December 9, 2018 Second day of Advent ST. GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL CATHOLIC CHURCH STEWARDSHIP REFLECTION ON READINGS BAR 5:1-9; PS 126: 1-6; PHIL 1: 4-6, 8-11; LK 3: 1-6 The readings for the Second Week of Advent offer both encouragement and challenge as we reflect and prepare for the two comings of Christ His coming as a baby on the great feast of Christmas, and the anticipation of His second coming at the end of time. Our First Reading, from Baruch, is a wonderful reminder that God has triumphed over sin and death and that we His faithful disciples will live in the light of His glory one day. Until He comes again, we must remain faithful to Him as true disciples and good stewards of all the gifts He has given us. While it can be tempting to give in to the materialism and calls for self-indulgence that surround us, (ironically more than ever at this time of year), this reading calls us back to the spiritual reality that this life is passing and that we are made for eternal life with God. We are called to prepare for eternal life by the way that we use our time, our talents and our treasure now. The Gospel reading from Luke shows us how personal and detailed is God s love for humanity as He prepared the way for Christ s coming among us. We are told the precise time, place and person, John the Baptist, He appointed to announce the arrival of our Savior. John tells us how to celebrate to the fullest this first coming on the feast of Christmas and how to prepare for the second coming through repentance. This Advent, let s turn away from any bad habits or sin that may have crept in to our lives and turn our hearts and minds back to Christ. This is what the stewardship way of life is all about moving closer ever closer in relationship with Christ and imitation of Him, ready to celebrate His birth, with eyes fixed on eternal life with Him. PARISH OFFICE 8755 Scarborough Drive Colorado Springs, CO 80920 www.saintgabriel.net Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00 am-5:00 pm Phone: (719) 528-8407 Fax: (719) 598-1696 Email: office@saintgabriel.net PARISH CLERGY Pastor, Fr. Kirk Slattery frkslattery@saintgabriel.net Deacon Mike McGrady mmcgrady@saintgabriel.net Deacon Dave Geislinger dgeislinger@diocs.org MASS SCHEDULE Weekend: Saturday 5:00 pm; day 8:30 am, 10:30 am, 12:30 pm (Spanish) & 4:30 pm Weekdays: Tuesday-Friday 12:15 pm SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION Tuesday-Friday: 11:50 am-12:10 pm, Saturday: 2:30-3:30 pm. First Friday: 10am to noon. Eucharistic Adoration: Wednesday 10 am to 7 pm.
BEACON OF FAITH CAMPAIGN UPDATE PHASE 1-PARISH HALL Total intentions to date: $2,051,925.34 Total amount collected to date: $1,074,673.98 There is still time to get your pledge in. Just go to http://www.saintgabriel.net/commitment-form and fill in the form. LAS POSADAS Let s celebrate las Posadas on Saturday 15 December after the 5:00 pm mass in the Narthex. After Posadas, we will have a gathering/dinner at 6:30 pm in the Four- Plex. We will serve traditional tamales and champurrado. FLOWERS OF THE HOLY NIGHT/ FLORES DE LA NOCHE SANTA Christmas is fast approaching, and the Environment Committee will be decorating the nave and narthex for this exciting season! Your donations for the flowers would be greatly appreciated. There will be envelopes on a table in the narthex the weekends of December 8th-9th and 15th-16th. Please place your donations in the envelopes and deposit them in the white mailbox outside the parish office. Join St. Gabriel parish! What does parish membership offer? Allows us to encounter Jesus by being part of the church community Reception of sacraments Allows permission letters to be written to be godparents or sponsors Gives us a sense of belonging We welcome the following families to the St. Gabriel family: Brian Acosta, Christopher and Natalie Acosta, Catherine Bessenbacher, Reuben and Heather Cabrera, Gregory Dahms, Steven and MaryAnn Dapp, Benjamin and Chelsy Gomez, Clarielle Heinicke, Marcus and Madison Martinez, Jeremy and Heather Norman, Heather Pouliot, J.W. & Susan Richards, Josue and Pilar Rios, Jim Sailor, Rosemarie Stimpfl, Rene & Dinah Vizcarra. ADVENT HAPPENINGS Feast of Immaculate Conception, Holy Day of Obligation, December 8 Mass at 10am Extended Reconciliation times December 15 from 1:30-3:30pm and December 22 from 2:30-4:30pm. Our Lady of Guadalupe December 12. Mass in Spanish at 6:30pm Posadas December 15 immediately following the 5pm Mass Advent Celebration December 21 from 6:00-8:30pm. OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE On Wednesday 12 December, our community will celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe here at the Parish. Join us to honor Our Lady with Mass celebrated in Spanish at 6:30 pm followed by a small gathering. We will serve hot chocolate and sweet bread. ADORATION CHANGE Due to the Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration on December 12, Adoration will be from 10am 5pm. There will be no Rosary, Evening Prayer, or Benediction. GABRIEL S GIFTS FOOD PANTRY COLLECTION IS DECEMBER 15 AND 16 Our monthly Gabriel s Gifts food pantry collection for Mercy s Gate is next weekend. Please pick up a bin after mass today and bring your donation when you come to mass next weekend. In addition to the staples needed every month, Mercy s Gate is requesting items for Christmas holiday meals including boxed dessert mixes, rolls and quick breads; cranberries and stuffing mix. Other requested items include: coffee; canned or powdered milk; cake, brownie and cookie mixes; cold cereal; and jelly. CHRISTMAS MASS SCHEDULE Christmas Eve Masses December 24 Masses at 4pm, 6:30pm, 8:30pm (Spanish), and Midnight Christmas Day Mass December 25 Mass at 10am New Year s Day Mass January 1 Mass at 10:00 am (combined) St. Gabriel the Archangel 2 Colorado Springs, CO
CALENDAR THIS WEEKEND RCIC 9:45-11:15am. RCIA 9:45-11:15am. YSF 9:45-11:15am. Financial Peace University 1:30-3:30pm. UPCOMING Mon, Dec 10 Biblical School 6:30pm. Mon, Dec 10 James: Pearls for Wise Living Bible Study at 7pm. Mon, Dec 10 Health and Safety Team Meeting 7pm. Tues, Dec 11 ESL Class 9am. Tues, Dec 11 SoulCore 9-10am. Tues, Dec 11 EPIC: A Journey through Church History Bible Study 9:30am. Wed, Dec 12 St. Gabriel Breakfast Club for High School Students 7-7:30am. Wed, Dec 12 Magnificat Moms Meeting 9:30-11am. Wed, Dec 12 Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass in Spanish at 6:30pm. Wed, Dec 12 Eucharistic Adoration 10-5. No Rosary, Evening Prayer or Benediction due to Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration. Wed, Dec 12 Children s Choir 5:15pm. Wed, Dec 12 Knights of Columbus Meeting 7pm. Thurs, Dec 13 ESL Class 9am. Sat, Dec 15 Spanish and English Baptism Class 8:30am-12:30pm. Sat, Dec 15 Posadas after the 5pm Mass. SAVE THE DATE Jan 18-20 High School Rally Feb 16-17 Middle School Rally HOLIDAY BULLETIN DEADLINES Due to the upcoming Christmas Holiday, the Deadline for December bulletins are: *December 23rd bulletin will be due Thursday December 13 at 10am. *December 30 bulletin will be due Thursday December 20 at 10am. * January 6th bulletin will be due Thursday December 27th at 10am. Please send all bulletin announcements to office@saintgabriel.net. 2018 RETURNING GOD S GIFTS UPDATE We are within $10,8522 of our 2018 goal! When we reach the goal of raising $114,826 in full the Diocese will reimburse St. Gabriel s church 20% of the total. With every dollar donated after our goal we receive 50% of that amount back! Consider making a gift online at www.saintgabriel.net and press the Returning Gods Gifts 2018 appeal. SECOND COLLECTION THIS WEEKEND Help care for elders. "Thanks to support from the Retirement Fund for Religious, we are now in a much better position to care for our elders," writes a religious sister. Your donation helps her religious community and hundreds of others provide for aging members and plan for long-term needs. Please give to this week's Retirement Fund for Religious collection. PARISH E-MAIL LIST Keep abreast of all that is happening at St. Gabriel by signing up for the parish e-mail list. You can do this by going to the parish website at www.saintgabriel.net and clicking on Parish Info and selecting E-mail List Subscriptions and then filling out your e-mail address under Parish News. St. Gabriel the Archangel 3 Colorado Springs, CO
St. Gabriel the Archangel 4 Colorado Springs, CO
2018 CONTRIBUTION DEADLINE Any contribution that is to be credited to tax year 2018 must be given to the church or postmarked no later than Dec 31, 2018. Last day to bring in contributions to the office will be Friday December 28, 2018, as the office will be closed on Monday, December 31, 2018. Any contribution received after Dec 31, 2018 will be credited to tax year 2019. All checks must be dated no later than Dec 31, 2018. Any check dated Jan 1, 2019 or later must be credited to tax year 2019. SENIOR SOCIAL GROUP All senior parishioners are invited to join our group for fun and friendship. Our December lunch will be at Amanda's Cantina, 8050 N. Academy, on Tuesday, December 11 at noon. Please call Sharon at 282-1912 for more information. LIBRARY NEWS Prepare your family to celebrate Christ s birth with Advent and Christmas resources from St. Gabriel s Library! We have books, DVDs, and CDs for all ages on the labeled shelf to the left of the Library entrance. Come check us out! THANKS TO YOU, OUR THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE WAS A HUGE SUCCESS It was difficult to miss the huge amount of food in the narthex on collection weekend. We were able to provide more than 50 meals to families in School District 20 and 15 meals to military families. According to our contact at the school district, the recipients were overwhelmed by our parish s generosity. Thank