The Collar's Corner

St. Patrick and St. Vincent de Paul Parishes

Two Parishes, One Faith

December 2024

Greetings, Parish Families! None of us can avoid waiting. We don't always enjoy doing it when we have to, but no matter what none of us can avoid ever having to wait. We wait at red lights and in traffic, we wait in line at the store, we wait for the doctor, we wait for cookies to bake and food to cook, we wait for someone to call us back, we wait for the weather to change and it to be light out later in the day. We wait, we wait, we wait, no matter how hard we try, we can't avoid it.

In these Advent days we are waiting, waiting for Christ to come into our lives each and every day, waiting for God to come and rescue us. Our prayer that I've invited us to echo in these days, "Lord, come and rescue us." In the First week of Advent, we invited the Lord to rescue us from complacency, where we've settled for good enough, where we have lost sight of the challenge from the Lord to grow and change. In this Second Week of Advent, we invite the Lord to rescue us from the ways that worry, fear, and anxiety hold us bound and prevent us from seeing His presence in our lives. The celebration of the Immaculate Conception invites us to beg the Lord to rescue us from sin and selfishness, taking more and more the posture of Mary, "May it be done to me, according to your word.

Invite the Lord in these Advent days, "Lord, come and rescue me!"

The Collar's Corner Request

Invite others to join our Flocknote community!

If someone you know wants to sign up or you want to invite someone to join and receive our monthly "The Collar's Corner," there are 2 ways to do that:

1) Go to stpatrickstvincentdepaul.flocknote.com

OR

2) Text WESTPARK (no space) to 84576

In both cases, once someone joins they'll have the opportunity to pick which parish group they are a part of.

“In this season of Advent, we are called to expand the horizons of our hearts, to be amazed by the life which presents itself each day with newness. In order to do this, we must learn to not depend on our own certainties, on our own established strategies, because the Lord comes at a time that we do not imagine. He comes to bring us into a more beautiful and grand dimension.”
Pope Francis, Angelus, 27th November 2016

The Advent Corner

I wanted to share with you this video that I came across from Fr. Mike Schmitz, who some may know from the "Bible in a Year" podcast. Click on link below to check out the video that contains some good reflections on how we might best prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christmas, keeping our eyes fixed on the true meaning of the season.

END YOUR MONTH (AND YOUR YEAR) WITH THE LORD

Mark your calendar for our final Holy Hour of 2024 on Monday December 30th from 6:30-7:30 pm at St. Patrick's. As we celebrate the joy of the Christmas octave and prepare to enter into the new year filled with new possibilities and new hope, we are invited to spend some time in silent prayer with the Lord inviting Him to lead us and guide us in the year ahead. You'll also find the dates for the Holy Hours for the first part of 2025 as well.

ADVENT CALENDAR

Check out the link below for an Advent calendar from the Busted Halo radio show. Even if you've never heard of the Busted Halo show or Sirius Radio, you can check out the calendar for some interesting ideas and challenges to mark each day of Advent. The calendar updates new each day so you can check out the challenges from the days that have already past and then check it out each day for the rest of the season...

https://advent.bustedhalo.com/

ADVENT COMMUNAL PENANCE SERVICE

In the upcoming days of Advent one opportunity that we’ll have to do the work of preparing is through the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. As we decorate our homes we’re also invited to decorate our hearts to prepare a place for the Lord. If we haven’t been to Confession in a while, perhaps the season of Advent is an opportune time to consider coming. Don’t worry if it’s been a long time or you aren’t sure what to say, the Priest will help you. If you feel you’ve got too much to confess or you’re embarrassed by what you might need to confess, don’t let that keep you away. We are not there to judge, condemn, or laugh, but to help you to encounter God’s love and mercy. As we decorate our homes we’re also invited to decorate our hearts.

We’ll have our regular Confession times on Saturday’s at 11:00 am at St. Patrick’s and 4:00 pm at St. Vincent de Paul, feel free to come to either parish. We’ll also have an Advent Communal Penance Service at Our Lady of Angels Parish on December 16th at 7:00 pm. There will be a number of Priests there that evening, so you’ll have plenty of options to celebrate the Sacrament. We’ll begin with a brief prayer service and then have the opportunity for individual Confessions. Please mark your calendars and consider joining us, as we truly pray, “O come, O come, Emmanuel.”

