December 25, 2016 • Nativity of the Lord

Saints

Peter & Paul C AT H O L I C C H U R C H

902 East Ninth Street • Hopkinsville, KY 42240

MASS SCHEDULE Saturday evening .................................... 5:00 PM Sunday ................................. 8:00 AM, 10:30 AM Misa en Español ............... 2:00 PM, 10:30 PM Monday - Saturday ................................ 8:00 AM Wednesday ......................................... 5:30 PM Thursday MISA EN ESPAÑOL ..................... 5:30 PM First Friday of each month ..................... 6:00 PM

Established 1872

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

We are a Roman Catholic Community of Christians called to be a priestly people, a household of faith, a temple of the Holy Spirit, a beacon of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church shining for Jesus Christ in the heart of Christian County.

Rev. Fr. Richard Meredith, Pastor crmeredith@stsppchurch.org Rev. Fr. Al Bremer, Parochial Vicar frbremer@bellsouth.net Rev. Fr. Basilio Az Cuc, Parochial Vicar bazcuc@stsppchuch.org Permanent Deacon, Mr. Tim Barnes tdbarnes@stsppchurch.org Permanent Deacon, Dr. Bill Sweet wesweet@stsppchurch.org

PARISH OFFICE PHONE: (270) 885-8522 PARISH FAX: (270) 885-5296 PARISH WEBSITE: www.stsppchurch.org DIOCESAN WEBSITE: www.owensborodiocese.org VATICAN WEBSITE: www.vatican.va OFFICE HOURS: 8 AM - 5 PM Monday – Friday (Closed Noon -1:00 pm Daily)

SCHOOL TELEPHONE: (270) 886-0172 SCHOOL FAX: (270) 887-9924 SCHOOL WEBSITE: www.stsppschool.org

Tru†h Radio WSPP 93.5 FM

Saints Peter and Paul Assistance: 270-886-6027

Saints Peter and Paul Thrift Store: 270-962-7008

MEMBERSHIP IN THE PARISH We give a sincere welcome to all new families moving into our Parish. Please register in the Parish Office as soon as possible. Families who plan to move from our parish

community are asked to inform us.

Bulletin material deadline: Monday at noon in writing or email.

‘The Incarnation’

The Nativity of The Lord

Saints Peter & Paul Church-Hopkinsville, Kentucky

SS PETER & PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH, HOPKINSVILLE, KY

The Catholic Church teaches that the sexual abuse of any person is a grave moral evil. To report any instance of sexual abuse by any employ-ee of the Catholic Church please call the Office of the Bishop in Owens-

boro at (270) 683-1545. The Safe Environment Program is now avail-able at the Diocesan website www.owensborodiocese.org

† SACRAMENTS † † Reconciliation: Confessions will be heard Saturday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM and Wednesday at 4:30 PM. Confessions will be heard any time by appointment. Confessions for Spanish speaking are 2nd, 4th & 5th Saturdays at 3:00 PM.

† Baptism: Baptismal Preparation Class is usually held the first Sun-day of each month. Our next class is scheduled for January 8, 2016 at 4:00 pm. Please call the Parish Office. Registration is required.

† Marriage: Contact the Office six months prior to the desired date.

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Parish Pastoral Council

Robin Bilan, Education…………………...……..rcbilan@hotmail.com Jim Creighton, Spiritual Life ………………creighton.jim@gmail.com Libby Downs, Pastoral Associate ….………..ljdowns@stsppchurch.org Norma Folz, Worship ..………………………….nbfolz@gmail.com Gary Harden, Family Life ..……………….garyharden@gmail.com Sarah Kranz, Principal …………………....skranz@stsppschool.org Fran Marko, Secretary ......................................franmarko@gmail.com Joe Mezzoni, Chair/Admin .….……………. joemezzoni216@att.net Margaret Nosbusch, Social Concerns ……......maggie_n@bellsouth.net

