Welcome to St. John the Evangelist! Whether you’re just visiting for a brief time, looking for a new parish home, returning to the practice of your Catholic faith or interested in finding out more about the Catholic Church, we are happy you’re here! To learn more about St. John, please visit stjohngulfport.org.

MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK

Saturday: 9:00 AM + Tom Hewes 5:00 PM + Dr. Hugo Nievas Sunday: 8:00 AM + Estelle Papania 10:30 AM + Ken Saxon 5:00 PM + People of the Parish Monday: 7:00 AM The Lane Infants (Special Intention) Tuesday: 6:00 PM + Parker Hewes Wednesday: 7:00 AM Deacon David Allen (Special Intention) Thursday: 7:00 AM + Iris Cooper Friday: 7:00 AM + Molly Doucet

Parish Ministry Meetings

Knights of Columbus: 1st & 3rd Wednesday - 7:00 PM

K C Ladies Auxiliary: 3rd Tuesday - 6:30 PM

Young At Heart: 4th Thursday - 12 Noon

Prayer Group: Every Thursday - 5:15 PM

For information, call the Parish Office.

Legion of Mary: Every Thursday - 10:00 AM For information, call Annette Seymour 228-326-0851.

Last Week’s Collections

1st Collection: $5015 2nd Collection: $606 for Tuition Assistance Children’s Collection: $87

Thank you for your generosity!

This week’s second collection is for Aged and Infirmed Priests. Next week’s second collection is for Church Maintenance.

Isabel Allen Kris Allen David Belew Mary Ann Bishop Hope Broadus Frances Carrubba Garry Cooper Ed Croal Cindy Dickinson Alan Goad Dan Goad Cindy Fore

Tyler Johnson Etolie Jenkins Bernard Papania Linda Papania Steve Papania James Platt Colette Marissa Quigley Carolyn Reeves Alexander Rich Tracie Ryan Peggy Ryland

Skip Ryland Vickie Smith Erma Wilson John Windham

Your prayers are asked for the following individuals

who are facing illness or other life challenges.

Catholic Education

St. James Elementary 603 West Avenue, Gulfport, MS 39507

Principal: Jennifer Broadus Tel #: 228-896-6631

St. Vincent De Paul Elementary 4321 Espy Avenue, Long Beach MS 39560

Principal: Carol Church Tel #: 228-222-6000

St. Patrick High School 18300 St. Patrick Road, Biloxi, MS 39532

Principal: Dr. Matt Buckley Tel #: 228-702-0500

If you are new to the parish, please complete a

registration form on the back table or go to our

website and click on the “New Parishioner” tab.

Schedule Pickup

The January schedules for Altar Servers, Lectors, and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion can be found on the table nearest the Memorial Room in the back of the church. If you serve in one or more of these ministries, please be sure and pick one up!

Upcoming Events

Second Collection Envelopes

Second collection envelopes for designated national and diocesan appeals will be available on the tables in the back of the church two weeks prior to the collection. Please pick one up and remember to print your name and envelope number on the back of the collection envelope.

To add or remove a name from the prayer list, please contact the Parish Office. Names will appear on the prayer list for six weeks, but are renewable.

Wednesday / January 22 / 6:00 PM

Presentation Hall

Doors open at 5:45 PM

All married and engaged couples are welcome to come

and join in fellowship and learning. St. John will be

providing the main entrée, and we are asking everyone

to bring a dish to share. Please reserve your spot 48

hours in advance by contacting Mara Russo at

mrusso@stjohngulfport.org or on GroupMe on the

Couples Date Night Group. Unfortunately,

babysitting services will NOT be available.

Our youth group meets on

Sunday from 3:30 - 4:45 PM

in the Youth Room. For

more information, please

contact Bridgett Bermond at

228-209-9281.

A Family of Faith

Family Gathering

Sunday / January 19 / 11:30 PM

Presentation Hall

Attention Lectors

The 2020 Workbook for Lectors, Gospel

Readers and Proclaimers of the Word is

now available and may be picked up in

the Sacristy.

Louis Ford & His

New Orleans Flairs

Saturday, January 11, 2020

7:00 PM

The 2020 Offering Envelopes are now available for pickup. They are located on the table near the Memorial Room in the

back of the Church and they are listed alphabetically by family name. If you don’t see a box with your name on it or if you see a box for a family who you know has left the parish, please inform Linda Hebert in the Parish Office.

New Weekday Spanish Mass

In addition to our 2:00 PM Spanish Mass on

Sundays, Fr. Ryan will now be celebrating a

Spanish weekday Mass on Wednesdays at 6:30

PM. The Rosary will be prayed in Spanish at

6:00 PM.

ATTENTION - Faith Formation classes (A Family

of Faith and RCIA) resume this week. The First

Communion Class will meet again on January 12.

