Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today we begin the season of Advent, our time to prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and prepare also to meet him some day. With the secular culture that surrounds us focusing
on material values, we will have to make a conscious decision to focus on our spiritual preparation for Christmas. A great way to do this would be to come to daily Mass. We are adding a 12 noon Mass on most Mondays and Tuesdays of Advent to make it easier
to attend daily Mass. If that is not feasible, it would be wonderful to read the daily readings from Scripture that are assigned to each day of Advent; they are especially rich in focusing on the Old Testament prophecies of the coming of the Messiah.
With this First Sunday of Advent we begin our new liturgical year and a new
year of grace. The liturgical color that will accompany us during Advent is purple.
There is an Advent calendar inserted in the bulletin which can help us more fully enter in to the season with daily activity and prayer suggestions to prepare spiritually for the birth of Jesus Christ.
We are also handing out pamphlets with our Advent and Christmas season schedule in it; please hand these out to at least one person you know you doesn't come to church as a way to invite them to come back or come for the first time.
Again, this weekend we have a variety of Advent supplies to help celebrate Christmas available after all the Masses. These include candles, wreaths, calendars, nativity sets,
oplatki (Polish Christmas wafers), Spanish bibles, coloring posters, and more!
Our Angel Tree is up and available for parishioners to sponsor an angel tag. These tags are from children in our parish and school who will benefit from your generosity at Christmas time. Please record the number of the tag next to YOUR NAME and contact information. These gifts should be returned to the Rectory office, wrapped and with the angel tag on them so we can accurately distribute the gifts. Bring gifts in NO LATER THAN 12/15/19. We will be handing the gifts out 12/20-12/22. Thank you for your spirit of giving.
On Sundays when children are being dropped off and picked up for Religious Education (CCD), please enter and exit the parking lot from East St., if possible, to avoid congestion in the upper parking lot near the church entrance.
We’re continuing to fundraise for our third parish/school activity bus. We have purchased the bus on faith, because we didn’t want to lose four children who needed transportation in order to be able to attend. We’re hoping that we will be able cover the cost of $50,000 through donations. Each bus can hold 14 children, and I’m happy to report that all of the buses are full. So far, we have raised $2175 so we have $47,875 left to raise. Thank you for your support for our school, and this future generation for the world and the Church which our school educates.
We are hoping to place a nice statue of the Holy Family on the corner of East St. and Edmonson St. It might be in marble or bronze. If we go with one that would be six feet high at its highest point and 32 inches by 22 inches at the base, the cost would be $17,320 in marble or $31,310 in bronze. We will also have to build a plinth (a heavy base to support the statue) and mount the statue on it, which will cost more. It might be nice to build a small brick wall behind it someday as well. We hope this piece of art will be a landmark, a sign and a reminder to all who pass by of the dignity and sanctity of the family in the eyes of God. This is especially needed in today’s culture. Donations can be submitted to Precious Blood Catholic Church, putting “Holy Family Statue” in the memo line. As of this week, we have received $2700 in donations.
God bless,
Fr. Kevin
