December 27th, 2015 The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

MASS SCHEDULE

Daily Mass: 6:30 & 8:00 a.m. Saturdays: 8:00 a.m. & 4:30 p.m. Sundays: 6:30, 8, 9:30 & 11 a.m.;

12:30 & 6 p.m. 1st Friday of the Month;

Adoration & 12:00 noon Mass

Confessions:

Saturdays 3:30-4:15 pm & by appointment.

Parish Staff

PASTOR: Fr. Christopher Bennett Ext. 135

PAROCHIAL VICARS: Rev. Anthony Uytingco Ext. 130

And Rev. Chady Segovia Ext. 143

DEACON: Deacon Bruce Zorio, Ext. 137

PARISH SECRETARIES: Gayle Blackford & Adrienne DiVittorio

BUSINESS & FACILITY MANAGER Elaine Blocher, Ext. 136

SAFE ENVIRONMENT Nancy Jolliff Ext. 133

RCIA To become Catholic: 269-2226

PARISH RECORDS: Sue Pershon Ext. 124

PASTORAL MINISTRY: 264-5114 Loretta Pfaff Ext. 131

YOUTH/YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY: Chris Miller - 408-395-7949

CATECHETICAL MINISTRY: 264-8764 Director: Sr. Felicia Gross, O.S.F.

Rel. Ed. Assistant: Diane Forst Elementary Sacrament Coordinator: Gina Park

OUTREACH OFFICE: 269-2226 Ext. 132 Director: Nancy Melander

Pantry Hours: 4:00-5:30pm Tuesday & Wednesday Call for Saturday Hours

Church address and office hours: 1576 Curtner Avenue, San Jose, CA. 95125

Parish Office: (408) 269-2226 Fax: (408) 269-2784 Web Site: www.saintchris.com

Office Hours: 8:30am-12:00 & 1:00-4:00pm Mon—Friday

ST. CHRISTOPHER SCHOOL: 408-723-7223

School web site: www.stchris.us Principal: Mrs. Corrine Buich

Vice Principals: Sr. Kieran O’Connor, P.B.V.M, Mrs. Jutta Brassill and Mrs. Kathy Carter

Business Manager: Mrs. Stephanie Houlihan Finance Manager: Divina Orogo

Development Director: Teresa Behan

The parish office will be closed for Christmas starting Wednesday, December 23rd and re-open on Monday, January 4th. Have a safe and healthy holiday. We wish you and your family a blessed New Year.

Dear Parishioners,

Many parents often feel unsupported and unappreciated in the extremely difficult task of raising a family to-day. The very fact of this feast is meant to show the importance and sacredness of the family. The family is the basic unit of the church. As the Gospel reminds us Jesus was born into a family, not into a church or a syna-gogue! His parents protected, nourished and formed him, without them the Son of God would have been de-stroyed. The family remained the focus of church life throughout the New Testament period. Christians did not gather in churches or large assemblies but in homes. Here their bonds were forged. In subsequent ages the im-portance of the family may have been overlooked but we should not continue the same mistake. The family remains the first and most crucial unit of church life. A second point emphasized in the readings, is the im-portance of a spirit of forgiveness and compassion in family relationships. This emphasis, obviously, flows from the experience of family life where deep love usually coexists with deep tensions and conflicts. As family we are called to renew our spirit of compassionate love for each other within the family circles. Sacred Scrip-tures extend this call not only to children and parents, but the adult sons and daughters are reminded of their continuing responsibility toward their parents. Often the parental roles seem to be reversed: when children be-come adults they are sometimes called upon to be parent' to their elderly mother or father.

None of us chooses our family. Children sometimes day-dream about belonging to another family, and create a fantasy world where all the less than-pleasant experiences of family as they experience them in the here and now are blotted out. In such a dream world there is no curfew for bedtime, and no limit to the supply of sweets and other goodies. As adults we too could ask ourselves what kind of family we would like to be, and perhaps have the courage to be honest in admitting that there are some aspects to our family at present that could be different, if we really choose to do something about them.

The experience of being part of a family, no matter what the size, shape or duration, is one that is shared by every individual, no matter to what culture he or she belongs. The image of family can evoke some of the deepest moments of bonding, and because of this, it is an image that is often extended to describe other group-ings such as the family of nations, the family of God's people, or the family of the Church. Jesus reminds us of a further dimension to life in family, namely the need for openness to the unexpected and surprising ways that God can come into our lives as family, and ask the unexpected of us. When faced with the unpredictable, the inexplicable, or the unbearable, what better model can we take for trust in divine providence in spite of appear-ances than that of Joseph Mary & Jesus?

