Saint Mary

Sunday
         8:00 AM, 9:45 AM, 11:15 AM
                       and 12:45 PM

Weekday 
   Monday - Friday: 7 AM and 9 AM

The Parish Office is open
Monday-Friday -  9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
(845-896-6400)

    With life returning to somewhat   
    “normal”, we hope everyone who is       attending mass here at St. Mary’s
     is registered with us. Registration         is easy – online at St. Mary, 
     Mother of the Church (Fishkill)             or by stopping in/calling the 
     office (845-896-6400).

    For any of our currently registered 
    members, please update the
    office with any new/changed 
    information (i.e., new phone
    numbers, land-line disconnections, 
    address changes, etc.).

    Note:  Any person who has recently      moved into Adulthood (age18
    and over and no longer a student         and/or now living on their own) 
    should fill out a registration form
    for themselves – separate from     
    their parents (even if living at home)

  Thanks!

Parishioners have been inquiring about sending their weekly donations to us.

We are encouraging the use of our On-Line Parish Giving Program:   
Electronic Funds Transfer enables    you to have your Sunday offering   automatically debited from your checking account or credit card.  
 
You choose how much to give, how often to give, and what method of payment is to be used. You can     also make contributions to the     second collections and special events.  

Please click the Parish Giving logo above to enroll online
or you can call: 1-866-307-7140

OR

You may leave your donation envelope in the Poor Box in the church or
mail any contribution to us at the Parish Office, P.O. Box 780, Fishkill, NY 12524

Any questions, please call us (845-896-6400).  Leave a message  and we will get back to you at our first opportunity.
                                     
Your generous support, as always, is greatly appreciated.

God bless us all during these trying times and days ahead.

                  

ST. MARY FACEBOOK PAGE

https://www.facebook.com/stmarysfishkill/

We are currently posting both audio and video from St. Mary's (Mass, Rosaries, Stations of the Cross, etc.) on our Facebook Page. The Facebook Page is going to be one of our central means of communication, so we would encourage you to sign up. Creating an account is easy to do. Please follow these steps: 

1. Go to Facebook.com
2. Enter name, e-mail address, birthday, and gender.
3. Create a password.
4. Click "Sign Up"
5. Check your e-mail for the security code sent by Facebook. 
6. Go back to the Facebook tab and insert the security code. 
7. Once registered, type in "St. Mary Mother of the Church" in the search bar on Facebook and begin following St. Mary's page. 
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The Fishkill Food Pantry re-opened Monday May 4, 2020 for those in need ...
You must call to schedule an appointment to visit them -
845-896-4546
 (Hours - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
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Hi SMS Followers!
This year, we will be making a move to have the Script Program fully online. If you would like to support us, please sign up at https://shop.shopwithscrip.com/Login/Enroll - you simply need to enter our Enrollment Code: FAF974L124985 to do so.
This is our easiest fundraiser. Many people buy cards for places that they shop every day like ShopRite, and with the holidays coming up, there are even more opportunities to shop. We appreciate your support very much. Feel free to share this link with others. God Bless you! 

Sign Up

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In this time of need, I invite all the faithful to seek together the maternal intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and I share this prayer with you:

Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, Queen of the Angels and Mother of the Americas.
We fly to you today as your beloved children.
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 nation and world,
and for all our families and loved ones,
the protection of your holy angels,
that we may be spared the worst of this illness.

For those already afflicted,
we ask you to obtain the grace of healing and deliverance.
Hear the cries of those who are vulnerable and fearful,
wipe away their tears and help them to trust.

In this time of trial and testing,
teach all of us in the Church to love one another and to be patient and kind.
Help us to bring the peace of Jesus to our land and to our hearts.

We come to you with confidence,
knowing that you truly are our compassionate mother,
health of the sick and cause of our joy.

Shelter us under the mantle of your protection,
keep us in the embrace of your arms,
help us always to know the love of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Dear Parishioners,

I would like to share with you my thoughts for this year's Father's Day.

