• Be kind, O Lord GOD! Who will raise up Jacob? He is so small! (Amos 7:2)
  

St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio – one of the great leaders of the early Franciscan Order – once chose to hold an Easter sermon on this text from the prophet Amos. He loved this passage because, he said, it was about Christmas and Easter at the same time. “This text explains why we celebrate Easter and why we celebrate Christmas.” (Sermo in resurrectione Domini II)

The connection between Christmas and Easter is also made clear by the feasts the Church celebrates during the 12 days of Christmas. Yesterday we celebrated the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen, which reminds us of the price we pay for celebrating Christmas at all. Tomorrow we commemorate the Holy Innocents – in which already the Gospels make clear that the story of Jesus’ birth is to be understood as a prologue to the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Today is the feast of St. John the Evangelist, the apostle who called himself “The Apostle who arrived at the tomb first” (John 20:8). This was St. John’s nickname for himself, and it defined the way he proclaimed the Good News. How wonderful that on the third day of Christmas, the reading is about the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb! An Easter gospel for Christmas. This is the ancient tradition of the Church.

The wonderful Puerto Rican theologian, Msgr. Luigi Albacete, wrote in his column yesterday:

The joy of Christmas is the beginning of the wait for Easter.
This is why the angel Gabriel said “Rejoice!”
Without Christmas, no Easter.
Without Easter, no Christmas.

(Il Sussidario, Senza Natale, non c’é Pasqua, December 26, 2013)

Fr. Bob
Feast of St. John, December 27, 2013

notes:

1. Here is an introduction to the works of St. Bonaventure
2. Fr. Albacete’s most popular book is called “God at the Ritz: Attraction to Infinity, A Priest-Physicist Talks About Science, Sex, Politics, and Religion”, Crossroad Publishing 2002

Our brother in Christ OTTO JOHN KLAWITTER (1943-2013) was called in death on Monday, December 16, 2013.

Visitation is Saturday starting at 9:00 a.m. in Nativity Chuch. The funeral Mass will be Saturday, December 21, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. at Nativity of Our Lady Catholic Church, 1000 North Way, Darien GA (directions). Interment will be at Brunswick Memorial Park Cemetery. Family and friends are invited to a reception afterwards in Nativity Parish Hall. Edo Miller and Sons Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

John Klawitter was born in Suring, Wisconsin in 1943. He worked many years as a paralegal. He and his wife lived in Darien since 2000, always active members of Nativity. John was a past Grand Knight of K of C Council 1939.

Memorials may be made to the charity of your choice, Heartland Hospice, or Nativity of Our Lady Catholic Church.

The people of Nativity Catholic Church express their condolences to John's wife of 13 years Jean French Klawitter, to John's children Jonathan, Ingrid, Robert, Michael, Cindi and Karen, to John's siblings Herman, Mike, Edna and Sally, and to all John's grandchildren, nephews, nieces, family members and friends.

Full obituary and guest book

At today's Finance Council meeting, we:

1. Reviewed the statements for October and November. For July-November 2013, total income was $61,056.43 (budget: $50,385), total expenses were $49,037.55 (budget $50,385).
   
2. Prepared a draft Letter of Agreement between St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and Nativity of Our Lady Catholic Church for the Disposition of Fr. Bob's Time and Salary. Since 2011, Nativity parish has paid 100% of the administering priest's salary, but was only entitled to a fraction of his time. The bishop's office has asked the two parishes to work out a more equitable agreement.
   
3. Reviewed the Letter of Employment for the parish secretary/office manager. Her number of hours per week has been increased.
   

The Finance Council

Dear parishioners,

There's lots of things going on! Here is an overview of this week's events at Nativity of Our Lady Catholic Church:

Saturday, December 7, 2013 -

• Feast of St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church
• Pearl Harbor Day
• Red Door Yard Sale, 9:00 - 2:00
• Confessions at 4:00 p.m.
• MASS at 5:00 p.m.
• Coastal Cuisine & Wines of the World Fundraiser for SFX School - St. William's on SSI - 6:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 8, 2013 -

• Second Sunday of Advent
• Liturgical Theme: HOPE
• MASS at 10:00 a.m.
• FLETC Mass at 4:00 p.m.

