Christmas & New Year. Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year! VIGIL OF CHRISTMAS

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1 Our Mission DECEMBER 21, 2014 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT United in Christ through Bap sm, our parish is a Catholic community of diverse cultures and experiences. Through educa on and worship, we share the word and celebrate the Sacraments. We welcome and embrace all to join us in the praise & service of God. Christmas & New Year 2014 SCHEDULE OF SERVICES 923 S. LA BREA AVENUE, LOS ANGELES CA SCHEDULE OF MASSES Sunday: 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM & 12:00 PM Saturday: 8:30 AM, 5:00 PM (Vigil) Weekday: 9:00 AM (Monday-Friday) Wednesday: Holy Day: 8:00 AM, 6:30 PM; Vigil: 6:30 PM SACRAMENTS Confession: *1:00-1:30 PM, Sunday Baptism: Fourth Sunday of the month Matrimony: Six months notice required in advanced for marriage preparation Appointments available for private Baptism, Funeral, Quinceañera. Please call to schedule your event. *(Confession schedule is subject to change without notice. Thank you.) RELIGIOUS EDUCATION First Communion: 3:45 PM Wednesday Confirmation: 11:00 AM Sunday RCIA: 7:00 PM Monday CONTACT US: Parish Office/Mailing: 926 S. Detroit Street, Los Angeles, CA Rectory: 922 S. Detroit Street, Los Angeles, CA Telephone (323) Fax (323) parish@cathedralchapel.org Website: VIGIL OF CHRISTMAS Wednesday, December 24 9:00am, Weekday Mass 5:30pm, Christmas Vigil & Children's Liturgy 11:00pm, Christmas Mass at Night NATIVITY OF THE LORD (Christmas), A Holy Day of Obligation Thursday, December 25 8:00am, 10:00am, 12:00pm Octave Days of Christmas Novena December. 25, 2014 to January 1, 2015 NEW YEAR S EVE Wednesday, December 31 9:00am Weekday Mass, 9:00pm Vigil Mass NEW YEAR S DAY The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord, Solemnity of Mary Thursday, January 1, 2015 Weekday Mass, 9:00am Poinsettia Offerings beginning Dec Please bring to church or parish office. Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

