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December 25 th and January 1 st CHRISTMAS DAY AND THE FEAST OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD THIS WEEK AT ST. THERESE MONDAY 30th 4:30 pm -Mass – † Deceased family members of Carmela Scanga / Req. by Carmela Scanga TUESDAY 31st VIGIL OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD 4:30 pm - † Allan and Eddie Dillon Req. by the Owens Family WEDNESDAY JANUARY FIRST FEAST OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD 9:00 am Mass - Jean, Martin and Stephen Req. by Jean and Noel Rodrigues 11:00 am –Mass - The People of Our Parish THURSDAY 2nd 7:00 pm Mass- † Michael Laurden Req. by Antonio Scanga and Family FRIDAY 3rd 9:30 am –NO Mass 10:00 am – 6:00 – NO Adoration in the Church 7:00 pm Mass- † Michael Laurden Req. by Terasita Famorca SATURDAY 4 th 8:30 am – Mass in Church 9:30 am –10:30 am – Reconciliation 4:30 pm Mass- † Anne Wanninkhof Req, by Fred Fountain SUNDAY 5 th 9:00 am Mass- † Ferdinando Guglielmo Req. by His Parents 11:00 am-Mass- † Frank Bradica Req. by Debbie Ford 7:00 pm Mass- The People of Our Parish PRAY FOR US! Students of Holy Trinity School, Tom MacPherson, Bernie MacDonald, Art and Anna Van Leeuwen, Bernie McDonnell, Cecilia Gagnon, Robin Lipsius, Donna Paul, Lois Findlay , Pasquale Ferlaino, Jullian Girotto, Ryan Smigielski, Jennifer, Vince Roti. KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS FREE SKATE Our Knights are sponsoring a free skate at the Courtice South Arena on December 27 th from 10 am until Noon. They will be collecting non perishable items for our food bank. You are invited to visit our Live Nativity Scene behind the Church until December 27th. WELCOME If you require donation envelopes, there are blue envelopes available. Envelopes for next year will be available next week for those who did not have envelopes this year. Thank you for putting your name on the front of your donation envelope each week. We will update our figures in the next bulletin. HAVE YOU MOVED? If you have moved this past year, please call Bernadette at 905 436 2126 before the end of the year, so that we can update our files before income tax receipts are printed. Thank you. PLEASE NOTE Any donations made to the parish after December 30 th will not be included on your income tax receipts for 2013. They will be included on your 2014 tax receipt. SENIORS' POT LUCK Please join us on the last Friday of each month (dates are posted in the bulletin) for our Seniors' pot luck. Our next pot luck will be on Friday January 31st. Bring a dish to share and have some fun and be entertained. We start at 11:30 am. Hope to see you there! Our next bulletin will be available the weekend of January 4/5, 2014. Mass intentions for January 6-12th are posted on the bulletin board. ADORATION NEW YEAR'S EVE We will have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on New Year's Eve from 10:00pm - 11:00pm. Come and join the Priests and the Sisters. Please call the parish office if you are planning on attending. PART TIME JUNIOR OFFICE ADMINISTRATION POSITION We are seeking an individual for a part time position (14 hours per week) with a solid knowledge of the Catholic faith and who integrates these beliefs into daily living. This individual will possess effective communication and organizational skills, must have accounting experience, be proficient in Microsoft office and capable of working in a fast paced environment. Upon successful hiring, the candidate will provide a current Police Record Check. Interested persons should submit a cover letter, resume, and letter of reference from your pastor to the email address below. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted. All applications will be kept confidential. Please submit resume and cover letter to [email protected] before January 4, 2014 No telephone calls please. WHAT IS CHRISTMAS The word Christmas derives from the combination of Christ and Mass; it is the feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Second in the liturgical calendar only to Easter’ Christmas is celebrated by many as if it were the most important of Christian feasts. HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS People are often surprised to find that Christmas was not celebrated by the earliest Christians. The custom was to celebrate a saint's birth into eternal life—in other words, his death. Thus Good Friday (Christ's death) and Easter Sunday (His Resurrection) took center stage. To this day, the Church celebrates only three birthdays: Christmas; the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and the Birth of John the Baptist. It took a while, though, for the Church to develop the feast of Christmas. While it may have been celebrated in Egypt as early as the third century, it did not spread throughout the Christian world until the middle of the fourth century. It was first celebrated along with Epiphany, on January 6; but slowly Christmas was separated out into its own feast, on December 25. Many of the early Church Fathers regarded this as the actual date of Christ's birth, though it does coincide with the Roman festival of Natalis Invicti (the winter solstice, which the Romans celebrated on December 25), and the Catholic Encyclopedia does not reject the possibility that the date was chosen as "a deliberate and legitimate 'baptism' of a pagan feast." By the middle of the sixth century, Christians had begun to observe Advent, the season of preparation for Christmas, with fasting; and the Twelve Days of Christmas, from Christmas Day to Epiphany, had become established. Adapted from " www.About.com" CHRISTMAS GIVING TREE - THANK YOU St. Therese St. Vincent de Paul would like to thank our local schools, Holy Trinity, Mother Teresa, Msgr. Leo Cleary and Good Shepherd as well as our parishioners for your generosity and help with the giving Tree items needed for this year. We had many families to help this year and the kindness and thoughtfulness of the people of our parish and community is incredible. From those who donated and called to see what we were still in need of, to the sorters, and all those who helped in any way: You have made a difference in the lives of many people this Christmas. Thank you to all of you. God bless you! Jen McCutcheon & Tanya Courtney FIRST COMMUNION April 5th, 2014 -RECONCILIATION for All Students Preparing for First Communion- Your scheduled time is in your package. Completed “Called to His Supper” books and pew hangers should be returned to the church on this date. CONFIRMATION Enrollment Masses: Saturday February 2, 2013 @ 4:30 pm Sunday February 3, 2013 @ 9:00 am Sunday February 3, 2013 @ 11:00 am Sunday February 3, 2013 @ 7:00 pm Candidates are to come to any of the above masses to be Enrolled. Please be sure to bring your retreat permission form and your Enrollment letter. Retreat Date : May 10th from 10:00 am until 1:30pm Reconciliation: Saturday May 25 th from 10:30 am. Your assigned time should be in your package. Students are reminded to bring their completed mass attendance form to mass each week, and place them into the offertory basket. YOUTH DANCE Students in grades 5 to 8 are invited to our Youth Dance on Friday January 10th from 7:45 to 9:45 pm. Tickets are $3.00 and are available at the door. High School students may volunteer as chaperones for community service hours. We are also looking for adult volunteers to assist with chaperoning. Please contact Mary Armstrong or Iman Deal if you wish to help us make this event a fun-filled success. NEW ORGANIST FOR OUR 11AM CHOIR We thank Paula Alexander for agreeing to be the organist for the 11am Sunday Choir. Paula has been a member of our parish for many years and we are very grateful for her dedication to this ministry. Thank you Paula.
