ST. JOHN’S PARISH NEWSLETTER ePistle at www.creighton.edu\stjohns

Omaha’s Jesuit Parish located at Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178

Cornerstone laid 1887—Established as a Parish 1897—Designated a City Landmark 1981

MASS/RECONCILIATION TIMES 402-280-3030

PARISH OFFICE 402-280-3031

Pastor: Fr. Lorn Snow, S.J. 402-280-3262

Associate Pastor: Fr. Phil Amidon, S.J. 402-280-2206

Eucharist:

Monday- Friday 7:00 a.m. Main Church

No Mass during University Breaks

Monday—Friday 12 noon Main Church

Monday—Friday 5:00 p.m. Fr. Halley Chapel, LSJ

Monday 9:00 p.m. Main Church**

Tuesday 9:00 p.m. Fr. Halley Chapel, LSJ**

Saturday 7:00 a.m. Main Church **

12 Noon Fr. Halley Chapel, LSJ

5:00 p.m. Main Church

(Anticipatory)

Sunday 8:00 a.m. Main Church

10:30 a.m. Main Church

4:30 p.m. Main Church**

8:30 p.m. Main Church**

10:00 p.m. Main Church**

**Academic Year Only—dates @www.creighton.edu\stjohns

Adult Faith Formation (Fall and Lenten Series)

Sunday 9:15 a.m. Conf. Room, LSJ

Youth Religious Education

Sunday 9:15—10:15 a.m. LSJ

Reconciliation:

Mon—Fri 12:30—1:00 p.m.

Saturday 4:00—5:00 p.m.

St. John’s Parish Pastoral Council

Rick Bellino, Co-Chair 402-699-6380

Laraine Conway 402-558-4105

Martha Lemar, Co-Chair 402-280-3068

Sean Malloy, Secretary 402-214-5572

Bill Mullen 402-508-3107

Jane O’Brien 402-551-7436

Richard Super, Trustee 402-551-9412

Helen Wanken 402-558-9209

Sandi Cihal

Michael Hoover 402-933-5024

Tin Tran 402-884-9961

Alyssa Beasley, CU Student

Brielle Kelley, CU Student

December 11, 2016 - Third Sunday of Advent

Pope: Doubts Should Spur Prayer

Vatican City (CNS) - Everyone experiences doubts

about the faith at times—”I have” many times, Pope

Francis said—but such doubts can be sign of wanting

to know God better.

“We do not need to be afraid of questions and

doubts because they are the beginning of a path of

knowledge and going deeper; one who does not ask

questions cannot progress either in knowledge or in

faith,” the pope said November 23 at his weekly

general audience.

Pope Francis said that although the Year of Mercy

has concluded, he wanted to continue his general

audience reflections on the corporal and spiritual

works of mercy. The pope focused on the spiritual

works of mercy of “counseling the doubtful” and

“instructing the ignorant,” which he said was not

meant as an insult, but simply as a description of a

person who does not know something.

Calling a lack of access to education a “grave

injustice,” he asked those in the audience hall to give

a round of applause to teachers and the “long list of

saints, who throughout the ages, brought education

to the most disadvantaged.”

Saturday 5:00 p.m. Sunday 8:00 a.m. Sunday 10:30 a.m. Sunday 4:30 p.m.

PRESIDER Fr. Carlson, S.J. Fr. Amidon, S.J. Fr. O’Meara, S.J.

LITURGICAL ASSISTANT Mary Lee Brock Dick Cleary Jenny Tilleman

ALTAR SERVER Christopher Nubel

LECTORS Renee O’Brien Catrina Alexander Anna Nubel No Mass

Joan Lanahan Bob Austria Steve Scherr

PRAYERS Eileen Burke-Sullivan Bob Austria Barb Schmidt

EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS M. A. McDonald D. Cleary M.J. Slightam

S. Hansen J. Lanahan C. Alexander K. Swenson

E. Burke-Sullivan B. Austria R. Grimit

R. O’Brien L. Daly J. Stender

M. A. Greene-Walsh J. & S. Scherr

S. Braddock L. Hayek J. & B. Schmidt

Liturgical Ministry Schedule— December 17-18, 2016 This schedule can also be accessed at St. John’s website—http://stjohns.creighton.edu

Readings for the week 35:1-6a, 10 5:7-10 11:2-11

Is Jas Mt

Sunday

Third Sunday of Advent 12/11

2:14-17 1:26-38

Zec Lk

Monday Our Lady of Guadalupe

12/12

3:1-2, 9-13 21:28-32

Zep Mt

Tuesday 12/13

45:6b-8, 18, 21b-25 7:18b-23

Is Lk

Wednesday

12/14

54:1-10 7:24-30

Is Lk

Thursday

12/15

56:1-3a, 6-8 5:33-36

Is Jn

Friday

12/16

49:2, 8-10 1:1-17

Gn Mt

Saturday

12/17

7:10-14 1:1-7 1:18-24

Is Rom Mt

Sunday

Fourth Sunday of Advent 12/18

Weekly Budget Goal 7,067.31 Annual Budget Goal 367,500.12

Weekend 12/3-4/2016 10,383.80 Fiscal Year-to-Date Goal 162,548.13

Above (below) weekly goal 3,316.49 Amount Collected YTD 161,305.94

Above (Below) YTD Goal ( 1,242.19)

Renee Kalkowski

Jack Walsh

Colleen Davis & Family

Richard Grimit

Weekly Offering Report

Mass Intentions December 12—17, 2016

7:00 AM (Main Church) Monday

Tuesday Terry Azeltine—deceased

Wednesday

Thursday Ivel Reed—deceased

Friday Josephine Guisto—deceased

Saturday

12:00 Noon (Main Church) Monday Adam Bohan—intention

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday Creighton Counseling Department –intentions

Friday Grace McDonald—deceased

Saturday (LSJ’s)

5:00 PM (Fr. Halley Chapel, LSJ’s) Monday John Sodoro—deceased

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday Deceased Members of Ignatian Associates

Friday

The Second Collection this week is for: Retirement Fund for Religious

Please be as generous as you are able.