2 A MESSAGE FROM FR. TRUC Dear Parishioners and Visitors: Christmas cards from friends and families are coming in the mail; the Fourth Sunday of Advent is short and quick this year, and it s going to be Christmas in three days. The art of slowing down is so crucial for a deeper experience of faith as we celebrate Jesus Birthday; slowing down helps us to appreciate the gifts of life such as, embracing a loved one and enjoying the present moments of life. Our Lady of Guadalupe & Simbang Gabi Celebrations During the last few days, the richness of the various cultural traditions have enhanced the faith and the tradition of our Catholic Church especially in our parish. On Dec. 12th, we celebrated Our Lady of Guadalupe with a beautiful liturgy. I am thankful for Sister Francis Aldama from the Missionary Guadalupana Sisters of the Holy Spirit, for her inspiring and meaningful homily. Thank you to all our parishioners, ministers, altar servers and families of our Religious Education program for their donations and participation in our liturgy. Thanks to Suzette Bermudez for her flower donations and to Lis Brady & Gloria, for decorating Our Lady s image. A special thank you to Gloria & Ruben Barragan for preparing our delicious traditional Mexican feast! Our Filipino community once again, have organized a back-to-back Simbang Gabi celebrations last Dec. 18 and 19. We welcomed parishioners from our neighboring parishes (St. Basil, St. Brendan, and Christ the King) who came and participated in the Eucharist and the festivities. I am very thankful to all the members of the Simbang Gabi committee headed by Pura Dumandan. The liturgy during these two days were filled with the spirit of Christmas! Thank you to the participants of the Panuluyan and to all our liturgical ministers. I thank all the families for their monetary and food donations, and to all the members of the hospitality group and parking volunteers. Last but not least, thanks to Fr. Jao Radmar who celebrated one of the Masses with me. As a parish family, together with the world, we continue to pray for peace. The shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Sts. Ruiz and Calungsod, and all the saints in our church ignites our faith and reminds us of our baptismal commitment to evangelize Christ among people of our own cultures. Again, my heartfelt appreciation and would like to take this moment to thank all the committee members and volunteers of our various Advent events: Parish Christmas Party, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Simbang Gabi -- for all the hard work, effort and heart that they have all put into these events. The Christmas Season Soon it will be Christmas, the most beautiful season of the year. I invite all of you to this year s Christmas Eve and Christmas Day liturgical celebrations. I look forward to welcoming our parish family and visitors who will be here at our church celebrating the Birth of Jesus, and participating the Word of God and Eucharist through the gift of faith. Luke s Gospel gives us great inspiration: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. This coming Wednesday, Dec. 24th, I invite you to also come and help us prepare our church for the Christmas season. There are many tasks to do before the Children s Vigil Mass at 5:30pm, and we are in great need of volunteers. We especially need men to help with some lifting and moving of Christmas trees. Work will start immediately following the 9:00am Mass. Thank you in advance for your help and support. During the Octave (8 Days) of Christmas from December 25, 2014 to January 1, 2015, the Church will sing joyfully these words of God from Psalm 96. We all sing to the Lord: The heavens and the earth rejoice. These verses capture the spirit of Christmas. I invite you to participate in our annual Octave of Christmas Novena, where we will be praying as a family, for you and your loved ones (living and deceased), throughout these eight days of Christmas. On behalf our parish staff, members of the finance and pastoral liturgy council, and school faculty and staff, I wish you all a blessed and joy-filled Christmas. May the Birth of our Lord Jesus grant us all peace and hope in our journey of life and faith. In moments of doubts and difficulties, may your faith remain strong and may your will surrender to the Will of God. WEEK OF DEC , 2014 SAINTS, SPECIAL OBSERVANCES, MASS INTENTIONS AND PARISH EVENTS SUNDAY, DEC. 21: 4th Sunday of Advent; Winter Begins 8:00 Barbara Ward Ball 10:00 Junita Lee 11:00 NO Confirma on Classes 12:00p For All Our Parishioners 1:00p Confession* 1:30p Bap sm of Elenny Mar nez & Adam Ruiz MONDAY, DEC. 22: 9:00 Leonor Arias TUESDAY, DEC. 23: St. John of Kanty 9:00 Banh Nguyen WEDNESDAY, DEC. 24: The Vigil of Christmas; Office open from 9a-1p only. 9:00 For Our Volunteers; Jeanine Hoen; Gene Galicia; Mary Jo Dulaney 3:45p NO First Communion Classes 5:30p Christmas Vigill & Children s Liturgy 11:00p Christmas Mass at Night THURSDAY, DEC. 25: The Na vity of the Lord (Christmas); Office Closed Christmas Mass Schedules: 8:00am, 10:00am & 12:00pm All Masses are for the Inten ons Received through our Octave of Christmas Novena FRIDAY, DEC. 26: St. Stephen; First Day of Kwanzaa; Office Closed 9:00 Octave of Christmas Novena SATURDAY, DEC. 27: St. John 8:30am & 5:00pm Masses: Octave of Christmas Novena PARISH ADMINISTRATION Rev. Truc Q. Nguyen, Pastor frtruc@cathedralchapel.org, ext. 224 Nancy G-Sheehan, Parish Business Manager nancy@cathedralchapel.org, ext. 223 Mayela Albarran, Office Assistant mayela@cathedralchapel.org, ext. 235 Sister Anna Tom, SDSH, Rel. Ed. Director religioused@cathedralchapel, ext. 234 Lis Brady, Office Support liseth@cathedralchapel.org, ext. 221 In Residence: Most Reverend Bishop Edward Wm. Clark (928 S. Detroit St. Los Angeles, 90036) Elementary School Cathedral Chapel School, Grades K-8th Tina Kipp, Principal 755 S. Cochran Ave., L.A. CA T: (323) ; F: (323)

3 MORE THAN DISCIPLES The angel Gabriel today confronts Mary with a mystery. The mystery of salvation in Christ is not a mystery that is solved, but a reality beyond our comprehension that we must choose to enter into. In the liturgy of the Eastern Church, everyone waits to see if Mary will enter into the mystery: God waits, Adam and Eve and all the souls of the dead who long for paradise wait, angels wait for new heavenly companions. WORSHIP, LITURGY & FAITH And there is much rejoicing when her decision is "yes." We have less dramatic choices offered to us, but the mystery of our salvation in Christ is by no means "solved." We may understand it a bit better due to Mary's "yes." We may be a bit closer to it through the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But it still remains a mystery to which we all must give our own "yes." Soon we will be singing "O come, let us adore him." May our Advent prayer, our echo of Mary's "yes," continue then, so we may enter into the mystery of our salvation in Jesus Christ, God among us. J. S. Paluch Co the Season of Giving Your Christmas gift to your Church, whether it be of your poverty or prosperity, let it symbolize your appreciation of all the gifts Our Lord and Savior has given you. Thank You for your kind generosity. For safety reasons, please make your contributions in checks rather than cash, payable to Cathedral Chapel. Thank You and May God Bless You! Give the Gift of Prayer with Cathedral Chapel s Christmas Prayer Ornaments Reflecting on God s Word In today s first reading King David is settled in his cedar palace, no upcoming battles on the horizon, feeling quite content, glass of wine in hand, chatting with Nathan the prophet about how good life is, when he gets this inspiration: God should have a house! Certainly more than that old tent we have been dragging around. And I will build it! Nathan approves. But that night, God weighs in: Tell David, Thanks, but no thanks. I like the tent. We don t know why God said no to David. But it seems that God wanted to make clear not only who was building God s dwelling place but also who really was in charge of everything. God was the kingdom builder and God chose to work with very simple material, like a tent. But this was nothing compared to God s decision a millennium later, on the day when the angel Gabriel was sent to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. God s plan from the beginning was to take up residence among us closer than any building could be, whether it was as magnificent as Solomon s temple or as humble as the simplest parish church. What God intended was to dwell with us as one of us, taking on human flesh and blood. And in the fullness of time God came asking if one of us would be willing. We don t know how long it took for Mary to answer. We only remember the important thing: she said yes. World ibrary publications. Special Mass Intentions For Your Loved Ones During The Eight (8) Octave Days of Christmas Dec. 25, 2014 to Jan. 1, 2015 Donation is $10 per ornament. Write the name/s of loved ones for the whom the Masses are being offered. Hang the ornament on the Jesse tree, place your donation inside envelopes provided, and drop it in collection basket. Thank you! Living God s Word, O come, O come, Emmanuel. Make your dwelling place in us this day. Let the world recognize that we are a people chosen to be a sign of your loving, merciful, justiceseeking, reconciling presence in the world. Thank you for the many ways you continue to do the impossible in us, through us. Amen World Library Publications

