Bulletin: Second Sunday of Advent 12/8/24
SAINT CHRISTOPHER CATHOLIC CHURCH
39 West 200 South, Kanab UT 84741
Office: (435) 644-3414 [Please leave a message and we will respond as quickly as possible]
parishinfo@kanabcatholicchurch.org
WEBSITE: kanabcatholicchurch.org
Sacramental Minister Rev. Richard T. Sherman, Kanab, UT
SATURDAY VIGIL MASS 5:30 PM (Suspended Indefinitely)
SUNDAY MASS 9:00 AM
MASS DURING THE WEEK: MONDAY – SATURDAY 8:00 AM
CONFESSIONS BY APPOINTMENT
Monday, December 9. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is normally observed on December 8th, but this year the 8th falls on a Sunday so the Second Sunday of Advent liturgy takes precedence. As it happens, Fr. Rick will be covering Masses in Panquitch and Escalante on the 8th and will not be back on Monday. Hence there will be a Communion Service celebrated at 8:00 AM at St. Christophers on Monday. Please honor our Blessed Mother by your attendance at this HOLY DAY of OBLIGATION liturgy.
NOTE: If you have a sacramental emergency after parish office hours, please call 435-673-2604 for assistance.
Social Hour after Sunday Mass – Coffee, juice and bagels or muffins are served up along with some fabulous conversation.
Our next OPEN-DOOR SATURDAY is December 21, 2024 from 10:00 AM-Noon. If you have friends or relatives that are interested in the Catholic faith, or are thinking of returning to the Church, please tell them about us and have them stop by. We would love to meet with them! OPEN DOOR is scheduled every first and third Saturday of the month.
FINANCIAL REPORT: December 1, 2024: Offertory: $1283; Donations Mail: $150; R&I: $120. Thank you!
You can also donate on-line at kanabcatholicchurch.org
Diocesan Development Drive (DDD) for 2024. We are over!! Our goal this year is once again $8800. We have $300 in unpaid pledges with $9965 paid in!! Fourteen households have participated. Thank you all who have already given so generosity.
PRAY FOR HEALING: Eva Montelongo, Billy Rosenkranz, Mark Aliprandini, Sergio Olvera, Stan Tuczakov, Hannah Mays, Our Wounded Veterans. If you have specific prayer requests, please leave us a phone message or send us an email. We will get your intentions on the list. We also remember all the sick and infirm at our daily Masses.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Thursday from 4 to 5:00 PM.
Community Rosary: After the Monday morning Mass
Religious Items: While enjoying the fabulous conversation and refreshments during our social hour, take some time and browse our extensive selection of religious gifts including some amazing. New items on the way!
Journey through Advent: Encounter the Newborn Christ in Scripture
This Advent, join Scott Hahn, John Bergsma, and other respected Catholic scholars on a free Advent journey from promise to fulfillment. 32 Brief video reflections exploring the Scriptures and the Church’s mystical and liturgical tradition.
In Walking with the Holy Family—a free 32-day Advent series from the St. Paul Center—you’ll explore the key messianic promises of the Old Testament, and their typological fulfillment in Christ and His Church. Register at this link. Just a click away on our website bulletin. https://stpaulcenter.com/advent
Advent Scriptural Reflection Booklets
Two versions are available in the gathering space. Please pick one up and make the daily Mass readings part of your Advent preparation for the new beginning at Christmas.
Gospel of Life messages for December
December 1 “The Gospel of Life recognizes the full range of threats against human life, from poverty and malnutrition to murder and war. Particular emphasis, however, is placed on threats to life at its beginning and end—precisely when it is most in need of protection. In modern times, children in their mothers’ wombs and those approaching the end of their lives are certainly among the ‘least of these’ in our world’s estimation.” USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities
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Wreaths Across America Ceremony: Saturday, December 14, 11:00 AM at the Kanab Cemetery. Members of the local American Legion Post #69 are inviting us to join them in honoring the 455 veterans in the Kanab Cemetery. Veterans will be remembered with prayer, song and a reading of each veteran’s name. Also, attendees will be welcome to place one of the available wreaths on a grave. See the color poster in the social hall bulletin board.
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Homily Reflection On the Second Sunday of Advent we lit the second candle on the Advent wreath and the whole church became dramatically much brighter!… NOT REALLY. The change was actually very subtle and likely not even noticed by anyone. It’s likely we have not yet experienced a dramatic change in our spiritual condition since last week either. Perhaps we have. Mercifully, Advent is 24 days long this year and it usually takes us awhile to adjust to the coming LIGHT of Christmas. Sometimes we might not even be interested in more LIGHT and sometimes it might just squeeze ITSELF in despite our weak attempts at holiness.
Yesterday I was talking to a friend from one of our mission parishes who had undergone an emergency surgery this week to address a potentially life-threatening condition. The surgery went well and despite some soreness, the world we normally take for granted suddenly took on a greater brilliance or richness. This is a naturally beautiful location, but when faced with the potential ‘lights out’ darkness of severe health issues, there is an even greater richness in color and natural sounds. There’s a pleasant reverie in the very pulse of life.
I could relate to the experience as I continue to recover from my recent hip surgery. I have always enjoyed walking and hiking, but now a simple 2 or 3 block stroll seems to be an almost transcendent experience. It seems the air in these warmer late fall days even take on a more distinct and earthy fragrance. The breeze is calming. It’s quieter with fewer visitors in town.
How have you experienced a richer dose of day-to-day life since you have deliberately slowed your pace and accommodated the darkness of shorter days and longer nights?
How has the ‘darkness’ just left you more unsettled than usual? When might have you experienced this darkness before and now recall the re-emergence into light and peace?
How might you share this darkness-to -light experience with someone who seems trapped in the dark and cannot even imagine anything better?
“Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendor of glory from God forever.” Bar. 5:1
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“God can no more withhold His grace from a soul prepared to receive it than the sun can fail to shine through an open window.” St. John Fisher
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Yea Devils!! (Sparky; NOT Lucifer) Arizona State 45 – Iowa State 19 Big 12 Champs!!
