St. Dominic
St. Francis Xavier
Catholic Church
Our Lady of Snows Shrine
January 1, 2017
Mary, the Holy Mother of God
PASTOR
Fr. Marianand
Mendem
[email protected]
SECRETARY
Kay Ludvicek
ACCOUNTANT
Merlin Nelson
DIRECTOR REL. ED.
Barbara Berg
PARISH OFFICES
115 E. 5th St.
Holton, KS 66436
Office: 785-364-3262
Rectory: 362:7026
[email protected]
www.jacocatholics.org
SACRAMENTS
WEEKEND MASSES
5:30 pm Sat. Vigil @ St. Dominic
8:00 am Sun. @ St. Francis Xavier
10:30 am Sunday @ St. Dominic
WEEKDAY MASSES
Tue. 8am @ St. Francis Xavier
Wed. 8am @ St. Dominic
Thu. 8am @ St. Francis Xavier
Fri. 8am @ St. Dominic
No Mass Mon. or Sat.. Morning
RECONCILIATION
30 Minutes prior to
5:30 pm and 8:00 am Mass
Anytime by appointment
MARRIAGE
Contact the parish 9 months prior to
preferred wedding date
BAPTISM
Contact the office after
birth of the child
R e f l e c t i n g
o n
G o d ’ s
W o r d
We return once again to Bethlehem, accompanying the shepherds, to see the One announced by the angel
as the Savior of the world. With them, we stand before the mother and contemplate the child wrapped in
swaddling clothes and laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn. We are told that “Mary
kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
Mary invites us to ponder in our hearts the mystery of her Son, Jesus, truly God and truly human. He
came for us and for our salvation, and so we ask him to banish any darkness from our hearts and to send
us out to bring his light into the world.
The light that Christ brings is the blessing of God’s peace, all that makes life full, and transforms the
world into a place that cherishes and preserves, rather than neglecting and destroying life. Christ’s gift of
blessing is to let us know the Father and the Father’s plan—that all be one, united as family, able to recognize in each other the dignity of God’s adopted children, alive with the life of grace, destined to share
in divinity.
Christ’s blessing calls us to grow into maturity, keeping God’s law of love, just as Jesus himself grew
up, living a life that brought the law to its fulfillment. We don’t do this on our own, as the name given to
the child reminds us: Jesus, which means “God saves.”
—James A. Wallace, C.SS.R.
PARISH STEWARDSHIP
December 25, 2016
St. Dominic:
Envelopes*
Plate
Total:
$ 1.125.00
$ 401.78
$ 1,526.78
Week of Dec. 18
Week of Dec. 11
$ 1,608.01
$ 2,376.00
Eucharistic Ministers for the weekend of 7-8th
Homebound: Annette Schreiber
Nursing Homes: Wayne Leiker
Ministry Schedule for the
The Epiphany of the Lord
St. Dominic
Jan. 7th~ 5:30 pm
St. Francis Xavier
Jan. 8th~ 8:00 am
St. Dominic
Jan. 9th~ 10:30 am
COMMUNION
Jean Lierz
COMMUNION
Sharon Cole
COMMUNION
Mary Patterson
LECTOR
Alberta Lierz
LECTOR
Marceta Reilly
LECTOR
Susan Schirmer
ACOLYTE
Joel Kennedy
Heather Mandala
Carson Meerpohl
ACOLYTE
Mary Broxterman
Emma Poort
Noah Blanchard
ACOLYTE
Gregory Koon
Eric Koon
Elizabeth Schuster
MUSIC
Cathleen Reed
Brian Meerpohl
MUSIC
MUSIC
Joan Hood
Cathleen Reed
Marguerite Mzhickteno Robin Sides
Average weekly expenses for this fiscal
year: $2,719.11
St. Francis Xavier:
Envelopes*
Plate
Total:
$ 1,675.00
$ 461.00
$ 2,136.00
Week of Dec. 18
Week of Dec. 11
$ 535.00
$ 1,281.00
Average weekly expenses for this fiscal
year: $1,971.04
Thank you for your
continued generosity
GREETERS / USHERS GREETERS / USHERS
Gregg Watkins
Larry Larkin
Theresa Watkins
Ray Zeller
Bob Fox
Steve Broxterman
Leon Freel
Ed Hrenchir
GREETERS / USHERS
Jim Childs
Candy Childs
Dan Fiedler
Roger McAsey
P a g e
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LITURGY SCHEDULE AND MASS INTENTIONS
Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God
SATURDAY, December 31st~
St. F
6:00 PM
Butts/Gross Families (D)
SUNDAY, January 1st~
St. F
8:00 AM
No Mass
OLS
8:30 AM
St. D
10:30 AM
For All Parishioners
TUESDAY, January 3rd~
St. F
8:00 AM
NO MASS
WEDNESDAY, January 4th~
St. D 8:00AM
NO MASS
THURSDAY, January 5th~
St. F
8:00 AM
NO MASS
FRIDAY, January 6th~
St. D 8:00 AM
NO MASS
The Epiphany of the Lord
SATURDAY, January 7th~
St. D 5:30 PM
For All Parishioners
SUNDAY, January 8th~
St. F
8:00 AM
Debbie Larkin (D)
OLS
8:30 AM
St. D 10:30 AM
Hap Brucken (D)
CHURCH CLEANERS:
Jan. 2-8
Jan. 9-15
Jan. 16-22
Jan. 23-29
Jan. 30-Feb. 5th
Reith Family
Bertulfo Family
Karen Leiker, Kay Ludvicek
Danelle Shaw
Carolyn Koger, Gail Schmitz
Please contact the office ahead of time and let us
know when you are planning on cleaning so that the
church will be unlocked and the lights can be turned
on for you.
