Bulletin - December 13, 2015

St. Helen Church SUNDAY DECEMBER 13, 2015 | THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT (YEAR C)

Pastor

Fr. Philip English

Office Administration

Aggie Agnino ext. 1 ______________________________________________________

Mass Times

Saturday

5:00 p.m.

Sunday

9:00 a.m.

11:00 a.m.

Opened - October 2, 1938

Schools St. Mark School

Principal: Steven Ward

Phone: (905) 563-9191

St. Edward School

Principal: Adrian Bishop

Phone: (905) 562-5531

Sacraments Baptism

Available Sundays at 1:00 pm. Call

parish office.

First Communion & Confirmation

Arranged through school. If your

child is not in a Catholic school or is

not baptized in the Roman Catholic

Church, contact the parish office.

Reconciliation

Before or after mass or by appoint-

ment.

Marriage

Six months’ notice; marriage prep

required.

Anointing of the Sick

Please let us know when someone

has a serious or prolonged illness or

is to have surgery. This sacrament

celebrates the healing of mind and

body and the forgiveness of sins.

Catholic Funeral Rites

When a death occurs in your family,

please call the parish office and we

will assist you in making the neces-

sary liturgical arrangements.

4106 Mountain Street | Beamsville, Ontario | L0R 1B7 www.sthelenscatholic.ca

Phone (905) 562-7427 | Fax (905) 563-0003 | [email protected]

Established as a Parish - January 1, 1986

Kindly complete the following and place in collection basket

☐ New Parishioner* ☐ Change of address ☐ Moving

Name________________________ Phone_________________ E-mail___________________

Address______________________________________________ City_____________________

Postal Code______________ ☐ I would like to use offertory envelopes*

We welcome you and invite you to share in the spiritual and social activities of your parish

When it’s hard to slow down:

Loving God, the days are drawing close to the birth of your son. There is a lot we still need to "do" but help us to simply "be" and to slow down and savor these days. You know the anticipation we feel. Help us to deepen that sense and to allow it to build in our hearts. We are grateful for this great gift of your Son in our lives. Continue to offer us the gentle nudge of your grace so we cherish that grati-tude in the busy-ness of our days, and let it move us to be more generous to those around us. Amen.

Stewardship of Treasure Dec 6: Offertory Envelopes (191) $ 4,392 Offertory Loose $ 1,605 Facility Maintenance (23) $ 465 Building Fund (17) $ 6,275

“MAY GOD BLESS YOU

FOR YOUR FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP!”

Christmas Angel Campaign Every year over 180 Angel Wishes are granted to the clients of Community Care. This generally en-tails a recommended financial investment of $30-40 per child. Please return your gift to the church by Dec. 15th. Thank you in advance for your contribu-tions.

Sunday Missals Living with Christ Sunday Missals are available and can be found at the church entrance. To cover the cost, a donation of $5 would be appreciated.

Sr. Ministry for the Sick and Homebound We are grateful to those who give of their time and care to bring holy communion to our parishioners who cannot make it to church due to sickness or in-firmity. If you know of anyone who would like to re-ceive communion in their home, please contact the parish office.

St. Helen Annual Memorial Christmas Angel Tree For many families, Christmas is a time of family celebration. It is also a time for cherished memories, and for many, it’s also a special time to remember loved ones who have passed away. The first St. Helen Annual Memorial Christmas Angel Tree will grace the entrance of our new church and glow with lights in memory of deceased loved ones and friends. What better way to honour the memory of a loved one than to adorn the tree with an angel in their honour? You are invited to receive an angel you can place on our memorial tree in honour of de-ceased loved ones or friends. You may label an envelope “Memorial Christmas Angel Tree” with the name of your loved one and the donation enclosed and place it in the collection basket or simply stop in at the office reception window during office hours with your request. A donation of $5 is suggested and all proceeds will go towards the Church Build-ing Fund. The Prayer Shawl Ministry continues to create handcrafted shawls for parishioners, their families and friends who are coping with illness, loneliness, pain or trouble. The shawls are knitted with com-passion and prayerfulness and are available to any-one who needs one. Please call the office to re-quest a shawl or lap blanket or if you would like to join this ministry. We meet monthly and welcome new members.

“Thank You” for remembering the poor box!

Mass In

tentio

ns

Year C - December 14 - 20, 2015

Day Requested for Requested by

Mon No Morning Mass

Tuesday

8:30 a.m.

