ORGANIZATIONS

CYO, Jerry Florence stmarycyo.wc@gmail.com 510-504-5954 Charismatic Prayer Group, Jim Crowley 944-0359 Catholic Divorced, Widowed & Separated, Char Buckman 932-5054 Eucharistic Adoration, Mary Johnstone 954-7205 Finance Council, Brian Mulligan 210-1031 Gabriel Project-Hotline 800-910-0191 Homebound Ministry, Helene Vizcarra 891-8936 Hospital Ministry, Angeles Ron 640-8146 Knights of Columbus, Todd Conway 510-908-1316 Respect Life Ministry, Jim Crowley 944-0359 Rosary Makers, Ana Lau 256-4428 St. Vincent de Paul, Brian Kavanagh 937-2817

St. Mary Catholic Church

Walnut Creek, CA

www.stmary-wc.org 925-891-8900

MASS TIMES

Monday through Friday 6:30 a.m. & 12:05 p.m.

Saturday 8:30 a.m.

Saturday Vigil Mass 4:30 p.m.

Sundays 6:30 a.m. * 8:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m. * 11:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Spanish

6:00 p.m.

Sacrament of Penance Saturdays 3:30 to 4:15 p.m.

DEVOTIONS

Eucharistic Adoration Thursdays 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Fridays 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. (First Fridays all night)

Saturdays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Fatima Devotion First Saturday

9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Saturdays 9:00 a.m. (at the end of 8:30 Mass)

PARISH OFFICE

2051 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Walnut Creek, CA 94596

OFFICE HOURS

8:30 A.M. TO 4:30 P.M. Monday through Friday

Dear Friends, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing!” These are great and powerful words that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, and we hear once again today. Even with the difficulties and trials of our daily lives, we have every reason to rejoice, be-cause our Savior, Jesus Christ, is with us. He has been sent by the Father to bring us the promise of eternal life in heaven. He has sent us the Holy Spirit to guide us and grace us as we journey through life. And we have the gift of our Faith, as members of the People of God, to support and nurture one another in the name of the Lord. As we continue to move through Advent (yikes, it’s half-over already) let us take time to pray each day in thanksgiving to God for all the blessings we have received, and for grace to reach out to all our brothers and sisters, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to everyone. Have a blessed and peace-filled week. Father Fred

THIS WEEK’S CALENDAR December 18-24

FF = Faith Formation Center SE = St. Elizabeth Hall (Conf. Rm.) SJ = St. Joseph Room SM= St. Michael Room OS = Our Space

MONDAY, DECEMBER 18

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19 7:00 AM Men of St. Joseph/OS 6:30 PM Hispanic Prayer Group/SE 7:30 PM Choir Practice/Church

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20 9:00 AM Scripture Study/FF 7:00 PM Charismatic Prayer/FF-SM

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21 7:00 PM Hispanic Prayer Group/Church 7:00 PM Young Adults/OS 7:00 PM Catholic Divorced/FF-SM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22 7:00 PM Hisp. Choir Practice/Church

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23 8:00 AM Men’s Prayer Group/OS

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24

PROPER UNDERTAKING Never undertake anything for which you wouldn’t have the courage to ask the blessings of heaven. —Georg C. Lichtenberg

Today’s Second Collection is for Christmas flowers. Thank you for helping us create a beautiful envi-ronment for our Christmas liturgies.

Third Sunday of Advent

Let us ask God to bless our family on this Third Sun-day in Advent as we light another candle on our Ad-vent Wreath:

God of rejoicing, this week we hear in our second reading that we are called to “rejoice always.” Help our family to be joyful in the midst of whatever happens this week.

When we light the third candle on our wreath, let us bring your joy to our friends and neighbors this week.

We ask this through Christ, who is the ultimate joyful gift to the world. Amen.

All these previous years we have had Christmas carols in the church beginning at 10 pm, an hour prior to the 11 pm Mass on Christmas

Eve. This year, carols will begin half-an-hour later, at 10:30.

There will be NO Eucharistic Adoration the weekend be-fore Christmas, Thursday-Saturday, December 21-23, or the weekend before New Year’s, Thursday-

Saturday, December 28-30. Ado-ration will resume on Thursday, January 4.

