St. Patrick Catholic Church

All powerful God, increase our strength of will for doing good that Christ may find an eager welcome at his coming and call us to his side in the kingdom of heaven, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

IN SYMPATHY
Please remember in your prayers Nels Dupuis who passed away this week. May we remember those families and friends who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. May they enjoy the fullness of God’s love.

ADVENT WREATHS
Join us on Sunday, Nov. 29 after the 11AM Mass by making your own family Advent Wreath. All the supplies to make Advent Wreaths will be available to all parishioners who come to be a part of the event! Please come to prepare for Advent! Come Lord Jesus Come!

SANTA CLAUS BREAKFAST - DEC. 12, 2009
Sponsored by St. Patrick Men’s Club. Proceeds to go toward Scholarship Fund. Tickets go on sale Nov. 29 and December 6 after Masses or call 503-266-3390 or 503-260-4839. Breakfast includes: eggs, ham, hash browns, homemade cinnamon rolls, orange juice, coffee. Entertainment will be skits, singing - Lotta & Skittles the Balloon Clowns. Ticket prices: Adults $5.50 and children $4.00.

ADVENT PENANCE SERVICE
Advent is here. While many are cleaning up homes and yards in anticipation of Christmas, putting up the Christmas lights and decorating inside and out, let us first think about cleaning up our interior homes, our hearts and souls, for the coming of Our Lord. The Advent communal penance service is scheduled for Tuesday, December 15th at 7:00 pm. We will have 4 priests with us to hear confessions. This is a wonderful opportunity for families to practice together the Sacrament of Reconciliation. So mark your calendar now for December 15, you’ll be glad you did.

ADVENT GOES BY FAST
Advent comes and goes rapidly and before you know it Christmas is here. Our Christmas Work Party is scheduled for Tuesday, December 22nd from
9:00am until finished. Help is needed to set up and string lights on trees, hang garland and wreaths, set up the nativity, and place poinsettias. Your help is always needed and appreciated.

Adjustments are a fact of life. We make them all day long, usually without even thinking about it. For example, we adjust the volume on the TV, radio, or iPod; we pay attention to adjustable mortgage rates; we adjust our schedules to accommodate someone in need. Other adjustments take more thought and energy and have more far-reaching consequences. For example, moving from an apartment or house to another means rearranging furniture or perhaps even buying other more suitable furniture as well as adjusting travel patterns to work; marriage means adjusting to living in a lifelong committed relationship with another; being baptized means adjusting to living gospel values. Even such a thing as changing a liturgical season means adjusting to new gospel challenges. This Sunday’s gospel calls for an adjustment also, with far-reaching consequences-reaching even to final judgment. We are asked to adjust our daily living in order to develop the kind of vigilance that enables us to discern the signs of the Lord’s presence and to adjust the choices in our lives so we are “blameless in holiness” and, thus, are more fittingly a testimony of the Son of Man’s power and glory. The source of the vigilance the gospel admonishes is found in these two actions: God’s call and our response. The redemption at hand promised in the gospel is God’s work, but it also calls for a response from us. Moreover, the very discernment of signs of the Lord’s presence is already a response, already a factor in the end-time judgment. We have nothing to fear when we live as if the end times were now, as if Christ is present in all his glory now. One sign of the Son of Man’s presence is that we are growing in love. Despite appearances to the contrary, God’s plan and purpose are directed toward redemption and life. We need to read the right signs-new life in the midst of seeming destruction, the glory of the Son of Man coming into the darkness, the love of Christ growing in our hearts.

