Lenten Confessions

Reconciliation (Confessions) Monday is April 3, 2023. Confessions will be heard on that day at the Church of St. Boniface Martyr Parish, Sea Cliff, NY from 2 to 4 pm and from 6 to 9 pm. They will be heard at the same time in ALL other parishes of the Archdiocese of New York, the Diocese of Brooklyn, and here in the Diocese of Rockville Centre at the same times.

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Reconciliation Monday is April 3, 2023. Confessions will be heard at St. Boniface Church from 2 to 4 pm and 6 to 9 pm.

Golf Ball Drop Fundraiser: April 9, 2022, on the parish field from 2 pm-5 pm. Numbered
golf balls are purchased and then dropped by a fire engine bucket onto the field.
Owners of the golf balls closest to the flag win cash prizes. Volunteers needed.

Please come to a meeting in the parish school building (Religious Education Office)
on Thursday, March 10, 2022, at 7 pm if you would like to be on the committee.

Full Schedule

December 12, 2021 – Episode 1:  Amazed and Afraid:  The Revelation of God Become Man

December 19, 2021 – Episode 2:  Happy Are We:  Teachings of Jesus

January 9, 2022 – Episode 3: The Ineffable Mystery of God

January 23, 2022 – Episode 4:  Our Tainted Nature’s Solitary Boast:  Mary, the Mother of God

January 30, 2022 – Episode 5:  The Indispensable Men: Peter & Paul and the Missionary Adventure

February 6, 2022 – Episode 6:  A Body Both Suffering and Glorious: The Mystical Union

February 13, 2022 – Episode 7:  Word Made Flesh, True Bread of Heaven (Liturgy and the Eucharist)

February 27, 2022 – Episode 8:  A Vast Company of Witnesses:  The Communion of Saints

March 6, 2022 – Episode 9:  The Fire of His Love:  Prayer and the Life of the Spirit

March 13, 2022 – Episode 10:  World Without End: The Last Things

Thanksgiving Mass 9:30 AM

The St. Boniface Martyr Thanksgiving Day Mass, Thursday, November 25, will be at 9:30 am. There will be no 8 am mass that morning. The Mass intention will be thanksgiving for all the living and deceased parishioners of St. Boniface Martyr Church.

Thanksgiving Day Collection

The entire Thanksgiving Day Collection will be donated to the St. Boniface Martyr Society of St. Vincent de Paul. When you make a donation to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, you give hope to your neighbors in need.

To make a donation, you may use the special St. Vincent de Paul envelopes available in the vestibule of the church or any envelope marked “St. Boniface SVDP.”

You may deposit your donations in the St. Vincent de Paul donation box in the church vestibule, drop it off at the parish center (through the mail slot in the door), or mail it to:

St. Boniface SVDP
145 Glen Avenue
Sea Cliff, NY 11579

The Thanksgiving Day Mass will be streamed live and may be viewed at the following outlets:

• St. Boniface Martyr Facebook Page
• St. Boniface Website
• Free Online Church  

You may bring Thanksgiving food to be blessed to your pew
for 9:30 am Mass on Thanksgiving.
You and your food will be blessed from the altar
while you remain at your seat.
Food is not to be placed before the altar.

Note: There will be a choral presentation of Handel’s Messiah in the Church on Sunday, December 5, the day after the creche blessing and tree lighting, at 4:00 pm. Learn more>>

Ticket prices are $40 per person and include a reception in the church vestibule following the concert. Tickets are available after all the Masses every weekend in the month of November and at the Parish Center during the week from 9 am to 2:45 pm Monday through Thursday and 9 am to 1:15 pm on Friday.

NOTE: The Blessing of the Creche and Christmas Tree Lighting will take place on Saturday evening, December 4, following 5 pm Mass. Learn More>>

See our full Advent and Christmas Schedules:

Our Giving Tree will benefit our St. Boniface Martyr Parish St. Vincent de Paul Society..

You can help your neighbors in need feel special during this Christmas season by participating in this annual event.

Due to anticipated shipping delays and supply shortages, the Giving Tree was set up early this year, and is adorned with tags designating gift cards that may be purchased.

In order to deliver gifts to our neighbors in time for Christmas, we are requesting them by Sunday, November 21. Gift card suggestions are listed below. If you prefer using a check, please make it out to St. Vincent de Paul Society with Giving Tree in the memo area. You may deposit your gift card or check in the St. Vincent dePaul donation box, deliver it to the parish center, or mail it to:

St. Boniface SVDP Giving Tree
145 Glen Avenue
Sea Cliff, NY 11579

Giving Tree Gift Card Suggestions: Amazon; American Express, Best Buy; BJ’s , Burger King, Costco, CVS, Dunkin’ Donuts; Kohl’s; McDonald’s; Macy’s; Mastercard; Old Navy; Starbucks; Stop and Shop; TJ Maxx; Visa, Walmart

Your gift will go a long way in helping those served by our parish Vincentians.

