OUR MISSION STATEMENT: Growing In Faith Together (G.I.F.T.) WEEKLY SCHEDULE =================================================================

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1 OUR MISSION STATEMENT: Growing In Faith Together (G.I.F.T.) Dear Parishioners, Our prayers for the continued formation of our catechumens and candidates for full reception in the Church. We formally begin our journey with them this weekend at the 10 am Mass, though they have already begun the journey toward becoming Catholic earlier. It was such a pleasure last Sunday to be with the families that stayed after Mass to make Advent wreaths. While a fairly simple project, it has a profound impact, I am sure, on the children. I hope that the number of wreath-makers will grow! This Monday, December 8, is a Holy Day of Obligation as we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the womb of her mother. To celebrate it during Advent seems fitting, as we remember that God prepared everything, even the Virgin Mary, for the coming of His Son. He preserved her from all stain of sin from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace. As we celebrate it, we should not simply attend Mass because the Church tells us we are obligated, but rather from that greater obligation of being so profoundly aware of God s goodness that we HAVE to gather to worship on this feast. I hope many will attend Mass with this sense of obligation. Our directory photos are finished. If you did not get a photo taken, there is still time to submit one! We do request, however, that the photos be good quality, free from shadows or odd objects sticking out of heads, for example. I hate to admit, but I was at an event where I took pictures, and there was one person who, in three photos, appeared to have sprouted a plant from the top of his head he was standing in front of a fireplace with the plant on the mantle. Also, we have someone who has said yes to helping with our activities pages for the directory. If there are others who wish to help, please let me know! At this point, we do not have an ETA for the directory, as the activities pages are needed first. In Christ, Fr. Todd J. Petersen ================================================================= WEEKLY SCHEDULE December 7-14, nd Sunday of Advent, December 7 8 AM Mass, Nicollet 10 AM Mass/Rite of Welcoming (Parish Family), SP 10 AM FF Preschool Gr. 1, Social Hall & Fam Rm 11 AM Coffee & Rolls, Social Hall 2 PM Call to Repentance, Chapel 7 PM LifeTeen, Social Hall Monday, Feast of the Immaculate Conception 8:15 AM School Mass (+Deacon Sy & +Mary Ann Sauer), Church 5 PM Mass, Nicollet 7 PM Mass (+Kathy Schaus), Church Tuesday 8 AM Mass (+Ellie Willaert), Chapel 3 PM School Choir, Band Room 6 PM Catholic Daughters Potluck, Social Hall 6:30 PM RCIA, Family Room Wednesday 8 AM Mass in Nicollet No School Prayer 1 PM School Christmas Program Dress Rehearsal 6:30 PM Faith Formation Grs :30 PM EDGE, Social Hall 6:30 PM Choir, Band Room Thursday 8 AM Mass (+Fritz & +Jane Powers), Chapel 9 AM Symbolon Video Series, Dustin s Corner 1 10 PM Eucharistic Adoration, Chapel 3:30 PM Confessions, Chapel 6:30 PM School Christmas Program, Church Friday 8 AM Mass (+LeRoy Stensby), Chapel 1 PM School Christmas Program, Church Saturday 3:30 5 PM LOI Ticket Sales, Narthex 4 PM Mass (+Clayton & +Frannie Connor), St. Peter

