Thank you.. to all who helped to put on our Children’s Choir and Pageant this year!

Choir members were

Isabelle, Victoria, Iris, Zade, Cydney, Vanessa, Isabelle, Stevie, Madisen.

Thank you to our musicians, Xander Sporck, Jose Tapia, Zaira Lobo, and Patricia Miller.

Thank you to all the children and parents who participated in the pageant, shuttling children to rehearsals, and helping with costumes and keeping order: Charlee Elerath, Kathy Quick and Kim Hanrahan.

Angels: Iris, Stevie, Cydney, Vanessa, Isabelle, Isabelle, Antonella.

Shepherds: Chase, Hugo, Zade and Ulyesses.
Angel of the Lord: Victoria.
Joseph: Jordan.
Mary: Megan.
Seamstress: NancyLindsey.

Come Celebrate the Feast of
St. Thomas of Canterbury

Please join us for mass at 7pm on tonight Tuesday, December 29 to celebrate the patron saint of our parish, St. Thomas Becket (aka St. Thomas of Canterbury). After mass, we will have popcorn and hot drinks. We will watch a short video and Fr. Hao will lead us in a discussion of the life of this brave saint. This event is appropriate for adults and children alike so bring your families.



All children are invited to bring one thing they received for Christmas to "Show and Tell".

No RSVP necessary, but call Sherry if you wish to help with food or drink for this event. (408) 364-8840 or sscott@dsj.org

Monthly Food and Clothing Drive is this Sunday, December 20. Please bring your items and present them during the offeratory at any mass this weekend. Emergency Housing Consortium is still in great need of blankets.

Giving Tree gifts due this Friday, December 18. Please bring your giving tree gifts to the parish office by Friday, 2pm. Every ornament was taken from the tree. What a testament to the generosity of our faith community!

As part of our preparations for the celebration of Jesus' birth, we can remember that even if we don't have all of the fancy cars and clothes as our neighbors, there is always someone who has less that we. Let us put the faith that we celebrate each week at mass into practice by imitating Jesus' care and concern for others. We believe that we are the Body of Christ in the world, let's show that in our actions.

Congratulations to the following parishioners who received their First Reconciliation this past Saturday!

Cynthia, Isabelle, Cydney, Vanessa, Philip, Kiele, Stevie, Gabby, and Haley.

Please continue to pray for them as they now turn their attention toward preparing for First Holy Communion.

Confirmation classes for our five candidates for confirmation in May of 2010 will begin on Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 10-11:15am in the Thomas room. Please pray for Amanda Lavond, Katie DiLeo, Rachel Moore, Samantha Supan, and Sara Lennon as well as their catechists, Kathy Small and Kathy Quick as they begin their immediate preparation for confirmation.

Catechetical Ministry

There will be no CM classes on Tuesday, December 22 and Tuesday, December 29. Classes resume on Tuesday, January 5, 2010.

There will be no preschool classes or Children's Liturgy of the Word on Sunday, December 27 and January 3. Preschool and Children' Liturgy will resume on Sunday, January 10, 2010.

Youth Choir

Please note: We've added another rehearsal and extended the times!

Two remaining rehearsals are:
Monday, December 21, 1-2:30pm and
Tuesday, 5:30-7:00pm.
All children ages 7-18 are welcome to join us. Questions? Sherry Scott sscott@dsj.org

Christmas Eve Gospel Dramatization

Final rehearsal for the Christmas Eve pageant is Tuesday, Decmber 22, 5:30-7pm in the church. Please note that we have extended the time 1/2 hour.

Upcoming rehearsals

The reconciliation service this morning was prayerful and also joyful. Congratulations to our nine students who received the sacrament for the very first time. It was warm and friendly in the church this morning in stark contrast to the gloomy clouds and pouring rain outside.

I am emailing to invite all of our parish children to participate in the Christmas Eve Mass at 5pm. We would like to have a large choir and also a pageant full of angels, shepherds, Mary and Joseph. We also need our teens to sign up to be readers. If you are interested, please contact me.

Choir and pageant practice is this Tuesday, December 15 and next Tuesday, December 22 from 5:30-6:30pm.

The 15th is the last day of CM class for 2009. We will reconvene on January 5, 2010.

Saturday, December 12, 9:30am

is our Parish Reconciliation Service

This is also the first reconciliation for nine of our young parishioners: Cynthia, Isabelle, Cydney, Vanessa, Philip, Kiele, Stevie, Gabby, and Haley.

We are talking in class alot about preparing for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The students repeatedly mention cleaning up their rooms and cleaning the house in preparation for Christmas.

One of the best ways to prepare our hearts is to celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation. It's sort of like a house cleaning of our souls, or taking a spiritual inventory. It can help us to recognize those areas in our lives where we need to do something better.. or maybe stop doing something that is harmful to ourselves or others.

I strongly encourage every family to take advantage of this opportunity on Saturday. In addtition, it is very important for us to show our support and congratulate our nine students. Our older students can model, by their example, that regular celebration of the sacrament of Reconciliation is key to a healthy spiritual life.

One of the biggest draws of the Catholic faith, in my opinion, is the belief in a merciful God. What a wonderful thing we celebrate this Saturday! Come and be a part of it.

Tuesday, Dec. 8 is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This is the day when we celebrate that Mary was conceived without original sin. We will celebrate with mass at 4pm and again at 7pm. This is a holy day of obligation. Parents may pick up their students from the classrooms after mass. If you have students attending at both 4pm and 7pm, the entire family need only attend one of the masses.

Did you know that if tomorrow is the celebration of Mary's conception, then her birthday is celebrated on September 8? Many Catholics confuse the Feast of the Immaculate Conception with the Annunciation. The Annunciation is when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear God's son. The Annunciation is celebrated on March 24. The birth of Jesus is December 25. (Just a little Catholic trivia for you.)