The Good News
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JANUARY — MARCH 2016 The Good News A publication of Letter from Our Pastor St. Mary’s Catholic Church of the Dear Parishioners, Assumption We have all heard the Christmas carol ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ and some of us love it while others cannot stand it. Have you ever wondered why someone would compose a Christmas carol like it? I mean traditional carols have a message about being good otherwise old Saint Nick will bring you a Rev. Paul Hudson; lump of coal; they remind us of the birth in a manger; or a night that is Pastor silent or holy. ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ is not the ordinary Rectory 254-826-3705 Christmas carol. 301 S. Harrison P.O. Box 276 In England between 1558 and 1829, Roman Catholics were not permitted to practice West, Texas 76691 their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden AT A GLANCE meaning known only to members of the Church. Each element in the carol has a code Inside this issue: word for a religious reality, which the children could remember. Parent Teacher Club 2 The "True Love" one hears in the song is not a smitten boy or girlfriend St. Anne’s Altar Society 3 but Jesus Christ, because truly love was born on Christmas Day. The par- tridge in the pear tree also represents Him because that bird is willing to Men’s Fellowship 3 sacrifice its life if necessary to protect its young by faking injury to draw away predators. C.D.A News 4 The two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments. Parish Advisory Board 4 The three French hens stood for faith, hope, and love. J.C.D.A. News 5 The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Grief Support 5 The five golden rings represented the first five books of the Old Testament, which St. Vincent dePaul 6 describe man's fall into sin and the great love of God in sending a Savior. The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation. Infant Jesus Garden 6 Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit----- Adult Formation 7 wisdom, understanding, counsel, patience, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. DCCW News (Continued on page 2) 7 SMS News 8 SMS Fun Run 8 KJZT #11 News 9 Father Paul explains the origin of a famous Christmas carol. KJZT Jr. News 9 Letter from our Pastor continues….. Eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes. Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit-----Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Mildness, Fidelity, Modesty, Chastity. The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments. The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful Apostles. The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed. The next time you hear this Christmas carol, see how many of these you can remember and give thanks to God that we can practice our faith in the open. Have a blessed Advent and Christmas Season. Fr. Paul Parents Teachers Club By Rita Watson Playground News: We are considering building another carport covered-area and plan to install a water fountain, too. We hope to have this completed by Summer 2016 before it gets too hot! Author Day: We are hoping to have a local author come to visit our students and discuss the importance of reading. Last quarter: The Angel Trees looked beautiful during the Christmas season. We had our 10th annual San- ta's Workshop. It was a huge success thanks to all who helped. Thank you to the following performers: Jennifer’s Dance, Ericka Lopez's Music Class, and West ISD Cheer Camp. The winners of the Basket Raffles are below. Pre-K Yeti Fishing Basket Rachel Harrington Kindergarten Chocolate Basket Dallas Casares 1st grade Gift Cards Mary Wagner 2nd grade Restaurant Gift cards Marisa Kapavik 3rd grade iPad Basket Caleb Gerik 4th grade Grocery Basket Melissa Kubitza 5th grade Visa Gift Card Donna Matus 6th grade St. Mary’s Tailgate Aimee Bivens 7th grade Sports Basket Zachary Gerik 8th grade Movie Basket Shaela Bivens Daycare Christmas Suzanne Matus Page 2 January—March Issue 2016 St. Anne’s Altar Society by Evelyn Petter St. Anne's Altar Society elected officers for with us, especially at this time of year. May you the 2016—2017 term. They are as fol- be blessed abundantly! lows: President - JoAnn Wolf; 1st Vice Presi- Our Society decorates for weddings at our dent - Evelyn Petter; Second Vice President - church. Contact JoAnn Wolf at 826-4107, if you Carolyn Pustejovsky; Secretary - Laurann