St. Matthew Newsletter Advent 2017 Impatience Or Anticipation? By Melinda Cannady Last year I felt like the weight of Christmas was crushing me: pressure to find perfect gifts for everyone (but at a great price), requests for cupcakes, school parties, Christmas cookie baking and fudge making, hanging lights and tinsel, and anxiety (I feel like I m forgetting someone on the gift list and I m pretty sure we re out of gift wrap)! If you saw my hand in the air, I wasn t waving. I was drowning and it was a cry for help. Frankly, I just wanted Christmas to be OVER. That s a little sad, right, wanting the most joyous season of all to end so I could breathe? Now it s here again. Time for the Christmas season, right? The pumpkins and mums were shoved aside before the Halloween candy wrappers had settled in the trash can to make room for Christmas ornaments and ginger bread kits and Christmas Countdown signs. Black Friday shopping ads have been popping up in our social media news feeds and on TV for nearly a month. The party invitations have arrived, the Christmas poinsettias are on the porch, and lights are already up. Why do we even bother with Thanksgiving, honestly? Yeah, yeah we re grateful for all our blessings, pumpkin pie, and football. Shouldn t we have just jumped straight from a Halloween candy hangover to an eggnog hangover? Aren t we missing out on something important like an entire season of anticipation? Advent means to come. We are celebrating the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are also looking forward to the second coming of Jesus. As a covenant people, we are in the middle of Salvation history, not literally, of course, since we can t know when Jesus will come again, but theologically we are between the first coming and the second. It s kind of a great place to be. We can look back through Salvation history to the roots of our faith in creation; to the beautiful prophecies heard by God s people thousands of years ago; to Mary s humble response: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." We celebrate the beautiful Marian Feast of the Immaculate Conception during Advent. The mother of Jesus, conceived without the stain of original sin through God s intervention, she was redeemed by the grace of Christ, but by anticipation not after the fact. What a beautiful time to reflect on God s unfailing love for us, despite all the things from the beginning of time that we humans have done to reject His mercy, He desires us to be His. "The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith." (CCC 142) What if we get everything on our Christmas todo list done: the gifts are under the tree, the perfect party is in the books, the fudge is the best ever, all the lights are strung and not ONE is blinking yet we find we re just ready for it to be over? We haven t set aside any time for Jesus. We didn t take the chance on the morning commute to talk about Mary, or Advent, or the coming Savior with our kids. Our Little Blue Books lie neglected on the counter; devotions unread. What if everything is prepared, except our hearts? Come Lord Jesus, come. May You find us ready. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means God is with us. - Matthew 1: 21-23 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Advent Activities.2 & 3 Guadalupe..4 Perfectly You......5 Fall Outreach.6 Faith Resources...7
Advent Activities for the Whole Family Advent Wreath Adults Prayer Seek out an opportunity to grow closer to God each day in prayer; in the shower, a 10 minute coffee caht with God, during the commute, a walking Rosary at lunch, at bedtime. Ask your family and friends how you can pray for them. Add their intentions to your daily prayers. Pray with your children on the way to school. Advent always includes four Sundays. This year, Advent will begin on Sunday, December 3, and will conclude on Sunday, December 24. The Advent wreath consists of four candles, representing Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace, and are usually set in a wreath of evergreen branches, which symbolizes everlasting life. On Christmas Eve, a white candle in the center of the wreath is lit to remind the faithful that Christ has come and He is the Light of the World! A simple Advent wreath can be made at home using small candles and evergreen branches from pine or other trees. Blessing for an Advent Wreath: Make the sign of the Cross. O God, by whose word all things are sanctified, pour forth thy blessing upon this wreath, and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and may receive from Thee abundant graces. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Sprinkle the wreath with Holy Water. Place the wreath on the table and light it at meal times before the blessing. Faith Check out Fr. Mike Schmitz s YouTube page for great 5-8 minute videos that answer questions about the faith. Go to confession. Our Advent Penance Service is scheduled for Wednesday, December 13 at 7 pm. Use the Little Blue Book for daily Advent Devotions. Fellowship Host a potluck or a Dutch-treat dinner out with friends. Focus on people and not things. Grab coffee or tea with a friend you haven t seen in a while or call and catch up. 2
