OUR PARISH MISSION STATEMENT

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1 496 East Washington Street Chagrin Falls, Ohio OUR PARISH MISSION STATEMENT St. Joan of Arc Parish is a growing community of Roman Catholic Christians in the Chagrin Falls area. We are a diverse, gifted and joyful people who share a common belief in the Word of Jesus Christ. Our Mission, like that of Jesus Christ and His apostles, is to proclaim the Kingdom of God through living the gospel. WE GATHER AS A CHRIST-CENTERED COMMUNITY TO: CELEBRATE our faith and the presence of God in the Eucharist and in one another. IMITATE our Savior in His service to others. TEACH our beliefs at all levels. WELCOME the participation of all in our Christian fellowship. Parish Office Parish ... stjoanchagrin@gmail.com Parish Website... stjoanofarcchurch.org Music Ministry Rel. Education Office - Sr. Judy Bucco Sr. Ann Marie Kanusek, SND School Youth Ministry... stjoanofarcym@gmail.com RCIA - Deacon Jeff Sr. Judith Bucco, SND, Director of Religious Education Mrs. Shelley DiBacco, Principal Rev. Mr. Jeffrey Dunlop, Deacon Miss Allie Gall, Coordinator of Youth Ministry Rev. Mr. Dennis Guritza, Deacon Sr. Ann Marie Kanusek, SND, Pastoral Associate Rev. Gary J. Malin, Pastor Mr. Patrick Wickliffe, Director of Music Rev. John Olsavsky, Former Pastor, Retired Weekend mass: Saturday 4:30 PM Sunday 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM Weekday mass: Monday, Thursday, and Friday 8:00 AM Tuesday 9:00 AM September through May 8:00 AM June, July, and August Baptism: Celebrated at most weekend masses or on most Sundays at 12:00 noon. Arrange through the Parish Office. Reconciliation (Confession): Saturdays 3:30 PM until all are heard. In Advent and Lent 3:15 to 4:00 PM Sacrament of Matrimony: Please contact a priest or deacon at least one year before the anticipated date. Care of the Sick and Elderly: Please inform us of those who are sick, aged, unable to come to church, homebound, hospitalized, or may need the Sacrament of Anointing. Funerals: Please contact the parish office before scheduling or publishing (generally through a funeral director). Bereavement committee available for hospitality. Sponsor Certificates: May be obtained by registered, practicing members of our parish who have received the three sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist (and, if Married, were married the church). Contact the Parish office. Sessions in the Catholic Faith (RCIA): Wednesdays at 7:00 PM (September thru May). New Parishioners: Welcome to St. Joan of Arc! Contact the Parish Office to register. Holy Day mass and Civic Holidays as scheduled; see bulletin

2 December 2nd, 2018 What significance does the Advent season have for our Christian faith journey? Greetings of Peace. As we enter into December we begin the Season of Advent. We prepare and open our hearts to welcome the Lord, who is born for our salvation! This is the first weekend of our adjusted weekend mass schedule: -- Saturday mass continues to be celebrated at 4:30 PM -- Sunday masses are now 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM Thank you so much for your support and your understanding on this mass schedule change. I really appreciate it. Two Sunday masses, coupled with our Saturday mass, will accommodate our parish and provide options for mass attendance. Our revised schedule will meet the pastoral needs of St. Joan of Arc Parish and, at the same time, help make a reasonable work load for our pastor, as a one priest parish. More about Advent. In this Season, we prepare for the coming of the Lord. One way to prepare is to celebrate the sacrament of Penance (Confession). Confessions in Advent are on Saturdays from 3:15 PM until 4:00 PM on Saturdays at St. Joan of Arc. Another opportunity for the sacrament will be next week with an Advent Communal Penance Service on Tuesday December 11 at 7:00 PM (with St. Rita, at St. Rita). This shared penance service will allow us an opportunity to pray together and receive the sacrament from a number of priests who will be participating. Let us welcome the love and forgiveness of the Lord, who comes with mercy and salvation! The Giving Tree is up in our Gathering Area. Please feel free to take a tag and bring that gift to the parish by Sunday December 16. This is one great way to bring the joy of the Christmas