SUNDAY MASSES (All in Main Church) Saturday at 5 p.m. Sunday at 9 & 11 a.m. Holy Days as announced. Fourth Sunday of Advent December 23, 2018

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1 SUNDAY MASSES (All in Main Church) Saturday at 5 p.m. Sunday at 9 & 11 a.m. Holy Days as announced. WEEKDAY MASSES (All in Historic Church) Monday-Friday at 9 a.m. PERPETUAL ADORATION (In Chapel of the Nativity) RECONCILIATION (In Main Church) Friday 8-8:45 a.m. Saturday 3:30-4:45 p.m. Any time by appointment. Fourth Sunday of Advent December 23, 2018 The woman had a frantic look in her eye. Her hands were continually measuring out six-inch stretches of sheet on her hospital bed. She would glance at the clock. Then her eyes moved to the window and back to my face. How can you be so calm? she asked in a tight voice. I asked her how long she had been in the hospital. Ever since Thanksgiving and they still can t find the problem. I took her hand. It was so cold. She started crying. My Thanksgiving decorations are still up. Her grip tightened. I haven t anything started for Christmas yet. More tears. I put my arm around her and she sobbed. This grandma was inconsolable. From the number of cards around the room and the bouquet of roses on her stand, it was quite evident that she was loved for herself rather than the perfect Christmas she wanted to pull off. If she could only realize it. That word frantic fits much of the activity in this last week before Christmas. There are even hints of it in Luke s Gospel. Mary set out and traveled in haste (emphasis added). Mary s travel wasn t because of a compulsion to pull off the perfect visit to her elderly cousin. Mary s urgency was the deep and tremendous drive to share the greatest good news this earth has ever heard! The Messiah is coming! And then, the even more unbelievable news, God has chosen me to be his mother! Mary must have danced all the way from Nazareth to Ein Karem (A name of a town in the tribe of Juda). Danced and sang! Smiled and skipped with joy! Laughter must have just bubbled out of her! Her traveling partners probably put their heads together and speculated that she was in love! Her sparkling eyes told it all. Indeed, Mary was in love! She was in love with a God who chose her to be the mother of his Son! A match made in heaven between a most perfect young maiden and God Almighty. This is an event that legends are made of! Somehow, just somehow, Mary s cousin, the barren Elizabeth, knew in her heart that this fireball of love was moving toward her. Was it woman s intuition? In this case, it was probably strong waves of energy shooting across space. Elizabeth knew! And, the babe within her knew. Unborn John danced as he met his incarnated Savior! Wow! The energy flowing in this encounter was absolutely electric! Has the earth ever seen such joy bubbling up within humans? Here we stand in front of this Gospel. The words are hitting our eardrums, but is the event, the message, hitting our hearts? Is the electricity of this relationship of four people pinging in our hearts? Yes, four people. The greatest who ever lived! Are we having a hard time keeping our joy from bursting out in spontaneous laughter? Advent is a season of joyful hope. We celebrate the coming of our Savior. We are saved from all the troubles in our world. Every evening we hear the mess of trouble read to us on the news and can become morose. As true Christians, we need to let the truth seep down between those rocks of seeming ugly reality. Our joy needs to crack those rocks of fear and sadness and creep up into our hearts and eyes. Joy can t help but radiate from our faces! We do believe in the Incarnation. We do believe in the Paschal Mystery. Life will always triumph over death! Yes, Lord, we believe this! Love will always win! Yes, Lord, we believe this! From the stable to the empty tomb, it is trust in God, all the way! Nothing is impossible with God! Rejoice in the Lord, always! Again, I say rejoice! Christopher Seiple Director of Parish Operations ONLINE stpetersmendota.org 1405 Highway 13 PO Box Mendota MN church@stpetersmendota.org

2 YOUTH NEWS AND FAITH FORMATION ELEMENTARY FAITH FORMATION First Eucharist Program Grade 2 Classes for the First Eucharist program will begin on Wednesday, January 9. Your second grade child should have been registered in the Reconciliation program (Grade 2) and will therefore be automatically enrolled in the First Eucharist program. Please call Kathy Raible at if you have any questions or concerns. FAITH FORMATION GRADES 1-8 There will be no Faith Formation classes on Wednesday, December 26 and January 2. Classes will resume on January 9. OFFICE INFORMATION Father Steven Hoffman: Deacon Tim Hennessey: Chris Seiple: Lisa Amos: Parish Office Hours: Mon Fri, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Phone: BAPTISMS, NEW PARISHIONERS, WEDDINGS Call the parish office for more information. PRAYER CHAIN REQUESTS Lisa Amos at lamos@stpetersmendota.org, call her at or call the parish office. LITURGY