Homily for the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord...and another word about "Flocknote"

Homily for the Feast of the Epiphany

On this day, the feast of the Epiphany it is customarily set aside for the formal announcement of Easter and the other movable feasts.   The formal proclamation reminds us of the manifestation of the Lord’s glory throughout the entire liturgical year.  
The other purpose of this announcement was that back in the day there was no printed calendars; there were no smartphones, or internet.  Members of the faithful would gather in their churches for this very proclamation in order to put it on their calendars.  Imagine not having a formal calendar to inform us about the dates of Easter or the other important feasts.  While this proclamation may be providing us with dates and times we may already have plugged in, it does remind us as I mentioned how the Lord’s glory is continuously celebrated and demonstrated in these feasts.  
Speaking of communication you might have noticed the note on most of the doors asking to bring your cell phones to Mass last weekend.  Several weekends ago I invited you to participate in a new mass email/text messaging system called flock note.  If you forget, that’s ok I forget a lot of things too, but that’s why I am here to remind you.  For those of you who have your cell phones on you, I invite you to consider taking them out and yes you actually do have my permission to take them out and go to your text message program.  Once you have that open for a new message and where it has to…type in 84576.  Then in the body of the message type SAINT1776 then hit send.  Shortly you will receive a message asking you to provide your email address.  Type that in and hit send once more.  Then the only thing you might be asked is to confirm your email and you can do that later.  Soon as that is done you are registered and will be able to log into the program to sign up for more specific information you would like to receive.  You can do this at home online and I will put that information in the bulletin or you can look at some of the posters in the back of Church after Mass for the link.
You might be asking why Father C is doing this now during the homily.  What does this have to do with the readings?   Has he lost his mind?  Well, for starters, I would have to have a mind to lose to start with…but there is a reason.  One of the keys of manifesting the glory of God is we ourselves.  We need to get the word out.  Every parish I have been in one of the biggest complaints is communication…either too little or yes even too much.  How can we effectively get the word out?  It begins with written communication.  In days of emails and text messaging word can get out quickly.  Of course we have the bulletin which can picked up and read each weekend.  Written word is the best line of communication and I will add if properly proofed, because it is the most accurate, in black and white.  Now if you haven’t figured it out…I am not a big fan of a mass verbal announcements because often times this is where the written word gets misconstrued along the way.  In fairness we don’t come here to listen to a whole much of infomercials, we come here to worship God.  Announcements at Mass should be made only when necessary.  
Emails, text messages, and the parish bulletin is really the best line of communication.  Once we have received the written word then the next best thing is for us to forward or personally share the message received.   We are reminded today as we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord we do have something to share and that is Jesus Christ is born, Jesus is God’s Son who was sent into the world to save us from our sins.  This season is about good news, and good news isn't so good if it is kept in house!  So I leave you with this about the good news we have received…get out there and share it!    

NOTE...

Below is my previous post on flocknote.  If you do not text please feel free to sign up following the instructions below.  This program is a great new way to effectively communicate with you...and it's easy.  

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

One thing every parish or school always looks for ways to better communicate its message.  In the past year we have made great strides entering into social media with  the addition of the parish facebook page, the parish blog, and post recently our twitter page.  Today I am happy to introduce and rollout a new line of communication for our parish called "Flocknote."  Flocknote is a centralized email/text system which is geared to Church organizations.

Now please allow me to address a concern some might have off the bat.  Some might not want to be inundated with more emails or text messages.  When someone registers for "Flocknote" one will automatically be placed in the general email/text folder and once registered will be able to sign up for additional lists.  The general email/text blasts will be used in the following situations

• for schedule additions or changes (Sent via email/text)
• reminders for Holy Days of Obligation (Sent via email/text)
• to collect important data which will be used to help improve our parish and to better serve you. (email blast only)

When you look at the lists you will be able to sign up for a particular ministry.  If you don't find your ministry listed and would like to add it to Flocknote please let me know and I will be happy to set it up for you.

Registering for Flocknote is simple as 1,2,3.  First you can click the following link and fill out the information

https://www.flocknote.com/saintpatrickyork

Once you click the link and fill out the information you will need to verify your email address.  For your convenience I have added to the sidebar of the blog a simple way to sign up by putting in your email address.  For those who choose this option when you go into the login screen just type in your email address hit the reset  or create password button and a temporary password will be assigned.  Then type in the password provided and then you will be able to sign in and put in a new password.  Soon as your logged in you will need to verify your email address.  If a link was not sent to you look for the alerts listing and follow the instructions.  You may need to send another verification email to your accounts.  Soon as you receive it click the link and you are good to go.

Finally another way of registering is simply to text "saint1776" to 84576.  You will then receive a text back asking for your email address.  Once you provide your email address you will need to verify it before you will receive emails/texts.

I would strongly encourage you to make sure you sign up to receive text alerts.  Again this will be used sporadically only to keep you informed of IMPORTANT information (mainly last minute schedule additions or cancelations) or reminders of Holy Days of Obligation.  You will not have to worry about being inundated with tons of text messages.  One of the important things to note about Flocknote is that its main purpose is not just another means of communication but also a way for us to call the flock together.  Also with Flocknote we can get information such as RSVPs or poll data from survey questions.

Please consider taking a moment to sign up for Flocknote!

Sincerely,

Father C.