HOLY TRINITY PARISH. 749 Sixth Avenue S., South St. Paul, MN PASTOR FR. JOHN PAUL ECHERT

Transcription

1 HOLY TRINITY PARISH 749 Sixth Avenue S., South St. Paul, MN PASTOR FR. JOHN PAUL ECHERT HOLY TRINITY CHURCH WEEKEND MASSES: Sat: 5:15 pm/sun: 8:30 and 11:30 am WEEKDAY MASSES: (English) Mon. & Fri: 8 am/tues. & Th: 5:15 pm (Tridentine): Mon. & Wed: 5:15 pm/tues. & Th: 8 am/fri: Noon ST. AUGUSTINE CHURCH WEEKEND MASSES: Sun: 7:00, 10:00 am (Tridentine) WEEKDAY MASSES: Sat: 8:00 am (Tridentine) WEEKDAY MASSES: (Tridentine) Holydays: variable CONFESSIONS: Sat: 4-5 pm CONFESSIONS: Sat: 8:30-9:30 am BAPTISMS: Parents must be registered and active parishioners. WEDDINGS: Couple must be registered and active parishioners. Contact Parish Office at least six months in advance. EUCHARISTIC ADORATION CHAPEL: Open 24 hours a day Call Renee Hendrickson at PARISH OFFICE: (651) FAX # (651) CHURCH: SCHOOL: ~ UNBORN LIVES MATTER! ~

2 Holy Trinity Announcements PASTOR Fr. John Paul Echert MASS INTENTIONS PAROCHIAL VICAR Fr. Robert Grabner Mon. Dec. 17 PARISH DEACON Rev. Mr. Ron Smisek Tues. Dec. 18 BUS. ADMINISTRATOR Richard Sobaski MUSIC DIRECTORS Mary Smisek (H.T.) Dr. John Kaess (S.A.) SCHOOL PRINCIPAL Dawn Kincs RELIGIOUS EDUCATION John Balk VISITATION/SENIORS Christine Polak ACCL COORDINATOR Kathleen Angstman VIDEO LIBRARY Angelina Sam PARISH SECRETARIES Sandra Chapdelaine Barbara Hansen Wed. Dec. 19 Thu. Dec. 20 Fri. Sat. Dec. 22 Sun. Dec. 23 MEETINGS Tuesday, December 18, 2018 Chamber Choir 2:30 pm Troops of St. George 6:30 pm Holy Trinity Choir 7:00 pm Wednesday, December 19, 2018 Children s Choir 2:20 pm Thursday, December 20, 2018 Building & Grounds 6:00 pm Little Flower 6:30 pm Administration & Finance 7:00 pm Friday, December 21, 2018 Fatima Cell 8:30 am TRUSTEES Paul Reichstadt Music Rm. Church Hall Choir Loft Music Rm. Ann. Rm. Church Hall Ann. Rm. Church Relevant Radio 1330AM: Take your faith beyond Sunday and into the rest of the week with Relevant Radio! It s Talk Radio for Catholic Life! Tune in to Relevant Radio 1330AM. Listen online at PARISH COUNCIL: Paul Reichstadt (Chair) Colin Cain ADORATION "St. Vincent de Paul would make a Holy Hour asking the Lord blessings on important business transactions and, afterwards, returned to thank the Lord." (St. Vincent de Paul) Cindy Castillo Joseph Fignar Scott Fischer We are in need of adorers for the following hours: Sundays 3 am ~ Wednesdays 1, 2 & 4 am Thursdays 1, & 2 am & 4 pm ~ Fridays 10 pm Dan Loeffelholz Claude Medina Rick Micek WELCOME The parish community joyfully welcomes newly registered parishioner Janet Lukesh. Let us pray for her as she joins us in being devoted...to the teaching of the apostles and the communal life, to the breaking of bread (the Mass) and to the prayers. (Acts 2:42) RELEVANT RADIO Herb Willenbring Herb Willenbring Dec. 21 8:00 am Rev. Francis Roach + 5:15 pm T. - Tom Smolik s children 8:00 am T. - Rev. Msgr. Richard Moudry + 5:15 pm Donna Gaylord + 8:30 am Peter Davis + 5:15 pm T. - Richard A. Corcoran + 8:00 am T. - Rev. Martin Fleming + 5:15 pm Michael Kopp + 8:00 am Joe & Dorothy Troje ++ 12:00 pm T. - Helen Reding + 5:15 pm Beverly Callahan + 8:30 am Marvin & Eleanor Schmandt ++ 11:30 am Lori Uhler + T. = Tridentine MASS SERVERS Sat., Dec Team: St. Thomas Aq. 5:15 pm - Cross - Sam LeMay Server 1 - Bennett Dold Server 2 - Sienna Stefani Sun., Dec Team: St. Paul 8:30 am - Cross - Jill Cottrell Server 1 - Wm. Steffenhagen Server 2 - Daniel Hawkins 11:30 am - Team: St. Francis Assisi Cross - Darius Lopez Server 1 - Isaac Davis Server 2 - Eli Davis To sign up for these or any other hours, please call Renee at or AdorationChapel@gmail.com. DECEMBER 16, RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

