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ST. THERESE PARISH GARFIELD HEIGHTS, OHIO www.sttheresegarfield.org December 3, 2017
Rectory: 581-2852
St. Therese & SS. Peter & Paul Mass Schedule
SATURDAY, December 2 Vigil St. T. 5:30 p.m. For the People of the Parish SUNDAY, December 3-First Sunday of Advent St. T. 10:30 a.m. George Piechowski Angelina Mion Wanda M. Golias Joanne Biegacki MONDAY, December 4-St. John Damascene St. T. 6:30 p.m. Salvatore Cancellieri
TUESDAY, December 5 No Mass WEDNESDAY, December 6-St. Nicholas SS. P&P 8:30 a.m. Joseph Dobies (AM) THURSDAY, December 7-St. Ambrose St. T. 7:00 a.m. Dorothy Voracek SS. P&P 7:00 p.m. Charles Krupa FRIDAY, December 8-The Immaculate Conception Of the Blessed Virgin Mary SS. P&P 8:30 a.m. Rosalie Oleksiak St. T. Noon For the People of the Parish St. T. 5:30 p.m. Frank Hokes SATURDAY, December 9 Vigil St. T. 5:30 p.m. Don Kuczmarski Raymond & Patricia Nesky SUNDAY, December 10-Second Sunday of Advent St. T. 10:30 a.m. Lawrence & Ann Cermak Don Newman John Stefanko Holy Name Society Mass Key: St. T. Mass at St. Therese St. P&P Mass at SS. Peter & Paul Please note that this schedule includes the weekday Masses for both St. Therese and SS. Peter and Paul, but only the weekend Masses of our parish.
Readings for the Week
Sunday: Is 63:16b-17, 19b, 64:2-7; 1 Cor 1:3-9; Mk 13:33-37 Monday: Is 2:1-5; Mt 8:5-11 Tuesday: Is 11:1-10; Lk 10:21-24 Weds: Is 25:6-10a; Mt 15:29-37 Thursday: Is 26:1-6; Mt 7:21, 24-27 Friday: Gn 3:9-15, 20; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38 Saturday: Is 30:19-21, 23-26; Mt 9:35—10:1, 5a, 6-8
Pray for the Sick of our Parish:
Joshua Stebal, Elizabeth O’Donnell, Don Tews, Laverne Griffiths, Michelle Cozens, Shirley Zwilling, Robert Thomas, Rita Pawloski, Raymond Pavlik, Michael Kobie, Dori Herout, Robyn Buckley, Sophie Tessmer, Michelle Triska, Nancy Kolecki, Joe Putka, David Burchfield, Charlene Fabrizo, Josephine Wojtonek, Mark Bandini, Laura Poss, Dennis Svihlik, Jeff Radak, Patricia J. McHale, Joyce Kedzierski, Jacquie Fisher, Arnold Brantley, Patricia Kraft, Josephine Mathews, Helen Yakubik, Sr. Mary Ann Zakrajsek, Tony Mallo, Eve Dankowski, Maribeth Hurley
Rest in PeaceRest in PeaceRest in PeaceRest in Peace Please pray for the recently deceased:
Laverne Hartley Gertrude DiCosimo Joseph Rocheck III
Rev. Paul J. Sciarrotta
Collec�on-November 18/19
Collec�on: $5,975.35* Envelopes Used: 232 Human Dev.: $224 St. Vincent de Paul: $94.00 *figure includes the following: Parish Use Only: $543 Children: $2.35 Fuel: $15 Altar & Flowers: $207 Restora�on: $94 Various Holy Days: $256
Faith Direct: $305
Collec�on-November 25/26
Collec�on: $5,252.35* Envelopes Used: 212 Human Dev.: $181 St. Vincent de Paul: $13
*figure includes the following: Parish Use Only: $693 Children: $2.35 Restora�on: $116 Altar & Flowers: $139 Christmas: $50 All Saints & All Souls: $15
Thank you!
First Sunday of Advent
OUR YOUNG CHURCH YOUTH412 As November flew by, our middle school and high school students recently enjoyed an impromptu bonfire at Saints Peter and Paul and an evening of prayer in anticipation of Advent. Every gathering is an opportunity for fellowship with students who come from many schools, but have one heart for Jesus. As we celebrate Advent together, we look forward to our upcoming retreat at Loyola Retreat House in January. Coming Up....
Visit a Live Nativity with Youth412 on Friday Dec 8, 7-8:30pm. Meet us at Valley View Village Church, 11401 Tinkers Creek Road, Valley View 44125.
