MASS SCHEDULE MONDAY– December 25, 2017 8:00am Christmas Mass Remembrance Noon Christmas Mass Remembrance TUESDAY– December 26, 2017 Noon Christmas Mass Remembrance WEDNESDAY– December 27, 2017 Noon Christmas Mass Remembrance THURSDAY– December 28, 2017 Noon Maureen Whiteley FRIDAY– December 29, 2017 Noon Adolphe & Genevieve Rogus SATURDAY– December 30, 2017 8:30am Christmas Mass Remembrance 5:30pm Virginia DeSantis SUNDAY– December 31, 2017 8:00am Purgatorial Society, People of the Parish 11:30am Theresa Smith 5:30pm Msgr. John Brown 11:00pm People of the Parish Sick: Rosaline Peiters, Annette Petti, Ann Dormody, Jean Chenet, Rosemary Podesta, Louis Cardiello, Anthony Boffa, Ellen Lahane, Julien Dolisca, Frank Incorvaia, Patricia Wat-son, Ingrid Velinskie, Grace Lipani, Carissa D’Alba, Kimberly Palmo, Edwin Walsh, Doro-thy Lasher, Dr. Vijay Anand, Carol Melo, An-toinette Casconi, Dimona Galli, Alexander Eli-as, Baby Charles Richardson, Edie Neu-mann, Michael Serrone, Carol Perrone, Lisa Cullen For those who died–

MEMORIAL GIFTS Altar Bread & Wine– In memory of Catherine Hayes donated by Jim Hayes & Children

FROM THE DESK OF FR. DWAYNE “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

The month of December has always been a month of Joy and Expectation as we prepare for the coming of Christ. It is a Joy in that we know that Christ came as a baby to transform our lives, and an Expectation because we know that he will come again as he promised. This Christmas, we at St. Thomas Aquinas have so much to be grateful for. First, I would like to thank all those who help to make our parish community a welcoming, Christ-like community, every day. To the leaders of the over 25 parish ministries & organizations, thank you. To our staff members, who work day in and day out to help us accomplish our mission, thank you. And to the many volun-teers who have donated their time, talents and treasure, we thank you. We are honored to have Bishop DiMarzio with us this year for midnight Mass. We are forever grateful that out of the over 200 parishes in the Diocese, he has chosen to be with us.

On behalf of the priests and the staff of St. Thomas Aquinas, I would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Yours in Christ, Fr. Dwayne

ROSARY SOCIETY ATLANTIC CITY TRIP

The Rosary Society of St. Thomas Aqui-nas Parish runs a trip to Resorts Casino in Atlantic City on the FIRST THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH. The bus leaves from in front of the Church ( 1550 Hendrickson Street, between Flatlands Avenue & Ave-nue P ) at 8:30am. The cost of this is $40.00, which includes a bagel for break-fast and a $30.00 bonus from the Casino. The next trip is scheduled for Thursday, January 4, 2018 For further details or to sign up for the trip, please call Noreen at (718) 253-7824.

COMMUNION TO THE HOMEBOUND If you know a parishioner who is unable to

attend mass on the weekend, or are unable

to attend yourself, please contact Fr.

Clifford at 718-253-4404. Fr. Clifford will ar-

range a visit and then assign an Extraordi-

nary Minister of Holy Communion to visit on

a regular basis. Homebound parishioners

are very grateful to be able to receive com-

munion in their homes. Please keep our

homebound members in your prayers

PILGRIMAGE

Our Lady Queen of Peace Prayer Group is sponsoring a pilgrimage to Medjugorje,

February 17-25, 2018. The cost of the pil-grimage is $1,899 leaving from JFK and this

includes; round trip air fare, transfers, all taxes, accommodations, daily Mass, spiritu-al direction by Fr. William Elder from the NY

Archdiocese & breakfast and dinner. For more information

call Penny Abbruzzese at 516-644-8421 or Liz at 206 Tours at 631-361-4644

ST. THOMAS

AQUINAS

SANCTUARY STARS

Any Donation of a $100.00 or more made toward the painting of the sanctuary, you will received a memorialized star for you or a loved one.