3 St. Augustine Announcements READINGS FOR THE WEEK Mon: Gn 49:2, 8-10; Ps 72:14ab, 7-8, 17; Mt 1:1-17 Tues: Jer 23:5-8; Ps 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19; Mt 1:18-25 Wed: Jgs 13:2-7, 24-25a; Ps 71:3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17; Lk 1:5-25 Thurs: Is 7:10-14; Ps 24:1-6; Lk 1:26-38 Fri: Sg 2:8-14 or Zep 3:1418a; Ps 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21; Lk 1:39-45 Sat: 1 Sm 1:24-28; 1 Sm 2:1, 4-8abcd; Lk 1:46-56 Sun: Mi 5:1-4a; Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19; Heb 10:510; Lk 1:39-45 MASS INTENTIONS Sat. Dec. 22 8:00 am T. - The Dorn family living & deceased + Sun. Dec. 23 7:00 am Faithful of Holy Trinity Parish 10:00 am T. - Joseph & Sally Platz ++ T. = Tridentine MEETINGS Monday, December 17, 2018 New Evangelization 6:30 pm Church Hall Wednesday, December 19, 2018 Choir Practice 6:30 pm Choir Loft MASS SERVERS SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES Sun., Dec. 23 7:00 am Volunteer Needed 10:00 am Paul Sirba James Sirba Joshua McNamara Andrew McNamara Rocco Casalenda Sun: Third Sunday of Advent; Fri: St. Peter Canisius; Winter begins HOME INSTEAD SENIOR CARE We are seeking compassionate, positive, and reliable people to join us in our mission to help seniors in our community stay in their homes. CAREGivers work independently and provide meaningful one-to-one care services to clients. They assist with things such as companionship, meal preparation, light housekeeping, laundry, medication reminders, errands and transportation, 3rd Sunday of Advent as well as a few personal care services such as bathing, December 16, 2018 dressing, and grooming assistance. We service the entire St. Paul area and surrounding The King of Israel, the LORD, is suburbs. No experience or certification needed - all in your midst, you have no training is provided! Our CAREGivers enjoy... further misfortune to fear. Flexible hours and schedule -- Zephaniah 3:15b Ongoing training and professional development Rewarding and meaningful work Supportive and responsive office team CAREGivers must be at least eighteen and have their own reliable vehicle, valid auto insurance, and a current MN driver s license. Must be able to push, pull, and lift 25 pounds. If you have a passion for seniors and want to make a difference, apply today! Call Cory at to learn more, or visit us at 3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT - TRIDENTINE FATIMA PRAYER CELLS Here at Holy Trinity we are blessed to have Fatima Prayer Cells of Holiness to help fulfill our Lady's request for prayer and reparation. Please join us at Holy Trinity for one hour on Fridays from 8:30-9:30 am in the Church. For those souls who seek peace by embracing devotion to Mary's Immaculate Heart, our Lady promised salvation and that those souls will be loved by God like flowers placed by Our Lady to adorn His throne. PRAY FOR THE SICK AND DYING As you know, we pray every Thursday morning at 11:00 am for the Sick and Dying. Many graces can be obtained for the people that we pray for, as well as for yourself. Please consider coming at that hour to join in our prayer. We pray aloud for about 15 minutes (prayer cards in drawer and also in rack on library shelf), the remaining hour we are silent. If you could take a turn at leading the prayers with us, we would be most grateful as there are not many of us to share this opportunity. Perhaps you could be a 'sub' if none of our members are available? If you have any questions, please call Jacque at or at jjklein@outlook.com. 3

