December 11, 2016 Third Sunday of Advent

Transcription

1 January 1, Solemnity Of Mary, The Holy Mother of God St. Stephen Parish SaintStephenSF.org 451 Eucalyptus Dr., San Francisco CA Church Fax School December 11, 2016 Third Sunday of Advent Our Mission Statement We are a Catholic Community that is called by God to follow Jesus Christ. We believe that we are called to worship God together, to lead God's people along the path of hope laid down by Jesus, to share his message through preaching, through the education and formation of our people, young and old, and through caring service and sensitive outreach to those in need Rev. Tony P. LaTorre - Pastor Weekday Mass: 8:00 a.m. Reconciliation: Saturday 3:30 p.m. or by appt. Vigil Mass: (Saturday) 4:30 p.m. Sunday Mass: 8:00, 9:30, 11:30 a.m. & 6:45 p.m.

2 Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God New Year s Day 2016 Luke 2: Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. As we hear in Galatians: God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law. As Catholics, we believe that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is both fully human and divine. Therefore, the Church confesses Mary to be truly the Mother of God (CCC 495). When the angel announced to Mary that God had chosen her to become the mother of Jesus, the Son of the Most High God, Mary had a choice. She could have said no. Instead, in humility and perfect fidelity, Mary responded yes to what God was asking of her. As a result of her freely given consent to the will of God and her cooperation with God s grace, the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived our Lord and Savior, Jesus, in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. As today s second reading tells us, God sent his Son to be born of a human mother so that we all might become sons and daughters of God. As proof that we are God s children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts. However, it is up to us to open our hearts to the Holy Spirt, and to respond to the Holy Spirit s promptings. Like Mary, we have a choice. We can allow the Holy Spirit within us to guide and direct us, or we can say no. We can choose to ignore the holy nudges we receive. If our lives are crowded with too much noise and activity, it s likely that we may fail to be attentive and responsive to the promptings of the Spirit stirring within us. That s why it s so important to take quiet time and listen to God so we may do his will and be faithful to his call for our lives. We hear in today s Gospel that Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Let s do the same. On this first day of the New Year, we review our goals and make resolutions to discipline ourselves by losing weight, exercising more, or other similar efforts. What if we take some quiet time to listen to what God s plan for us might be in the year ahead? What if we reflect on whatever we hear in the silence? What might happen if we choose to act on God s plan for us as the days, weeks and months of this New Year unfold? Very simply, our lives will be changed so that more and more we will come to share Christ s light, love and peace with all those we encounter. Let us pray to be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the grace to respond and go where the Spirit leads us. The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace! Wishing you and your family and happy and healthy 2017 thank you for praying with us today! Happy New Year! Father Tony

