January 8, 2006





SATURDAY-January 7
 9:00 A.M        Eileen Lapan by Charlie & Janice Worcester

SATURDAY-VIGIL FOR SUNDAY-January 7
 4:00 P.M.        Miriam Lalime by Joe & Sue St. George

SUNDAY-January 8-Epiphany of the Lord
 8:30 A.M.        For the Parishioners of St. Mark's Parish
11:00 A.M.        Normand Roy (1st Anniversary) by his wife Maureen

MONDAY-January 9-Baptism of the Lord
 9:00 A.M.        Judy Myers by Rosalie Myers
11:00 A.M.        Ethan Allen Residence Mass

TUESDAY-January 10
 9:00 A.M        Margaret Naiden by John & Donna Harnish

WEDNESDAY-January 11
 5:30 P.M.        John Nichols by Theresa Pierce & family

THURSDAY-January 12
 9:00 A.M         Rita Martell by Winnie Gelineau

FRIDAY-January 13
 9:00 A.M.        Sheila Savini by Dick & Carolyn Hammond

SATURDAY-January 14
 9:00 A.M.        Charlie Schifilliti by Eileen Lapan

SATURDAY-VIGIL FOR SUNDAY-January 14
 4:00 P.M.        Jolene Ann Atherton by family

SUNDAY-January 15
 8:30 A.M.        For the Parishioners of St. Mark's Parish
11:00 A.M.        Lorraine LeClair (3rd Anniversary) by Steve and Janice Fuller


December 25 Attendance at Mass 1,177
December 25 (328 envelopes) $10,868.00
January 1 Attendance at Mass 619
Janyary 1 (174 envelopes) $6,331.18
Capital Improvements collection $1,110.82
Weekly Average since July 1st (27 weeks) $4,996.20
Weekly Goal $5,300.00


PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION CHAPEL
“The quiet and solitude of the night make it a favorable time for prayer and most suitable for those who watch. With worldly occupations put aside and the attention undivided, the whole man, at night, stands in the divine presence.” - St. Nicetas of Remesiana.
Committed adorers are needed for Saturday, 3 to 4 p.m. Please call Marge at 658-0228 or Winnie at 862-9598 to sign up to commit to spend one hour with our Lord.
PARISH COUNCIL MEETING will be held Monday, January 16th at 7 p.m. We hope all members will be present.

BISHOP SALVATORE MATANO will celebrate Mass and the Living Rosary, January 17th at 7 p.m. at Holy Cross Church in Colchester. This Mass is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. Plan to attend and pray with Bishop Matano for the unborn and for an END TO ABORTION. It has been 32 years since Roe vs. Wade and the death of over 45,000,000 babies in the United States. Life is God's precious gift. Let us not forget His Angels.

NEW ALTAR SERVERS: We are pleased that seven of our young people have completed their training as Altar Servers and have begun serving Mass at St. Mark's. Congratulations to Tom Case, Cesar-David Hammond, Lauren Jarvis, Angus Purvee, Luke Sienkiewicz, Corinne Smith and Madeline Strouse. Please keep these young people in your prayers as they begin their new ministry. In the spring we will be having another series of training sessions for new servers. Any child fourth grade or older will be eligible to join us at that time.

MEETINGS: Lectors will meet Tuesday, January 10th at 7 p.m. and Ministers of Holy Communion will meet Wednesday, January 11th also at 7 p.m. We hope you will make every effort to be available as these are important meetings. Thank you.

CALCUTTA NIGHT: We have planned Calcutta Night for Saturday, February 11, 2006. We are selling 100 numbers with dinner included for $50 each. If you come as a couple the extra meal will cost $10. Once the 100 numbers are sold, no other reservations will be accepted. Call Barb King, 862-8350 or Carole at the rectory, 864-7686 if you plan to attend.

ENVELOPE SETS FOR 2006:. Please pick up your set as soon as possible. Please call the rectory if you do not find a box with your name on it. Thank you.

LITURGICAL PUBLICATIONS, INC., our bulletin publisher, will have a representative at the rectory next week. To reserve a space for the new publication year, please contact the rectory. Keep in mind our advertising sponsors make your bulletin possible.

Readings for the Week of January 8, 2006

Sunday Is 60:1-6/ Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6/ Mt 2:1-12
Monday Is 42:1-4, 6-7 or Is 55:1-11 or Acts 10:34-38 or 1 Jn 5:1-9/ Mk 1:7-11
Tuesday 1 Sm 1:9-20, or 1 Sm 1:1-8 and 1 Sm 1:9-20/ Mk 1:21-28, or Mk 1:14-20 and Mk 1:21-28
Wednesday 1 Sm 3:1-10, 19-20/ Mk 1:29-39
Thursday 1 Sm 4:1-11/ Mk 1:40-45
Friday 1 Sm 8:4-7, 10-22a/ Mk 2:1-12
Saturday 1 Sm 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1a/ Mk 2:13-17
Sunday 1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19/ 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20/ Jn 1:35-42




RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PROGRAM 2005-2006
SUNDAY MORNING RELIGION CLASSES, today, January 8th, for grades Kindergarten through 5 from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m.

MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL RELIGION CLASSES will meet this evening, January 8th, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

TUESDAY RELIGION CLASSES for grades 1 through 5, January 10th from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m.

CHILDREN'S LITURGY: The First & Fourth grade students will be participating in the 11 a.m. Mass next week, January 15th. Parents are invited to sit on the North Avenue side of the Church.

PARENT MEETINGS will be conducted in January and February. This is an opportunity for the parents to meet their child's teacher and discuss with Sr. Helen spiritual development. All meetings are during your child's class time.