OUR PRIVILEGE, OUR RIGHT, AND OUR DUTY
As it is written ‘Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you.’ (Is 49:15):
We in the Catholic Church in the Community of St. Patrick remember, hold in our memory, and pray for the men and women who serve in the Armed Forces especially: Cody Amick, Ryan Thomas Blackwood, Douglas Bower Jr., Ryan Bridges, Lonnie Brown, Nathan Brown, Jeremy Burke, Carlos Bustamante, Adamm Creel, Isaiah Creel, David Davis, Loyd Davis, Kenny Doleac, Brad Dunn, Brian Dykeman, Bill Ellis, Adam Ferrell, David Hannon, April Kennedy, Patrick Kirsch, Mike Krzmarzick, Jessica Krzmarzick (wife of Michael Krzmarzick) Johnny Lugo, Adam Lulay, Alex Martin, Jordan Morelli, John Nguyen, Robert Nolan, Daniel Olsen, Robert Selner, Tarl Spencer, John Suchanek, Leah Sundquist, Brian Thomas, Kenneth Thorpe, CJ Trillo, Jonathan Turner, William Walsh, Erik Wiesehan, Ivan Wilson and John Zagyva, may they be servants of Christ through service to those in need, and may they be kept safe from all harm.

HELP OUR TROOPS THIS CHRISTMAS
The Knights of Columbus are sponsoring small care packages to be sent to our parish members serving in the armed forces. Personal hygiene items (toothbrush, deodorant, chap-stick, etc.) would be gladly accepted and a Christmas card or two that we can slip into the boxes so each member can get a card from our parish showing support and merry Christmas. Try to make the cards as general as possible, for we will put a handful into each box. A collection box will be set up after the masses and your help will be needed to get all the address as well. If your family member is serving, please call Mike Schmader (503-266-1331) with his/her current address or drop it off at the parish office. We plan to mail off boxes around Dec. 1st. Lets let those who are serving know that we at St. Patrick are thinking of them and pray for their safe return.

PARISH SUPPORT
Parishioners of St. Patrick through the Sacrificial giving
program gave to God the gift:
November 22, 2009
Funds Collected for Others
Cemetery $
St. Vincent dePaul $
Total: $
Collection Parish Operating Expenses
Envelopes’ $5188.00
Loose $445.77
Children’s $
Poor $130.00
Unemployment Fund $10.00
Building Fund $
Total $5965.65

COMMUNION SERVICE
Tuesday, December 1 , 2009
+Ann Housen by Mary & Jerry Schoen
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
+Elizabeth Hecker by Charlie Tibor
Thursday, December 3, 2009
+Dave Merrill by Matt & Hazel Wagner
Friday, December 4, 2009

LECTOR’S LIVING LITURGY WORKBOOKS NOW AVAILABLE
All lectors, the new 2010 Living Liturgy Workbooks are now available for you to pick up. You will find them in the Sacristy. Please mark your name off the list as you pick up your copy.

BABY BOTTLES FOR PREGNANCY CARE CENTER
If you took home a plastic baby bottle in October to collect money to support the Canby Pregnancy Care Center, we ask that you return it, filled or unfilled by this Sunday, Nov. 29. Place the bottle in the basket in the back of the church. Thank you to those who have already contributed to this cause.

Watch for the gift table sponsored by our RE students. We have our exciting VBS DVD sale, they would make great stocking stuffers for the children who were able to attend this summer. They will see themselves and friends having fun playing, singing, listening to stories about the saints, eating great snacks and taking part in the creative skits! Nancy Patton did a masterful job at creating this DVD! All of this song and vision of fun for only $5! Your children will watch it over and over, great babysitter.

PARENT MEETING
There will be a Parent/Child meeting for Reconciliation on Dec. 7 at 7:00pm in room 7/8 in the Parish Center. We will be discussing materials to be covered by the families. Chapters 3-5 should be completed. We will be discussing times and dates for our practice night and the First Reconciliation Service scheduled for January 16 at 10am. Thank you for helping your child with their preparation for First Reconciliation. Your example is the best teacher.

ADVENT PROJECT
Our Religious Education children are collecting coins during Advent to buy animals for the World Vision Program. This program services all races, faiths and cultures [over 100 million people]. This program builds self sufficiency for the communities served and over 87% of every gift goes directly to help families overcome poverty! We may purchase a cow for $500, sheep for $105, 8 chickens for $100, goat and 2 chickens for $100, 10 ducks for $60 and so on. See the bulletin board and watch the money grow! When we reach an amount we will add the animals to the barnyard. We will begin during Advent!