you! WORDS OF WISDOM God is always a surprise. You will never know where and how you will find Him. You are not setting the time and place of the encounter with Him. You must, therefore, discern the encounter. Pope Francis HUMANAE VITAE Fifty years ago, Pope Paul VI released Humanae Vitae, July 25, 1968, an encyclical on marital love, responsible parenthood, and artificial contraception. Until the end of 2018 we d like to offer you one significant quote each week of this very short encyclical that you can find on the Vatican website by Googling Humanae Vitae. http://blog.acton.org/wp-content/ uploads/2018/07/hv-latin.jpgappeal to Public Authorities III, 23 We beg of you, never allow the morals of your peoples to be undermined. And now We wish to speak to rulers of nations. To you most of all is committed the responsibility of safeguarding the common good. You can contribute so much to the preservation of morals. We beg of you, never allow the morals of your peoples to be undermined. The family is the primary unit in the state; do not tolerate any legislation which would introduce into the family those practices which are opposed to the natural law of God. For there are other ways by which a government can and should solve the population problem that is to say by enacting laws which will assist families and by educating the people wisely so that the moral law and the freedom of the citizens are both safeguarded. KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS MEMBERSHIP DRIVE The Knights of Columbus is planning a membership drive and are looking for interested Catholic gentlemen. The membership drive will take place in January. Becoming a Knight opens many opportunities to Catholic gentleman, from helping to support the parish and giving back to the community through charitable acts, to growing in faith and having exclusive access to a top-rated insurance program. Our common bond among Knights is our devotion to the Catholic faith and our brotherhood in Christ. We have joined together to help one another become better Christians, better husbands, better fathers, better providers for the financial protection of our families, and better citizens of our country. As Brothers in Christ, we place special emphasis on charity, the first principle of our Order. If you re interested, please fill out a Form 100 that you ll find in the Narthax hallway, on the wall outside of the front office. We will be happy to describe our array of programs and answer your questions about becoming a Knight. If you re one of those gentlemen who s taken a Form 100 (membership document) and hasn t turned it in, or you re just filling one out please contact Vic Garcia at (719) 282-7861 or (719) 338-3725, skvicgarcia@gmail.com. Vic, is St. Gabriel and John Vianney Council 12335 Membership Drive Chairman and is normally home in the evenings. If you miss him, please just leave a message or send an email, and he ll call you back. We ll set-up an interview where we can meet you and answer any questions you may have about the Knights of Columbus. St. Gabriel the Archangel 5 Colorado Springs, CO
Kathy Dickens from LPi, our bulletin printer, will be in our parish office the week of Dec 10th securing new ads for our bulletin. Please consider purchasing an ad, sponsoring a charity, or place an in memoriam ad. Your participation makes our bulletin successful, and you will attract customers! MARIAN HOUSE Did you know St. Gabriel has a group of volunteers the 2nd Thursday of each month at the Marian House? We provide assistance in the daily meal preparation, service and cleanup and we would love for you to join us! There are two shifts available, either 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. or 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The minimum age to participate is 16, however if you are younger you may be able to with a parent volunteer present. Our next scheduled day is Thursday December 13th. Contact Cyndy Pylkka, ccjsp@comcast.net or 719-964- 6575 if interested. Kathy Dickens 719-650-9467 kdickens@4lpi.com INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY Snow season is here! For office hours and possible Confession and Mass cancellation, please call 528-8407, for recorded information which will be updated by 9am. For specific ministry event cancellations, look for information from the ministry coordinator. Please be safe during these winter months. YEAR END GIVING OPTIONS As you begin yearend tax planning for your family or business over the next few months, don t forget that donations to St. Gabriel church qualify as a tax deductible charitable contribution. Your donation to the parish helps support our ministries growth and life in our parish. Most members give weekly, monthly and/or annual cash gifts, but a gift of stocks or bonds is another way to benefit your church and gain a tax advantage. We invite you to help us finish the year strong and prepare ourselves for an exciting 2019 by prayerfully considering an end-of-year financial gift to St. Gabriel. The Knights of Columbus presented Fr. Kirk with a check for $10,000 for the Saint Gabriel Beacon of Faith Capital Campaign. Thank you Knights of Columbus for your continued support of Saint Gabriel! St. Gabriel the Archangel 6 Colorado Springs, CO
