Parish Mission St. Vincent de Paul Parish is a welcoming faith community inspired by God s love to serve others, share our gifts and nurture souls.

Transcription

1 Parish Mission St. Vincent de Paul Parish is a welcoming faith community inspired by God s love to serve others, share our gifts and nurture souls. FOURTH SUNDAY of ADVENT December 23, 2018 To all who are tired and need rest; to all who mourn and need comfort; to all who are friendless and need friendship; to all who are discouraged and need hope; to all who are homeless and need sheltering love; to all who sin and need a Savior; and to whomsoever will, the Parish of St. Vincent de Paul opens wide its doors in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!

2 Parish of St. Vincent de Paul -Dingman Township, Pa. - Our Vision We are a Spirit-filled community of welcoming believers, helping each other spiritually, financially and practically. We show compassion, gratitude and appreciation toward God and one another as we dream big, spread joy, and share our tears and laughter. 101 St. Vincent Dr. Milford, PA Mon., Tues., & Fri. 9:00 a.m. 3:00 p.m.; Wed. 9:00 a.m. Noon; Thursday Phone: (570) Fax: Office stvoff@ptd.net Pastor s stvfrjb@ptd.net Faith Formation Office:(570) ;stvreled@ptd.net Parish Website: stvdepaulchurch.org Facebook: St. Vincent de Paul Parish Saturday Vigil Mass: 4:00 p.m. Sunday: 8:30 a.m. & 11:15 a.m. Daily Mass: listed below Sacrament of Reconciliation Saturdays: 3:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. or by appointment Welcome new parishioners, please call or visit the to register WEEKLY MASS SCHEDULE SATURDAY, December 22, p.m. MICHAEL COLLINS/ Bob & Carolyn Todino SUNDAY, December 23, 2018 Fourth Sunday of Advent 8:30 a.m. FOR ALL PARISHIONERS 11:15 a.m. RICHARD PURCARO/ Patricia Purcaro MONDAY, December 24, a.m. NO MASS 4 p.m. FAMILY MASS/ FOR ALL PARISHIONERS 9 p.m. CHRISTMAS VIGIL/ CHRISTMAS NOVENA TUESDAY, December 25, a.m. CHRISTMAS DAY MASS/CHRISTMAS NOVENA WEDNESDAY, December 26, a.m. CHRISTMAS NOVENA THURSDAY, December 27, 2018 NO MASS FRIDAY, December 28, a.m. CHRISTMAS NOVENA SATURDAY December 29, p.m. CHRISTMAS NOVENA SUNDAY, December 30, 2018 The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph 8:30 a.m. FOR THE PARISHIONERS 11:15 a.m. CHRISTMAS NOVENA GOSPEL MEDITATION - ENCOURAGE DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE December 23, th Sunday of Advent Here we are, mere days from Christmas, and we hear a Gospel anticipating the birth of another child. Mary has received word that her cousin Elizabeth is with child. Pregnant as she is, Mary "set out and traveled to the hill country in haste." She has recently received the greatest news of her life - that she is to be mother to the Messiah by the power of the Holy Spirit - but her concern is for her cousin in need. Through God's grace, Elizabeth turns it into an opportunity to honor the coming Christ. "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." Yet Mary's example of selflessness should inspire us. As Christmas draws near, there is plenty of goodness to anticipate for many of us. We'll reunite with family and friends, uphold time-honored traditions, swap stories old and new, exchange gifts, and welcome Jesus at the Christmas liturgy. These are wonderful things! Of course, they probably all come with their own to-do list. Shop for last-minute gifts, pick up recipe ingredients, ready the guest room, or pack your own bags. Mary probably had things to do as well. She had a lot to consider, for one thing. How do you plan to tell your parents you're pregnant, but no man was involved? When Joseph finds out, who will care for the practical needs of you and your child? Into what may have been a chaos of questions, Mary receives news that someone is in need. She goes immediately. In these final days before Christmas, stay watchful and awake! You never know when God might invite you to welcome, hospitality, and compassion. It might be tempting to reject the opportunity for your own needs. Follow the example of Mary! If God is providing you an opportunity to love, He will provide the means to accomplish all your other tasks. This Christmas season, may you too hear, "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