Monday, December 9, 2013 -

• Solemnity of Mary's Immaculate Conception, Patronal Feast of the USA
• Office Hours 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• MASS at 7:00 p.m.
• Note: the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is transferred to Dec. 9th this year; for Catholics it is the patronal feast of the United States of America; it is not a holy day of obligation this year.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013 -

• Confirmation Preparation at 5:00 (please note new time!)
• Pastoral Council meeting? Or will this meeting be moved to Dec. 17?

Wednesday, December 11, 2013 -

• Memorial of St. Damasus
• Open Church 9:00 to 3:00
• Finance Council meeting at 9:30 a.m.
• Office Hours 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Fr. Bob's office hours, 11:00 to 2:00

Thursday, December 12, 2013 -

• Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of All the Americas
• Spanish Mass for OL Guadalupe at SFX Church, 7:00 p.m.

Friday, December 13, 2013 -

• Feast of St. Lucy
• Office Hours 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Theology for Young Catholics, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Topic: the Occult

Saturday, December 14, 2013 -

• Memorial of St. John of the Cross
• Confessions at 4:00 p.m.
• MASS at 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 15, 2013 -

• Third Sunday of Advent
• Liturgical Theme: JOY
• MASS at 10:00 a.m.
• FLETC Mass at 4:00 p.m.

ADVENT CALENDARS are a wonderful tradition going back several centuries. They can be simple cardboard cards with a sweet picture for each day of Advent - just right for sending in the mail. Or they can be elaborate wooden constructions with working doors and drawers, with toys - or even chocolate - hidden inside!

A modernized version is the Online Advent Calendar, that you can use even on the go. These versions often concentrate on the spiritual, liturgical side of Advent, directing our attention to the readings of the Advent season, the saints of December and appropriate quotations from the teaching office of the Church. Here are two of Fr. Bob's favorites:

• By the U.S. Bishops' Conference: "Ad-Venire: an online advent calendar"
• By the Australian Bishops' Conference: "The xT3 Advent Calendar"

ADVENT CALENDAR APPS FOR YOUR SMART PHONE

Fr. Bob says: "I've looked at a lot of Advent Calendar apps, and the only one I like is xT3. On the other hand, I really like it. The xT3 Advent Calendar is great." Just click on the Australian xT3 link above.

PAPER ADVENT CALENDARS

The U.S. bishops have also published a nice Advent & Christmas Calendar that you can print out on 2 sheets of paper and hang on your refrigerator. It looks very nice. The USCBB PDF FAMILY ADVENT CALENDAR

The Finance Council discussed the number of second collections at Nativity. The diocese has increased the number of mandated special collections to 17 plus the Bishop's Annual Appeal. Besides these, here at Nativity we support the Five Loaves and Two Fishes Food Pantry with a food and funds drive every month. This means 30 special collections a year, which is most Sundays of the year. We believe that this is too many.

The Finance Council wishes to implement the following policy: As a general rule, only one special collection will be highlighted each month (not including the BAA). In those months where there are multiple special collections scheduled, we will choose one of them to highlight. The other special collection will receive 5% of the general collection without further ado. This rule does NOT apply to the Holy Land Collection on Good Friday, the Priests' Retirement Collection of Easter Sunday or the Catholic Schools Collection of Christmas Day. This new policy will affect between 2 and 4 collections each year.

Otherwise our policy remains the same: Nativity of Our Lady parish joyfully supports all special collections mandated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Diocese of Savannah, as well as our local decision to support the McIntosh County Food Pantry (which is not a collection, rather a box by the door). All special collections will be announced (at least) one week in advance in the bulletin and in the announcements at Mass. There will be only one pass of the collection plate - both the regular Sunday offering and the special collection envelopes will be collected in the same pass. The Food Pantry collection is "silent" - although announced, there will be no passing of the plate, rather people are encouraged to put their offering directly in the appropriate collection box in the vestibule. The results of all collections (including those receiving 5% without fanfare) will be announced each week in the bulletin. Donations to Fives Loaves & Two Fishes will be gathered and announced about once a month.

The Pastoral Council also approved this policy suggestion at its meeting of October 22.

Finance Council, November 13, 2013

List of special collections