This Week

SUNDAY 21st Dec 4th Sunday of ADVENT 9am, 11am, 6pm Mass

MONDAY 22nd Dec 8.30am Rosary 9.00am Mass

TUESDAY 23rd Dec 8.30am Rosary

9am Mass 9.30am Adoration

WEDNESDAY 24th Dec CHRISTMAS EVE

7pm Children’s Mass 9pm Family Mass 11.30pm Carols Midnight Mass

THURSDAY 25th Dec CHRISTMAS DAY

9am Mass 11am Mass

FRIDAY 26th Dec 8.30am Rosary

SATURDAY 27th Dec

10.30am Reconciliation 6pm Mass

SUNDAY 28th Dec

Feast of the HOLY FAMILY 9am, 11am, 6pm Mass

Baptism Welcome

4th Sunday of ADVENT Year B, 20th—21st Dec, 2014

THE REASON FOR THE

SEASON: CELEBRATING

CHRISTMAS

[Jesus] the Word [of God] was made flesh,

he lived among us, and we saw his glo-

ry ...’ (John 1: 14)

Houses, shops and churches all around us

are telling the Christmas story, but basically

in two different versions. In our parish com-

munities our story is about the birth of the

child Jesus at Bethlehem, about the loving

and caring presence of his parents Mary and

Joseph, and about the visits, first by the

shepherds and their animals, and later, by

the three kings from the East. But the

brightly-lit houses and shops in our streets

tell the story of Santa and Mrs Claus, their

reindeer and their sleigh, packed with pre-

sents for good children. Both stories of

Christmas though, even if in such different

ways, share some of the same message.

Christmas is about being together. And it is

about generosity, love, peace and joy.

We are followers of Jesus. But we live in a

society where many other persons have dif-

ferent religious beliefs or none at all. The

result is that some of our nation’s schools,

out of respect for non-Christians, exclude

any reference to the stable of Bethlehem in

their break-up celebrations. Beth, mother of

six year old Nicholas, recalls what hap-

pened recently at her son’s state school.

For weeks Nicholas had been memorizing

songs for what his teacher called the

‘Holiday Pageant’. His mother could not

get to her son’s performance on the night

since she was working, but she did get to

the full dress rehearsal the same day. She

reached the school gym ten minutes early,

found a spot on the floor in front of the

makeshift stage, and watched each class,

led by their teacher, take their places around

the room, until called to the stage to sing or

dance or both.

Because a couple of years ago the school

had stopped even using the word

‘Christmas’ – a word, incidentally, which

literally means ‘Christ-Mass’ – Beth was

expecting only songs about jingle bells,

reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes, fun and

good cheer. So when Nicholas’ class rose to

sing a song that was announced as

‘Christmas love’, Beth could hardly believe

her ears.

There on the stage her son was glowing

with joy, as were all his classmates, all

decked out in their fur mittens, red tops, and

white snow-caps. As the class was to sing

‘C is for Christmas’, a child would hold up

high the letter ‘C’. The next child would

hold up ‘H is for happy’ and so on, until all

the cards spelt out the complete message

‘Christmas Love’.

That was the plan, but Beth reports what

actually happened:

The performance was going smoothly until

suddenly we noticed her – a small shy girl

in the front row holding the letter ‘M’ up-

side down. She was totally unaware her let-

ter ‘M’ appeared as a ‘W’. The audience,

mainly of other school children, started gig-

gling at the little one’s mistake. But she had

no idea they were laughing at her. So she

stood tall, proudly holding up her ‘W’.

Beth goes on:

Although many teachers tried to shush the

children, the laughter continued until the

last letter was raised. Then we all saw it

together. A hush came over the audience,

and eyes began to widen. In that instant we

understood the reason we were there, and

why even in the chaos and confusion, there

was a good reason for all our joy and fun.

For when the last letter was held up high

the message read loud and clear:

‘CHRISTWAS LOVE!’

He still is, we believe!

God certainly works in mysterious ways.

