Mass Schedule Saturday 5:00 p.m. SFX 7:00 p.m. (on Jekyll) Sunday (SFX) 8:30 a.m. 11:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. in Spanish

Transcription

1 Mass Schedule Saturday 5:00 p.m. SFX 7:00 p.m. (on Jekyll) Sunday (SFX) 8:30 a.m. 11:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. in Spanish Weekday Masses St. Joseph Chapel Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. Wednesday 8:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m. St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church Reconciliation: Church Saturdays 4:00-4:30 p.m. Sunday 7:45-8:15 a.m. (Or by appointment) St. Joseph Chapel (Please go to the main office for a key) Monday - Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. St Joseph Chapel First Friday Adoration 2:00-7:00 p.m. Holy Hour 7:00-8:00 p.m. First Saturday 8:45 a.m. Church Address:1120 Newcastle Street, Brunswick, GA Phone: (912) Fax: (912) annbuebel@bellsouth.net

2 St. Francis Xavier Staff Rev. Timothy McKeown, Pastor ext. 11 Rev. Chris Ortega Assoc. Pastor ext. 12 Ann Buebel Office Manager ext. 0 Maggie Shafer Director of Finance ext. 16 Rev. Mr. Larry Guyer, Director of Religious Education ext. 14 PERMANENT DEACONS Rev. Mr. Ntungwa Maasha Rev. Mr. Larry Guyer ext. 14 CHRISTIAN FORMATION CENTER 1116 Richmond Street Brunswick, GA Juan Perez-Valdes, Hispanic Ministry ext. 11 Marisol Soler, Fam. & Youth Ministry ext. 12 Joe Sechkar Dir of Liturgy/Facilities Maint. ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CATHOLIC SCHOOL 1121 Union Street Brunswick, GA Dr. Terry Mermann Principal Lori Carden, Office Manager Maggie Shafer Director of Finance Ext.16 The second collection for January 8 is for Black & Indian Americans. We are at 94% of our Bishop s Annual Appeal Target. We have collected about 46,000 of our $50,000 goal. The BAA supports such programs as tuition, room and board for our seminarians. If you have not contributed yet please do so in December so we can wrap up our campaign. Make checks payable to SFX Church and memo them BAA. They can be dropped in the regular collection or mailed to the office. Thank you for supporting the Bishop s Appeal! Mark your calendar: First Communion will be on May 6th and Confirmation on May 8th. The launch of the World Apostolate of Fatima's U.S. Tour for Peace is underway and coming to Jacksonville! The historic tour, marking the 100th Anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, Portugal will feature the world-famous International Pilgrim Virgin Statue, traveling worldwide for nearly 70 years. You'll be able to experience the blessing of gathering with others devoted to Our Lady when the statue visits Holy Family Parish in Jacksonville, FL on Wednesday, January 18. Norma McIntyre of St William parish is coordinating a group pilgrimage to Holy Family Church. If we have enough people interested, we could contract with a bus to travel to Jacksonville. Please call Norma at or her at tkintyre@comcast.net to let her know if you are interested in joining us.