3 Our Liturgical Week Monday, Jan. 2 8:00 a.m. Tito C. Bingil (By: Adele Caunan) Tuesday, Jan. 3 8:00 a.m. F. E. Ramos (By: Freddy & Thelma Ramos) Wednesday, Jan. 4 8:00 a.m. Elizabeth Ann Seton (By: Anonymous) Thursday, Jan. 5 8:00 a.m. Isabel B. Ricafort (By: Adele Caunan) Friday, Jan.6 8:00 a.m. Brigitte Weil (By: Anonymous) Saturday, Jan. 7 8:00 a.m. Daniel G. MacDonald (By: Griselda MacDonald) 3:30 a.m. Reconciliation 4:30 p.m. Michael Gragnani (By: Gragnani Family) Sunday, Jan. 8 8:00 a.m. Marietta Wolf (By: Becky Parini) 9:30 a. m. Eulalia Rego (By: Oscar Diaz) 11:30 a.m. Joe Rodriguez (By: Susan Montalbano) 6:45 p.m. Bold Indicates Mass Intentions TODAY'S READINGS First Reading -- The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace! (Numbers 6:22-27). Psalm -- May God bless us in his mercy (Psalm 67). Second Reading -- God sent the Spirit of the Son into our hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" So you are no longer a slave but an heir, through God (Galatians 4:4-7). Gospel -- The shepherds glorified and praised God for all they had heard and seen (Luke 2:16-21). Second Collection Next Weekend A second collection will be taken at all masses January 7 and 8 for New Building Loan Payment St Stephen Events Calendar Monday Parish Office Closed 7:00 p.m. Men s Club/Hall Tuesday 12:00 p.m. School Lunch/Hall Wednesday 12:00 p.m. School Lunch/Hall 7:30 p.m. On Eagle s Wings/EC Thursday 12:00 p.m. School Lunch/Hall Friday 7:30 p.m. G.A. Closed Meeting/EC & Comm. Rm. Saturday 3:00 p.m. Birthday Party/Hall Sunday 7:00 p.m. Adult Vollyball/Gym Mary, the Holy Mother of God January 1, 2017 Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Luke 2:19 SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES Sunday: Mary, the Holy Mother of God; The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord; World Day of Prayer for Peace; New Year's Day Monday: Ss. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen Tuesday: The Most Holy Name of Jesus Wednesday: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Thursday: St. John Neumann Friday: St. André Bessette; First Friday Saturday: St. Raymond of Penyafort; Julian Calendar Christmas lease pray for the sick P and homebound of our community and for all those written in our book of the sick. May they know the healing touch of Jesus. Larry Barbiere, Ruth Cisek, Eden Finn, Carol Dominguez, Al Gragnani, Emma Hock, Emma Lew, Honora Lowe, Juan Pablo Grover-Paez, Maria Matthews, Jovita & Richard Thompson, Nenita Sangalang and Patricia Sullivan.

4 SAVE THE DATE! 2017 WALK FOR LIFE The Annual Walk for Life will be on Saturday, January 21. The event will be with Mass being celebrated by Archbishop Cordileone at Saint Mary s Cathedral at 9:30 a.m., followed by the 1.3 mile walk down Market Street ending at Justin Herman Plaza. A CHURCH ACCESSIBLE! Saint Stephen Church is now left open Monday through Saturday from after the morning Mass until 4:00 p.m. This gives you the opportunity to stop by and make a person/private visit with the Blessed Sacrament and to offer your prayers in a quiet, warm and comfortable atmosphere. So, when you are out for an afternoon walk or returning home from shopping or work -- feel free to stop by. (Fr. Tony) HOSPITALITY MINISTERS for our 9:30 a.m. Mass Today, Jan. 1 - Bob Anthony Team Sunday, Jan. 8 - Vicky Francisco Sunday, Jan Francie Pasquini Please note! Coffee and donuts will not be served until the completion of mass. St Stephen Pastor Wish List Want to contribute to a specific need? Please take a look at our wish list! 1. Fifty New Monthly Donors ($100/month) 2. Lenten Speaker Series ($500) 3. Replace Church Sound System ($40,000) 4. New Carpet Installation ($75,000) 5. Paint Church Interior ($100,000) Any gift you make to our ministry will help us bring the light of Christ to more parishioners at Saint Stephen Church. Want to make a difference? Contact Fr. Tony at FatherTony@SaintStephenSF.org. Thank you! 2017 Mass Intentions Our 2017 Mass Intention Calendar is open. Stop by the office to set up date/time. The Gift of Generosity This holiday season, we thank everyone who has supported St. Stephen Church this past year with their time, talent and financial contributions and look forward to support from all of our members in the year ahead. If you need a convenient way to make regular offerings or if you plan to make an additional gift before the end of the year, we encourage you to look into our electronic giving options. As the pace of life speeds up, especially around the holidays, you may find electronic giving a most welcome way to make contributions. Visit saintstephensf.org or contact the church office for more information. Our Altar Servers Our special thanks to our student Altar Servers who faithfully continue to volunteer their time and talent to our parish. Our Altar Servers for December 12 thru 18 were: Weekday Masses Olyvia Bankovitch, Mateo Guzman, Miguel Guzman, Giovanna Franco, Christopher Bautista, Sarah Krauss, Kyle Simmons, Darragh Keane, Dagny Wallace, Lance Kuo-Esser, Drew Phillips, Mericel Tao, Erin Scheg, Evelyn Ongpin, Olivia Schot and Sarah Tuvo. Weekend Masses Lauren Schneider, Josh Pashby, Claire Patankar, Caroline Wong, Melissa Hua, Dory Miller, Eoghan Daly, Elena Gandolfo, Hannah Morello, Cian O Donoghue and John Brooks. Thank You!