2 3 rd Sunday of Advent, December 14 8 AM Mass, Nicollet 9:30 11:30 AM LOI Ticket Sales, Narthex 10 AM Mass (+George & +Caroline Lesnar), SP 10 AM Faith Formation Preschool Gr. 1, SH, FR 11 AM Coffee & Rolls, Social Hall 5:30 PM Mass (Parish Family), St. Peter 7 PM LifeTeen, Social Hall DAILY READINGS Monday: Gen 3:9-15,20 / Eph 1:3-6,11-12 / Lk 1:26-38 Tuesday: Isaiah 40:1-11 / Matthew 18:12-14 Wednesday: Isaiah 40:25-31 / Matthew 11:28-30 Thursday: Isaiah 41:13-20 / Matthew 11:11-15 (184) Friday: Zechariah 2:14-17 / Luke 1:26-38 Saturday: Sirach 48:1-4,9-11 / Matthew 17:9-13 Sunday: Isaiah 61:1-2,10-11 / 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 / John 1:6-8,19-28 ADVENT PENITENTIAL SCHEDULE CHURCH OF ST. PETER: *Reconciliation Service: Saturday, December 6 2:30 PM Sunday, December 7 2:00 PM *concludes with the offer of individual confession and absolution Sacrament of Penance: (Private) 7:30 AM before weekday Mass 3:30 PM CHURCH OF ST. PAUL: Sacrament of Penance: (Private) Before Wednesday daily Mass VIRTUS NEWS: All employees and volunteers of the Church of St. Peter and John Ireland School, please remember to check your for notification that it is time to do your annual or quarterly online training. Please use due diligence to complete it as soon as possible so we may be current with the Diocese. Thank you Diocesan Ministries Appeal Thank you to all who have given to the Diocesan Minis-tries Appeal. If you have not had the opportunity to make your pledge or gift yet, envelopes are available on the table in the Narthex. By supporting the DMA with others around the diocese, we offer Catholic Charities counsel-ing to our neighbors in need and we support programs for youth as well as adults in the Church who are doing Christ s work. Remember that your gift also supports our parish project, reducing our short-term line of credit. Feast of the Immaculate Conception Mass times on Monday, December 8: 8:15 am School Mass, St. Peter 5:00 pm St. Paul s, Nicollet 7:00 pm St. Peter s, St. Peter Prayer Ministry Please Pray For: Joan Walter

3 St. Peter Public Access TV Channel 7 Church of St. Peter Sunday Mass: Mondays 7 pm Tuesdays 9 am Catholic Formation: Made in His Image Featuring Fr. Gerolad Langsch It s no easy task to live out the Catholic faith. However, Fr. Gerolad Langsch believes these hardships should not be avoided but embraced. In this series, Fr. Langsch s thoughtful discussions challenge us to hold up a mirror to our own Cath-olic formation and reflect on what it truly means to be made in His image. Episode topics include the following: Who Am I; God, Master Educator; Holiness; Guiding Stars of Education; Living True Freedom; and Practical Ways to Maturity. Wednesday, December 10, 9:00 pm Thursday, December 11, 10:00 am Coffee and Rolls Please join us on Sunday mornings in the Social Hall at 11 AM as we enjoy coffee & rolls with family & friends. Volunteers for December 14, 2014: Sharon Cooke, Marian Determan FOSTER GRANDPARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Earn an extra $150-$200 per month tax-free. The Foster Grandparent Program, Lutheran Social Service of MN, is looking for individuals 55 years or older, who enjoy children and have 15 hours per week or more to share at Kid s Corner in St. Peter. Contact Gail at or ======================================================================================= ======================================================================================= Catholic Campaign for Human Development Thank you for your contributions to the Collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD)! Your generous gifts will help CCHD end poverty in the United States through better education, improved housing, and economic development. Through CCHD and its beneficiaries, we help keep Catholic social teaching alive and carry out Jesus mission to bring glad tidings to the poor to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free) (Lk 4:18).