3 December 23, 2018 Fourth Sunday of Advent C Pastor s Corner: When we celebrate the birth of the Promised One from small and insignificant Bethlehem, we might also celebrate and commit to his way -- as the old song goes, Give Peace a Chance. Start by thinking small, the way God did. Give peace a chance in the small ways of our daily lives. Try disarming our hearts by seeking understanding and reconciliation in our relationships. So we ask ourselves: What in my daily words and acts reflects anger and an unrestful spirit? How can I begin to change so as to be more an instrument of God s peace? Behold, I come to do your will, O God Hebrews 10:7 Nikos Kazantzakis, the author of Zorba the Greek, once told a parable about an old rabbi, who complained to Jesus that, despite his prayers and sacrifices, God remained hidden to him. The parable continues: "Jesus, in response, smiled gently and said: Once upon a time there was a marble throne at the eastern gate of a great city. On this throne sat 3,000 kings. All of them called upon God to appear so that they might see him, but all of them went to their graves with their wishes unfulfilled. Then, when these kings had died, a pauper, barefooted and hungry, came and sat upon that throne. God, he whispered, the eyes of a human being cannot look directly at the sun, for they would be blinded. How then, Omnipotent, can they look directly at you? Have pity, Lord, temper your strength, turn down your splendor so that I, who am poor and afflicted, may see you! Then---listen, old man---god became a piece of bread, a cup of cool water, a warm tunic, a hut and, in the front of the hut, a woman giving suck to an infant. Thank you, Lord, he [the pauper] whispered. You humbled yourself for my sake. You became bread, water, a warm tunic and my wife and son in order that I might see you. And I did see you. I bow down and worship your beloved many-faced face! " Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, in The Holy Longing, states, God takes on flesh so that every home becomes a church, every child becomes the Christ-child, and all food and drink become a sacrament. God s many faces are now everywhere, in flesh, tempered and turned down, so that our human eyes can see him. God, in his many-faced face, has become as accessible, and visible, as the nearest water tap. This visible, incarnate God, Emmanuel, God-is-with-us, is a God who wants to be in relationship. Not only can you see Emmanuel in others, all others, but you can also be Emmanuel to others by your selfless acts of mercy and love. In Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim (Forest of Peace, 1989), Edward Hayes writes in a psalm, Peace on earth and justice for all will only become manifest in our lives when enough of your sons and daughters awaken to your divine design that has made each of us an emergi Christmas Wishes: I want to take this opportunity to wish parishioners and friends of St. Vincent de Paul Parish a very Merry and Holy Christmas. May Jesus, the Light of the World, direct our steps and shine His hope and love in our hearts, in our homes, and in our world this Christmas and throughout the New Year. In celebration of Christ s birth, it is my privilege to celebrate the Eucharist for you and your intentions. May you have a Blessed Christmas Season. : The will be closed Christmas Eve and the days following. The Office will reopen on January 2, This will enable our employees to spend some time with family and friends. Thank You: I would like to thank all of the employees of St. Vincent s and all the volunteers and those in various Ministries a very Holy and Blessed Christmas. You know who you are that help to make the Parish and its many activities flow so well and bring the saving message of Jesus Christ to everyone we encounter. May the Lord bless you and those you love with His abundant graces.

4 Christmas Eve 4:00 Family Mass 9:00 p.m. Mass (Carols begin at 8:30 p.m.) Christmas Day 11:00 a.m. There will be no classes 12/23 1/2/19. Christmas Break will run from Sunday Dec. 23 through Wednesday, January 2, Classes will resume on 1/6 and 1/9. We would like to wish everyone a very Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year! Youth Group Gatherings and Events Join us to feed, grow and live your faith! Young people in grades 8-12 gather in the Parish Hall on alternating Sunday evenings unless otherwise noted.* December 27 or 28 Laser Tag TBD January 6 Epiphany Celebration 6:30 8p.m. January 18 March For Life Washington D.C. Check us out on OPLATKI CHRISTMAS WAFERS The Christmas Wafers are available in the and also the weekend Masses from Father John. The significance of this beautiful and meaningful practice is in that it shadows the Eucharistic meal Catholics participate in at each Mass. Just as we share in the Eucharist as one family in Christ and receive Christ s love through the Eucharist, the Oplatki allows for one s immediate family to come together and share the love they have for one another. Christmas Flowers Please use the envelope included in your packet to make a donation for Christmas Flowers and décor. You are welcome to make your offering in memory of a loved one or a general offering. All donations will be listed in the bulletin. Flower Donations Flower Donations for Saturday / Sunday Mass are being accepted for Please fill out an envelope (located in the narthex or the ) with your request and donation and return to the parish office. You may also arrange for flowers to be placed at the Tabernacle or by the Holy Family or St. Vincent de Paul statues. In addition, Tabernacle Candles may be lit for a week for the intentions or memory of a loved one. If you have any questions, call or stop by the parish office. Christmas Sharing Tree 2018 Thank you to everyone shared their generosity with the families who participated in our Annual Sharing Tree! It is through your gift of love that many local children are provided a bountiful Christmas! His Excellency, the Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of Scranton, and the Office for Parish Life wish to invite couples celebrating their 25th or 50th wedding anniversary in 2019 to a diocesan Wedding Anniversary Mass on Sunday, June 30. The event includes a 2:30 PM mass at St. Peter s Cathedral followed by a reception. Requests for an invitation, with a mailing address, should be made through your pastor before April 2, Forms are available in the Narthex.