Fr. Christopher Bennett

After Christmas, Mass’s will be: Saturday, December 26th, 4:30pm Mass ONLY

Sunday, December 27th. Mass will be at 6:30am, 8:00, 9:30, 11:00 and 12:30pm ONLY

And December 28-31 8:00am weekly Mass ONLY

New Year’s Day Friday, January 1, 2016

9:30an Mass Only

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph December 27th, 2015

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS (408) 264-8764

Religious Education Office Hours: Office hours- Mon.–Thurs. Closed Fridays

8:30-a.m.-Noon and 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

Out of Town? FYI There is a web site, you can access when ever you are out of town and need a church for Mass, Go to www.masstimes.org and look up churches and Mass times, where ever you are. Check it out.

A Jubilee Year of Mercy Pilgrimage to Poland & the Czech Republic

Including: Warsaw, Czestochowa, Krakow, Wadowice, Auschwitz, Brno & Prague

13 Days: October 5th to 17th, 2016 Under the Spiritual Direction of:

Most Rev. Patrick J. McGrath & Rev. Christopher Bennett

For more information Email: revbennett@sbcglobal.net or pick up a flyer in the Parish office or the back of the church

RCIA

Adult Confirmation Register Tuesdays of January 7:15-9pm at 2278 Booksin in the Marian Room with Deacon Bruce

Confirmation Our next session for confirmation will be on Thursday, January 7th in Walsh Hall from 7 until 8:30 pm. Students are asked to bring their work-books to each session. Please contact Chris Miller at cmiller@dsj.org or 408-395-7949 for additional information.

Youth Group The next youth group sessions will be Sunday, January 10th from 7-8:30pm in Walsh Hall. See www.saintchris.com for additional information, including the full schedule for the year.

Youth Ministry News: Chris Miller (408)-395-7949

cmiller@dsj.org or parish website www.saintchris.com—Select youth link

Attention Please Parents and Children! An exciting new children’s choir is being formed here at St. Christopher’s to sing at the 9:30am Mass once a month. Mark your calendar. The first Mass the choir will sing at, will be Sunday, January 17th at 9:30am. Rehearsal will take place before Mass at 8:15 in the Walsh Hall. A flyer will follow up soon with more information. If you have any questions, call Loretta in the Parish office at 408-264-5114 or email: Loret-ta.pfaff@stchrissj.org

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26 4:30 Yvonne Pine, Stanford Slate, Dennis Whelihan, Harry Hamilton, Lawrence A. Anderson Jr. Ruby Foote (sp int)

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27 6:30 Yvonne Pine, Helen Boshell, Francesca Adamo, Mary Zane Aumack 8:00 Yvonne Pine, Michael Giammona, Assunta & Stanislao Fortino, Virginia Tognetti, Ray Humecke & Narog Family 9:30 Yvonne Pine, Fadi Zikoor, Bernard Vilona Herta Catherine Markvardsen 11:00 Yvonne Pine, Mildred Battaglia, James DiBona Sr., Charles & Lena Cisi, Maietta Family, Cornelio Paed 12:30 Yvonne Pine, Cal Schneider, Leo Cunningham, Joseph A. Sunseri

IN REMEMBRANCE Let us pray for all who have died, that they may rejoice with the Risen Lord,

especially:

Jaime Ramos and Donald McAbee

CHRISTMAS BREAK FOR THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMS:

Both the Sunday Religious Ed. program and Liturgy of the Word program have a break from December 20th through January 3rd. Sunday Rel. Ed. and Litur-gy of the Word will resume on January 10th. The Tuesday Religious Education program has a break from December 15th through Dec. 29th and will resume on January 5th. LITURGY OF THE WORD PROGRAM: Liturgy of the Word is in session during the 9:30 a.m. Mass. It is open to all Kindergarten - 4th graders. It will re-sume on Jan. 10th. No registration needed. JUNIOR HIGH REL. ED. PROGRAM: The Rel. Ed. Jr. High program will meet on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016 from 4:30 p.m.-5:45 p.m. in Walsh Hall.

PLEASE NOTE: There will be no

First Friday Adoration Mass

For January It will resume In February

Social Justice Today is the feast of the Holy Family. This ought to be a reminder to us of the significance of the human, individual and collective, family in main-taining the strength and stability in any society and the world community. It is within the family that children are exposed to those values/ethics which are important to their parents by observing what is done, not by what is said/preached: role of spirituality in one's life; the difference between needs/wants; the significance and consistency of "yes" or "no"; the merits/dangers of delayed/instant gratifica-tion; the respect for one's own and other's iden-tity/goodness; the inclination to be inclusive/exclusive of others based on race/religion/ethnic origin; the tragedy of bullying/scapegoating; etc. Such lays the foundation in which the next gen-eration will enhance or undermine the founda-tion of our society. Pope benedict in "Caritas in Veritate" (53) clear-ly points out : "The development of peoples de-pends, above all, on the recognition that the hu-man race is a single family working together in true communion, not simply a group of subjects who happen to live side by side." Then Pope Francis in "Joy of the Gospel" (220): "Yet be-coming a people demands something more. It is an ongoing process in which every new genera-tion must take part; a slow and arduous effort calling for a desire for integration and a willing-ness to achieve this through the growth of a peaceful and multifaceted culture of encounter." As Christians we ought to pray for the enlighten-ment of those who would reject an entire group because of actions of a few, be it in movie thea-ter, a school, a church or an office.. As an inclusive family, following in Jesus' foot-steps, do we remain silent in what seems to be an evolving xenophobia?