JOURNEY IN FAITH & YOUTH GROUP
Journey in Faith & Youth Group will be collecting non-food items for our food bank. We will have a donation spot at the parish center as well as the vestibule of the church. Items of need are disposable diapers, bar soap, toothbrushes, tooth paste, shampoo, deodorant, and hand sanitizer. Thank you for your continued support for those in need.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION STUDENTS
Please remember to bring a photo of yourself this week to religious education classes for the ornament craft. These ornaments will hang throughout the parish center. You are a gift and we want to share it.

JOURNEY IN FAITH FUN FRIDAY 12/11/09
Our next Fun Friday will be held December 11 at Canby Bowl from 9:00-11:00pm for Cosmic Bowling. Please RSVP by December 2 so we can reserve enough lanes. You may RSVP to Francis Parker at 503-266-9411 or by email to: fparker@canby.com. Wear your most festive holiday hat to this event.

2009 GIVING TREE
The entire religious education program will be hosting the 2009 Giving Tree. You will find a tree in the vestibule of church, as well as the parish center. We are hosting 10 families this year and more than ever we need your support and generosity. Your donation of a wrapped gift or food item for these families is greatly appreciated. Please have your items to the church no later than December 13. Thank you for your help.

LIVING THE PASCHAL MYSTERY
Vigilance for the many ways Christ is present to us involves dying to self. This means that our focus is not on our own wants and needs but on the Christ who chooses to be intimately present to us. Our prayer for strength might be that Jesus helps us see his presence in the people around us. This is pretty easy (with a practical reminder to ourselves) when the other person is pleasant or cooperative or helpful. The dying happens when the other is cranky or threatening or not to our liking. How can we see Christ in the other when the other doesn’t conform to our image of Christ? This is the question raised by the “anxieties of daily life.” The dying comes in growing in our image of who Christ is! The dying comes in forming the habit of seeing Christ in all others because Christ came to redeem all. The rising comes in constant vigilance, for Christ comes in many ways. The real challenge comes in adjusting to all these presences of Christ in our lives.

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES - A NEW TRADITION
As we have been publishing for a couple of weeks, we invite our parishioners to share your favorite Christmas memories with your parish family. Following this story, please see the guidelines for including your memories. Thank you Frank for sharing such beautiful memories of your childhood.
“THE BARICH CHRISTMAS MEMORIES FROM THE 1930'S WHEN LIFE WAS NOT SO HECTIC.”
“There was often three to four feet of snow back then. Three brothers would venture out about a half a mile or so to cut down our tree and, sometimes one of the younger sisters would try, but return home. We always cut the top of a 20 or 30 foot tree, after surveying to find the “perfect” tree, we cut our choice. Normally 8 to 10 feet in height, drag it home and nail a wooden stand to the bottom. Place it in the same place in the living room. Decorations were candles, and tinsel kept over from previous years and the Angel. This was done Christmas eve. Also, singing Christmas Carols and Croatian Folk song, and enjoyed watching Mom baking an assortment of pastries for Christmas dinner. Since we really believed in Santa Claus, hung the longest socks we had, behind our coal and wood stove in the kitchen! Christmas day we found in our stocking, either an apple or a mandarin orange, and four or five pieces of hard candy. If there was a gift wrapped up with your name on it, work clothes or work gloves was the gift.
There was a quietness in our village during this time. If there were no clouds, we would see and believe the bright star was the Star that led the Magi to Bethlehem. Our Catholic Nuns told us the story of Christmas and we had a lot of cow mangers surrounding our town. After the local volunteer firemen arrived with Santa Claus, the same fireman dressed as Santa Claus and traveled through town in a horse and sleigh with jingle bells we could hear from afar.
In the center of town was located, in front of the Company Store, a huge Christmas Tree. Santa sat on top the fire engine sleigh. Volunteer firemen handed out bags of goodies, hard candy and an orange. It was, and, still is our dream that the real Santa would arrive during the night. For Christmas Mass the Church was packed and very special. Still is. We would knock on the doors of relatives and friends to wish them merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. They would give us a dime and sometimes a glass of home made wine. Never asked for I.D. There are a lot more fond memories that I think of as I write these words.
Our God Parents visiting, as well as Uncles and Aunts. All who had left Croatia in their teens and carried on traditions of exchanging stories of days long ago. There were Italians, Germans, English and many other nationalities who carried on their traditions and Christmas activities. It was a great vacation time off from school to do some Fishing and hunting.” by Frank Barich