ADVENT GIVING TREES

On behalf of our Helping Hands Ministry at St. Patrick's and our St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Vincent de Paul, thank you for your generosity towards our Advent Giving Trees! Others will have a Merrier Christmas thanks to you! Thank you for all your support of our outreach ministries throughout the year!

CHRISTMAS 2024 MASS SCHEDULE

As we get ready for Thanksgiving and then start to prepare for Christmas I wanted to update you regarding our Mass schedule for the Christmas holiday since there will be some adjustments to what we’ve been used to in previous years. Especially with the adjusted Mass schedule and knowing that many plan out their dinners and time with family and friends long before the actual holiday I wanted to share with you what the schedule will look like for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

On Christmas Eve we will have 3 Masses between both parishes. We will have a Mass at 4:00 pm at St. Patrick’s, we will have a 5:30 pm Mass at St. Vincent de Paul, just like our regular Saturday evening schedule. We will also have a 9:00 pm Joint Mass for both parishes on Christmas Eve that will be celebrated this year at St. Patrick’s. The 9:00 pm Christmas Eve Mass will rotate in location each year between the two parishes, but again this year that Mass will be held at St. Patrick’s.

On Christmas Day we will have Masses at our regular Sunday Mass times. There will be a 9:00 am Mass at St. Vincent de Paul and a 11:00 am Mass at St. Patrick’s. You are invited to join us at any of the Christmas Masses as we join together to celebrate the presence of Emmanuel, God with us.

Note that both Parish Offices will be CLOSED on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

NEW YEAR'S MASS SCHEDULE

New Year's Day, the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, is a Holy Day of Obligation. Our Mass schedule will be the regular weekend schedule. At. St. Vincent de Paul we'll have a 5:30 pm Mass on New Year's Eve and a 9:00 am Mass on New Year's Day. At St. Patrick's we'll have a 4:00 pm Mass on New Year's Eve and an 11:00 Mass on New Year's Day.

Dear Lord,

We pray that this New Year will bring us closer to You.
May we take the time to get to know You.
Help us to truly celebrate the gifts You have graciously given us
and use them to serve You and spread Your word,

May we also see and love you in all the people we meet,
so that in turn, they can see You in us.
We know that all human relations take time
if they are to grow and deepen.

This is also true of our relations with You,
the Father and the Holy Spirit, which must grow
over the course of our lives.
In this New Year, let us realise that every action of ours
no matter how great or small, enables us to be in touch with You.

Let us accept You in our lives as,

Truth, to be spoken
Life, to be lived
Love, to be shared
Joy, to be given
Peace, to be spread

and as Sacrifice, to be offered among our relatives, friends, neighbours and all people.

Amen

Taken from: https://lourdesprayerrequest.com/a_prayer_for_the_new_year

2025 300 CLUB TICKETS

If you haven't renewed your 300 Club Ticket for 2025 there's still time. Our first drawing will be held the first weekend in January. If you aren't familiar with the 300 Club, the Club consists of a monthly raffle where 3 lucky winners win $100 each. The December raffle is held at our end of the year Christmas party where the stakes are raised to prizes of $1000, $500, and $250.

If you need to renew your ticket or you would like to purchase a new ticket, contact the St. Patrick's Parish Office at (216) 251-1200 or via email at office@stpatrickwp.org. Tickets are $50 each. Good luck!

And congratulations to this year's Grand Prize Drawing Winners:

1st Prize: Elizabeth Hrinsin

2nd Prize: Maggie Davies

3rd Prize: Barbara Rogers

St. Patrick's will be hosting a Blood Drive on December 28th from 8:00 am - 2:00 pm. To schedule your appointment, go to RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS

Don't forget to check out our websites for more information, ministry schedules, the parish calendar, etc.:

St. Patrick: https://stpatrickwp.org/

St. Vincent de Paul: https://svdpcleveland.org/