“Arise and Eat, Else the Journey Will Be Too Great for You.” (I Kings 19:7)

Mass Intentions Week of December 17

Sat.        Dec. 16        5:00 pm      †Clarence McDonald

Sun.       Dec. 17      10:00 am      †Dorothy Stannard                                                              2:30 pm   People of the Community

                               6:00 pm      People of the Parish

Tues.     Dec. 19        5:30 pm     †St. Catherine

Wed.     Dec. 20       10:00 am     Safe, holy Christmas for the                                                 Children

Thurs.    Dec. 21        5:30 pm     †Bernice Dick

Fri.        Dec. 22        8:00 am       †Paul & Dorothy                                                                   Stannard

Sat.        Dec. 23        8:00 am      †Marion Ess

                                5:00 pm      People of the Parish

Sun.       Dec. 24      10:00 am      †Jerry Mulvehill

Hispanic                  2:00 pm      People of the Community

                                        No 6 pm Mass

Christmas Eve Masses

                                5:00 pm      †Mack Millerbernd

                               10:00 pm      Peace in the Mideast

Christmas Day Mass

                               10:00 am    People of the Parish

                                          No Hispanic Mass

No 6 pm Mass

Readings for the Week

Monday:        Jer 23:5-8; Mt 1:18-25

Tuesday:        Jgs 13:2-7, 24-25a; Lk 1:5-25

Wednesday:   Is 7:10-14; Lk 1:26-38

Thursday:       Sg 2:8-14 or Zep 3:14-18a; Lk 1:39-45

Friday:           1 Sm 1:24-28; Lk 1:46-56

Saturday:       Mal 3:1-4, 23-24; Lk 1:57-66

Sunday:         Mi 5:1-4a; Ps 80; Heb 10:5-10; Lk 1:39-45

Dear brothers and sisters . . . On this third Sunday of Advent (Laetare Sunday, i.e., Rejoice!), the Scriptures move us into the second half of Advent, and the second half this year will move really fast!  We are invited by the Church to move from focusing on the return of Christ in glory at the end of time, to the commemoration of Christ’s first coming in human flesh in the wondrous mystery of the Incarnation, the birth of the Son of God as the Son of Man in the stable of Bethlehem.  We are encouraged to look back on this greatest of all God’s actions:  God coming into our experience, our existence, through Jesus the Christ.

Next Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Advent AND Christmas Eve.  Make plans now to honor the Sunday and Christmas —they are two different celebrations, and Mass is the way to honor them.  I stress the Christmas Eve, 10:00 p.m. Mass as the main commemoration of Christmas, close to the time that the Virgin Mary gave birth to the Son of God, the hour the angels announced this wonderful moment in our history, and the time that the poorest of the poor, the Shepherds, were privileged to hear of that Birth from the choir of angels.  Be sure to come to worship this loving God of ours with family. Invite friends too, and neighbors.  Someone or even a family may just need that invitation and feel much more comfortable coming (back) to church, to Mass, with people they know.  In this parish, they will find they are welcomed and are strangers for just a moment.  That invitation, like the announcement of the choirs of angels, may be what someone, or several, is waiting for.

 

REFLECTIONS after hosting the TRAVELING CHALICE:  “This was a very spiritually rewarding week for us . . .the photo of the beautifully decorated altar with no clergy was haunting. . .this led us to a new, deeper appreciation of the religious we have now. . .our prayers turned to gratitude for the wonderful priests, brothers, sisters and deacons that serve us now, and have served us in the past. . .then we began feeling a need to DO something. . .so we prayed for, and will continue to pray for, hearts that will joyfully encourage vocations from our family as well as from others. . .(and) we will reach out to them (brothers, sisters, priests, deacons) more in whatever ways we can to help them in their vocations. . .”

 

This week the TRAVELING CHALICE will be hosted by John and Ellen Skahan and their children.  (Registration to host the Traveling Chalice kit will resume after the New Year begins.)

                                                                                                                              —Father Goman

Parish Collection

                                                 Collected                   Budget

 

November 2006                      $30,423.52           $45,158.00

YTD                                        $189,901.95         $225,791.70

Thank you for your generosity and support.

A child’s life is like a piece of paper on which every passerby leaves a mark.

—Ancient Chinese Proverb

The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear.

—Zephaniah 3:15b