our lady of lourdes · 12/22/2019 · our lady of lourdes 7049 blue ridge blvd. raytown, missouri...
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Our Lady of Lourdes 7049 Blue Ridge Blvd. Raytown, Missouri 64133 www.ollraytown.com [email protected] 816-353-2380 (Priest Emergency—816-356-3700) December 22, 2019
Parish Mass Schedule
Sunday Mass
8:00 am & 11:00 am
Confession ~ Saturday ~ @ St. Bernadette 3-3:30 pm
Devotion to Sacred Heart
& Benediction
~ Wednesday ~
6:00 & 6:20 pm
Parish Rosary
Daily at Noon & 30 Minutes Before each Mass
Regular Parish
Office Hours
Monday - Thursday
9:30 am to 3:00 pm
Friday
9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Deadline for Bulletin submission is 10 days prior to Bulletin date .
9300 E. 75 th Raytown, MO 64138
816-356-0054 [email protected]
@raytownreap
https://raytownreap.org/volunteer/
We continue to collect non parishable items to give to REAP. The container is in the vestibule (area on Blue Ridge side of church).
Pastor Fr. David Holloway ~ 816-356-3700 ~ [email protected]
Deacon Richard Gross ~ Cell 816-679-8974 ~ [email protected]
Deacon Joe Zagar ~ Cell 816-304-3020 ~ [email protected]
View the Bulletins also on ’MyParish’ app or DISCOVERMASS.COM
Staff Members
Parish Secretary—Cathy Gordon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(816-353-2380)
Parish Council President—Mike Sweetland. . . . . [email protected]
Adoration Chapel—Mother Julia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(816-353-2177)
Buildings & Grounds—Gerry Sharkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (816-686-9477)
Parish Hall Rental—Gerry Sharkey. . . . . . . . Call Parish Office for availability
Bookkeeper—Karen Arredondo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
PSR Leader —Mother Julia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(816-353-2177)
Catechis of the Good Shepherd—Wanda DeMoss. . . . [email protected]
Please direct Parish Council communications to either Deacon Richard
Gross or Deacon Joe Zagar.
Classes RCIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sundays after 11 am Mass. . . . . . . Contact the Office
PSR & Sacramental Prep Classes . . . Enrollment Open. . . .Contact the Office
Report Abuse Diocesan Joe Crayon, Ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (816-812-2500)
Victim Advocate
Kathleen Chastain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected] (816-392-0011)
Newsletter Submittals
Committee/Organization information, birthday/anniversary, and news. Please
send to [email protected] or bring to the parish office by the 20th of each
month.
Baptism~ Please contact the parish office in advance for baptism preparation Information.
Marriages~ Arrangements are to be made through the parish office at least nine months in advance, but a year is preferred. You must be a registered, practicing, contributing member of the parish.
Bulletin~ Deadline for submissions is Monday, 10 am, for the next Sunday’s edition. NOTE: Please submit at least four days earlier for holiday bulletins.
New Parishioners ~ Welcome! Please pick up a registration form in the back of church or stop by the office to ensure we have your information. We are glad you are here. Call the office for sacrament inquiries.
The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph is committed to combatting sexual abuse in the Church. If you are a victim of sexual abuse, or if you observe or suspect sexual abuse: 1. Call the Missouri Child Abuse Hotline at 1.800.392.3738 (if the victim is currently under the age of 18), and 2. Contact your local law enforcement agency or call 911, and 3. After reporting to these civil and law enforcement authorities, report suspected sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult to the Diocesan Ombudsman, Joe Crayon, at 816.812.2500 or [email protected], if the abuse involves a priest, deacon, employee or volunteer of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.
The Diocese has a sincere commitment to providing care and healing resources to victims of sexual abuse and their families. Please contact the Victim Advocate, Kathleen Chastain, at 816.392.0011 or [email protected] for more information.
Dear Parishioners,
Last week I wrote about patience, here is something the great humorist Will Rogers said, “People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.”
