St. Thomas Aquinas Church Iglesia Católica Romana

Transcription

1 St. Thomas Aquinas Church Iglesia Católica Romana 1501 South Atlantic Boulevard Monterey Park, California Third Sunday of Advent December 16, 2018 Fr. Peter s Farewell Reception We will hold a cake and coffee farewell reception for Fr. Peter on December 23 rd after the 8 AM, 9:30 AM, and 11:30 AM Masses. Please keep Fr. Peter in your prayers as he begins a new journey in his ministry. Religious Retirement Fund In Appreciation Religious give thanks. This money is pure gift, writes a religious sister of the support made possible by the Retirement Fund for Religious. It enables us to continue providing care for our elderly sisters. Your gift of $1, to last week s collection helps hundreds of religious communities meet pressing retirement needs while continuing to serve the People of God. Thank you for your generosity! Simbang Gabi Mass Saturday, December 7:00 PM The Filipino community of St. Thomas Aquinas invites you to the annual Simbang Gabi celebration. Simbang Gabi is one of the most popular Filipino traditions in the country. It is the spiritual preparation for Christmas, in commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. The celebration is also seen as a way of requesting blessings from the Lord. Light refreshments will be served in the parish hall following this special spiritual experience. Monday, December 24 Christmas Eve 5:30 PM Mass in English 8:00 PM Mass in Chinese 11:00 PM Midnight Mass in English/Spanish Tuesday, December 25 Christmas Day 8:00 AM Mass in English 9:30 AM Mass in Chinese 11:30 AM Mass in English 1:30 PM Mass in Spanish Upcoming Advent Penance Services Tuesday, Dec. 18th 7 PM Holy Family Pasadena Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal-Montebello Wednesday, Dec. 19th 7 PM St. Thomas Aquinas MPK We invite everyone to our penance service. We will have English, Spanish, and Chinese speaking priests. St. Elizabeth Altadena ABVM & St. Rita Pasadena Thursday, Dec. 20th 7 PM St. Stephen Monterey Park St. Philip the Apostle Pasadena Friday, Dec. 21st 7 PM St. Andrew Pasadena St. Anthony San Gabriel

2 Parish Office Christmas Schedule Blessing & Anointing of the Sick Saturday, December 29th 8 AM Mass On Saturday, December 29th at the 8 AM Mass we shall celebrate the sacrament of anointing of the sick. This is one of the sacraments you can receive more than one time in your life. Anyone who is sick and would like to receive this sacrament, please come and join us. Whether you were anointed before, please know that you are welcome to participate and share in the healing presence of God in the sacrament Year-End Non-Profit Donation At this time of the year, may individuals select non-profit organizations to make last minute donations that qualify as a 2018 tax donation. Our parish qualifies as a non-profit organization. We have outstanding operational expenses, special projects and ministerial needs which these donations can be applied to. Please consider our parish as a recipient of your valuable year-end donation. English Bible Study Resumes Jan. 9th Our English bible study group is on a short break during the Christmas season. Please join us on Wednesday, January 9th at 7 PM in our church. We will start the 2019 session with the Sunday readings. The Parish Office will be closed on Monday, December 24th through Wednesday, December 26th for the Christmas holiday. We will reopen on Thursday, December 27 th. May the Peace and Joy of Christmas be with you this Christmas Season and throughout the New Year. Christmas Season Environment Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors of the purchase of our Christmas trees, our beautiful trees are on display. We collected a total of $600. Our environment team has been hard at work. Due to their devotion and unselfish sharing of their talents, our parishioners and visitors will enjoy a beautiful setting in which everyone can reflect on the true meaning of the Christmas season. STA Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) Christmas is a time of giving and what would be better than giving the gift of a catholic education to a child. Your donation to the TAP program helps provide assistance to our current school children. This Christmas season, we ask you to give a gift to STA, just mention TAP. Your gift will be greatly appreciated. Paul Braeckmans TAP Program Chair