Any Comments or input please direct them to: Doug Harper socialjustice@stchrissj.org

ANNUAL MEMORIAL MASS A special Mass of Remembrance for all our loved ones who died in 2015, will be held on Wednesday, January 20, 2016 at 7:00pm. If your loved one passed away in 2015, whether or not they were a pa-rishioner here, you are invited to attend. If you would like them included in the photo presentation during Mass, please submit a photo of them as soon as possible. Include the name of the deceased, the name & address of the person the photo should be returned to. You may mail or drop off to Loretta Pfaff, Msgr. Allen Center 2278 Booksin Ave., SJ 95125 or by email to: loretta.pfaff@stchrissj.org. All parishioners, family and friends are invited to join in this special com-memoration of our deceased loved ones. There will be a light reception following the Mass sponsored by St. Christopher Grief Ministry. Questions, call Loretta, 264-5114.

St. Christopher Young Adults

WHEN: Sunday Afternoons, 1:30-3:00 pm (see below for exact dates)

WHERE: Walsh Hall @ St. Christopher Parish,

DETAILS: St. Christopher Young Adults are a group of parishioners ages 18 to 39, single and married, who are connected by our Catholic faith and who actively partici-pate in the life of the Church. Our mission is to “continue lifelong learning in a Catholic environment through spiritual growth, reflection, and service as we strengthen our relation with God though each other, our faith, and our community." The group strives to offer the following programmatic com-ponents on a rotating basis: faith sharing, social events, and service opportunities. Par ticipants are also encouraged to get involved with the liturgical ministries at the Parish.

Please join us on the following Sundays as we build communi-ty, break bread (lunch will be included), and deepen our faith and relationship with Jesus Christ:

Sunday, January 10 from 1:30 until 3 pm Sunday, January 24 from 1:30 until 3 pm

Sunday, February 21 from 1:30 until 3 pm

Please contact youth and young adult ministry coordinator Chris Miller at 408-395-7949 or cmiller@dsj.org.

We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event!

SUPPORT GROUP FOR THE SICK

We'd like to invite those who are sick and their fami-ly members to join us for a regular Support Group meeting at the Msgr. Allen Center every first Thurs-day of the month. For more information, please call Edith Smith at 408-839-1942. NEXT MEETING - Thursday, January 7th at 5:30-7:00 pm

Did you know that we have an Online Giving pro-gram here at St. Christopher Parish? Our Online Giving program allows you to donate using your VI-SA, Mastercard, or bank account. Donations can be made for the Sunday Offering as well as most Sec-ond Collections and the Parish Renewal Fund. Why use the Online Program? Because gifts are done electronically you will no longer need to worry about remembering to bring your envelopes to church. It also allows you to use VISA or Master-card so you will be able to earn your miles or other awards on your credit cards. You can access our secure site by using the link on our parish website at www.SaintChris.com. Thank you in advance for you support of our parish.

CHRISTMAS ALTAR & FLOWER FUND To share in decorating the altar for Christmas, you may donate to the Christmas Altar and Flower Fund in memory of a loved one or as a sign of raise and worship. Special envelopes are available in the vestibule of the

Church or you may use a plain envelope. Enclose the names of those you would like remembered with your donation and either drop in the collection bas-ket or at the Parish Office.

CHRISTMAS FLOWER OFFERING IN MEMORY OF:

Sarah Carolyn DeCarli, Don DeCarli, Steven DeCarli, Bernice DeCarli, Ed & Agnes Wallace, Mar-yAnn Wallace, Donald Wallace, Karen Wallace, Helen Blackford, Danny Blackford, Eva Hazen, Eleanor Agu-lara, Eleanor Alexander, Frank & Josephine DeMarlo,

Anita & Pedro Roa, Michael Hausler, Bud Cabral, Man-ael & Evelyn Perry, Marlene Williamson, Jean Taddie, William C. Rike, Martha Martin, Cheryl Moses, Allen

Orlando, Paul & Mary Sue Simon, Bill & Loretta Bunce, John & Lena Hickey, Jim & Vernon Hickey, Maurice &

Mary Hickey, David Muller, Margaret Spencer, Ann Parsons, Alexandrine Rankin, Decesed Members of the Levin and Harper Families, Maria Serio, Mobeck family loved ones, Otto & Wilma Sorensen, Eugene Olszewski,

William & Mabel Crank, Dean Olszewski, Jadwiga Dlugopolski, Richard Olszewski, Rosa P. Morrone, Jo-sephina Morano, Deceased members of Stone & Grego-

ry family, William Romito, Familia Reyes,Nicole, Damian, Affre, Doreen, Nandi, William & Shella

Sweeney, Marietje Ryke, Van Ho, William & Helen Percy, Charles & Lena Cisi and Rev.