4 CATHEDRAL CHAPEL PARISH S NEW APP! Meet the new Cathedral Chapel mobile App! That's right! We created a mobile app. It's live and ready for you to download. The Cathedral Chapel parish app is dedicated to bringing you information about our parish liturgical, community and school events. Connect with Fr Truc in a new way! CatChap app includes regular tweets from our pastor, Fr Truc. Follow him on tweeter and be inspired! How to install: go to the site link below. Once you get on the site, click on the top right corner of your screen "Install On Your Phone." You can choose the kind of phone you are using and just simply follow the instructions. Our app smartlink is: appsme.com PARISH LIFE: MINISTRY, EVENTS & REMINDERS RELIGIOUS GIVE THANKS A Benedictin nun writes: we ask God to bless the faithful who made contributions in order to help us in our retirement. Senior Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests offer their heartfelt thanks and prayers for your donation to the Retirement Fund for Religious. For more information, please visit their website retiredreligous.org. PLEASE HELP Please help us on Wednesday, Dec. 24th From the Parish Office Parish Office Holiday Closure The business office will be closed on December and January 1-2, We are open from 9:00am- 1:00pm on Dec. 24 and 31. For any life threatening emergencies, please dial 911. You can also call the L.A. Police/West Div. at or 0125 for traffic complaints, problems & other non-emergency cases. If you have any other concerns, please parish@cathedralchapel.org. We will be checking our s periodically. Thank you. May this blessed Christmas season bring love, joy and peace to all. Have you participated in the 2014 Together In Mission? Thank you to all our parish families that have participated in the 2014 Together in Mission Campaign. It is not too late! You can still help the less fortunate parishes and schools in our Archdiocese by mailing your contribution directly to TIM Archdiocese office or the parish office. Visit ourmissionla.org for more info. May God bless you all! Report as of December 11, 2014 Parish Goal: $27, Parish Pledge: $25, Amount Paid: $23, Difference Over/Under Goal vs. Paid: $3, Visiting or New to our Parish? Due to an earlier printing schedule, Mass Collections from last week will be posted in next week s bulletin. Thank you for your continued support of our parish! May God bless you all. We are delighted to have you join us and welcome you into our humble little parish community in the heart of Los Angeles. If you have recently moved into our community, you may call the parish office at or register via at

5 The Season of Advent FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT SCRIPTURE: Luke 1:47-55 (Reader) "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. "Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the mighty one has done great things for me, and holy is his name. "His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. "He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. "He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever." REFLECTION (Reader) One cannot escape the prophetic vision in the season of Advent. We see it in the selections from the Old Testament, and we encounter it in Mary's Song of Rejoicing. In this birth, God is intent on changing the priorities of the world: God looks with favor upon the lowly God scatters the proud in the imaginations of their hearts God brings the powerful down from their thrones God sends the rich away empty. Where do our lives encounter this prophetic vision? Are we lowly servants upon whom God looks with favor? Does our pride sometimes interfere with what God seeks to accomplish through us? Do we sometimes let our need for power and control interfere with God's work? Are we sometimes rich in things and poor in soul? As the time of the Lord's coming draws near, let us test and examine our ways and return to the Lord, so that Love may have a place to dwell. CANDLE LIGHTING LITURGY (All) The Mighty One has done great things! Holy is God's Name! The Light of the World is coming. With Mary, our spirits rejoice in God our Savior. (Pause) HERE INSTALL THE FIRST 3 ADVENT CANDLES. (Please wait until the candles have been lit before reading below.) God's mercy endures from generation to generation for those who are in awe of God. The proud, the rich, the mighty no longer have power over us. The lowly are lifted up, and the hungry are satisfied. We see the light of God shining over the land. We light a fourth candle in anticipation of the wondrous birth. (Pause) HERE INSTALL THE 4TH ADVENT CANDLE. (Please wait until the candle has been lit before reading below.) We will open our hearts that Love may have a place to dwell.