4 REFLECTIONS GAUDETE SUNDAY he Third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday, which means to rejoice; so called because as Christmas approaches we feel joyful anticipation. The Gospel reads: T The crowds asked John the Baptist, What should we do? He said to them in reply, Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise. Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, Teacher, what should we do? He answered them, Stop collecting more than what is prescribed. Soldiers also asked him, And what is it that we should do? He told them, Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages. Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be Elijah or the Christ. John answered them all, saying, I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached the Gospel to the people. Some wonder why in this season of preparation for the birth of Christ we focus upon the adult Baptist rather than the infant in the womb. This is one of many reminders of the twofold nature of Christmas: it both looks back in time and it looks forward to the future. At Christmas we celebrate the past event of the birth of Christ. Christmas is indeed a birthday to be remembered and celebrated but it is also more than that; it anticipates the Second Coming of Christ, which may be years, decades or centuries in the future. The Jews were wondering if John the Baptist was himself the Christ (the Anointed One, that is, the Messiah) or if he was Elijah, because they were aware of biblical prophecies that when the Messiah comes, the ancient prophet Elijah will return and prepare the way of the Lord. Spiritually, Saint John the Baptist served in the role of Elijah for the first coming of Christ; in the future, the actual Elijah will physically return shortly prior to the final coming of Christ at the end of all time. Where is Elijah now? We are not certain but the Old Testament records that he was taken up into the heavens by a chariot from God. How do we prepare for coming of the Messiah? The Church recommends that we make Confessions regularly; Advent and Lent are appropriate times to do this. The Church also recommends a daily Act of Contrition, which can be as simple as, Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner! We are also encouraged to increase our personal prayer and practices which heighten our sense of anticipation of the Christmas Feast. While the Church does not impose these upon us, the fact is the more we spiritually prepare the way of the Lord in our personal lives through our Advent practices the greater our joy will be at Christmas and our readiness to meet the Lord at the end of our lives. 4 HOLY TRINITY SCHOOL NOTES Dear Friends, This past Friday evening we were given a wonderful gift of having a Christmas Concert in our school, filled with the beautiful voices of all of our students, from our youngest preschoolers to our 8th grade students. Thank you to our Music teacher, Mrs. Caroline Metzinger for working so diligently to bring a moving and festive Christmas Concert to our students, families, and staff! Being able to embrace our faith and the true joy of the season with the anticipation of Jesus' birth, is such a gift! There is definitely a "buzz" here at our school with our Advent Prayer Services, our gathering of gifts for our "adopted families", craft projects (that will soon become a treasured gift given to a parent or grandparent), and time spent on buddy activities, it is not a surprise to have the month of December fly by so quickly. However, I hope that you and your family are able to find some quiet moments for prayer and reflection upon the beautiful Christmas stories in the Gospels during this time of Advent. Not too long ago I heard someone say that it isn't enough just to say "thank you" and to be grateful for our blessings, but rather, we need to live in a way that our lives are a "Christmas gift" to Christ in joyful response to His love for us. That is a great reminder that even with all of our preparations and our "to-do" lists keeping us so busy during this month, that we must still take the time to look closely at our lives to make sure that we are good and generous stewards of all the gifts that He has given us so that our life is a gift fitting for Him! As the final days of Advent remind us that Jesus' arrival will soon be here, my prayer is for Christ's love and peace to be with you all. Mrs. Kincs, Principal FREE MATTHEW KELLY BOOKS Thanks to an anonymous donor there are complimentary copies of a recent Matthew Kelly book, The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity, available at the main entryways of our two churches. Matthew Kelly was the author of Rediscover Catholicism, which many of you may be familiar with from years past. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION During this final week of Advent as we prepare to welcome Jesus on Christmas, may your heart be filled with eager anticipation. As a reminder, Religious Education classes and Holy Trinity Teens will not meet on Dec. 19 or Dec. 26. Classes resume on Wed., Jan. 2. Confirmation Candidates, please remember the first half of service hours, important forms and the Saint Paper are due when returning to class on Jan. 2. If you are in need of forms, you can download them on the Parish website at click on groups.

