ST. MARK’S BOTTINEAU & ST. ANDREW’S WESTHOPE

PARISH OFFICE: (701) 228-3164 RECTORY: (701) 228-5164 stsmanda@utma.com

322 Sinclair St. • Bottineau, ND • 58318 - www.stmark-standrew.org

December 17-18 Fourth Sunday of Advent

PARISH STAFF

Fr Michael Hickin, Pastor

Ursula Palmer, Secretary

Cathy Miller, Custodian

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Valerie Heth, DRE

St. Andrew’s Parish

Ursula Palmer, DRE

St. Mark’s Parish

WEEKEND MASS SCHEDULE

Saturday 5:30 pm, Bottineau

Sunday 9:00 am, Westhope

And 11:00 am, Bottineau

CONFESSIONS

Saturday, 4:30 pm, Bottineau

Sunday, 8:30 am, Westhope

Or by Appointment

OFFICE HOURS

Tue 12:30pm-5:00pm

Wed 9:00am-3:30pm

Thurs 12:30pm-5:00pm

Fri 9:00am-5:00pm

PARISH NEWS AND EVENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS St. Andrew’s— K-6 Religious Ed.— will resume January 8 December 18—Christmas Program St. Mark’s— Religious Ed Classes K-6– will resume January 4 Dec 3-18—Quilters’ Silent Auction

STEWARDSHIP MOMENTS “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.” – Matthew 1:24 Putting our complete trust in the Lord without ex-pecting anything in return. Striving to put God first in all things and follow Him wherever He may lead us. As we prepare for the birth of our Lord, pray for the strength and courage to be a model of dis-cipleship, just as Joseph was.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM OUR QUILTERS ST. MARK’S PARISH

The annual silent auction is already under way from

December 3rd through the 18th. You can start making your bids at the Parish Hall.

Good luck to all!

ST. MARK’S PARISHIONERS

PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR A MINISTRY

FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY.

THE SHEET IS OUT AT THE CHURCH ENTRANCE.

IT IS REALLY APPRECIATED!

Report For December 11, 2016

St Andrew’s: Ad env $ 2893 Pl $ 266 and Ch $ 13

St Mark’s: Ad env $ 2514 Pl $ 348 and Ch $ 22

Home Communion Any St. Mark parishioners desir-

ing Holy Communion at home,

call Claudia Trebas (228-2339) by

Monday eve to be put on the list.

To add or remove a name, please contact Deb Wyman at 245-6538

or the parish office.

PARISHIONERS, FAMILY, AND FRIENDS: Military personnel &

their families, Cindy Volk, Donna Stratton, Wayne Barbot; Renee

Wondrasek, Arlene Duval, Tanya Buzzerd, the Thomas family, Mi-

chael Doise, Patricia Anderson, Jaxon Barbot; Kenadi Zappone,

Bridget Herpel, Jerry Burns, Chris Vattel, Glen Brandjord, Eloise

Halvorson, a special private intention.

Sat, December 17, 5:30 p.m. St. Mark’s

(† Tom & Priscilla Fischer)

Sun, December 18, 11 a.m. St. Andrew’s

(Parishioners)

Sun, 9 a.m. St. Mark’s

(† Duane Sebelius)

Tue, December 20, 12 p.m. St. Mark’s

(† Leo Wald)

Wed, December 21, 12 p.m. St. Mark’s

(† Duane Sebelius)

Thurs, Dec 22, 9 a.m. St. Andrew’s

(† Todd Streich)

Fri, December 23, 11:00 a.m. Good Samaritan

(† Delmar Haberman)

Sat, December 24, 4:30 p.m. St. Andrew’s

(† Jack Sandy)

Sat, 7:30 pm St. Mark’s

(Parishioners)

Sun, December 25, 11 a.m. St. Mark’s

(† Duane Sebelius)

A Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

Jesus, you are constantly coming to your people, even when we fail to see you, in each and every moment that we are blessed to recognize you here and now, give us the courage to leap with joy at your coming. Amen.

St. Mark’s Ministries for December 24-25 DATE EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS READER GIFT BEARERS USHERS GREETERS COUNTERS

Satr. Bread: Jen Nero Morris Hollen Jr. / Vickie Gangl

Anne Bergeron Monte Mikkelsen family

Matt Brandjord/ Paul Amsbaugh

Beverly Boucher / Mona Johnson

Sun. Bread: Priscilla Sturdevant Leanna & Warren Emmer

Susan Haberman Mike Haberman family Steve Lorenz / Jeff Beyer

Wayne & Janel Barbot

Marlene Getzlaff / Vickie Gangl

Cleaning person for St. Mark’s. One day per week for the church/social hall and twice a month at the rectory. If interested, please contact the parish office. Thank you.

Clearing the Sidewalks @ St. Mark’s. Al Wondrasek has offered to clear snow from the sidewalks at St. Mark’s, but he will be absent sev-eral weeks this Winter.

