Dear Parents,

I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with fun, food, family, and friends!

We began our day with a wonderful parish Thanksgiving Mass! Thank you so much to our wonderful Religious

Education Students who participated as Readers, Greeters, Altar Preparers, Gift Presenters and Altar

Servers: Ashelyn Tablan, Lana Troyer, Sydney & Morgan Bode, Gabriella Shaw, Francis James Adaliga,

Jessica & Joey Sarkisian, Gisella & Logan Guerreiro, Ashley Marie Quintana, Dan Sahaya, William & Alaina

Welser, Megan Bauer, Carina Munoz, Dean Staso, Alyssa Zepeda, Alfina & Zeke Eull, Camille & Gabrielle

Baluyot, Oliver Wong, Mikayla Gaspar, Sigmmond Antony, Bryn Rose & Cole Tesi. Also, special thanks to:

Barbara Mullen, Sherie Marrazzo, Yoli Baluyot, and Alex Luna for all their help at the practice and Mass.

We turn the corner and the Advent/Christmas Season is upon us……

I am so pleased that our hosting of the 8:00am Mass continues to be a wonderful success and great teaching

experience for our students and their families. Our very enthusiastic Fifth Graders hosted the Mass on

Sunday, December 4th. Thank you to Georgia Ruta, Alfina & Penelope Eull, Morgan Bode, Giancarlo

Lombardo, Nicole Smith, Gabriella Shaw, Lucas Sitz, Dean Staso, Samantha Aguilar, Julie Wilson, Megan

Bauer, Samuel Estrada, Maeve Hernandez, Erin Louie, Vincent Omahen, Riley Rodriguez and Beatrice Devlin

and their wonderful teachers Kathy Ryyth, Yoli Baluyot, Marcia Wiest, for preparing them for this special

event.

Back by popular demand this year! Last week I sent home, with the oldest child, a Liturgical Calendar for

each family. It is identical to the ones that are used in the classroom with the children. You will notice that

this is no ordinary calendar. It is not organized by months and weeks and days. Instead, it is a circle of

Sundays, seasons, and feasts. Each Sunday is represented by a block that is the color of the liturgical

season in which the Sunday falls. Noted in the block is the Gospel reading for that Sunday. On the back side

of the calendar is some information about St. Matthew. There are many ways to use the calendar during the

year, some suggestions are in the Family Guide. I hope you enjoy it with your family!

I am pleased to attach the December issue of Partners in Faith. Here are three highlights:

+ Focusing on the spiritual aspects of Christmas can be a challenging task, especially when families are

dealing with small children caught up in the excitement of gifts. The main article on page one helps us

take steps to keep the focus on Jesus and the incredible miracle of his birth.

+ The main article on page two encourages families to celebrate the entire season from Christmas

Day through the Baptism of the Lord.

+ The ParentTalk feature teaches us how to help children show generosity to the person who

deserves it most.

On behalf of all the staff, I wish blessings on you and your family during this wonderful season and a Holy

and Peace filled Christmas and New Year!

God Bless You!

THE GOOD NEWS DECEMBER 2016

Page 2 Diana Holly—Director/Debora Martins-Secretary THE GOOD NEWS December 2016

SUNDAY Children’s Liturgy of the Word….

Celebrated on the second and fourth Sunday of each month

at the 10:00a.m. Mass for children ages 6-12.

The next Liturgy of the Word will be on

Sunday, December 11th and Sunday, January 8th and 22nd.

There is always room for more presiders and/or readers.

To volunteer, or for more information, please call

Mary Wiest at (310) 540-7966.

Thank you in advance for all your help.

DECEMBER/JANUARY CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Dec 2 St. James Christmas Concert 7:30 pm Church Dec 4 RE 5th Grade Hosts 8:00am Sunday Mass Dec 8 Feast of Immaculate Conception Dec 13 Spirit Day - 4th Grade Hosts Last Class Grades 1–6, 7-8 Dec 13 St. James Parish Penance Service 7:30pm Dec 14 Spirit Day - 4th Grade Hosts Last Class Grades 1-6 Dec 22-Jan 4 Christmas Vacation RE Office Closed Jan 10 Class resume Grades 1-6, 7-8 Jan 11 Class resume Grades 1-6 Jan 10- 11 Teaching Touching Safety Class Year 1 and 2 - Kavanagh Hall Jan 16 Martin Luther King Jr. RE Office Closed Jan 17-18 Teaching Touching Safety Class Grades 3 and 4 - Kavanagh Hall Jan 23 First Communion Parent Meeting Sacrament of Reconciliation - Msgr. Mike 7:00pm Kavanagh Hall Jan 24 Teaching Touching Safety Class Grades 7 and 8 – Room 6 Jan 24-25 Teaching Touching Safety Class Grades 5 and 6 - Kavanagh Hall Jan 30 Rite of Enrollment - 1st Year Students 7:00pm Church - Msgr. Mike Jan 31 No Classes - (Grades 1-6, 7-8) Teacher In-Service Training

Feb 1 No Classes - (Grades 1-6) Teacher In-Service Training

Teaching Touching Safety

Reminder…

We will begin our Teaching Touching Safety Classes starting January 10th and 11th. We will start with our 1st and 2nd Year Students. Your students are to be taken directly to Kavanagh Hall and checked in with their teacher. Please bring your children inside the hall. Do not drop them off outside.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception of

the Blessed Virgin Mary The Mother of the Lord was prepared by God from

the very first moment of her life to receive Jesus

Christ, God’s grace preserved Mary from sin from

the womb to the end of her life, because of her role

in the mystery of salvation as the mother of God. In

Mary’s response to the angel, she shows her

willingness to place herself fully in God’s hands, even

when it promises to be difficult and requires great

faith and trust.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the

Blessed Virgin Mary is observed as a Holy Day of

Obligation.

The times St. James will be celebrating this Feast

are:

Eve of Holy Day Mass

Thursday, December 7 at 5:30 pm.

Holy Day Mass

Friday, December 8 at 8:00 am, 12 Noon

and 7:00 pm