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As Catholics, we hold that the Risen Christ ascended into Heaven in body and soul 40 days after Easter Sunday. Thus, we honor the day, known as Ascension Thursday, with Holy Mass offered as a binding obligation to the Catholic faithful. Join us at Mass as follows: 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. in the Ordinary Form at Presentation Church, 11:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church in the Extraordinary Form with confessions heard before from 10:45 to 11:15 a.m. "Christ is ascended! From Earth to Heaven!"

At Sacred Heart Church, in addition to Sundays, Holy Mass will be offered in the Extraordinary Form on the following weekdays: May 7, 14, 20, 21, and Ascension Thursday (May 29). Masses will commence at 11:30 a.m. Confessions will be heard beforehand from 10:45 to 11:15 a.m. In addition, the first wedding in the Extraordinary Form in several decades at Sacred Heart Church will occur on Saturday, May 24 at 11 a.m. The exchange of vows will take place at a ceremony preceding a Missa Cantata with the nuptial blessing. Banns have been published in our bulletin. Alleluia!

As announced, neither Mass nor Holy Hours are being offered on Saturdays anymore at Presentation Church. Holy Hours (Solemn Exposition, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and Solemn Benediction) at Presentation Church will take place on the first and third Fridays per month after the 8 a.m. Mass. The first Holy Hour in the new schedule is scheduled for Friday, May 2nd. Kindly pass the word! The schedule of Holy Hours at Sacred Heart Church (2nd & 4th Sat. 3:15-4:15 p.m.) continues unchanged.

PALM SUNDAY: Vigil at 5 p.m. (Sacred Heart, Sat. night before) Sunday: 9 a.m. P.B.V.M. INCENSE MAY BE USED., 10 a.m. Latin Mass at Sacred Heart. HOLY MONDAY: Confessions with Fr. Oliver, 2-4 p.m. (S. Ht.). Confessions with Fr. Rojas at St. Mary's Church, 160 Broadway, Kingston from 7 to 9 p.m. (English and Spanish) HOLY WEDNESDAY: At Sacred Heart, 8 a.m. Novena & Mass in Ord. Form and 11:30 a.m. Latin Mass with Confessions beforehand 10:45-11:15 a.m. HOLY THURSDAY: Tenebrae at 9 a.m. (Presentation), Mass of the Lord's Supper at 7 p.m. INCENSE WILL BE USED. (Presentation) with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at the rectory until 11 p.m. GOOD FRIDAY: Tenebrae at 9 a.m. (Presentation), Celebration of the Lord's Passion at 3 p.m. (Presentation), Evening Devotional Service (7 Sorrows of Mary + Start Novena of Divine Mercy), 7 p.m. at Sacred Heart. HOLY SATURDAY: Tenebrae at Presentation, 9 a.m. Let's keep the Paschal Fast if at all possible. EASTER VIGIL: 7:45 p.m. Solemn Mass at Sacred Heart. INCENSE WILL BE USED. EASTER SUNDAY: 9 a.m. Mass in Ordinary Form at Presentation (INCENSE MAY BE USED AT BOTH MASSES), 10 a.m. Mass in Extraordinary Form at Sacred Heart.

Effective April 12th, Holy Mass and Eucharistic Adoration will no longer be available at Presentation Church on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays per month. We thank Fr. Oliver for offering the last morning Mass and subsequent Holy Hour on a Saturday at Presentation on Sat., April 5th. After Easter Sunday, we will implement the transfer of Holy Hours at Presentation from the 1st and 3rd Saturdays per month to the 1st and 3rd Fridays per month. The schedule of Holy Hours at Sacred Heart continues unchanged.

At the request of a number of parishioners, we are pleased to announce the return of FR. THOMAS DESIMONE to our parish for the following program: A conference on "How to make a good Confession AND how to get the most out of the Sacrament of Penance", questions and answers to follow, and then while Fr. DeSimone hears confessions, our pastor Fr. Rojas will help us venerate a selection of relics from the extensive collection of Fr. DeSimone, thus seeking the intercession of the saints towards our sanctification this Lent. Children old enough to understand may attend in the company of their parents or a specific responsible adult. Sacred Heart Church is located at 1055 Broadway (Route 9W), Esopus. Although there is no charge for this spiritual event, your free will offerings would be most appreciated! No pre-registration is required, just show up! Kindly spread the word.

We invite all Catholic men and good-faith male seekers of God to a Men's Evening of Recollection on Wed., March 19th (St. Joseph's Day) starting at 6:30 p.m. at Presentation Church, 209 Hoyt Street, Port Ewen. After Solemn Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, our retreat master Fr. GEORGE LA GRUTTA will preach his conference. Confessions will be available to Catholic men as our retreatants contemplate what they have heard in the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. The event will conclude with Solemn Benediction. The event will be free of charge, although free will offerings would be welcome. Boys old enough to understand may attend if in the company of their father or a male responsible adult.

Although it is on Monday, thanks to Fr. Oliver St. Blaise Day and its traditional blessing of throats will be available at Sacred Heart Church, 1055 Broadway, Esopus. Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form will be offered at 11:30 a.m. with confessions heard beforehand from 10:45 to 11:15 a.m. If you did not get candles blessed at our Masses for Candlemas (February 2nd), there is a special St. Blaise Day blessing available for candles. Epiphany water is available at our holy water tank at Sacred Heart Church.

