Houston Okonma Received the Ministry of Acolyte

on November 19, 2017

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November 19, 2017 Regular Collection $ 7,599.55 Second Collection $ 1,585.00 Children Mass $ 187.00

November 26, 2017

Regular Collection $ 8,315.55

TODAY’S READINGS

First Reading — We are the clay and you, O LORD, are the potter: we are the work of your hands (Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7). Psalm — Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved (Psalm 80). Second Reading — God is faithful; by God you were called to fellowship with the Son (1 Corinthians 1:3-9). Gospel — Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. (Mark 13:33-37). The English translation of the Psalm Responses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.

Traveling Chalice Program

I would like my family to be on the list to receive the

Traveling Chalice.

Name: ___________________________________

Address: __________________________________

Telephone: ________________________________

Email: ___________________________________

What Mass do you attend?

Saturday 5:00 PM Sunday 8:00 AM Sunday 10:00 AM Sunday 6:30 PM You can also signup by sending an email to: scchalice@gmail.com

DSF Summary Report - 2017

Parish Goal: $49,000.00

Total Amount Paid: $38,686.00

Percent Paid: 78.95%

St. Christopher Catholic Church Penance Service

Tuesday, December 5th at 7:00pm in the church

Sanctuary Candles

for the week of December 3, 2017

In memory of

Diamantina Castro

By Louisa & Hector Castro

First Sunday of Advent December 3, 2017

Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when

the time will come. — Mark 13:33

God Has A Different Plan

We begin the season of Advent with a heartfelt call for our own repentance. We remember God’s faithful love for us, and call upon God to help us to turn back. For “behold, you are angry, and we are sinful” (Isaiah 64:4). In the first reading and in the psalm, we recall God’s promises and lament our unfaithfulness and our guilt. We call upon God’s might and power in order to save us. With Isaiah, we ask God to “rend the heavens and come down, / with the mountains quaking before you” (Isaiah 63:19). Yes, God is faithful to us, because we are the work of God’s hands. God is the potter, we are the clay. And yet, our concept of how God will come to save us is rooted in our own expectations of a warrior God who crushes mountains and thunders into our lives with great noise and glory. But God has a different plan: the Incarnation. Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.

The Immaculate Conception of the

Blessed Virgin Mary

Friday, December 8th (Holy Day of Obligation)

8:30 A.M. English Mass 6:00 P.M. Vietnamese Mass

7:30 P.M. Bilingual Mass

(All Masses in the Church)

The Rectory office will be closed on this day.

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St. Christopher Catholic School School Bulletin Announcements

Week of December 3, 2017

The School Office is open 7:30 AM until 3:30 PM Monday thru Friday. Please come by, call the School Office 713-649-0009 or visit our web site: sccs1939.org for information.

Monday December 4, 2017 ~ The Ned Show – 9:00 AM in the gym – Pre-K thru 8th grades ~ First Eucharist Oral Interviews 3:30 – 5:00 PM ~ Clubs: Exercise, Think, Dance & Running (A) ~ Boy’s Basketball Home Game – Holy Rosary Tuesday, December 5, 2017 ~ Altar Server Practice ~ Choir Practice 4PM ~ Spanish Club Wednesday, December 6, 2017 ~ School Mass – 8:30 AM – 3rd Grade ~ Vocations Cross 4th & 5th Grades ~ Spelling Bee begins for 3rd – 5th grades right after Mass/6th-8th grades after ~ Running Club (B) after school ~ Boy’s Basketball Game – Holy Family – Away ~ First Eucharist Parent Meeting 7:00-8:00 PM in the Meeting Rm. - English Thursday, December 7, 2017 ~ Reconciliation 9:15 AM for 3rd thru 8th Grades ~ Chess Club ~ Cheer Practice ~ Girl’s Basketball Game – Away – Holy Family Friday, December 8, 2017 ~ Feast of the Immaculate Conception - All School Mass 8:30 AM ~ Science Fair – 2:00 PM in the Gym 5th thru 8th grades

Office Depot 5% Back to Schools Program Help our school earn FREE SUPPLIES! Our school will earn up to 5% of your qualifying purchases to use for FREE supplies. You can credit our school year-round! Here is how it works: Every time you shop at OFFICE DEPOT/OFFICE MAX, Give them our School ID#770097760.

Many School supplies and food items have “Box Tops for Education” on them now. Please continue to save these for our school. You can drop them in the weekend collection marked “Box Tops for School” or by the school office any time!

Thank you!!

SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES Sunday: First Sunday of Advent Monday: St. John Damascene Wednesday: St. Nicholas Thursday: St. Ambrose; Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Friday: Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Saturday: St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION

Advent calendars appear now in many homes, and new-fangled formats are even available on line. Children have fun opening the doors and windows keyed to the days count-ing down to Christmas. Behind each door is a picture related to the Christmas mystery, perhaps a scripture verse or say-ing, but more and more these days something totally uncon-nected to religious life, like a small toy or a chocolate treat, appears instead. The Advent calendar is not very old as tra-ditions go. We can trace it back to German-speaking Chris-tians, both Protestant and Catholic. Lutherans might have originated the custom by placing chalk marks on doors start-ing December 1, lighting candles every day, or placing a new religious picture on the wall each day during Advent. The oldest known hand-made calendar goes back to 1851, and the first printed ones appeared in 1908 in Germany with Bible verses behind the doors. By far the most interesting calendar is a building, the town hall (Rathaus) of Gengen-bach in Germany’s Black Forest. Every year the townspeo-ple invite an illustrator of children’s books to create twenty-four paintings or motifs for each of the twenty-four main windows of the building. Every night the people gather to see a new window opened and illuminated. Very few commercial Advent calendars pay much attention to the core values of our liturgical calendar: the pivotal place of Sunday, the importance of Advent feasts like Saint Lucy and Saint Nicholas, and the clear shift in tone on December 17 from Advent longing and preparation toward imminent hope in Christ’s coming. That kind of creativity is left up to you! -Rev. James Field, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.

Parish Mission

The Mission is Scheduled Monday thru Wednesday December 18th, 19th & 20th

Join Fr. Tom Allender at St. Christopher Catholic Church

Monday - Jesus says we are to love and be loved Tuesday - How do we live love? How does Pope

Francis live love? Wednesday - “Beyond Faith: Let’s be healers of

wounds”

Time and location to follow next week.

READINGS FOR THE WEEK

Monday: Is 2:1-5; Ps 122:1-9; Mt 8:5-11 Tuesday: Is 11:1-10; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17; Lk 10:21-24 Wednesday: Is 25:6-10a; Ps 23:1-6; Mt 15:29-37 Thursday: Is 26:1-6; Ps 118:1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a; Mt 7:21, 24-27 Friday: Gn 3:9-15, 20; Ps 98:1-4; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38 Saturday: Is 30:19-21, 23-26; Ps 147:1-6; Mt 9:35 — 10:1, 5a, 6-8 Sunday: Is 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps 85:9-14; 2 Pt 3:8-14; Mk 1:1-8

Pray for these who have died: Oremos por nuestros hermanos recientemente fallecidos:

Ma. de Jesus Gonzalez, Fr. James T. Moore, Rodolfo Mendoza Jr., Fr. Fred J. G. Ablog, Lien Van Lam, Reynaldo Sanchez, Mary Carrion, Connie Rodriguez, Maria Rendon, Joshua Eiji Searle, Philip Ramos, Jr., Jose Castillo

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Mass Intentions / Intenciones de las Misas

Sunday / Domingo 12/03/2017 8:00 am Mary & Benny Derkowski Freddie Skweres 10:00 am Edgar Rodriguez Michael Rios 12:00 pm Guillermo Toledo Sagrado Corazon de Jesus 6:30 pm Serafin Ramirez Sr. Vanessa Flores Monday / Lunes 12/04/2017 8:30 am Poor Souls in Purgatory Eliseo Yruegaz Jr.

Tuesday / Martes 12/05/2017 8:30 am Vanessa Flores Gustavo Rodriquez

Wednesday / Miércoles 12/06/2017 8:30 am Petra Cortez Velasquez Gary Gomez

Thursday / Jueves 12/07/2017 8:30 am Joe Duane Friday / Viernes 12/08/2017 8:30 am Marriage Restoration

Saturday / Sabado 12/09/2017 8:30 am Marianne Auzenne 5:00 pm David A Garcia Reynaldo Sanchez

Pray for special intentions of our Seminarians:

Thuc Nguyen , Houston Okonma

Pray for those individuals reported sick: Oremos por nuestros hermanos enfermos: Alisha Rivera, My-Linh Do, Olga Nuncio, Epifania Gonzalez, Sabrina Nanez, Arturo Garcia, Carliss Davis.

Servicio Penitencial

Iglesia St. Christopher martes 5 de Diciembre

a las 7:00 P.M. en la iglesia

Pray for Special Intentions

of Thomas Cody

FIESTA DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE GUADALUPE

Martes 12 de Diciembre

6:00 a.m. Mañanitas a la Virgen 7:00 a.m. El Santo Rosario 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Tiempo de Oración 7:00 p.m. Celebración de la Santa Misa

8:00 p.m. Recepción en el Gimnasio

VIRTUS

El taller “Protegiendo a los Niños de Dios” para nuevos voluntarios en la parroquia, se ofrecerá aquí en

St. Christopher el Sábado 9 de Diciembre de 2017 a la 1 p.m. en el Salón de Reuniones.

Requiere inscripción previa. Para inscribirse visite la pagina de VirtusOnline.org

Para mas información favor de llamar a Nereida S. Medrano al (713)-645-6142.