3 THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT School News Christmas Gift Basket Sale This Sunday, December 16th Please stop by the school table after Mass this Sunday to purchase Christmas gift basket. A limited supply of baskets will be available. Proceeds raised from this sale will be used for the Christmas celebration on Thursday, December 20th. Christmas Celebration Join Us! Please join STA school for our Christmas Celebration on Thursday, December 20 beginning at 5 PM on the school yard. We will have food for sale, sweet treats, ornament decorating, and pictures with Santa. From 6 PM 7:30 PM everyone will be in the church to listen to all STA students as they perform Christmas Carols. At 7:30 PM student council will be lighting our STA Christmas tree outside by the flagpole. This is sure to be a wonderful evening and we would love to share it with all our parishioners! DECEMBER 16, 2018 Holy Land Pilgrimage Oct 1 to 12, 2019 Have you ever dreamed about going to the Holy Land? Are you interested in a 12 Days Pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Jordan in October 2019? Fr. John will be the spiritual director of this pilgrimage. In the footsteps of our Lord, Jesus Christ, we will visit places of Jesus birth, life, death and resurrection. For example, we will visit Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth; Cana, the village of Jesus first miracle; (Here couples may renew their wedding vows.) Capernaum, where Jesus started his ministry; Tabgha, the site where the miracle of the multiplication of fish and bread took place; Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Jerusalem - Mount of Olives, Upper Room of the Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemane, Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrow), and much more. We will not forget about Lake Galilee and Dead Sea! We will also visit places in Jordan Mt. Nebo also location of the Tomb of Moses; Amman, the modern capital city of Jordan; Petra, famous for the rock-cut architecture and water conduit system; Jerash, known as the Pompeii of the East. When? Oct 1 to Oct 12, Cost: $3,700 (including airfare, hotel, meals and transportation) plus $200 for gratuities. Space is limited 24. In preparation for this trip, we plan to form a group so we can encourage each other to do exercises, to study the Bible, and to save money. Do you want to be part of this group to become physically, spiritually, and financially ready for this pilgrimage? You can get more general pilgrimage information at website nativitypilgrimage.com. We will have a presentation to provide details of our pilgrimage package including itinerary and other information on Jan If you are interested, please contact Agnes Yu at (562) or agnes.yu@verizon.net

4 READ & REFLECT ON THE SCRIPTURES DECEMBER 16 DECEMBER 23 Sunday: Zep 3:14-18a; Is 12:2-6; Phil 4:4-7; Lk 3:10-18 Monday: Gn 49:2, 8-10; Ps 72:1-4ab, 7-8, 17; Mt 1:1-17 Tuesday: Jer 23:5-8; Ps 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19; Mt 1:18-25 Wednesday: Jgs 13:2-7, 24-25a; Ps 71:3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17; Lk 1:5-25 Thursday: Is 7:10-14; Ps 24:1-6; Lk 1:26-38 Friday: Sg 2:8-14 or Zep 3:14-18a; Ps 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21; Lk 1:39-45 Saturday: 1 Sm 1:24-28; 1 Sm 2:1, 4-8abcd; Lk 1:46-56 Sunday: Mi 5:1-4a; Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19; Heb 10:5-10; Lk 1:39-45 KEEP IN PRAYER Bertha Acuna Esther Aguilar Rafael Aguirre Oscar Alberto Anthony Arroyo Jacob Balcazar Adara Ballesteros Gabrielle Benson Anita Berumen Soledad Berumen Fred Bracco Jose Calderon Flor Cantara Rita Cardenas Elvira Chaidez George Chale Leroy Chavez Soya Chavez Robert Chua Rosario Delas Cynthia Espinosa Debby Ferguson Taylor Gallardo Crescencio Galvez Guadalupe Galvez Aurora Garcia David Garcia Tristan Garcia Jean Genera Jaime Germain Eric Giambalvo Eliseo Gonzalez Elizabeth Gonzalez Sal Gonzalez Jr. Emma Gonzalez Ellie Govea Ed Griffin Henry Guerrero MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, :30 PM In memory of George Esquer by Esquer family For the peace and health of Haiboh Wang by Agnes Yu SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16, :00 AM In memory of Alice Gust by Tim Gust In memory of Joe Saragueta by Bea Saragueta In memory of Joseph Nghi Nguyen and Joseph Vi Huynh 11:30 AM In memory of Gregory Taggart by Diana Valenzuela For the health of Hsueh Chang and Shuyun Yuan 1:30 PM In memory of Mirla Regal by Doris Gallegos In memory of Jose Manuel Melchor by Melchor family TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, :00 AM For the peace and well-being of Ai Min Lau In memory of Simon Spitalier by Julio Spitalier THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2018 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2018 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2018 WEEKLY SCHEDULE Sunday, December 16th 9 AM Confirmation Hall 9 AM FHC School Clrms 10 AM RCIA-Dining rm. 11 AM Ch. Choir-Dining rm. 11 AM Chn. Rel. Ed-Clrms 11 AM RCIA Hall Mtg rm. 11 AM Chinese Bible CL3 3 PM Church Decoration 4 PM Fantasy Folk Dance- Hall Tuesday, December 18th 7:30 PM Ping Pong Hall Wednesday, December 19th 7 PM-Youth Legion of Mary- Hall Mtg Rm. 7 PM Folk Dance-Hall 7 PM Penance Service-Church 7:30 PM RCIA Dining Rm. Thursday, December 20th 5 PM-School Christmas Celebration Open Grounds 6 PM-School Christmas Program Church 7 PM Ping Pong Hall Friday, December 21st 7:30 PM-Chn. Fellowship-Hall mtg rm. 7:30 PM St. Therese De Lisieux Dining rm. Saturday, December 22nd 9 AM Cantonese Legion of Mary-Parish Hall 9:45 AM-Mandarin Legion of Mary Dining Rm. 3 PM Simbang Gabi Set Up Hall 7 PM-Simbang Gabi Mass- Church

