Sunday

No Continental Breakfast after 9:00 am Mass. Fourth SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Monday

Tuesday The next Ladies Guild meeting is 1/10/2017 at 1 pm in the Fr. Jim Community Center meeting rooms. NEW MEMBERS ALWAYS WELCOME.

Wednesday

Thursday ADORATION after 9:30 am Mass until 6:30 pm

Friday 6:30am Communion Service 9:30am Communion Service

Saturday Christmas Eve, Masses at 5pm, 8pm & 11pm

Sunday Christmas Day Masses at 7:30am and 11:00am HAVE A BLESSED AND MARY CHRIST-MAS

Dec. 18, 2016 - Dec. 25, 2016

Sunday 7:30am 9:00am 11:00am 5:00pm

Mary Lee Hathaway † Baldomero Felix † Emiliano Sarmiento † For Our Parishioners

Monday 6:30 am 9:30 am

Safe Travel Emmie -Lee †

Tuesday 6:30 am 9:30 am

Jannel George- Oden & Family Fr. Elwood Geary †

Wednesday 6:30 am

9:30 am Special Intention In Thanksgiving

Thursday

6:30am 9:30am

Letty Quizon (bd.) Royce Kilgore †

Friday 6:30am 9:30am

Communion Service Communion Service

Saturday 8:00am 5:00 pm 8:00 pm 11:00pm

NO MASS Betty Moy † For Our Parishioners Joe & Annie Mendoza (35th anniv.)

Sunday 7:30 am 9:00 am 11:00 am 5:00 pm

Pete & Anita Barulich † NO MASS Betty Moy † NO MASS

ASCENT EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM

Hours of operation, 9:00 am -2:00 pm , Tuesday thru Thurs-day Contact 408-257-8302 FAX Number 408-257-4600 Web Site: www.ascent-jobs.org PO Box 9604, San Jose CA 95157.

Weekly Stewardship Report Collections for 12/11/16 $ 9,969

Collections 7/1/16 to 12/11/16 $ 245,340 Budgeted 7/1/16 to 12/11/16 $ 260,421

Variance ($15,081)

To help keep the parish within its budget please prayer-fully consider making a one time tax deductible gift. Contact the parish office for details. Thank you for your continued support!

Dec. 18, - Dec. 25, 2016

Social Justice Corner

The long wait is almost over. Jesus’ birth is nearly upon us. Today begins the fourth week of Advent. As the bustle, shopping, home preparations, and outings escalate, keep focused on WHO we are waiting for: Jesus Christ- the long promised Messiah and Light of the World. Consider this week… Carve out some quiet time. “Come to me with a thankful heart. Present your needs to me. As you rest qui-etly in My Presence, My Light within you grows brighter and brighter. My Peace, which surpasses all understanding, will help direct your path, so that you may be a light to others.” * Seek Reconciliation. Late in pregnancy, many women prepare for the birth of a child by “nesting” – cleaning, making food and preparing their home. Prepare your soul by participating in the sacrament of Reconciliation. Seek to repair any strained relationships you may have. Be aware of the power of your words. They can lift someone’s spirit on a bad day. Equally words can tear someone down. Look for oppor-tunities to be the loving presence of Christ. Comfort the sorrowful. Reach out to someone who has lost a loved one or a job. Your phone call or offer to visit or take them out may bring comfort and happiness to their day. Share Christmas joy…by volunteering, donating gifts or food, taking time to smile and offer help to those less fortunate. As we anticipate the celebration of Christmas, let your words and actions this week point to Christ’ light within you. Go make a difference. Let all you do be your Christmas gift to Him. *Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

Rectory Hours and Mass Times

Rectory closed Friday, December, 23 - Communion Service 6:30am & 9:30am. Rectory closed Saturday, December 24 -No Morning Mass. Christmas Eve Masses, 5 pm, 8 pm, 11 pm. Christmas Day Masses 7:30 am & 11:00am, no 5:00pm Mass. Rectory closed December 26-December 30. No 6:30am Masses. Communion services at 9:30 am. No Adoration on December 29. Regular Masses on December 31.

Bring the family to sing to shut-ins. They love to see children. Gather at Queen of Apostles parking lot 1:45 Sunday, December 18. Carpool to local small homes and nursing facilities. Optional Dinner at 5 pm at Holders Country Inn. Call Margie for info, 203-7747.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

The Faith of A Good Man

Poor Joseph. Here is he, engaged to be married, and his future wife breaks the news that she’s pregnant…with the Son of God. Now, there’s news you don’t hear every day. We can only imagine what he must have thought. Is she a liar or has she lost her mind? But rather than accusing her of adultery and having her put to death, he opts to bow out quietly…until he has his own God moment.

We often hear of the faith of Mary, and her willingness to say yes to God’s plan for salvation. And while we recognize Joseph as a good and holy man, we don’t always consider that his obedience to God was a critical component, given the times. An angel appearing in a dream is probably easy enough to brush off as a figment of one’s subconscious. And yet, Joseph put himself at risk of some serious scandal, (not to mention having any kind of “normal” life) when he said yes to God. And in doing so, this humble and faithful man gave our Lord, and His mother a loving home, instead of a life of despair.

