ST. ANDREW PARISH 1570 Shore Road Website: www.standrewsrcparish.ca Facebook: Saint Andrew s Catholic Church Eastern Passage Parish Office 16 Disciples Way P.O. Box 160 Eastern Passage B3G 1M5 Pastor - Fr. Johni Mathew johnimathew@hotmail.com Office Manager Deacon Gordon MacKinnon 461-1987 (Ph) 465-2899(fax) standrewsparish@eastlink.ca Hours Tues - Fri 9:00am - 1:30pm Faith Formation Coordinator - Cathy Patriquin - 465-6440 patriquinfamily@eastlink.ca In Emergency Conditions Call - 902-465-6063 CONFESSION Saturday - 3:30-4:00pm DAY OF THE LORD MASSES Saturday 4:30 pm Sunday 10:00 am WEEKDAY MASS SCHEDULE Wednesday Dec 28 9:00 am Feast- Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Red) Living Mick & Marilla Stephenson Friday Dec 30 7:00 pm Feast - The Holy Family (White) Maxine MacKenzie OUR NEW YEAR MASS SCHEDULE December 31 st Mass at 4:30 pm o January 01 st - Mass at 10 am. Dear sisters and brothers, Imagine yourself in the stable with Mary and Joseph. Jesus has been born! Angels sing, shepherds rejoice, and stars shine. While this moment has profound significance for all humanity, was the scene as polished as glittery as a fancy Christmas card? Probably not. The stable was not particularly clean. There were flies and muck. At best, it had the earthy smells of livestock, but at worst, it smelled like manure. Jesus likely wasn t the adorable, glowing baby that we often see represented in pictures. He probably looked like other newborns, splotches and all. As we rejoice in the birth of Jesus, as we ponder the miracle of the divine coming down to kiss our world, we should also rejoice in the imperfections of the stable. Jesus embraced our human wounded nature. He wasn t repelled our put off by a little dirt. He didn t shun our imperfection, but fully immersed himself in it. The mess and all the flaws are part of being human! Jesus didn t avoid the stable, and he doesn t avoid our failure and shortcomings. This should fill us with great hope and confidence. We don t have to be perfect to receive him. There may even be times when we feel like we don t smell much better than a stable! But that doesn t matter to Jesus. The love that moved him to embrace our humanity is the same love that moves him to embrace each of us, imperfect though we are. So remember the stable today and rejoice. You have an awesome, merciful, loving, allpowerful God, and he has come to live in your heart. No wonder the angels are singing! No wonder the shepherds were awestruck, and the wise men bowed down in worship! And no wonder we are all moved to rejoice on this glorious day! Merry Christmas!
This Christmas, I specially invite those who have been away from regular participation at Sunday Mass to come home to your faith family. Please join us and strengthen us. For you have much to share with us. Your presence will enrich our parish and faith life. As well, I invite all to choose Sunday Mass as the prime commitment for us and our families each week. The fruit of giving priority to worshipping God on Sunday, the Day of the Lord/ the first day of the week will bring to us and our families a peace and joy that is found nowhere else. Putting God first offers enormous spiritual dividends. Many parishioners gave of their time, talents and financial resources to prepare for the Feast of Christmas at St. Andrews. May the simple word THANKS convey gratitude for all that has happened. The preparation of the churches, the liturgical ministries, the gifts for the people in the community, our outreach to those in need and many other actions of service and charity are very much appreciated. I sincerely thank you all for your many expressions of Christmas wishes. Together with the parish staff, I wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year. Lovingly, Fr. Johni THANK YOU Last Sunday afternoon many gathered here at St. Andrew to enjoy a LIVE PERFORMANCE OF THE NATIVITY by our young people. This was a great experience and the performers were excellent. Thank you to the many for your support of this undertaking. Also, thank you to all who joined in the Pot Luck at the Parish Center following the Nativity Play. A wonderful day was had by all. CHRISTMAS OFFICE HOURS The Parish Office will be closed on December 26 th and 27 th. Open all day on the 28 th and the afternoon of the 29 th but closed on December 30 th. Regular office hours will resume on January 03 rd, 2017. Please have all bulletin information to the office by the morning of December 28 th, via e-mail, phone or note to ensure it will be published in the Bulletin for January 01, 2017. CHILDREN'S LITURGY OF THE WORD AT ST. ANDREW As the church basement renovation is complete, we are planning to begin the Children s Liturgy of the Word at St. Andrew in the New Year. The goal of Children's Liturgy is to help children participate fully in the Liturgy as members of the community gathered for worship. This means to help children to celebrate the Liturgy of the Word in a meaningful way; as a proclamation of the Word, as response in silence, song and prayer. Once when the children hear the Word, share the Word and sing the Word in the level of their understanding, they will never forget it and with God's help it will become a permanent part of their lives. At the Children s Liturgy of the Word, the children are given an active role suited to the level of their ability. The Word of God is proclaimed and explained to suit the level of children's understanding. The parents can encourage their children to attend the Liturgy to listen and share their faith experiences in their little lives. Also, the parents are asked to take active roles in the program as planners, leaders and helpers. The Children's Liturgy is NOT a religious education class or a baby-sitting program. This Liturgy is for the children from Grade Primary to any higher grades.