Jesse Tree The Jesse Tree is an Advent tradition named after Jesse, the father of King David. Biblical symbols representing the ancestry of Jesus, either in faith or bloodline, are added one by one onto a tree. As each ornament is added, a Bible verse is read to explain the symbol. There is one ornament for each day in Advent. Younger children can draw a symbol or cut one out of a magazine. Older children or teens can read the bible verse when the ornament is added to the tree each day! Chalice Program for Vocations For more information on how to make your own Jesse Tree, please visit: www.catholicculture.org and type in Jesse Tree in the search bar at the top right of the webpage. The Knights of Columbus will be resuming the Chalice Program for Vocations beginning this Advent Season. Families who wish to participate in praying for vocations are asked to sign-up in the Narthex. Father Clark or Father Tom will ask the family who volunteered to take the chalice home to come forward and receive it at the end of Mass. Each family will keep the chalice at home for two weeks, during which time family members will pray for vocations each evening, including current seminarians and diaconate candidates, and discuss discerning God s will for each person s vocation. The chalice will be returned to the church on the second Friday of the two week period. 3
Juan Diego, a Mexican convert to Catholicism, was on his way to Mass early on the morning of December 9, 1531. As he travelled to church, he heard beautiful music and stopped to find the source of the sound. To his surprise, the humble farmer was visited by the Virgin Mary! She appeared to him as a radiant princess and requested that he ask his bishop to build a temple at the place of her appearance. The bishop was understandably not convinced of the truth of Juan Diego s encounter. Would anyone blame him for thinking this peasant was either crazy or possessed? Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac Hill where he first encountered the Virgin. She appeared again and instructed him to return to the bishop and ask again. Imagine the bishop s frustration when Juan Diego came to him again to share his crazy story! Who can blame the poor bishop for insisting that the farmer return with a sign to prove his tale. Off Juan Diego went again. He did not return right away. His uncle was sick and required his care. He was worried a priest will be unable to hear his uncle s last confession before the uncle died. Juan Diego hit the road again where he, for a third time, encountered the Virgin Mary. She comforted him, saying: "Do not be distressed, my littlest son. Am I not here with you who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Your uncle will not die at this time. There is no reason for you to engage a priest, for his health is restored at this moment. He is quite well. Go to the top of the hill and cut the flowers that are growing there. Bring them then to me." Juan Diego climbed the hill. He must have wondered what could possibly be growing there in the frigid December weather. To his surprise, he discovered roses in full bloom. He cut them and placed them in his tilma, a cape made of cactus fibers, and returned to our Mother, who directed the farmer to return to the bishop to request that a temple be built so she can hear and comfort God s people. She asked to be known as Our Lady of Guadalupe. Some scholars believe that Guadalupe is a mistranslation of the native Nahuatl language word Coātlaxopeuh, which translates: the one who crushes the serpent. Our Lady of Guadalupe By Melinda Cannady The bishop and his aides must have been shocked to see the old farmer again, but shock turned to awe when he emptied his tilma of the beautiful flowers and they saw something miraculous an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, just as Juan Diego had described her, was etched into his tilma. Needless to say, the bishop now believed Juan Diego. In late December of 1531 a procession carried the tilma back to Tepeyac, where it was housed in a quickly constructed chapel. During the next several years, over six million Aztecs converted to Catholicism. Infrared photographs taken in 1977 revealed that only the retouched areas of the tilma, now displayed behind bullet-proof glass in a cathedral near Mexico City, show flaking and discoloration. The original portions of the image are remarkably well-preserved. Here at St. Matthew, our Hispanic community will celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in several special ways. Between December 3rd and 10th, families will take turns hosting a praying of the Rosary. On December 11, volunteers will gather to arrange hundreds of roses, donated by families, into bouquets. At 10:30 pm that evening, a family will lead a procession with a large image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. A vigil Mass will be celebrated at 10:45 pm, after which parishioners will move to the social hall for mañanitas, a singing of traditional songs about Mary, followed by a fiesta featuring tortillas, rice, and salsa. Everyone is invited to attend. Vigil for Our Lady of Guadalupe December 11, 2017 Procession: 10:30 pm Mass: 10:45 pm Mañanitas: Midnight 4