If you have any questions, please call Susan Winslow at 516-671-7058. Thank you for your generosity!

Charity is the cement which binds Communities to God and persons to one another.  – St. Vincent de Paul

St. Vincent dePaul

To date, there have been over 38 million cases of diagnosed COVID 19 patients and more than 630 thousand COVID deaths recorded since the start of this pandemic. It was recently reported that COVID 19 deaths have exceeded the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. These numbers do not include diagnosed non-COVID illnesses and deaths during the pandemic. Even if we were lucky not to lose a loved one to the virus, living in this pandemic has changed so much of how our society functions, including our day- to-day lives, how we care for the sick and the dying, and how we grieve or care for the bereaved. For the majority of the population, coping at this time was extremely stressful as we had to adjust to staying home and distancing ourselves from others.

It was especially challenging if someone you loved died during the pandemic, whether or not their death was a result of COVID-19. Social distancing guidelines made it especially difficult to safely come together to mourn the loss of a loved one, bringing drastic changes to the process of grieving. Routines and rituals that normally bring comfort weren’t readily accessible, which may increase our feelings of isolation and loss. As a result, there are likely to be many other losses that need to be mourned, such as not being able to visit a loved one in the hospital or nursing home,  not being present when a loved one died, or not being able to hold a wake and funeral.

If you have experienced any type of loss, including non- COVID deaths, you may have had to grieve alone. Even long after the loss, the felt grief may be still acute. There is a bereavement support group readily available to help you at St. Boniface Martyr. Every third Sunday of the month at 3 PM this group meets in a classroom in the school. There are no exclusions according to the causes of death, when the deaths occurred, or the nature of the relationships with the deceased.

About the St. Boniface Bereavement Group

If you have experienced any type of loss, including non- COVID deaths, you may have had to grieve alone. Even long after the loss, the felt grief may be still acute. There is a bereavement support group readily available to help you at St. Boniface Martyr. Every third Sunday of the month at 3 PM this group meets in a classroom in the school. There are no exclusions according to the causes of death, when the deaths occurred, or the nature of the relationships with the deceased. The bereavement group is facilitated by two experienced grief support persons. Registration is simple – just call (516) 676-0676, ext 131 and leave your contact information. You may also contact David Meagher at  davidkmeagher@gmail.com or Linda Rose at lrosecsw@hotmail.com.

Diocese of Rockville Centre Statement on Vaccine Exemption:

Information Regarding Requests for (Catholic) Religious Exemptions from Vaccines:

The Catholic Church does not morally oppose vaccines in and of themselves and has never taught that the use of vaccines is morally wrong. 

There is no Catholic moral or religious objection to vaccines in general (as, for example, the ones Jehovah’s Witnesses have to receiving a blood transfusion). 

“Some people are asking the Catholic Church to support a religious exemption from the COVID vaccines. This issue should be properly pursued on civil liberties grounds, or on the grounds of one’s “personal” beliefs, but not on the basis of the teachings of the Catholic Church. The Church cannot say that there is a “Catholic” religious objection to the vaccine when one does not exist.”

Diocese of Rockville Centre

Although taking vaccines is morally permitted by the teaching of the Catholic Church, is there an objection to the COVID vaccine in particular? 

The answer to this question may be found on the website of the Diocese of Rockville Centre’s Office of Human Life, Family and Bioethics (vaccinebioethics.com). 

Simply put, a Catholic can morally and licitly receive all the COVID vaccines currently available, although there are differences between them. On moral grounds, it is suggested to avoid the Johnson and Johnson vaccine and Astra Zeneca vaccines if another is available.  

Questions regarding vaccine exemptions (from a Catholic perspective) have to do with a secular civil liberties question: whether or not the government can require someone to show proof of vaccination to be permitted to do something.  For example, it is well known that in New York State, the following vaccines are required for daycare, pre-K, and all school attendance: 

• Diphtheria and Tetanus toxoid-containing vaccine and Pertussis vaccine (DTaP or Tdap) 
• Hepatitis B vaccine 
• Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine (MMR) 
• Polio vaccine 
• Varicella (Chickenpox) vaccine

Some people are asking the Catholic Church to support a religious exemption from the COVID vaccines. This issue should be properly pursued on civil liberties grounds, or on the grounds of one’s “personal” beliefs, but not on the basis of the teachings of the Catholic Church.  The Church cannot say that there is a “Catholic” religious objection to the vaccine when one does not exist.