St. John’s Fall Adult Faith Formation Series : Faith beyond Belief Spirituality for Our Times

Lower St. John’s: 9:15-10:15 a.m December 11: Ch. 17 “Spiritual Growth, or…”, Ch. 18 “Roots and Growth, or…” and Ch. 22 “Speaking about Experiences, or…” December 18: Ch. 20 “Time for Gratitude, or: Why Every Moment Is a Gift.” This will be our final meeting.

Seeded at God’s Hand: The Collected Writings of Patrick Malone, S.J. Books for sale ($15.00) in the parish office or online at: http://www.creighton.edu/ministry/stjohns/

Christmas Environment

Donations

At all the entrances of the church you can find envelopes for Memorials for the Christmas Environment. Please return envelopes by way of the collection baskets on Sundays. The last weekend

to send in a memorial will be the weekend of December 18th. If you have any questions please contact Kathleen Denne at

402-280-2975 or email kdenne@creighton.edu

The Christmas Giving Tree Project New this year to St. John’s. Please consider wrapping up a gift for a child living in poverty. Simply select an ornament from the tree displayed next to Mary’s altar. Wrap and attach the ornament to your gift. Put the gift under the tree and you have made a child smile! This year, the hope is to collect needed items for:

New immigrant and refugee children of Fontenelle Elementary School who need socks, gloves, shoes and other things

The Children of the Hope Center for Kids. They provide a safe after-school and summer program

Finally, consider a donation for $50.00 toward supporting a child’s education. You will see ornaments for this option.

All gifts should be under the tree before December 19. Questions? Contact Vivian at vivianamu@creighton.edu or 402-280-2786. Thank you for your generosity and kindness.

Please retrieve November Memorial pictures/keepsakes from the sacristy as soon as possible. Thank you.

A BIG THANK YOU to all of the faithful workers and all of the amazing food donations we received for the St. John’s Thanksgiving Student Dinner. The estimate was about 350 students that enjoyed a wonder-ful meal, complete with all of the holiday’s favorite comfort foods. We couldn’t have done it without you and your generosity. Peace! Bill and Janet Mullen

Join us for a joy-filled service of scripture readings and carols that tell the story of Christ coming into the world. Gather around the altar at 5:00pm. Hot

chocolate, tea, and cookies to follow in the resource room!

Get Your Smiles Ready! The NEW Parish Directory is

in the works. Picture dates are planned for January 20 – 23. Volunteers are needed to help register people. Please

email Mike Hoover at: Hooverdds6@gmail.com if you

assist with this project. More specifics to follow in coming weeks!

Creighton University’s Christian Spirituality Program invites you to contemplate, relax, revel,

and enjoy God’s working in your life and to partici-pate in a silent, eight day, individually directed, Ignatian Retreat at a lovely quiet setting in western Iowa on the banks of the East Nishnabotna River at the Creighton University Retreat Center. We have three dates to fit your schedule: March 6-15, 2017; June 1-10, 2017; and July 31 – August 9, 2017. Transportation to and from the retreat house is available from the Creighton campus for anyone who does not want to drive. Contact Colleen Hastings csp@creighton.edu / 402 280-2303) for more information and to register.

Parking on the East side of the Church will be unavailable until

approximately Jan 5th due to construction.

THANK YOU to everyone who participated in St. John's first Day of Service! Approximately

200 parishioners volunteered at the following 11 sites:

THANK YOU to the individuals who served as coordinators for each service project!

THANK YOU to the people who baked and delivered cookies for organizations including:

We also delivered gift bags with toiletries and treats to 10 women and 7 children (age 5 and

younger) at Carole's House of Hope.

THANK YOU to Joan Howard for preparing the reflection questions for adults and children

shared at Saturday's dinner in the Student Center.

THANKS also to the service project participants who completed our follow-up survey. We

appreciate your feedback!

Last but not least, THANK YOU to

everyone in the parish who

supported the Day of Service with

your prayers. We are grateful for

your service to our parish and our

neighbors!

Day of Service Planning Committee

Empowerment Network

Food Bank of the Heartland

Heart Ministry Center

Jesuit Middle School

John Vianney Retirement Home

Lutheran Family Services

Open Door Mission

QLI

St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store

Sisters of Mercy at Mercy Villa

Via Christe

Carole’s House of Hope

Lydia House

New Cassel Retirement Center

Omaha Police and Fire Departments

Public Safety

Ronald McDonald House

Siena/Francis House

Stephen Center

Martha Todd

Jessica Summers

Kathy Savory Mary Ann McDonald

Fr. Snow, S.J.

Hard at work at the St. Vincent de Paul warehouse