FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH – December 28, 2025

Please, check out the Hungarian section (link at the bottom) as well, as some Hungarian related news or information may be found only there.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM: Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

TODAY’S MASS INTENTIONS:

9:00 AM Parishioners of St. Emeric Parish

11:00 AM Mary Spisak, by the Spisak Family

MASS SCHEDULE & INTENTIONS FOR THE COMING WEEK:

FROM THE DESK OF FR. BONA: (1) Please, see the schedule for New Year Masses below. January 1^st is a Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. It is also a holy day of obligation. At the conclusion of the 5PM Mass on New Year’s Eve we will have a short Benediction service (thanksgiving for the past year) and at the conclusion of the 11AM Mass on New Year’s Day we will have as well a Benediction with intention of asking for grace and help for the new year.

(2) Thank you to all of you who have helped in some way with the preparations, decorations, singing, serving at the celebrations of Christmas. Knowing how busy a life can get, I appreciate it very much when you make time for the church. It is one way to express our gratitude to Jesus Christ.

DID JESUS SEE THE ANCIENT PYRAMIDS? Today’s gospel mentions an event that is not often remembered: the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt. Fleeing the paranoid Herod, the Holy Family was forced to find refuge outside of his kingdom. They found it in Egypt and it is intriguing to think that the first human steps of Jesus were taken not in the Bethlehem or Nazareth, but in Egypt. It is quite certain that during this time in Egypt (possibly up to four years) little child Jesus saw the pyramids. The Coptic Church takes great pride in this special chapter in the life of Jesus and feel particularly close to the Holy Family, who walked and lived among them during Jesus’ early years as a child. Interestingly, even the Latin Church liturgically commemorated this event on February 17 in the editions of the Roman Missal preceding the 1962 edition. The Mass was titled as the Mass of the Flight of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Egypt (Fugæ D.N. Jesu Christi in Ægyptum).

According to local traditions, the first stop for the Holy Family was Farma, east of the Nile river. Then they continued traveling to Mostorod, a city north of Cairo. There is a spring near the city that reportedly sprung up after they arrived. After that they stopped at Sakha, and is the site of a rock that has an impression of the baby Jesus’ foot. Moving along they progressed to Wadi El Natroun before stopping just outside of Cairo. At this site there is a place where a tree provided shade to the Holy Family. The next stop was Old Cairo and up to Maadi, where they took a boat to Deir El Garnous and then Gabal Al-Teir. The main stopping point for the Holy Family was Gebel Qussqam. It is believed that they stayed here for about six months. Before returning home they stopped in Assiut and then back to the Holy Land (source: aleteia.org).

MASS SCHEDULE NEW YEAR (Holy Day of Obligation)

December 31:  5:00 PM – English with TeDeum service

January 1:        9:00 AM – English

January 1:        11:00 AM – Hungarian with Benediction

AN ANNOUNCEMENT from 40 DAYS FOR LIFE: Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2025 Fall Campaign of 40 Days for Life. God poured blessings upon the campaign and we know 409 babies, mothers, fathers, and families were spared from abortion including the 4 here in Cleveland! Additionally, 3 more abortion workers experienced conversion, and 14 more abortion facilities closed. Praise God! Cumulatively over the 18 years of 40 Days for Life, there have been 26,109 babies spared from abortion, 275 converted abortion workers, and 184 abortion facility closures. Praise God! We look forward to praying with you from February 18 – March 29 in the 2026 Spring Campaign. God bless you and thank you.

LAST WEEKEND’S COLLECTION: Sunday Collection: $2,439; Immaculate Conception: $50; All Saints: $30; Christmas: $935; Christmas Flowers: $332; Maintenance: $1,300; Boiler cost offset: $1,030. May God reward your generosity in supporting the church. Thank you for sending in your donations by mail or using our website https://stemeric.com/donations/.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK, especially for Bev Kimar, Teréz Kalász, Lajos Boday, Márta Takács, Kathy Szabó, Alex Szaday, Virginia Kachmar, Margaret Falk, Mária Hokky, and Balázs Bedy.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE DECEASED: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen

THIS SUNDAY the 11:00 AM Mass from St. Emeric church will be livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/saintemeric/

LET US PRAY THREE HAIL MARYS FOR OUR PARISH EVERY DAY!

Ez a bejegyzés olvasható Magyar (Hungarian) nyelven is.