A Parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford Second Sunday of Advent 7 December 2014 Parish Office Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m. Pastor The Reverend Michael Whyte PARISH STAFF Administrave Assistant-Parish Office Mrs. Lisa Cerchia 860 658 1642 or [email protected]Director of Religious Educaon Mrs. Kathi Bonner, 860 658 4737 or [email protected]Director of Youth Ministry Mrs. Judy Pluta 860 408 9888 or [email protected]Music Director Mrs. Susan Zybert 860 216 6519 or [email protected]Facilies Manager Mr. Michael Grappone 860 658 1642 Parish Council President Mr. Tom Tanski 860 658 4430 Finance Council Chairman Mr. Sco Muryasz 860 693 4164 Parish Legacy Fund Chairman Mr. Peter Pabich 860 408 1254 Parish Lay Trustees Mrs. Melissa Horbal, (860)651-7844 Mr. Joseph Capozzoli, (860)352-2390 Mass/Liturgy Schedule: Saturday Vigil at 5:00 p.m. Sunday Masses at 8:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend, NO 5:00 p.m. Sunday Mass) Daily Mass at 8:30 a.m., Monday through Wednesday, and Friday. (Yearly) Sacrament of Reconciliaon: Saturday from 4:00 p.m. unl 4:30 p.m. Bapsms and Bapsmal Preparaon: Please call the parish office at 860 658 1642 Sacrament of Holy Matrimony: Please call the parish office at 860 658 1642 at least 6 months in advance Choir Pracces: Adult—Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. Youth—Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. Contemporary Music Group—Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. Bullen Deadline: Monday at 10:00 a.m. Website News: email to: [email protected]265 Straon Brook Road, Box 184, West Simsbury, Conneccut 06092 Tel: 860 658 1642 /Fax: 888 297 3134 Email: [email protected]Website: www.stcatherine.info WELCOME! We welcome all visitors who are celebrating with us today. As is our custom at St. Catherine of Siena, please remain in your pew for the singing of the first and last verses of the recessional hymn. Christmas Eve & Day Mass Schedule Children’s Mass at 4 p.m., Contemporary Music Mass at 6:30 p.m., and our “Midnight” Mass at 10 p.m., with adult choir. Come Celebrate Christ’s Birth and remember that there is an additional new parking lot in the rear of the property. *Please note: the second Mass on Christmas Eve is 6:30 P.M.* This is different from previous years.
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A Parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford Second Sunday of Advent 7 December 2014
Parish Office Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m.
Pastor The Reverend Michael Whyte
PARISH STAFF Administrative Assistant-Parish Office Mrs. Lisa Cerchia 860 658 1642 or [email protected] Director of Religious Education Mrs. Kathi Bonner, 860 658 4737 or [email protected] Director of Youth Ministry Mrs. Judy Pluta 860 408 9888 or [email protected] Music Director Mrs. Susan Zybert 860 216 6519 or [email protected] Facilities Manager Mr. Michael Grappone 860 658 1642 Parish Council President Mr. Tom Tanski 860 658 4430 Finance Council Chairman Mr. Scott Muryasz 860 693 4164 Parish Legacy Fund Chairman Mr. Peter Pabich 860 408 1254 Parish Lay Trustees Mrs. Melissa Horbal, (860)651-7844 Mr. Joseph Capozzoli, (860)352-2390
Mass/Liturgy Schedule: Saturday Vigil at 5:00 p.m. Sunday Masses at 8:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend, NO 5:00 p.m. Sunday Mass) Daily Mass at 8:30 a.m., Monday through Wednesday, and Friday. (Yearly) Sacrament of Reconciliation: Saturday from 4:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. Baptisms and Baptismal Preparation: Please call the parish office at 860 658 1642 Sacrament of Holy Matrimony: Please call the parish office at 860 658 1642 at least 6 months in advance Choir Practices: Adult—Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. Youth—Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. Contemporary Music Group—Thursdays at 7:00 p.m.
*Parish taxes (5.5%) paid to the Archdiocese for services to the parish. Campaign for Human Development $3,540.35
November 30th Weekly Collection: $9,582.75 Loose Cash/Checks $1,638.00 Envelopes $7,944.75 Cathedraticum* -$ 527.06 School Tax* -$ 527.06
*Parish taxes (5.5%) paid to the Archdiocese for services to the parish. Christmas Flowers……………$2,896.00 Repair & Refurbishment……$140.00(additional)
Next week’s second collection is for
Retired Religious.
