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Fourth Sunday of Advent December 22, 2013

April 24, 2011 , 2010
Saturday, December21st 5:00 PM Bob Jack + Sunday, December 22nd 9:00 AM For the People of the Parish 11:15AM Betty Walker and All Departed Souls+ Monday, December 23rd 8:30 AM Intention Available Tuesday, December 24th 5:00 PM Kiczek Family Living & Deceased 10:00 PM For the People of the Parish Wednesday, December 25th CHRISTMAS 10:00 AM Ron Bourdess+ Thursday, December 26th 8:30 AM Helen Murawski+ Friday, December 27th 8:30 AM Intention Available Saturday, December 28th 5:00 PM For All Priests Sunday, December 29th 9:00 AM For the People of the Parish 11:15 AM Betty Walker and All Departed Souls+ Liturgical Minister Schedule Saturday, December 28, 2013, 5:00pm Lector: Bev Zeigler Servers: M. Levanoff / C. Dunn E.M.s: S. DeThomas / S. Dunn Sunday, December 29, 2013, 9:00am Lector: Carol Cooke Servers: S. Schonfeld / J. Alberts E.M.s: W. Mole, P. Guidetti, B. Hennessey, J. Jack Sunday, December 29, 2013, 11:15am Lector: Carole Zumack Servers: T. & N. Kusa E.M.s: G. Mason / M. Piazza

I will be on retreat this weekend so I leave you in the good hands of Father Uhler on Saturday and of Father Lajack on Sunday. Im sure you will welcome them both with a true Christmas spirit. This Sunday evening, December 22nd, we welcome anyone who would like to help in decorating the church for our Christmas celebrations. We will begin with a brief evening prayer based on the Liturgy of the Hours which many people have been learning about and praying in recent weeks. Evening Prayer will begin at 5:30pm and then we will eat the Christmas food that gives our bodies the strength we need to put up our decorations: pizza! So please join us for an hour or two if you can. Our Mass schedule for Christmas is the same as in the past: we will have a 5pm Mass on Tuesday, Christmas Eve, followed by a Mass at 10:00pm. On Christmas Day we will have one Mass at 10:00am. Please be sure to invite family or friends who may be coming to your home for Christmas & let them know they are always welcomed here. You probably heard that our Holy Father, Pope Francis, was selected as Times Person of the Year. Personally I thought I might receive that prestigious title after courageously battling kidney stones which appeared on Easter morning this past year. But Im happy to defer to Francis and hope his first Christmas as Pontiff will be a blessed one for him and for all who will listen to his words of comfort and joy when he proclaims the good news that Jesus is born among us again. As I celebrate my last Christmas with you, I hope to see you next weekend after each Mass where I can thank you for allowing me to find Christ in you, not only at Christmas, but indeed throughout the year.

Readings for the Week of December 22, 2013

Sunday Monday Tuesday Fourth Sunday of Advent Is 7:10-14; Ps 24; Rom 1:1-7; Mt 1:18-24 Saint John of Kanty, Priest Mal 3:1-4, 23-24; Ps 25; Lk 1:57-66 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Ps 89; Lk 1:67-79 Vigil: Is 62:1-5; Ps 89; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Mt 1:1-25 or 1:18-25 Night: Is 9:1-6; Ps 96; Ti 2:11-14; Lk 2:1-14 The Nativity of the Lord Dawn: Is 62:11-12; Ps 97; Ti 3:4-7; Lk 2:15-20 Day: Is 52:7-10; Ps 98; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 or 1:1-5, 9-14 Saint Stephen, The First Martyr Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59; Ps 31; Mt 10:17-22 Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist 1 Jn 1:1-4; Ps 97; Jn 20:1a and 2-8 The Holy Innocents, Martyrs 1 Jn 1:52:2; Ps 124; Mt 2:13-18 The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Sir 3:2-6, 12-14; Ps 128; Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17; Mt 2:13-15, 19-23

Sunday, 10:00am 10:00am 5:30pm Monday, 7:00pm 7:00pm Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 8:45am 8:00pm

Wednesday

Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

December 22nd Offertory Counter Team 3 PSR (Hall) Adult Ed. (Church Meeting Room) Church Decorating December 23rd Guitar Group Practice (Church) Boy Scouts/Webelos (Hall) December 24th Christmas Eve December 25th Christmas Day December 26th No Events Scheduled December 27th No Events Scheduled December 28th Mens Prayer Group AA Meeting (Hall)