have any questions or would like for us to deco- Grimm; Treasurer - Tracy Devers; and Finan- rate for you. cial Secretary - Jeanne Roznos. Many thanks to the outgoing officers Debbie Janek The next St. Anne's meeting will be held in Janu- and Kathy Doherty for serving as first and ary. Watch the bulletin for date, place and second vice presidents the past two years. time. We wish to thank everyone for honoring Everyone have a happy and blessed New Year! their loved ones with beautiful poinsettias for the altar this Christmas season. It is so spe- cial to remember those who are no longer Men’s Fellowship Group (MFG) by Jim Maguire Our men’s Friday morning group is currently studying a series entitled “Symbolon: The Catholic Faith Ex- plained.” This series brings together noted Catholic teachers and evangelists to guide us through the breadth and richness of the Catholic faith. The Central Texas Fellowship of Catholic Men will sponsor the fourth annual men’s conference on Febru- ary 20, 2016 at San Jose Catholic Church in Austin. The keynote speakers will be Tim Staples and Trent Horn. Both are noted Catholic apologists and public speakers. Tim’s talk is entitled “God is Looking for a Few Good Men” and Trent’s is “Combating Modern Atheism.” Watch our church bulletin for more infor- mation or go to www.centexcatholic.com for complete details. The men’s Friday group sends a weekly e-mail announcing upcoming programs. Men who have attended ACTS or a Friday morning session should be on the e-mail list. If you are not getting the weekly e-mails and would like them, you may e-mail: [email protected]. The Good News Page 3 Catholic Daughters News by Regent Evelyn Petter CDA has welcomed several new CDA served lunch to those couples attending the members in the last two Marriage Workshop held at the Parish Center on months. We are very excited and December 12th. The workshop was well attended encourage all ladies of the parish and it was wonderful to see all their smiling faces. to become a member of our group to help carry out charitable works for our parish and communi- On December 23rd, CDA provided refreshments for ty. Our official membership drive is in Febru- the Christmas Mass reception at West Rest Haven It ary. Contact Cyndi Lair at 254- 537-2250 for more was wonderful to have this Mass once again in our details on how you can join. community. Plans are coming along very well for the annual Taco CDA hosted the anniversary couples reception which Soup and Salad fundraiser which will be held on Fat was held December 27th in St. Joseph's Hall after the Tuesday, February 9, 2016, at the KC Hall. Many 9:00 a.m. Mass. What a joy it is to see so many cou- committees have been busy finalizing the details and ples honored! we look forward to everyone coming out and enjoy- It's not too late to place a shirt order with Debby ing food, silent auction, bake sale, and raffle activi- Marak. If you wish to have a CDA shirt, contact ties. All ladies are welcome to come out and help Debby at 749-8605 to place your order. with this fundraiser. We have a lot of fun getting together and having a successful fundraiser. CDA will serve supper to the CCE diocesan teacher meeting which will be held January 7, 2016 at St. December was a very busy month for us as we pro- Joseph's Hall. If anyone would like to help with vided goody bags for the Chamber of Commerce this meal, please contact Evelyn Petter at 826-5675. Christmas event the first weekend in Decem- ber. Then CDA, along with the CCE students of St. Our meetings are the first Tuesday of each month Mary's, assembled gift items for the nursing home with social time beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the meet- residents at West and the surrounding nursing ing beginning at 7:00 p.m. at St. Joseph's Hall. Hope homes. Over 75 gifts were distributed and bright- to see you at our next meeting. Happy New Year!! ened many residents' day! A big thank you to the CCE students for the items they collected for the residents. Parish Advisory Board by Dorothy Warren During this special time of the year, everyone on the Parish Board would like to wish you a Blessed New Year! New board members that begin their duties in January are: Robin Waters, Julie Jensen, Carolyn Muska and Dennis Bohannan. They will do an awesome job. If you need assistance or have any questions, you can speak to any member of the Board. I’ve enjoyed my tenure on the parish board, it has been rewarding to serve our church and the pa- rishioners.