We have a new sign up and sign in procedure for Mass Attendees.  First, please sign up for weekend Masses by 12pm on Saturday.  Lists will be printed prior to 5pm Mass on Saturday for all weekend Masses. 

Please sign in when you arrive in the Church Vestibule. The Mass sign up sheet will be on the counter alongside the Vestry. We humbly request for your patience as we try this new protocol:

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.  These are trying times for everyone and we wish to keep everyone as safe and as comfortable as possible.

If you have attended a Mass or any kind of sacramental celebration and subsequently test positive for the Coronavirus, please notify the parish office or call to speak to Father Prince as soon as possible following your test result.  Your identity will be kept confidential.

 

The Parish Office is open from 9am to 1pm daily, however we request that you first try to handle all church business over the phone or by email if possible.  If you need to come in for any reason, we welcome you, please make an appointment before doing so. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this request.  

Please note that the Parish office will be closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Holiday.  

Phone:  203-438-7292

Email:  stsetonparish@comcast.net

Please disregard any email that you may have received from Father Prince requesting help of any kind, such as the assistance with the purchase of gift cards. This is a scam. 

It is with great gratitude that we announce we have successfully reached our 2020 Annual Catholic Appeal goal. The parishioners of Saint Elizabeth Seton raised 214 gifts worth $94,517 from 176 donors bringing the parish to 100.02% of its $94,500 goal.  

Please join us is praying for Matthew Johnston and Megan Golden as they prepare for the Sacrament of Marriage.

If we could summarize the Gospel reading for us in one sentence it might come out something like this: “Jesus has called each of us in our hearts by name to be his disciples.”  Let’s consider why this is so.

First of all, it is Jesus who calls us.  But who is Jesus?  Jesus is God in human flesh. At Jesus’ baptism (we heard in the Gospel last Sunday) the divine Trinity was revealed to us since the voice of the Father approved the work of his Son, Jesus Christ, who was empowered by the Spirit.  Therefore, God in all three persons approves of all that Jesus does in God’s name.  When Jesus calls us, it is God who is calling us.

What does it mean to be called?  The English word comes from the Greek word “Kaleo” and it means to command or request to be present, to come and be present. Who exactly are we who Jesus calls?  We are ordinary people, just like his disciples. They were simple folks, fishermen. They weren’t the learned of their day, or wealthy. They lived simple, ordinary lives, just like we do.  Jesus comes to us exactly where we are.

Jesus calls us each by name.  What is in a name?  It is the distinctive designation of a person or a thing.  It is opposite of something which is nameless, anonymous, or indistinquishable from something else which is just like it.  It is the ultimate sign of respect.

It makes me upset when I interact with young people who know my name but don’t use it. I feel it reduces me to the status of anyone in the nameless crowd, someone we meet on the street. That is why I try so hard to get to know all of you by name, which of course leads me into some embarrassing situations.  In any case, it is Jesus, God who calls us each by name in the depths of our hearts.

In today’s gospel, John uses names throughout the reading.  John sees Jesus and refers to him as the “Lamb of God.”  When Jesus sees the disciples following him and asks them what they are looking for, they address him as “Rabbi.”  Then Andrew finds his brother, Simon and tells him that he has found the “Messiah,” or the “Anointed One.”  Finally, Jesus speaks to Simon and calls him “Cephas,” or Peter.  None of these people are addressed impersonally as “Hey, You!”  No they are people with a distinct identity.  God does not address us impersonally either.  He calls us each by name.  Jesus does not ask us to come to him in a group.  No, he speaks to us individually in our hearts.  There is a story I have used in the past, which I can’t resist repeating here.

A four-year old girl was at the pediatrician’s office for a check up.  As the doctor looked into her ears with an otoscope, he asked her, “Do you think that I’ll find big bird in here?”  The little girl remained silent.  Next, the doctor took a tongue depressor and looked down her throat.  He asked her, “Do you think I’ll find the cookie monster down here?”  Again, the girl did not answer him.  Finally, the doctor put a stethoscope to her chest.  As he listened to her heartbeat, he asked, “Do you think I’ll hear barney in here?  At that, the little girl looked up with her eyes wide and said, “Oh, no!  Jesus is in my heart, and barney is on my underpants.”

God no longer speaks to us in a voice that we can hear, as he spoke to Samuel in our first reading.  And since he can no longer call us physically as he did his first disciples, Jesus calls us in the depths of our hearts.  So, Jesus calls us each by name to be his disciples.  What is a disciple?  It means a person who wants to learn, who wants to follow the master, who wants to grasp another’s teaching.  The fact that you go to a weekend mass means that you are eager to grasp Jesus’ teachings. Why is this important?  Because they can make a significant difference in your life and mine.

Jesus calls us each by name to be his disciples.   But recognizing the call is another story.  In our first reading for this weekend, God called Samuel three times by name, you notice, before Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling Samuel. Next week we will be discussing Jonah’s reaction to God’s call, which was anything but wholehearted.  Each of us has to look deeply into our own hearts and discern how Jesus is speaking to us.  And once we’ve heard his voice, we need to respond as Samuel did.  “Here I am, Lord, your servant is listening.”

We wish to thank all of our parishioners who have been mailing in or dropping off their donations, and those who have signed up for Online Giving.  We appreciate your generosity and desire to continue to support the parish.  

Please note that we have upgraded our Online Giving Platform.  It is very user friendly.  If you shop or do your banking on-line please consider this format for your donations.  You have the option to make a one time gift or set up a recurring cycle that suits your timing and budget  You can visit the site by clicking the button below.

If you would like to make a one time donation to our Sunday Collection, please click on the button below.  

 

If you would like assist a family in need and add a gift to our Family Assistance Fund, you can do so by clicking the link below.