The Northern Lights Apostles continue on the move.......

Here is what is going on:

We helped out with the Medora Christmas Musical on November 30th, during a snow storm! The Medora Foundation gave us a $300.00 donation for all of our help!!

Ten of our youth (Bottineau and West Hope) and together with a group from Dunseith attended a

NET Retreat on the 11th....a whole day of worship, praise, and fun! The NET (National Evangelization Team) team proved to be beautiful young adults. They

were passionate about their Catholic Faith and wonderfully energized our young people.

We will be going to Good Sam's nursing home on the 21st of December (at 7 P.M.). We'll be decorat-ing cookies and enjoying our most "senior" friends’ company for the evening.

We will meet on January 3rd to elect officers and to consider logos for our shirts and hoodies...

Please join our exciting Northern Lights Apostles! We ARE on the move.

From the Pastor’s Pen

Joseph’s sweet dreams. In today’s Gospel, Joseph gets some excellent guidance while snoozing. During this

very busy time of year, it is refreshing good news that God has a special place in His heart for those who know

how to nap.

Today we hear of Joseph’s betrothal to Mary, making her his wife according to the Jewish law. The text clari-fies they were not yet living together, meaning they had not yet conducted the wedding rite known as the “home taking,” the legal ceremony that permits Jewish couples to begin conjugal relations.

Let’s not overlook that Joseph was in a tight

spot. We need to appreciate how Joseph and Mary face

these difficult circumstances. In first century Jewish cul-

ture, this engagement period was the first part of the mar-

riage contract. Breaking this agreement was already adul-

tery. Mary is with child. Hmmm. If adultery is proven, that

is, if Joseph exposes Mary’s situation, the punishment

could be death. Joseph has rights under the Law. But he

chooses to break the marriage contract discreetly. Some-

thing inside him says protect Mary. Then God intervenes.

In a dream an Angel tells Joseph to take his wife

Mary into his home, that is, to legally wed her, and also to

name the child Jesus. Two matters are put to rest: don’t

be afraid about Mary’s pregnancy, this Child is of the Holy

Spirit, and secondly, in good conscience he can assume

legal paternity, giving this Child a name.

Interesting to note, Joseph never utters a word. All

communications with Joseph in the Bible happen in his

sleep.

A lot of guys aren’t talkers. Lots of guys are sleep-

ers. Maybe there’s more going on here than we realize.

“In vain is your rising early and your putting off rest

‘til late, you who toil for the bread you eat, for God pours

gifts upon His beloved while they slumber” (Ps 127:2).

To all those men out there, in difficult circumstances or not, who need and deserve their rest, please sleep

with the angels. When you awake, like Joseph, ‘do as the Angel of Lord has commanded.’ Your wife and kids

might be really grateful.

Meals on Wheels provides an important service to many people in our community. St. Mark’s Church has partnered with other Churches in our area to provide this service Monday through Fri-day from December 12, 2016 through January 6, 2017 with exception of the holidays. If you want to volunteer to deliver a hot meal to people in our com-munity, please call the office (228-3164) and leave your name and number. We will contact you.

Bottineau Food Pantry. St. Mark’s parishioners are scheduled to help at our local food pantry on De-cember 21 and on January 18, There are two ways you can help:

ST. ANDREW’S—DECEMBER 24 AT 4:30 PM

ST. MARK’S—DECEMBER 24 AT 7:30 PM; AND

DECEMBER 25 AT 11:00 AM To all of our parishioners at St. Mark’s and St. Andrew’s—Please be on the look-out. Your 2017 offer-ing envelopes will be sent quarterly directly to your house by mail. If you haven’t gotten them already, you will be get-ting them soon. Any questions, please call Ursula at 228-3164.

MEMORIAL CHRISTMAS POINSETTIAS The beautiful poinsettias surrounding the Altar on Christmas represent memorial gifts of parishioners in remembrance of loved ones. To purchase a poinsettia in memory of a loved one, please com-plete this form. Place it in the collection basket or drop it at the Office during the Christmas season with your donation of $10.00

Memorial names will be appear in the bulletin At Christmas Time. Given by______________________________

In Memory of __________________________

St. Andrew’s Ministries

DATE EUCHARISTIC

MINISTERS READER GIFT BEARERS ALTAR SERVERS COUNTERS USHERS

Sun. Dec 24 Tom Henry / Nancy Erickson

Roberta Henry Henry family Addie Wagner / Calma Henry

Tom Henry / Howard Eirckson

McCabe and Mark Radzwill

1) Fill up the boxes be-tween 7:30am and 8:00 am; and, 2) Loading the boxes for

some of the clients and other random tasks. This work begins around 10 a.m. and usually lasts until 1 p.m. or so. Any amount of time spent helps.

If you’re willing to do this, please contact the parish office so Ursula can schedule the meal.

Right to Life is selling Lefse after Masses on Dec 17-18 at St. Mark’s and St. Andrew’s. Thank you for your sup-port.