PARISH STAFF Tom Buehrle (twbuehrle@att.net)...............Director Of Stewardship Brenda Chaudoin (bchaudoin@stsppchurch.org)…. Parish Office Mgr. Libby Downs (ljdowns@stsppchurch.org)............Pastoral Associate Jennifer Groves (jgroves@stsppschool.org)…… School Secretary Leigh Ann Johnson …………………Parish Assistance Coordinator Steve Kinnard (skinnard@stsppchurch.org)...Maintenance Foreman Sarah Kranz (skranz@stsppschool.org)....................School Principal Donna Pfeufer (dgpfeufer@gmail.com)……...Thrift Store Gen. Mgr. Angie Phillips (abphillips2013@gmail.com)……...Thrift Store Mgr. Mayra Tirado (mtirado@stsppchurch.org)...Hispanic Ministry Asst. Sue Wassmer (swassmer@stsppchurch.org)............Parish Secretary Amy Watkins (awatkins@stsppchurch.org)....Parish Music Director

MINISTRY TO THE SICK Please notify the Parish Office upon admission of a family member into any hospital or nursing home. Any parishioner who is ill or infirm may request anointing by calling the Parish

Office, 270-885-8522.

PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

This is a devotion whereby members of the parish unite in taking hours of Adoration before the Most Blessed Sacrament during the day and throughout the night, seven days a week. (Code required for evenings.) There is a regular schedule of adorers but all are welcome to stop in for a visit. Parishioners are en-couraged to sign up for a scheduled weekly Adoration time. Please contact Bill & Jenny Rush at 270-885-2888, if you are interested in adopting an hour or if you can be a substitute or prayer partner. Available hours: 4 am Tuesdays, (8 am Tuesdays needs prayer partner) 1am Wednesdays, 11 pm Fridays, 3 am Saturdays.

Catholic Men’s Conference: The Catholic Men’s Confer-ence of Western Kentucky will host their 6th annual conference and will be held this year at the RiverPark Center in downtown Owensboro on Saturday, Febru-ary 11, 2017. Conference or-ganizers expect a sell-out this year. The keynote speaker will be His

Eminence, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York. In 2001, Cardinal Dolan was appointed auxiliary bishop of his home diocese by Pope St. John Paul II, who, a year lat-er, made him archbishop of Milwaukee. Pope Benedict XVI 0transferred him to the Archdiocese of New York in 2009, and named him a Cardinal in 2012. He has served as President of the USCCB, and of Catholic Relief Services, and as the co-chair of the National Jewish-Catholic Dia-logue. It was his honor as well to enter the conclave which elected Pope Francis in 2013. It is hoped and many of the men in our diocese will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to enrich their faith. Men across the diocese and beyond are encour-aged to purchase a ticket by visiting www.kycatholic.com and clicking on the “Tickets/Donations” tab. Tickets are $30.00 for adults and $15.00 for students. Brochures available soon.

Engaged Encounter Weekends: These weekends are for engaged couples planning to marry who have met with their parish priest. They are held at Mount St. Joseph, 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY. For more infor-mation on Engaged Encounter, contact Charlotte Hedges at the McRaith Catholic Center at (270) 683-1545 February 4-5, 2017

April 22-23, 2017 October 7-8, 2017

Rachel's Vineyard Retreat for Healing the Wounds of Abortion: A Rachel's Vineyard Retreat for Healing the Wounds of Abortion will be offered the weekend of Janu-ary 13-15, 2017 in the Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky. Participation in this retreat is open to any woman or man who has been involved, or touched by, abortion. If you have lost a child or grandchild, or a sibling, nephew or niece, to abortion, or if you have at any time in your life been involved in an abortion, then the Lord Jesus would like to offer you both healing and peace! Both Catholics and non-Catholics are welcome to participate, and our retreat is conducted with absolute confidentiality. For more infor-mation, visit our website: HopeAfterAbortionKY.com or call Debbie at (270) 570-4717 or Jennifer at (931) 242-5506.