Christmas Celebration! Thursday Dec. 14, 6:30-8pm Parish School of Religion Students and their families enjoyed a delicious meal, during Thanksgiving week, as part of PSR's Open House. Families toured the school, created pinecone gratitude turkeys and enjoyed a meal together. Many thanks to Mr. Norm Wells, our fourth grade catechist, for preparing delicious turkey & stuffing rolls. Meanwhile, sacramental preparation is underway! Second graders are studying sin, original sin and baptism as part of their First Reconciliation. Our 7th & 8th graders recently made beautiful candle holders as reminders that we are to be the light of Jesus on Earth! During Advent they will review the seven sacraments and the parts of the Mass.
This week, PSR students will leave their shoes in the hall (during class) in anticipation of treats from St. Nicholas on the eve of his feast day, December 6. We will discuss this Saint's many examples of God's love and generosity. May the Patron Saint of children watch over all the little ones we love so much! Coming Up.... PSR meets Dec. 5, 12 and 19. No class Dec. 26.
Attention: Ushers, Eucharistic Ministers & Lectors
Please plan on attending an important meeting with Fr. John who will be updating you on changes in your ministries. You can choose between today, December 3, after the 10:30 a.m. Mass or Wednesday, December 6, at 7 p.m. Both of these meetings will be held in the church. These updates are important to the ministry you serve so please make time to attend one of these sessions.
Attention Seniors: Our Christmas Party and luncheon is on Monday, December 11, in the Knights of Columbus annex hall. Doors open at noon, and dinner will be served at 1 p.m. Call Gert Zielinski at 216-587-5310 with any questions.
Advent Gospels Alive
We continue our reflection of Advent’s Sunday Gospel Readings this Tuesday! Come to one or all sessions! Deacon Bob Bugaj will guide the discussion. Light refreshments will be served. Babysitting is available (with advance notice to the parish office). December 5, 12 & 19, 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the PSR school building at St. Therese.
Congratulations to Iva Stephens and Marilyn Kasik who each won $100 in our weekend drawing of November 25/26.
Holy Day Mass Times On Friday, December 8, we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation. Mass times for this holy day are:
Thursday, December 7 7 p.m. at SS. Peter & Paul
Friday, December 8 8:30 a.m. at SS. Peter & Paul
Noon at St. Therese 5:30 p.m. at St. Therese
Looking ahead to Christmas Mass times will be: Sunday, December 24, 4 p.m. at SS. Peter & Paul 5:30 p.m. at St. Therese 10 p.m. at SS. Peter & Paul
Monday, December 25, 8:30 a.m. at SS. P & P 10:30 a.m. at St. Therese
ST. THERESE PARISH GARFIELD HEIGHTS, OHIO www.sttheresegarfield.org December 3, 2017
Rectory: 581-2852
Coats for Kids The Garfield Hts. Council of the Knights of Columbus is collecting Coats for Kids this Christmas season. They will be collecting new or like-new coats, hats, gloves and mittens. They will also be collecting cash donations. Boxes will be in the church vestibule from November 25 until December 10. Checks can be made out to “Coats for Kids Foundation” and mailed to the Garfield Hts. Knights of Columbus, 10806 Granger Road, Garfield Hts., OH 44125, attention: Coats for Kids. All checks will be needed by December 10, as well.
Little Blue Books We have again ordered the Little Blue Books for your use this Advent. They will be available at the rectory and near the entrances of the church. These books contain daily reflections to help us stay connected during this special time of year. An envelope is included for you free will donation.
Advent Chats with Fr. John You are invited to join Fr. John for 2 talks this Advent. He has selected 2 topics and will share his reflections in a casual environment. Both parish locations are handicap friendly and offer babysitting (with advance notice to the parish office). Light refreshments will be served. All are welcome! Wednesday, Dec. 13, 7-8 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) SS. Peter & Paul Parish Hall. Advent: Welcoming Christ’s Second Coming Wednesday, Dec. 20, 7-8 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) PSR School Building at St. Therese The Signs and Wonders of Christ’s First Coming
The Advent Wreath The First Sunday of Advent: HOPE
The Church is rich with Advent traditions and practices to help us focus on Jesus-both His birth and return someday. The Advent wreath is one practice-traditionally constructed of a circle of evergreen branches into which four candles are inserted-representing the four weeks of Advent. The progressive lighting of the candles symbolizes the expectation and hope surrounding our Lord’s first coming into the world and the anticipation of His second coming to judge the living and the dead. Each candle of the wreath has significance. This week we light the first purple candle. The First Sunday of Advent symbolizes HOPE with the “Prophet’s Candle” reminding us that Jesus is coming.
Oplatki Oplatki (Christmas wafers) are available at the rectory office for purchase. The cost is $2 for a package of four.
