Sat., December 22

4 PM … Shaun M. Keane by Jack & Colleen Byrne

Sun., December 23 IV Sunday of Advent

7:30 AM …Our Parish Family

9:30 AM … Deceased of Byrne & Smith families by Denny &

Eileen Smith

5 PM … J. Marjorie Day (33rd Anniv.) by P. Jerome

Monday, December 24

4 PM … Our Parish Family

Tue., December 25 The Nativity of the Lord

8 AM … Rita DeCotis (19th Anniv.) by Dottie DeCotis

10 AM … Christmas Mass

Wed., December 26 Saint Stephen

12 PM … Janet Soucy by Dorene Turner

Thur., December 27 Saint John

8:30 AM ... Thomas Turley by Margaret-Ann Moran

Fri., December 28 The Holy Innocents, Martyers

6 PM … Laurent Cote (10th Anniv.) by Jeannine Cote

Sat., December 29

4 PM … Our Parish Family

Sun., December 30 Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, Joseph

7:30 AM …Nora Paris (1st Anniv.) by Nelson & Lillie Duquette

9:30 AM … Marie Jean by Mary Duval and Leslie Ann

5 PM … Edith B. Clark (living) by Anne Clark

Mon., December 24

10:30—11:30 AM ...Food Pantry

December 23, 2018

Weekend of December 16, 2018 Regular Offertory $3,011.00 Loose Offertory 566.75 Online Offertory Last Wk 395.00 Total Offertory $3,972.75

Stewardship Make up $ 363.00

Holy Day Make up $ 48.00

Food Pantry $ 350.00

********************** Last Year: Wknd of Dec. 17, 2017

Total Reg Offertory $5,563.70 Total Stewardship $ 459.00 Total Holy Day $ 31.00 Thank you for your sacrificial gift!

Sanctuary candle The sanctuary candle burns this week for Annette Whitmore by Lisa Ruppell.

Year C Hymnal #869

READINGS FOR THE WEEK of December 23, 2018 Monday: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29; Lk 1:67-79; Tuesday: Vigil: Is 62:1-5; Ps 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Mt 1:1-25 or Mt 1:18-25; Night: Is 9:1-6; Ps 96:1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13; Ti 2:11-14; Lk 2:1-14; Dawn: Is 62:11-12; Ps 97:1, 6, 11-12; Ti 3:4-7; Lk 2:15-20; Day: Is 52:7-10; Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 or Jn 1:1-5, 9-14; Wednesday: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59; Ps 31:3cd-4, 6, 8ab, 16bc, 17; Mt 10:17-22; Thursday: 1 Jn 1:1-4; Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12; Jn 20:1a and 2-8; Friday: 1 Jn 1:5—2:2; Ps 124:2-3, 4-5, 7cd-8; Mt 2:13-18; Saturday: 1 Jn 2:3-11; Ps 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 5b-6; Lk 2:22-35; Sunday: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 or 1 Sm 1:20-22, 24-28; Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 or Ps 84:2-3, 5-6, 9-10; Col 3:12-21 or Col 3:12-17 or 1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24; Lk 2:41-52

On Monday, December 15, the food pantry served 26 families and gave out 46 bags of groceries. The food pantry will be open on Mon-

day, December 24 from 10:30—11:30 AM, and on Monday, December 31 from 4—5 PM. Please note the time changes.

Thank you to all who donated gifts towards our Angel Giving Tree. All gifts will be distributed be-tween Angie’s Place, The Liberty House, The Way Home, and Dismas House. We are truly grateful to all who donated gifts to help brighten the holidays

for those in need, and to those who contributed towards the Food Pantry. We are thankful for your generosity.

Our thanks, once again, to Kevin Marchand of

Durning, Bykowski & Young Funeral Home, Man-

chester, for providing our 2019 calendars. There

are still plenty, so help yourself to one located at

the back of the church and in the chapel.

Poinsettias in memory of loved ones It’s not too

late to donate poinsettias in memory of loved ones. A

$20 donation per poinsettia is recom-mended. There are envelopes at the ends of the pews for your convenience. We will include a published list of do-nors in next weekend’s bulletin. Thank you to those who have donated flowers already.

Christmas: Nativity of the Lord

Monday, Dec. 24 Christmas Eve

Vigil “Midnight” Mass at 4 pm

Tuesday, Dec. 25 Christmas Day

Masses at 8 and 10 am

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Moth-er of God Monday, Dec. 31 Mary Mother of

God Vigil Mass at 6:30 PM

Sunday, Jan. 1, 2019 Mary Moth-

er of God Masses at 9 am

The CYO Basketball season is underway. Although Saint Raphael’s Avenging Archangels have started 0-2. They look to get into the win column this Sunday at Noon vs Saint Jo-seph's of Nashua. The game will be played at Bedford High School. Good Luck boys!

