Welcome to the

Saint Jude Parish

Advent Family Newsletter!

A Family Prayer for Advent

Heavenly Father, your son, Jesus, is your greatest gift to us,

a great sign of your love.

Guide us as we strive to walk in that love together as a family this Advent.

As we prepare our hearts for Christmas, bring us closer

to each other and to your son.

Give us the grace and strength we need every day.

Help us to always trust in you.

Come, Lord Jesus, lead all people closer to you.

Come and dispel the darkness of our world with the light of your love.

Amen.

Highlighted Events and Activities for Families*

For Families:

Eucharistic Adoration

Mondays, 9:30 AM to 9:00 PM (see parish calendar for any monthly changes)

December 7: Happy Birthday Jesus Party for Children

10:30 am - 12:30 pm. Email to rsvp

December 8: Kid's Club Christmas Caroling at the Sisters of Nazareth

3:00 - 5:00 pm Email to rsvp Click here to donate an item to bring

December 9: Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Mass 9 am and 7 pm

December 10: Homebound Caroling

4:00 pm - 6:00 pm. Meet at Saint Jude at 3:45 pm. Email Jessica if you need to meet us along the route

December 14: Rorate Mass

7:30 pm

December 15: Homebound Caroling

Meet at Saint Jude at 12:15 pm (after 11:30 Mass). Email Jessica if you need to to meet us along the route

December 21-22: Confession Weekend

Confession available after all Masses

December 24: Christmas Eve

4:00 pm, 5:30 pm, 10:00 pm

Confession available: 2:30 pm

December 25: Christmas Day

7:30 am, 9:30 am, 11:30 am

December 31: Solemnity of Mary Vigil

4:30 pm vigil Mass

January 1: Solemnity of Mary

9:00 am, 11:00 am Mass

For Couples and Parents:

Parish Town Hall Meeting - December 9

Seeking input on next steps after sale of the school

7:45 pm, Social Hall

Parents Rosary Prayer Group

Open to all parents

Meets weekly on Wednesdays over Zoom (e-mail Jessica for link/instructions)

Walking with Purpose: Discovering Our Dignity (e-mail Jessica if interested)

RESUMES IN NEW YEAR! IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN!

Wednesdays, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Fridays, 9:30 am - 11:00 am

For Teens:

Movie Night "For Greater Glory" with Youth Encounter for Grades 6-12

7:00 pm, Social Hall

December 6

Youth Encounter for Grades 6-12

7:00 pm, Social Hall

December 20

2025 Dates will be announced soon!

For Children:

Kids Club for Grades 1-5

(K with permission)

3:00 pm

Sunday 12/8 (at Sisters of Nazareth for Caroling)

2025 Dates: 1/5, 2/2, 3/2, 4/6, 5/4 (social hall)

Register here

Camp Adore 2025

June 23-27, 2025

Registration will open in February

*See weekly bulletin and monthly calendar for more details

Rooted Magazine

If you missed any issues of Rooted Magazine, our digital parish subscription for families,

you can click here to access to the full library of our digital links!

Kid's Club uses this resource each month in our Be a Saint Kid's Club but it is open for use by the whole parish!.

FAMILIES NEEDED

TO

LIGHT

ADVENT WREATH BEFORE MASSES

SIGN UP HERE

Please email Jessica for more information on any of the opportunities below.

If you have other ideas that you would like to see for 2025, let us know!

Zoom Prayer Group - All parents are invited to our weekly prayer group over Zoom on Wednesdays at 9 pm. To submit prayer intentions for our weekly rosary, click here. We welcome all to join us when able!

Parent Formation Class - NEW PROGRAM STARTING IN NEW YEAR. We meet at 10:30 am during religious education. We have watched The Search program on Formed this Fall and plan to do a new study this winter. All are welcome!

Remote Bible Studies - Lectio Prayer and Advent study.

Coming in 2025 - Women's Winter Craft Night & Family Game Night

Saint of the Month

Saint Nicholas

Feast Day: December 6

Join our Kid's Club families in learning about our Saint of the Month!

For a more on the life of this well known Christmas saint see this month's Rooted Magazine

One of Saint Nicholas' quotes is

“The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic Gods giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves.”

You have a choice this Advent: Get caught up in the annual rush of shopping, decorating, and parties or slow down and take a few minutes each day to remember who this season is really about—Jesus.

In Adore, popular author and speaker Fr. John Burns and illustrator Valerie Delgado will help you reclaim the sacred sense of longing and joyful hope at the heart of Advent, focusing on a new theme each week—vigilance, preparation, nearness, and Emmanuel—that you can relate to your own life.

Join in on a Family Kindness Countdown to Christmas! 

 See this link to sign up for an act of kindness (or add your own); and we will be able to create a chain link to display all of our kind deeds to prepare for our Savior's birth using this Giving Kind Kindness Chain! You can also use a giving manger or something similar to inspire acts of charity and kindness to welcome baby Jesus!

Here is an idea for all of your 2024 Christmas cards!

Create a family prayer ring to use throughout the year! Punch a hole in each card and add to a binder ring. We will have extra binder rings available at the Family Ministry Table during Advent so that you can make use of the cards you receive this season to pray for friends and relatives throughout the year!

Sunday Setup is a new offering of the Institute for Catholic Formation. This project, part of the new Start with Sunday initiative, funded by Lilly Endowment, aims to help parents prepare their young children for Sunday Mass. Each week, a new issue will be sent via email, and, in time, a new site will be developed to house all these great resources. Learn more at https://formationreimagined.org/first-witnesses/