OF THE WORD FOR CHILDREN There will be no LWC on Sunday, December 23 and 30. We will resume this program on January 6. FAITHFUL SHEPHERD CATHOLIC SCHOOL AND TRI-PARISH CENTER St. John Neumann St. Peter St. Thomas Becket 3355 Columbia Drive Eagan, MN FUTURE STARS SCHOLARSHIP MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM FSCS The students, staff and families at Faithful Shepherd wish you a very Merry Christmas! Thank you for all you do for our school community! VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Are you looking for a volunteer job that has a small time commitment? St. Peter s delivers mobile meals to the elderly and homebound on Tuesday mornings, at 10:30 a.m., once every four weeks. It takes about an hour and a half. If you can help, please call St. Peter s at , or call Barb Yourczek at Last year Faithful Shepherd created the Future STARS Scholarship Fund, as a way for alumni parents and friends of the school to show their support for Catholic education. The fund provides financial aid to those families who want to send their children to Catholic schools, but need help to pay tuition. In our first year, over $30,000 was raised to provide scholarships to deserving students. Our hope is to continue growing this program, so that every child who desires a Catholic education receives one. Our intention is to provide a full scholarship for one student each year, explained one donor. Faithful Shepherd did a lot for our kids, and we are pleased to give back! Faithful Shepherd awarded almost $200,000 in financial aid last year. The need is there, and it continues to grow. If you would like more information on the Future STARS Scholarship Fund, please contact Mike Randall, Executive Director, at or at mrandall@fscsmn.org. Thank you. Come as a Guest Leave as a Friend

3 ADMINISTRATIVE NEWS STEWARDSHIP COMMUNITY NEWS ONE MASS ON CHRISTMAS DAY Christmas Eve Masses will take place at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. There will be only one Mass on Christmas Day, which will take place at 10 a.m. There will be no 9 or 11 a.m. Masses that day. SAVE THE DATE! CANA DINNER Cana Dinner - A Celebration of Marriage St. Peter s annual Cana Dinner in Celebration of Marriage will be held on Saturday, February 9, beginning with Mass at 5 p.m., Social Hour at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. Father Steven will be the key note speaker. All parishioners are invited to attend. Ticket sales will begin January 26/27. PARISH OFFICE HOLIDAY SCHEDULE The parish office will be closed on the following days for the holidays: Christmas All day Monday, December 24 All day Tuesday, December 25 New Year s Closed at noon on Monday, December 31 All day Tuesday, January 1 ALPHA RETURNS Alpha is returning to St. Peter s on Monday evenings February 18 through May 13, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Heritage Center. Alpha consists of a meal, a talk and small group discussion. It is an open, informal and honest space to explore and discuss life s big questions together and is designed to create and/or deepen a personal relationship with Jesus. It is a place for fellowship with others. One recent participant commented: I wish and hope everyone will take advantage of this series. At all stages of your faith journey, you will learn something new and grow in your faith! Another said: Alpha was a joy bringing me into communion with others seeking a closer connection with God. Sign-ups will begin online on January 19, and also after all Masses the weekends of January 19/20 and January 26/27. Please join us! Space is limited to 45 participants. If you have any questions, please contact Laurie Reding at or at lreding1@aol.com. 2ND ANNUAL HISTORIC CHURCH CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE SAVE THE DATE! NEW PARISHIONER DINNER To all of our new 2018 parishioners please save the date for our annual New Parishioner Dinner. A lasagna dinner will be held on Saturday, January 26, in Heritage Center following the 5 p.m. Mass. More information to come. If you would like to volunteer at this event, please contact Anne O Keefe at or her at aokeefe@stpetersmendota.org. Financial Recap July 1 to December 16, 2018 YTD Actual Collections $460,421 YTD Budgeted Collections $452,220 Difference $ 8,201 To donate electronically visit and click on Donate Online or call Chris Seiple in the parish office at Come, step back in time and imagine our Historic Church at Christmas, as it might have been in the late 1800s. One can only wonder what it was like to bundle up and ride in a horse and buggy to Christmas Eve Mass, on a cold and snowy night. We hope you can join us for an old fashioned Christmas open house on Thursday, January 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. We will have tour guides available, carolers dressed in period costumes and a variety of Christmas cookies and hot drinks. If you would like to volunteer or donate cookies, please contact Anne O Keefe at or at aokeefe@stpetersmendota.org.