I pray that Christmas will be good to all of you. When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we naturally focus on the child but let us remember the child grew into a man who revealed himself as the Son of God and offered himself as a sacrifice for all of us. The gift we received from God in his Son is priceless.
If your Christmas time doesn’t quite meet your expectations accept the gift that the child Jesus gave to us and Christmas will meet your expectations.
God Bless,
Fr. Dave
Advent
Reconciliation
Services
~ St. Catherine ~ December 22,
5 pm to 6 pm.
Help make our church home
bright and shiny for Christmas.
Sunday, December 22 Decorating
the Sanctuary
Join Cindy to help decorate the
sanctuary beginning at Noon after
the 11am Mass.
Pizza will be provided. PROJECT RACHEL~ Would you like to join in praying for healing for the women and men who come to the Project Rachel ministry for help? Become a Prayer Warrior, and pray once a month A Rachel Rosary, a special intercessory prayer for those suffering after abortion.
To learn more please call Teresa at 816.591.3804 or email [email protected].
“Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God’s heart.” St. Padre Pio
Fourth Sunday of Advent Page 3 December 22, 2019
What’s Happening This Week . . . . . . Dec 22— Dec 29
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament available 24 hrs. every day
† Dec 22 Fourth Sunday of Advent
† Catechesis of the Good Shepherd ~ 9:10 am—10:40 am
† PSR ~ 9:10—10:15 am
† RCIA Class ~ after 11 am mass
† Decorating the Sanctuary 12 pm
† Dec 24 Christmas Eve Mass ~ 8:00 pm
† Dec 25 Christmas Day Mass ~ 10:30 am
† Dec 29 The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph
† Catechesis of the Good Shepherd ~ 9:10 am—10:40 am
† PSR ~ 9:10—10:15 am
† RCIA Class ~ after 11 am mass
What’s Coming Up . . .
† December 31 ~ New Year’s Eve Mass 6 pm
† January 4 ~ First Saturdays
† January 8 ~ Trusted Servant Luncheon 12pm
Sunday, December 22
8:00 am Fr. Luebbert †
11:00 am Charles Mooney †
Tuesday, December 24
8:00 pm Prayer Poinsettias
Wednesday, December 25
10:30 am Prayer Poinsettias
Sunday, December 29
8:00 am KOC Corp Comm
11:00 am Monthly Memorial
Tuesday, December 31
6:00 pm Steve Hollo †
Sunday, Januray 5
8:00 am Larry Jones †
11:00 am Sam Bonello †
Mass intention cards are in a basket at the back of
the church or you can call the parish office to request a mass to be said for a family member or
loved one.
Please remember in your prayers those
who have died.
May they rest in peace.
† Denotes Deceased
L/D Living & Deceased
StB ~ St. Bernadette
~ December 22 ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent
Is. 7:10-14, 10; Ps. 24:1-6; Rom. 1:1-7; Mt. 1:18-24
8:00 am Mass
Lectors ~ Sister Damiana & Stephanie Ward Extraordinary Ministers ~ John & Connie Wood
11:00 am Mass Lectors ~ Cindy Sweetland & Karen Arredondo
Extraordinary Ministers ~ Debbie Sommer &
Mindy Zagar
~ December 29 ~ The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph
Sir. 3:2-6, 12-14; Ps. 128; Col. 3:12-17;
Mt. 2:13-15, 19-23
8:00 am Mass
Lectors ~ Sister Damiana & Stephanie Ward Extraordinary Ministers ~ Jean Brogdon & Ralph Hodapp
11:00 am Mass Lectors ~ Debbie Sommer & Stephanie Eads
Extraordinary Ministers ~ Cliff & Jalayne Miller
ADORNING the SANCTUARY with PRAYER POINSETTIAS
Place your Prayer Poinsettia order by the end of the day today.
Please place the envelope either in the collection basket on Sunday, the basket provided or give to the office.
This year small poinsettias are available to order for the Homebound delivery.
$5.00 for the Small $10.00 for the Large
They will be available to take home after the Feast of the Epiphany.