4 WHAT S COMING UP.. Sunday, December 7 A Day for Consecrated Life Holy Trinity Cathedral & Convent, New Ulm 11 am to 4:30 pm 11 AM Mass w/bishop LeVoir; 12 noon 3 pm Open House at Holy Trinity Convent; 12 noon Lunch w/ sisters (RSVP needed for lunch only freewill offering contact Sr. 1 pm Convent tours; 2 pm Sisters Got Talent! (a talent show featuring the gifts of religious sisters); 3:30 pm Holy Hour with Vespers. Sunday, December 7 HANDEL. WITH LOVE Sing Along Messiah with the Mankato Symphony Mankato West High School Auditorium 5:00 pm A Sing Along Messiah (also known as a Scratch Messiah) is an event in which community choirs and individuals join together to sing in an informal recital of Handel s Messiah. Professional soloists will sing the recitatives and arias from the stage and the sing along choir singers will sing the choruses from the audience. Get tickets at Sunday, December 14 Dinner & Bake Sale St. Mary s School Cafeteria, Sleepy Eye Bake Sale after Saturday 5:30 pm Mass & 8 am Sunday. Swiss Steak Dinner, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. All proceeds donated to the Parish Education Program plus a Catholic United Financial grant of up to $1000. Friday and Saturday, December 12 & 13 The Minnesota Valley Choral Presents Sing the Great Mystery Centuries since Bethlehem Fri. Dec. 7:30 pm Christ the King Lutheran Church, Mankato Sat., Dec. 7:30 pm St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Mkto Featuring: Fantasia on Christmas Carols by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Magnificat by Johann Pachelbel, and other sacred works. Tickets available from Minnesota Valley Chorale members, The Lighthouse in Mankato and at Adults $10, Students $5. CHURCH OF ST. PETER THRIFT and CONSIGNMENT STORE (507) % off: Cookbooks Wanted: Good used furniture to sell 401 S. Minnesota Ave., St. Peter REGULAR HOURS: Monday Friday: 9 AM 5 PM Saturday: 9 AM 4 PM ==============================

5 CATHOLIC DAUGHTERS Christmas Potluck: Tuesday, December 9 at 6:30 pm. Plan to attend and enjoy the evening and wish your CDA sisters Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! If you need to, please call a member for a ride. If you are thinking about or are interested in joining CDA, please come and find out more about what CDA does for the community and worldwide. Catholic Daughters will be providing treats at the Benedictine Court on Dec. 10 at 2:30 pm. If any member would like to participate in this event, you are certainly invited. REGENTS will meet on Sunday, December 14 at 5 pm for our potluck. All families, especially those with children, are invited to attend an Advent Prayer Service with Bishop John M. LeVoir on Sunday, December 14. The service is at 2 pm in Winsted at the Church of the Holy Trinity. This service is designed to help us focus on Advent and prepare for the true meaning of Christmas, centered on the birth of Jesus. Families are encouraged to bring the Baby Jesus figure from their home nativity set. The figure will be blessed by Bishop LeVoir individually as families come forward in procession. There will be a blessing on families and expectant mothers as they prepare for Jesus birth in their hearts. A swaddling clothes collection (blankets, sleepers, layette items, etc.) will be taken for babies in need and given to Friends of San Lucas, area Birthright Centers, or First Choice Pregnancy Services. Cash donations will be taken to First Choice Pregnancy Services in New Ulm. For more information, contact the diocesan evangelization and catechesis offices at STEWARDSHIP Treasure: Fiscal Year July 2014-June 2015 Week Ending: November 30, 2014 Offertory Envelopes $ 4, Electronic Giving-Offertory $ 1, Loose Plate $ Initial Offertory $ - Total Weekly Offertory Contributions $ 6, Each week the offertory budget is $10, $10, Difference: ($3,961.62) Please note: To meet budgeted expenses, we need $10,175.00/week in our Adult Envelopes. Please help as you can. Thank you! Year to Date Contributions $ 202, Year to Date Budget $ 223, Year to Date Difference: $ (21,182.89) Children s Giving: $ Retirement Fund for Religious Give thanks for religious. A parishioner writes, We thank God today and every day for every religious sister who taught us in school, not only our ABCs, but also to love God. Share your gratitude for the senior Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests who made a positive difference in so many lives. Please give generously to next week s collection for the Retirement Fur for Religious. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