Deacon Salvator Alvarez

Events

If you left a picture of your loved one in the church during the month of November for All Souls, you can pick it up in the parish of-fice, during office hours. Mon—Friday, 8:30am to 12:00pm and 1:00pm to 4:00pm.

Lord Jesus Christ, you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father, and have told us

that whoever sees you sees Him. Show us your face and we will be saved.

Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by mon-

ey; the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking hap-piness only in created things; made Peter weep after his betrayal, and assured Paradise to the repentant thief. Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman:

“If you knew the gift of God!”

You are the visible face of the invisible Father, of the God who manifests his power above all by for-

giveness and mercy: let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified. You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in

weakness in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error: let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and

forgiven by God.

Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing, so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord, and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the

poor, proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed, and restore sight to the blind.

We ask this of you, Lord Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy; you who live

and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

Amen.

Vigil Location: Planned Parenthood 1691 The Alameda, San Jose, CA 95126

Vigil Hours: 7AM—7 PM every day Local Contact: Pat 408-497-7270

INFORMATION FOR REPORTING COMPLAINTS OR ALLEGATIONS OF

SEXUAL MISCONDUCT: DIOCESE OF SAN JOSE

THE OFFICE FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND VULNERABLE ADULTS

1150 North First Street, Suite 100 San Jose, CA 95112

Complaints or allegations of Sexual misconduct may be reported via:

PHONE: 408-983-0113 EMERGENCY HOTLINE: 408-983-0141

EMAIL: protection@djs.org FAX: 408-983-0147

The Christopher Ministry provides meals to parish-ioners during times of temporary crisis or hardship. If you or a fellow parishioner needs the help of the Christophers’, please contact the Ministry Chairper-sons. Also, please consider becoming a Christopher and helping provide this important and comforting service to members within the community. Thank you in advance for your support.

Caroline Begg Karen Warford (408) 267-7820 (408) 266-7441 fcgardhouse@yahoo.com karenvijil@yahoo.com

Attention Online Giving Donors: If you have donations posted to your credit card and you have been issued a new credit card by your bank for what ever reason, please be sure and log on to your Online Giving Profile and update your account information. You can access the Online Giving Site by using the link on our Parish Website, www.SaintChris.com. If you have any questions

Thank you for your continued support of our Parish.

Please Pray For Us

We continue to pray for all the men and women serving our country

in this time of war:

Alex Ngo, Tim McCullough, Joey Bellomo, Nick Badagliacco, Matthew Ward, Angelo

Totanes, Ciro LoBono, Tyler Hammerness, Branden Alwine, Greg Cook, Connor

McDonald, Christian Dietz, Connor Quinn, Adam Christopher Madewell, Richard Stayskal,

Larry Chartier, Andrew Morgan, Derek Carroll, Al-len Ellerbee, Obadihah Petteway, Eric Gentrup,

Michael Arnone, David Wells, Ryan Trapani, Rafi Miranda, Spencer Fishman, Ryan A. Johnson, Da-

vid Ryan, Benjamin Owens-Filice, Christopher Healy, and Christine Doudell

Loydene Kiley Rick Lovoy

Alec Giurlani Nina Ratulowski

Connie Himmelsbach Lois Nemeth

Shannon Flynn Vera Gutierrez Dorothy Mariles

Ed Dimsey Gregoria Poole Roberta Enright,

Dave Paul, Anthony Cardoza,

Lily Rabanal, Virginia Dalziel,

Carol Whelan, Valerie Shupp,

Michael Scullion, Lenore Luedeman,

Paul Russo, Marcus Espinoza,

Cornell Wade, Marty Rattay, Roy LeFevre,

Martha & Charles Gregersen,

Dave Oliverio, Margret Gaffaney,

Al & Jean Trznadel, and Lena Iaconis

Pray for the ill in our Parish

St. Christopher Catholic School invites you to ap-ply for the 2016-2017 school year. Applications for Kindergarten through 8th grade will be accept-ed from December 2nd through January 11th. Applications can be found online at www.schris.us or picked up at the school's office. Any questions please call Stephanie Houlihan at 408.723.7223 x0