December 21

SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER PARISH Fr. Peter Proulx, Pastor Sr. Sheila Whelan GSIC Deacon Don Smith 331 Plaunt Street, South; P.O. Box 396 Renfrew, Ontario K7V 4A6 Tel: (613) 432-5825 Fax: (613) 432-6663 E mail: [email protected] Web Site: www.sfxrenfrew.com “St. Francis Xavier, a welcoming faith community lovingly sharing the gifts of God.”

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT ST

DECEMBER 21 , 2008

This week we celebrate the Birth of Jesus! St. Augustine said: “God became human so that humans could become God”. What dignity Christ brings to our lives – May this celebration truly enrich your Godliness and instill much peace in you. Christmas Blessings from all the staff here at St. Francis Xavier Parish

PRAYERS: The deceased: Alice Lee, Sister Alice Leclaire and Anna McArthur. The sick: We remember our parishioners and family members who cannot be with us at this time of year because of sickness. May the peace of Christ truly be part of your journey and bring a spirit of contentment to those who share this time with you.

PARISH FAMILY MASS At 7:00 p.m. on December 24th we celebrate a Family Mass with special emphasis on the minds and hearts of our children. As part of their involvement we invite all of the children to bring a little gift for our gift box – perhaps a food item for the needy, maybe a pair or socks or mittens – something small yet useful – to be shared with those who have less than we enjoy. CARE FUND:

At this time of year we express hope to those who have special needs. Our Care Fund affords us the opportunity to share your generosity. I thank you for your ongoing support of the Care Fund and invite you to share with us your donations in either store gift cards or monetary contributions for this purpose.

ON OUR WAY WITH JESUS: We have celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation with our young people and their parents who are on a year-long experience of coming to know God’s gift to us in the sacraments. As we have come to know God’s love in this special way of forgiving us may you truly feel much blessing as you move on to prepare for the table of Eucharist.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION:

Please note that we will celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Christmas Eve – Wednesday, December 24th from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Please feel welcome to feel the Peace of Christ as part of your Christmas preparations. Please note day and time of O.L.F. Reconciliation is Tuesday, December 23rd, not Wednesday, December 24th as listed last week.

Parish Directory: Beginning in the new year and in an ongoing way, we will be seeking your coco - operation in our effort to have a photo record of our parishioners. This will not be of any cost to you – there will be no “sale of pictures”. We will however, provide several opportunities for you to have your picture taken. Eventually, our parish data system will include these photographs. photogr aphs. We respect your desire for privacy and assure you that they are exclusively a way of identifying with the Parish Family. Please note updates in the bulletin later in January.

CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE ST. FRANCIS XAVIER PARISH CONFESSIONS: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24TH 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. CHRISTMAS EVE - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24TH 6:30 p.m. – Carols with Children’s Choir 7:00 p.m. - Christmas Eve Mass 9:00 p.m. - Carols with Choir 9:30 p.m. - Christmas Eve Mass CHRISTMAS DAY - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25TH 10:00 a.m. - Carols with Choir 10:30 a.m. - Christmas Day Mass SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27TH - 5:00 p.m. - Feast of the Holy Family SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28TH - 10:30 a.m. – Feast of the Holy Family NEW YEAR’S EVE – WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31ST 5:00 p.m. – Mary the Mother of God NEW YEAR’S DAY – THURSDAY, JANUARY 1ST 10:30 a.m. – Mary the Mother of God OUR LADY OF FATIMA PARISH CONFESSIONS: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23rd 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. CHRISTMAS EVE - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24TH 5:30 p.m. – Carols with Children’s Choir 6:00 p.m. - Christmas Eve Mass 8:00 p.m. - Carols with Choir 8:30 p.m. - Christmas Eve Mass CHRISTMAS DAY - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25TH 9:00 a.m. - Carols with Senior Choir & Christmas Day Mass SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27TH - 7:00 p.m. - Feast of the Holy Family SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28TH 9:00 a.m. – Feast of the Holy Family NEW YEAR’S EVE – WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31ST 7:00 p.m. – Mary the Mother of God NEW YEAR’S DAY – THURSDAY, JANUARY 1ST 9:00 a.m. – Mary the Mother of God DIRECT DEPOSIT SUNDAY OFFERINGS: You will notice that we have begun a program for people to have their Sunday Offerings electronically transferred to the Parish. The weekly or monthly contributions are noted in the bulletin along with our “Sunday Offering” notation. If you have any questions about this program or if you would like to participate at any time, please call Martha Scott at the Parish office or feel free to speak to any of the Parish staff.

LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS Please note

Please carefully note the times of the daily Liturgies for the next few weeks and keep this sheet as there will be

NO BULLETIN THE WEEKEND OF DECEMBER 27TH / 28 TH

MONDAY, DECEMBER 22 – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28 MON Dec. 22 7:00 p.m. TUE Dec. 23 9:30 a.m. 10:30 a.m. WED Dec. 24 7:00 p.m. 9:30 p.m. THUR Dec. 25 10:30 a.m. FRI Dec. 26 SAT Dec. 27 5:00 p.m. SUN Dec. 28 10:30 a.m.

Gert Lepine – Jan & Roy Leitch Garnet Bresee – Wife, Rose & Family Vincent, Joey, Mom & Dad – The Elliott Family BONNECHERE MANOR MASS: Bernard English – M/M Jack Kelly CHRISTMAS MASS CHRISTMAS MASS CHRISTMAS MASS NO PARISH LITURGY Tom & Clarissa Mahusky – The Family Mary St. Michael – The Family Intentions of the Parishioners – Father Proulx

MONDAY, DECEMBER 29 – SUNDAY, JANUARY 4 MON Dec. 29 7:00 p.m. TUE Dec. 30 9:30 a.m. WED Dec. 31 5:00 p.m. THUR Jan. 01 10:30 a.m. FRI Jan. 02 8:00 a.m. 12 noon SAT Jan. 03 5:00 p.m. SUN Jan. 04 10:30 a.m.

Dan Scully – Barry & Eve Yantha Max Box – Doreen Sulpher John Clouthier & Kay Beaudoin – Darlene & Fay Urban Agnew – The Estate Earl Bennett – Norma Bennett & Family HOLY HOUR Roy Pleau – Gerry & Cecelia Kusluski Joan Rolland – Louise & Rocknie Gavin Intentions of the Parishioners – Father Proulx

LITURGICAL ROLES CHRISTMAS & NEW YEARS AS ASSIGNED

LITURGICAL ROLES Feast of the Holy Family - Dec. 27th/Dec. 28th, 2008 See last week’s bulletin or church bulletin boards ~~~~~~~~

Epiphany of the Lord - January 3rd/ 4th, 2009 SATURDAY EVENING MASS - 5:00 p.m. MINISTERS OF THE WORD – I. Connors; K. Harris ($4,284.27 [243 postings] + $235 MINISTERS OF HOSPITALITY – E. & G. Boose; C. & D. Sulpher Automatic Withdrawals [10 postings]). MINISTERS OF THE EUCHARIST – G. Blanchette; K. & V. Windle; C. Sulpher; G. Curry RENFREW KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS: SERVERS – A. Carthy-Varsch; C. & D. Holley; K. Dowdall

SUNDAY

OFFERING:

$4,519.27

are serving FREE COMMUNITY FRIENDSHIP DINNERS on Christmas Day from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at 313 Raglan St. We provide free transportation to and from the hall as well as free delivery and take out.

Please call Brian Long at 613-432-0887 or Don Coyne at 613-433-9298 for dinner requests and info. On Christmas Day only call 432-6121.

SUNDAY MORNING MASS - 10:30 a.m. MINISTERS OF THE WORD– T. Keller; J. Perry MINISTERS OF HOSPITALITY – A. & V. Dumoulin; J. Mahusky; L. Sammon MINISTERS OF THE EUCHARIST – M. Campbell; M. Charbonneau; G. Denault; D. Letts; D. Yantha SERVERS – S. Rowat; R. Blackburn; E. McIntyre; B. Vincent CHILDREN’S LITURGY – No Children’s Liturgy