FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK
Mary dominates the Advent season. She
leads the way in our preparations for the Lord's Coming. Come and join
St. Charles celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe, during and following
the 5:00 PM Mass on December 13.
An essential dimension of Advent is reconciliation. Join us for the
Sacrament of Forgiveness on December 15th, at 7:30 PM. Many other priests
will be available for confession in Spanish and English.
I hope the Advent booklets are helping with faith sharing in each
househod,
P.S. Come to our Haiti Art show.
BAPTISMAL PREPARATION
Baptismal instruction in English will be offered on Thursday, December
18th, at 7:00 PM in the Parish Library. To register please call the
Parish Office, 703-527-5500.
FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is a Holy Day of Obligation.
The schedule of Masses is: 9:00 AM; Noon; 7:30 PM.
SURVIVING LOSS DURING THE
HOLIDAYS
For those who have lost someone and find the holidays difficult. Come
to our parish family to share and help others. Open to those who need
some grieving time. We will meet in the Parish Library at 7:30 PM, Monday,
December 15th, If you have any questions please call Jean Sweeney at
703-527-5500 x 15.
HAITI
For Haiti student sponsors-come to the Cafeteria after all Masses on
December 7th, to write Christmas cards to send to Haiti. Bring your
kids! You can also leave cards for your students in the Haiti Committee
box at the Rectory. Thank you.
CONTEMPLATIVE WAY
December 9th, "God With Us," quiet time for practices, input
and prayer at 7:30 PM, in the Chapel.
SPONSOR OF THE WEEK: Our thanks to Long Term Care Insurance
for their support.
MASS INTENTIONS
SUNDAY, December 7, 2003:
7:30 Joseph P. Whearty by Joseph Frascone
9:00 Parishioners
11:00 Gabriel Villamizar by Hittle Family
1:00 José Antonio Berlingeri by Nancy y Felix José
6:00 Mary Patrick by Bob & Michele Patrick
Readings: Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:4-6,8-11; Luke 3:1-6
Monday, December 8, 2003:
9:00 Regina C. Finan by Frank Finan
12:00 Martin Moroney by Sheila Carmody
7:30 (Arlington Detention Center) for the Inmates
7:30pm Liam O'Connor by Triona O'Connor
Readings: Genesis 3:9-15,20; Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12; Luke 1:26-38
Tuesday, December 9, 2003:
9:00 Adele and Joseph G. Frascone by Joseph Frascone
Readings: Isaiah 40:1-11; Matthew 18:12-14
Wednesday, December 10, 2003:
9:00 Kathleen S. McCarthy
Readings: Isaiah 40:25-31; Matthew 11:28-30
Thursday, December 11, 2003:
9:00 Rafael Sandiego
Readings: Isaiah 41:13-20; Matthew 11:28-30
Friday, December 12, 2003:
9:00 Guido and Elsie DiGiammarino by Joseph Frascone
Readings: Zechariah 2:14-17; Luke 1:26-38
Saturday, December 13, 2003:
9:00 Bill Harris by Kathy Roe
5:00 Glynn Goodridge by Gail Goodridge
Readings: Sirach 48:1-4,9-11; Matthew 17:9a,10-13
PLEASE PRAY FOR
Please remember to keep in your prayers, those who are sick and those
who suffer, especially: Diane Herbst, Celia Coronado, Josephine Meuse,
Ly King, Kathleen Hauke, Sandra Winter, Balmira Santos, Gibson Cameron,
Jon Jones, William Frederick, and Nancy Pope. Let us also pray for those
who have died: Patricia Ann Fairbanks and William Simpson.
THE GIVING TREE-—OUR COMMUNITY GIFT
Now is the time to grab a tag from our Christmas Giving Tree and show
what this season means to you. In Advent, we remember those less fortunate,
as always, and we are meant to show our generosity, our wish to connect,
with those on the outside. The gifts you purchase help the homeless,
immigrants, single moms and single dads, and families hit by crises
that leave them unable to share the joys of Christmas. Please return
your gifts to the Office, with the tag attached, by Saturday, December
20 so that we can distribute them on Sunday, the 21st. Do you have questions?
