December 6, 2015 inside - Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Community

Second Sunday in Advent
Page Two
December 6, 2015
Calendar
2nd Sunday in 7
Advent
Annual Christmas Boutique 8a-7p Cabrini Hall
6
10:30a CWL church
dismissal to Sunburst
10:30a Sunday School,
Music Room
10:30 RCIA, Learning
Center
8
Jubilee Year of
Mercy begins
The Immaculate
Conception of the
Blessed Virgin Mary
Holy Day of Obligation
Mass Times
8a, 2p,7p
9
10
8:30a Coffee Hour
Sunburst Room
3:45p RE Elementary, Lower School
7p Choir, Music
Room
6p Evening of
Mercy
12
11
6:30a Altar
Society, Church
6p Pastoral
Team
Meeting,
Rectory
8:30a Lite &
Lively,
HCH
7:30p ROCCC,
Sunburst Room
AN EVENING OF MERCY
TO THE JUBILEE
YEAR
DECEMBER 8
DECEMBER 9
6:00 to 9:00 pm
The Celebration
will begin at the
HOLY DOORS
before you enter the
Church
An evening of:
Mass Times:
VESPERS
8:00 am, 2:00pm, 7:00 pm
ADORATION
BENEDICTION
CONFESSION
We pray for our sick parishioners that
they may know the healing of Christ
Wednesdays
6:30 pm
in the Church
Sandra Smith,
Renata Acosta-Reynoso ,
Enid Cheshire
Teresita Blazon ,
Mary Donovan ,
Lisa Levy,
Jim Sheehy
St. Francis Xavier
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What is the Significance of the Holy Door?
Source: Catholic Straight Answers
Since the year 1300 when Pope Boniface VIII declared the first Holy Year, the Catholic Church has
regularly celebrated “Holy Years,” usually every twenty-five years (at least since 1470), except for special circumstances, like in 1983 when a Holy Year was declared to mark the 1950th anniversary of the death and
resurrection of our Lord. A major aspect of the Holy Year has been that of pilgrimage to Rome to make reparation for sin and to renew the conversion of one’s life.
A very important symbolic act performed by each pilgrim has been to pass through the Holy
Door. Christ identified Himself as “the door.” In his bull Incarnationis Mysterium proclaiming this Holy Year,
Pope John Paul II stated that the Holy Door “…evokes the passage from sin to grace which every Christian is
called to accomplish. Jesus said, ‘I am the door’ (John 10:7) in order to make it clear that no one can come
to the Father except through Him. This designation which Jesus applies to Himself testifies to the fact that He
alone is the Savior sent by the Father. There is only one way that opens wide the entrance into this life of
communion with God: This is Jesus, the one and absolute way to salvation. To Him alone can the words of
the psalmist be applied in full truth: ‘This is the door of the Lord where the just may enter’ (Psalm 118:20).”
Therefore to pass through the door from the outside of St. Peter’s into the basilica is to pass from this
world into the presence of God, just as in the old Temple of Jerusalem, the High Priest on the Feast of Yom
Kippur passed through the veil covering the doorway of the Holy of Holies to enter into the presence of God
to offer the sacrifice of atonement. Moreover, to pass through the door is to confess with firm conviction that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Lord, and the Savior who suffered, died, and rose for our salvation. With
great courage, a person freely decides to cross the threshold leaving behind the kingdom of this world so as
to enter the new life of grace of the Kingdom of God.
In opening the door, the Holy Father has traditionally struck the door three times with a silver hammer
(although this year Pope John Paul II pushed three times on the door). The striking of the door also has symbolic meaning: Moses struck the rock so that water would pour out miraculously to quench the thirst of the
people (Numbers 20:6ff); the Holy Year is a time when God pours forth abundant graces to quench the thirst
of our souls. God struck the earth to free St. Paul and Silas from prison, which resulted in the jailer and his
family asking for baptism (Acts 16:25ff); God has struck our hearts opening them to His graces, beginning
with the saving grace of Baptism. As our Lord hung upon the cross, the soldier struck His most Sacred Heart,
and out flowed blood and water, symbols of the Holy Eucharist and Baptism (John 19:31f) which nourish each
of our souls. In all, the striking of the door symbolizes the release of graces, flowing abundantly to the faithful.
Moreover, when the door opens, the obstacles of passage to our Lord are removed. During the Holy
Year, we hope and pray that the obstacles of personal weakness, temptation, and sin will be removed so that
we will have a holy union with our Lord.