6 Attn Electronic Givers at the Church of St. Peter: Christmas greetings from the Church of St. Peter! We wish for you a Merry Christmas and Blessed The Church of St. Peter would also like to thank you for choosing a Direct Payment Plan (Electronic Bank Debit) or (Credit Card Contribution) for your offertory giving. A Direct Payment Plan provides the Church of St. Peter with consistent cash flow each month, eases budget preparation and saves money on postage, envelopes and processing. Your chosen method of giving is truly helping the Church of St. Peter. For yourself, we hope you are enjoying the convenience, flexibility and ease of giving. Laminated I Give Electronically credit-card size forms are in the narthex on a table. If you wish, you can pick one up as you enter our Church and place this in the Collection basket as it is passed. If you would like to make any changes in your plan for 2015 or at any time, please contact the Church office and we can help you. If you have no changes, there is nothing more you would need to do. Your contributions will continue in 2015 as they were in If you have any questions, please contact Barb Hansen at (507) x101. Thank you again for choosing a Direct Payment Plan with the Church of St. Peter. *In addition, if you would like to begin giving electronically or have any questions regarding this, please contact Barb Hansen (507) x101 at the Church office. Your donation can be charged to your credit card or be taken from any bank account you wish. Thank you for considering this option! His master replied, Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master s happiness! Matthew 25:21 THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you haven t already done so, PLEASE return your Fall Festival raffle tickets. The Church of St. Peter must account for every ticket sold or unsold. You can drop them in the Sunday offertory basket, return to the Church office, or mail them (1801 West Broadway, St. Peter, MN 56082). If you have misplaced your tickets, please let the Church know either via letter or (office@churchofstpeter.org). THANK YOU for your cooperation!!

7 Church of St. Paul December 7, 2014 Pastor - Fr. Todd Petersen Parish Office Parish Administrative Assistant - Parish Hall Deacon Steven Spilman Office Hours: Tuesday - Thursday 9:00 am to 12:00 pm CHURCH OF ST. PAUL SUNDAY COLLECTION 11/30/14 Adult - $ / Plate - $10.00 Thanksgiving $26.00 / Catholic Campaign for Human Development $ As we prepare spiritually for the coming of Jesus, it is important and useful to reflect on the virtue of humility that John the Baptist proclaims in the second reading today. A humble heart, offered to God, is like opening the door into our lives as widely as we can to allow Jesus to fill our lives with His Grace, with His life. There is a song with the line, Lord it s hard to be humble, when you re perfect in every way. Sometimes we find ourselves approaching humility from this perspective because it is so much easier to see the fault in others but miss the log in our own eye. Or we try to put a holy face on the outside, like the Pharisees did, while inwardly reassuring ourselves that we re not that bad. It isn t so much about being good or bad as much as it is about being honest with ourselves that we do both good and bad things. It is because we are fundamentally good as part of God s good creation that Jesus came to save us. But we cannot deny that we are also flawed through our tendency to sin. If we ignore our own sinfulness, we won t respond to the call to repent and our door to the forgiveness and love of Jesus Christ won t be open as widely as it could be. Repentance is a temporary cleansing with the experience of God s forgiveness on the other side of it. Is God s love for you a strong enough call to repent? If it isn t, then you should reflect on the question, why not? What is keeping you from proper humility before God? Are you lacking faith? If so, pray for more. Faith