DECEMBER 25, 2016 3

Dear Father in Heaven: We kneel before the crib on this Holy Night and worship Your Son who became one of us. As this little Child sleeps in the hush of the star-studded sky, we feel again the

warmth of Your hope. As we gaze at the light glowing from the crib, the scales begin to drop away from our hearts, and we feel a long-forgotten tenderness begin to

well up within us. Christ the Savior is born! O Father, in the fervent, life-giving love flowing from our Infant King, enkindle in us a new light. Renew our faith and love this Christmas, that Your love and warmth would flow through our hearts and hands into the hearts and lives of all we meet, bringing Your light especially to those who feel distant from You, those whose faith and hope have diminished in the wake of daily difficulties and distractions. O God, please watch over our loved ones near and far, especially those who protect us at home and abroad. Bring Your peace to every part of our world, every room of our homes, and every corner of our hearts. Dear Jesus, thank You for coming to us, so that we might come to You. Amen.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;

For a child is born to us, a son is given us. Isaiah 9:1, 5

We pray that this Christmas season is filled with hope and promise for you and your family. On behalf of the Saints Peter and Paul staff, we wish you all a most Holy and Blessed Christmas. Fr. Richard.

Welcome: If you are a visitor to Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, we want you to know how welcome you are – whether you have come from another part of the country, from across the world, or from another parish here in the Diocese of Owensboro. Thank you for praying with us. Thank you also for your generosity, which helps us to cele-brate our liturgies in a fitting and beautiful way, and to offer a wide range of services to needy people in the Hop-kinsville, Christian County area. Enjoy your visit with us!

Angel/Giving Tree: Sunday afternoon was truly a blessing for Saints Peter and Paul Parish, as 552 gifts were distribut-ed to families in need. I cannot tell you how your generosity helped others have a Merry Christmas. We especially thank the many youth who came to help us sort and prepare for the distribution of the Anel Tree Gifts. We especially give thanks to Tom and Julie Folz for helping oversee the sorting and preparation. We pray the hearts of our youth were moved throughout the afternoon as they witnessed firsthand the joy of helping and serving others. What bless-ings. Thank you, the parish of Saints Peter and Paul, for all you did to make this day happen.

Please note there will be NO Daily Mass on Monday, De-cember 26th. We will return to our regular schedule on Tuesday, December 27th. Please keep our priests in your prayers as they visit with their family and friends.

RCIA – Our RCIA Process will resume on Thursday even-ing, January 5th at 7:00 p.m. May this Christmas Season fill you with God’s grace and peace.

Christmas Food Baskets: We give thanks to all of you who donated food items for our Christmas Baskets. Know that we have touched many lives and families with our generosi-ty and selfless giving.

Byron “Paco” Macias: We have wonderful news to share with you regarding our Byron Macias: Saints Peter and

Paul Parish will host “The Ordina-tion of Deacon Byron Macias, CMF” to the priesthood (presbyterate), at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 29, 2017 – the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. The Most Reverend William Med-ley, Bishop of Owensboro, will or-dain Byron for the Claretian Mis-sionaries. In addition the Provincial and Prefect of Formation from the Claretian Missionaries of the Unit-ed States-Canada Province will be in attendance. For those new to

the parish, Byron, better known to many of us as “Paco”, served as our Hispanic Minister here at Saints Peter and Paul from 2004 to 2007. He is a gifted and talented per-son who will serve the Claretian Missionaries with such love and grace. If you would like to join in planning for the re-ception that will follow the Ordination Mass, please come to our first planning meeting on Tuesday, January 10th at 5:30 p.m. in the Holy Family Room.

This was a busy week and a whirlwind here at Saints Peter and Paul.

On Wednesday night – we held a Christmas party for Choir and a Youth Trivia Night. On Thursday night – we had a Christmas party for RCIA and Pastoral Council. On Friday night we heard beautiful voices at our Saints Peter and Paul Christmas Cantata.

SS PETER & PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH, HOPKINSVILLE, KY 4

Feast of the Holy Family – Friday, December 30th: The Holy Family is a “devotion-feast or an idea-feast”. Like the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity or the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, it does not commem-orate a specific event, but rather fosters devotion to the Holy Family as a mod-el for all family life. It is quite recent, having been added to the calendar by Pope Leo XIII in 1893. Although it has moved here and there over the last century, it has always been celebrated in relation to

Christmas. This year it is observed on Friday, December 30th – the Sixth day in the octave of Christmas. It gives us a chance to celebrate another aspect of the Incarnation of Christ: his sharing in the life of a human family. Today as we celebrate the Feast of the Human Family, may each of us take the time to pray the following prayer together as a family. This prayer was provided to us by our Holy Fa-ther as we reflect on the recent Synod on the Family.