CHRISTMAS ~ Catholic Charities of KCSJ would like to wish many
blessings of the season on all the parishioners, families and friends of
the diocese. It is our hope that you’re able to share in the birth of Our
Lord with those you hold most dear and welcome in a healthy, happy
and prosperous New Year. It is through your generosity that we’re able
to meet the needs of so many throughout the year. May this season be
filled with joy, love, peace and family.
Annual Chili Cook-off. Join us Sunday, Dec. 22nd for the Annual OLL Chili
Cook-off. Father Scott and our Deacons will be
judging. 1st Prize $50, 2nd Prize $30, 3rd Prize $15
Drop off your award winning chili after 9am. We dine at 12:30pm
Stewardship Bulletin Reflection: December 22, 2019 Fourth Sunday of Advent
Is. 7:10-14, 10; Ps. 24:1-6; Rom. 1:1-7; Mt. 1:18-24 As our Advent preparations draw to a close and
Christmas fast approaches, it is fitting that today’s
readings demonstrate the intensity of the Father’s perfect
and passionate love for each us, culminating in the gift of
His own Son, Jesus Christ, on Christmas Day. In
response to such an overwhelming gift, what can we do
except offer our lives as gift in return, embracing a
stewardship way of life with all the love and strength we
have to give?
In our Gospel passage from Matthew, we find an unparalleled example of one
who embraced this way of life in St. Joseph, as he obeys God’s call to him
through the message of an angel. We never hear St. Joseph speak, but the
Scriptures tell us he was always listening, attentive to the leading of the Holy
Spirit for his family. It was Joseph who found the stable where the baby Jesus
would be born. No doubt it was Joseph who cleaned it up and prepared it for
Mary and Jesus since we know that Mary was about to give birth. Joseph
protected the family, guarded them, tended to their safety, their comfort, and their
well-being at the expense of his own plans and preferences. Though we do not
hear any words from St. Joseph his actions clearly show that he offered himself,
his whole life, as a gift to his family through his strong guidance, protection and
service.
Let us imitate St. Joseph then as good stewards, giving our very lives to those
around us in love and gratitude to God who has given us everything we have,
especially His own Son, Jesus Christ.
Please keep the following Parishioners in your prayers :
Gwen Ashby; The Brooks Family; Marge Campbell; Margaret Curry; Grace Diaz; Sharon Derkits; Kay Flanagan; Greta Hauer; Dolores Hopfinger; Richard Hornbeck; Henry Hoss; Mary Hugunin; Lyndsey Jarquio; Regina Jones; Harold & Dorothy Klote; Howard Koesterer; Tom & Doris Mauer; Ann Monaco; Sylvia Mooney; Tom O’Brien; Mary O’Leary; Doris Panagakos; Lorraine Powers; James Rouchka; Bill & Catherine Schroder; Kathy Sommer; Pam Thurston; Cynthia Todd; Larry & Theresa Tholl; Steve & Jocelyn Webb; Louise Weber; James Westhusing; Lisa Witte; Sheila & Pete Zegers
Contact the parish office at 816-353-2380 to add or remove names from our prayer list.
Continue to Pray for the following Family & Friends
Phillip Beck; Ben Bongers (friend to Marie
Bowman); Bill Briggs; Emma Brown; Audrey
Casassa; Michael Crews; Margaret Dale; Eric
Davis; Barbara Fightmaster (sister-in-law to
Regina Jones);Marcia Felici; Georgia Gerling;
Peter Graeff; Ryan Hancock; Shirley Hill;
Amy Jesaetis; Bonnie Jones; Michelle Kaiser;
Tom Kilgore (brother to Cathy Gordon);
Kathy & Don Lee; Richard Lorimer;
Crescentia Luetkemeyer (Friend to Cindy
Sweetland); Lana Martinez; Bob Slusher;
Clyde Styron (Father to friend); Vicky
Wright (Sister to Patty Vest); Ruby Turner
(Mother to Cindy Sweetland); Jim
Underwood; Phyllis Weber; David Zegers;
Robert Zegers.