SAINTS CORNER SAINT LUCY FEAST DAY DECEMBER 13 Lucy's history has been lost and all we really know for certain is that this brave woman lost her life during the persecution of Christians in the early fourth century. Her veneration spread to Rome so that by the sixth century the whole Church recognized her courage in defense of the faith. Because people wanted to shed light on Lucy's bravery, legends began to crop up. The one that has passed the test of time tells the story of a young Christian woman who vowed to live her life in service of Christ. Her mother tried to arrange a marriage for her with a pagan and Lucy knew her mother could not be swayed by a young girl's vow, so she devised a plan to convince her mother that Christ was the better partner for life. After several prayers at the tomb of Saint Agatha, Lucy saw the saint in a dream. St. Agatha told Lucy her mother's illness would be cured through faith, which Lucy used to persuade her mother to give the dowry money to the poor and allow her to commit her life to God. While Lucy and her mother were grateful to God, the rejected bridegroom was deeply angered and betrayed Lucy's faith to the governor Paschasius. The governor attempted to force her into defilement at a brothel, but the guards who came to take her away were unable to move her, even after hitching her to a team of oxen. The guards heaped bundles of wood around her but it wouldn't burn so they finally resorted to their swords, and Lucy met her death. Lucy's legend did not end with her death. According to later accounts, Lucy warned Paschasius he would be punished. When the governor heard this he ordered the guards to gouge out her eyes; however, in another telling, it was Lucy who removed her eyes in an attempt to discourage a persistent suitor who greatly admired them. When her body was being prepared for burial, they discovered her eyes had been restored. Lucy, whose name can mean "light" or "lucid," is the patron saint of the blind. She is often seen with the emblem of eyes on a cup or plate. In paintings, she is often depicted with a golden plate holding her eyes and often holds a palm branch, which is a symbol of victory over evil. READINGS FOR THE WEEK OF DEC 9 Monday: Is 35:1-10/Ps 85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14 [Is 35:4f]/Lk 5:17-26 Tuesday: Is 40:1-11/Ps 96:1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12, 13 [Is 40:10ab]/Mt 18:12-14 Wednesday: Zec 2:14-17 or Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab/ Jdt 13:18bcde,19 [15:9d]/Lk 1:26-38 or Thursday: Lk 1:39-47 Is 41:13-20/Ps 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab [8]/Mt 11:11-15 Friday: Is 48:17-19/Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 [Jn 8:12]/ Mt 11:16-19 Saturday: Sir 48:1-4, 9-11/Ps 80:2ac and 3b, 15-16, 18-19 [4]/Mt 17:9a, 10-13 day: Zep 3:14-18a/Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 [6]/Phil 4:4-7/ Lk 3:10-18 Dec 10 Dec 11 Dec 12 Dec 13 Dec 14 Dec 15 Dec 16 PRAY FOR VOCATIONS Deacon Andre Mason Deacon Andy Dunnam Deacon Dave Geislinger Fr. Michael Holmquist Andy Berry, Candidate Matthew Brend, Candidate Gordon Brenner, Candidate TITHING RECIPIENT Today s Tithe is for Treasures of the Church. Treasures of the Church is a ministry of evangelization of the Catholic Church. Its purpose is to give people an experience of the living God through an encounter with the relics of his saints in the form of an exposition. Please pray for the people supported by this organization. PRAYER CHAIN If you have a request for needed prayers, strength, hope, courage or thanksgiving for yourself, family or friends, please email ncbelanger54@gmail.com. BAPTISMS We welcome into our Faith Community, the newest members of God s Family: Emma Alexandra Medrano baptized December 9. Sat Dec 8 10:00 am for: Joseph Hansen (+) Sat Dec 8 5:00 pm for: Eugenia Stagl (+) Dec 9 8:30 am pro populo Dec 9 10:30 am for: Hank & Rose Stamps (SI 59th Wedding Anniversary) Dec 9 12:30 pm for: Marie Delicia Unson, Dorotea Fermin Garcia Eugenio, Gabriel Cruz (+) Dec 9 4:30 pm Donald Strobel (+) Mon Dec 10 12:15 pm NO MASS Tue Dec 11 12:15 pm for: Rudy Haberzettl (+) Wed Dec 12 12:15 pm for: Dorothy Knox (+) Wed Dec 12 6:30pm for: Pedro Perez Nagera (+) Thur Dec 13 12:15 pm for: Mary G. Cabrera (+) Fri Dec 14 12:15 pm for: Ken Richards (+) Sat Dec 15 5:00 pm for: Eugenia Stagl (+) Dec 16 8:30 am for: Pierce Ford (+) Dec 16 10:30 am pro populo Dec 16 12:30 pm for: Cristiana Capelletti- Curry (+) Dec 16 4:30 pm for: Stefan Klein Bday (SI) St. Gabriel the Archangel 7 Colorado Springs, CO