5 The Parish of St. Vincent de Paul ~~The Lifestyle of Generous Hearts ~~ Dec. 2th: $6202. We Share On-Line Donations: $ Dec. 9th: $5678. We Share On-Line Donations: $ Dec. 16th: $4901. We Share On-Line Donations: $ St. Vincent s Loaves and Fishes Last 2 week total: $ Total for Fiscal Year: $ Weekend Mass Attendance First Sunday in Advent: 4:00p.m.: 119 8:30a.m.: :15a.m.: 190 Second Sunday in Advent: 4:00p.m.: 107 8:30a.m.: :15a.m.: 170 Third Sunday in Advent: 4:00p.m.: 138 8:30a.m.: 74 11:15a.m.: 129 Total: 464 Total: 432 Total: 341 Faithful Stewards In cooperation with the Diocesan Office of Parish Life, our Parish Council, Finance Council and Generous Hearts ministry has been working on a new initiative to bring the U.S. Bishops pastoral vision on stewardship to life in our parish. In the U.S. Bishop s pastoral letter on stewardship, they confirm that Stewardship is an expression of discipleship, with the power to change how we understand and live out our lives. Beginning in January, we will feature a monthly Faithful Stewards section in our bulletin. We welcome your comments and thoughts on this initiative. A Summary of the U.S. Bishops' Pastoral Letter on Stewardship "As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace" (1 Pt 4:10). What identifies a steward? Safeguarding material and human resources and using them responsibly are one answer; so is generous giving of time, talent, and treasure. But being a Christian steward means more. As Christian stewards, we receive God's gifts gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with others, and return them with increase to the Lord. Disciples as Stewards Let us begin with being a disciple - a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. As members of the Church, Jesus calls us to be disciples. This has astonishing implications: Mature disciples make a conscious decision to follow Jesus, no matter what the cost. Christian disciples experience conversion - life shaping changes of mind and heart - and commit their very selves to the Lord. Christian stewards respond in a particular way to the call to be a disciple. Stewardship has the power to shape and mold our understanding of our lives and the way in which we live. Jesus' disciples and Christian stewards recognize God as the origin of life, giver of freedom, and source of all things. We are grateful for the gifts we have received and are eager to use them to show our love for God and for one another. We look to the life and teaching of Jesus for guidance in living as Christian stewards.

6 DECEMBER 2018 & JANUARY 2019 SUNDAY 23 Fourth Sunday of Advent Mass: 8:30 a.m. 11:15a.m. MONDAY TUESDAY Christmas Eve Family Mass 4p.m. Christmas Day Mass 11a.m. WEDNESDAY 26 Holy Family Mass: 8:30a.m. 11:15a.m. 31 K of C New Year s Eve Party 7pm 1 am JAN. 6 JAN. 7 Faith Formation Classes Resume Crafters & Stitchers Ministry Mtg. 10a.m. Epiphany Mass 8:30a.m. 11:15 a.m. Cursillo 6-7pm R.C. JAN. 13 JAN. 14 K of C Mtg 7p.m. FRIDAY Cursillo Group Mtg: 9:45a.m. Chapel Youth Group (YG) possible Laser Tag Christmas Eve Vigil 9p.m. 30 THURSDAY JAN. 1 JAN. 2 Re-opens The Solemnity of Mary/World Day of Peace Mass 11a.m. Youth Group (YG) possible Laser Tag SATURDAY 29 Holy Family Mass 4p.m. JAN. 3 JAN. 4 JAN. 5 No Senior Club Meeting This First Friday Adoration 9:30a.m.- Noon First Saturday Rosary Noon Sponsored by The Knights of Columbus. All are welcome Epiphany Mass 4:00p.m. JAN. 8 JAN. 9 JAN. 10 Faith Formation Classes Resume JAN. 11 JAN. 12 Cursillo 9:45a.m. Mass 4p.m. Share the Sunday Readings 6:30p.m. JAN. 15 Crafters & Stitchers Ministry Mtg. 10a.m. JAN. 16 JAN. 17 JAN. 18 JAN. 19 Cursillo 9:45 a.m. Mass 4p.m. Share the Sunday Readings 6:30p.m.