Intn’s of Hendriks & deKoning Fam. L&D

† Rino Iannotta

Helen & Andy Hendriks

Carolyn & Tony Zanni

Wednesday

10:00 a.m. † Joe Salerno Domenic & Rachel Polito

Thursday

8:30 a.m.

Intn’s of Cooper Logan & Family

† Orsola & Pietro Elia

Kevin Burns

Theresa & Andrea Cipro

Friday 10:00 a.m.

Menno Home

† Ernesto Fracchioni Gemma & Frank Poole

Saturday

5:00 p.m. For the People of St. Helen - L&D

Sunday 9:00 a.m.

11:00 a.m.

† Anna DiLettera

† Mike Borsodi

† Deceased members: Ferreri &

Commisso Families

Viola & Peter Izzo

Borsodi Family

Liliana & Tony Commisso

L & D (living & deceased)

3rd Sunday of Advent - Dec. 13, 2015 Liturgical Year ‘C’

Welcoming the Coming One Zeph 3 God is with his faithful people. Isa 12 Cry out with joy and gladness, for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel. Phil 4 Rejoice always, for God is near. Luke 3 John prepares the way for Jesus.

When people asked him ques-tions, John the Baptist told them to share their wealth, be honest with each other, respect every person and be content with what they had. They were impressed and people began to think John was the messiah.

Every four years, our nation seeks a new presi-dent. In the process, we ponder all the candidates. We ask a lot of questions and watch the debates. Then it all comes together, and we ultimately find the “chosen one.” --Deacon Dick Folger Next Week’s Readings… Micah 5 A future king is promised to those in exile. Psalm 80 Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face. Heb 10 Jesus was himself the perfect sacrifice. Luke 1 Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth

St. Helen Church Raffle Tickets Raffle tickets make a great Christmas gift for that hard to buy for loved one. Tickets can be purchased at the office reception or call John Stewart 905 563-0062. Get your tickets for the next draw, Dec. 27th!

Syrian Refugee Sponsorship

Thank you for your extremely generous response to fundraising for our Syrian refugee family. Parish collections totalled $31,410 and we are now in the process of having a family designated to our parish. The committee continues to gratefully accept dona-tions. For more information go to: [email protected]

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25:35

Church Envelopes Church envelopes are available at the church entrance in alphabetical order. Please check that your name and address are correct. If you did not use envelopes last year

and wish to begin this year or if you have changed your address, please fill in the tear off section on the cover of the bulletin and submit to the of-fice. Envelope users will receive a receipt for in-come tax purposes.

Christmas Mass Schedule Christmas Eve: 5:00 p.m. (Children’s Mass), 7:00 p.m., Midnight Mass: with carols 11:30 p.m. Christmas Day: 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. New Year’s Eve - 5:00 p.m. New Year’s Day – 10:00 a.m. (Solemnity of Mary Mother of God) Confessions: Saturday December 12th, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. Wednesday December 16th, from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Saturday December 19th, from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. Before weekend mass or by appointment

Changes Around the Parish Fr. Philip will begin sabbatical on January 1, 2016. He will be returning at the end of June 2016. During this time, Father Philip will be studying Italian at the Universita per Stranieri di Perugia, in Perugia, Italy. We wish him well on this much deserved sab-batical. Father Robert Colburn, C.S.Sp. will be administer-ing the parish of St. Helen during this time. Fr. Col-burn was the former Provincial Superior of the Spiri-tans of the TransCanada Province. On another note, though our new church has opened its doors, we continue to work diligently to complete the finer finishing details. Unfortunately there has been an issue with the doors entering the church which is currently being addressed. While I know this is causing much frustration to people who arrive and find the doors locked, we ask your pa-tience and understanding while this is being re-paired. We are not intentionally locking you out, so please, if this happens to you, knock gently and wait for someone to respond. Though we may be inconvenienced, it will only be temporary.

St. Helen Commemorative Bottle Tickets will be sold this weekend and next at the 11:00 a.m. mass for $2.00 each or 3/ $5.00 to win a St. Helen Com-memorative bottle of wine. Be sure to get in on this draw as there are a limited number of bot-tles of Reisling and Bench Red to be won. All money raised will go to the building fund.

In Honor Donations Make a donation in honor of someone. In Honor Donations can be used to recognize individuals for special occasions and holidays. For that hard to buy for someone, or grandma & grandpa who may not need anything, you can honor them by making a donation in their name to the Building Fund. The donor receives a tax receipt for their donation and the individual receives a letter informing him or her of the donation. Contact the parish office to make your In Honor Donation.

THIS SPACE AVAILABLE FOR YOUR AD

CONTACT THE PARISH OFFICE