5 St. Stephen School Update Submitted to School Board President Deepak Patankar By Principal Sharon McCarthy Allen This Fall, Saint Stephen School students, faculty, staff and families have enjoyed a faith-filled, funfilled and friend-filled beginning to our school year! Father Tony LaTorre, our new Pastor, has truly inspired and touched us all with his daily visits to the school, engaging and spiritual homilies at all our Masses, especially at our Monthly School and Family Masses, and enthusiastic presence at all School events. By living his Faith and sharing it with us, we have grown stronger as a Catholic community in six short months. Thank you, Father Tony! We have welcomed to our faculty excellent teachers- Miss Ashley Kokesh who is teaching with Ms. Joan Connelly in Kindergarten, Miss Mary Ryan in Second Grade, Miss Michelle Hammel in Fourth Grade, and Miss Caitlin O Brien in Fifth Grade. Sr. Christine Ostrowski has joined us as our English Specialist for Fifth through Eighth Grades, and Mrs. Liz Regalia has joined us as our Math Specialist for Fifth through Eighth Grades. Welcome to Ms. Lizzie McCarthy who began last month as our Primary Science Teacher. We appreciate our faculty and staff s commitment and dedication to our students continued high achievement, both academically and spiritually. We have completed our WCEA/WASC self-study and developed an achievable and impactful action plan. The collaborative process involved in completing this self-study has both highlighted and clearly articulated the ongoing dialogue, shared interest and expected outcomes of the educational process at St Stephen School. While remaining fully aware of the fluidity of the educational continuum, capturing snapshots of progress and growth as an institution, while we strive to continually meet the best interests of each student, has been gratifying. On January 6, 2017, we will welcome our WCEA/WASC Accreditation Visiting Committee for a Pre-Visit. The Committee will complete its three-day visit February 14-16, We look forward to the Committee meeting and interviewing the wonderful students, parents and faculty at St. Stephen School, touring our campus, and assessing and providing meaningful feedback to us. In November, we conducted two packed tours for prospective Kindergarten parents who learned about our excellent academic and faith formation programs, fantastic faculty, beautiful facilities and our incomparable Parish and School community. We will be hosting our Annual Open House on Sunday, January 29, 2017 after 9:30 Mass. Please attend to see the creativity and ingenuity our students, reflected in their classroom projects. Always dedicated, our Student Council organized their annual and much appreciated Ocean Beach Clean-Up Team in October. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, they collected over 3000 cans during our annual Canned Food Drive for Catholic Charities Homeless and Housing Programs. They have raised over $ for local charities through the Charity Free Dress program. Finally, our Women s Guild kicked off the school year with our exciting Family Bingo Night and, on December 3, hosted our sold-out The Love Boat Auction. Please Save the Date for our spectacular Run for the Roses Fashion Show on Saturday, April 1, 2017! We encourage all Parishioners to attend our events which showcase the strength and commitment of our community. We appreciate and thank everyone for your support and dedication!