7 Monday, Dec 24, 2018 ADVENT WEEKDAY Peace is within our reach The promise of peace is surely the greatest of all God s rewards. For a human race caught up in the throes of fear and competition year in and year out, the idea that there is a path toward peace is good news indeed. As Christians we believe Jesus was sent to us by God for the specific purpose of showing us the way of peace. Jesus is not only the Prince of Peace, he is peace itself. Embrace Jesus and you embrace peace. Then, as promised, you will be filled with a sense of wholeness, harmony, healing, and hope. What more is there to proclaim but hallelujah! TODAY'S READINGS: Morning: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Luke 1:67-79 (200). The dawn from on high shall break upon us,... to guide our feet into the way of peace. Tuesday, Dec 25, 2018 SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD (CHRISTMAS) Rejoice, I say, rejoice! Saint Augustine said that God became human so that humans might become God. It s an amazing statement, when you think about it and today s a pretty good day to do so! Both sides of the equation are astonishing, actually. First, the idea that the immortal, eternal, boundless God would willingly take on the limits, sorrows, and vulnerability of a human infant. And then, that by doing so, God invites limited and vulnerable humans like us to share in God s immortal and eternal nature. Could there be a greater Christmas gift? A better reason to rejoice? Merry Christmas! TODAY'S READINGS: Vigil: Isaiah 62:1-5; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Matthew 1:1-25 (13); Night: Isaiah 9:1-6; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14 (14); Dawn: Isaiah 62:11-12; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:15-20 (15); Day: Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18 (16). To those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God. Wednesday, Dec 26, 2018 FEAST OF STEPHEN, FIRST MARTYR The good with the bad It s the day after Christmas, and we re still cleaning up, wearing our new sweaters, and working on the leftovers. Why remember the first martyr someone stoned to death? But for more than 1,500 years the church has celebrated this feast at this time. Before his death, Stephen, as Acts of the Apostles tells us, was a deacon (the first in that category, too) and was responsible for feeding the poor. He also worked a few miracles and debated with opponents of the early Christian community one particularly nasty dispute got him killed. As the day-after-christmas saint, Stephen reminds you that, in the midst of celebrating the birth of Jesus, service and sacrifice continue to be part of calling yourself a Christian. TODAY'S READINGS: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59; Matthew 10:17-22 (696). Brother will betray brother to death, and you will be hated by all because of my name. Thursday, Dec 27, 2018 FEAST OF JOHN, APOSTLE, EVANGELIST The disciple Jesus loves While it s usually assumed that the author of the Gospel of John is also the beloved disciple referred to in that gospel, nowhere is this identification explicitly made. Some scholars think this ambiguity means we are intended to see ourselves as the beloved disciple. Each one of us is the disciple whom Jesus loved. In our faith lives, so much works itself out if we can really feel God s love for us, if we can feel our absolute value in the eyes of God and know in our hearts we are forgiven. Only then can we love and forgive others. TODAY'S READINGS: 1 John 1:1-4; John 20:1a, 2-8 (697). The other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed. Friday, Dec 28, 2018 FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS, MARTYRS Kids don t ride free Each day a great number of innocent people many of them children suffer and die because of war, disease, and poverty. In our own country, school and gang violence, child predators, and other lethal forces threaten the lives of our young ones. The holy innocents those King Herod ordered murdered in his vain hunt for the infant Jesus are also all those who suffer from the violence humans inflict on one another and the planet. All destructiveness begins in the human heart when people do harm out of fear or selfishness. This year, this Christmas season, tell yourself that hate and neglect will stop with you. TODAY'S READINGS: 1 John 1:5 2:2; Matthew 2:13-18 (698). Herod... was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were 2 years old or under TrueQuest Communications. TakeFiveForFaith.com; mail@takefiveforfaith.com. All rights reserved. Noncommercial reprints permitted with the following credit: Reprinted with permission from TakeFiveForFaith.com. Scripture citations from the New American Bible Revised Edition. For more information about TAKE FIVE and our regular contributors, go to PrepareTheWord.com.Free daily and app available online at TakeFiveForFaith.com/subscribe.