5 SAFEGUARD THE CHILDREN We are all God s children, and we all need protection While a major part of preventing sexual abuse and exploitation is aimed at keeping young children safe, the focus and goal of the Protecting God s Children program is to keep all people safe, including adults. By knowing the warning signs of different types of abuse and taking action to shut down abuse and offer protection and support, we can help the most vulnerable among us, whoever they may be. For a copy of the complete VIRTUS article, Don t Forget to Protect the Vulnerable Adults in Your Community, visit archdiocese.org/org/protecting/pages/virtus- Current-Online-Articles.aspx.. WEEKLY COLLECTIONS 12/8-12/9 Offertory: $7, Avg. Weekly Online Donation: $ Weekly Expenses: $7, Variance: +$ Faith Direct: membership.faithdirect.net/ca779 Mass Schedule Saturday Vigil 5:30 PM (English) Sunday 8:00 AM (English) 9:30 AM (Chinese) 11:30 AM (English) Monday 1:30 PM 7:00 PM (Spanish) (Chinese) Tuesday 8:00 AM (English) Wednesday 8:00 AM (Chinese) Thursday 8:00 AM (English) Friday 8:00 AM (English) **1st Friday ONLY 7:00 PM** Saturday 8:00 AM (English) Reconciliation Saturday at 4:00 PM Parish Information Parish Office: (323) Chinese Ministry Office: (323) General sta91754@gmail.com Parish Website: STAMPK.ORG Fax: (323) Hall Rental: (323) ext. 102 Parish Staff Fr. John Kyebasuuta Pastor stapastor@gmail.com Ext. 108 Fr. Peter Wei Cao Associate Pastor sta.assocpastor@gmail.com Ext. 106 Lorraine Melendez General Manager stamanager1@gmail.com Ext. 103 Linda Almaguer Parish Secretary sta91754@gmail.com Ext. 102 Sherry Hsu Chinese Ministry Staff stachinese@gmail.com Ext. 104 Jessie Wang Chinese Ministry Staff stachinese@gmail.com Ext. 105 Safeguard The Children Esther Hwang (323) School Information School Office: (323) Stefanie Lutero Principal SLutero@stampkschool.org General info@stampkschool.org Website: stampkschool.org Religious Education Information Office: (323) Sr. Rocio Nieto DRE stareligioused@gmail.com