If you have not already taken a tag from the Giving Tree, please do so today and remember to return it by next weekend, December 9/10. The parishioners of St. Therese have always been very generous in the past, and on
behalf of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Social Concerns Commission and all the recipients of the Giving Tree, we thank you for your support!
to the following who have made the Honor Roll at Trinity High School: Patrick Granfors First Honors Grace Olczak First Honors Sydney Peters First Honors Jacob Visha Second Honors
A Christmas Concert with the Daughters of St. Paul Choir will take place on Friday, December 8, at 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 1007 Superior Ave. in Cleveland. The concert is free and open to all. No tickets or reservations required. Free secure parking at the Cathedral Plaza Garage at Rockwell Ave. & East 9th Street. For more information email [email protected] or call 216-696-6525 x 5510.
The Lord be with you!
On this First Sunday of Advent, we begin our time of preparation for the Lord’s Coming. Although the second half of Advent focuses on Christ’s Nativity, these first few weeks are meant to prepare us for His Second Coming. Are we ready to see Him? When Our Lord does come with His Divine Majesty wrapped around Him like a robe, we will be able to see Him even with our physical eyes. What about our spiritual sight though? Have we readied our minds to see God and be illuminated by His grace? The next couple of questions from the Baltimore Catechism examine how we can and cannot see God.
Question 169. Why do we call God a "pure spirit"?
Answer. We call God a pure spirit because He has no body. Our soul is a spirit, but not a "pure" spirit, because it was created for union with our body.
Question 170. Why can we not see God with the eyes of our body?
Answer. We cannot see God with the eyes of our body because they are created to see only material things, and God is not material but spiritual.
My commentary. In the above questions, “ pure” is being used like the word “ simple” to express that God is only spiritual. Unlike us, who are composed of body and soul, God does not have a body. Although God the Father is often depicted as an old man (with a really long beard usually), He is not constrained to a body. Instead, God is pure Being without limit, defect, or end. Since God does not have a material body, our senses cannot detect Him. Moreover, those who share in God’s glory are not limited by the laws of physics either. Thus, you will never find Heaven with a telescope because it is more real than the material universe.
What we can see is the effects of God’s actions, especially His creation. We can learn much about how good God is by how good the cosmos is. For the better the art, the more skilled the artisan. Many people are able to grow closer to God in their appreciation of nature because the universe reflects the grandeur and majesty of the Almighty. Nevertheless, we do need to remember that the world, for all its wonder, is only a created thing. It will never satisfy us, but God can!
On a related note to the above, can we see Christ’s glorified body in heaven? No. Ever since His Resurrection, Christ’s body became glorified such that His Divinity elevated it above the constraints of matter. When Christ walked through locked doors and appeared and disappeared suddenly, He was not performing magic tricks. His body was no longer subject to anything save His will. Likewise, when we have our glorified bodies, they too will be above the material universe although they will still be bodies. In fact, when Christ comes in glory, He will be able to manifest Himself - Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity - to the entire universe all at once. On that glorious day, there will be no doubting that Jesus has returned. Then our spiritual and physical sights will both be able to see the Lord. Accordingly, we need to prepare ourselves now so that we are ready whenever the Bridegroom arrives to begin the Eternal Feast.
In Christ,
Fr. John
First Sunday of Advent
The Week Ahead
Sunday, December 3 EMs, Lectors, Ushers Meeting after 10:30 Mass, C
Tuesday, December 5 PSR 6:30 p.m., S Deacon Bob’s Advent Discussion 6:30 p.m., S AA 8 p.m., H
Wednesday, December 6 EMs, Lectors, Ushers Meeting 7 p.m., C
Thursday, December 7 Spiritual Development Meeting 7 p.m., S Bingo 6:45 p.m., H
Friday, December 8 Holy Day, The Immaculate Conception of the BVM Parish Council 7 p.m., S
KEY: H: parish hall R: rectory C: church S: school
Help Care for Elders “Thanks to support from the Retirement Fund for Religious, we are now in a much better position to care for our elders,” writes a religious sister. Your donation helps her religious community and hundreds of others provide for aging members and plan for long-term needs. Please give to next week’s Retirement Fund for Religious collection.
Dec. 5 at 7:00 pm Ward 4 is having a Christmas party at the Civic Center. Everyone welcome to come. Please bring a dish to share. Any questions call Dan at 216-475-4810.
For more: www.CatholicLifeandFaith.net/everyday-impact © Catholic Life and Faith, 2017
December 2017
The year in review When you reflect back on this year, where do you see the face of God?