Season to those who need it. Thank you for your generosity. The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is this week - on Saturday December 8. Even when it falls on a Saturday or a Monday, the Immaculate Conception is a Holy Day of Obligation. We will have a 9:00 AM mass on Saturday December 8 to honor this feast of Mary. As the days grow shorter and colder, may the warmth our love and faith increase! Blessings and Peace, Fr. Gary Advent is a season of joyful anticipation and expectation. But for what specifically? Certainly not for the birth of Christ Child that occurred more than two thousand years ago. This season links us with all those who lived in the era of longing for the coming of the Messiah. But he has come and lived among us. Then what are we joyfully anticipating and expecting? Some are joyfully anticipating the many gifts that they will buy and share with others, along with the many gifts that they will receive in return. Others enter into the overblown commercialism decorating, partying, writing cards, and all the endless customs that go with the season. What if the anticipation and expectation were to focus on how we can continue to make present the living Christ in each and every moment of our daily lives? Yes, Jesus came among us two thousand years ago. But how do we continue to make that presence real in our world? Jesus himself set the agenda for us. We are to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind, provide food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, freedom for those who are oppressed and abused. What would the Advent season look like if this, rather than materialism, was the main focus of our joyful anticipation and expectation? Try it and see what results. It may surprise all of you LPI Breakfast with Santa Please join us on Saturday, December 8 in the school gym for our annual Breakfast with Santa hosted by St. Joan s PTO. Pancake breakfast is from 9am-12noon and includes pancakes, eggs, breakfast meats, fruit, hot cocoa, and coffee. Activities will include crafts, pictures with Santa, cookie decorating, a photo booth and a stocking raffle. This event is open to the public! RSVP requested by not required. number of guests to Wendy Pisanelli at wepisan@roadrunner.com. See you there!

3 Notes from Deacon Denny The topic this week is regular prayer. "All spirituality implies prayer, but what does that word mean? Theologian Margaret Miles has described prayer as a habit of interior attentiveness, an activity that creates a formerly unknown self. The nature of that unknown self is suggested by another theologian, Lawrence Cunningham, who finds in prayer a counterbalance to the nakedness of autonomy. The first prayer, as Cassian established in the fifth century when he adopted the words of Psalm 70 as the introduction to each monastic Hour, is a scream, a cry for help. O God, come to my assistance: O Lord, make haste to help me! Prayer is the response to the realization, the discovery, that we are not in charge, not in control, not God. As Thérèse of Lisieux recognized, prayer arises, if at all, from incompetence, otherwise there is no need for it. " At any given time in our lives we find prayer as that cry for help, that looking for a life line or phone a friend opportunity. However, are we one of the one s who just call for help when we are up to our necks in trouble or overwhelmed by fear. Or as suggested above do we think of prayer at a time when we are searching for meaning in our lives. The point is when we don t regularly pray, are we not assuming we are the ones totally in control?? Scripture tells us that we need to be especially careful to follow the Gospel precepts which instruct us to go into our room and shut the door so that we may pray to our Father (Matthew 6:6). "The tyranny of over-identification with what is going on at the surface of our awareness prevents us from experiencing the intuitive level that of its very nature tends to be more peaceful, calm, and open to the presence and guidance of the Divine Indwelling" "To live in the presence of God on a continuous basis can become a kind of fourth dimension to our threedimensional world, forming an invisible but real background to everything that we do or that happens in our lives." "Spending regular periods of time in our inner room is a way of recognizing