Dear St. Charles Parishioners,
Prepare the Way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Advent is a season of reconciliation. We prepare for the coming of
the Prince of Peace by making peace. Many bilingual priests will join
us on December 13, at 7:30 PM for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This
is a good time to restore relationships within the family and in the
Church family.
The social and political dimension of reconciliation will be the topic
of Conversations with
Creedon series on December 5, at 7 PM in Benedict Hall. Richard
Rubenstein, professor of the Department of Public Affairs and Conflict
Resolution at George Mason University will join with me for a discussion
on the topic: "Religion, a source of conflict or peace?" Come
participate.
More Advent booklets
are available at the entrances of the Church for your daily scripture
reflection.
With advent hope,
FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
All parishioners and their families are invited to celebrate the Feast
of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Saturday, December 11, at the 5:00 PM Mass.
Please wear a traditional outfit from your country, or from the old
country. Following Mass, there will be a reception in Benedict Hall
where all are invited to enjoy an evening of music, dancing and food.
If you would like to donate a dish, please call Rosita Guardado 703-691-1393,
or leave a message at the Parish Office.
FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is a Holy Day of Obligation.
The schedule of Masses is: Tuesday, December 7, Vigil Mass at 7:30 PM.
Wednesday, December 8, 9:00 AM, 12 Noon, and 7:30 PM.
NEIGHBORHOOD E
There will be a home Mass on Friday, December 10, for all "Neighborhood
E" parishioners at 7:00 PM at the Macdonalds, 813 N. Lincoln St.
"CALLED BY NAME PROGRAM"
In the bulletin this weekend you will find a letter from Bishop Loverde
asking for your prayers and recommendations of individuals (high school
age and older) whom you feel have the qualities, gifts, and talents
needed to serve the Church as future priests, brothers or sisters. Please
send the names and address to Fr. Bashista at the Office of Vocations,
Diocese of Arlington, 200 N. Glebe Rd, Arlington VA, 22203 by December
20, 2004.
SPONSOR OF THE WEEK: Our thanks to AMERICAN REALTY GROUP for
their support.
MASSES FOR THE WEEK
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5 2004:
7:30 Parishioners
9:00 Mark Damisch by Colleen McGrinley
11:00 Brian Francis by Carolyn Gretzinger
1:00 Ervin Solorzano by Family Ortiz
6:00 Jackie Bachinsky by Diane & Tom Herbst
Readings: Isaiah 11:1-10; Roman 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12
Monday, December 6, 2004:
9:00 Sam Dumas by Roger & Patti Dumas
7:30 (Arlington Detention Center) for the Inmates
Readings: Isaiah 35:1-10; Luke 5:17-26
Tuesday, December 7, 2004
9:00 Mary Helen Siemer by Nancy Siemer
7:30 Velvet Bergeron by Asana & Patti Zanganels
Readings: Isaiah 401-11; Matthew 18:12-14
Wednesday, December 8, 2004
9:00 Regina C. Finan by Francis Finan
12:00 noon Decease member of the Johnson family by Sirotniak Family
7:30 PM Matilde D. and other family members by Jose Dominguez
Readings: Genesis 3:9-15,20; Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12; Luke 1:26-38
Thursday, December 9, 2004
9:00 Mark & Lee Boerner (L) by 9:00 AM Congregation
Readings: Isaiah 41:13-20; Matthew 11:11-15
Friday, December 10, 2004:
9:00 Kathleen S. McCarthy
Readings: Isaiah 48:17-19; Matthew 11:16-19
Saturday December 11, 2004:
9:00 Bertha J. Newman by Michael W. Newman
5:00 John Maguire by Bertha Maguire
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: Celia Coronado, Katie Spasarro, Andrew Niland,
Pablo Villamizar, Eileen Bruno, Mary Tasker (daughter of Fran Hobbs),
Mary Catherine Kern-Herdoiza, William Frederick Anhut, Belmira Santos,
Maruja de Villamizar, Margaret Finocchiaro, Diane Herbst, Dorothy Henderson,
Dick Munly, Thelma Sierra, Nick Penning, Dick Williams and Edward Bugaj.
Let us also pray for those who have died especially: Agnes Vitolo and
Bert Sweigart.
THE GIVING TREE IS HERE!
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,
and we are meant to show our wish to connect with those in need. These
gifts you buy help the homeless, immigrants, and families in crises
that leave them unable to give their families some of the joy of Christmas.
