If Ithaca City Schools CLOSE due to winter weather, the Office will also CLOSE, and the 7:30am Daily Mass is cancelled. Check the MyParish app as all updates will be listed. You can download the parish app by going to the app store on your cell phone and search for MyParish App. Once it is loaded, search for Immaculate Conception Church, Ithaca. Click on the parish and you are all set.

On Monday, February 24th at 6:30pm, our Parish’s Holy Hour will be dedicated to all the participants of this year’s OCIA process. Please join us as we pray for our Catechumens.

Ash Wednesday March 5th Masses:

7:00 AM, 12:10 PM and 7:00 PM

Stations of the Cross:

Friday, March 7th. 12.10 PM led by Mercy Associates. The rest of the Fridays stations of the cross will be held at 5.30 PM. All ministries are requested to help lead the stations on Fridays. Call the parish office to sign up. Weekly Monday Adoration 6.30 PM— 7.30 PM

Holy Hour:

Thursdays: 11 AM-12.00 PM prior to the 12.10 PM Mass

Do you want to deepen your faith and progress on your journey to sainthood with a small group of faithful Catholics? If so, consider joining us to follow the path of Divine Mercy as taught by Saint Faustina and instituted by St. John Paul II. We will study the Diary of St. Faustina, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and scripture to enrich our faith and prayer life and to reflect on the meaning and impact of divine mercy in our lives. We follow a created curriculum and do a small amount of reading to prepare for our meetings. We meet every 1st and 3rd Thursday at 5:30pm in the Parish Center. For more information, including materials about Divine Mercy, send an email to brigidcooper@yahoo.com or text 607-227-3884.

The women’s ENDOW (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women) group will resume with a new study on Wednesday, January 18, 2025, at 7:00 in the Parish Hall. New members are welcome. We will be studying Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, God is Love (Deus Caritas Est). From the Endow website: “In his first encyclical,
God Is Love, promulgated on Christmas Day, 2005, Benedict XVI expounds on the reality of love. He knows that the word “love” has been distorted and its meaning tarnished — and this letter calls us back to the foundational truths about love.” Please contact Trish at trickb3@vyahoo.com if you would like more information on the group or this study or would like to join us.

The Seven Sisters Apostolate is a call to strengthen the Church by ensuring that a Holy Hour 1s prayed each day of the week for the sole intention of a specific priest or bishop – a “holy wasting” (cf. Mt. 26:10) or lavishing of prayer for his deeper conformity to Christ. This ministry consists of seven (or more) women and men who each pray one holy hour on
their specific day of the week for our priest. This ensures that
every day a holy hour is being prayed for our pastor. The holy hour is preferably prayed in the church in front of the tabernacle. It is an incredible feeling to be sitting with Jesus in a quiet, empty church for one hour totally devoted to praying for our priest. If you would like to join us or
would like more information, please send an email to
janmnye@aol.com

Our parish does engage in extensive outreach and community building. This is how we try to concretize the message of the gospel in word and deed. Eucharistic life compels us to share our very lives in a meaningful way in service of our brothers and sisters near and far.

These are some of the ways our parish has done outreach for a long time:

1. Mass at nursing homes/senior living facilities, communion calls to the homebound parishioners, phone calls to individual parishioners and others as needed: Ministers involved in these ministries include: nursing home volunteers who help residents get to Mass, sing and help residents to participate at Mass and trained Extra Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (our Lady of Visitation Team) who take time to make quality visits to our brothers and sister who cannot get to Mass.
2. The homebound parishioners are also served, and they appreciate quality visits to keep the parish connections. Most of our homebound parishioners spend a lot of time praying for the mission of the Church and the parish. Their stories of faith are amazing. If you know of any homebound parishioner do not hesitate to notify the parish. Also, if you are interested in any of these outreach programs, kindly call the parish office for more information. ( To be continued next week).

If you made a gift to the CMA or Catholic Ministries Appeal over the last years, you should have received a letter outlining the programs the diocese supports through the appeal. If you did not receive a letter or are new to our parish/diocese you may wonder what the CMA is and how it benefits the church. Some highlights to last year’s campaign: ordination of one priest with five seminarians continuing their education; five deacons in formation, 260 high school students received the Hands of Christ award acknowledging their ministry and leadership; 840 Confirmations from 67 parishes and faith communities; 5023 youth participating in religious education programs; and 250,000 people assisted by our Catholic Charities agencies throughout the diocese. Some additional ways the CMA supported the parishes are: Prepared 275 engaged couples for God-centered marriages, funded programs that give our young adults on college campuses a connection to the church and spread the Gospel through communications media. This is important work that needs to be continued. Ways to make your donation to the CMA: 1) Online in the Secured Donation Portal visit www.dor.org/cmagive. 2) Text GIVECMA to 585-502-9124 to donate from your phone 3) Call 585-328-3210 extension 1298 to use a credit card 4) Checks made payable to CMA and mailed to Catholic Ministries Appeal, Diocese of Rochester, PO Box 6841, Ithaca, NY 14851-6841. 5) If you choose to remain anonymous, you can send your donation restricted to the Catholic Ministries Appeal through the parish and it will be forwarded to the diocese. For proper credit to the Immaculate Conception church in Ithaca, use code 266 on your donation.

CMA Goal: $64,000

Current  Status: Donors – 140 Percentage: 61.69% $39,480

Parish census materials will be available in the main entrances of the church until the first weekend of Lent; March 9th, 2025. We urge all those who have not completed the exercise to please do so as soon as possible. If you have any questions regarding this exercise, do not hesitate to ask any pastoral council or any of the parish staff. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

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.

IMPORTANT NOTICE . As we are in Flu Season, and with COVID variant still prevalent, we continue to urge people to refrain from shaking hands during the Sign of Peace. Anyone feeling ill is urged to stay home. Let’s get through this season safely! Thank you so much for your cooperation in this matter.

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 cbgracem@gmail.com…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 rich.rasmussen@dor.org for information or to register.

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