levels of reality beyond the limited dimensions of ordinary awareness." Thomas Keating. The key point we routinely avoid is to REGULARLY pray. Each of us can make an opportunity in our current life style to regularly schedule prayer time. But we don t.something else always takes a priority. We need to be creative. Many How To books and guides suggest quiet sitting chairs in quiet times of our day where we can spend minutes in prayer. Perhaps its adding journaling as an incentive to add to our thoughts and our faith journey that can encourage a regularity. Often this appears to be so daunting. As we start our New Year in the Church, why not try to regularly pray. Pick a time and try to stick to it. Then show up at Christmas with a new practice and a new regular routine of prayer. Office of Faith Formation A PSR/Day School Advent Service Opportunity Our SJA PSR and Day School will participate in a special Advent Service Project: Sponsor a Family Holiday Program to benefit Catholic Charities: Job and Family Services of Geauga County. The Sponsor a Family Holiday Program provides food and gifts to low income families and seniors in Geauga County. Our SJA Parish Community has always been so generous to those less fortunate! Your donations will bring hope to so many local families this Christmas. Donations can be sent to the Office of Faith Formation on Sunday/Monday, December 2/3 and December 9/10. THANK YOU!! PSR Sunday Classes Change of Time Since our Mass schedule for Sunday has changed, beginning December 2, all Kindergarten, and Gr. 7-8 classes begin at 10:00am and conclude at 10:55am. Thank you for adapting to this new class time for Grades 7-8! Recognition of First Communion Candidates at Mass Our SJA second graders preparing for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist and their parents will participate in a special recognition of our second graders preparation of these sacraments on Saturday, December 1 (4:30pm Mass), or Sunday, December 2 (9:00 or 11:00am Masses). Sacrament of Confirmation The 4 th instructional session for our Confirmation candidates is Thursday, December 13, from 6:30-8:15pm in the Parish Hall. *All registration forms, fee, baptismal certificates and confirmation sponsor forms should already have been handed in. *Confirmation Name Projects are due at the December 13 instructional session. November 25, Envelopes Used Cash/Checks $10,109 ACH 6,164 Total $16,273 Thank you for your support! Mass Celebrant December 8-9 9:00 am Fr. Gary 4:30 pm Fr. Dan S. 9:00 am Fr. Gary 11:00 pm Fr. Gary Subject to change Advent Prayer Service Our children in Grades 1-6 will participate in a special Advent Prayer Service on Monday, December 17, in the Gym from about 4:45-5:15pm. We welcome parents to join us in prayer on December 17 as we anticipate the coming of Christ during this joyful season of Advent!

4 St. Joan of Arc Catholic School News By Mrs. Shelley DiBacco, School Principal Faith. Academics. Excellence. Advent begins today. Our school Advent theme this year is Shine His Light, Share His Love. This Advent we want to shine the light of Jesus and share His love in our school, our homes, our families, our workplaces and our communities. By doing this the usual December distractions can become holy moments when we find Jesus in our midst. Monday, December 3 rd is Purple Day at St. Joan of Arc School. Students are encouraged to wear something purple over their uniforms to commemorate the beginning of Advent and the start of a new liturgical season. Also on Monday we will have our first Advent Wreath Prayer Service. Each Monday of Advent, we gather as a school community; as each classroom gathers in a circle around their classroom wreath we light our school wreath and pass the Light to each classroom. Also during Advent, the faculty/staff will gather every Wednesday morning before school to pray and to share fellowship. This is an opportunity to grow together spiritually and to pray for and with each other as we prepare for the coming of Jesus. During the coming weeks, we will commemorate two important feasts of Mary, Mother of God. Saturday, December 8 th celebrates the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the gift of God to Mary in preparation for her to be the Mother of God. We honor Mary as Patroness of the United States under the title of her Immaculate