Perfectly Yourself Do you ever get the feeling that you are not enough? Not smart enough, not beautiful enough, not loved enough, not rich enough, not good enough... We all have these feelings from time to time, usually because we re comparing ourselves to others. But God doesn t compare you to anybody else. He wants to help you become the person he created you to be perfectly yourself! In this life-changing book, Matthew Kelly addresses the opportunities and obstacles we encounter when we decide to ask life s BIG questions: who am I? and why am I here? Newly revised with an emphasis on spiritual growth and realizing God s dream for your life, Perfectly Yourself is a book for anyone who has survived the collapse of a relationship, wondered if he or she would ever find a fulfilling career, or failed at a diet. Kelly teaches us how to find the balance between accepting ourselves and striving to become all God dreams for us to become. This is the guide you need if you long to be at peace with who you are, where you are, and what you are doing, not in some distant tomorrow, but here and now today. Matthew Kelly, Perfectly Yourself synopsis. This Advent, St. Matthew Parish will be giving away free copies of Perfectly Yourself. The books will be available in the Narthex and at all of the church entrances. Take a copy, read it, and share it with others. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving these commands so that you may love one another. John 15:16-17 Getting Stronger By Melinda Cannady Now that you ve discovered your strengths, learn how to LIVE them. Log-in to gallupstrengthscenter.com to print your Strengths Insight Guide. This report gleans information from your combination of strengths to give you insight into how your gifts work together to make you unique. As you read the report, underline phrases and words that resonate strongly with you. Do you recognize these gifts in yourself? How do you hope others see these gifts in you? How are you using your strengths in your personal relationships, at work, at play, and in your faith life to build up the body of Christ? Access the Action Planning Tool for tips on how to develop your top five strengths! Stay tuned for our new Ministry Guide and Ministry Fair, coming in early 2018. 5
Win, Build, Send. Divine intimacy, authentic friendship, and spiritual multiplication are the three pillars of our mission. The threefold steps of our mission are Win, Build, Send. We win over students in authentic friendships to Christ and His Church, we build them up in divine intimacy through prayer and the sacraments, and then we send them out to spiritually multiply the campus by doing the same thing. This process works best when it done slowly, and when our time and energy is focused on a few. Essentially, we invest in a few who invest in a few. Please pray for a strong finish to our semester as we continue to encourage these young men and women to pray, and for the 20 students that we are bringing with us to the Student Leadership Summit (SLS) in Chicago from January 2-6, 2018. Thank you for supporting our SLS trip! Stay tuned for student testimonies when we return! Helcio Sumbe, Team Director True Blue! Thank you for supporting campus ministry! 6
Through a series of 20 compelling videos, the nation s top Catholic teachers and scholars explain the Catholic faith in a heartfelt and meaningful way. Sessions cover topics such as the Deeper Meaning of the Sacraments, Understanding the Mass, Virtue and Grace, True Love and Marriage, Social Justice, and other essentials of what it is to be a thriving Catholic. Know the Faith. Live the Faith. Register at Formed.org and use code 45683e Little Blue Books Spend a few minutes each day waiting and reflecting on the miracle of Christmas. The little Blue Books for Advent feature a daily scripture reflection that focuses attention on the coming Savior and God s plan for salvation. The books are available in the Narthex. A handful of large-print books are also available on the table with the large-print missalettes. Online/Apps Check out Fr. Mike Schmitz s YouTube channel for great 5-8 minute reflections that are easy to listen to in the car or on the go. Visit focusoncampus.org/blog to read articles on topical matters of faith. Subscribe to the "It's Catholic Y'all Podcast or Catholic Stuff You Should Know on itunes. Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible is also available in the itunes store. 7
St. Matthew Catholic Church 221 John Paul Avenue Statesboro, GA 30458 Return Service Requested Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Statesboro, GA Permit No. 00388 Christmas Mass Schedule Masses on Christmas Eve: 4 pm (Spanish) 6 pm 9:30 pm: Carols and Lessons 10 pm Mass on Christmas Day: 10 am The Solemnity of Mary on New Year s Day is transferred to Sunday, December 31. Fun Fact: Sunday, December 24 is a regular Sunday Day of Obligation, so for families who plan to attend one of the evening Masses on Christmas Eve that means two Masses in one calendar day! 8