eNOTES FOR DECEMBER 1, 2020
(with bulletin information for the weekends of December 13 and 20 )
Jump to: HIGHLIGHT NEW POSTS PREVIOUSLY POSTED LINKS
eNOTES is a biweekly diocesan newsletter which is sent to the following distribution lists: all priests, diocesan staff, deacons, deacon candidates, bookkeepers and secretaries, catechetical leaders, principals, commissioned lay ministers, diocesan finance council, diocesan pastoral council, and pastoral associates and seminarians. Others can subscribe on the eNotes webpage at www.rcdony.org/enotes.
Because of changes in publishing schedules for many parish bulletins, as of this issue, eNotes is going to be published on Tuesdays.
The next submission deadline is December 11 for the December 15 edition of eNotes with bulletin information for the weekends December 27 and January 3. The link to the submission form can also be found in the menu on the eNotes page (www.rcdony.org/enotes). We welcome suggestions for improvements to newsletter. Suggestions can be sent via email to enotes@rcdony.org.
HIGHLIGHTS
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CORRECTED FLYER
FOLLOW ME: A TIME TO PRAY AND DISCERN VOCATION
On Sunday, December 13th, there will be a Holy Hour for Vocations at 2pm at a parish in each deanery.
St. Lawrence Deanery: St. Mary's Cathedral
(Livestreamed at www.rcdony.org/livemass with Bishop Terry R. LaValley)
St. Lawrence Deanery: St. Mary's, Massena
Franklin Deanery: Notre Dame, Malone
Clinton Deanery: St. Alexander's, Morrisonville
Jefferson Deanery: St. Patrick's, Watertown
Adirondack Deanery: St. Bernard's, Saranac Lake
Lewis Deanery: St. Peter's, Lowville
Hamilton-Herkimer Deanery: St. Bartholomew's, Old Forge
Essex Deanery: St. Patrick's, Port Henry (December 6)
The live Q & A with Bishop, Sister Gregory, and seminarians on December 13th has been canceled.
If you have any questions, call the Vocations Office at (315)393-2920.
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NATIONAL APPEAL: Retirement Fund for Religious
The National Appeal supporting the Retirement Fund for Religious will be held nationally the weekend of Dec. 12-13.
One thing is known with certainty and that is that the needs of elderly religious will remain profound. With rising health-care costs, fewer religious of working age, and a lack of retirement savings, hundreds of US religious communities struggle to provide for aging members. The additional challenges brought about by Covid-19 have compounded an already difficult situation. Proceeds from the Retirement Fund for Religious collection offer these communities critical funding to help meet ongoing eldercare expenses.
Recognizing that your own parish and parishioners may also be confronting financial difficulties, we ask simply that you do what you can to highlight the needs of senior religious and their communities.
Bulletin Announcements:
Week before the collection:
Help our elders. In good times and bad, senior Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests have dedicated themselves to service and acts of mercy. Today, they pray for an aching world. Yet years of serving for little or no pay have left their religious communities without enough retirement savings. Your gift to the Retirement Fund for Religious helps provide medications, nursing care, and other necessities. Please be generous.
Week of the Collection:
Make a difference. “Every dollar makes a difference in covering our expenses,” says a Trappist abbot. Hundreds of US religious communities struggle to provide for aging members because most senior Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests served for little pay. Your gift to the Retirement Fund for Religious helps these communities bridge the gap, offering support for medications, nursing care, and other necessities. Please be generous.
Week after the Collection:
Thanks for giving. ” We are conscious of the great generosity of the many benefactors who support the Retirement Fund for Religious each year, “says a Catholic sister. “Support from the fund has been a tremendous blessing to our retired sisters.” Thank you for donating to last week’s second collection.
General Intercessions
For elderly sisters, brothers, and religious order priests, that they may enjoy the dignified care they so richly deserve as they continue to devote their lives to prayer and service. Let us pray to the Lord.
We pray for the elderly in our nation, that they may be treated with respect and compassion and that we as a society may more fully embrace their gifts of wisdom and grace. Let us pray to the Lord.
NEW POSTS
From The Diocesan Offices:
NEW
ST. CECILIA SINGS--CHRISTMAS: Attention all parish musicians
Share the beauty of Advent/Christmas music and the beauty of your parish churches with your neighbors during the pandemic
Do you miss joining others in song? Could your neighbors use some music to lift their hearts and minds to the Lord? Do you love the beautiful hymns of the Advent and Christmas season?
Musicians, please consider contributing to the 2nd edition of the St. Cecilia Sings initiative. Video contributions are due December 17th. To download specific requirements, click HERE. Contact Fr. Bryan Stitt at the Worship Office for more information: bstitt@rcdony.org
NEW
CATHOLIC WAR VETERANS AND AUXILIARY: Recruiting members
The Department of New York Catholic War Veterans (CWV) and Auxiliary are launching a campaign to recruit membership in our organizations. The organizations success depends on active membership, participation and volunteerism. The CWV and Auxiliary belong to the people they serve and the communities we live in. Join us in camaraderie and in service for our Church and our Catholic way of life.