Upcoming Events Continued

Happy birthday wishes are extended to:

Belated wishes to William Swanson, Michael Ward & Louise Wheat on Jan 4.

John Carroll, Blake Dedeaux, Jan Farrell & Rhonda Mires on Jan 6; Thomas Scaia on Jan 7; Henrietta Caranna on Jan 9; Richie Cefalú on Jan 10; and George Burkhardt, Sarah Hebert & Rob Russo on Jan 11.

May God grant them many blessings in the coming year!

Belated Congratulations

to Our Parishioners

Celebrating a Wedding Anniversary

Stan & Vickie Tiner – 53 years on Dec 31

May God bless them with many more

happy years together!

READINGS FOR THE WEEK

Monday: 1 Jn 3:22 — 4:6; Ps 2:7bc-8, 10-12a;

Mt 4:12-17, 23-25

Tuesday: 1 Jn 4:7-10; Ps 72:1-4, 7-8; Mk 6:34-44

Wednesday: 1 Jn 4:11-18; Ps 72:1-2, 10, 12-13;

Mk 6:45-52

Thursday: 1 Jn 4:19 — 5:4; Ps 72:1-2, 14, 15bc, 17;

Lk 4:14-22a

Friday: 1 Jn 5:5-13; Ps 147:12-15, 19-20; Lk 5:12-16

Saturday: 1 Jn 5:14-21; Ps 149:1-6a, 9b; Jn 3:22-30

Sunday: Is 42:1-4, 6-7; Ps 29:1-4, 3, 9-10;

Acts 10:34-38; Mt 3:13-17

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) Feast Day: January 4

Though her liturgical designation is “Religious,” Elizabeth Seton, her feast-day prayer reminds us, was also wife, mother, educator, foundress. Born into a wealthy Episcopalian family, Elizabeth married William Seton, whose untimely death in Italy where the young family sought healing for William’s tuberculosis, left her, at twenty-nine, a widow with five children. Inspired by the faith and charity of the Italian family with whom they stayed, Elizabeth embraced Catholicism despite her family disowning her and ceasing financial support. This woman of many firsts (and several vocations!) opened the first free Catholic school, beginning the American Catholic educational system, and founded the first American religious community for women, the Sisters of Charity. The tuberculosis that claimed her husband took also her oldest and youngest daughters and, finally, at just forty-seven, Elizabeth herself. Another first: in 1975 she was canonized the first native-born American saint. Once asked to summarize her spirituality, she replied: “Faith lifts the staggering soul on one side, hope supports it on the other, experience says it must be, and love says let it be!”

—Peter Scagnelli, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.

For more information, please contact Holy Family

Parish Office at 228-452-4686 or register online at

www.CatholicJourneys.com/mjdb

Tour # MJ20 0414-DB All inclusive price:

$3,195 per person from New Orleans

Many thanks to the Knights of

Columbus Bishop Gunn Council

#1583 for their generous gifts of

Christmas turkeys and New

Year hams to our parishioners

during this holiday season.

newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its

rising and have come to do him homage.” After their

audience with the king, they set out. And behold, the

star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,

until it came and stopped over the place where the

child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star,

and on entering the house they saw the child with

Mary, his mother. They prostrated themselves and

did him homage. Then they opened their treasures

and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and

myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to

return to Herod, they departed for their country by

another way. The word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Leader: Using chalk, write the following on the

outside of the house or inside above the main

ntrance: +20 Christus Mansionem Benedicat 20+

or +20 C M B 20+

All: Lord God of heaven and earth, you revealed

your only begotten son to every nation by the

guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who live

here and all who visit. May we be blessed with

health, kindness of heart, gentleness and the keeping

of your law. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our

love for each other may go out to all. We ask this

through Christ our Lord. Amen.

All End with the Sign of the Cross

An Epiphany House Blessing

On the Feast of the Epiphany, the family gathers to

ask God’s blessing on their home and on those who

live in or visit the home. It is an invitation for Jesus

to be a daily guest in our home, our comings and

goings, our conversations, our work and play, our

joys and sorrows. A traditional way of doing this is

to use chalk to write +20 C M B 20+ above the

home’s entrance. It can also be written somewhere

inside the home.

The letters C, M, B have two meanings:

• They are the initial of the traditional names

of the three magi: Caspar, Melchior, and

Balthazar.

• They also abbreviate the Latin words

Christus Mansionem Benedicat (May Christ

bless this house)

The “+” signs represent the cross and 2020 the year.

Here is a suggested format for the blessing:

All Start with the Sign of the Cross

Leader: Peace be to this house and to all who dwell

here, in the name of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Reader: When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of

Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, Magi from

the east arrived in Jerusalem saying, “Where is the