Welcome to Immaculate Conception Parish!

We wish to thank the Ladies and team who organized the Public Rosary held on Tuesday, October 7th. We greatly appreciate the initiative for this occasion and praying the Rosary is a good practice to continue.

Today is World Mission Sunday. We celebrate this day by remembering our baptismal call—to bring the Gospel to all! The collection today for the Society of the Propagation of the Faith supports the work and witness of the Mission Church, as it provides for priests, religious and lay leaders who offer the Lord’s mercy and concrete help to the most vulnerable communities in the Pope’s missions.

Once again Immaculate Conception is partnering with Cross Catholic Outreach for this year’s Box of Joy Campaign. which helps provide personal care and fun items to children less fortunate in other countries across the world. Beginning the weekend of October 4th and 5th, Box of Joy Shoeboxes along with lists of items to pack in the boxes will be available at the main entrances to the church after Masses. Items to pack can include personal care items, toys, activity booklets, etc. Boxes can be dropped off at the collection spot in the church or at the parish office. ALL BOXES MUST BE DROPPPED OFF by Wednesday, October 22nd. PLEASE NOTE that Cross Catholic Outreach also requests that you also consider a donation of $9 to help offset the cost of shipping the Boxes of Joy to the children receiving your gift. If you have any questions, you can contact Rich at the parish office or email him at [email protected].

We are in need of volunteers to join the teams who count our collections on Mondays, or Wednesdays, if there is a Monday holiday. Teams meet every other week in the mornings at St. Catherine to count the weekend collections. Time commitment might be 2-3 hours every other week. If you are able to assist, please contact the Parish Office.

The local Knights of Columbus Council #277 would like to invite kids and adults of all ages to an All Saints Day Mass & Celebration at Immaculate Conception on PARISH INTENTIONS FROM JOHN BALMER Saturday, 11/1. Mass will begin at 9:00am followed by a Saints Parade, a round of “Guess the Saint” game, and festive “holy” food. If you’d like to participate in the game, please dress as your favorite Saint and be prepared to share a few sentences about them to the audience so we can guess! Everyone is welcome!

The 2025/26 Catholic Ministries Appeal (CMA) theme is “Together We Bring Hope and Hope does not Disappoint!” Last year, Immaculate Conception’s 215 donors made it possible to exceed our goal and receive $1,273.25 back for use by the parish. Fr. Chumo is so grateful for the generosity of our parishioners for meeting the needs of the parish, the cemetery and the CMA.

This year our goal is $68,000. One of the most important aspects is participation. If we can increase the number of participants, we can easily reach our goal. Our hope is that we can do this by Christmas. If we can increase participation by 10% or 22 people/families we can earn a $1,000 bonus. Plus, the parish receives half of the donations that exceed our goal. The funds raised by the CMA are used to fund specific programs, services, and ministries that meet the real needs of the Diocese: serving people through Catholic Charities, supporting seminarian, deacon, and pastoral leader education.  In addition, their outreach assisted development and education for our youth and more.

 If you did not get a pledge card in the mail, there are extra forms available at the entrances to church. Watch our charts and the bulletin to track our progress and hear more about how the CMA benefits the parish. Please pray for another successful year.    

The 2025/26 Catholic Ministries Appeal (CMA) is offering a participation challenge, featuring three ways for parishes to earn financial rewards:

Grand Prize $5,000

 For the parish with the greatest percentage increase in number of donors over CMA 24-25

$2,500

For 4 parishes with the greatest percentage increase in number of donors over CMA 24-25-in their size category. – Size categories are: – Up to 450 households – 451-750 households – 751 to 1,500 households – 1,501+ households

 $1,000

 For every parish that increases the number of donors by 10% over CMA 24-25 Every donor family counts! If you did not participate in last year’s CMA, please consider doing so this year, which will help our parish in possibly more than one way.

We do have Low-Gluten Hosts available for anyone needing them during Mass. Please come to the ciborium which has a drop-down handle as this contains the low gluten hosts. If unsure, just ask the Communion Minister to point you in the right direction. Just note that these are low gluten, not non-gluten.

Holy Hour on Mondays will begin at 6:00pm. Please make note of the time change. We will resume on Monday, October 6th.

Immaculate Conception Church has its own app for iPhone and Android smart phones. The My Parish App allows us to better communicate with you throughout the week and bring you relevant parish news and updates. The app is very well designed and very intuitive. It is a great resource for parishioners by providing daily Mass readings, Catholic news and prayers, convenient prayer and Confession reminders, our bulletins and more. Download the app from your app store on your cell phone.

Beginning on Saturday, September 6th, our usual 9:00am Marian Mass will now become a Regional Mass. We will still feature our wonderful Children’s Choir. It’s a great way to start out the weekend. Bring your children, bring your families! Coffee & Doughnuts will be offered after Mass. 

Kindly visit the lost and found basket in the northern corner of the front entrance of the church and check it out. There are some precious items in the basket. The basket is pretty full, and it needs to be emptied. Thank you! Items not removed will be donated to the homeless shelter.

The Care and Concern Committee of the Church sends cards to church members in nursing homes. However, often people in our congregation are in the hospital, healing at home or are at rehabilitation centers to gain strength. We want to be sure that our church family knows that we’re thinking of them and praying for them. If someone you know would be blessed by receiving a card, please send the contact information (name and address) to [email protected]…so the Holy Spirit can touch lives one card at a time.

Is there someone you know who could use a warm, cozy shawl that comes with a prayer to help brighten their day? We have Prayer Shawls available for people to hand out. These shawls have been knitted by members of the parish with love and hope that they can help make a difference in someone’s life. Please contact the Caring Team or Parish Office  607/273-6121 if you would like one.

Your voice matters. If you have a suggestion, good idea around the pastoral goals of the parish; spiritual opportunities, outreach/community building, youth and family, buildings/grounds, cemetery and financial matters, kindly stop by the pastoral council meetings that occur every first Thursday of each month. You will be listened to because you love your parish.

Confessions are heard every Saturday from 2:00pm-3:30pm in the Church.

Call 273-6121 to receive this Sacrament or if your loved one is in the hospital.

For Baptism, First Reconciliation, First Eucharist, and Confirmation email Rich at [email protected] for information or to register.

Call 607-273-6121 at least 6 months in advance of your wedding date.