4
Sunday, December 1st, 2019 ~ First Sunday of Advent
MASS INTENTIONS
Sun. Dec 1 8:00 am L/D Alois & Mary Schumacher fam
Tue. Dec 3 >>> NO MASS <<<
Th. Dec 5 8:00 am Special Intention
Sun. Dec 8 8:00 am L/D Herman & Rosie Leiker family
Tue. Dec 10 8:00 am L/D Eugene & Virjean Reeh fam
Th. Dec 12 8:00 am L/D Marvin & Mary Jo Braun family
MINISTRY SCHEDULE
SERVERS
Sunday, Dec 1 Braydon Binder & Ahnalyn Leiker Sunday, Dec 8 Benjamin Dome & Trenton Staley
EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS OF HOLY COMMUNION
Sunday, Dec 1 Lilly Binder & Rhonda Stramel Sunday, Dec 8 John Moeder & Michelle Werth
LECTORS OFFERTORY GIFTS
Sun. Dec 1 Gene Gottschalk Herman & Rosie Leiker Sun. Dec 8 David Leiker Nathan & Jenalyn Leiker
GREETERS
Sunday, Dec 1 Frank & Paulette Seib Sunday, Dec 8 Bonnie Shubert
COLLECTION TEAM
Sunday, December 1 Brian Pfannenstiel, Jeff Richmeier, Tony Staley, Darold Younker
Sunday, December 8 Jerry Gross, Nathan Leiker, Tony Rohr, Gary Staab
TRAVELING CHALICE FOR VOCATIONS
Sunday, Dec 1 Shawn & Sarah Fischer Sunday, Dec 8 Ken & Peggy Richmeier Sunday, Dec 15 Jason & Rose Carter Sunday, Dec 22 Linda Gross
Tithe ~ Stewardship of Treasure
Envelopes $1,470.00 Flowers $70.00 Loose $69.00 Hall Use $60.00 Cmp H Dev $120.00
TOTAL $1,789.00
FATHER JARETT’S ~ Q & A
Is Christmas under attack? C.S. Lewis described the human treatment of the devil as falling under one of two categories. Either people tend toward not taking the existence of Satan seriously enough or on the other hand we are inclined to attribute him, who is a created being, infinite power.
I would contend that in the United States, we tend toward the former. I’ve heard it said that the greatest victory of Satan in the world today is convincing humanity that “he” does not exist. Or perhaps even greater, convincing the world that he only exists as a little prancing man in red tights with a pitch fork and horns.
“The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature…His action may cause grave injuries of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence…It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but ‘we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him.’” (CCC #395)
How does Satan act? Satan is called the “father of lies” for good reason. We see in the book of Genesis that he succeeds in encouraging Adam and Eve to commit original sin by distorting truth. He says, if you disobey God’s command and eat the fruit of the tree, you will not die. This is a distortion of truth, Adam and Eve do not physically die through their disobedient act, but more importantly they die spiritually by their sin. Thus, most often Satan does not work through enormous powerful paranormal activities, but rather through attractive little distortions, playing off of things that are good, but causing destructive consequences.
What does Satan attack? Satan attacks all that is of God, or good. The most beautiful things currently under assault by the devil today are sex, marriage, and family. Knowing that marriage is God’s plan to image His love for humanity through the “one flesh union” of husband and wife, Satan focuses his attack, allowing humanity to continue to misunderstand God’s love and thus fail to return that love to God.
Divorce, Homosexuality, Abortion, Contraception, etc… Pretty much the hottest topics in the cultural and political arena today, each one targeting the distortion and destruction of the divine understanding of marriage, sex, and family. Do you think the devil is good at confusing humanity?
What about the sacraments; does Satan attack there?
Sunday, December 1st, 2019 ~ First Sunday of Advent
First Communion can become a fashion parade photo opportunity, rather than the first experience of the most intimate union of God and humanity on this earth.
Weddings can easily become more about the candles, cake, photos and dance rather than the proclamation of a lifetime commitment of love before God and His Church.
What about Christmas? How easily Advent and Christmas can get distorted from the focus of God’s greatest act in the history of Creation, lowering Himself to the point of becoming human so that we might learn how to live, to Santa, presents, lights, wish lists and parties.
The worldwide celebration of the “Happy Holidays” season has already begun, what will we do in our families and communities to battle the distortion of the “father of lies” and return the focus to the King of Kings; Jesus Christ?
In Christ’s Loving Service Your Pastor,
Fr. Jarett
Questions of Clarifications? Email Fr. Jarett at [email protected]
Coffee, rolls and conversation following Mass this morning, hosted
by the Christian Mothers.
Please remember Jory Konrade in your
prayers. May eternal rest be his and the
knowledge of our prayers and support
give Fr. Jarett and his family peace.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: Wednesday 7:00 – 8:00 pm.
Communal Penance Service
Wednesday, December 4th – 7:00 pm
We are once again accepting donations for
Poinsettia’s for church decorating. If you
would like to make a monetary donation in
memory of a loved one, for your family, or to
simply make a donation, please mark your check or
envelope ‘Flowers’ and include the name(s) of those you
are remembering, (optional). Note: If after the Christmas
season you would like to take a plant you made a donation
for, you are welcome to do so. Thank you!