On Saturday morning a number of our Knights of Colum-bus members and their families came together to prepare and deliver 28 Christmas food baskets to families.

On Saturday night the children’s music recital

On Sunday we had our Angel Tree distribution. What grace moments we all had an opportunity to share.

Holiday Office Hours: The Parish Offices will be closed for the holidays from 12:00 – Noon on Friday, December 23rd through Monday, January 2nd . In case of an emer-gency, please call the parish office (270-885-8522) and follow the emergency prompts.

Important Upcoming Dates:

Two January 1st Envelopes; In addition, January 1, 2017 has a Sunday and a Holy

Day envelope, - the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God – we intend to use all donations for the general fund of the parish. Thank you, Fr. Richard.

Eucharistic Adoration Adorers and Christmas: Adorers please know that the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed immediately after the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day we will repose the Blessed Sacrament for the 9:00 a.m. Mass and expose immediately afterwards. Also, please be aware that we will not have Mass on Mon-day morning as our priests will be away to celebrate Christmas with their families. If you are an adorer on Mon-day, know the church building will be locked. If you do not know the code to enter the church, please ask your hourly captain or Bill or Jenny Rush to assist you with this before Christmas. What an honor to be present with the Lord on his Birthday. This is truly a special opportunity.

POPE FRANCIS Prayer to the Holy Family

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in you we contemplate

the splendour of true love, to you we turn with trust.

Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that our families too

may be places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel and small domestic Churches.

Holy Family of Nazareth, may families never again

experience violence, rejection and division: may all who have been hurt or scandalized

find ready comfort and healing.

Holy Family of Nazareth, may the approaching Synod of Bishops

make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family,

and its beauty in God’s plan.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, graciously hear our prayer.

DECEMBER 25, 2016 • CHRISTMAS

Readings for the Week of December 25, 2016 Sunday: Is 52:7-10/Ps 98/Heb 1:1-6/Jn 1:1-18 or 1:1-5, 9-14 Monday: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59/Ps 31/Mt 10:17-22 Tuesday: 1 Jn 1:1-4/Ps 97/Jn 20:1a, 2-8 Wednesday: 1 Jn 1:5--2:2/Ps 124/Mt 2:13-18 Thursday: 1 Jn 2:3-11/Ps 96/Lk 2:22-35 Friday: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 or Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17/ Ps 128/Mt 2:13-15, 19-23 Saturday: 1 Jn 2:18-21/Ps 96/Jn 1:1-18

Next Sunday: Nm 6:22-27/Ps 67/Gal 4:4-7/Lk 2:16-21

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Monday, December 26 St. Stephen, First Martyr

8:00 AM NO MASS

Tuesday, December 27 St. John, Apostle

8:00 AM JENNIFER & JESSICA HANKS

Wednesday December 28 The Holy Innocents

8:00 AM † MARY CRUTCHER

5:30 PM ELIZABETH JONES

Thursday, December 29

8:00 AM LARRY BORDERS FAMILY

5:30 PM Spanish † CATHERINE JOHNSON

Friday, December 30 The Holy Family of Jesus Mary & Joseph

8:00 AM † BOB BROWN

8:00 AM CHUCK SPURR

Saturday, December 31

8:00 AM CHRIS & MELISSA SPURR

5:00 PM FOR ALL PARISHIONERS

Sunday, January 1 Solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God

8:00 AM † ELLEN STITES

10:30 AM † JOSEPH PARK

2:00 PM Spanish Bishop McRaith

10:30 PM Spanish For Vocations

† Indicates Requiem Mass

SANCTUARY LAMP

In Memory of John Milauskas & Lee King ADORATION CHAPEL CANDLES

In Memory of Phil Carsone

©Liturgical Publications Inc.

Did you know this January will be our 15th Anniversary of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration! The Worship Commit-tee is planning something special for this Anniversary. So we will gather on Wednesday, January 4th at 5:30 p.m. and celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours – Evening Prayer and Mass with Solemn Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. We invite all Adorers and the entire parish to come and give thanks to God for this ministry in our church. A chili supper will follow in the gym.