Please return your gifts by Saturday, December 18, to be distributed
on the 19th. To help, please call the Parish Office at 703-527-5500
x113. We could use help organizing & giving gifts!
RESPECT LIFE MINISTRY
"...the origin and the foundation of the duty of absolute respect
for human life are to be found in the dignity proper to the person and
not simply in the natural inclination to preserve one's own physical
life."
-Veritatis Splendor.
--------
"ABORTION." Is this word a part of your past? Are you in need
of some deep spiritual healing? If so, call Mary Anne at 703-841-2504
or projectrachel @ arlingtondiocese.org
SENIORS TEA WITH THE PASTOR
Please come join Fr. Gerry after the noon Mass on the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception, December 8th, in Benedict Hall and enjoy a light lunch.
Please also bring ideas that are important to you for creating other
senior activities in our parish.
PLEASE READ: The following student from St. Charles made the
Honor Roll for the first quarter, school year 2004-2005 at O'Connell
High School: Claire Arias, Glenn Crisostomo, Jessica Crisp, Jennifer
Cutrona, Kara Coruna, Benjamin DeThomas, Mary Farrell, Geraldine Govea,
Jeffrey Johnson, Nathan Johnson, Michael Kiko, Mark Lee-Tañedo
and William Martin. Congratulations!
YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN, AGES 14 THROUGH 20
A co-ed Venturing Crew is forming at the Knights of Columbus Edward
Douglass White Council 2473. An organization meeting will be held on
Tuesday, December 7, 2004 from 7:30 to 8:30 PM, at 5115 Little Falls
Rd, Arlington, 22207, in the stone building to show what this dynamic,
high-adventure co-ed program is all about and to form the Crew to serve
the parish families and friends of St. Agnes, St. Ann, St. Charles Borromeo
in Arlington and St. John in McLean. Crew programs may include skiing,
white-water rafting, climbing, leadership treks, challenging outdoor
personal experiences and European Scouting camps in Switzerland and
England. And, most importantly, the Crew is run by and for young people
who working together develop and improve on their leadership skills,
teach each other. For more information please contact Carl Stout by
email at carlstout@comcast.net or by phone at (703) 527-7786.
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 her
name with your donation. For your convenience, envelopes are available
at the Church entrances or you may place your donation and the name
of your loved-one in a plain enveloped marked "Christmas Flowers."
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 Sunday, December 19th.
IN OUR PARISH
DAWN MASSES
Would you like to get an early start in the days before Christmas? Every
holiday season in the Philippines, a series of 9-day novena Masses at
dawn known as Simbang Gabi (literally translated to mean "night
masses") has always been a traditional part of Christmas. The Filipino-American
community of the parish together with their friends and families, invites
you to join us from December 16 to 24, 2004 at 5:00 AM. - yes, that's
5 o'clock in the morning - for the 8th annual "Simbang Gabi"
at St. Charles. Masses are in English, celebrated by our parish clergy
as well as visiting priests, w/some prayers and carols in Pilipino.
But no matter what language you use when you pray and sing with us,
you will realize how truly universal indeed the Christmas spirit is.
Come once, twice, or everyday - and enjoy a new Christmas experience
this year.
WEB TEAM OPEN HOUSE AFTER
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION VIGIL
Inspired by Mary's Immaculate Conception that prepared her to bring
forth Christ into the world, the Web Team strives for a parish website
that prepares our community for greater participation in parish life.
Stop by our informal Open House on Tuesday, December 7 at 8:30 PM in
the Parish Library after the Immaculate Conception Vigil Mass. And visit
www. StCharlesChurch.org, this week to find the complete
list of parish Advent events and Christmas Mass schedule - plus
prayer resources - to help make this your best Advent ever.
PROJECT LAZARUS
Every month, one-fourth of your tithe for Project Lazarus goes to a
community organization providing urgent social services to the needy.
For November 2004, this contribution of $390 went to Homestretch, Inc,
the largest provider of transitional housing and services for homeless
families with children in Northern Virginia. In addition to providing
subsidized housing, the comprehensive program offers job and credit
counseling, ESL classes, computer and life skills training, domestic
violence and substance abuse counseling, family mentoring, and children's
programs. For more information on the work of Homestretch, see www.homestretch-inc.org.
PARISH COLLECTION
- Last Week's Collection for Sunday, November 28, 2004 was $16,814.00
- Last Week's Tithe of $1,546.89 was for our Sister Parishes in Cavaillon
& Gros Marin, Haiti.