Isaiah proclaims truly good news to us! God’s coming brings not sadness, guilt, fear, wrath, or condemnation. No, God’s coming is a source of comfort and joy. Saying it once is not enough, for today’s readings are full of joy. Mary’s Magnificat substitutes for our psalm today, and our second reading encourages us to rejoice, to give thanks and praise. This is the root meaning of the Greek word for eucharist. We are urged to rejoice and give thanks, because the coming of the Lord brings joy, healing, liberty, release, vindication. It makes the very earth spring up with new life! Good tidings! Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.

DATE TIME MASS INTENTION

12/16 4:30 pm Gonzalo Santos

12/17 6:30 am Luis Salazar

8:00 am Bart Fitzgerald

9:30 am Peggy Jannisse

11:00 am The People of St. Mary Parish

1:00 pm Tony & Virtudes Sparvoli

6:00 pm Jim, Steve & Frank Nolan

12/18 6:30 am Louis Ciapponi

12:05 pm John Finbarr Hayes

12/19 6:30 am Tony Cook (L) B’D’

12:05 pm Holy Souls in Purgatory

12/20 6:30 am Anthony Cook (L) B’D’

12:05 pm Bruno & Maria Scarabello

12/21 6:30 am Felippa La Barbera

12:05 pm Luis Salazar (L)

12/22 6:30 am Becky Goll (L)

12:05 pm Lucille & Peter Vlahutin

12/23 8:30 am Zulma Isea

MASS SCHEDULE Staff and Administration

Parish Office 891-8900 Fax 934-1358 Fr. Fred Riccio, fr.fred.stmary@gmail.com Pastor 891-8900 Fr. Dante Tamayo , Parochial Vicar 891-8900 Fr. John Blaker, 891-8900 In residence Ana Lau, alau@stmary-wc.org Office Manager 891-8908 Aileen Baker, aileen.stmary@gmail.com Bookkeeper 891-8911

Faith Formation

Mary Kerfs, lifeteen.stmarywc@gmail.com Administrative Assistant 891-8939 Tim Mannix, RCIA & tim.stmarywc@gmail.com Liturgy Coordinator 891-8921 Austin Pisciotto austinp.stmary@gmail.com Grades 4-6 891-8944 Maureen Tiffany maureen.stmary@gmail.com Grades K-3 891-8942 Heather Abraham, heather.stmary@gmail.com Grades 7-8, Confirmation 891-8934

School

Office 935-5054 stmary@st-mary.net Website: www.st-mary.net Alumni: stmaryalumni@st-mary.net Tracey Schmidt, Principal 935-5054 Advisory Council Karen Redwood, President 408-332-6879 Parents Club Jennifer Millette, Co-President 296-0117 Lynne Kenny, Co-President 954-7865 Kids Club Vicki Schwartz 938-5114

Mayah Pisciotto Harry Prudhomme Jacob & Katherine Pollnow Ashley Ng Carter Ankey Colin Worster Carmel Roubal Carol Erikson Rosalie Jacoby Lindsay Davis Sheila Deignan Pam Brady David Holmes Derek Lyn Candy Udell Norma Bolla Fellner Duke Sella Cathy Stuemph Sally O’Connor

Del Davenport Louise & John Repetto

Josefina Zabat Maureen Burnash

Mina Leon Marisa Magno

Angela Crain Pat Cantrell Pat Mooser

Mary McLoughlin Rio Cabatingan

Jerry Adame Theodosia Faustino

Nancie Campi Betty McBride

Rose Marie Asaro Witold Pokorski

Aimee Kwiatowski Natalia Cerda-Boye

Advent & Christmas 2017 Sat., Dec. 23:

8:30 am - Daily Mass 1:00 - 2:30 pm - Sacrament of

Reconciliation 3:30 - 4:15 pm - Sacrament of

Reconciliation 4:30 pm - Regular Vigil Mass

Sun., Dec. 24: Sunday Masses:6:30, 8:00, 9:30, 11:00am NO 1:00 pm Spanish Mass Christmas Eve Masses:

3:00 pm, 5:00 pm, 8:00 pm (Spanish)

11:00 pm - Mass of Christmas (preceded by carols at 10:30)

Mon., Dec. 25: Christmas Day NO 6:30 am Mass or 6:00 pm Mass

8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 am - Masses in English 1:00 pm - Mass in Spanish

Mon., Jan. 1: Feast of Mary, Mother of God and New Year’s Day.

Mass at 10:00 am

We regret that the Advent & Christmas schedule in last week’s bulletin contained errors.