This is what God does. He presents us with these opportunities to choose to love, or choose the easy way out. And while ours are not usually so dramatic, we face these choices every day. Do we trust in God’s providence when facing unemployment? Do we forgive those who hurt us, even when they are unwilling to change? Do we sacrifice our own comfort to bless someone in need?

Most of the time, we don’t have an angel appearing to us to help us make our decisions. But each day we can face those opportunities by asking that same question…do I choose to love, or do I choose the easy way out? Discipleship isn’t easy. It takes trust and it takes sacrifice. But in choosing to love, we are following in the footsteps of both Mary and Joseph, saying yes to something so much greater than ourselves. And through the example of this most holy couple, we know that saying yes to God can literally change the world.

Merry Christmas!

Dec. 18, 2016

Family Faith Formation 408-255-9950

Office is staffed on Tuesday and Thursday 8:00 am -3:00 pm and on weekends by ap-pointment. Please call before stopping by.

On December 6th, the students came to the church that evening in their nice Christmas

clothes to present the annual Christmas singing program for their families. The theme was Christmas Messages and was designed to make everyone feel warm and cozy with a mix of sacred and contemporary songs, almost all of them familiar and beloved. The program had a very simple narra-tion between each song, with each grade performing one song, a vocal duet, and a 4-part finale with Preschool through 8th grade participating. The program delivered on its promise to put everyone in the holiday spirit. It was fol-lowed by a reception in the Fr. Jim Mifsud Community Cen-ter where families enjoyed hot chocolate, cookies, and good company.

Registration forms for 2016-2017 are available online at http:www.qofa.org/2016-2017-registration-2 or in the parish of-fice. On the Calendar: Dec. 18th All classes meet at their usual times Dec. 24th Children’s Liturgy at the 5pm Mass. Grades 3-5 par-ticipating There will be no classes on December 25th or January 1st. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! Jan. 8th: All classes resume

We are still accepting registrations for our Middle School Min-istry program for the 2016-2017 school year. More info can be found online http://www.qofa.org/middle-school-ministry. MSM meets Sunday nights at 6:15 in the gym. On the Calendar: Dec. 18th: General Session -White Elephant Gift There will be no sessions on December 25th and January 1st. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! January 8th: Formation Night -breakout sessions Mark your calendars for the Middle School Retreat Jan. 28-29 !!!

Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults

Diocese of San Jose - Anthony Gonzalez Phone: 408-983-0113 Fax:408-983-0147 Emergency line: 408-983-0141

HIGH SCHOOL Youth Ministry and Confirmation

Dec. 18: Serving donuts at 9 am, Confirmation Session at 6:30 pm Jan. 8 , Confirmation Session at 6:30 am

Save the date: Echoes of Worth High School Re-treat, January 13-15, www.echoesofworth.com *Like us on Facebook: Queen of Apostles Youth *Follow us on Instagram: QofAYM *Contact us: youth@qofa.org | 408-213-6509 | www.qofa.org

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults

(RCIA) is a religious formation program for adults and for children 7 years or older, who are interested in joining the Catholic

Church. Participants explore their faith while learning about the Catholic tradition. To learn more call 408-255-9950 or email kmanning@dsj.org

The Diocese of San Jose has partnered with EthicsPoint to provide a confidential method to hear suggestions, con-cerns or reports of financial misconduct. EthicsPoint ac-cepts reports of financial misconduct through its website or its Hotline: 1-888-325–7863. Please direct any ques-tions that you may have about EthicsPoint or reporting concerns to Teresa Conville, Diocesan Compliance and Parish Financial Services Director at 408-983–0241 or tconville@dsj.org.

Bake Sale Thank You The Ladies Guild wishes to thank all those who pur-chased the homemade goodies at their Bake Sale last weekend. Thank you to those who chose to make a monetary donation also. The sale was very successful and the sum $1845 was brought in. Thanks to the special ladies who baked those won-derful delicacies for us to enjoy!!

What: Resting with God: A Young Adult Retreat Where: The Jesuit Retreat Center of Los Altos When: January 20-22, 2017 Are you feeling burned out? Do you need some time away to connect with yourself, with others, and with God? Then treat yourself and come to the Young Adults Retreat. Spend a weekend in prayer, faith sharing, reflection, and fellow-ship — with opportunities for Liturgy, reconciliation, and talks on relevant Ignatian themes. “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Early Bird Registration Fee Good through Friday, December 23, 2016

Alateen group will no longer meet on Thursday evenings here at Queen of Apos-

tles School at 7:45 p.m. If anyone needs to talk, please call Jay or Venice at 408-406-7081 for more information.