3 The Epiphany of the Lord What is the feast of the Epiphany? It often seems lost in the brilliance of Christmas. Most people have the vague notion it has something to do the magi and gift giving. Both of these would be right. Today we recall the magi coming from the East to give gifts to Jesus. For this reason many cultures of the world, such as the Italians, choose today to exchange gifts. What is the feast all about? Epiphany is a Greek word that means "manifestation." We are in a season where we celebrate the signs that accompanied the birth of Jesus and helped to proclaim his divinity and majesty. There are three traditional epiphanies: the visit of the magi, the baptism of Jesus and the miracle of Cana. Today is a feast that captures everyone's imagination. The mysterious visitors come from the east to bring gifts to baby Jesus, confirming his majesty. Their visit is an epiphany, or sign, of the majesty of Jesus. Gold is brought to symbolize his kingship. Frankincense points to His divinity and myrrh points to his death Imagine being in your hospital room with your newborn baby and to have three regal figures suddenly appear and give exotic gifts to your child! What would you think? There must be something very special about my child. Imagine the faith displayed by the magi. They leave their homeland to march through the desert to follow a star. They travel for hundreds of miles. What did they expect to see? What would be at the end of the star? Perhaps something as glorious as the pyramids, the Grand Canyon, or Niagara Falls? At the end of their journey they find a teenaged mother and her newborn infant. What faith to lay their gold at the crib of this baby! The magi were led by an epiphany and responded in faith. What epiphanies have led you to Jesus? There must have been some sign in your life that said to you, "Jesus is the Son of God." I think for many of us the epiphany of Christ is something that is spectacular but that we take for granted. It is something that is around us every day. It is the epiphany of the sacraments. What definition of the sacraments did you learn growing up? "An outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace." We could just as well say, "An epiphany instituted by Christ to give grace." And of course there is the epiphany par excellence. It is the epiphany of the Eucharist. Jesus at the Last Supper holds up a loaf of bread and says, "Take this all of you and eat it: this is my body that will be given up for you." For 2000 years we have had the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. How many millions lives have been touched by this epiphany? How many thousands of people this past year alone became Catholic because of the Blessed Sacrament? The magi were on a journey. They were thirsting to find the Truth, to meet the living God. So hungry were they that they left their homes and families to march across a desert to a follow a star. When they came to the end of the journey they found the newborn Jesus. "They prostrated themselves and did him homage." What a beautiful example for all of us. We too are on a journey. We are seeking truth. Let us be guided by epiphanies in our lives. Let us remember that we are signs for one another. We have found Jesus through these signs. Let lay before Christ and give him the homage of our lives. O star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright, Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to the perfect light! -Fr. Tim McKeown

4 Prayer List for January (All Names will be refreshed on the 31st) Anna Hardwick Serefina Ferra Socorro Helean Georgia Burgess-Erwin Tilly Johnson Moira Kaluzienski Huong Thi Phan Gertrude Roberts Sara Fryar Richard Brunegraff Maria Zambon Donal Brunegraff David Higbee Gloria Quinones Byron Bankston Charlotte Cornelius Peggy Lee Farrar Vi Daugherty Vera Borkowski Judy Perry Majka Dick Guerin Kathleen Koreski Benjamin Koreski Billie Lou Henjum Zoe Yawn Manuela Rocha Leslie Kaufman Michael Mleko Jr. Our sons and daughters in military service Financial News Collections for December $ 17, School Support (Dec.) $ 3,360 St. Vincent (Dec.) $ 5, Religious Retirement $ 3, Diocesan Catholic Schools $ 2, Thank you for your sacrificial donation! Please place the hymnals in the rack in the horizontal position with the binder (title) showing. This will help prevent bending and folding. Thank you! Council of Catholic Women invites you to join us on January 9th for our first meeting of the new year at 6 p.m.

