I am very excited to celebrate Christmas with you this year. For those of you I have not had the privilege of meeting, my name is Fr. Scott Goodfellow, and I was assigned as administrator of St. Mary Chardon and St. Patrick Thompson parishes in August of this past year. What a joy it's been to be with these communities the past few months! I look forward to many more times of joy and growth to come. If you are visiting or new to our parish, please know of our parish community's prayers for you during your visit and for your travels this holiday season. We are so happy you are with us!
Christmas is all about centering our hearts on Jesus, just like Mother Mary. I invite you to enter into this season with her and ask her to show you how to stay centered on Christ throughout all the twists and turns of life.
This Christmas, our parish community is delighted to offer you some gifts at the end of our Christmas Eve and Day Masses. The first gift is a book by Matthew Kelly entitled, "Life is Messy". This book focuses on how God can work with and heal our brokenness. The second gift is a candy cane with a special candy cane prayer attached. Thinking of how to tie these two gifts together, I propose two themes for you: (1) "Life is messy, but still pretty sweet!", and (2) "Broken candy canes can be eaten, and broken lives can be healed". I hope at least one of those rings true for you this holiday season!
After this Sunday, I will be away for a week of vacation. I am grateful for the time I will get to spend with some friends and some much needed rest after a blessed but busy Advent. As always, I will keep you and your intentions in my prayers and celebrations of the Mass while I am away. As Fr. Spisak prepares for an upcoming hip replacement surgery in January, he will write to you in next week's bulletin. Please keep him in your prayers over the next few weeks. Here are a few things to keep on your radar:
Daily Mass Schedule Changes Please note the changes to the daily Mass schedule which I outlined in the past two weekends' bulletins (my Dec 12 article clarifying the need for these changes is available for viewing on our website and Mass Times pages). These changes only affect the daily Mass schedule and begin the week of January 3:
(no Monday Mass)
Tuesday 8:45 am
(no Wednesday Mass)
Thursday 8:45 am
Mass Schedule This Week and New Year's Please see the Mass schedule in today's bulletin for Mass times. Here are a few highlights:
No Confessions or Vigil Mass on Christmas Day, Saturday, December 25.
Mass for the Feast of the Holy Family will be at the normal Sunday AM Mass times on Sunday, December 26.
No Mass the morning weekday of Monday, December 27 this week.
Mass for the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God will take place on Friday, December 31 for the Vigil, and the morning of Saturday, January 1.
Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany will take place at our usual weekend Mass times on Saturday, January 1 for the Vigil, and the morning of Sunday, January 2.
Synod on Synodality A Synod is a 'journeying together' that engages us in a process of listening to the Holy Spirit and dialoguing with our needs and the needs of those around us. Christ models the synodal way in His Personhood in how he accompanies and engages with people in truth and charity. He invites us to imitate His approach of synodality. The Synod on Synodality offers each of us an opportunity to be involved in this synodal process of listening and dialogue around the themes of communion, participation, and mission. We will have more information for how you can participate in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned!
Make it a great last week of 2021, remember the blessings of the Lord this year, and stay hopeful in the year ahead. We are truly journeying together, and I am blessed by your companionship.