Break Open the Word

Just a reminder, that for the remainder of Advent (the next three weekends) we have Break Open the Word for all K4 though 5th grade students at the 8:15 Masses.  For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Break Open the Word, it is a opportunity for children to hear and discuss the Scriptures at their level during Mass.  They leave after the opening prayer and move into the classrooms by grade level and return to their parents after the homily.  No need to register, just show up and participate.

Household Activity: Advent Wreath

The Advent wreath is a great way to connect your domestic church with the Advent season.  As we light the candles as a parish community, so you can in your household.  It's never too late to begin with this tradition.  You can either make a wreath with 3 purple/blue candles and one rose/pink candle or buy a ready made one.  Once created, you can pray around is as a household daily or weekly.  Light the wreath when you and your household continue the Jesse tree activity.

The links below should help you and your household pray this Advent:

• A good prayer for the first day the wreath is in your house.
• Prayers to use each week.

Happy Advent!

House of Peace

Those of you who had chosen to participate in the House of Peace service opportunity should bring your food boxes to our December GIFT session on the week of the 13th. House of Peace boxes should contain the following:

• 1 box of mashed potatoes
• 1 bag of stuffing
• 4 cans of green beans
• 4 cans of corn
• 2 cans of cranberry sauce
• 1 32 oz. can of sweet potatoes or yams
• 1 box of cake mix
• 1 can of frosting
• 2 boxes of pudding or jello
• 2 boxes of cornbread
• 2 boxes of macaroni and cheese

After your box is filled it can be sealed with packaging tape.

We will contact the House of Peace after our Tuesday GIFT session and they will send someone out to pick up our completed boxes, so be sure to bring your food box no later than the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 16th so as not to miss the pick up. For additional information on The House of Peace you can check out their website at http://www.houseofpeacemilwaukee.org/

Advent Reflections

Hello all! Hope you had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has published a website that has daily reflections and readings throughout Advent. It might be a good way for you to enrich your spiritual journey this Advent as we all prepare for the coming of Christ.

Jesse Tree

It was so good to see all of you again for the November GIFT session. You were all so creative making the tree part for the Jesse Tree. I hope you are finishing coloring your symbols & gluing them on a leaf. Remember to wait until Nov. 29, the first Sunday of Advent, to begin using the purple booklet and hanging the matching symbol on the branches. My suggestion is to begin on the bottom of the tree and end with the star on the top. If you are ready & know your weekdays are very busy, you may start earlier to be finished by Christmas. I also hope this activity will acquaint your household with many stories in the scriptures about Jesus' ancestory.

Operation Christmas Child

If you were unable to bring your Operation Christmas Child box to the November GIFT session but would like to participate in this service activity, you can still drop it off. All boxes need to be here NO LATER THAN 4:00 on Tuesday, November 16th.

Please remember to label your box as to whether it is for a BOY or GIRL and what the age is that it's intended for. If you don't have a label or need to check regarding item suggestions for the box you can go to the website www.samaritanspurse.org/ezgive for more information.

Don't forget to secure your box with 2 rubberbands to keep the box closed and Samaritan's Purse also asks that you include your donation of $7 per shoebox to help cover the cost of shipping.

Advent is coming!

You are reminded that there is still time to sign up for the Advent Workshop on December 1st. This is a family experience geared primarily to those with children in Preschool and grade school (although my kids always enjoyed participating even when in High School). It's purpose is to stop and think about how you want to pray your way through the Advent Season. You are invited to create a couple of different items that are intended to be used throughout Advent. The things you make will give you scripture passages, prayers, and good deeds to participate in during this Holy season. Make a commitment to come and pray your way to Christmas. See the link for more information and a registration form. 

Adevent Workshop 2009

View more documents from St. James GIFT.

House Hold Activity, November 12, 2009

I drive by a house that has a tree cut out and taped to their picture window. Each time that I drive by, it seems as though there are more leaves on it. I wanted to investigate this further so one day I made a point of going past this house on my walk. The cut out leaves had names of people and events written on them. I think it may have been a kind of "Thank You Tree".
You might want to try doing this over the next couple of weeks. If you don't want to create a tree, you could simple keep a list of things that you are thankful for. I watched a group of fourth graders do this once and it was very impressive! Perhaps each member of your house hold could come up with one (or 2, or 3) thing that you can thank God for each day. Try not to repeat any items on your list. Think of all the things that God has blessed you with! See if you can come up with 100 things before Thanksgiving Day and be sure to use them as you count your blessings on this special Holiday!

All Saint's Day

A special thank you to all the children and parents who participated in the All Saint's Day celebration at Mass on November 1st.  If you missed it, our cameras caught all the action, which you can find in its entirety.

Below is Fr. Art's homily that includes the little Saints:
Part 1:

Part 2:

Making your Google search safer

Google unveiled a change to their SafeSearch feature on their popular search engine yesterday, allowing parents to lock in the SafeSearch settings with a password.  If you're looking for ways to protect your children from potentially dangerous or scandalous websites through a Google search, check out information on locking SafeSearch (the video is pretty good!).  But don't let this lull you into a false sense of security -- there are still many other search engines and many more precautions that can be made to create a safe Internet environment for your children.