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO INCLUDE YOUR CHRISTMAS MEMORIES
In 50 words or less you are invited to share a Christmas memory or tell us “What does Christmas mean to you?” You may submit your stories from now through Dec. 15 and beginning with the 1st week of Advent (Nov. 29) we will print them in a special section of the weekly bulletin. Your “Christmas memories” will be printed throughout the Advent/Christmas season. Everyone - young and older alike are encouraged to share and you are welcome to remain anonymous if you wish. You can submit your articles two ways:
1. Email your article to dnewbury@canby.com subject line: Christmas Memories

2. By mail: Christmas Memories - % St. Patrick Catholic Church; attn:Debbie Newbury - PO Box 730, Canby, OR 97013. *If you do hand write your article, please make sure it is written legibly so the bulletin editor can read it. Please include a contact number in case of questions.

This is something fun for the whole parish to participate in as we enjoy reading all the wonderful memories we share. Questions, contact Debbie Newbury in the Parish Office.

THE CRISIS ISN’T OVER YET
With Winter upon us, the weather getting colder and lay-offs still happening we are experiencing more members of our parish family undergoing difficult times. Our Unemployment Crisis Fund, so generously begun in response to community need last winter, is in need of your donations once again. Beginning in December we will once again take up a second collection on the first Sunday of the month for the Unemployment Crisis Fund. These Funds are used to assist members of our community who are having difficulty making ends meet with rental payments and utility payments. Last month, through your generous support, we were able to assist 8 families with housing or utility needs. Thank you.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS UPDATE
We are well on our way toward the purchase of new Stations of the Cross for our church. Through the generous donations made by this community we are already 1/3 of the way to our goal of $23,000. To date we have collected:$7890.00

2010 CATHOLIC CALENDARS
Canby Funeral Home has graciously donated the 2010 Catholic Calendars for our parishioners. Located in the vestibule of the church, we ask that you please take one calendar per family in order for us to have enough calendars to go around. When you have a chance to see Carlos or Bob from the Canby Funeral Home, please take a moment to thank them for their generosity and kindness.

POCKET CALENDARS
Something new for our parishioners this year: “I am a Catholic Pocket Calendar” with information on the inside you provide in case of an emergency. These are great for a purse, wallet or pocket. Please help yourself-supplies are limited.

KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS CARD SALES
Buy and send religious Christmas cards to spread the TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS to family and friends. The parish Knights of Columbus will be selling religious Christmas cards at reasonable prices at each weekend Mass Nov. 29 through Dec. 20.

NO CHILDREN’S CHOIR REHEARSAL TODAY, NOV. 29 Rehearsals resume NEXT SUNDAY, Dec. 6, immediately following the 11:00am Mass.

THANK YOU
Many thanks to everyone who attended last Saturday’s wonderful presentation & concert by Ken Canedo. A very special thank you to our faithful ladies–Thelma, Ellen, Mary, Gail–who set up so beautifully and provided punch and coffee, and to all the choir members who provided cookies. We now have $651 “seed money” towards a baby grand piano for our sanctuary. If you know of someone who has a baby grand in good condition that they’d like to donate or sell for a nominal price, please let us know. For more information, please call Lora Heli at 503-263-3840.