Fr. Vinod resided at St. Helena while he was a seminarian attending St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers. He was ordained as a priest at his home parish of St. Rita of Cascia in Kerala, India, and this will be his first celebration here at St. Helena. People are invited to receive his First Priestly Blessing following the 5:30 PM Saturday Vigil Mass.

The USS Helena (CL-50) was a St. Louis-class light cruiser of the United States Navy. Completed shortly before World War II, she was damaged in the attack on Pearl Harbor and was at the center of three significant battles during the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific War. She was sunk by three surface-fired torpedoes at the battle of Kula Gulf in 1943. She was one of three U.S. light cruisers to be sunk during the war. In March 1945, for actions in October and November 1942, and in her final engagement on July 5, 1943, Helena became the first US Navy ship to be awarded the Navy Unit Commendation Medal. On April 11, 2018, her wreck was discovered in the Solomon Islands by Paul Allen's research ship RV Petrel.

Once again, we begin another liturgical year with this first Sunday of Advent. And with this new liturgical year, we begin reading again from another one of the four Evangelists as our primary guide in St. Luke’s Gospel. St. Luke, the tradition tells us, was a physician and was a companion of St. Paul. Luke has written most of the New Testament, with his Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles, which details the story of the early Church and its growth. Here’s some things to look for in St. Luke’s Gospel as we progress through this new liturgical year: The Role of the Blessed Virgin Mary – St. Luke gives us details of the Lord Jesus’ life that can only come from the perspective of the Lord’s Mother. The Nativity in his Gospel, unlike that of St. Matthew’s Gospel (who tells the story from St. Joseph’s side), is all from Our Blessed Mother. The Role of Mercy – St. Luke emphasizes the Lord Jesus, not as Matthew does as the fulfillment of the Old Testament, but as the Holy One of God who manifests mercy in Himself to the poor and the sick. The Role of Women – St. Luke tells the story of some strong female followers of the Lord. These women are not Apostles, but real disciples of the Lord. From Elizabeth to Martha and Mary, women are very much in the forefront of the Gospel. The Role of Parables – The British novelist, Charles Dickens, described one of St. Luke’s parables, that of the Prodigal Son, as the greatest short story ever written! Watch for these beautiful stories that the Lord Jesus tells His disciples. The Role of the Gentiles – Just as St. Matthew shows the Lord Jesus as the One who has come to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel, note the number of times the Lord deals with the Gentiles in this Gospel, bringing the message of His coming to the whole world! Yes, this Advent is exciting, bringing with it a new chance to hear the Gospel, ever so ancient, ever so new as St. Augustine says, once again! Keep your ears open to St. Luke’s version, beginning this Sunday!