ST HELEN CHURCH

RIVERSIDE, OHIO December 9, 2018

READINGS FOR DECEMBER 15 & 16

Zephaniah 3:14-18a

Philippians 4:4-7

Luke 3:10-18

With heartfelt thanks for your

STEWARDSHIP OF TREASURE

December 1 & 2

$16,248.67

November SVDP Donations

$5,760.75

NEW FROM FAITH DIRECT: Text-to-Give!

Are you a visitor to St. Helen Parish for Mass?

Are you a member of the Parish but you forgot your regular or second collection envelope,

check, or cash? You can use text to give to contribute to the Retirement Fund for the Religious!

To securely make a gift to St. Helen Parish or School or any of our special appeals, you can text a dollar

amount to (937)-719-0017. You will be asked to complete a one-time registration page with your bill-

ing and contact information. After this registration, you can give any time by texting a dollar amount to

our phone number! More information to come!

RETIREMENT FUND FOR THE RELIGIOUS

Aging religious need our help!

Senior Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests

ministered for years for little to no pay. Their sacrifices now

leave their religious communities without adequate retirement savings. Your gift to today’s sec-

ond collection for the Retirement Fund for the Religious helps to provide medications, nursing

care, and more for tens of thousands of elderly religious. Thank you for your generosity! If you

forgot your envelope, you can turn it in next weekend OR use our Text-to-Give option.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

There will be a communal Advent rec-

onciliation service for the parishes of Immac-

ulate Conception, St. Helen, and Ascension on

Thursday, December 13, at 7:00 p.m. at Im-

maculate Conception Church. Please join

other family members of the Body of Christ in receiving this healing sacrament as a part of your

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

UPDATE FROM THE BUILDING & GROUNDS COMMITTEE

AND THE FINANCE COMMISSION Last year, Fr. Satish invited the Finance Commission and Building and Grounds Committee to assess the

facilities needs of the parish. Much work has gone into this process and one of the priorities was a study to weigh

the pros, cons and feasibility of constructing a new, up-to-date Cafeteria/Parish Center for St. Helen’s. Please al-

low us to update you about the most recent developments.

We would like to update the parish on the beginnings of an up-to-date school cafeteria/parish center pro-

ject. After much discussion and thought by many parish groups, the Buildings and Grounds Committee and Fi-

nance Commission met jointly in August to address the project. A new cafeteria/parish center has been deemed a

top priority for the Parish and School with the premise that such a space would help to more effectively provide

breakfast and lunch to our students, as well as an additional space for parish events. As you may know, increased

enrollment in our school now demands that students be served breakfast in classrooms, and that lunch breaks take

place in compressed time periods. A budget has been agreed upon for the project and a request for proposal has

been issued to several companies. Upon receipt of the proposals, we will review to determine their acceptability

and project timeline for presentation to Parish Pastoral Council.

INFANT JESUS SHOWER The Infant Jesus Shower Committee and St. Vincent DePaul Society would like to thank everyone who

participated in any way to the Infant Jesus Shower. Through your generosity 217 children in 81 families were

given new toys and clothes this year! May the love and caring you have shown to all of these families help to

make your Christmas blessed. It is wonderful to see that the true meaning of Christmas is alive and well at St.

Helen.

THANK YOU FOR A SUCESSFUL BAZAAR! The PTO would like to thank everyone who helped make the Christmas Bazaar a huge success. We are

very grateful for the parishioners, teachers and school families that donated baked goods, handmade crafts, raffle

items and volunteered their time on Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday. We also appreciate everyone that

came to the bazaar to support the local vendors, visit Santa, shop in the Tyke Shop and eat lunch. So many mem-

bers of the parish and school families, both those who have been around for many years, and those who are brand

new to our school, pitched in to make the event a huge success. You are all a blessing! Thank you.

The PTO would like to give an extra thank you to the St. Helen Boy Scouts for helping with tear down and

clean up. With the scout’s help clean up was quick and efficient.