Below is the corrected schedule:

ARRIVE Rides Arrive Rides dispatches Lyft and Uber rides for people who don't have smartphones. This is a good option for parish-ioners who don’t drive and need a ride to and from church. Members call when they need a ride and Arrive handles all the technolo-gy to dispatch a car to them. Arrive communicates directly with the driver, monitors the ride and handles pay-ment, so members don’t need to car-ry cash. The cost is $10/month to be an Ar-rive member. Members also pay the cost of the Lyft/Uber ride plus a $5 transaction fee. We're open from 9 am - 6 pm, seven days a week. Gift certificates are now available. Anyone can create a subscription for a loved one and prepay any amount over $100 (Once there is a backup credit card on file, gifts can be made in any amount).

866-626-9879 www.arriverides.com

Treasures from Our Tradition Many people think that Saint Francis originated the Christmas crèche, but its origins go far back. The Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome has housed what is said to be relics of the cradle of Je-sus since the seventh century. In time, every year during the Christmas sea-son the reliquary (container for relics) was surrounded by an increasingly grand three-dimensional scene of the place of Jesus’ birth. Rocks and trees, houses, streams, figurines of villagers going about their daily tasks were all included. It was a very dramatic presentation. If you’ve ever seen an elaborate model train installation, you get the idea. The proper term for this depiction is presepio, from the Latin word for “surround” or “hedge.” Over the centuries, the custom spread first to churches, and then to aristocratic homes. In Italy, whole chap-els are often set aside for the presepio, and it is not unusual to have hundreds of figures. It can sometimes be a chal-lenge to locate the Holy Family amid the crowd, almost like a Where’s Wal-do? children’s book. The oldest surviv-ing presepio is in St. Mary Major and dates from the thirteenth century, alt-hough many pieces have been broken or lost. Saint Francis of Assisi took a decidedly creative step in 1233 in the village of Greccio, when he directed his followers to fill a manger with hay and tether an ox and ass nearby. He then invited the villagers to attend Mass outdoors near the crib, the wor-shipers themselves becoming a living presepio. By the seventeenth century, the tradition was well-established, par-ticularly in Naples, and had a firm hold in Portugal, Spain, and in the Pro-vence region of France. Today, it is not unusual to find presepios with five hundred figures, a vivid reminder of Emmanuel, God-with-us! —Rev. James Field, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.

Have you purchased your Christmas CD yet?

Don’t miss out on Someday At Christmas, a beautiful collection of Christmas songs performed by our own St. Mary Satur-day musicians! This

recording features Lynn Guidi and Ray Perez, vocals; Ernie Mansfield, flute and saxophone; Pawel Wale-rowski, cello; and special guest pianist Mario Balestrieri. In addition, the CD features “bonus tracks” recorded pre-viously with our former pianist, Andrea Morse. The CD is also available as a download card. Net profits from the sale will be donated to St. Mary Church. CDs will be available for pur-chase after Mass and in the parish office during office hours. CD: $15 for one, $25 for two. Down-load card: $10

The Lighter Side

Christmas Prayer One winter evening, two young boys were spending the night at their grandmother’s house. At bedtime, the two boys knelt beside their beds to say their prayers when the youngest one began praying out loud at the top of his lungs:

“I PRAY FOR A BRAND NEW LAPTOP COMPUTER, I PRAY FOR A NEW iPOD, I PRAY FOR A NEW—”

His older brother looked over at his younger brother and said, “Why are you yelling your prayers? God isn’t hard of hearing.”

The little brother replied, “No, but Grandma is!”

SAVE THE DATE! Walk for Life West Coast 2018 Saturday, January 27 Civic Center Plaza, San Francisco.

St. Mary School students are busy pre-paring for our annual Christmas Program. Offering our voices and musical talents as a gift to the Christ Child warms our hearts during this Ad-vent season. Our stu-dents shine as they sing Christmas songs to an audience of family and friends. What a special way to cele-brate this joyous season of hope and love as a community!

Catholic Alumni Club On Saturday, December 23, members and guests of the Catholic Alumni Club will dine at Primavera Ristorante, 3214 Crow Canyon Place, San Ra-mon. It is an Italian restaurant and caters meals to the Golden Gate Warriors. If you are a Catholic pro-fessional, please join us for a fun evening. Please call Earle (925-300-8811) or Dorothy (925-735-0208) to make a reservation. Please reserve by Thursday, Dec. 21, at 7:30 pm.

Thank you to all of our catechists and volunteers! We appreciate you more than you know and wish you

and your loved ones a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sunday, December 17, 2017

We wish all of our Faith Formation Families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sessions will resume Sunday, 1/7/18!