Parents of 1st Grade students will meet Tuesday, January 10th or Sunday, January 15th.
Parents of 2nd Grade students will meet Tuesday, February 7th.
Parents of 3rd Grade students will meet Tuesday January 17th or Sunday January 22nd.
Parents of 4th Grade students will meet Tuesday, January 24th or Sunday, January 29th.
Parents of 5th Grade Students will meet Tuesday, January 31st or Sunday February 5th.
Parents of 6th Grade Students will meet Sunday, February 12th.

CHILDRENS CHOIR PRACTICE, Wednesday, January 11th at 6:15 p.m.



YOUNG PEOPLE
Loony Little by Kelly Murphy
Star Blanket by Pat Brisson
Big Week for Little Mouse by Kim Fernandes
My Family is Forever by Nancy Carlson
Francis and The nativity by L. E. McCullough
The Saint Who Became Santa Clause by Evelyn Bence
My Friends the Saints by Lawrence G. Lovasik

RESPECT LIFE MASS AND RALLY FOR LIFE: A special Mass will be offered by Bishop Matano at St. Augustine's' Church in Montpelier on January 14, 2006 at 9:30 a.m. The Rally for Life begins at 10:45 a.m., when marchers gather in the lot behind the church and proceed to the Pavilion Auditorium where Bishop Matano will be one of the featured speakers. For more information, contact Michele Morin, Respect Life Coordinator, 658-6110 ext. 319 or email at mmorin@vermontcatholic.org.

“JOURNEY” a spiritual potpourri of fascinating people and subjects airs weekly following the “TV Mass”. Spotlight on Priests will feature Fr. Dan White on Saturday, January 14th at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday, January 15th at 11:30 a.m. It is an interesting interview.

RICE MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL: The application deadline for the school year 2006-07 is January 21, 2006. The financial aid application deadline is February 15, 2006. As a reminder, there are two dates remaining for the 9th grade entrance exam: January 14th and February 4th. The exam will be held from 9 a.m.-12 noon at Rice High School. For more information call Tresa Pickup at 862-6521 ext. 235.

A CATHOLIC INSTRUCTION ON CHRISTIAN DEATH: Brochures are located at the entrances to the church entitled “On Holy Ground: We are also urged to contact our state legislators as soon as possible with a simple message: Vote “NO” on the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. Please pick up a copy to bring home.

WORLD MARRIAGE DAY Mass will be held at St. Joseph Co-Cathedral on Sunday, February 5, 2006 at 11 a.m. If you will be celebrating a significant milestone anniversary- - 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and above, please call the rectory office by Friday, January 20th. After the Mass, coffee and refreshments will be served.

ST. MARK FOOD PANTRY: Our food supply is down due to the holidays. Needed are all types of canned goods, spaghetti sauce, toiletries (soap, deodorant, toilet paper, toothpaste, etc). Thank you for your continued support.

YOUR PRAYERS ARE REQUESTED for the safety of our service men and women and support personnel working as peace-keepers throughout the world and for those who are seriously ill, especially Alma Houmiel, Tiz Mazza, Tho Nguyen, Jean Popecki, Barbara Sanneman, Mikaela Sienkiewicz and for the repose of the souls of Romeo Begnoche & Karen Magnan.

To have someone from your family enrolled in this list, please call the Rectory Office at 864-7686. Names will be listed for one month unless the office is notified that the condition continues and prayers are still requested.

We Three Kings of Orient Are...?
 
Perhaps you have noticed the figures of three men with camels and gifts, 'walking' on the window sills of the Church during these past two weeks. They represent the Magi, en route to the Christ Child. Who they were and what they did has something to say to us as we end the Christmas season.
In our Catholic tradition, we often call them the Magi (from the Greek word 'magos') or the Wise Men or Kings. Little is known from the Bible about those men who followed the star to Christ. The Evangelists Mark, Luke and John do not mention them, but Matthew does in 2:1-12. He does not mention their names or how many there were - just the three gifts they brought for the newborn King.
However, the names of the Magi are recorded in the tradition of the early Church. Since the seventh century, they are identified as Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. Some Fathers speak of three Magi to match the number of gifts mentioned. St. Bede wrote in the eighth century that they brought gold to the Lord because Jesus was a king; frankincense was used for worship in the Temple so it was presented to Jesus to show their praise; and myrrh was a spice used in preparing bodies for burial, which spoke of Jesus' impending death on Calvary.
The arrival of these kings marked the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. In Psalm 72, the psalmist anticipated the Lord's coming when “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render Him tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring Him gifts.” Most explicitly, the prophet Isaiah (60:6) promised that, at the Lord's arrival, “a multitude of camels shall cover You, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.”
We need not be overly concerned with their names or how many were there, but instead, what we can learn from them. They teach us how to worship God who was born of Mary. On Christmas eve, Bishop Matano celebrated Mass here at St. Mark's, and in his homily, he reminded us that the greatest gift to God that the Magi had to offer was not their gold, frankincense or myrrh, but how they submitted their intellects to God (the One who gave them their intelligence). Those Magi, on the first Epiphany, were intelligent enough to come and worship Him, who is Christ the Lord. This event of the Magi's adoration, coupled with the Baptism of Jesus and the Wedding feast at Cana form the feast known as Epiphany. (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 528.)
Because of their example, our late Holy Father, John Paul II saw it imperative to schedule the 2005 World Youth Day for Cologne, Germany, where the relics of these Magi are now buried in the Cathedral. Before his death, he declared the theme, “Come, let us worship Him.” That is the lesson those men teach us: how we too can discover and worship the One who is worthy of all of our praise.
- Fr. Dan

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Last Update: February 2, 2006