6 PASTORAL STAFF Rev. Tony P. LaTorre Pastor ext.25 Rev. Mr. Rory Desmond Permanent Deacon Rhonda Smith Coordinator of Music & Liturgy ext. 32 Mary Molly Mullaney Faith Formation Coordinator ext.27 Mrs. Sharon McCarthy Allen School Principal Jim Cook Parish Manager ext.23 Shay Ingelfinger Event Center Coordinator ext.33 Jan Almeida Bookkeeper ext.29 ST STEPHEN PARISH ORGANIZATION/MINISTRY CONTACT PERSON Altar Servers Giovanna Hrvatin Altar Society Joan Leehane Bridge Group Helen Perlite Caritas Nellie Hizon Church Hospitality Mary Molly Mullaney Communion Ministers Rhonda Smith Faith Formation Mary Molly Mullaney Fifty Plus Club Helga D Arcy Finance Council Laura Birsinger Grief Support Clergy Lectors Rhonda Smith Liturgy Committee Fr. Tony Marriage Preparation Clergy Men s Club John Bankovitch Music Rhonda Smith Parish Council Vicky Francisco RCIA Mary Molly Mullaney St. Stephen Book Club Veronica Wong St. Vincent de Paul Julie O Callaghan Ushers Bob Anthony Women s Guild Daniela Franco & Maira Hallinan Our warmest welcome to all who celebrate with us. You can sign up or update your information by completing this form & placing it in the collection basket, by mailing it to the Parish Office, by phone at or online at Name Address City/Zip Phone Our parishioners receive the Archdiocese weekly newspaper Catholic San Francisco. I am interested in assisting with the Parish in the following way(s): Acolyte/Altar Service Altar Society Children s Liturgy of the Word Choir Greeter/Usher Hospitality after Mass/Special Events Holy Communion Ministers to the Homebound Lector/Holy Communion Ministers Music/Choir

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8 Christmas Flower Program 2016 IN LOVING MEMORY: Al Ambrose Aviani Family Attilio & Elizabeth Brunello John Bruno II Eric Caoile Andres B. Caunan Beatriz R. Caunan-Bingil Caunan Family & Friends Lena Cella Mario Cella Daniel Coughlin Dan & Stella Curran Anne Dito Louis Dito Kenneth Eaton Jay & Mabel Fishera Jerry C. Fitzgerald Peter Ganduglia Virginia Mary Gearhart Liz Porter Gragnani & Child Michael Gragnani Greely Family Alma Gross Ivan Gross Patricia Lynn Hanus Frank & Pearl Labelle Leehane Family Christy Linehan Dan Linehan Patrick Linehan Mr. & Mrs. C. Lucci Marilyn Helena Maloney Marguerite & Robert Matthews Ani & Ralph Marinai Leo T. McCarthy Nancy McGarvey Meyers Family Joseph Montalbano Barbara Murray Denis F. O Connor Michael Stephen Ojong Petrus Kanisius Ojong Mr. & Mrs. James L. Quigley Blanche Reggiardo George Reggiardo Mary Reggiardo George Repetto Roy Repetto Joe L. Rodriguez Charles & Carolina Slajer Frank Spaserella Dan Sullivan Jack Sullivan Jane Sullivan Henry & Teresa Thran Fred & Grace Tony Fred Von Holt Mr. & Mrs. Robert F. Walsh Jimmy Williams Cecilia Witt Karel & Ana Zidek IN HONOR OF: Deacon Rory Desmond Anthony Lou Family Fr. Paul Warren Wedding Anniversary Celebration All husbands and wives celebrating a 5-year wedding anniversary (5, 10, 15,35, 40), or over 40 years in 2017 are invited to attend and be recognized. Saturday, February 4, :00 am Mass followed by reception $20 suggested donation per family Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption 1111 Gough Street, San Francisco Principal Celebrant: His Excellency Carlos Sevilla, S.J. Bishop Emeritus, Yakima Registration required or call (415) Please register by: January 27, Archbishop s Annual Appeal We have received $49,152 to date. Please help! We are $38,235 short of meeting our 2016 goal of $87,387. You Can Still Help! Married Couples: This New Year resolve to make your marriage the best it can be by attending a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend! The next Marriage Encounter Weekend is March 17-19, 2017 in Mountain View. For more information visit our website at: sanjosewwme.org or contact Ken & Claranne at applications@sanjosewwme.org or