PSR (Parish School of Religion) – Pre-School thru 5th Grade: Our Religious Education program is on Christmas Break. Classes will resume on Sunday, January 8th begin-ning at 9:00 a.m. in the School Building. May you have a Blessed Christmas. PSR-January Schedule – Sundays, 9:00-10:15 a.m.: January 8 – Class January 22 - Class January 15 - No Class January 29 - Class (Martin Luther King Jr Weekend)

Youth Ministry Our Middle School and High School Youth are on Christ-mas Break. May this be a time of peace and joy for each of you. Our youth will return to class on Wednesday, January 4th with our regular schedule beginning with Mass at 5:30 p.m. This 5:30 p.m. Mass is a special Mass and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament as we celebrate our 15th Anniversary of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. Our youth will assist with the Chili supper that follows this Mass. January Schedule – Wednesdays 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. January 4 – Class January 18 - Class January 11 - Class January 25 - Class

Baptismal Preparation Class: Our next Baptismal Prepara-tion Class will be held on Sunday, January 8, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. in the Holy Family Room. This is for all first time par-ents who wish to have their child baptized here at Saints Peter and Paul. We encourage families to attend the class before the birth of their child and godparents are urged to attend as well. 2017 Church Calendars: We have a few 2017 Calendars from the Extension Society still available. Please take as you need. They are on the tables in the narthex.

Stewardship News….. For unto us is born this day a Savior! In response to so great a love, only the gift of my whole self will do. You have given us Yourself, dear Lord; in love and thanksgiving, I commit myself afresh to You.

Budget News

Weekly Parish Collection……………………… $15,152.92

Weekly Parish Budget Needs………………… . $17,005.00

Diocesan Assessment ($69,161.00) ……..Unpaid $1,407.00

Special Collection Our Lady of Guadalupe ................ $529.00

Weekly Capital Improvement Donations .................. $50.00

Capital Improvement Fund Balance .................. $14,641.95

Weekly A Legacy of Faith Fund Pledge Payments .. $9,418.00

A Legacy of Faith Fund Balance ........................ $248,018.32

Stained Glass Window Donations .......................... $110.00

Stained Glass Window Fund Balance .............. $468,284.34

College Students: Welcome Home!

May you enjoy this time with your family and church family.

Congratulations: We welcome through the waters of Baptism, Eloise Boyd Naghtin, daughter of Andrew and Ellery Naghtin, Sunday, December 11th

here at Saints Peter and Paul with Fr. Richard Meredith.

SS PETER & PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH, HOPKINSVILLE, KY 6

In Need of Prayers… Covington Convalescent- Pat Chesnut, Eliza-beth Jones, Karen Logsdon, Western State Nursing Facility- Arnold Borders, Debbie Dickerson, Ellen Jones Christian Health Center- Lillian Cotthoff, Norma Downs, Barbara Holubecki, Helen Win-stead Friendship House- Christine Mills Walking House Meadows-Gene Durbin Bradford Heights– Diana Quarles Others…. Clar-ence & Helen Allard, Andy Belland, Ron Benson, Norma Boyd, Helen Brown, Michael Burns, Scott Burnside, Kristen Cage, Francis Grace Cage, Alice Chuhralya, Sam Chesnut, Jimmy Cook, Pam Cox, Tommy Craft, Mary Curtsinger, Dr. David Davis, Nevaeh Marie Davis, Angela Brockman DeAngelis, Kandis Elia, Pat Esposi-to, Tommy Folz, Pembroke Foster, Connie Fowler, Martha Fowler, Gant Golladay, Jewel Claire Godot, Ron & Janice Godot, Scott & Stacey Godot, Jeff Goulet, Beth Hancock, Karyn Harden, Bonnie Harris, Bill Henney, Sarah Julien, Joy Moseley Housley, Carol Johnson, Anita Jones, Douglas Jones, Jimmy Jones, Joseph Kukral, Bob Labor, Larry Lytle, Helen Marshall, Neil McGillivray, Rosalina Lopez, Fr. Richard Meredith, Margie Meredith, Carlo & Lucia Mereu, Joe Mezzoni, Sr., Theresa Mills, Sandy Mueller, Bill Nichol, Debbie Owens-Brown, Bobby Pawlawski, JoAnn Perry, Nancy Polley, Larry Puckett, Kiesha Quinonez & Family, Martha Reed, Bob & Cele Schade, Emma & Gabriela Schiller, Bob Schowe, Mar-yAnn Schurmann, Marianne Shaw, Kristian Shouse, Gina Simpson, MaryAnn Stahr, Mike & Marylyn Stocker, Georgiann Svestka, Ken Swicicki, Patricia Tariol, Jerry Thomas, Rose Ann Tobin, Han-nelore Vanderklok, John Wells, Helen Winstead, James Wittschack. Names will remain on the list for 1 month.