Thank you for your service to your parish. You can still
volunteer by calling the office at 364-3262.
Jackson County
Pastoral Council
Gregg Watkins
Elsie Beam
Barbara Berg
Margaret Blevins
Marie Burdiek
Larry Larkin
Wayne Leiker
Karen Leiker
Jackie McAsey
Merlin Nelson
Darrin Reith
Janeil Stevens
St. Dominic
Finance Council
Greg Watkins—Chair
Carolyn Koger
Jane Coverdale
Pat Doyle
Rosemary Wilkerson
St. Francis Xavier
Finance Council
Elsie Beam—Chair
Bill Haug
Chris Everts
Larry Larkin
Kay Andler
Damon Putnam
We should employ our passions in the service of life, not
spend life in the service of our passions.—Richard Steele
ST. DOMINIC RelEd:
 NO RELED CLASSES, January 4th~Classes resume January
11th
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER RelEd:
 NO RelEd Classes Sunday, January 1st. Classes resume January 8th.
RCIA – The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults!
Meet Tuesday, January 3rd from 7-8:30 pm, Church Office
Topic will be Baptism and Confirmation
“FOOD FOR THE POOR”
Next weekend, January 7-8th Rev. Christopher Gibson will
speak at all the services about a ministry providing direct relief to
the poor throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
Fr. Gibson will share personal witness about Food For The
Poor’s mission to care for the destitute as a means of living out
the Gospel mandate to love one another.
Fr. Gibson was ordained in 1975 for the Passionist Order. He
resides in Rome at the Passionist General House and at the Passionist Provincial House in Chicago. In addition to preaching on
behalf of Food For The Poor, Fr. Gibson serves as General Secretary for the Passionist Missions.
SNOW REMOVAL SIGN-UP
for St. Dominic
If you are able to help with snow removal during the winter months please indicate so on the sign-up sheet at the church
entrance. Also, be sure to use the ice melt
provided as using anything with salt in it will damage
the new concrete on the stairs and the sidewalk. Thank
you for your contribution to your parish.
In memory of:
Virginia Albright
Joel David Barta
Ivan “Bob”Bausch
Willian & Mary Haug
Debbie Larkin
Mr.& Mrs. Ira Larkin
Morris Family
Madonna Schaner
Melvin & Anna Schulte
Sosna/Dolinar Families
Andrew Sowsalla
P a g e
P A R I S H
P R A Y E R
3
C O N C E R N S
Decklyn Adame; Carol Barton (Friend of Dean & Ramona Robinson); Sonya Bergman;Cindy (Sands) Berry; George Bolz; Angela
Brewer; Ed Bryan (firend of Tom McAsey); Jeaneane Chance; Estelle Danner; Deb Davies; Leann Decker (mother of Doug
Decker):Ron Dees ( friend of Fred & Sheila Fernkopf); Dick DeVader (Brother of Ramona Robinson);Sharon DeVader; Steve Devlin;
Kathy Estabrook (sister of Terry Ludvicek);Sherri Fiedler (daughter-in-law of Dan & Venita Fiedler); Sheila Fernkopf; Larry Fund
(brother of Karen McClaskey; Janie Garza (Friend of Vickie Barr);Sam Gerry; Ann Glassman (Mother of Mary Wahlmeier); Vivian
Gonzalas; Carly Grant (great granddaughter of Joan Hood); Jared Harris (grandson of Mary Harris); Pat Hasenkamp; Ernest Haug
(Brother of Bill Haug) :Jerry Huftles (father of Jackie McAsey);JoRae Krogman; Shari Lott (sister-in-law of Russell Schuetz);Rita
Martin; Mary Morford;Colette McAfee (sister of St. Dominic parishioners); Lynne Mulroy; Luisa Munoz (sister of Anna Alvarez);
Susan Nelson; Erin Norwood and daughter Bailey (Larkin Family Members); Kristina Oates (granddaughter of Gene Schifelbein);
Gean O’Toole (Mother of Jim O’Toole); J.R. Pickett; Carolyn Reicherter; Cameron Renfro; Mary Riniker (Sister of Regina Butts);
Ronna Rowe (Family Member of Hilda Hrenchir); Virginia Ryan (Grandmother of Scott Bond); Lonnie & Helen Sands (brother and
sister-in-law of Joan Hood); Laura (daughter of Gene Schifelbein); Emma Schirmer; Judy Snyder; Special Intentions of Sheila
Springer; Nancy Versch Stereit; Evelyn Sullivan; Janie Teetzel; Rose Toledo; Laveda Wahweotten (mother of Tina Wahweotten); Max
Wichman (Son of Jeanette Wichman)
We pray for those among us who are ill, their families and for their care-giver;, those experiencing a hardship or difficulty;
and for those in the Armed Forces protecting our freedom.