Winter weather policy If the Man-

chester Public Schools are closed due to

weather conditions, all parish facilities are

closed. Classes and practices are also can-celed. Check WMUR and our Facebook page to

see if Masses are canceled.

eGiving ... Did you know you can use your credit card or electronic check to support the mission of Saint Raphael Parish? This is especially helpful when you are on vacation. Go to our website (www.st-raphael-parish.org) and click on the Giving button. In a few minutes, you can be sure that your gift will work every day of the year to help your parish.

Please pray for the repose of the soul of

Betty (Cassmassi) Booth, who died Dec.

10 and whose funeral Mass will be

celebrated on Dec. 27.

From the Bishop: Most Rev. Peter A. Libasci

From the Abbey: An Advent meditation

Joseph shows us how to discern God’s will, find amid uncertainty We, like Joseph, can be faced with puzzling and agonizing situations which seem to deny God’s goodness and justice. We don’t know much about Joseph, but we can say that he did not live according to the opin-ion of others; that he did not work for mere appearances to the neglect of what makes a man solid and good in the eyes of God. Joseph loved Mary with such gen-erosity of heart that, when he learned of her desire to preserve the conse-cration she had made to God, he nonethe-less believed the angel in his dream and agreed to marry her. His was a pure, re-fined, and deep love, full of respect with no hint of selfishness. The late Mary Bagnell, much loved at Saint Anselm, Saint Raphael Parish and throughout the Diocese of Manchester for her kindness and her many gifts as a musi-cian. Mary served as director of music for the diocese, was director of the choir at Saint Joseph Cathedral and was founder and director of the Diocesan Centennial Choir. Before that she was director of mu-sic for Saint Raphael and several other parishes in New Hampshire. She was a loyal New Yorker, who never rooted for the Yankees, but rather the Mets, so she

maintained her friendships in Red Sox Nation. Her personal love for Christ and his holy Mother was accented by a fierce devotion to the third member of the Holy Family. Mary loved to say, “Let us ‘go to Joseph,’ ” so that he may teach us to live side by side with Jesus and Mary during these final days of Advent — and through-out our lives. Let us meditate on Joseph, who was full of admiration, who contem-plated God’s mysteries as he contemplated the Divine Child and his mother. We often take for granted that, after Mary, Joseph was the first person to see the Son of God made man. No one could have experienced more happiness than he when he took the newborn Messiah in his arms, who in no visible way could be

distinguished from any other new-born. And yet, as the shepherds and the Magi approached to see and pay homage to the baby, he heard them explain the appearances and the mes-sages of heavenly messengers. Jo-seph saw the joy in Mary’s face as she heard the news from these strangers. And in that moment, Jo-seph realized that Mary and this baby had been entrusted to his care. Jo-seph grasped the fact that his whole

reason for being was this child, precisely because his new wife and this child needed his help and protection – and Mary’s trust in God strengthened his. Are we willing to reflect, ponder, and struggle, as Joseph did, in discerning God’s will in our lives? Like Joseph, we are to give God our all and not just what is left. Adapted from a homily given by one of the Bene-dictine priests at Saint Anselm Abbey who asked that his name not be published..

“Dear Brothers and Sisters,

“At Christmas, we surround ourselves with images of the infant Jesus, born into the most humble of circum-

stances, the Child lying in a manger.

“Equally familiar are the words of Saint John’s Gospel: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His

only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) In only 25

words, that passage captures the profound essence of our Faith, and they inspire the work of our Church and our

Diocese: to Restore, Renew, and Proclaim the Hope that is Christ in our hearts, in our homes, in our state and ulti-

mately in the whole world.

“In the case of Our Lady of the Mountains Shrine in Bretton Woods, this tiny little church’s complete reno-

vation restored the spirit of its workers and community. The outreach programs that Catholic Charities New Hamp-

shire offers renew hope to those living in the throes of poverty and just steps away from despair. Finally, there is the

proclamation of our Savior’s message in word and in deed, the mission to which all the people of God are called, to

work together in service to the community and to the world for the sake of the Gospel’s message of Peace on Earth.

“And so as we come to this season of renewal of faith, we are reminded again of the true meaning of Christ-

mas, and the sharing of the Hope that is Christ.”

Christmas

and

New Year Mass Schedule

SAINT RAPHAEL THE ARCHANGEL PARISH

UT IN OMNIBUS GLORIFICETUR DEUS – THAT IN ALL THINGS GOD MAY BE GLORIFIED -

Saint Raphael Rectory, 103 Walker St., Manchester, NH 03102-4566, U.S.A. Tel. 603.623.2604 E-mail: jday@anselm.edu or Admin@st-raphael-parish.org

ESTABLISHED IN 1888 - NEW ENGLAND’S FIRST BENEDICTINE FOUNDATION

Christmas: Nativity of the Lord

Monday, Dec. 24 Christmas Eve Vigil “Midnight” Mass at 4 pm

Tuesday, Dec. 25 Christmas Day Masses at 8 and 10 am

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

Monday, Dec. 31 Mary Mother of God Vigil Mass at 6:30 PM

Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019 Mary Mother of God Masses at 9 am