THE VINEYARD St. Mary Church

YOUTH MINISTRY (K-12)

Disciples in Training

Faith Formation

Youth Ministry

Jesus, you will come among us once again to give us your very life. May your life’s gift inspire us to make our lives a gift to you, over and over again. Amen

LITTLE SAINTS Kinder - 3rd Sunday 9:15am - 10:45am

ROCK 4th - 5th Grade Thursday 4:00pm - 5:30pm

BLAST 6th Grade Tuesday 7:00pm - 8:30pm

EDGE 7th - 8th Grade Tuesday 7:00pm - 8:30pm

CONFIRMATION Call for info

YOUTH GROUP 9th - 12th Grade Sunday 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Faith Formation & Youth Ministry Office 925-891-8939 Lifeteen.stmarywc@gmail.com Sunday– Thursday 8:30—5:30pm

Catequesis en español Ages 6-13yrs Sunday 11:15am - 12:45pm

¡ALÉGRATE! ¡Isaías realmente nos pro-clama una buena nueva! La venida del Señor no trae tristeza, culpa, miedo, ira ni condena. No, la ve-nida del Señor es fuente de júbilo y consuelo. No basta con decirlo una vez, las lecturas de hoy están llenas de júbilo. El Magní-ficat de María reemplaza a nuestro salmo hoy y nues-tra segunda lectura nos anima a alegrarnos, dar gracias y rendir alabanza. Éste es el significado principal de la palabra griega que significa eucaristía. Se nos insta a alegrarnos y a dar gracias, porque la venida del Señor trae júbilo, curación, libertad, perdón y vindicación. ¡Hace que la tierra eche brotes de vida nueva! ¡Buenas noticias! Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.

TRADICIONES DE NUESTRA FE El día 16 de diciembre comienza la Novena de Aguinaldos en Colombia y otras partes de Latinoamérica. La novena consiste en 9 partes que se repiten por 9 noches: 1‑ Oración inicial 2‑ Oración Mariana 3‑ Oración de José 4‑ Reflexión del día 5‑ Gozos 6‑ Oración al Niño Jesús 7‑ Un Salmo 8‑ Invocación final 9‑ Villancicos (cantos navideños)

Los participantes buscan aguinaldo (regalo). Para esto los colombianos tienen la costumbre de jugar “pajita en boca” buscando quien no trae una pajita en boca. La persona que no pueda mostrar que trae pajita en boca tiene que dar un regalo a quien lo descubrió. Los aguinaldos son recuerdo del regalo que nos dio Dios en su Hijo Jesús, prenda de su amor. Y si Dios nos da un aguinaldo tan grande es porque Dios no tiene pajita en boca cuando nos dice que nos ama.

En el corazón de la Novena está el refrán de Gozos:

Dulce Jesús mío, mi niño adorado, ven a nuestras almas; ven, no tardes tanto.

Muy buen mensaje para el Adviento. —Fray Gilberto Cavazos-Glz, OFM, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.

Catequesis

FECHAS IMPORTANTESDiciembre17 Posada10:30amDiciembre24 NohayclaseDiciembre31 Nohayclase

Janet (925)357-3048 janet.stmary@gmail.com

RESERVEN LA FECHA Caminata por

la Vida

27 de enero de 2018 12:30 pm

Civic Center Plaza San Francisco

LECTURAS DE LA SEMANA Lunes: Jer 23:5-8; Sal 72 (71):1-2, 12-13, 18-19; Mt 1:18-25 Martes: Jue 13:2-7, 24-25a; Sal 71 (70):3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17; Lc 1:5-25 Miércoles: Is 7:10-14; Sal 24 (23):1-4ab, 5-6; Lc 1:26-38 Jueves: Cant 2:8-14 o Sof 3:14-18a; Sal 33 (32):2-3, 11-12, 20-21; Lc 1:39-45 Viernes: 1 Sm 1:24-28; 1 Sm 2:1, 4-8abcd; Lc 1:46-56 Sábado: Mal 3:1-4, 23-24; Sal 25 (24):4-5ab, 8-10, 14; Lc 1:57-66 Domingo: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Sal 89 (88):2-5, 27, 29; Rom 16:25-27; Lc 1:26-38

ATENCION: No habrá Adoración Eucarística ni el fin de semana antes de Navidad (21-23 de diciembre) ni el fin de semana antes de Año Nuevo (28-30 de diciembre). La Adoración se reanudará el 4 de enero.