- This Week's Tithe is for Project Lazarus.
- This Week's 2nd Collection is for our Building Fund.
- Next Week's 2nd Collection is for the Catholic Charities Christmas
Collection.
Bishop's Letter:
Source: www.arlingtondiocese.org/offices/vocations/
December 5, 2004
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Advent is a deeply Eucharistic season, a season filled with longing
and hope for the coming of the Promised Savior. Our Holy Father John
Paul II has blessed us with this Year of the Eucharist, during which
we draw closer to this mystery of our Emmanuel truly dwelling among
us in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. In the midst of our Advent
journey as we prepare "the way of the Lord" in new and deeper
ways, I ask that you prayerfully consider how others, namely priests,
brothers and sisters have assisted in preparing the way of the Lord
in your own lives. My brother bishops and I have designated JANUARY
9-14, 2005 as NATIONAL VOCATIONS AWARENESS WEEK. In preparation for
this week in which the Church focuses on priestly and religious vocations,
I would like once again to bring to your attention a vocation program,
CALLED BY NAME. Called By Name is a simple program that seeks to identify
young men and women from our diocese who might be called to serve our
Lord and His Church as a priest, brother or sister.
Through receiving the gift of Jesus in Holy Communion, through adoring
Him and offering ourselves in Him to the Heavenly Father, we grow in
profound gratitude for His merciful love. This gratitude extends throughout
the body of Christ, yet ultimately focuses on the hands and hearts of
those He has called and continues to call to priestly ministry and consecrated
religious life. I am convinced that Jesus continues to call generous
young men and women from our own midst to build up the Kingdom of God
through a vocation to priesthood or consecrated life.
As I reflect on my own spiritual journey, it is clear to me that the
Lord made use of others to help me hear my calling. The example of the
sisters, brothers and parish priests had a profound and positive impact
on my life. My parents had great respect for them. The priests and their
service to the people were cherished in our home. Fortunately, there
were significant persons who encouraged me to consider God's call, no
matter where it might lead. I am eternally grateful for their encouragement,
prayers and support.
I hope that you will take the initiative to fill out the form at the
bottom of this letter, inviting a young man or woman to consider the
call to priesthood or consecrated life. I ask that in the weeks ahead,
you look around your community: the parish, your home, neighborhood,
workplace, and your social contacts. Continue to ask yourself: "Whom
might I encourage?" Pray and reflect on individuals who, in your
opinion, have the qualities, gifts and talents needed to serve the Church
as a future priest, brother or sister. If you are able to identify such
a person, please mail this form to Father Brian G. Bashista, Director
of the Office of Vocations, no later than DECEMBER 20, 2004.
Those recommended who are college age and older will be sent a letter
inviting them to attend an informal discernment meeting during NATIONAL
VOCATIONS AWARENESS WEEK and to one of our yearly vocation discernment
retreats in late February. Those recommended who are still in high school
will be sent a letter inviting them to attend a meeting of our Vianney
Vocations Club for high school boys or our Faustina Vocations Club for
high school girls.
The Church leaders of the third millennium are among your family,
friends and acquaintances. They might even be sitting next to you at
school or work, or even around your family dinner table. By inviting
them to consider a vocation to priesthood or consecrated life, you are
inviting them to be sensitive to the possibility that God might be calling
them to serve Him by serving others as a priest, brother or sister.
The CALLED BY NAME program provides the encouragement and the setting
for a positive response to God's invitation: "Come, follow Me."
Faithfully in Christ,
Most Reverend Paul S. Loverde
Bishop of Arlington
Mail by December 20, 2004 to:
Reverend Brian Bashista, Director of Vocations
Diocese of Arlington
200 N. Glebe Road, Suite 600
Arlington, VA 22203
Call: (703) 841-2514
E-mail: vocations@arlingtondiocese.org
| Called By Name 2005
Name of Prospective Candidate:
______________________________________________ M: ___ F:___ Age:
____
Address : (Street) _______________________________________ (Apt.)
__________
(City) ________________________ (State) __________ (Zip) __________
Phone: (Home) (_____)__________________ (Other) (_____)_________________
E-mail: ___________________________________________________________
Parish: ___________________________________________________________
Your Name: _________________________________________________________
Address: (Street) ________________________________________ (Apt.)
__________
(City) ________________________ (State) __________ (Zip) __________
How do you know this prospective candidate? _______________________________
____________________________________________________________________
May we use your name when we contact this person? Yes: ____ No:
____
|
