Church of the Ascension

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Ascension,

Last Sunday, Pope Francis opened the Synod on Synodality with a special Mass at St. Peter’s in Rome. The official name of the synod is “ Towards a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.” The Synod on Synodality will be two years in length with an end goal of making the Church more synodal. The word synod actually goes back to the gospel story of Emmaus -- with Jesus walking together with his disciples after the Resurrection. For Pope Francis, a church that is synodal is a church that can come together, share their experiences and listen to one another without making any judgements.

This is the first time that a synod has as it’s aim to go to every parish of every diocese throughout the world to get all the baptized throughout the globe to understand that they have a voice in the church -- particularly in this process. There will three phases to this Synod. The first phase is a Diocesean phase -- it starts this month and that goes until April of next year. That information and feedback will then get synthesized and then will go to the Conference of Bishops. In this case it will go to the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.) Second is the Continental phase, and then finally in October of 2023, it goes to a universal phase. That final phase will take place in Rome to bring it all together.

The Pope put it quite well in his homily last Sunday. He talked about the fact that we as the people of God are all in movement. We are all moving to our final destiny with God. So by nature, the Church is something in movement and the pope wants that movement to be experienced at the local level -- not just at the top level of the Bishops’ Conferences, but in every parish. He hope that at the end of this process we will have -- not another church, but a different Church. Hopefully very soon we will be hearing about what our participation will look like on a parish level. I know a lot of people here at Ascension are very much wanting to have their voices heard.

This year, the Archdiocese of New York will celebrate the Jubilee of the Canonical Coronation of Our Lady of Altagracia, Protectress of the Dominican Republic. The Bishop’s Conference of the Dominican Republic has extended an invitation for the Archdiocese of New York to take part in the celebration which will be held in the Dominican Republic from August 2021 through August 2022.

Today, [Sunday, October 24] at 4:00 pm, St. Patrick’s Cathedral will be the site of the beginning of the celebrations within the Archdiocese. Bishop José Dolores Grullon Estrella, Bishop Emeritus of San Juan de la Maguana will be the celebrant and homilist. The pilgrim image is currently being hosted at the Church of Saint Elizabeth in Washington Heights. We will host the image here at Ascenion from Friday, December 10th to Friday, December 17th. More information will be forthcoming in upcoming bulletins.

Peace,

Fr. Kearney

Estimados Feligreses y Amigos de Ascencion,

El domingo pasado, el Papa Francisco inauguró el Sínodo sobre la sinodalidad con una misa especial en San Pedro en Roma. El nombre oficial del sínodo es "Hacia una Iglesia sinodal: Comunión, Participación y Misión". El Sínodo sobre sinodalidad tendrá una duración de dos años con el objetivo final de hacer que la Iglesia sea más sinodal. La palabra sínodo en realidad se remonta a la historia del evangelio de Emaús, con Jesús caminando junto con sus discípulos después de la Resurrección. Para el Papa Francisco, una iglesia sinodal es una iglesia que puede unirse, compartir sus experiencias y escucharse unos a otros sin emitir juicios.

Esta es la primera vez que un sínodo tiene como objetivo ir a cada parroquia de cada diócesis en todo el mundo para que todos los bautizados en todo el mundo comprendan que tienen una voz en la iglesia, particularmente en este proceso. Habrá tres fases para este Sínodo. La primera fase es una fase diocesana: comienza este mes y dura hasta abril del próximo año. Esa información y retroalimentación luego se sintetizarán y luego irán a la Conferencia de Obispos. En este caso, irá a la USCCB (Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos). La segunda es la fase continental y, finalmente, en octubre de 2023, pasa a una fase universal. Esa fase final tendrá lugar en Roma para unirlo todo.

El Papa lo expresó bastante bien en su homilía del pasado domingo. Habló sobre el hecho de que nosotros, como pueblo de Dios, estamos todos en movimiento. Todos nos dirigimos hacia nuestro destino final con Dios. Entonces, por naturaleza, la Iglesia es algo en movimiento y el Papa quiere que ese movimiento se experimente a nivel local, no solo en el nivel superior de las Conferencias Episcopales, sino en todas las parroquias. Espera que al final de este proceso tengamos, no otra iglesia, sino una iglesia diferente. Ojalá muy pronto nos enteremos de cómo será nuestra participación a nivel parroquial. Sé que mucha gente aquí en Ascension está deseando que se escuche su voz.

Este año, la Arquidiócesis de Nueva York celebrará el Jubileo de la Coronación Canónica de Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia, Protectora de República Dominicana. La Conferencia Episcopal de República Dominicana ha extendido una invitación para que la Arquidiócesis de Nueva York participe en la celebración que se llevará a cabo en República Dominicana desde agosto de 2021 hasta agosto de 2022.

Hoy, [domingo 24 de octubre] a las 4:00 pm, la Catedral de San Patricio será el lugar del inicio de las celebraciones dentro de la Arquidiócesis. El obispo José Dolores Grullón Estrella, obispo emérito de San Juan de la Maguana será el celebrante y homilista. La imagen del peregrino se encuentra actualmente alojada en la Iglesia de Santa Isabel en Washington Heights. Alojaremos la imagen aquí en Ascenion desde el viernes 10 de diciembre hasta el viernes 17 de diciembre. Próximamente se publicará más información en los próximos boletines.

Paz, P. Kearney

Flocknote can help us to reach you where you're already at, in your inbox and via text message.

There’s nothing for members to download, and no need for to sign
up for anything to stay connected.

Organize your network into
different groups, or be empowered
to lead individual groups, and
capture replies in one place.

Please join us in the upcoming

Archdiocese - Wide

Flocknote Sunday

December 5, 2021

To join Flocknote:

Text ASCESNIONNYC to 84576

or simply fill in the
short form directly below...

Vax4NYC Tips

NYC has announced a Vaccine Referral Bonus as the latest initiative to encourage New Yorkers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The City is seeking civic groups to perform outreach to encourage New Yorkers to get vaccinated, and will make direct payments to Ascension Church of $100 for every individual that we refer, and that receives their first vaccine dose at a City-run vaccination site.

Individuals making appointments, or walking up to City-run vaccine sites will be able to select their referring organization ( RC Church of the Ascension).

The individual must receive their first dose in order for the church to receive credit, and no personal information will be shared with the church. 

To utilize the vaccine referral benefit, patients must visit a City-run vaccination site, and must sign up and fill out an appointment slot on

https://vax4nyc.nyc.gov/patient/s/.

Note: Walk-up patients can utilize this benefit, On-site, patients will be instructed to fill out the form on
https://vax4nyc.nyc.gov/patient/s/, and patients can schedule to be vaccinated at Home by registering on this direct link.

To receive the benefit, patients must use the sponsorship field and click
RC Church of the Ascension from the drop down list under personal information, page 3.