5 IT'S COOKIE SALE TIME!! The annual CCW Christmas Cookie Sale is taking place this weekend in the Holy Trinity Church Hall after all the Masses!! 2 dozen assorted cookies are available for $6.00. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR PROGRAM It is a yearly tradition for our Parish to participate in the Love Your Neighbor Program sponsored by Neighbors, Inc. in So. St. Paul. Boxes will be placed in the entryways at St. Augustine Church for your donations through the Advent season. Neighbors, Inc. needs and appreciates your donations of gift certificates, new clothing and new toys which they give to our neighbors in need during the holiday season. Monetary donations are very much appreciated as well as nonperishable foods for the Food Shelf. Our Love Your Neighbor Knitting Trees will be in the entryways for scarves, caps, mittens, and socks. Whether you knit, crochet or buy, we thank you in advance for the lovely items that will hang on these trees to warm both the young and the old. May God reward you for your generosity. Neighbors, Inc. is located at 222 Grand Ave. W. in South St. Paul (just down the hill from St. Augustine s). Their phone number is and their website is neighborsmn.org. TOTUS TUUS TEAM MEMBERS The Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis is in need of college age men and women committed to their Catholic faith who feel called to share it with the youth from local parishes around the Archdiocese. The position is a temporary 2 month commitment (May 28 July 27) which includes one week of training and one week break for the 4th of July. Each team member will receive $2,520 for their work. For additional information, contact Nancy Schulte Palacheck at Application deadline: Fri., Feb. 8.To apply visit the Laity Page at or type Totus Tuus into the search engine. DINNER/DANCE GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP The Grief Support Group, open to all who are grieving a loss, takes place the second and fourth Tuesdays (twice per month) beginning Jan. 8 & 22 from 5:00 6:30 pm at the Woodwinds Hospital, Conference Room B, 1925 Woodwinds Drive in Woodbury, MN. If you have experienced the loss of a loved one, it is often helpful to seek the support of others. This ongoing group will allow members to reflect on grief and loss and receive grief education and support. No registration is required for this group. Classes are free but space is limited. To register, call our office at or griefsupportservices@healtheast.org. FOR CATHOLIC SINGLES All single Twin City Catholics, 21 and older, are invited to join us at the Catholic Single Adults Club Christmas dinner and dance on Sat., Jan. 5, at David Fong s Restaurant, 9329 Lyndale Ave. S. in Bloomington. A social hour and dinner will begin at 5:30 pm, dancing at 7:30 pm. The cost for dinner and dancing is $20; dance only is $10. Dinner reservations and checks for this family style Cantonese dinner are required by Thurs., Dec. 27th. No reservation is required for dance-only participants. Please call Greg at or Carl at for reservations. ANNUAL PRAYER SERVICE CHRISTMAS PARKING AND PEWS Just a reminder that the Christmas Masses tend to be well attended, for which we are grateful. So in order to find close parking and your favorite pew we recommend coming a bit early to your Christmas Eve or Christmas Day Mass. Some of the Masses will have Christmas music starting prior to Mass and a little extra time before Mass for prayer and preparation is never time wasted. See the flier in this bulletin for a complete schedule of the Christmas Masses. FOR LIFE Please join us at the Cathedral of Saint Paul, Tues., Jan. 22, at 10:30 am for the Annual Prayer Service for Life, followed by MCCL s March for Life at the State Capitol. This prayer service commemorates the millions of lives lost to abortion and the many women and men wounded by abortion s aftermath. All are invited and welcome. Please consider carpooling or utilizing buses as parking and street access is limited. For more information, please contact the Office for Marriage, Family & Life at

6 Saturday and Sunday after all Masses December 15 th & 16 th Holy Trinity Church Hall Hair Accessories Needlecraft Booth Santa is coming bring the kids! Hoffmann s Photo is taking pictures with Santa in the Incarnation Room. All proceeds of Santa photos go to Holy Trinity Church.

7 HOLY TRINITY & ST. AUGUSTINE CHURCHES ADVENT & CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE 2018 ADVENT CONFESSIONS Saturdays: 8:30 9:30 am: Saint Augustine 4:00 5:00 pm: Holy Trinity CHRISTMAS MASSES (Dec 24 th & 25 th ) Christmas Eve: (Dec 24 th ) 4:00 pm: Holy Trinity 8:00 pm: Holy Trinity (7:45 pm: Carols) Christmas Day (Dec 25 th ) 7:00 am: Saint Augustine 8:30 am: Holy Trinity (8:10 am: Carols) 10:00 am: Saint Augustine (Tridentine) (9:45 am: Carols) 11:30 am: Holy Trinity (11:15 am: Carols) NEW YEARS MASSES (Note: this is a Holy Day of Obligation) New Year s Eve (Dec 31): 5:15 pm Holy Trinity (English) New Year s Day: (Jan 1 st ) 8:30 am: Holy Trinity (English) 10:00 am: Saint Augustine (Tridentine) 11:30 am: Holy Trinity (English)