Requirements: Specific "wartime" service is not required to become a member. Any baptized Catholic serving in the Armed Forces or discharged under honorable conditions for a period of 90 days or longer, including time served in the Reserves and National Guard, is eligible for membership in the CVW. The Catholic War Veteran's Auxiliary is open to any baptized Catholic man or woman related within 2 degrees to a veteran or currently serving member of the Armed Forces. The veteran or serviceman or servicewoman can be of any faith. Active duty men and women will have the dues waived until separated from active service.
For further information and membership application visit our web site cwv.org or contact John O’Shea at 516-316-4221 or joshea112@hotmail.com.
Regular Features:
NEW
SAFE ENVIRONMENT CORNER: Did you know?
Did You Know…all parish and Diocesan employees, and volunteers who work with minors must complete safe environment (VIRTUS) refresher training every seven years. Refresher training is designed to be completed online at the convenience of the trainee. Refresher training topics include boundary violations, vulnerable adults, and healthy relationships for teens. Refresher modules can be completed in approximately 30 minutes. For more information, please contact the Safe Environment Office https://www.rcdony.org/safe-environment.html
NEW
PLANNED GIVING: Leaving a Legacy
Think about the part you want to play in our parish’s future. You have the opportunity to support this ministry in many ways. Naming our parish as a beneficiary in your estate plan or the making of an endowment gift can assure your continued participation in this ministry far into the future. For further information, contact Scott Lalone, Executive Director of Development/Foundation at the Diocese of Ogdensburg at 315-393-2920 or slalone@rcdony.org.
NEW
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP:
(for the december 12/13 Bulletin)
Some Green Tips for Celebrating Christmas
1 - Most of us love a bit of festive decoration and fancy wrapping and cards. But research suggests that the paper waste over the Christmas season is equivalent to 5-12 million liters of biofuel – enough to power a burst to go the moon 20 times. Be creative and use alternative gift wrapping that can be recycled, reused or repurposed.
2 - Why not make your own Christmas decorations? Foraging for pine cones and evergreens is the perfect excuse to go for a walk and enjoy the beauties of God’s creation.
3 - Be creative and share some favorite recipes. Decorate Mason jars and fill with dry ingredients for homemade hot chocolate mix, brownie mix, family cookies or soup mixes along with directions.
"When we recall Christmas pasts, the simplest things give off the greatest glow of happiness." Bob Hope
NEW
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP:
(for the December 19/20 Bulletin)
What about the Christmas tree? If you have chosen a fresh cut tree to grace your home with its beauty and lovely scent during your celebration of Christmas, what do you do with it after? More Christmas trees get recycled now than even 10 years ago. Check with your local village/city officials and ask if they collect them. If not, see if your area recycling center accept them. Trees can be shredded, then used as mulch on plants in parks, woodland paths (for an instant evergreen forest smell) or else decompose and recycled as compost. Some people put them in their backyard to feed the winter birds. Attaching pine cones to the branches stuffed with peanut butter provides rich treats and energy in the cold days for our feathered friends. In the Spring plant a tree to replace the one that was used to celebrate our Savior’s birth. If no space, donate to an organization that plants trees either locally or globally to purify the air.
Parish Events and Notifications
No new parish events were submitted. Please check your parish bulletins and previously posted submissions below.
PREVIOUSLY POSTED
The Diocese of Ogdensburg is actively following the directive of the county public health departments to ensure that all diocesan parishes, schools, ministries, and charities are responding appropriately to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). For up-to-date diocesan resources, live-streamed Masses, and other information related to the Coronavirus pandemic, please visit www.rcdony.org/covid-19 .
Modification to Pandemic Protocols from October 2
After prayerful consideration and extensive review of current data and guidance, Bishop Terry R. LaValley is revising some of the protocols regulating how we worship. Details are can be found in the YouTube video above, or in the North Country Catholic Article, available HERE. For up-to-date diocesan resources and information related to the Coronavirus pandemic, please visit www.rcdony.org/covid-19 .
Parishes are encouraged to share the information found on this page with parishioners via their websites, social media or any other available communications methods. 
Mary Immaculate, our Mother and our Patroness,
we ask you to intercede for us with your Son,
as you did at the wedding in Cana.
Pray for us, loving Mother,
and gain for our diocese, our nation and our world,
for our families and loved ones,
the protection of your Maternal mantle from this dreaded virus.
In this time of trial and testing,
teach all of us to love one another and to be patient and kind.