JOIN ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

PARISH

ON A PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND

Walk Where Jesus Walked

WITH FR. DWAYNE DAVIS

AUGUST 19-28, 2018-$3,899

FROM NEW YORK, JFK

OPTIONAL POST YOUR TO ROME-$999

AUGUST 28-31, 2018

Www.pilgrimages.com/frdavis

*FOR RESERVATION AND

DEPOSIT ($400)

Arrangements being made

Thru– 206TOURS

YEAR OF VOCATION Anyone who has celebrated a spe-cial wedding anniversary in the year 2017 are asked to call the rectory 718-253-4404 during normal office hours.

St. Thomas Aquinas Bereavement Group

The death of a love one can be the most stressful event in a person’s life. A wide array of emotions can be experi-enced, such as sadness, anger, anxiety, guilt, and despair. There is no right way and wrong way to grieve. Each person experiences grief in his or her own way, partly because of the relationship with the person who died. St. Thomas Aqui-nas Invite you to set aside and hour of your time for yourself sharing the suffer-ing that accompanies grieving. We meet on the 1

st and 3

rd Wednesday

of every month. For more information contact Fr. Kieran 718-253-4404

IMPORTANT IMPORTANT RECTORY OFFICE TO BE

CLOSED The rectory office will be closed De-cember 22, 2017– January 1, 2018. This is so staff and priests can enjoy the holi-day season with their families. The rectory office will reopen on Janu-ary 2, 2018 at 9:00am. We are asking that all rectory business be done before that date, there will be no one here to help with everyday business after that. As always if there is a emergency please call the emergency number. (917-732-3349)Have a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year. Have a safe Christmas season.

MASS SCHEDULE December 26, - December 29

Noon Mass Only January 1, 2018 Noon Mass Only

Please make note of this and the Christmas and New Year

Mass schedule

Christmas & New Year Mass Sched-

ule Christmas Eve

Sunday, December 24th

5:30pm- Christmas Eve Family Mass

12:00am– Midnight Mass with Bishop

DiMarzio

Christmas Day

Monday December 25th

8:00am Mass

11:30am Mass

New Year’s Eve

Sunday, December 31st

10:00pm Holy Hour

11:00pm Mass

New Year’s Day

Monday January 1st

12 Noon Mass

January 1st is a Holy Day, not of Obligation

2017 CONTRIBUTIONS All contributions to your 2017commitment to Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish received by December 31st, 2017, will be recorded on your 2017statement that you will be receiv-ing no later than January 31st, 2018. Any contribution received after December 31st, 2017 will be credited to your contributions for 2018. Thank you for your continued generosity to the Parish of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Please be advised that we can only send out letters to parishioners who use the en-velops, we are unable to substantiate cash placed in the collection basket. Throughout the year a few parishioners place checks in the collection basket instead of using their parish envelopes; please know that these checks have not been recorded in our par-ish data program and your end of the year statement will not reflect these contribu-tions.

TAXES AND GIVING AT CHRISTMAS AND THE END OF THE YEAR

Did you know that “charitable giving” is one of only a few tax provisions that was not greatly impacted by recent federal tax legis-lation. Many people enjoy using Christmas and year’s end as a special time to give to their parish or favorite Catholic institutions and also positively impact their federal and state income tax. Christmas and year end giving provides many advantages to you the donor. All gifts, made on or before Decem-ber 31st, are tax deductible for the tax year in which the gift is made. • If you are an itemizer, your gift will less-

en your tax liability for the tax year in which your gift is made.

• If you are not an itemizer, your Christ-mas gift may be just the right decision to allow you to itemize and lower your tax bill (check with you tax advisor).

• Most importantly, make a return to God for your blessings at Christmas and as-sist our Catholic institution attain its spir-itual and programmatic goals - serving God’s people and His church here on earth.