YOUTH MINISTRY NEWS
SENIOR HIGH YOUTH MINISTRY
Sunday, December 14th, 6:00 pm—Christmas
project and Christmas celebration tonight. First, we will be making homemade ornaments and blankets for a family who cannot afford to have a tree on their own. Can you bring a $3.00 contribution to help offset the cost of this project? Second, please bring a wrapped Christmas gift (approx $5 or $6) to participate in a fun Christmas gift swap within our group. We will have our own Christmas celebration!
JUNIOR HIGH YOUTH MINISTRY Monday, December 15th, 7:00-8:30 pm, Russell
Hall—Christmas project and Christmas celebration
tonight. First—We will be making items to deliver to 2 area soup kitchens for Christmas. Can you bring $2 or $3 to donate to help offset the cost of our offering?Second, Please bring a wrapped Christmas gift (approx $5 or $6) to participate in a fun Christmas gift swap within our group.
FROM FATHER MICHAEL... Advent Giving Tree Project This year our parish will include three (3) organizations to bene-fit from our Advent Giving Tree collection; Neighbors In Need, Malta Mobile House of Care, and the Parish Legacy Fund:
1. Neighbors In Need assists Saint Catherine of Siena members and other neighbors who find themselves in difficult times due to the economy. Over the last year your generous donation to this fund has enabled the parish to buy food gift cards from Stop & Shop, oil for the furnace, gift cards for prescriptions at CVS, help with CL&P bills and CNG fuel bills, auto repair bills at local stations, Emergency Room co-pays and bills for a child without health coverage. From helping the elderly, to families struggling, to a small child’s health care needs, to purchasing a local shelter a much needed stove—your generosity has made a huge impact right here in the Simsbury area;
2. Malta Mobil House of Care provides free medical diagnostics and follow-up treatment, including medicines, to the poorest of the poor and to working
families without medical coverage. The volunteer doctors, nurses and other health care providers see more
than 30,000 local patients—those who do not even qualify or cannot afford health insurance, even under the
Affordable Health Care Law. The Knights of Malta Foundation has equipped three Winnebago-like vans as mobile emergency rooms stocked with medicines, equipment, compassion and hope. For those needing more extensive health care, such as surgery, agreements between the Malta Foundation and doctors at St.
Francis Hospital make it all happen…along with your generous donations. Over the past few years, as St. Catherine of Siena has joined with the Knights of Malta in this vital mission and ministry, our parish has become one of the larger parish-based supporters of this project. Many folks from beyond our community are blessed greatly by your support; and,
3. The St. Catherine of Siena Parish Legacy Fund is a parishioner-overseen fund to provide long term
financing for the ministries of St. Catherine of Siena. Parishioners may donate money directly to this Fund, or may include the PLF in their estates, to provide funding for our ministries such as the Feed the Hungry Youth Group, Pantry Partners, or any other ministry or club— from Comitas to our Youth Group to our music ministry—in order to secure their long term activities and outreach. The donation amount is not only up to the parishioner, but also allows the parishioner to decide where and how the money will be spent.
Our parish is blessed with so many generous members who are willing to include neighbors and strangers in their giving—something many other parishes are unable to do and many folks are unwilling to do. Because of this generosity, so many others benefit and are cared for. I want to personally thank you for all that you are willing to do, and hope that you know that I always keep the people of St. Catherine in my prayers: May God continue to bless you and those you love for your Christ-like hearts. A special thanks to Karen Carew who organizes and
oversees this annual project.
Christmas Shopping… This season is full of fun, hope, love…and stress. The Mall
experience only adds to it as shoppers fill their bags with gifts for the stockings and under the tree. And while we all go a wee-bit overboard with the gift-giving, myself included, I did hear of two good tips to help reduce the stress of gift-giving and the expense: (1) When Jesus Christ was born, on Christmas Day, only three gifts are mentioned—gold, frankincense and myrrh. At the risk of being named Simsbury’s Scrooge by all the children in town, why not limit the number of gifts to three (3) for each child; second, one of the altar servers told me that her parents were giving all the children “experience-gifts” such as memberships to museums, sporting or music lessons, family outings, and trips…sounds pretty good to me—and none of those things break twenty minutes after they come out of the box. But don’t tell your children where you read this.
Second Sunday of Advent—are you a messenger?
Most of us are—and maybe the better question to ask is “what kind of messenger am I?” In this second Sunday of Advent the Gospel of Mark presents us with John the Baptist. A true messenger. John knew who he was, and who he was not—he wasn’t the Messiah—John also knew who he was called to be and what his vocation in life was and then he set out to be that person. He was a martyr according to the Church. He was a messenger sent by God to “make straight the path” and to “prepare the way” for Christ so that others may hear Him and His Good News of Salvation.