5 January 8, 2017 The Epiphany of the Lord Mass Intentions Saturday January 7 5 p.m. Vicedo Family 7 p.m. t Kay Ward (At Jekyll United Methodist Church) Sunday January 8 8:30 a.m. K of C Members 11 a.m. t Mercedes Lopez del Castillo 6 p.m. SFX Parish Family Monday January 9 7 a.m. t Evelyn Lott Tuesday January 10 7 a.m. t Johnny Lott Wednesday January 11 8 a.m. Patrick & Sheila Ebri (20 yr. Anniv.) 7 p.m. t Frances O Brien Glover Thursday January 12 7 a.m. t Agnes O Brien Friday January 13 7 a.m. t Mary Blanchard Saturday January 14 5 p.m. Our Parish Family 7 p.m. t Kay Ward/Sandee Coddington (At Jekyll United Methodist Church) Sunday January 15 8:30 a.m. Monique Broz (intentions) 11 a.m. t Maria Zagami 6 p.m. t John M. Regan THE RELIGIOUS ARTICLES SHOP WILL REOPEN ON JANUARY 8TH. STILL WORKING TO OPEN THE SHOP FOR THE 6PM SUNDAY MASS STARTING IN JANUARY... WE DO HAVE A COLLECTION OF CHRISTMAS ITEMS FOR SALE... STOP IN ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11TH OR SUNDAY THE18TH. BLESSED HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!! New Pews: Our new pews will be solid oak. These are beautiful, natural and long lasting. The first three pews on each side will have cushioned seats with solid oak backs. The new kneelers will be aluminum which will make them much lighter and more durable. The owner of the company came to assess the stain color. We are choosing a color that will blend with the pillars (which tend towards a wood/auburn spectrum) and the ceiling (which tends toward a wood/brown spectrum). The new stain will be in between those. We will leave a row empty in the middle of the church as a walk through space. This will allow us to use the front half of the church for smaller funerals, weddings and daily masses. Currently we have raised $70,000 of the 111,000 cost. Please consider making a donation to finish this project. These beautiful pews should last the next 100 years! Thank you. The Knights of Columbus will host a blood drive on Sunday January 29th from 9 AM to 2 PM in Xavier Hall. Please consider giving a pint of your precious gift of life to others. Your donation will remain in the local community. Scheduling an appointment will ensure your time is respected. The Knights of Columbus will provide the volunteers needed for the service. For questions please call Dave Robson at

6 DID YOU KNOW? Cicero and St. Augustine presented the need for continuity of a culture as something greater than the immediate, the here and the now. Should the human person not attach himself to something grander than the moment. Without cultural and historical continuity no real brotherhood of men could ever emerge. After all, how could any one generation or even several generations tell a man what was good and what was ill? We might very well know science, literature, manufacturing, and art, but by what means would a man know what would be the test of honor? A Knights of Columbus fact January 19, 2017 (Thursday) St Francis Xavier Council of Catholic Women fundraiser at Buffalo Wild Wings from 12 p.m. until 10 p.m. Eat, drink, relax and just mention you are there for the CCW fundraiser to your server! Located in the Altama Village Shopping Center at 718 Glynn Isle. Thank you for your support! PARISH SCHOOL OF RELIGION (PSR): We have PSR Classes this Sunday, 8 Jan. Classes will not meet next Sunday, Martin Luther King Holiday, 15 Jan. Classes will resume January 22. Your time can be a gift to the infant Jesus! Your sacrifice of time teaching a child about Jesus may lead to her or his child s eternal salvation. Think about teaching or substituting in our PSR Program. Call Deacon Larry-DRE , X14. Save the Date! SFX Council of Catholic Women 27th Annual International Food Tasters February 25, 2017 We look forward to tasting your favorite dish!

7 Parish Activity Contacts Adult Bible Study, Joe & Linda Kirby Altar and Environmental Care, Diane Lott Bereavement, Ann Buebel CCW, Rose Browning Communion Ministers, Ann Buebel Culture of Life, Rose Lodise Greeters, Ginger Dorcas Jekyll Island Catholic Ladies, Eleanor Daniel Knights of Columbus, John Carbonell P.S.R., Larry Guyer ext. 14 RCIA/Sacramental, Larry Guyer ext. 14 Religious Articles Shop, Rose Lodise St. Monica Society, Peggie Cash St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store Parish Council, RoseMary Jones at Most Rev. Gregory John Hartmayer, OFM Conv. Bishop of Savannah MEMBERSHIP To be a registered member of a Parish is to have a sense of belonging to a family. Newcomers are requested to register at the Church Office soon after arrival, to meet the staff and learn about your new parish. In the time of family sickness, death or special need, parishioners are asked to notify the Church Office. If requested, Holy Communion will be brought to anyone desiring to receive the Eucharist but are unable to attend Mass for serious reasons. Please call Ann Buebel at ext. 0., her at annbuebel@bellsouth.net or come by to schedule your masses. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.