As a parish family, we at Our Lady of Lourdes pray for all the members of our parish, especially for our parishioners’ family members serving in the military:
Tyler Griggs, Buck Roberts,Cathy Roberts,
& Jason Webb
Mary O’Leary receives the
“Valiant Woman Award”
Mary O’Leary is one parishioner that represents Our Lady of Lourdes at the Raytown Church Women United meetings. See the January Newsletter for a full article about Mary and this special award.
Fourth Sunday of Advent Page 5 December 22, 2019
“Anyone who wishes to frolic with the devil cannot rejoice with Christ.”
If you have any comments about this page, please contact the Sisters in Jesus the Lord. (816) 353-2177 www.cjd.cc Like us on Facebook. 7009 Blue Ridge Blvd, Raytown MO 64133-5629
Quotes of St. Peter Canisius
Feast Day: December 21
“Christmas Day is nothing if not a day of universal joy. Children should rejoice because on this day God Himself became as one of them; virgins, because a Virgin brought forth and remained unstained even after giving birth; wives, because one of their number became the Mother of God; sinners, because their Mediator and Savior and Healer has come to redeem them; the just, because their Reward exceeding great has been born into the world. In fine, all faithful Christians should rejoice because their creator and Lord has taken on human flesh and begun His reign over the hearts of men, not only as God, but also as the Son of Man among the children of men.”
“May I be united with the praise that flows from You, Lord Jesus, to all Your saints; united with the gratitude drawn from Your Heart, good Jesus, that causes Your saints to thank You; united with Your Passion, good Jesus, by which You took away our guilt; united with the divine longing that You had on earth for our salvation, united with every prayer that welled from Your divine Heart, good Jesus, and flowed into the hearts of Your saints.”
“If you have too much to do, with God’s help you will find time to do it all.”
“At the mention of this name [the Blessed Virgin Mary], the angels rejoice and the devils tremble; through this invocation, sinners obtain grace and pardon.”
“Let my eyes take their sleep, but may my heart always keep watch for You. May Your right hand bless Your servants who love You.”
“See, O merciful God, what return I, your thankless servant, have made for the innumerable favors and the wonderful love You have shown me! What wrongs I have done, what good left undone! Wash away I beg You, these faults and stains with Your Precious Blood, most kind Redeemer, and make up for my poverty by applying Your merits. Give me the protection I need to amend my life. I give and surrender myself wholly to
You, and offer You all I possess, with the prayer that You bestow Your grace on me, so that I may be able to devote and employ all the thinking power of my mind and the strength of my body in Your holy service, Who are God blessed forever and ever. Amen.”
~ GABRIEL PROJECT~
Use your talents and gifts to help women facing crisis pregnancies.
As we work to lay the foundation for this ministry in our diocese,
we hope to find volunteers in many areas: parish support to help
mothers with specific needs such as car seats, diapers, formula,
baby cribs, etc.; professional services (legal, medical, dental,
counseling); resume assistance; fundraising…and more. If you
would like to lend your support, please contact Teresa Hoeppner at
816.714.2375 or [email protected]. You can make a
difference!
A SPECIAL THANK YOU
The Trusted Servants would like to
extend a heartfelt thank you to Peggy,
Robert, Karen, Sylvia, David, Mary
Ann, Cliff, Kathy and Debbie for their
help with cleaning our church home
on Saturday December 14th. In
addition a special thank you to Alma,
Cliff. Greta and to anyone else we are unaware of who clean our
church on a regular basis. Our next major church cleaning will be
sometime before Easter. Please consider volunteering regularly or at
that time.
Helping with even the smallest task is appreciated .
GIVEPLUS MOBILE~ An Additional Way to Make Your Weekly Contributions by Text Messaging through our current online service (Vanco). GivePlus is available through the Apple’s App Store for iphones and Google’s Play Store for androids. Follow the prompted to enter Our Lady of Lourdes (Raytown). Creating a GivePlus account provides additional convenience and is a secure service. It is easy to manage, set scheduled payments or to review.
