Week of December 5, 2004

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Dear Parishioner,

We have been blessed to have a long standing relationship with St. Augustine parish on West 14 th Street. From the early days of our community, parishioners from St. Noel have helped serve a monthly meal in the St. Augustine Hunger Center. This effort continues throughout the year and all of you are welcome to help in this significant role of service.

More recently through a partnership developed out of Church in the City other efforts have promoted the service relationship between our parishes. For several years we have planted and harvested food on a plot of land located next to St. Augustine's rectory. This season twelve people contributed 379 hours of work in the garden. They harvested:

  4 bushels of lettuce

  8 bushels of bell peppers

  51 bushels of collards

  30 bushels tomatoes

  5 ½ bushels of carrots

  6 bushels of green beans

  68 heads of cabbage

  62 cucumbers

  72 beets

All of this food was used to feed people in the Hunger Center.

Another effort sponsored by St. Noel and SESA (Social, Educational, Spiritual & Apostolic) organized a fund-raising dinner for the benefit of the Hunger Center. On November 18 th over 430 people from our area gathered in our parish hall for dinner and a silent auction. Together with many sponsorships and donations over $23,800.00 was raised for the ministries of St. Augustine. Francis Sherman was honored that evening for his vision in beginning this annual event. I would like to thank all those who worked so hard to make the evening a success. Next year the dinner will be held on November 17 th .

In this season when we reflect upon God's gift of God's very self to us in the Incarnation, it is important for us to remember our call to work together for the good of others. I would like to thank all of our parishioners who gave of their time, talent, and treasure to promote the work of service at St. Augustine. As they will be the first to admit, generosity blesses not only the person who receives the gift but the one who gives it as well.

Fr. George Smiga

FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION – is a Holy Day of Obligation. Catholics are expected to participate in the Eucharist on this Feast of Mary. Masses for the Holy Day, Wednesday, December 8 th are at Noon and 7:00 p.m.

THE HEALING LITURGY - Because of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception the healing liturgy will be on Wednesday, December 15 th at 6:45 p.m.

BULLETIN ARTICLES – for the weekends of December 18 th /19 th , December 25 th /26 th , and January 1 st /2 nd need to be in the parish office by Tuesday, December 14 th .

PARISH PORTRAIT DIRECTORY – Has time slipped by and you did not get a chance to get your snap shot taken for the Parish Portrait Directory? Although the on-sight photo session for the directory has come to a close, you can still be a part of the directory. Please submit a photo, negative or digital file to the parish office. Busson Photography can integrate your beautiful face into this project. Hurry though, time is running out. Questions, call the parish office at 440-946-0887.

SIGNED LITURGY- Today , Sunday, December 5 th , April Kinder will be joining us to sign the 11:00 a.m. Mass for the hearing impaired. Reserved seating can be found in the first two rows of chairs by the Eucharist Chapel.

SACRISTANS – HELP HELP!! We are in need of sacristans for the Saturday evening 5:00 p.m . Mass . Please call the parish office at 440-946-0887 if you are able to help, or for answers to any questions you may have.

REMEMBER – during the month of December we will not be serving the meal at St. Augustine, but we will still be collecting monetary donations for our Social Concerns Fund which support many out reach efforts in the parish after all Masses on December 18/19.

SAVE THE DATE!   Want to keep the Peace of Christ, which we celebrate at Christmas, with you into the New Year?  If so, join us on Thursday evening, January 13, 2005 at 7 p.m. in the Resurrection Room.  Anthony Camino will share his reflection on the disciple's call to be a person of peace.  Anthony has spoken to other groups in our diocese on this topic and his words were much appreciated.  We hope you can join us on the 13 th !    

WOMEN & COMMUNITY - We have several updates on our partnership with the women of Zaragoza, El Salvador.  With the help of Chris Janezic and his students at VASJ who recently traveled to El Salvador, we were able to send several suitcases of material to the women.  We are also grateful for those of you who volunteered to help with translation which is enabling us to send letters to the women in Spanish.  Another note of thanks goes to our PSR students who designed and wrote Christmas cards in Spanish which will be sent to the children of the women.  Lastly, please check the kiosk for the thank you letter from International Partners in Mission regarding our fund raising efforts.  Be assured that we will continue to explore ways of staying in touch with “Mujer y Comunidad.” 

CONFIRMATION – Any students in the third grade or above are invited to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation. (This is a separate preparation process from those candidates in second grade, those preparing for First Communion and Confirmation together do not have to register again.) Students in grades 7-12 may register with Anthony Camino (440-946-1128 x 20). Students in grades 3-6 may register with Marianne Slattery (440-946-1128 x 21) The first information/preparation session for grades 3-6 will be on Sunday, December 12 th from 10:30 a.m. – noon. Parents are asked to attend with their child(ren). Please register for this session by Sunday, December 5 th .

