The Link
The newsletter for The Brooklyn Oratory Parishes

"I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons."
-St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, C.O.
 The Brooklyn Oratory Parishes
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Boniface
November 27, 2020
Visit our website for more information: www.oratorychurch.org
Centering Prayer Introductory Program via Zoom
Led by Jim Connell
Centering prayer is a receptive method of silent Christian prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer – prayer in which we experience God's presence within us. This digital workshop will introduce the concepts and methods of Centering Prayer to those who are new to the practice or those seeking a refresher. Discover a way to "Be Still and Know that I am God." Please register at https://bit.ly/3fZnmBH. If you have any questions, contact Jim Connell at connell.jim@verizon.net.

Saturday, December 5, 2020, 12:30pm to 3:30pm
Assumption Mass Times
We return to 10am Mass on Sunday, November 29, the first Sunday of Advent. The 5pm on Saturday remains unchanged.
From Our Pastors

A – likely unusual - Thanksgiving is over. A new Advent season begins this Sunday, and with it, the preparation for Christmas is underway.

The start of Advent signals the end of the old liturgical year and the beginning of a new one. This annual cycle offers us an opportunity to let go of whatever has been holding us back and open ourselves to new possibilities.

This past year has challenged many of us in unprecedented ways. Our world, our country, the communities to which we belong, our families and friends, have all endured challenges and faced losses. And are likely to continue for a while. One of the greatest losses has been the lack of closeness, so much a part of this time from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

In many ways, we have been on an extended Advent: waiting and enduring, much like the quintessential Advent prophet John the Baptist preparing a way in the desert. The spirituality of Advent reminds us this time need not be one simply of survival. The waiting can be a time of preparation, as was the long and steady preparation for the birth of Jesus. The scripture readings over the next four weeks spell out that long and yet sure preparation for the birth of God among us.

The incarnation took place at a particular place and at a specific time in history. But our faith challenges us to recognize that it also took the cooperation of individuals, most assuredly Mary. The birth of Christ is renewed as each person says “yes”, in hope and with faith, to our God who wants to come close to us in our time and place.

Thank you to all of you who, in so many ways, keep saying “yes” to God through your volunteering, your generosity with your resources, through your fidelity to our shared mission, and in so many ways seen and unseen. Thank you. May this Advent, one unlike any most of us have ever undertaken, help us to prepare for the coming of Christ. Let us embrace the waiting with eager expectation, alert to the coming of Christ in a world in need of people of new life and renewed hope. Let this Advent be a fresh start.

Fr. Mark Lane, c.o. and Fr. Michael Callaghan, c.o.
Stewardship
Thank you to all who have responded so generously to our current stewardship campaign. Please take the time to review the messages from our parish Finance Committee chairs. If you have any questions about the accompanying budget and explanation, please let us know. This information is on the website www.oratorychurch.org. Over the next three weeks we will have parishioners briefly speak to us about their stewardship and the invitation to all to participate as their resources allow.

Click here for Tracy Garrison Feinberg’s Stewardship talk.

To make your stewardship digital, use these links:
Congratulations to Ciara Poalillo and Matthew Austin Facciobene on their marriage! The wedding ceremony took place on November 14 at Assumption with a small group of family.
Assumption Mass Schedule
11/28 5:00pm Deceased members the Monaghan & Slattery Families 11/29 10:00am For the People of the Parish
11/30 No Mass
12/1 9:00am Mae & Salim Karam
12/2 9:00am Moises Abad
12/3 9:00am Rose Doyle
12/4 9:00am Elaine Vekassy
12/5 9:00am Thomas Lobur (1st Saturday Mass)

St Boniface Mass Schedule
11/29 10:00am Dorothy Day (40th Anniversary of her Death)
11:15am For the People of the Parish 6:00pm Ed Wilson
11/30 12:10pm Helena Kim (Anniversary)
12/1 12:10pm Ed Wilson
12/2 12:10pm Mary Jean Wasilus
12/3 12:10pm Godfrey Ogbotiti
12/4 12:10pm Cherry Gordon
Please keep the sick of the community in your prayers: Donna Erdas.

Rest In Peace: Beryl Stanislaus, Helen Jernigan, Vincent Ferrara, Derek Buchner.

If you would like add someone to the prayer list, email the parish office at info@oratorychurch.org or go to the website https://oratorychurch.org/contact-us and complete the form.
Virtual Advent Giving Tree
You can help make Christmas brighter for a child in need by joining Assumption's annual Advent Giving Tree project, beginning Sunday, November 29th through Sunday, December 20. We hope to provide at least 125 gifts to children and youth served by Hour Children. Gifts will be picked up by Hour Children on December 22.

Ways to participate:
  • Purchase a gift for a boy or a girl, ages 5 through 14. Bring your gift, unwrapped, and leave in the narthex of the church, or at the Oratory Residence.
  • Order a gift online, and have it shipped directly to the Oratory Residence at Assumption, noting that the order is a gift in the recipient line:
Fr. Michael Callaghan - Hour Children Gifts
64 Middagh St
Brooklyn, NY 11201

If the shipping instructions require a phone number, please use the parish office number: 718-875-2096
St. Boniface Social Justice Action suggests supporting Black owned businesses for your Friday shopping on Nov. 27. Enjoy a day of free online shopping with Black Businesses from 65 cities around the country in one place.

Honoring St. Mark’s Parish, Turkana
In spirit, let us join our brothers and sisters in St Mark’s Parish, Turkana, Kenya as they honor the patron saint of their parish. Their celebration was postponed from April until Nov 29 due to restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. We ask that God bless them with life and livelihood, faith and community, and the strength to persevere in these trying times. May we add our prayerful good wishes and friendship to their celebration.
SAVE THE DATE - December 13, 12:30pm - Oratory Coffee Hour via Zoom.

The Brooklyn Oratory Parishes 
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Boniface
Roman Catholic Communities in
Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights
Both parishes operate from one office:

64 Middagh Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718.875.2096
718.625.1161