CHRISTMAS FLOWERS

The Christmas Flowers, Wreaths and deco-rations were donated through the generosi-

ty of many parishioners and friends of the Parish of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Thank you all for your continued generosity to the parish and for helping decorate our Church and Rectory. As of December 18, 2017 Marie Alicia Acosta

M/M Joseph Allen M/M Richard Ancona M/M Anthony Arrabito M/M Peter Barbarotta M/M Arthur W. Batson

M/M James Behan Mr. Paul Blum

Ms. Suzette Boiser M/M Parnel Boucher

M/M Eugenio Bracero Otilia Barthold

M/M Glen Bartholomew Annie Boucher

M/M Carmello Calamera M/M Stanley Clements Ms. Maureen Clifford M/M Joseph Corda M/M Gilberto Craig

Mrs. Lourdes Christophe Fr. Dwayne Davis

M/M Kenneth Dean Angela DeLessio Jacqueline Destin

Myriam Destin Nicola DeVito

Ms. Concepcion Dionson Ms. Julia Diorio

M/M Thomas F. Donahue Mrs. Ann Dormody M/M Patrick Durkin

Brenda Dover Micheline Edmee

Flora Espirosa Jonathan Evans

Ernest Enayo Debra Felix

Ms. Dorothy Ferguson Mrs. James Flynn Yolanda Francis

M/M Thomas Faherty

F. Nau Mrs. Margaret Nelson

Ms. Joyce Nelson M/M Edward Nestor

M/M Max Nieves M/M Jean Odenat

M/M Michael O’Shea

Ms. Kathleen Galli M/M Frank Garland

Claudette Glen Harvey Greenidge Ms. Marie Guirand Mrs. Joan Heaney Mr. Peter Hickey

Maria Paz Hontiveros M/M Melvin B. Hugo

Mrs. Rosemary Hughes Ms. Merlyn Hewitt Mr. James Hayes Pablo Hernandez

Mirlene Jean M/M Presmy Jean-Louis

Ms. Eileen Jordan Marie Jean-Brown Chantalle Jones

Lydia King Mrs. Eva Krainchich

Miss Julia Kubis Ms. Angelina Kubis

Gloria Kates Mrs. Ann Labisi

M/M Ronald Lespinasse M/M Remy Louis

Miss Catherine Liberatori M/M Michael Louie

M/M Salvatore Leone Marie Langone John Lucenti Aida Litonjua

M/M Vito Martino Mrs. Eleanor Marzano

M/M Michael Mc Donald M/M Richard Mc’Grath M/M Jerome McKinney

Miss Marie Moise M/M James Morrissey

Dominick Mottola Myrtha Michel

M/M Vito Martino Bruno Moreau

Carol MsFarlane M/M James Mahaney

Ms. Lisa Malcom Gail Monsegue Marie Matteis

Gladys Pascal Miss Peggy Pascal

M/M Joseph Pasqua M/M William Pasterak Dr. Mario Patlingrao M/M Pablo Peralta

Miroslava Polakowski Ms. Amy Pasterak Mr. Frank Pasterak

Mr. William Pasterak III M/M Anthony Quaranta Mrs. Frances Rapisarda

Angela Reed M/M Humberto Rendon M/M Manuel Rodriguez

Barbara Rogus M/M Ronald Russo

Miss Deborah Sankey Ronald Savarese

M/M Michael Seidita M/M John Sloan Ms. Maina Small

M/M Christopher Spinelli M/M Anthony Sylvester

M/M Gregory Taylor M/M James Tobin

M/M Ray Ulasi Carmencita Vega

M/M Matthew Williams Mr. Ronald Woodroffe M/M Wm. Woodroffe M/M William Young

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM FR. DWAYNE

In order to give letters of recommenda-tion, letters attesting to character, sponsor certificates, and other documents that may have legal or religious purposed, it is required that persons requesting those documents.

Be registered and be active members of

St. Thomas Aquinas Parish (Parishioners with envelopes for

at least 6 months) We cannot give any of these documents to persons

not register in the parish If you do not have a parish ID number you are not registered

Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas and Rededication of

Sanctuary

In Memory of Msgr. John J. Brown and all the priests who have

served our Parish

Calendar of Events Saturday, January 20 through Sunday, January 28 Blessing with the relic of St. Thomas

Aquinas after each Mass Sunday, January 21 at 1 PM

Sunday Afternoon Movie

January 23 & 24 at 7:30 PM

Retreat on St. Thomas Aquinas & the Spiritual Life with Msgr. Thomas G Caserta, Pastor-The Shrine Church of St. Bernadette

Sunday, January 28 at 11:30 AM

Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas Rededication Mass with Bishop Raymond Chappetto followed by an International Feast

All are Welcome