We lovingly pray for those in our Parish and families who cannot join us at Mass especially, Dave Lamb, Tomas Ar-guello, Venice Romiti, Ken Koenig, George Hakius, Jeanne Futrell, Barbara Carrillo, Ben Hatfield . Please let us also pray for all our servicemen and women who serve in the Armed Forces throughout the world and remember them in our hearts today and everyday. We remember those dearly departed in our Queen of Apostles family and in our own families and special persons:

PEACEMAKERS Kateri Tekakwitha

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha was an orphan at age 4 as her parents died of smallpox. She was born of a mother who was Algonquin who con-verted to Christianity. Her father was a Mohawk chief. Not all of her Indian friends approved of her religion and at one point she feared for her life and began a journey that was to take her to Montreal. She tried to found a convent but was not successful. She made public vows of chastity and became a fervent Christian. She died young and was be-atified by Pope John Paul II. In our present day, we have been follow-ing the Native Americans who are trying to protect their sacred land in North Dakota. We grieve for their suffering over the past many years. We pray for their safety as winter sets in.

Kateri struggled as do present-day Native Americans. But her struggle brings to mind our need to care for the earth and our need to reach out to our neighbors who may have a different cultural back-ground.

Brought to you by the Social Justice Committee

A Prayer for our Church God, our Heavenly Father, we humbly ask you to make the doors of our Church wide enough to receive all who need human love and fel-lowship, and a Father’s care; narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride and un-charitableness. Make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling block to children, or to weak or straying feet; but rugged and strong enough to turn back the tempter’s power.

O, Heavenly Father, make the doors of our Church a gateway to your Eternal Kingdom. Bless every member and worker in our Church. May all that we do be done to Your honor and for Your glory, and to the up-building of your parish, as an extension of Your kingdom.

Please send to us those whom You would have be a part of Your work here at our church, and may we all continue to be Yours, forever; daily increasing in Your Holy Spirit of love and in service to others. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. Amen.

.

Divorced? SEPARATED? If you are divorced or separated and interested in be-ing part of a new support group in our area, we would like to hear from you! Please call the parish office and leave your name and contact information.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Thank You

A special thank you to all who do-nated baby outfits and blankets. We delivered 13 boxes to the Diocesan Layette Shower plus $300.00 for the Layette Fund.

Christmas Poinsettias

A special thank you to all who have do-nated toward the purchase of our Christ-mas flowers, if you still would like to donate please place donation in the collection and mark your check or envelope “poinsettias” if you have cash. Anything that you can do will be greatly appreciated. As always Queen of Apostles parish-ioners are always so generous. Any donation may be dropped off at the Parish Office also.

Dear Parishioners,

St. Vincent de Paul would like to thank you for your generous donations of food and gift cards. Due to your help we were able to feed 84 families' (423 people) ! A special thanks goes to the Ladies Guild for financially supporting us with a $1000 contri-bution that insured all would be fed. Thanks to the youth group, the middle school ministries and the students from Queen of Apostles School for their assistance. Thanks also to the Knights of Columbus for their donation of $500 to help our clients in time of need. And of course none of this would be possible without the backing of our Pastor ,Fr. Thuc and the wonderful staff in the Rectory.

Queen of Apostles Church

4911 Moorpark Avenue

San Jose, Ca 95129

Never Give Up! PASTORAL STAFF: Rev. Thuc Si Ho, Pastor Rev. Reynaldo Sarmiento, Parochial Vicar, Dir. Of Liturgy Deacon Brian McKenna, Coordinator of Social Justice Kristie Manning, Faith Formation/RCIA Director Gregory Elsner, Accountant Mary Ann Oddo, Administrative Assistant II Marie McCarthy, Administrative Assistant I Klarissa Chichioco, Coordinator of Youth and Young Adult Ralph Garcia , Facilities Supervisor Teri Silvestri, Music Coordinator Carmen Macias, Wedding Coordinator Dirk Maasen, Technology Coordinator Family Faith Formation: 408-255-9950 Parish Office 408-253-7560 Open 9-5 Monday - Friday Closed for lunch: 12-1 4911 Moorpark Ave. San Jose, Ca.. 95129 Fax: 408-253-9530 Web Site: www.qofa.org Marty Chargin, School Principal School Address: 4950 Mitty Way 408-252-3659 San Jose, CA 95129

MASS SCHEDULE: Saturday (Vigil Mass): 5:00 p.m. Sundays: 7:30, 9:00 and 11:00 a.m., 5:00 p.m. Weekdays: 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. Saturdays: 8:00 a.m. Holy Days: (Vigil Mass) 5:00 p.m., 6:30, 9:30 a.m., 7:00 p.m. Marian Devotions: After the 8:00 a.m. Mass on Saturday SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM: Seminar required. Please contact Rectory for information. SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION: Saturdays - 4:00 - 4:45 p.m. or by appointment. SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY: Contact Rectory at least SIX MONTHS prior to any proposed wedding date. INQUIRY SESSION ABOUT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: Contact number: 408-255-9950 or kmanning@dsj.org