In order for us to be an effective messengers, especially of God, we need to know what our vocation in life is: am I a priest, a religious sister or brother, am I a father, a mother, am I a Catholic Christian? Do I know what my vocation entails and am I faithful to living it out? Too often in the Church when we hear the word “vocation” we immediately think of a religious sister or brother or a priest. But sometimes we fail to include in that list the vocations of married life—mother and father; a vocation for family—all born to it—siblings and parents, aunts and uncles and more; a vocation for the single life—respecting the self and being actively part of a family or community; a Christian—and living out all the virtues of this life amid our human condition—meaning that I am not perfect but that I don’t give up trying to work towards perfection.
One of the easiest ways to fulfill our personal vocation is to constantly repeat and reflect on the statement of John the Baptist: “One mightier than I is coming after me…” And realize that I am not responsible for the harvesting of Salvation for others but I am responsible for planting the seeds of salvation—by my words and actions. Christ will do the rest, for He is the One that is “mightier than I.” I just need to know my vocation and to live it out as faithfully as I can, with the grace of God. Be a messenger for Christ—one of Hope and Charity, one of Compassion and Peace, one of Truth—His!
The Epiphany Tree, the white tree in the atrium, is loaded with tags of kids’ names and ages. Buy an age-appropriate gift, wrap it and place the original tag on it by December 30th. These gifts help our sister parish, Sacred Heart in Hartford, celebrate the tradi-tional feast of the Epiphany.
Upcoming Meetings/Events DECEMBER
-Sat, 6th—Adult Christmas Party, RH, 6:15 p.m.
-Sun, 7th Confirmation 1 & 2, all rooms, 6 p.m.
-Mon, 8th—the Immaculate Conception, HOLYDAY of OBLIGATION, Masses at 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
-Tues, 9th—Children’s Choir, MR, 6:30 p.m.
-Tues, 9th—Adult Choir, MR, 7:30 p.m.
-Wed, 10th—Bible Study, Library, 9:15 a.m.
-Wed, 10th—TAIZE, Church, 7 p.m.
-Thurs, 11th—Contemporary Choir, MR, 7 p.m.
-Thurs, 11th—Girl Scouts, RH, 7 p.m.
-Fri, 12th—Making Music Praying Twice, MR, 10:00 a.m.
-Sat,13th—Christmas Pageant Rehearsal, 9 a.m.
-Sat, 13th—Christmas Pageant, 11 a.m.
-Sat, 13th—Senior High Youth Group to Food Share
-Sun, 14th—Children’s Liturgy of the Word, RH, 11 a.m.
-Sun, 14th—Sr. High Youth Ministry, RH, 6 p.m.
-Mon, 15th—Advent Penance Service, Church, 7 p.m.
-Mon, 15th—Jr. High Youth Ministry, RH, 7 p.m.
-Mon, 15th—Prayer Shawl, Library, 7 p.m.
-Tues., 16th—Parish Council, RH 7 p.m.
-Tues, 16th—Social Justice, Library, 7 p.m.
Social Outreach
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Pantry Partners—St. Catherine Pantry Partners
will hold the December distribution on December 20 in the
Vestibule. Please consider ordering the gift of food for your
family or a friend. Order forms are available in the vestibule
and in the atrium. We welcome your generous donations and
thank you for considering SCPP in your annual giving.
Student-led, and student-run, Holiday Cabaret totals over
40 students, with small ensembles of 8-12 for holiday
parties. We offer a large variety of songs, from classic
Christmas carols and hymns through a South African piece
composed especially for our ensemble!
Another request from the Shelter. They are
working with a woman that has two daughters ages 5 and 14 in need of winter clothing. (jackets, sweaters, socks, gloves, hats and shoes/boots ((child size 10 and junior size 0)). Please contact Peter Sheary at 860-658-2899 if you can help. Thank you.
Elementary Catholic School Principal for the
Archdiocese of Hartford. Must be: a practicing Catholic
in good standing, have a Master’s Degree from an accredited
college/university, five years successful teaching and/or
administrative experience. Contact Mrs. Maria Maynard via
Our Advent Taize Service is simply a candlelit evening of song, silence, and prayer. Through the gentle repetition of simple
song refrains, the reading of scripture, and the si-lence of our individual prayers, we are able to trans-cend the distractions of our everyday lives and dwell on God as we prepare for the birth of his Son. It is a wonderfully beautiful and restful evening. Come and enjoy the peace! Just an hour long!