St. Francis of Assisi Church is gearing up for our 2019
#iGiveCatholic Campaign and we need your help for our
entire parish community to come together and Give Catholic
this year. This year #iGiveCatholic is on #GivingTuesday,
Dec. 3, 2019 from 12:01 AM to 11:59 PM (midnight to
midnight) CST and takes place at iGiveCatholic.org.
National Night of Prayer for Life On Saturday, Dec.
8/9, from 8pm to 12am at Immaculate Heart of
Mary Church. The purpose is to unite our prayers
with Catholics throughout the country in an effort to
help bring back the world to Christ and to bring
about an end to abortion. The hours are chosen to coincide
with Our Lady of Guadalupe’s appearance to Juan Diego.
Mass Intentions for 2020 are now being
scheduled. Please keep weekdays in mind as
options, Sunday’s are most requested and fill up
quickly. Limit of four intentions. Stipends are
$10 per Mass. Contact Lilly (623-8000) for scheduling.
Give in thanksgiving. “The nuns left lasting impressions on
me,” writes a donor. “I shall always be grateful for my
Catholic education.” Please join in thanking the thousands of
senior Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests
who worked tirelessly to educate the young and serve those
in need. Next week’s collection is for the Retirement Fund
for Religious, which helps hundreds of religious
community’s care for aging members. Please give
generously.
Our Lady Help of Christians Frozen Pie Sale
Frozen Pies: Apple, Cherry and Peach - $15.00
each Contact Laurie Pfannenstiel at 785-639-0703
or email [email protected]. Proceeds go towards
projects at the church and charities sponsored by the
Antonino Christian Mothers.
Galen Schmidtberger, Special Intention, Maynard Richmeier, Curt Brungardt,
Charlie Munsch, Carole Carter, Natalie Armbrister, Stan Herrmann, Jack Harwood, Jerry Barnes, Special Intention, Parishioners in Health Care Facilities.
Drop requests in the collection basket or let Lilly know.
Let Lilly know when the intention should be removed.
Sunday, December 1st, 2019 ~ First Sunday of Advent
Thank you for your generous support last week for the
collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Dev. to
support those who live on the margins and in poverty in the
US. If you missed the collection, it’s not too late to give!
Cathedral Christmas Concert will be on Sunday,
Dec 8, at 3:30pm, in Victoria, KS. Free to the
public. The choirs of FHSU (Fort Hays Singers
& Concert Choir) will be joined by the Smoky Hill Chorale,
and the Hays HS Chamber Singers, Hays Symphony
Orchestra at the 34th Annual CCC. As always, beautiful
Christmas carols will be sung by all.
Take Courage! Listen to Divine Mercy Radio
Fall Care-a-Thon Dec. 3-6
Radio @ 88.1 – Phone app – Echo -- @dvmercy.com
of special interest to Saint Francis of Assisi Parish:
Tuesday, Dec. 3 7 am – Bill Meagher – Scouting Report on the Devil
Thursday, Dec. 5 8 am – Principal Chad Meitner – Stream Learning
4 pm – Adam Urban – The Loss of God & Prudence
Fr. Jarett Konrade – Courageous Catholic Discipleship
Friday, Dec. 6 7 am – Cody Marintzer – Topic TBA
noon – Bishop Jerry Vincke – update from USCCB meeting
1 pm – Principal Rachel Wentling – The Courage to be a
Catholic Educator
5 p.m. – Patrick & Cassandra Prediger – Our Journey back
to the Catholic Faith.
CHRISTMAS IS A TIME FOR GIVING!! The Community
Assistance Center is asking for your support of $50.00 to
sponsor one family for a Christmas Food Basket. Please
bring or mail your donation to the Community Assistance
Center so everyone may have a Merry Christmas, 12th and
Oak St. Hays. Thank You for Giving!
Free Catholic Videos, Movie, eBooks, MP3’s
www.formed.org – Parish Code: JZ3DPK
Adoration Chapel needs someone to cover the hour of 12 to
1pm, on Saturdays. If interested, please contact Bob Feauto
at 628-1429.
CATHOLIC SCHOOL NEWS
HOLY FAMILY ELEMENTARY
Rachel Wentling, Principal 625-3131
With Thanksgiving so late this calendar year the hustle
and bustle to Christmas break will be a whirlwind at school!
It is a monumental effort to keep our children's minds
focused on the very special season of Advent that leads to
the birth of Jesus rather than the secular aspects of the
season. This year our virtue of focus will be "Peace" during
this solemn and holy season of Advent. Each classroom has
its own special way of honoring each week of Advent.
THOMAS MORE PREP- MARIAN
Chad Meitner, Principal Bob Leikam, Jr. High Assistant Principal
625-6577
St. Thomas More Society (STMS) The STMS is the second-
largest funding arm for both TMP-Marian and Holy Family
Elementary. This vital fund is called upon to contribute
$650,000 this fiscal year and allows excellence in Catholic
education to continue and prosper. Please consider
generously contributing to the success of our students
through the STMS. Contact Troy Ruda, Advancement
Director, at rudat@tmpmarian. org or (785) 621-5427
Gifts may also be made online at tmp-m.org/donate