4 St. Peter s is here to bring the good news of the Gospel to all, so that every person can have a personal, life changing, life giving relationship with Jesus Christ. Trustees: Helen Wilkie Mark Mischke Sunday: Mi 5:1-4a/Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, [4]/Heb 10:5-10/Lk 1:39-45 Monday: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16/Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29 [2]/Lk 1:67-79 Tuesday: Vigil: Is 62:1-5/Ps 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29 [2a]/Acts 13:16-17, 22-25/Mt 1:1-25 or 1:18-25 Midnight: Is 9:1-6/Ps 96:1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13 [Lk 2:11]/Ti 2:11-14/Lk 2:1-14 Dawn: Is 62:11-12/Ps 97:1, 6, 11-12/ Ti 3:4-7/Lk 2:15-20 Day: Is 52:7-10/Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6 [3c]/Heb 1:1-6/Jn 1:1-18 or Jn 1:1-5, 9-14 Wednesday: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59/Ps 31:3cd-4, 6 and 8ab, 16bc and 17 [6]/Mt 10:17-22 Thursday: 1 Jn 1:1-4/Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, [12]/Jn 20:1a, 2-8 Friday: OUR MISSION STATEMENT READINGS FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 23 1 Jn 1:5 2:2/Ps 124:2-3, 4-5, 7cd-8 [7]/Mt 2:13-18 Saturday: 1 Jn 2:3-11/Ps 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 5b-6 [11a]/Lk 2:22-35 Next Sunday: 1 Sm 1:20-22, 24-28/Ps 84:2-3, 5-6, 9-10 [cf. 5a]/1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24/Lk 2:41-52 Liturgical Publications Inc. THIS WEEK S CALENDAR: DECEMBER 24 Monday, December 24 4 pm Christmas Vigil Mass, Main Church 8 pm Christmas Mass in the Night, Main Church Tuesday, December am Christmas Day Mass, Main Church Wednesday, December 26 9:45 am Divine Mercy Cenacle, Conference Rm 1 Thursday, December 27 9:30 am Potluck Birthday Breakfast, Heritage Center 7 pm AA Meeting, Classroom 5 Friday, December 28 8 am Reconciliation, Main Church 9 am Group Trip to Spam Museum, Austin, MN Saturday, December 29 9 am & 10:30 am AA Meeting, Classrooms 3:30 pm Reconciliation 4:30 pm Choir Rehearsal, Music Room 5 pm Mass, Main Church Sunday, December 30 8:30 am Choir Rehearsal, Music Room 9 am Mass, Main Church 10:30 am Rosary for St. Peter s, Chapel of the Nativity 10:30 am Choir Rehearsal, Music Room 11 am Mass, Main Church MASS INTENTIONS The following are the intentions offered by the priest at Mass: Monday, December 24, 9 am Jeffrey Weiss 4 pm Don & Alan Burke 8 pm Mass For The People Tuesday, December 25 Louis A. Chapdelaine Family Wednesday, December 26 Maebel Holien Thursday, December 27 Wilhelm Moller Friday, December 28 Paul Stark Saturday, December 29 Mass For The People Sunday, December 30, 9 am Agnes Stock 11 am Margaret & Laverne Richgels

5 PASTORAL MINISTRY FOLLOWING JESUS Mother Mary, filled with the Holy Spirit, sets out to share the Good News with Elizabeth. We can only imagine the excitement and anticipation that filled their hearts. Elizabeth s words to Mary should echo in the hearts of all who believe in Christ: Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. As we believe, we will receive! UGANDA TRIP A group of parishioners will be making a return trip to Migyera, Uganda in June to visit our sister parish, St. Anthony and do mission work at the schools where we have sponsored children, at some sponsored children s homes and at the parish. We have 3 additional spaces available, if you would like to join us! Those who traveled last time will tell you it is the trip of a lifetime! If you would like to go, or have questions about the trip, please contact Laurie Reding at lreding1@aol.com or SINCERE SYMPATHY St. Peter s Parish extends its sympathy to the family and friends of Douglas Griep. We invite all to join us in praying that God may make him a sharer in eternal salvation. GROUP TRIP TO AUSTIN, MN. Join Lisa Amos for our next trip to several sites in Austin. Tour the newly renovated St. Augustine s Catholic Church, a stunning Gothic revival church, built in Enjoy lunch at the Hormel Historic Home. Explore the mansion, filled with gorgeous Christmas decorations. Last, but not least, play and learn at the one and only SPAM Museum. On Friday, December 28, we will depart in our coach bus from St. Peter s at 9 a.m., following a specially scheduled 8 a.m. Mass and return to St. Peter s by 5 p.m. Reservations are limited; reserve your spot now by contacting Lisa Amos at or lamos@stpetersmendota.org. The cost is $45/person; this includes transportation, tours, lunch and all gratuities. The reservation deadline is December 19. I look forward to seeing you then! ADORATION CHAPEL If you are uncertain about what an hour in our chapel might mean for you, consider what some of our adorers have to say about their very special time with Jesus. Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing some of their comments with you. The chapel is closed during the Masses. Between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., there is access to the chapel only with a key card. If you need a sub for your hour, please refer to our substitute roster in advance to cover your hour. Contact Lisa Amos at lamos@stpetersmendota.org or at to sign up for an hour of adoration. We still need adorers at the following hours: Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday: 4 to 5 pm 8 to 9 am, 3 to 4 pm 6 to 7 pm 1 to 2 am, 2 to 3 am Midnight to 1 am, 3 to 4 am, 10 to 11 am, 1 to 2 pm, 3 to 4 pm 1 to 2 am, Noon to 1 pm, 1 to 2 pm, 7 to 8 pm 3 to 4 am, 10 to 11 am, CATECHISM CORNER For this second half of our survey of the practice of Indulgences, much of the source material won t come from the Catechism, but instead from Indulgentiarum Doctrina (hereafter, ID ), to which the Catechism itself refers. By this Apostolic Constitution, the number and kind of indulgences has been dramatically decreased. Distinctions such as real, local or personal have been abolished, since the grace is due to the act of the penitent faithful person, not to the place or object (ID, n.12). Indulgences are either partial, those that remit only a portion of the temporal punishment due for sin (really, to be understood as time in Purgatory [which may be addressed in future Catechism Corner articles]), or plenary, those that remit all of that punishment (ID, n.2). Please note that the Church no longer speaks of that punishment in terms of days or years, as it had in the past (ID, n.4). Any person seeking a plenary indulgence must carry out the action with which the indulgence is associated while meeting three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion (such as reception at Mass) and prayer for the Pope s own intentions (ID, n.7), in addition to the absence of interior attachment to sin (one must not wish to sin, to put it simply). One must also intend to receive the indulgence -- in other words, they aren t automatic. These conditions always apply for plenary indulgences. Finally, acts by which to gain indulgences are broadly varied, but some partial indulgences can be obtained very commonly: devoutly making the Sign of the Cross, reciting either the Apostles or Nicene Creed, singing various hymns, use of blessed sacramentals such as medals, scapulars or rosaries. Even some plenary indulgences are commonly within reach: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for at least one half hour, Adoration of the Cross on Good Friday, making a spiritual retreat of three whole days, or uninterrupted recitation of the Rosary in a church or with a family group or religious community (not a religious order, per se, but a pious association) while meditating the mysteries. This is most certainly a greatly abbreviated list.

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7 Poinsettias in Honor or in Memoriam Thank you to all who donated money towards our Christmas flowers in memory or in honor of a loved one. Your generosity has helped make the church a beautiful space to worship. In Memory of Deceased Family Members of Kathi and Ralph Dumond In Memory of John Lentsch and Marge Lentsch In Memory of Delores, James, Denis Kelly and Donna Larsen In Memory of the Malerich Family In Memory of the Sullivan Family In Memory of Kathleen and William Fitzgerald In Memory of Patricia Gill In Memory of Wil Oster, Mr. & Mrs. Art Becker, Mr. & Mrs. Andy Becker, and Mr. & Mrs. Frank Sullivan In Memory Richard J. Weinzettel, Richard A. Weinzettel and Lois Barns In Memory of Jerome A. Schreiber In Memory of Marilyn & LeRoy Hays In Memory James G. Truso In Memory of Lloyd Kulaszewicz In Memory of Rebecca Jean and Rachel Marie In Memory of Tabitha Rose Markle and Members of the Seefeld and Spiegelberg Families In Memory of Tim & Gerry Gutzmann In Memory of Gerard & Dory Bohlig In Memory of Dave Ingiald In Memory of Dick Kirch In Memory of George & Scott Rabuse In Memory of Stephen E. Bianchi In Memory of Walter, Helen & Michael Hughes In Memory of Norbert, Grace and John Kemper In Memory of Andrew & Cecelia Yourczek and David & Helen Gwost In Memory of Lori Henrikson Wren In Memory of Don Sault and Mary Lou Williams In Memory of Kay & Howard Sheeler In Memory of Steve Smith In Memory of David Berndt, Julia Gonko, Martin LaBerge and Pamela Jellum