Last weeks collections: 12/15/13 Offertory - $2548.44, SVDP - $364.52. God bless you! Please remember the sick in your prayers: Ron Guidetti, Eleanor Roe, Margie Keep, Pat Siddall, Louise Bauer, Tracy Lenhoff, Mary Cooke, Alene & Raymond Smith, Bob Coon, Jim McWeeny, Sr. Clare Ellen Wittman, Ray Hirsch, Marilyn Reith, Lilly Gawlinski, Jared Johnson, Deacon Joe Johnson, Barb Ciuca, Dan Klamert, Nancy Catalano, Jessica Johnson, Lois Yehlik, June Kost, and all those on our prayer board. DEACON'S CORNER: By the time you are reading this we should be near the end of our December thaw. I hope that everyone is enjoying it. We are in need of some help particularly at the 5:00 pm Mass on Saturday. Due to vacations, sporting events and surgeries we are in need of lectors, head ushers and greeters. It is always nice to have too much help than not enough, so please consider giving a little bit of your time in the service of our parish community. Those of you who are already liturgical ministers, please take time to sign-up for the Christmas Masses and New Years Masses. Thank you!! Irish Christmas Concert The Music Ministry of St. Columbkille Catholic Church presents our annual Christmas Concert, A Christmas Blessing from Ireland, on Sunday 22 December 2013, at 4 p.m. in the church, at 6740 Broadview Rd in Parma. The concert is free and open to the public; a free will offering will be taken to support the music ministry. A reception will follow in the vestibule of the church. For more information, contact Jon Thibo, Director of Music at St. Columbkille, 216-524-1987, ext. 27. WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER Turn a good marriage into a great marriage through a Marriage Encounter Weekend! Recharge your marriage; give your spouse the gift of yourself and your time. The next weekend is scheduled for: 14-16 February 2014 at the Cambria Suites in Uniontown. For more information and reservations please call Dom & Deb Reo at 330-305-9963. You can also register online at: www.wwme.org/new.html. JOY TO THE WORLD - WATCH SPECIAL EWTN CHRISTMAS PROGRAMMING EWTN is proud to take you to Rome for LIVE Christmas Day Masses with Pope Francis, and to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. with its magnificent choir. Throughout this Christmas Season, enjoy inspiring musical performances animated features, specials for children and teens, movies and new holiday presentations perfect for the entire family. Watch EWTN (Direct TV 370). Visit www.ewtn.com for more information. Girls Evening Retreat! For those in grades 7-12. Saturday, January 11th, 2014, from 6pm to 8pm St. Stephen Church: 44 Britton St, West Salem, OH, 44287 Hosted by Leah McKee, student of Franciscan University Please RSVP to 330-262-1096 or wtm@embarqmail.com if you can come. This will be a (free) night of faith, friends and fun!

An invite from Bishop Lennon The Solemnity of St. John the Evangelist is celebrated on Friday, 27 December 2013. You are invited to honor St. John as the Patron Saint of our Diocese, our Cathedral Parish, and the Cathedral Church itself. Bishop Lennon will celebrate the 12:00 noon Mass with the addition of special music. At 7:00pm, Bishop Lennon will preside at Solemn Sung Vespers. All are welcome, especially the young and those preparing for initiation. Free secure parking is available. Come and celebrate the Feast of our Patron Saint in the beauty of the Christmas Season at St. John Cathedral. Stephens Meals & More Volunteers: NO MEAL THIS WEEK Help us celebrate Jesus at our Epiphany Party on January 5 th! Lets show Fr. Stock how we party around here by doing what we do best! On Sunday, January 5, 2013, we start gathering in the hall at 12:00 noon. Bring a main dish and a side or dessert along to share with others. Place setting is also welcome. We need entertainment young or old ....there is a list in the Gathering Room, so sign up to provide us with some of your talents, music, story telling, dancing or singing. We would love to have you! Ladies of the Parish Ladies Guild has been asked to provide cookies and/or Christmas desserts for the Meals and More Christmas dinner on Wednesday December 18th. Please drop off any items at the Hall on Tuesday or Wednesday. Thank you for supporting this great community event. Father Jim's Farewell Please join us to say goodbye to Father Jim and thank him for the spiritual and scriptural guidance that he has given us over the past four years. We will meet in the Gathering Room after each Mass on December 28th and December 29th. Ladies Guild will be providing drinks and pastries. If you are able to bring a pastry to the Mass you are attending that would be appreciated. Thank you. Nativity Sets Still Needed for Church Decoration As we decorate the Church Sunday evening December 22, 2013 at 5:30pm, we will be needing several Nativity sets to fill the shelves in back of the church. It was such a beautiful display last year that wed like to do it again. You can bring them with you when you arrive for Solemn Advent Evening Prayer on The 22nd, or you can call Kay Kelling-Owen to arrange a time that you can drop them off if you cant make it that evening. Call Kay at 419-853- 4339 to see if your set is the size were looking for. Thanks for a successful youth event! Thank you Youth Group members and St. Stephen parishioners for participating in and supporting the Christmas cookie bake sale. We raised $85 for parishioners in need. If any of your cookies were done a little past perfection, just know that Todd McKee was running the ovens because Wendy couldn't be there. Family Perspectives Without the angels intervention, a confused and hurt Joseph was planning to quietly divorce Mary. Those people who come into our lives at times of confusion and help us find our way are truly angels to us, like Joseph, we need to listen to them, frequently those angels are in our own homes.