Congratulations to the Raffle Winners

Handmade Tables – Dan Dawes

Baby It’s Cold Outside Basket – Donna Hilgeford

Spa Basket – Jen Mamula

Carroll High School Basket – Barbara Marsh

Cardinal Hill Membership – Brian

Cross Stitch Sampler – Chrissy Buschur

Christmas Dish Set – Kathy Otoski

Handmade Tree Skirt – Shirley Nelson

Amish Basket – Elizabeth Dawes

Handmade Candle Sconces – Amy Comer

Handmade Christmas Carvings – Meg Schmidt

Quilt – Kathy Snyder

We look forward to working together for the 2019 Christmas Bazaar. Be sure to mark your calendars for

Saturday, December 7, 2019.

ST HELEN CHURCH

RIVERSIDE, OHIO December 9, 2018

Christmas Season Masses and

Special Ways to Help

CHRISTMAS MASSES ARE AT

5:00 p.m., Monday, December 24, with special music & carols beginning at

4:20.

Midnight, Tuesday, December 25, with special music & carols beginning at

11:25.

9:00 a.m., Tuesday, December 25, with special music & carols beginning at

8:40.

We would love to have families or groups of friends at the Mass they attend:

Carry in and place the Dedication Candles in the walls as part of the entrance pro-

cession. (A brief explanation and walk through beforehand is necessary.) Children

old enough to carry a lit candle with a glass globe are welcome to participate; 4

people needed in total.)

Dress the altar and carry in and place the altar candles. (5-6 people needed; very

short practice ahead of time required.)

Bring up the gifts (minimum of 3 people needed; more can participate)

Monday morning, December 24, at 8:30: (Note:

There is NO 8:15 a.m. Mass on December 24.)

We’d love to have three people help us set up the poin-

settia tree which makes our Christmas environment so

beautiful!

If climbing up on a 12’ ladder does not intimidate you,

we need someone to put up the Christmas banners

PLEASE CALL MARY IN THE PARISH OFFICE

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR ARE ABLE TO HELP! 254-6233

The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, is a holy day of obligation. The Vigil

Mass will be on Monday, December 31, at 5:00 p.m., and the Holy Day Mass will

be on Tuesday, January 1, at 9 a.m.

VERIFY CAROL TIMES WITH ELLEN

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

CALENDAR OF EVENTS MONDAY, DECEMBER 10

Novena-BSC 9:00 am

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11

Rosary-CH 9:00 am

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12

Centering Prayer-HR 3:15 pm

SVDP Meeting-HR 6:30 pm

PPC Christmas Gathering-POB 7:00 pm

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13

OBOB Advent Reconciliation Service at

Immaculate Conception Parish 7:00 pm

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14

Regional Mass at Immaculate Conception 8:15 am

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15

5:00 pm Mass-Fr. Satish

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16

8:00 am Mass-Fr. Satish

10:30 am Mass-Fr. Satish

WEEKLY MASS INTENTIONS SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9

8:00 Michael McClain (John & Margaret Schrand)

10:30 am Stefanie Moran Birthday Remembrance

(Family)

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10

8:15 am Elaine Santana (Helen O’Brien)

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11

8:15 am In Honor of Paul Tarlano (Anonymous)

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12

8:15 am Nancy Dunn (Bill & Kathy Phelps)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13

8:15 am Linda Willis (Matt & Gail Caffrey)

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14

8:15 am Regional Mass at Immaculate Conception

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16

8:00 am Doris Issenmann (Linda Heckman)

10:30 am Elaine Cotherman (Mary Ellen Pfeil)

THE BOOSTER CLUB FISH FRY NEEDS YOUR HELP! The St. Helen Booster Club Fish Fry is looking for any direct seller (Pampered

Chef, LuLaRoe, Stampin’ Up, Matilda Jane, and others to name a few) and/or any

small business owners/managers fro our St. Helen families who would be willing to

donate items for the Fish Fry to be held on January 26, 2019. We are also looking for

donations of gift cards and other items you would like to repurpose (in like-new condi-

tion) to be used in the silent auction/raffle portion of the Fish Fry. Donations can be

dropped of in the parish or school office no later than January 22, 2019. Please contact

Judy Barker (Silent Auction/Raffle Basket chair) at 937.426.6262 with any questions.