is a gift from God. Have you done something that you re too ashamed of to bring to Reconciliation? Then you are denying yourself the experience of God s loving forgiveness and the freedom from the sinfulness that you re living with. You ve committed yourself to the slavery of some particular sin. Advent is a time to repent; to open your door to Jesus as widely as possible. Advent is a time to be humble before God and trust in His love and mercy. D.S. I m excited to kick-off our campaign to support the local pregnancy centers again this year. There is a direct connection between our generosity and saved lives in our home area. Please be as generous as you can with your financial support as well as your prayers. They are doing God s work and your prayers will be answered. MONDAY (Dec.8): 5:00 p.m. Immaculate Conception Mass (Holy Day of Obligation) WEDNESDAY: 6:30-7:45 p.m. Religious Education Classes K - 10 MASS / WORD & COMUNION SCHEDULE AND INTENTIONS Monday, 12/8 5:00 pm - Ron Michels Wednesday, 12/10 8:00 am Delphine and Roy Minor Friday, 12/12 8:00 am Word and Communion Service Sunday, 12/14 8:00 am Leonard and Margaret Pries

8 In your charity, please pray for the repose of the soul of Charles Henle, brother of LeAnna Brown. Our love and prayers are with his family and friends who miss him. May he rest in peace. When we are hurting and seek our Father s care, He gently takes us to His heart and gives us solace there. MINISTRY OF LITURGY Monday, Dec 8, Immaculate Conception, 5:00 pm Sunday, December 14 USHERS: Ron and Rick Grommersch, Dave Holcomb USHERS: Bernie and Justin Laven, Jerome Peters LECTOR/COMMENTATOR: Richard Mayer LECTOR/COMMENTATOR: Kristy Zajac EME: Jay Dorn, Dale Mack, Bev Mayer, Cyndi Zins EME: Colette, Marlys, Jeff Zajac, SACRISTAN: Phyllis Wenner SACRISTAN: Deacon Steve SERVERS: Dominic and Justin Rosin SERVERS: Wallace Michels GIFTS: Jake and Cyndi Zins GIFTS: Richard and Bev Mayer GREETERS: Dave and Tricia Holcomb GREETERS: Richard and Bev Mayer The sick and/or homebound: God is taking care of you. Pat Anton, Fr. Ed Ardolf, Sister Miriam Ardolf, Pam Bernal, LeAnna Brown, Harvey Dorn, Kevin Ellsworth, Charlie Epper, Lisa Hackett Family, Sarah Iverson, Helyna Mack, Mary Ann Mans, Whitey Mayer, Herman Mettler, Shirley Michels, Wally Molitor, Stacy Schultz, Angie and Valerie Weber, Gene Wenner, Rob. We pray for all who are ill or hospitalized. Nursing Home Residents: Gene Wenner and Margaret Wenner, Benedictine Living Community, St. Peter; Rose Marie Zins, Oak Hills Living Center, New Ulm. Group Homes: Nadine Brown, James Weber, Mary Jo Weber. Assisted Living: Fr. Ed Ardolf, Benedictine Living Community, St. Peter. Eddie Bauer, The Wilds of Sand Prairie, St. Peter. Mary Ann Mans, Benedictine Living Community, St. Peter. PARISH NOTES: th Birthday Celebration! You re invited to Cleo s 90 th Birthday Open House on Sunday, December 14, 12:30 to 3:30 pm at St. Paul s Church. Lunch and cake will be served. No gifts please, your presence is your gift. 2. Christmas Flowers a Christmas memorial you share. Would you like to place a memorial lily in the altar area this Christmas? Like Mass intentions, you can list any person or family that you want. There is a sign-up sheet on the pulpit in the main entryway. The average purchase price of the lily is $ You can put your contribution in an envelope and drop it in the collection basket. If you have any questions, contact Millie Dorn or Donna Zins All contributions, big or small, are welcome. This special donor / memorial list will be published in the Bulletin. 3. Retirement Fund for Religious: Give thanks for religious. A parishioner writes, We thank God today and every day for every religious sister who taught us in school, not only our ABCs but also to love God. Share your gratitude for the senior Catholic sisters, brothers and religious order priests who made a positive difference in so many lives. Please give generously to next week s collection. 4. Nicollet Community Blood Drive, Monday, December 15, 1:00 7:00 pm (note new winter hours) at the American Legion Hall. BE A HOMETOWN HERO AND DONATE BLOOD! American Red Cross heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Their badge of honor is the bandage that shows they gave the gift of life.