We are blessed to have from time to time the sage guidance of Fr. Marc Oliver regarding Sacred Scripture. All individuals of good will, including children old enough to understand and accompanied by a parent or responsible adult, are welcome to join Fr. Oliver on Saturday, February 8th from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon at Fr. Grohe Hall (basement) of Sacred Heart Church, 1055 Broadway, Esopus. No charge is asked for the encounter. Bring your Bible if you can!

Although the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the "Roe v. Wade" decision in 2022 by its "Dobbs v. Jackson" ruling, much work remains to be done to restore full legal protection to preborn children in the U.S.A. Nonetheless, January 22 remains the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children per the U.S.C.C.B. In addition to flags flying at half-mast at our churches, Mass will be said at Sacred Heart at 8 and 11:30 a.m. At Presentation, our Prayer Warriors for Life will meet at 10 a.m. for prayer. Kyrie eleison!

As we keep reviving the practice of blessing Epiphany water and chalk on the vigil of the traditional date of the Epiphany, Presentation-Sacred Heart Parish invites all Catholics of good will, whether they attend Mass in the Ordinary Form or the Extraordinary Form, to the rite to bless Epiphany water, chalk, and salt. The ceremony will start at 6:30 p.m. - this is NOT a Mass - at Presentation Church, 209 Hoyt Street, Port Ewen. Kindly being your bottles of clean water, boxes of salt, and pieces of chalk. Although there is no charge for the blessing of these items, your free will offering would be appreciated.

Are you looking for a prayerful alternative to the usual revelry on New Year's Eve? Come to Presentation Church for our 4th annual End of Year Holy Hour, starting at 11:15 p.m. and concluding at 12:15 a.m. Families and individuals of good will are most welcome. Let's give JESUS a birthday gift - Christmas - that HE yearns from us: to return His love for us with adoring love for Him!

At the Our Lady of Guadalupe festivities on December 12th at St. Mary-St. Andrew's Church (Ellenville), our pastor Fr. Arthur Rojas brought a check with the amount of our Thanksgiving Day collections to Fr. Kenneth Riello, pastor at Ellenville, towards that parish's Food Pantry. Our generous parishioners have enabled our little yet mighty parish to give thousands of dollars since Nov. 2021 to a Catholic food pantry in arguably the poorest corner of Ulster County. (Picture thanks to Manuela Mihalescu).

In light of the Vatican's answer to a query from an American bishop, our parish will help Catholics to keep Monday, December 9th this year as a holy day of obligation in honor of Mary Immaculate, patroness of the United States, with the following schedule of Mass: PRESENTATION at 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. (both in Ordinary Form) and SACRED HEART at 11:30 a.m. (Extraordinary Form) with confessions available from 10:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

Every year, our parish honors the patronal feast of each of our churches, thus each feast is a CO-PATRONAL feast of our parish. Just as in June, we honor the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus at Sacred Heart Church, so on November 21, we exalt the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at her church in Port Ewen. Everyone of good will is welcome to Holy Mass at 6:30 p.m. on November 21st. Our Women's Society will host a light reception after Mass at the ground floor of our rectory.

Almost 40 persons, English and Spanish speakers, adored the Blessed Sacrament for peaceful and transparent elections at a special Holy Hour for the Nation at Presentation Church on the eve of Election Day. The service was led by Fr. Rojas, our pastor, in both languages as well as chants in Latin and Greek (Kyrie). Included was the "Prayer for our Government" written in 1791 by Abp. John Carroll of Baltimore, the first Catholic bishop and archbishop of the U.S.A. and a bilingual reading of 1 Tim 2:1-4.

Amid the 150 people at the Annual Respect Life Mass at St. Augustine's Church, Highland, by the Ulster Deanery Respect Life Committee, several parishioners joined our pastor, Fr. Rojas there. After the Mass, a few tables were filled by our parishioners at Novella's Restaurant (New Paltz) for the Annual Respect Life Dinner. Our guest speaker was Chaplain Ayesha Kreutz, Campaign Director of the drive against Proposal One (www.protectkidsny.com), with which our parish has cooperated assiduously in tandem with the Ulster Deanery Respect Life Committee. (Photo taken by our parishioner James O'Connell)

As Mr. Steven Merschen, our campaign manager for the Archdiocese's Increase Offertory Program and Cardinal's Appeal at our parish, visited Fr. Rojas at Sacred Heart Church, blessedly a crew from Timely Signs in Kingston came to install a brand new sign for Sacred Heart Church. The information is tastefully current on the offerings of our parish at Sacred Heart Church. The benefactor, who attends Mass at our parish, has asked to remain anonymous. Heartfelt thanks to God and to him for this improvement!

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We are blessed to have been among the eight parishes in Ulster County hosting prayer chains on Respect Life Sunday. Kudos to the scores of parishioners and neighbors who joined our Prayer Chains on Sunday afternoon along route 9W. Thanks to our coordinators Dcn. Timothy Dean (Esopus) and Mrs. Barbara McCabe (Port Ewen) for their assistance today. Finally, we urge all parishioners and neighbors to vote NO on Proposal One on November 5th! Find out more about Proposal One at www.protectkidsny.com