By Fr Brian Gleeson CP

St Paul Apostle Catholic Community

One Family 5 William Hovell Drv, Endeavour Hills, Vic 3802

T. 9700 3781 / F. 9700 6228

office@stpaulapostle.com.au

www.stpaulapostle.com.au

Parish Calendar, News & Events

Diary 24th Dec: 7pm Children’s Christmas Eve Mass 9pm Christmas Eve Mass 11.30pm Carols for Midnight Mass 25th Dec: 9am Christmas Day Mass 11am Christmas Day Mass (No evening Mass on this day) 31st Dec: Parish New Years Eve Dance “Hawaiian Nite” 1st Jan 2015: New Year’s Day Mass at 10.00am THANK YOU Thanks to all who helped after mass last week organising all the hampers for pick up last Monday. But especially for over the hundred families who chose a hamper to make up. We have heard some real heart-warming responses. Sandra Stone from our Vinnies group writes. “Once again a Very Big thank you for the Hampers. You have brought many beaming smiles and some happy tears to our grateful recipients.” To the Youth for feeding those at our Christmas Carols and our loyal BBQ Chefs. APOSTLESHIP AWARDS: Congratulations to this year’s Apostleship award’s recipients. We announced the names during some of last weekend’s Masses. For those who missed last weekend these are the names of the recipients: 1/ Medgee Gontran (ASRE & Wellsprings) For service to the wider community through her generous service to Wellsprings for Women in Dandenong. Also her time and talent contribution to our After School Religious Education Program. 2/ Kathleen Stewart (Altar serving) For service to the parish community through her faithfulness to her ministry of Altar Serving, especially in her care of the new and younger servers. 3/ Clement Mariette (General Support) For service to the parish community especially in his support of his wife Dina with the Flower arranging and his willingness each year to help in setting up the Church for Easter. 4/ Gabby Sadaka (PPC, Youth, Computer Support) For service to the parish community through his involvement in the Parish Pastoral Council, Youth

Committee and IT Support in relation to our website. 5/ Shaddy Sadaka (PPC, Youth, Soup Van) For service to the parish community through his involvement in the Parish Pastoral Council, Youth Committee and IT Support in relation to our website and Soup Van Committee.. 6 Other Awards were awarded to our Choir groups (9am Choir, 11am Choir, 6pm Choir, Samoan Choir, Philipino Choir, Jennifer Bastian & Indrani Guinan for their committed and faithful service to the parish community through their ministry of music in leading and enhancing our community worship. CHRISTMAS EVE & CHRISTMAS DAY MASSES’ MINISTERS—IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO SIGN UP Christmas is only 3 days away. We are finalising the personnel for the Masses on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, if you would like to take part in any of the Masses and have not signed up yet, please do so this weekend. Sign up sheets are in the foyer and in the gathering space. Please put your name down (with your contact number) in the CORRECT MASS SHEET (that is the Mass which you wish to take part in). Hopefully we will contact you on Monday or Tuesday to confirm your role. NEW ROSTER will be distributed towards the end of January. There will be a session for new Readers and Eucharistic Ministers at the end of January. If you missed out on signing up the pink ministry sign-up sheets are still in the Sacristy. Please don’t miss out. NATIVITY PLAY The group is shaping up really well and the children have been practising for many times. The group will have their last practices on Monday 21st Dec at 4pm.in the church.

PARISH NEW YEAR ’S EVE DANCE—

Hawaiian Nite…….

Please Join us to welcome the new year 2015 together. It will be in the Parish Community Hall. Cost is $35 per adult and $20 children 4 to 12 (under 4yo free no seat). Includes:

This weekend we pray for: Those who are sick Ivor Steiner, Yolande Bonnefin, Michael Leong, Vincent Caruana, Pat Garard, Delaphine Briggs,

Karolina Adamczuk, Yousif Bodo, Bashar Afram, Youlia Younan, Dyna Naine, Racquel F Ebdani, Edgardo Sotiar, Roger Paul, Maria Dichosa, Aurelio Gonzaga, Baby Lucas Giacomo, Deon Lawrence, Patricia Nicholas, Tissaka Perera, Tristano Stancato, Muliaga Vaifale, Tony Reed, Kylie King, Katy Honor, Anne Payet, Meera Backory, Joy Anquiliano, Rey Domingo, Fatima Abbas, Natalie Bonnefin, Jose Zaia, Tristano Stancato, Giovanni Narduzzo, Maria Tesoriero, Lucrezia Pistone, Salvatore Zaia, Peter Tongi