If you have questions, contact the office
816-353-2380
OLL CONTRIBUTION REPORT
December 15, 2019
Envelopes: Checks: $ 1,397.00
Cash: $ 355.00
Plate: Checks: $ 15.55
Cash: $ 210.00
Immaculate ~ $ 10.00
Our Lady of Guadalupe ~ $ 49.00
Total:$ 2,036.55
Maintenance ~ $ 55.00 Pennies ~ $ 21.24
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Our Lady of Lourdes!
It has been an exciting year for us all! We have continued our drive towards recreating and energizing Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. Whether it is Catechesis of the Good Shepard, Christmas Tree sales, our Pro-Life ministries or an absolutely lovely Church decorated for the Christmas season, the energy at our Parish is exciting to me! In the spirit of that, as your Parish Council President, I wanted to highlight some of the more important occurrences here at Our Lady of Lourdes.
First, in November, with Fr Holloway's blessing and Diocesan input, we have selected WSKF Architects (short for William, Spurgeon, Kuhl and Freshnock Architects and can be found at www.wskfarch.com) after an exhaustive 3 month process involving bids from 3 different firms. Your Council established priorities, received 45 minute presentations and held two rounds of questions and answers from the 3 firms before selecting WSKF.
As we move forward with WSKF, there will be several opportunities for your input into our Master Plan. In fact, your participation is required as we move forward. A schedule of events will be available by January 1st and will be shared with the Parish once it is finalized. Rest assured the Council, Fr. Holloway and the Diocese will not move forward with any project until the Master Plan is created, priorities established and at least 75% of the funding for those priorities is on hand. We will not change Our Lady of Lourdes overnight and the Council and Fr. Holloway envision a multi-phased approach over several years to any Master Plan we develop. The Diocese is on board with this plan and will allow us to fund initial phases in order to get started. In other words, we will not spend money we do not have and we will not establish new debt in order to complete our phases.
And speaking of money, if you were unable to attend our last town hall, I reported at that time, during the last fiscal year, Our Lady of Lourdes had a positive balance of over 2000.00 dollars by the end of the year. This is the first time in at least 15 years where the amount of money we spent did not exceed the amount of money we collected.
This result was due to 3 key areas. First and foremost your continued contributions and support. Second, over the last 18 months, with the oversight of the Finance Committee headed by Alfred DeSouza and Building Committee headed by Deacon Richard and Gerry Sharkey, we have saved over $6,000/year in lighting costs (thank you Karen Brooks and Richard Boone), $50,000/year in building maintenance costs (thanks to the sale of the school) and generated power for our campus with our Solar Panels saving us additional money. Third, with the sale of the school, the proceeds of over $500,000.00 are on deposit with the diocese earning around 4% interest.
From where Our Lady of Lourdes was 5 years ago to where we are today, I feel confident in saying we have turned our financial corner and we have the teams in place for continued stewardship. You can see that with improvements to the Rectory, the roof on the Church, the Parking Lot and the lights. We have also hired a bookkeeper. This marks the first time since 2014 that our office has two diocesan employees in our Rectory supporting our mission(s) at Our Lady of Lourdes. Cathy Gordon has done a wonderful job over the last 18 months and was joined by Karen Arredondo in October of this year. We have removed over $350,000.00 dollars of debt, we have saved roughly $60,000.00/year and we are operating with a budget surplus (albeit small and dependent on investment returns). The Parish Council, myself and Fr. Holloway agree it is time to place our energy into growing our Parish again.
We have a wonderful campus and a rich history. We want to make both better and last longer. It is with this in mind that we have hired John Freshnock and his team at WSKF to help us plan and be apart of our future. It is my sincere hope that 2020 brings us many new experiences, a Master Plan and many new parishoners. I look forward to being a part of the continued growth of our Parish and another 70 years of Our Lady of Lourdes of Raytown.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Michael Sweetland
Parish Council President