Christmas and End of Year Contributions to Sts. Peter and Paul

This year, Christmas Day falls on a Sunday. In your monthly envelope packet, there are two separate envelopes for Christmas, the normal weekly giving and the Christmas Holy Day Envelope.

2016 Contributions must be dated December 31, 2016 or prior and received in our office by January 10th in order to be included in your 2016 annual contribution state-ment.

Any End of year contributions and the Christmas Holy Day contributions will be used where needed most; currently that is the operating fund of our parish. Past due bills total $45,300 and in addition, payments to the Diocese for Priest Retirement and Medical Insurance, Property Insurance and Workers Compensation are pending. These payments are due to the Diocese by June 2017 and total $52,000.

A special note about Diocesan Assessment: We can happily report that recent generous donations to the Dioce-san Assessment have us within $2,000 of our 2016/17 re-quirement. Any donations to Diocesan Assessment (purple envelope) received after we meet the required $69,161 will be applied towards our Assessment for 2017/18 As you budget your finances for 2017, we ask you to prayerfully consider your donations to Saints Peter and Paul.

Please Pray for our Deployed Nicholas Burton, Olin Harrington,

Brian Yoder

And the Winners Are: The Knights of Columbus held a “Keeping Christ In Christmas” Poster Contest and they are ready to announce the winners.

5 to 7 Year Old Division: Garrett Sharp 8 to 10 Year Old Division: Elizabeth Stevens 11 to 14 Year Old Division: Eva Blankenberger

We congratulate all those who submitted posters and thank you for sharing your talent.

Are you looking for a New Year’s Resolution: The following are a few worth pondering. These items were sent to us by another parish in our diocese who also shared them with their parish families.

To stop trying to say something on every subject on every occasion to everyone in the room;

To realize that my own business requires most of my attention and to let the business of other people alone;

To spend extra effort at preserving friendships by being thoughtful and truly helpful whenever I can be;

To strive for understanding when my memory clashes with the memory of others;

To search deep for patience to listen to the fa-vorite tales and woes of others;

To learn that to be mistaken is not listed among the seven deadly sins, and that one has to start out not knowing something before one becomes an expert on the subject;

To put to practice the belief that everything can be presented in a positive light and to work to do so at least 50 percent of the time;

To open my eyes and mind to the good things in people and, most of all, to express my appreci-ation often.

DECEMBER 25, 2016 • THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD

Pastor’s Greetings and Merry Christmas: The scriptures of the birth of the Mes-siah make it very plain that God’s plan to save the world is alien to our ordinary human expectations. It is not irrational but it is sur-passing strange. It beggars human attempts to figure it out and leaves one stunned at the