Help us to bring the peace and healing Presence of Jesus to our land and to our hearts.
We come to you with confidence,
knowing that you are our compassionate mother,
health of the sick and cause of our joy.
Keep us in the embrace of your arms,
Help us always to know the love of your Son, Jesus our Lord.
AMEN.
CELEBRATING ADVENT WELL
Family Life:
Celebrating Advent and Christmas takes a lot of advanced preparation. For information and ideas about how to celebrate these seasons well, please check out our Advent webpage: https://www.rcdony.org/family-life/advent.
Evangelization:
Suggested resources for parishes can be found on the Evangelization blog: https://www.rcdony.org/evangelization
WORSHIP NOTES: Winter 2020
The Office of Worship has published Worship Notes for Winter 2020 with information for the beginning of the new Liturgical Year. These notes are available on Pastoral Documentation or may also be downloaded HERE. The Worship notes make reference to the Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto on December 10. In June, the famous Litany associated with Our Lady of Loreto was updated with three new invocations. The updated litany can be downloaded by clicking the following link: LITANY.
ADVOCACY IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND
You now have the tools to make your voice heard to your elected officials right in the palm of your hand. The Catholic Action Network (CAN) can text critical advocacy alerts directly to your smartphone, with links to quickly send messages to your elected officials on urgent issues of the day. To sign up, just text the word CAN to 50457. You’ll immediately receive a one-time link to complete your registration, which is free. Please consider signing up today.
More information is available at https://www.nyscatholic.org/nys-catholic-conference-action-center/
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YOUNG ADULT ADVENT OPPORTUNITY
Sarah Anderson of Our Lady of the Adirondack House of Prayer forwarded this advent opportunity for Young Adults organized by the members of the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS), a lay order of Franciscans. The Securlar Franciscan Order lives the Gospel life according to St. Francis and St. Claire of Assisi, however, we live it out in the world. One of their apostolates is outreach to younger people. As part of this outreach, they have a ministry called Holy Spirits – similar to Theology on Tap, but it is Franciscan. Lately due to Covid-19 – this ministry has been moved online and it is now Virtual Holy Spirits. For Advent, they are welcoming everyone as a way to move from the disunity of our current election process to a more unified community of people preparing for the coming of Christ by discussing Fratelli Tutti. We invite you, and anyone else you may bring with you to log in and enjoy. This is not a lecture. It is a 15 minute speaker and a 45 minute discussion on Wednesdays at 8pm, Eastern Standard Time starting on Dec 2, 2020 and ending on Dec 23. For information about our speakers please see the Virtual Holy Spirits Series Facebook group or email me at youngfranciscan@gmail.com. The link to the zoom sessions is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86323320660. All Are Welcome.
USCCB SURVEY ON LAY ECCLESIAL MINISTRY: Attention All Lay Persons Engaged In Ministry In The Church
The USCCB would like to learn more about the realities facing lay ecclesial ministers across the country. To achieve that, the USCCB has created a survey that any and all lay leaders are invited to fill out: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M6FH8BH
The purpose of this survey is to get a snapshot of the current landscape of lay ecclesial ministry in the Church in the U.S today; to hear how the pandemic has affected them; to understand the impact of the bishops’ document on lay ecclesial ministry, Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord; and to ask how the USCCB can support and advocate for lay ecclesial ministers throughout the United States, most especially at this uncertain time.
The deadline for filling out the survey is December 15, 2020. Thank you in advance for passing this survey to any lay person engaged in ministry in the Church.
ONGOING
IRON SHARPENS IRON PROJECT: Videos From The Conference
Description: Check out the Iron Sharpens Iron Project at https://www.rcdony.org/vflc to see the videos from the Virtual Family Life Conference or to submit a video of your family doing something fun.
For more information, contact Steve Tartaglia at startaglia@rcdony.org
VIRTUAL CHRISTMAS CAROLING: All the fun of caroling without standing outside in the cold!
We are continuing our Iron Sharpens Iron Project by inviting all interested families to submit videos of your family singing Christmas Carols. Get dressed up in your Christmas apparel, sprinkle the fake snow, do something fun, funny or fancy! We’ll be collecting the videos and putting them onto our Iron Sharpens Iron webpage https://www.rcdony.org/vflc. For more information, contact Steve Tartaglia at 315-393-2920 or startaglia@rcdony.org.
SUPPORT GROUP FOR SEPARATED OR DIVORCED: Colton and Surrounding Areas
We are forming a support group for separated/divorced people in Colton and the surrounding areas. If you or someone you know is interested in participating, please contact Steve Tartaglia at startaglia@rcdony.org or 315-393-2920 for more information.
LINKS
Office of Vocation General Intercessions Cycle B
Office of Vocations Bulletin Blurbs Cycle B
Office of Vocation Seasonal Bulletin Blurbs