To place someone’s name on the prayer list or to remove a name, please call the Parish Office (364-3262)
TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION
“Octave” comes from the Latin word for “eight,” and
since eight is one step beyond seven, the number of days in a
week, it has long been seen as a symbol of perfection, completion, and new beginnings. Early Christians called Sunday
the “eighth day,” since it was the day after the Sabbath and a
day of resurrected life, the Lord’s Day. By the seventh century, people regarded the eight days after Easter Sunday as
one great day, an octave, one glorious feast when people
were forbidden to fast or kneel. In the seventh century, Pentecost acquired an Octave, too. Christmas didn’t claim the
honor of a continuous feast, but it did get an Octave Day.
January 1 is the oldest Marian feast, the Octave of Christmas.
It was originally a feast of the motherhood of Mary, although
for centuries until 1969 it was called the Feast of the Circumcision. Our reformed calendar follows the earlier tradition of
celebrating Mary as Mother of God.
Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them
in her heart.
— Luke 2:19
THE BLESSING WE RECEIVE
The blessing we experience in Christ Jesus is proclaimed
in Numbers as the special blessing for the people of Israel.
They and we are to be blessed by the invocation of God’s
loving kindness, the shining glory of God’s face turned toward us in love, not away from us in anger. We are blessed
by God’s own peace!
Our wish and our hope are fulfilled in this blessing,
which is made visible in the coming of Jesus. In Jesus, the
image of the invisible God, God’s face is shown to us and
God’s presence is made known to us in faithful and loving
kindness.
Scripture Insights~
Scripture scholars speculate that the blessing in today’s
reading from Numbers may be the oldest piece of poetry in
the Bible. This threefold blessing pronounced over the people asks for the same thing using different phrases: that
God’s favor bring peace and well-being upon God’s beloved.
It is a beautiful invocation at any time, but especially appropriate on the first day of a New Year.
The psalm is also a petition for God’s blessing, and repeats some of the same words that appear in the First Reading. The image of God’s face that “shines upon us” suggests
a loving God looking with kindness on us. Those blessed are
urged to praise God, and thus will God’s goodness be known
to all nations.
In several of his letters, Paul teaches about the relationship between the Law and the Spirit. Here he notes that
Christ came according to the Law but won for all a new life
in the Spirit, making us adopted sons and daughters of God.
This was not a rejection of the Law but a new freedom to live
its essence fully in the Spirit.
The Gospel weaves together the twofold nature of Jesus’
identity. The shepherds relate what their vision announced,
that the child is a savior and Christ the Lord. While others
are merely amazed by the news, Mary contemplates what the
future hold for her son. In the wake of that revelation, Mary
and Joseph take the child for the customary rite of circumcision and naming. He is named Jesus, as the angelic messenger of God had instructed Mary. Jesus, as son of God and
son of Mary, is now ready to accept the mission of the Father. We, of course, know from the Gospel accounts how his
life unfolded. But on this solemnity we stay with Mary, contemplating what this means for us who follow him in faith.
 What specific blessings do you receive from today’s
Scriptures?
 What blessings can you pass on to others?
 As a new year begins, what does your contemplation
reveal about Christ’s place in your life?
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Tuesday, Jan. 3
Wednesday, Jan. 4
St. Dominic Eucharistic Adoration 2-6:00 pm
RCIA 7-8:30 pm
Thursday, Jan. 5
Friday, Jan. 6
NO RelEd Classes
St. Francis
Xavier
Eucharistic Adoration 2-5:00 pm
Saturday, Jan. 7
Sunday, Jan. 8
St. Dominic 5:30 pm Vigil Mass
K of C Card Party following Mass
Everyone is Welcome
10:30 am Mass
St. Francis
Xavier
8:00 am Mass
RelEd Class 9-10:15 am
OLS 8:30 am Mass
Wednesday, Jan. 11
Monday, Jan. 9
Altar Society Meeting ~6:00 pm
Thursday, Jan. 12
Friday, Jan. 13
St. Dominic RelEd Classes 6:30-7:45 pm
High School Meets at St. D
Tuesday, Jan. 10
Eucharistic Adoration 2-6:00 pm
RCIA 7-8:30 pm
Saturday, Jan. 14
5:30 pm Vigil Mass
St. Francis
Xavier
Eucharistic Adoration 2-5:00 pm
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Holton
524 Pennsylvania Ave.
(785) 364-2141
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Hoyt
100 Apache Drive
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(785) 986-6548
chapeloaksfuneralhome.com
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www.mercerfuneralhomes.com
(785) 364-2626
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