Mass Intention
Readings for the week of December 6, 2015
Sunday: Bar 5:1-9/Ps 126:1-6/Phil 1:4-6,8-11/Lk 3:1-6
Monday: Is 35:1-10/Lk 5:17-26
Tuesday: Gn 3:9-15,20/Ps 98:1-4/Eph 1:3-6,11-12/Lk 1:26-38
Wednesday:
Is 40:25-31/Mt 11:28-30
Thursday: Is 41:13-20/Mt 11:11-15
Friday:
Is 48:17-19/Mt 11:16-19
Saturday:
Zec 2:14-17/Lk 1:26-38
December 6, 2015 – December 12, 2015
Sunday:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
People of St. Francis Xavier
†
†
†
†
†
Aqulina Hizon
John Howley
Tom Pollack
Lulu Prano
Esperanza & Francisco Fernandez
People of St. Francis Xavier
Second Sunday in Advent
Page Four
Our local Family
Promise Organization
that temporarily houses homeless families
needs our help.
The goal is to collect basic staples for
families in need.
These items are essential to the families as they work
each day on their goal of becoming
independent once again.
If you can donate, they need the following items:
Shampoo/Conditioner
Laundry detergent
Toothpaste, deodorant, diapers, body lotion,
Trash bags, paper towels, and toilet paper.
Please contact Andrew Hernandez for drop off
information at
818-847-1547 or email
[email protected]
Please visit www.FamilyPromiseVerdugos.org
SANDWICH SUNDAY
December 6, 2015
BTAC is asking for Gift Cards!
BTAC is asking for donations of gift cards to give
teenagers for Christmas. You can make your
purchase at the Scrip Cart outside of Mass and
give your donation to the Scrip Volunteer. We
will then deliver it to BTAC for you.
Donations Needed
Cold weather is coming and the
homeless can use the coats that
you don’t wear anymore. Blankets and sleeping bags are also needed.
Please limit coats to men’s only. A BTAC
box will be in the church vestibule for this
collection throughout the winter
months. New men’s socks and
underwear are always needed.
Attention ALL
LITURGICAL MINISTERS
Please join us in making sandwiches for the
homeless of Burbank. Bring enough
cheese, meat and bread to make 30 sand- What Mass are you planning to attend on
wiches. We will provide the condiments and Christmas?
baggies. We meet in Holy Cross Hall
As soon as you know please go onto
(unless otherwise stated) at 1:00 pm.
Ministry Scheduler and sign
Our next date is
up to volunteer.
December 13th.
We need ministers at ALL Masses.
Do You Love Christmas Carols?
Please join our Christmas Choirs: We welcome singers and instruments who
play C instruments (violin, flute, etc.) and Bb instruments (trumpet, etc.).
See the music director, Jack Clapper, after Mass or e-mail him at
[email protected]. Choice of practice dates if you commit soon!
Christmas Eve at 9 pm and Christmas Day at 8:30 and 10:30 am.
St. Francis Xavier
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Thank you for your donations to
On behalf of our local Veterans, thank you Operation Christmas Child!
for the Tee-Shirts and Socks!
Our Year II Confirmation teens visited the disabled Veterans home in North Hills a couple days
prior to Veteran’s day delivering your donations
of much needed new packaged socks and Tshirts. These were a big hit and greatly appreciated. Thank you all very much!
The second year of our Confirmation formation
process is all about loving service emulating the
works of Jesus in the Gospels. In a few weeks
our teens will be visiting local assisted living facilities singing Christmas carols and spending time
with these wonderful seniors.
A Memo to all SFX Ministers
sacristans, Lectors, servers, E.M's, ushers,
choirs, Altar Society, Hospitality, Bereavement, rectory staff, rectory volunteers, school
faculty and staff, RE faculty,
RCIA Team and staff
The Pastoral Team invites you to be
our guests at a Christmas Party in
your honor. Sunday, December 20,
between 8:30 & 10:30 masses in
Cabrini. Please take a little time
out of your Christmas preparations
to join us that morning. We look
forward to seeing you and Fr. Dick
has a special, little Christmas gift
for each of you.
This past weekend we were excited to drop
off over 250 decorated Christmas boxes from
our parishioners. Your donation of toys and
supplies such as soap, tooth brushes, tooth
paste, socks and special messages to the children are greatly
appreciated and just may be the only present these children receive this holiday season.
