Merry Christmas!

It's a joy for our parish community, staff, and clergy to celebrate Jesus' birthday with you and your family. Did you know that the meaning of Christmas can be found in its two words, "Christ's Mass." Just as you can't celebrate Christmas without "Christ," neither can you celebrate Christmas without "Mass"! 

If you think about it, we celebrate a mini-Christmas each and every Sunday when we gather for Mass. Like Christmas, Mass is where the "Word becomes flesh and dwells among us." Mass is where this miracle happens. The Eucharist is His Body and Blood. The sanctuary is His stable. The altar is His manger. Since we are invited by the Lord to be with Him each week at Mass, we have an even greater privilege, honor, and blessing than the shepherds who came to Bethlehem that first Christmas.

The greatest gift you can give to Jesus this year for His birthday is your commitment to celebrate "Christ's Mass" every Sunday. When we come to Mass, we celebrate the mysteries of our Savior's birth, death, and resurrection. Sunday Mass is the best part of my week. I know I will be renewing my own commitment to full participation at Mass, and I hope you will join me. After all, it's Jesus' birthday, and by celebrating Him every Sunday we are made whole!

"Angels" We Have Heard on High
As the angels sing their "Gloria" to God, they inspire us to find creative ways to be "angel" investors and give generously like Jesus this Christmas season. Imagine I offered you $1,500 to help a family choose Catholic education for their children. Would you give it? If so, the good news is that you already have this money if you owe anything in state income taxes! Since you already have this money, let me ask you again: would you be willing to give it to help a family choose a Catholic education for their children?

With the State of Ohio's new tax credit scholarship program, you can donate what you owe in state income taxes to the Angel Scholarship Fund (ASF) to assist families with tuition assistance. You get the money back at tax time, and families at our local Catholic schools get that money for tuition assistance. Think of it as telling the State of Ohio that you would like the tax dollars you already owe to stay in the local community to support families with tuition assistance for Catholic education. There's no net cost to you as a donor since you get back at tax time dollar-for-dollar what you gave.

Investing in the Angel Scholarship Fund is a no-brainer and a win-win for all. It makes sense to include it in our annual, faith-filled giving plan. This year, we were blessed at St. Mary School in Chardon to give over $137,000 in scholarships to families through ASF! Please pick up an info flyer and contribution form in the back of church, or visit https://stmarychardon.org/asf, and contribute to help us reach our ASF goal of $300,000 to use for tuition scholarships for families. It will take you 5 minutes to make a huge impact for our families at no net cost to you at all. God has blessed you. Would you consider giving that blessing to our children to help them encounter Jesus and offer them a Christ-centered education?

Tabernacle Refurbishing and New Ciboria
We will have our tabernacle refurbished over the next few months. You will notice a smaller tabernacle in place over the next few weeks while the restoration work is being done. The work is expected to take 6-8 weeks, so we should have our refurbished tabernacle returned towards the end of Lent. We will also be purchasing new ciboria which we will use at Mass for distribution of Holy Communion. Thanks to our benefactors of the Chinese auction whose support made these liturgical works possible!

Prayer Intention Book
Did you know that St. Patrick's has a prayer intention book? It is located in the corner behind the last row of pews on the side opposite the confessionals. You can write your prayers and intentions in that book for us to include as we pray for our parish community and our needs.

Christmas Week Schedule
The St. Mary and St. Patrick offices will be closed Monday and Tuesday in honor of Christmas. Also, we will not have Mass at St. Mary's or St. Patrick's on Tuesday, December 26.

New Year's Mass
Please know that this year's Masses for the Solemnity of the Holy Mother of God (January 1) is NOT a Holy Day of Obligation this year since it falls on a Monday. We will have Mass at St. Mary's at 9:00 am on New Year's Day for the Solemnity.

I am yours in Christ,
Fr. Scott Goodfellow