St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church
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St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church December 13, 2020 Parish Mission Statement: St. John the Evangelist Parish is a welcoming and responsive faith community, nourished by the Word of God and the Eucharistic Table. We are open and trusting in the love of Jesus Christ to advance the power of the Holy Spirit, within the parish and beyond, by living the Gospel. Parish Information 5751 Locust Avenue ALL “OUTDOOR” Carmichael CA 95608-1320 SUNDAY MASSES are Parish Office: (916) 483-8454 Web: www.sjecarmichael.org back: Sat. Vigil 5pm; Email: [email protected] Sun. 8am, 9:30am & 5pm Parish Office is CLOSED **Please Contact Us by Phone or Email** “Outdoor” Weekday Masses: Confession/Reconciliation 6:30 am & 8:30 am SATURDAYS from 3:45 PM to 4:45 PM (Eff. 11/30/20) SUNDAY MASS LIVE-STREAMED THROUGH FACEBOOK @ 11 AM Parish Clergy and Staff St. John the Evangelist Pastor Fr. Bernardin Mugabo School Pastor Emeritus Fr. Thomas Bland WWW.STJOHNEV.COM Mercy Hospital Chaplain Fr. Alban Uba Deacon Keith Johnson 5701 Locust Avenue Carmichael, CA 95608 Deacon Jack Wilson Phone: (916) 481-8845 Deacon Emeritus Larry Niekamp Fax: (916) 481-1319 SJE Business Manager Linda Gospodnetich Email: [email protected] Religious Education Coordinator Mrs. Joanne Giffard Principal: Christie Horton Director of Music & Liturgy Cara O’Shea Youth Minister Cara O’Shea SJE Pastoral Council Chairperson Tom Ennis SJE Finance Council Chairperson Mary Ellen Meier ST. VINCENT DE PAUL (916) 483-2161 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (916) 483-4628 Registration/Change of Address: Allow at least 3 months to receive envelopes or for any changes. I want to register in the parish. I have changed my address; my envelope # is ___________ Name: _________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________ City: _____________________ ZIP ________ Phone: _______________________________ E-mail: __________________________________________________ Pastor’s Page PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD: Dear Parishioners, time goes way too fast. As soon as we started the season of Advent, we now have 3 candles lighting on our Advent Wreath. Today is called Gaudete Sunday or rejoicing Sunday because the time of our redemption is very near. I am writing this as some of you, dear Parishioners, have installed Christmas lights with a Nativity scene in lights as well below those lights. I like to see them when passing by, but also people pass- ing on the road can see how a Catholic Church has to be prepared with joy for the coming of Jesus Christ on Christmas night. In the same way, we have a beautiful Christmas tree in the Rectory. This tree drinks water like a hog. Every day I have to add water to the base, otherwise it may suck up the whole thing and be dead so fast. I love my extra job even though sometimes I complain about it to myself. That tree has been decorated by our Parishioners, Helen and Carol. It looks so good. When somebody comes in and sees it, he or she can say, we really are Catholics and proud to be. The tree is decorated with all kinds of ornaments reflecting our faith as Catholic Christians. What do you have in your house representing your excitement about the coming of Jesus on Christmas? I like the movie called “The Russians are Coming; the Russians are Coming”. Everybody had to take a gun and be ready for the fight. This is a time when there was a cold war be- tween the USA and RUSSIA. Now “Jesus is coming; Jesus is coming”!! This is not a threat to our country but this is The Greatest News of all the time. Jesus is coming to be with us, to save us, to guide us, to help us, to redeem us. We have all the reasons to be happy more than anybody who doesn’t know Jesus. He is coming to share with us our fears of the political situation we are living in. He is coming to share the fear of Covid-19 that has taken so many people worldwide, paralyzed the economy, have people muzzled, keeping all of us in fear for each other. No wonder rioting, looting, shooting and all kinds of evil have become part of our daily life. Remember to all of these, Jesus says “Do not be afraid”. The evil does exist, but the evil doesn’t have the last word. Be afraid only of the one who can kill the body and send your soul to Gehenna. In Jesus Christ, we have a hope that in Heaven all will be ok forever. The spiritual preparation of Advent is more important than the physical one. The message we hear from Saint John the Baptist is to repent of all our sins. Jesus wants to be born in our hearts. We Catholics have the best way to re- pent, that is going to confession and have our sins forgiven. We call this the Advent Penance Service. Every Sat- urday we have confessions from 3:45 pm to 4:45 pm. Next week, I will announce the Penance Service. It cannot be like the one we were used to; but it would be a day when one would come to Confession in addition to the regu- lar weekly Saturday Confession we have. This last Tuesday on December 8, 2020 we celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, meaning Mary was conceived without sin. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in France and confirmed this reality herself. We need to hear her. She is holy and would like to lead all of us to holiness. I was very happy to see many of you responding to this special feast of our heavenly Mother. On December 12, we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Once again, the Mother of Jesus appeared to Juan Diego in Mexico City which \ended the human sacrifices the Aztecs were practicing. Jesus on the cross gave us His Mother as our Mother. Mary, our Heavenly Mother, took her duty seriously. Let us be her good children of our time. Let us diminish her pains and sufferings as many of her dear children have gone astray. Let us celebrate Christmas with Christ. Merry Christmas. God bless, Monthly Healing Mass Father Bernardin MUGABO SJE Weekly Offertory Collection ST. JOHN’S HEALING MASS is BACK!! Actual Budget Surplus/ Our Monthly “Healing Mass” will be Week of: (Week): (Week) (Deficit): celebrated Sunday, December 20th at December 6, 2020 $13,572 $10,365 $3,207 1:30pm in our SJE Breezeway Confessions from 1:05pm to 1:25pm In St. James Hall “Readings” Notice from the Publisher Sunday Readings No Longer Available on the Subscriber Resource Center of J. S. Paluch. From J. S. Paluch, Bulletin Publisher: “Back in April, when it became apparent that many churches in the United States would not be open for Mass any time soon, the United States Conference of Bishops (USCCB) decided to make texts of the Sunday scriptures available free of charge to anyone who wanted to publish them. This was intended to allow people staying at home easier access to the Sunday readings through their electronic Sunday bulletins or other means. It was a temporary measure to help with an unprecedented situation. We at J. S. Paluch decided to offer these free readings to our customers on the Subscriber Resource Center (SRC) for as long as they were available. A couple months later, the USCCB extended the free reprint permission until the end of the liturgical year. We have continued to offer these free readings as well. The liturgical year ended on Sunday, November 22, and the USCCB has not extended the free reprint permission be- yond that date. So starting with Sunday, November 29, we will no longer be offering the Sunday scripture texts on the SRC. Summaries of the Sunday readings and the citations for the readings are still available in the “Readings of the Week” feature that have always been available to our customers.” Third Sunday of Advent The readings this week bear a certain similarity to those of last week—we hear a prophecy from Isaiah that is reiterat- ed by John the Baptist in Mark’s Gospel—but today the focus is different. Last week John told us to repent. Today he is the light leading us to God. Today is also known as “Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday,” as the reading from First Thessaloni- ans commands us to “Rejoice in the Lord always.” We are to rejoice. Right now. Combined with last Sunday, this seems like a mixed message. “Which is it? Repenting or Rejoicing?” But John is telling us that one leads to the other. As we prepare for the coming of our Savior we must first repent and then rejoice. A LITTLE GOOD NEWS Many years ago, Canadian singer Ann Murray had a hit song that spoke of her frustrations as she listened to the radio and read the headlines. She sang that “we sure could use a little good news today.” It strikes me that this is the message that the readings want us to leave with this week. The Gospel Antiphon proclaims, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because God has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor” (from Isaiah 61:1 and Luke 4: 18). John the Baptist is here to testify to the light, to the Good News. WILL THE REAL MESSIAH PLEASE STAND UP? The Jewish people were waiting for their messiah, they were waiting for a hero. They prodded John several times try- ing to figure out what his role actually was, and to see what he knew.