Do you wish to help? Please contact Daniel Marrin at 703-527-5500 x,13:
we could use support organizing and distributing gifts on December 21st.
RESPECT LIFE MINISTRY
Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, patroness of our
nation, American will again support and protect all human life from
conception to natural death; We pray to the Lord:
BREAKFAST WITH SANTA
Begin your holiday festivities with Breakfast With Santa, Sunday, December
7th, from 8:00 am-12:30 pm. Join Santa and Mrs. Claus and their elves
in the School Cafeteria for a delicious pancake breakfast. There will
be gifts for the children and an opportunity to have pictures taken
with Santa. Large Breakfast: $6.00, Small Breakfast: $4.00 Reservations
are NOT necessary. Come and enjoy this wonderful St. Charles Christmas
tradition. Call the School Office if you have questions (703-527-0608).
CHRISTMAS FLOWERS
The Parish Office is now accepting donations for Christmas Flowers.
If you wish to have a loved-one remembered, please include his or name
with your donation. For your convenience, you may place your donation
and the name of your love-one in a plain envelope. Both may be dropped
in the Sunday collection basket or you can stop by the Parish Office.
The list of those remembered will be published on Christmas Day, so
please have your donations and names to the Parish Office by Tuesday,
December 19th. Thank you!
CATHOLIC CHARITIES COLLECTION
The second collection for the weekend of December 13-14 will benefit
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington. All money donated will
go to support the many programs of Catholic Charities: soup kitchen,
food pantry, thrift shop, adoption, foster care, crisis pregnancy counseling,
family services, counseling, elderly services, immigration services
(Hogar Hispano), prison ministry, parish social ministry, and services
for the disabled. For more information, call 703-841-3833.
YOUTH NEWS
On The Way Parish Cookbooks will be on sale after Masses next weekend.
For only $10, these cookbooks make great Christmas gifts as well as
a perfect addition to your own kitchen. All money raised will help to
offset costs for On The Way's overnight retreat in February.
Do you need a babysitter during this busy holiday season? If so, drop
your child (or children) off with Santa's helpers (a.k.a. teens going
to Workcamp) on Saturday, December 13 from 9:00 a.m - 4:00 pm. at the
St. Charles School Cafeteria. We strongly encourage reservations in
order to plan accordingly. To reserve a time slot, contact Jennifer
Bible at 703-8201873 or jaybee1075@hotmail.com.
IN OUR PARISH
PARISH CALENDAR SOFTWARE ORIENTATION
Parish ministry and neighborhood volunteers are invited to stop by St.
Charles School's Grade 1 Classroom (second floor, next to the School
Library) for an orientation on the parish's new calendar software, which
will allow volunteers to submit meeting room reservation requests via
email.
Individuals familiar with this software will be on hand between the
hours of 8:00 am and noon on Sunday, December 7 to demonstrate the software
(including how to submit a room reservation request via email) and to
answer questions. Please come!
TRY ADVENT REFLECTIONS & EVENTS
ONLINE
Jesus is coming and your parish website, StCharlesChurch.org, can help
you prepare. Find faith reflections that can help discover meaning in
the season, a list of parish and Neighborhood
Advent events, plus the schedule of who's
saying which holiday Mass. Try some of these resources this week
and make this your best Advent ever.
NEIGHBORHOOD D ADVENT HOME
MASS
Neighborhood D will celebrate an Advent Home Mass on Tuesday, December
9, at 7:30 PM, in the party room at Randolph Towers (4001 N. 9th St.).
Please feel free to bring holiday goodies or other snacks to share after
the Mass. We will also be collecting non-perishable food items for the
St. Charles pantry, and accepting donations toward Neighborhood D's
contribution to the Haitian Godparent Program. If you have any questions,
please call Colleen Brennan at (703) 465-1966. Hope to see you there!
- Last Week's Collection (November 23, 2003) was $17,406.00.
- Last Week's 2nd Collection was $5,301.00 for "The Campaign
for Human Development."
Our Lady
of Guadalupe Celebration
Saturday, December 13
5 PM Mass, followed by a fiesta at 6:15 PM
in the school cafeteria
All are invited!