WHO CAN HELP THE CHILDREN S LITURGY? Anyone interested can help the Children's Liturgy program. This includes parents (both moms and dads), senior grade students, grandparents and anyone who wants to help. It is a small commitment. If you are interested please let Cathy Patriquin 902-465-6440 know before the end of the month. There will be a short formation session for the leaders. FINANCIAL HOUSEKEEPING For your information: As you are well aware, the parish will provide income tax receipts to all parishioners who have donated to the parish through the envelope system, through PAD or to those who have made unscheduled donations to the parish throughout the year. Revenue Canada only allows tax receipts for monies received during 2016 regardless of the date on the cheque. For example, if a parishioner makes an offering on January 01 st, 2017 and dates the cheques as December 31 st, 2016 that amount will be added to the 2017 taxation year and not the 2016 taxation year. What is important is when the cheque was received, not the date written on the cheque. Another consideration is when the money is deposited. For example, offerings received on December 31 st will be included with the January 01 st deposit as there will not be anyone in the office to receive or deposit the December 31 st collection. Therefore, all monies received by December 25 th, 2016 will be included in the 2016 Taxation Year for income tax purposes. Monies received after December 25 th will be included in the 2017 taxation year. For further information of inquiries please contact Deacon Gordon at the parish office but please take note of the Christmas Office Hours as they are limited. Many thanks for your generosity. SOMEONE TO MAINTAIN OUR PARISH WEBSITE We are still looking for someone who has the knowledge and time to maintain our Parish website on a weekly basis. It would be a relatively simple site to maintain and the current Web Master will train the new person. If you wish to volunteer your time and talent, please call the Parish Office 902-461-1987 for details. PARISH OFFERING ENVELOPES Please be advised that the church offering envelopes have be taken to the parish office. If you did not receive your packet this year or would like to make your offering to the parish through the envelope system please contact the parish office. ARCHBISHOP S LEVEE New Year s Day All are invited to Archbishop Mancini s annual New Year s Day Levee which takes place after the 10:00am Mass in the hall of Saint Mary s Cathedral Basilica. The levee begins at 11:00am. Drop by and greet a Happy New Year to friends old and new! FRIENDS OF L ARCHE The Friends-of-L'Arche Halifax group will meet for their monthly gathering on Sunday, January 8th from 1:30 to 3:30 in St. Agnes Hall, Mumford Road, Halifax. All are welcome, especially those with intellectual disabilities, their families and friends, to come for prayer, song, fun and fellowship. Contact Kelly at 902-407-5512 if you have any question
2016 CHRISTMAS MESSAGE Bishop Anthony Mancini Dear Friends, We are getting ready to celebrate Christmas again and we are probably going to go through the same rituals and traditions we associate with this feast. For most of us, the Birth of Christ is a significant event in our personal histories and family practices. There are cultural expressions and social engagements associated with this season which we repeat, and for the most part, we enjoy doing so. All of this is good and the experiences associated with Christmas are what constitute the content of the Merry in Merry Christmas. However, for some years now even reference to Christmas has been attacked in the name of secular political correctness. More and more, the Christmas customs and traditions that have some religious connection are being put aside and replaced by non-offending neutral, meaning non-religious, terms or references. All of this leaves us pondering what the point of Christmas is what are we celebrating? Is it just tradition; is it only a winter break? What happened to the Birth of Christ? Questions such as these make me wonder about the mystery of the Incarnation. After all, our faith tells us that Christ s birth is God in our midst, it s the most significant and important event in the history of humankind. God the creator of all things and the one who gave life to all human beings, decided to become one with us by being born like all of us and by living like all of us and by facing the challenges of life and death like all of us. This is the amazing reality of the Incarnation of Christ. God took on human flesh so that all of us can be transformed into sons and daughters of God. The point of this incarnation, its relevance in history and in our personal lives, is that it gives to each human being a concrete awareness of one s value and worth; it reveals to each one of us, that we are more than just dust, doomed to return to dust. We are loved and wanted; we are good enough to be saved and redeemed; to be offered the possibility of being born again in the Spirit and this is the wonderful, amazing grace and good news which makes more than the angels want to sing: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will. The relevance of the Incarnation of God demands that one has room for God in one s life. Perhaps in 2016 the reality of God, God s existence and the place God occupies in our secular lives, is the primary challenge to be faced. Christmas is reduced to a winter holiday, to a parade of lights and to frenzied exchange of mostly unneeded and unappreciated gifts, because the reason for the season has largely disappeared from our cultural and social practices. But, where God is present, Christ is possible, and the reality of Christ s birth changes everything. It is especially significant when the experience of Christ s birth is not a recalling of some past event, it is not a birthday party. It is, or can be, the experience of Christ being born and enfleshed again, or perhaps for the first time, in a disciple s life here and now. The Incarnation of God, the Birth of Christ, is the experience of personally encountering Jesus Christ today. This is what the New Evangelization is about; this is what we are working on by wanting to change and transform our lives and our parishes so that God who is Love can be seen and touched by all who need to be loved. Does the mystery of the Incarnation make any difference in 2016? It certainly does or it can, if we see the incarnation as a call to give shape and form to the truth, the way and the life of Christ in our time.! May all of us be blessed with courage and filled with the joy of the gospel, so that Christ can be born again in our world. Sincerely, Anthony Mancini
Fr Joseph E Mills Council 10486 This is an active group of Christian men 18 years and older and is active in our parish community and as well in the community of Eastern Passage. This group of men have been involved in fund raising for our parish and support in the community of EPCB. Some of the events this Council have been involved in are: Cards Games (45 ) on Wednesday Evenings Carnival Booth Special Olympics School Breakfast Program Food for Families Program Community 50/50 Draws Good Friday Fish Cake Supper Coats for Kids School Basketball Free Throw Veteran s Ceremony Remembrance Donations St. Andrew Parish Mass for Shut Ins Prostate Cancer Christmas Boxes The Beacon Terry Fox Run Respect for Women State Pro Life Steubenville Two 80in Screens in the church proper Tables at the back of the chuch With the New Year approaching we are recruiting new members and you can be involved in these activities. It is an opportunity to help with Parish & Community. To inquire or for more information Contact our Grand Knight, Jim McPhee, 902-465-7686 Or Membership Peter Gill 902-463-9894