One year for Christmas, Fr. Louis gave me a great book written by Cardinal Dolan entitled, "Who Do You Say That I Am?".  It is a book in which the Cardinal wrote a daily reflection to answer this question.  As Father's Day is approaching, I like to share with you one of the Cardinal's recent reflections. 

"I thank God for the gift of my dad, for he was a loving, responsible, caring man. 
His faith and his family were his focus, his passion, and the center of his life."

I am convinced that the restoration of fatherhood as an esteemed vocation in the Church and in our society is the key to renewal and the antidote for many of our cultural ills. By their word and example, dads teach us many important lessons. 

When a man fully embraces what it means to be a dad - to be a father - he is in a position to teach us fidelity.  Simply put, a dad is a man of his word.  He is true to
the vows he made to the Lord and to his wife.  He keeps the promises he made
to his children on the day of their Baptism, when he agreed to teach them,
"by word and example". 

True dads are selfless and willing to make sacrifices, including the most significant ones ... Dads gift their children with time. I remember standing in the front yard, baseball glove in hand, waiting for dad to come home from work. Though he was
hot, sweaty, and tired, he always found time to play a little catch. 

What children think of their dads profoundly influences the way they think of God. 
If they see their dads as loving, selfless, faithful, and forgiving, this will translate
directly to our Heavenly Father.

When I read this reflection of Cardinal Dolan's, I could not help but think of my
own dad,  how he and my mom created a loving home for my brothers and me. 
The countless hours of baseball catches I had with my father growing up and
sharing our love for baseball, I still miss him when I watch a ballgame or
while walking the streets of Cooperstown (Home of the Baseball Hall of Fame). 
I remember the many conversations we had from when I was a child to being an adult.  Lastly, I celebrated Mass with my father, at his bedside, just minutes before
he died.

I think of my dad and miss him quite often.  I think of him especially when I am at home celebrating Mass with my mom.  When we get to the Our Father, my parents and I used to join our hands together.  My mom gave me a very special gift when
my dad passed away ... his wedding ring.  His wedding ring was placed within my chalice.  I am so close to my father when I celebrate Mass because when I hold
my chalice, not only do I feel the love of Jesus present in the Precious Blood,
I still feel my father's love.

I pray that all of you have such a profound remembrance of your own fathers. 
These are my thoughts for this Father's Day, my father's second one in Heaven. 
May our good Lord bless your homes today and always. 

God bless,
Fr. Joe

There is always a touch of sadness in the life of a priest when they are transferred from one parish to another. Although this is a part of our lives as a priest or religious, it is never easy to say goodbye. I do believe you never forget your first assignment.

We at St. Mary’s parish have been richly blessed by the fine priests who have
served here.  I am so grateful for the time in which Fr. Louis Masi has been with us.
I can still remember receiving the news that we were going to get a newly ordained priest. When I was concelebrating Mass with Cardinal Dolan he leaned over to me and said, "I heard you are getting a newly ordained, which one are you getting?”
I said, "Fr. Louis Masi."  His response was, “You are getting the best!”

We have been richly blessed by Fr. Louis. I think of all the people whose lives he touched, the children in our School and Religious Ed., the adults in our RCIA program, the couples he met through Baptism and Pre-Cana, the homebound
of our parish, and the families he touched in tragedies such as funerals and emergency calls.

He was so good that the Cardinal had asked him to serve the people of the
upper counties of the Archdiocese in a special way who may have contracted
the Coronavirus.

Father had an incredible gift to use his knowledge of modern technology to reach those who could not come to church (our Facebook page and live streaming). 
The Cardinal was right when he leaned over to me and said we were getting
the best!

Fr. Louis' last weekend will be next Sunday. Our plan is to invite him back in the
Fall for one last Mass with us so we can wish him well in his new assignment.

Although there is sadness in seeing Fr. Louis leave, we are again richly blessed
to be receiving another newly ordained priest. We welcome Fr. Carmine Caruso
to St. Mary’s who is scheduled to arrive on Monday, June 28th.  He is very excited
to be joining us and I am looking forward to sharing with him our priestly ministry
and the joy of being a priest here.