manner in which divine power is actually used on our behalf. Isaiah said as much (Chs. 7, 9, 52.13-53.12). As far back as the Book of Job the whole affair was imaged as a gam-bler’s venture, God betting the Devil that a human being could be faithful against all odds. God won that bet. That a virgin peasant girl might freely agree to bear the Divine Son, made pregnant by grace not by sexual intercourse, and that that Son even though rejected and executed might still prevail in Resurrection, God won that bet as well. Medi-eval Catholic theologians compared the latter divine game plan as one of “mouse trap.” God hid such a power of love and life in his Son made human, that when Death and the Devil devoured him in vainglorious greed, they themselves were poisoned and made terminal by his unconquerable life and goodness. From the temptation in the Garden until this very day, our Enemy assaults God as unworthy of divinity by attacking us as unworthy of God’s love and trust. Even though we know that God has won many rounds in this bat-tle, we fear that some of us have sided with the Enemy and make the Devil’s strategy one of the Spoiler. If he can’t win the game, he can injure the Victor and tarnish the victory by depriving God of a number of his children. Christ died for all of them, but some (perhaps a great number) may be will-ingly lost as traitors. In fact the Devil taunts God’s wisdom, goodness, and omnipotence at the loss of even one. And in this area of concern we know precious little beyond the dan-ger in which our freedom places us. As a condition for the possibility of love, we can freely despise God’s love de-spite God’s intention that made us for divine, eternal joy. “Come, Blessed of my Father,” Jesus will declare, “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25).” God has chosen to work human salvation through very modest and inauspicious means. God chose humanity, creatures of earth and spirit, in the first place to be eternal companions. How very odd (and insulting, we are told, to some “pure” spirits). God willed that mighty spirits (Guardian Angels) should serve these earth beings (again, insulting to some). This might suggest that we are the occa-sion of the fall of some mighty, unearthly spirits now quite resentful of our favor with God. God chose to call and bless the old with children, the ordinary with extraordinary roles in the plan, the humble and the unknown to be mighty instru-ments of the divine will, even illness, poverty, oppression, and death as avenues of holiness and victory. God’s ways are not our ways but thoroughly involve us and God’s thoughts bear out a logic usually not apparent to us. The assault continues as we celebrate the turning point of the entire cosmos, the Birth of the Incarnate Divine Son. This infinitely tiny cosmic point becomes the center of the whole Divine project. From this single point derives eve-ry grace and every hope for God’s victory. We might even say that this reveals the Divine wager. Every human is worth saving. Every child is worth being born. Every child is worth

being loved and reared lovingly. Every child is capable of coming to know God and a heavenly destiny. Every teen is capable of moral victory, selfless choosing, chaste discipline. Every adult is capable of hearing and answering the call of a God-given vocation. Every person is capable of selfless friendship and love. Every elder is capable of surrendering an earthly life in passage to an eternal life. Every person is capable of conquering pain and loss by the cross. Every life is worth redemption even though victim to self-chosen or oth-er-imposed disaster. No human life is just so much inconse-quential cosmic trash, but each is by the Grace of God an object of infinite and eternal Divine love. This is astounding and breath-taking news. One hardly can believe it. This truth is underlined by God’s plac-ing his assets where his Word spoke (i.e., put his money where his mouth was). Christmas is the front side of the Sa-cred Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday/Easter). The Paschal Triduum is the source of the joy the Christmas Angels sing. The two are joined in one seamless, saving continuum. Merry Christmas. Fr. Richard

Shirley Prunitsch: We received a card from Shirley Prunitsch this past week. Her card reads: I miss you all so much, but my “Christ the King” Church in Nashville is my daughter’s church and I love having Mass with her each Sunday and holy days. There is ONLY one St’s Peter and Paul with wonderful friends like all of you. I tell folks about all of you all the time!! My family from Florida will be in Nashville for Christmas so I will get to be with my whole family. My love to all of you. Keep me in your prayers as you all are always in mine. Love Shirley

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Dear Father Richard Meredith, The Bethlehem Christian Families mission would

like to express humble appreciation to you for allowing us to revisit SS Peter and Paul Parish on the weekend of December 10/11 of 2016. With your kindness and through the generosity of your parishioners, the sales of the olive wood carvings received a total amount of $ 4,110.00 It was really a great excitement to observe so many kind people at your parish, who were interested in our religious articles and some expressed their intention to visit the Holy Land when the peace prevails. Please remember that you, and the members of your Parish are included in our prayers. Thank you for your support in helping us and our brothers and sisters in Christ with compassion, dignity and respect. May you en-joy God's many glorious blessings! Peace be with you, Roni Salsa, Bethlehem Christian Families - Executive Di-rector - Land of Peace - Board Member

Don’t forget your Spiritual Adoption Baby Gift next Sunday, December 31 and January 1st as we host a

baby shower for those children we spiritually adopted in March.

All donations will be given to Alpha Alternative