Thank you!

Eucharistic Minister Eucharistic Minister Altar Server Lector

Saturday, 5:00 PM

December 15

Irene Bacher Judy Decker Ben Heil

Frank Semmelmayer Nancy Strathearn

Grace Randall Abigail Randall

William Flaute (1) Daniel Wolodkiewicz (2)

Sunday, 8:00 AM

December 16

Lynn Howell Brian Lezanic Sarah Seward

Walter Seward Todd Tayloe

Mary Heider Louie Studler

Ronald Beavers (1) Thomas Weese (2)

Sunday, 10:30 AM

December 16

John Finnegan Mary Finnegan Erin Friel Jan Friel

Diana Madden Timothy Madden Kari Madden Nicole Miller

Luke Farley William Friel Kai Hary

Julie Jefferson (1) Mary Ellen Pfeil (2)

ST HELEN CHURCH

RIVERSIDE, OHIO December 9, 2018

DO YOU HAVE

AN HOUR OR TWO A WEEK OR AS NEEDED

TO HELP WITH OUR SACRISTAN MINISTRY?

YOU CHOOSE WHAT WORKS

WITH YOUR INTERESTS AND AVAILABILITY TRAINING AND SUPPORT WILL BE PROVIDED

WE REALLY NEED HELP WITH THE FOLLOWING:

General care of the church, sacred vessels, and devotional items

working with other sacristans to do the following once a week: Light cleaning and dusting of the church on Friday mornings

Cleaning and polishing vessels

Replacing devotional candles when they have burned down

Washing and ironing the communion cloths and hand towels

(no ironing necessary for the towels!)

Preparing for special liturgy needs

Serving as a back-up sacristan to set up for the Mass you attend

when regular sacristans are not available? Follow a simple check list; takes 20 to 30 minutes

Serving as an additional sacristan for funerals (approximately 2 hours)

Follow a simple check list to set up for the funeral Mass

Push a button to ring the church toll bells

Light the charcoal for the incense used

Do a quick clean up afterward

Serving as an additional sacristan for weddings Approximately 6-8 weddings per year

Rehearse with the bridal party the night before the wedding

Set up for the wedding Mass

Be available during the Mass and do a quick clean up after Mass (Instruction binder with all details )

FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION,

PLEASE CALL MARY FINNEGAN AT 256-7058

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

IMAGES AND PRAYERS FROM “THIS MOST HOLY EXCHANGE”

From Preface 1 of Advent Used Dec 1 to Dec 16

to remind us of Christ’s second coming:

For he assumed at his first coming

the lowliness of human flesh,

and so fulfilled the design you formed long ago,

and opened for us the way to eternal salvation,

that, when he comes again in glory and majesty

and all is at last made manifest,

we who watch for that day

may inherit the great promise

in which now we dare to hope.

From Preface 1 of Advent Used Dec 17 to Dec 24

to speak to us of Christ’s birth

For all the oracles of the prophets foretold him,

the Virgin Mother longed for him

with love beyond all telling,

John the Baptist sang of his coming

and proclaimed his presence when he came.

It is by his gift that already we rejoice

at the mystery of his Nativity,

so that he may find us watchful in prayer

and exultant in his praise.

From the Prayers over the

Offerings at the Christmas

Mass at night

May the oblation

of this day’s feast

be pleasing to you,

O Lord, we pray,

that through

this most holy exchange

we may be found

in the likeness of Christ,

in whom our nature

is united in you.

All from the Roman Missal,

Third Edition

ST HELEN CHURCH

RIVERSIDE, OHIO December 9, 2018