Also, thank you to Wilson-Gardner family for all their help in
loading up the cars to deliver these to the drop-off location.
Operation Christmas Child (OCC) is a project of Samaritan's
Purse, is the largest Christmas project of its kind in the world. In
the past 21 years, Operation Christmas Child (OCC) has handcollected and delivered over 100 million shoebox gifts to underprivileged children (2-14 years old) in more than 100 countries.
When typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines, Samaritan's Purse
chartered a 747 plane filled with 65,000 shoebox gifts to children
in the affected areas before Christmas.
SFX Christmas Boutique
The annual Christmas Boutique hosted by the
Burbank Associates for the Holy Faith Sisters is
just around the corner. Please join us and do
your holiday shopping. We have hand knit and
crocheted items, a gift table, religious table,
Christmas table, toy table, baked goods and a
bargain table. New items arriving daily. All
proceeds benefit those in need!
Boutique hours are:
Friday, December 4
8am - 3:30 pm
Saturday, December 5
11 am - 6:30 pm
Sunday, December 6
8:30 am - 6:30 pm
JUBILEE OF MERCY
Led by Sister Vicky
Thursdays in Advent
8:30 am in the Sunburst Room
December 3,
December 10,
December 17
Everyone is invited to the SIMBANG GABI an Advent
evening mass in the Filipino tradition to be celebrated at
our church
Reception and fellowship will follow at
Holy Cross Hall on
Friday December 18, 2015 at 7:00pm
Second Sunday in Advent
Page Six
Religious Education
News
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Do you have a little one in Pre-K or Kindergarten?
St. Francis has a Sunday School program designed just for them which meets during the
10:30 A.M. Mass. Using music, storytelling
and crafts this program is designed to nurture
young children’s natural tendency to seek a
relationship with God, reinforcing a strong
sense of community and love.
Parents drop their child off at 10:20 in the
lower school building and pick up
immediately following Mass.
The Following Churches in the
San Fernando Region have been
selected to be Pilgrimage Churches for
the Jubilee Year of Mercy
December 6, 2015
CHILDREN’S LITURGY
OF THE WORD
(For children in the 1st, 2nd,
and 3rd Grade)
In addition to your child’s regular religious education instruction, this program runs late Sept. thru April during
the Sunday 10:30 A.M. Mass and is a great opportunity
for children to understand the Sunday Gospel at their
own age level. After the priest leads the opening prayer
at Mass, the children are dismissed to a classroom in
the lower school building. They are provided with colorful activities and handouts that enhance what they hear
from their adult leaders about the word of God. The
children then return to church to celebrate the Liturgy of
the Eucharist with the rest of the parish family. This is a
free program and no registration is required.
Become a Member of Our Parish
Please include your name, address, and
email address and we will add you to
be a member of our church.
Name:___________________________________
Our Lady of Lourdes – Northridge
St. Mary – Palmdale
Holy Family – Glendale
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary – Sun Valley
Address:_________________________________
________________________________________
Email: ___________________________________
Phone Number: ___________________________
DIRECTORY OF MINISTRIES
DID YOU KNOW?
Shop safely this Christmas:
If you let your kids go to the mall by themselves to buy
Christmas presents, you should talk to them about potential dangers they need to guard against. Christmas is
the busiest time of year for commercial retail, which
means that malls and shopping centers will be more
crowded, and younger kids and teens who are alone
may be a target for kidnappers and other dangers. Talk
to your children about being aware of their surroundings, and where to go for help. Be in contact with them
while they’re shopping, and have a check-in place and
time set if you’re splitting up.

For more information

please visit: http://safety.more4kids.info/186/shopping-with
kids/.
Annulments Deacon Jaime
(818)504-4400
Baptism
(818)504-4411
Bereavement Ministry (Funerals)
(818)504-4400
Children's Liturgy of the Word
(818)504-4411
Confirmation
(818)504-4411
Eucharistic Ministers to the Sick
(818)767-5630
First Eucharist (Grades 1 & 2)
(818)504-4411
Marriages
(818)504-4400
Pastoral Ministry to the Sick
(818)767-0407
Quinceñera
(818)504-4400
R.C.I.A. (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults)(818)504-4411
Reconciliation by Appointment
(818)504-4400
Peace & Justice Ministries
(818)504-4428
Interested in engaging in the spirituality of Justice call
Food Pantry
Environmental Stewardship
Advocacy
Formation & Leadership Program
Community Outreach