JOURNEY TO JOY – is a support group for people with depression. The group meets the 2 nd and 4 th Thursdays of the month from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Visitation Room.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday, December 9 th .

ST. NOEL FELLOWSHIP – Activities for December are as follows: December 9 th – Raffle, only 100 tickets sold; December 16 th - Christmas luncheon at 11:30 a.m. socializing, meeting, (many prizes) cheese tray, pizza, punch and then at 12:30 p.m. we will have our Christmas luncheon consisting of prime rib, baked potato, vegetable, salad, rolls & butter, desert. Cost is $12.00 per person. Deadline for tickets and payment is December 13 th . Please remember to bring your food donation for the food pantry to this meeting. December 23 rd - NO MEETING – Merry Christmas and December 31 st -NO MEETING – Happy New Year. Everyone is welcome to attend the Senior Fellowship on Thursdays.

JUNIOR HIGH YOUTH GROUP – Don't forget to bring your food donations to our session this Tuesday December 7 th . We'll begin at 7:00pm in the new wing.

PRIME TIME – See you tonight (Sunday) at 7:30pm. Thanks for Making a Difference!

CHRISTMAS PROJECT – This is the final weekend to collect money for the Christmas Project. Your generosity makes this project possible. Thanks for your support! There's still time to sponsor a family or volunteer to help – please call Anthony for information. Also, you can bring in your turkey donations anytime. The project donates a turkey to every family so we need a lot of birds!

CHRISTMAS PROJECT SETUP – Can you spare some time on Thursday morning December 16 th ? All baskets for the Christmas Project will be filled and organized beginning at 9:00am on the 16 th . Please call Anthony if you can help.

CLEVELAND FOOD BANK – We will again serve on Monday, December 6 th at the Food Bank. We leave the Church at 5:30pm. Please call Anthony (946-1128x20) to join the group.

CATHOLIC UPDATE entitled “Aids and the Consistent Ethic of Life,” by Kenneth R. Overberg, S.J., is now available in the kiosk.

ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS 2005 are available in the church office. The cost of the book is $30.00. All proceeds benefits mentally handicapped children. Also, Lake Catholic High School students are selling Entertainment Books 2005. The cost is $30.00 per book. For more information please call the school at 440-951-0077.

“THE DEATH OF A DREAM … DEALING WITH THE CRISIS OF SEPARATION” An evening workshop developed to help Catholics struggling with the pain and disillusionment of marital separation will be held on Wednesday, December 15 th at S. Justin Martyr Church 5781 Stevens Blvd., Eastlake, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Join Bill Glover, MA Counseling, as he discusses coping strategies and provides direction for those who are recently separated. For more information or to register, please call 440-352-8282. The workshop is sponsored by the Catholic parishes of Lake and Geauga counties and is free of charge.

RETROUVAILLE – help for troubled marriages. Have you felt distant or alone from your partner? Have you been anxious about your marriage relationship? Do the stresses and strain of everyday living take its toll on your marriage relationship? Are you unable to see how to change your situation? If so Retrouvaille may be for you. Retrouvaille is a program which helps couples to rediscover each other in a new and positive way. A retrouvaille weekend will be held on January 7-9 at the Hilton Hotel in Beachwood. A registration fee of $50.00 is required to confirm a reservation. For more information, call Al and Diane Miskinis at 216-481-1467 or 1-800-470-2230. You may also learn about Retrouvaille on the World Wide Web at:

www.helpourmarriage.com .

ALWAYS OUR CHILDREN- The parent support group for families and friends of gay and lesbian Catholics welcomes you to join us at our next meeting, Sunday, December 12th from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. in the library of the Administration Center at St. John Vianney Church on Bellflower Road in Mentor, Ohio .

FAIR TRADE SHOPPING DAY – Today ( Sunday ), December 5 th , 12-5:00 p.m. For hand-made gift items, visit Ten Thousand Villages, 19321 Detroit Ave or Heartbeats, 20015 Detroit Ave in Rocky River. Sales benefit the InterReligious Task Force on Central America. Contact IRTF at 216-961-0003 or

www.irtfcleveland.org .

ST. LOUIS PARISH is looking for alumni students. If you are one or know of someone who graduated from St. Louis School, please contact 216-382-0033.

PLEASE SAVE YOUR USED STAMPS for the Maryknoll Sisters for their missionary work. Cut the stamps from the envelope using scissors. Leave ¼” margin around the stamp. Postage meter stamps are of no value. Place the stamps in the box located in the coat room. This year so far, we have collected 12, 502 stamps.

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