Our parish is truly a special place for a priest to serve and learn from God’s people.
I know Fr. Carmine will share with us the gift of who he is. I am looking forward to
working with Fr. Carmine and sharing with him our calling to serve God as His priest.

God Bless,
Fr. Joe

Fr. Joe's Full Letter to St. Mary's Parish Regarding New Procedures:

Dear Parishioners,

First and foremost, I would like to thank each and every one of you for your patience with us at St. Mary’s over the course of these past challenging fifteen months. The Coronavirus has not been easy on any of us and we faced an uncharted time together. We have gone through these times and continue to do so with prayer and faith. I have been waiting for the day when we can actually see each other’s smiles in church. We now embrace an opportunity to move forward in this direction.
                       
It has always been a conscious effort on my part when we gather for Mass that each individual person and family feels safe and welcomed in our church. As we move forward, this is still my prayer.

The Archdiocese has provided us with guidelines to assist us in making accommodations for people who have been fully vaccinated as well as those who have not been fully vaccinated.

Starting the weekend of May 29/30, the following procedures will go into effect at St. Mary Mother of the Church:

For those who are fully vaccinated and do not want to wear a mask or follow strict physical distancing protocols, we invite you to sit on the right side of the church (from the center aisle [choir side] to the sacristy side of the church). Physical distancing and masks will not be required in this section of the Church. There will be no markings on the pews on this side of the church.
                                                    
For those who are fully vaccinated and still want to wear masks and maintain physical distancing and for those who are not fully vaccinated and are required by NY State to continue wearing masks and to maintain physical distancing, we invite you to sit on the left side of the church (from the center aisle [pulpit/ambo side] to the baptismal font). The pews on this side of the church will still be marked and set up for physical distancing.

I know many who are fully vaccinated may still feel uncomfortable or have uneasiness about not wearing a mask in public and I know there are many who still have a need to wear masks in public. We want everyone to feel safe and welcomed when we gather and we hope that the way the church is set up will allow for that.

I pray for the day when all of us will feel comfortable not wearing a mask and when we can see each other’s smiling faces again. Until then, let us pray for each other and encourage each other as we journey with the Lord.

Prayerfully yours,
Fr. Joe Blenkle

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Each Thursday at St. Mary's the Blessed Sacrament remains exposed on the Altar for Adoration from 7:30am until 7:15pm. The Lord asked His Apostles to spend an hour with Him in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Would you consider spending an hour (or a half hour) with Him on Thursdays? Stop in at any point on Thursday to spend a few minutes with the Lord. We are also looking for people to commit to an hour or half hour of prayer throughout the day so that there will be at least one or two people present while the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for Adoration. You can sign up for a time slot in the back of the church.

For all updates regarding St. Mary's Parents and Children's Ministry Programs in the time of the Coronavirus pandemic when we cannot gather together in person, including:

CLICK HERE FOR PARENTING MINISTRIES
CLICK HERE FOR BEREAVEMENT MINISTRY AND GRIEF COUNSELING SUPPORT GROUP
CLICK HERE FOR DIVORCE CARE

Please wear a mask when entering the office if NY State guidelines require you to do so.
As we can only assist one person at a time, you may need to
wait on the porch or in your auto until the person in the office exits.
It is suggested you call the office if possible when you arrive
and we will provide entry directions.
 
Remember – we are available by phone 845-896-6400
You can also e-mail us at contactstmarys@gmail.com
IF SOMEONE IS IN DANGER OF DEATH,
PLEASE CALL AND SAY THAT IN YOUR MESSAGE!
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Since we resumed our weekday Mass (7am & 9am Monday through Friday
and 9am on Saturday) at a capacity that more than supports our normal
daily Mass attendance, Mass will not be live-streamed Monday-Saturday.
We will continue to live-stream a Sunday Mass until further notice.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
If you are unable to attend daily Mass and would benefit from watching at home,
there are many possible options: 

You can tune into EWTN https://www.ewtn.com/tv/schedule,
The Catholic Faith Network, or St. Patrick's Cathedral Live online
https://saintpatrickscathedral.org/masses#:~:text=
MON%20%2D%20FRI%3A,PM%20to%205%3A30%20PM.
God bless!

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