Conception. December 12 th commemorates Mary s appearance to Juan Diego as Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas. Let us remember Mary on these special days and during the Season of Advent as we journey with her in preparation for the birth of Jesus that she may help us ready our hearts for Him. St. Joan of Arc PTO will be sponsoring Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, December 8 th from 9- Noon in the Olsavsky Center. Tickets are $12.00 for adults and $6.00 for children. This event includes a pancake breakfast, hot chocolate bar, photos with Santa, crafts, a stocking raffle and even more! Please mark your calendars for our Christmas band and choral concert on Wednesday, December 12 th at 7:00 p.m. in the Olsavsky Center. Students in grades kindergarten through 8 th grade will be singing and band members who are in grades four through eight will also be performing. Thank you to our music teacher and band teacher, Mr. Mike Waddell and our strings director, Mr. Dan Anderson for their hard work. Sunday, November 25th Masses: 8 am, 10 am, 12 noon NO PSR Monday, November 26th 8:30am Home Visitation (Rectory) 4:45pm PSR (School) 6:00pm CYO (OC) Tuesday, November 27th 10:00am Book Study (Hall) 4:30pm CYO (OC) Wednesday, November 28th 3:30pm CYO (OC) 7:00pm RCIA (Rectory) 7:30pm Boy Scouts (Hall) Thursday, November 29th 8:30am Bible Study (Rectory) 3:30pm CYO (OC) 7:00pm Book Discussion (Rectory) Friday, November 30th 3:00pm CYO (OC) Saturday, December 1st Vigil Mass: 4:30 pm 3:15pm Confessions (Church) 10:00am Family Advent Wreaths (Hall) Sunday, December 2nd Masses: 9 am, 11 am 10:00am PSR (School) 10:00am 7&8th PSR (School) 12:00pm High School Theology (School Library) May the peace of Christmas be with you throughout this Advent season.

5 Mass Intentions Sunday, December 2nd - 1st Sunday in Advent 9:00 a.m. Janos Szigeti (Szigeti) The Parishioners of SJA 11:00 a.m. Bonnie Tanko (Zilly) Nancy Mlachak (Gallagher) Monday, December 3rd - St. Francis Xavier, Priest 8:00 a.m. Tony Rossy (Szabo) Tuesday, December 4th - Weekday 9:00 a.m. Caty Butsch (Florkiewicz) Wednesday, December 5th - Weekday Thursday, December 6th - Weekday 8:00 a.m. Barbara Zeolla (Palagyi) Friday, December 7th - St. Ambrose, Bishop 8:00 a.m. Norman Tomiello (Gauntner) Saturday, December 8th - The Immaculate Conception 9:00 a.m. The Parishioners of SJA 4:30 p.m. Bill & Jean O Connell and Aunt Dolly (Strong) Sunday, December 9th - 2nd Sunday in Advent 9:00 a.m. Janos Szigeti (Ilkanovich) The Parishioners of SJA 11:00 a.m. Edward G. & Agnes Lentz (Family) High School Youth Group It s not too late to sign up for the Cleveland Catholic Youth Conference on Saturday, December 15! Join us at CCYC for a day of speakers, breakout sessions, Eucharistic adoration, reconciliation, and mass with Bishop Perez! Registration is open until Friday, December 7. Payment for the event is due to the Parish Office on December 7. The cost is $35, payable via check to St. Joan of Arc Parish. For more information and complete registration instructions, please see the Youth Ministry page on the Parish website, Allie s office door, or contact Allie directly. Middle School Youth Group Don t forget about our Advent and Christmas event on Sunday, December 16. We ll be playing some games, learning about hope and how it connects to the holidays, and even putting together some surprises for those we visit while Christmas Caroling! All students in grades 7-12 are invited to join us for Christmas Caroling on Sunday, December 23. We ll be meeting for mass at 11:00 am, have lunch, and caroling at all four nursing homes in Chagrin Falls. Ugly Christmas sweaters, costumes, props, etc. are all highly encouraged the best look wins a prize! Parish Rosary Program Week of December 2nd (number of rosaries prayed) Weekly Total: 346 November Total: 517 Grand Total: 517 Area News Advent Taizé Service Come and share in an evening of Taizé Prayer, a type of reflective prayer set to music in repetitive chant accompanied in song. During this Advent season, take some time and settle in with the Lord, and listen to God s voice in the peace of the surroundings. The Taizé Ecumenical Prayer Service will be Thursday, December 6 from 7:30pm to 8:15pm at Holy Angels in Bainbridge. Please join us to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit in a peaceful yet powerful way, as we gather together in anticipation of the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Don t miss Scott Hahn! Don t miss Scott Hahn and the St. Paul Center at St. Hilary Catholic Church on Saturday, December 8 for a powerful presentation on the riches of our Catholic faith. Best-selling author and renowned biblical scholar Scott Hahn will go deeper into the meaning of Scripture in the Church and our lives today. Cost is $5. Register now at Advent Penance Service Join us at St. Rita in Solon on Tuesday, December 11 for a Communal Penance Service at 7pm. Prayers for Ill & Deceased Charles Turley, son-in-law of Viola Salvini (Deceased) Elizabeth Crombie, wife of William Crombie (Deceased) Regina Dowidchuck (Deceased)

6 Christmas Tea The Women s Guild invites all ladies of our Parish to a Giving Cookies Christmas Tea. The Tea will be held in our Parish Hall on Wednesday, December 12 at 2pm. We ask that you please give us some Christmas cookies to be wrapped in Christmas tins. Sr. Judy Bucco will distribute the cookies to the West Side Catholic Center. We are also in need of Christmas tins! Please drop off all donations to the Parish Hall. Please RSVP to the Tea by December 3 by calling Gerry Koprowski at Holy Hour & Adoration Join us for a Holy Hour of prayer starting at 7pm followed by Adoration throughout the night on Thursday, December 6. All are welcome to attend. The Immaculate Conception Saturday, December 8 is a Holy Day of Obligation. Mass will be celebrated at 9:00am. Christmas Flowers Flower donations are being accepted for the Christmas Season. You and your loved ones will be remembered in the Christmas bulletin this year. Please print all names clearly. Thank you for your donations. Christmas Oplatki Oplatki wafers are available in the Gathering Area for a monetary donation. There are 4 wafers in each envelope. Thank you for your donations! The Giving Tree The Giving Tree is up! Please take a tag or two and return items by Giving Sunday, December 16! Make sure all tags are attached to your wrapped gifts. Thank you for your kind donations! Lunch Help St. Joan of Arc School is looking for 2 full-time lunch/playground monitors. This is a paid position requiring a year-long commitment. If you are interested in becoming a monitor, please contact Shelley DiBacco at Liturgical Ministry Schedule Winter ministry schedules are available in the sacristy, parish office and on the website. Directory Update If you have changed addresses or phone numbers, please contact the parish office by January 1st. SJA s Helping Hands Fund Thank you to those who have donated money to the Helping Hands Fund, an ongoing collection for the needy in our community. This is especially important during the cold winter months. You can make donations year round by dropping a check labeled Helping Hands into the collection basket or making a cash donation through the Poor Box. Below is a letter of appreciation from the Bainbridge Area Food for Friends: Dear St. Joan of Arc Parishioners, The Bainbridge Area Food for Friends would like to thank you for your donation benefiting the Food Pantry. Your contribution of $2,500 to help provide Holiday Meals will definitely assist the pantry in lifting the spirits of those facing tough times. The Pantry Provides food to those in need and is organized exclusively for charitable purposes. We are able to help many in the Chagrin Valley area who have come upon challenging periods in their life. During 2017, we assisted over 900 adults and children in our community. This calendar year to date, we have serviced over 150 families with over 25 for Thanksgiving scheduled and more expected for the Christmas season. Your donation will go a long way in assisting these families and is greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Rolly Lufkin Rolly Lufkin Pantry Coordinator egiving is here with 3 options for automated giving! Via the SJA egiving website. You can make gifts with either a bank account or credit card. Download the GivePlus app on the Apple App store or Google Play store. Complete a paper authorization form. Return the form to the Parish office. Visit NOTE: Parishioners currently enrolled in automated giving will transition to the new payment system on January 1st. Contact Paula at , ext. 16 if you would like to make any changes.