Inmaculada Concepción de la Santísima

Virgen María (Día Santo de Obligación)

Viernes 8 de Diciembre

Misa a las 8:30 A.M. en ingles Misa a las 6:00 P.M. en vietnamés

Misa a las 7:30 P.M. en inglés y español

(todas las Misase en la iglesia) Este día las Oficinas permanecerán cerradas

LOS SANTOS Y OTRAS CELEBRACIONES Domingo: Primer Domingo de Adviento Lunes: San Juan Damasceno Miércoles: San Nicolás Jueves: San Ambrosio; Día para Recordar Pearl Harbor Viernes: La Inmaculada Concepción de la Virgen María Sábado: San Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

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LECTURAS DE HOY

Primera lectura — Isaías ruega por el retorno del Señor (Isaías 63:16-17, 19; 64:2-7). Salmo — Señor, Dios nuestro, restáuranos que brille tu rostro y nos salve (Salmo 80 [79]). Segunda lectura — Pablo está agradecido por las ben-diciones que los corintios han recibido debido a su fe en Jesús (1 Corintios 1:3-9). Evangelio — Jesús dice a los discípulos que estén siempre alertas a la llegada del tiempo designado (Marcos 13:33-37). Salmo responsorial: Leccionario Hispanoamericano Dominical © 1970, Comisión Episcopal Española. Usado con permiso. Todos los derechos reservados.

LECTURAS DE LA SEMANA

Lunes: Is 2:1-5; Sal 122 (121):1-9; Mt 8:5-11 Martes: Is 11:1-10; Sal 72 (71):1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17; Lc 10:21-24 Miércoles: Is 25:6-10a; Sal 23 (22):1-6; Mt 15:29-37 Jueves: Is 26:1-6; Sal 118 (117):1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a; Mt 7:21, 24-27 Viernes: Gn 3:9-15, 20; Sal 98 (97):1-4; Ef 1:3-6, 11-12; Lc 1:26-38 Sábado: Is 30:19-21, 23-26; Sal 147 (146):1-6; Mt 9:35 — 10:1, 5a, 6-8 Domingo: Is 40:1-5, 9-11; Sal 85 (84):9-14; 2 Pe 3:8-14; Mc 1:1-8

Cáliz Viajero

Quiero que mi familia esté en la lista para recibir el Cáliz Viajero.

Nombre: _____________________

Dirección: ________________________________

Teléfono: _________________________________

Correo: ___________________________________ Electrónico: ¿Durante que misa prefiere recibir el cáliz?

Sábado 5:00 PM Domingo 10:00 AM Domingo 8:00 AM Domingo 12:00 PM Domingo 6:30 PM

También se puede registrar por correo electrónico mandando un email a: scchalice@gmail.com.

Cursillistas …. La Ultreya en San Cristóbal es cada Lunes a las 7:00 pm en el Salón #2 del edificio de Educación para Adultos,

te invitamos!

Primer Domingo de Adviento 3 de diciembre de 2017

Velen y estén preparados, porque no saben cuándo

llegará el momento. — Marcos 13:33

DIOS TIENE OTRO PLAN Comenzamos el tiempo de Adviento con un llamado sincero al arrepentimiento. Recordamos el amor fiel que Dios siente por nosotros y le pedimos que nos ayude a emprender el camino de regreso: “estabas airado porque nosotros pecábamos” (Isaías 64:4). En la primera lectura y en el salmo, recordamos las promesas de Dios y lamen-tamos nuestra rebeldía y nuestra culpa. Invocamos el poder de Dios para salvarnos. Con Isaías, le decimos a Dios: “Ojalá rasgaras los cielos y bajaras, estremeciendo las montañas con tu presencia” (Isaías 63:19). Sí, Dios nos es fiel, porque somos hechura de las manos de Dios. Dios es el alfarero, nosotros el barro. Y sin embargo, nuestro concepto de cómo Dios vendrá a salvarnos se origina en nuestra expectativa de un Dios guerrero que estremece las montañas y llega a nuestra vida con ruido y gloria. Pero Dios tiene otro plan: la Encarnación. Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.

La Sociedad Guadalupana les invita a rezar el Santo Rosario

los Viernes a las 7:00 p.m. en la Capilla de nuestra parroquia.

Además nuestras peticiones personales.

VENGAN, los esperamos!

Devoción a la Divina Misericordia

Les a que nos acompañe a rezar la coronilla a la Divina Misericordia los Viernes 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.

en el Salón de Ed. II. También reflexionamos en Sagradas Escrituras del domingo siguiente con el

motivo de estar mejor dispuestas a recibir la Palabra de Dios durante la Misa Dominical.

CHURCH NAME AND ADDRESS St. Christopher Church #515202 8150 Park Place Boulevard Houston, TX 77017 TELEPHONE 713 645-6614 CONTACT PERSON Louisa Espinoza EMAIL: bulletin@stchristopherhouston.org SOFTWARE MS Publisher 2013 Adobe Acrobat X Windows 7 TRANSMISSION TIME Thursday 11:00 December 3, 2017 NUMBER OF PAGES SENT 1 through 6 SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS