June 23, 2019 St. Stephen ParishThe Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Spreading the Light of Christ 10118 Saint Stephen Circle Riverview, FL 33569 December 22nd – Fourth Sunday of Advent Fr.Dermot Dunne Pastor Mass Schedule Adoration: Fr. Timothy Williford Parochial Vicar Saturday Vigil 4:30pm Wednesday 9amV6pm Rev. Mr. Ed Dodenhoff Deacon Sunday 7:30, 9:30, 11:30am First Friday 9amV10am Rev. Mr. Mike Ryba Deacon Rev. Mr. Mike Sweeney Deacon Life Teen Mass 5:30pm Church Office: 813V689V4900 Reconciliation: (Chapel) School: 813V741V9203 MondayVSaturday 8:30am Monday after 8:30 Mass Faith Formation: 813V671V4434 Tuesday 6:30pm Tuesday 5:00pm Pastoral Care: 813V689V4900 Friday after 8:30 Mass Maintenance: 813V734V5877 Morning Prayer MVSa 8:10am Saturday 2:45 pm 2 December 22, 2019 Fourth Sunday of Advent Fourth Sunday of Advent First Reading Isaiah 7:10V14 the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the netherworld, or high as the sky! But Ahaz beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy. Grace to answered, "I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!" Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you Jesus Christ. also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and Gospel Matthew 1:18V24 bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, Second Reading Romans 1:1V7 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle but before they lived together, she was found with and set apart for the gospel of God, which he child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, promised previously through his prophets in the since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to holy Scriptures, the gospel about his Son, expose her to shame, decided to divorce her descended from David according to the flesh, but quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the established as Son of God in power according to angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we have through the Holy Spirit that this child has been received the grace of apostleship, to bring about Scriptures of the Week conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people Monday Mal 3:1V4, 23V24/Lk 1:57V66 from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what Tuesday 2 Sm 7:1V5, 8bV12, 14a, 16/Lk 1:67V79 the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the Wednesday Is 62:1V5/Acts 13:16V17, 22V25/Mt 1:1V25 virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall Thursday Acts 6:8V10, 7:54V59/Mt 10:17V22 name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with Friday 1 Jn 1:1V4/Jn 20:1a, 2V8 Saturday 1 Jn 1:5V2:2/Mt 2:13V18 us." When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of Sunday Sir 3:2V6, 12V14/Col 3:12V21/Mt 2:13V15, the Lord had commanded him and took his wife 19V23 into his home. www.StStephenCatholic.org MERRY CHRISTMAS At last, Christmas Day is almost upon us. A day in which our human nature was changed forever. A child is born the Son of God and the Son of Mary, God’s love for us is so great that he chose to live as one of us. Like us in all things but sin. As we gather together with our family and friends, let us not forget to invite Jesus, Mary, and Joseph to be our honored guests. Take time to offer prayers of thanksgiving; even if you are among people who are struggling with their faith, pray! The example of your faith filled Christmas may well call them back home into the loving embrace of the Child Jesus. Enjoy your Christmas, but remember that for us Christians, Christmas is not just a day like any other day; it is a day that began our redemption. Christmas is so special that it lasts more than one day. Enjoy the whole Christmas season and celebrate with great delight, a peace and joy that only believers in Christ can truly experience. On a personal note, thank you for all the beautiful Christmas cards and kind words, which lifted my spirit and filled me with gratitude for having the joy of walking with you on your faith journey this past year. It truly is a privilege for me to be your pastor. May you all have a wonderful Christmas and may it truly be filled with the joy, love and peace of the Holy Family. Once again, Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, or as we would say at home, “Beannachtai na Nollaig” God Bless, Fr. Dermot www.StStephenCatholic.org 4 December 22, 2019 Fourth Sunday of Advent CHRISTMAS MASS TIMES Christmas Mass Parking Please join us in celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God bless you and your family. December 24th 4 pm and 7 pm in the Main Church and Family Life Center Midnight (12 am) In the Main Church December 25th 9:30 am and 11:30 am in the Main Church F3CA M>DisLJ Grown in Love, Strengthened by faith, Protected by the Loving hands of Jesus Christ The Knights of Columbus will be assisting with parking during the Christmas masses. We want to thank them for their continuous dedication and service to our church. Please make sure that you are respectful and courteous when they are directing you to a parking spot. The diagram above shows the area where parking will be available for these masses. Parking will also be available near the School and Faith Formation office. There will then be a shuttle via golf cart that will take you to the church. We ask Thank you to those who joined us for the Family Ministry service project at San Jose Mission. We all Liturgical volunteers to park in this area. We hope were honored to have the opportunity to help rehab you have a blessed Christmas with your family and the playground. We had a lot of fun while serving in friends. the way that Jesus taught us to. Stay tuned in January for our next Family Gathering. Merry Christmas from the St. Stephen Family Ministry. If you have any further questions, please contact Contact: [email protected] Matthew Preszler at [email protected]. www.StStephenCatholic.org Celebrating the joy of the season with the residents of San Jose Mission. A special thank you to our St. Stephen youth volunteers and Newsome HS Students for being shining examples of Courageously Living the Gospel. COURAGEOUSLY LIVING THE GOSPEL We made these 20 share boxes together as a family and made it our Christmas mission. We are so blessed as a family to be part of this faithful community and wanted to give back to our own community, especially children. My daughter, granddaughters and I all had a hand in putting these boxes together and we showed the children that giving is more rewarding then receiving. We pray these boxes bring joy to the children who receive them. VThe Wentzel family St. Stephen Catholic Church, Office of Faith Formation 10428 Saint Stephen Circle, Riverview, FL 33569 ~ Phone: 813-671-4434 ~ Fax: 813-671-2994 www.StStephenCatholic.org 6 December 22, 2019 Fourth Sunday of Advent Mustangs News Science Solving Problems MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS EXPLORE REAL WORLD ISSUES THROUGH SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PROJECTS St. Stephen Catholic School middle represent St. Stephen at the Diocesan school students took part in the annual fair at St. Petersburg Catholic High science fair this month. One change in School in January: 8th grader LJ D., 20192020 how science fairs are conducted now is 7th grade students Vivian G., Gavin C., that students may choose to do a Mark Anthony R., Jamie L., Danny J., School Year traditional science project, or they may Nicholas H., and 6th grade students We serve students from three choose to do an engineering and design Luke O., Johanne C., Ramsey W., and years old through eighth grade. project. John S. Come check out our STREAM SSCS students came up with very The school and the students program. Call for space creative and innovative ideas this year. appreciate the volunteer judges who availability and schedule a This year, eleven students will came out and spent the day examining projects and talking with the students. personal tour. Email Nicki Thank you to Ted Russell, Vylam Gallagher at Farfan, Mirlande Georges, and Tim [email protected] or call Donahue for their support and time. 8137419201 ext. 1204 Congratulations to all of our science fair participants on all of your hard work! Vivian G. designed a working hovercraft for her engineering project. KitMoretuzzowas presented with the Angel Award on the Morning Show this week. MarkLovejoyreceived his award also on the Morning Show a few weeks ago.Thank you to the 2018 and 2019 Angels:Kit, Mark, Caryl, Jan, Marty, Steve and Luann for their extraordinary Volunteer judges Ted Russell, Vylam Farfan, Seventh grade student Nicholas H.