For those who have died Carlos Jeronimo, Kathleen Young, Benedetto Faiola, Charlie Edgar Parker, Pietro Rubino, Leonida Vidot, Evelyn Gunasekara, Walter Carvalho, Anthony Tong Nang Nguyen, Adrian Golotta, Tony Medina, Odisho Khoshaba, Rodrique, Josephine Bower, Rita Byrne Quinn, Ana Mesquita Andrade , Cesar Salinas, Cecilia Tuazon, Laure Barallon, Rozalia Toskov, Gerarde Heeranan, Arlette Cabon, Bridgitte Xerry, Sybille Ladouce.

May they rest in peace

Sunday Readings

THIS WEEK:

4th Sunday of ADVENT Year B 2 Sam 7: 1-5, 8-12, 14, 16;

Rom 16: 25-27; Lk 1: 26-38

NEXT WEEK: The feast of HOLY FAMILY

Sirach 3: 2-6, 12-14 Col 3: 12-21; Lk 2: 22-40

www.universalis.com.au

CHRISTMAS MASSES TIMETABLE

24th Dec—CHRISTMAS EVE

7.00pm Children’s Mass 9.00pm Family Mass

11.30pm Christmas carols follows by

Midnight Mass

25th Dec—CHRISTMAS DAY

9.00am & 11.00am Mass

No evening Mass

Non stop live music by Sam de Silva and DJ Damien Weiman, welcome drink, platter of cold meats and antipasto per table and sparkling at midnight (notes: alcohol only for adults) For ticket or more information please contact: Vianney 0438 700 675, Louis 0419 008 173, Denver 0403 315 443 or Joe 0419 385 441 JOB VACANCY A Truffle farm at Marulan in the Goulburn region, NSW, is looking for a Fit and healthy adult worker to work take care of the farm for 2 – 3 months. Duties would be watering, weeding and whipper snipping the truffles. And knowing how to drive a tractor would be an advantage. There is a comfortable cottage on the farm. Also a vehicle for any running around. Airfares to and from provided and wages to be negotiated. No objections to married couple. If you are interested please contact Parish Office on 9700 3781 BUNURONG GARDEN: ST PAUL APOSTLE SOUTH SCHOOL. The time for planting and watering the Bunurong community Garden ‘Live Simply ‘ project has come around again. The school children have been planting and harvesting throughout the year were able to help out with vegetables for the Soup Van. They are now planting again and would be grateful if anyone would like to donate seedlings. We had a very successful watering team during January last year and are hoping to repeat this service again in the coming January. If you are able to help please with

providing seedlings or watering, please contact Parish Office or email: office@stpaulapostle,com.au Thank you.

We pray for many young people

to hear the call to take on the way of living like Jesus.

We pray that each of us will allow ourselves to be

‘Invaded by his Spirit’ and share in his risks and hopes

Rosters for this Weekend of 20th-21st December (3rd Sunday of the month)

Rosters for next Weekend of 27th-28th December (4th Sunday of the month)

Sacraments:

Baptisms are held on the 1st & 2nd Sunday of the month.

Preparation is on the 3rd Sunday of the month.

Marriages require 6 months notice to one of the priests, partici-pation in a FOCCUS marriage preparation program, or a

CatholicCARE Course.

Anointing of the Sick is held during Mass on the 1st Friday of

the Month at 9am. Before going to hospital for major surgery,

why not ask one of the priests to pray with you and anoint you.

Children’s Sacraments require full participation in the prepara-

tion phase.

St Paul ApostleSt Paul Apostle

Catholic CommunityCatholic Community

Priests:Priests:

Fr Tim O’Toole CP (PP)Fr Tim O’Toole CP (PP)

Fr Tony Egar CPFr Tony Egar CP

Pastoral Associates:Pastoral Associates:

Sr Joan Smith CPSr Joan Smith CP

Sr Brigid Murphy CPSr Brigid Murphy CP

Parish Staff:Parish Staff:

Bursar: Gillian VelupillayBursar: Gillian Velupillay

Secretary: Didi KarkasSecretary: Didi Karkas

Passionist Community Passionist Community

Fr Brian Gleeson CPFr Brian Gleeson CP

Fr Tony Egar CPFr Tony Egar CP

Fr Chris Mithen CPFr Chris Mithen CP

Fr Tim O’Toole CP Fr Tim O’Toole CP

Sisters of Cross and Sisters of Cross and

PassionPassion

Sr Anne Cunningham CPSr Anne Cunningham CP

Sr Brigid Murphy CPSr Brigid Murphy CP

Sr Joan Smith CPSr Joan Smith CP

St Paul Apostle (North)St Paul Apostle (North)

Primary School Primary School --

(03) 9700 6068(03) 9700 6068

PrincipalPrincipal

Mrs Christine WhiteMrs Christine White

St Paul Apostle (South)St Paul Apostle (South)

Primary School Primary School

(03) 9700 3663(03) 9700 3663

PrincipalPrincipal

Mrs Helen GreenhillMrs Helen Greenhill

St John’s Regional Col-St John’s Regional Col-

legelege

(03) 9791 3366(03) 9791 3366

Principal

Mr Andrew Walsh

6pm 9am 11am 6pm

Welcome Lien Phan, Carlos & Sylvia Fernandes

David & Sandra McGuire, Carolyn Tinney

Maria Longano, Marie Allas

Sacristan Peter Miller Sandra & David McGuire

Antoinette Gargano

Readers & Commtrs

Liseby Lapierre, Karen Rolfe,

Nick Dimitrakas, Bernie O’Hara

Anne Astin, Meaghan O’Connor, Christine White

Marg Keating, Pierre Mendonca William Roncon

Gifts Nina, Gertrude Akom

Annette Lapierre, Bealiah Wemyss

Hiranya Leitan

Communion

Paul Negri, Michelle Boissezon, Lien Phan, Adelia Drego, Cris Emmanuel

Ernie & Wilma San Giorgio, Martin Vaifale, Anton Nadarajah, Paul Smith, Danny O’Hara, Aaron Chitaranjan

Glen Johnson, Damian Kearney, Rhonda O’Connor, Esme Fourlze, Helen Greenhill, Sheahan Pereira, Christine Gaiardo

Mignonne Meerwald,

Dan Candido,

Eugene Rebeiro,

Veronica Hassett,

Shaddy Sadaka,

Noel Augustus,

Jonathan Maclou

Servers Jessica, Kathleen, Joshua James

Mark H, Ethan, Luke, Tara

Meaghan, Marc P, Sean, Calvin, Jake, Jayden

Rachel, Joseph, Dinarah

6pm 9am 11am 6pm

Welcome Anna & Rodney Gonsalves

Ann Judge, Anne Peters

Antoinette Gargano, Anabela Costa, Joseph Solari

Sacristan Peter Miller Anton Nadarajah Yvonne Sherwin

Readers & Commtrs

Liz Flood, Mark Rolfe

John Callery, Milroy Martyn, Stefan Jayasuriya

Stephen Nasalio, Florence Madeira, Helen Greenhill

Shaddy Sadaka, Gabby Sadaka

Gifts Helen Sanders, Grazyna Tyszka

Dimitrakas Family Dilinger Family Keating Family

Communion

Steven/ Bridgett Herbert, Dominica Arena, Prabodh Perera, Fosio Dunlop, Charlene Pereira, Lindsay Cresswell

Fred Hall, Marina Nadarajah, Anne Peters, Alain Mallac, Elaine Gillett, Glenn Todd, Ayomi Fernandesz

Joe Solari, Yvonne Sherwin, Zena Carlow, Daniel Madeira, Christine White, Frances Anthony

Roland Mathias,

Nona Sangalang,

Gabby Catania,

Jenny Catania,

Premani Leitan,

Karen Luzan

Servers Kathleen, Jessica, Joshua

Mark Harper, Casey, Ashvika, Luke, Kevin

Aidan, Reena, Calvin, Jade, Abraham

Dinarah, Joseph, Lakni.

Cuppa Ralph & Felicia Martyn

Ernie/ Wilma San Giorgio, Elizabeth Kee

Antoinette Gargano, Berta Pereira

Joyce Rebeiro

Communion to the Sick

after 9am Mass

Roster A: Vel Vaifale

Church Prep Team 2 K Jayasinha

Flowers Anabela Costa