The year in review. An annual tradition, in which we recall newsworthy events, remember people who have died, and call to mind the highlights or challenges of the year that is ending. Often, the stories are told through the perspective of the ones who tell it — sports channels tell the stories of athletes, news outlets recall the events they have covered.
Many will look back on 2017 and see sorrow, loss, and grief. Some will, from this moment on, mark time as “pre-disaster-tragedy / post-disaster-tragedy.” Alongside the moments of loss have been signs of new life — babies have been born, couples have gotten engaged or married, hearts have been moved by the service, care, and compassion of others.
Through it all, we are assured that God is with us, in every moment of every day, in the times of tragedy and loss, and those that shine with the glimmer of possibility and hope.
This is the point of Advent: we have reason to hope because God wants to be with us, and wants us to be with him. In Advent, we watch for signs of God’s love, especially when the demands of daily life are great. We watch, too, attentive to those who do not know the depths of God’s love, and for the ways we may bring Christ’s presence to them. In Advent, we prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts and minds. We wait, not only for Christmas, but for the full expression of God’s kingdom on earth in the future. Like those who precede us in faith and those who will follow, we long for the peace, consolation, encouragement, and mercy that only God can give. We turn toward God in trust, and grow to rely on his constant presence with us, at all times, in all seasons.
What about your own personal year in review? What were your greatest moments of joy, peace, and hope? In what times did you experience loss, grief, and disappointment? When you look back at the year that is ending, where do you see the face of God?
Impact this month
As we prepare to mark the ending of the calendar year, 2017, we also begin a new
liturgical year with the season of Advent.
In this time of endings and beginnings, reflect back and
look ahead.
Talk to God about all that has taken place in the year that is now ending, and look forward to the new year with hope in
God’s loving presence.
Place your life, mind, heart, and action in God’s tender
care. Be assured that God is with you, and will be with
you, in every circumstance.
Impact Bring faith to life. Find life in faith.
For more: www.CatholicLifeandFaith.net/everyday-impact © Catholic Life and Faith, 2017
“Yet, O Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.” (Isaiah 64:6-7)
Have you ever worked with clay? It takes a while for clay to become pliable in the hands of the potter. The longer the potter works with the clay, the more responsive the clay becomes to the potter’s touch.
If we are to be clay in the hands of God who is the potter, we must allow ourselves to become pliable, responsive in the hands of the One who created us and fashions us in his image. We each have moments in which we are more like clay that has hardened, impervious to the potter’s touch. We are sometimes stubborn, selfish, hard-hearted. We fail to see the hands of God at work in our lives because we do not watch for him. We fail to act as we know we ought, and instead go our merry way, alone.
The season of Advent is a perfect time to return to the firm, yet gentle guidance of the potter. When you feel you are being thrown about by the difficult and demanding moments of life, remember that clay is first thrown onto the potter’s wheel before it is shaped . When you sense that you have become dry and brittle, immerse yourself in the certainty of Christ’s love in prayer.
Renew your baptismal commitment as you enter church and bless yourself at the font. Allow the water there to remind you to be soft in the potter’s hands. Participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Watch for Christ in your interactions with others and in the quiet space of your heart. Know again, or more deeply than ever, the hope that is God’s love for us in Christ Jesus.
In the hands of the potter, clay becomes a beautiful vessel, able to function as the potter envisions. In the hands of the potter, we become vessels of the hope of God in Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
What does God hope you will become? What does God envision you doing, as the vessel of the Holy Spirit, as one who is charged with carrying the hope of God’s love in the course of your daily life?
They watch for Christ who are sensitive, eager, apprehensive in mind, who are awake, alive, quick-sighted, zealous in honoring him, who look for him in all that happens, and who would not be surprised, who would not be over-agitated or overwhelmed, if they found that he was coming at once…
This, then, is to watch: to be detached from what is present, and to live in what is unseen; to live in the thought of Christ as he came once, and as he will come again; to desire his second coming, from our affectionate and grateful remembrance of his first. — John Henry Newman
Impact December, 2017
Bring faith to life. Find life in faith.
Becoming vessels of hope
Look for Christ where there is love. In the care of family members for one another; among friends; when you are compelled to greet a stranger or care for someone in need; in word and sacrament in the Mass; in the healing of Reconciliation.
Look for Christ in quiet. When your heart is filled with peace, especially when nothing can explain the calm you feel. When you find resolution in conflict; healing of body, mind, and spirit.
Look for Christ during difficulty. When simple things are hard; when life seems insurmountable; when your heart aches.
Look for Christ in others. Those who need care and those who give it. In the eyes of a friend who is in pain. In the lonely neighbor; the homeless person on the street; the sick and dying.
Look for Christ in unexpected places. When you least expect to experience God, remember, God is there!
Watching for Christ
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