Any donations to our parish for the 2024 calendar year must be received or mailed by Tuesday, December 31st. Thank you for your continued generosity and support of our parishes!
Don’t stop now, after four weeks of preparing, the celebrating has just begun! Celebrate Christmas Catholic-style from December 24th to January 12th. Get fun ideas to keep the Christmas-spirit going all season long!
We fly to your protection,
O Holy Mother of God;
Do not despise our petitions
in our necessities,
but deliver us always
from every danger,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.
(Ancient Marian Prayer)
Click for a listing of our mass times.
Masses for the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph will be at normal weekend times. "This feast day honors Jesus, the Blessed Mother, and St. Joseph as the holiest of families, and therefore a model for all Christians families. They were holy because they placed God at the center of their family life, they loved and sacrificed for one another, and they radiated that love to others in the redemptive mission of the Word Incarnate. Pope St. John Paul II said, “The Redeemer of the world chose the family as the place for his birth and growth, thereby sanctifying this fundamental institution of every society” (Angelus message, 30 December 2001)." (EWTN)
This week’s theme is a call to open ourselves to receive God. Less than a week away, Christmas
celebrates Jesus’ coming in history – incarnate as a man living amidst humanity; but it invites us to
relive the mystery now. We hope you enjoy this final week of conversations and prayer starters for the fourth week of Advent.
Please note the Parish Office will be close at 1:00 PM Monday, December 23rd and will not reopen until Thursday, January 2nd. Any year end donations need to be brought to the office December 23rd or stamped as mailed or placed in collection baskets by December 31st to be included on 2024 parishioner contribution statements. We wish everyone a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!
Add to your Advent season by reciting the O Antiphons during the Octave before Christmas, December 17th - 23rd. For those familiar with the Liturgy of the Hours, these are the antiphons used with the daily Magnificat. The antiphons are based on Isaiah’s prophecies and reveal the different titles given to the Messiah. Today's is "O Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: come to teach us the path of knowledge!"
The readings and prayers of “Guadete Sunday” call us to rejoice as we near the celebration of Jesus’
birth. Does rejoicing mean “making oneself happy”? We hope you continue Living Advent and review the conversations and prayer starters for the third week of Advent.
Due to the forecast for hazardous weather, we will not have 40 Hours Devotion overnight. We will have 7:00 pm mass and 9:00 pm night prayer tonight and then will close and lock the church. There will be no overnight adoration as planned. The church will reopen at 8:00 am Saturday. Please use caution and prudence when traveling this evening!
Please join us for our Youth Christmas Program Wednesday, December 18th in the Parish Center Hall at 6:30 PM. All are welcome to join for a soup supper after the program!
Masses tomorrow will be at 7:15 AM (SSPP) and 9:00 AM (St. Timothy's) for the feast day of St. Lucy. Join us as we celebrate and click for additional ideas on how to honor our patron saint of the blind.
As we celebrate our Blessed Mother appearing to Juan Diego more than 493 years ago, please join us for 9:00 am mass at St. Mary's. Click for additional ways to celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Four priests will be available Saturday from 1:00 to 2:00 pm to hear confessions. Experience of the gift of God's boundless mercy by participating in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation this Advent season.
This week, the theme of our Sunday readings calls us to prepare for Jesus’ coming. While there’s
overlap from last week, this is another facet: first, consciousness, and now active preparation. Click again for additional conversation and prayer starters for this second week of Advent.
Bishop William Joensen will lead a Blue Christmas Prayer Service Tuesday, December 10th at 6:00 pm in St. Ambrose Cathedral. Blue Christmas is a contemplative church service of peace, healing and hope for anyone who is mourning a lost loved one or experiencing hurt of any kind. A social reception will be held afterward in the parish hall next to the church. All are welcome!
As we celebrate Saint Nicholas Day, select an ornament from the Christmas Blessing Tree and continue the theme of generosity by purchasing the item listed for an elderly or homebound member of our parish. "The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic His giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves." - Saint Nicholas Click for additional ideas to celebrate this Friday!
The Most Holy Virgin Mary was, in the very first moment of her conception, by a unique gift of grace and privilege of Almighty God and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ the Redeemer of mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin.” (Ineffabilis Deus, Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius IX on the Immaculate Conception) Please join us for mass Monday, December 9th at 7:15 AM (SSPP), Noon (SSPP), 5:00 PM (SM & OLG), or 7:00 PM (SSPP & ST).