Our Advent Wreath Making Party was fun for the whole family!
St John the Evangelist Parish
November 30, 2016
Advent Notes:
December 8 - Immaculate Conception - Masses at 9am and 7 pm.
     (This is a Holy Day of Obligation)
December 12 - Parish Reconciliation - 7pm in the Church
December 17-18 - Anointing at all the Masses 
Golden Fellowship Luncheon
Thursday, December 1st at Noon - Quigley 13
The Parish Staff will provide the meal.  
Please bring food for the SVdP pantry instead.
St John Christmas Tree Sale
Saturday, December 3 from 9am - 7pm
Sunday, December 4 from 9am - 3pm 
St John Parking lot

Click here for more information

Sponsored by the Knights of Columbus to raise money for the St John Women's Shelter and Noel House Programs, a network of shelters serving homeless women in Seattle
Girl Scout Craft Fair
Sunday, December 4 from 9:30 - Noon in Egan Hall

See flyer for more information.
Giving Tree

     The Advent Giving Tree is up and decorated!  Please take an ornament from the Giving Tree and return that item unwrapped and place it under the tree by Sunday, December 18th.  Thank you so much for your generosity in making this a wonderful Christmas for the homeless in our community.

Click here to learn more about who your donations will support this year.
St John Youth Group Talent Show
Friday, December 8th at 7 pm in Egan Hall
The big event is finally here! Come see some of the greatest entertainment Seattle has to offer. There will be comedy, music, singing, piano, magic, guitar, drama, skits, gymnastics, Irish dancing and quite possibly Jazz Hands!

Join us for a FREE Christmas Program
by Taproot Theatre's Touring Company
Wednesday, December 14th at 7 pm in Egan Hall
If you have any questions, contact Julia Rudden
at jrudden@stjohnsea.org or 206-782-2810.
Scrip in December
Scrip makes excellent Christmas gifts!
There is a special selling schedule during the month of December.   Click here 

Scrip order form: Click here

Contact the Scrip team, Andrea Vaught and Tricia Kane Yi, with any questions.
stjohnscrip@stjohnsea.org
New Format for the Worship Aid
The Liturgy Commission is dedicated to creating the most resourceful and effective materials to enhance your experience of the Mass.  We are piloting this new version to see if it fits the needs of our parishioners.  Please feel free to email Becky Kelly at bkelly@stjohnsea.org with feedback about the new version.  Did you find it useful? All comments and suggestions are welcome.  The committee will review these comments in January and February.
Annulment Advocate  
The parish is seeking an individual or couple who would like to serve in the capacity of volunteer annulment advocate. Advocates guide parishioners through the annulment process. Requirements are deep compassion for those in need, a good ear for listening, patience and kindness, ability to attend the training and updates and ability to understand complex situations, and above all, a commitment to confidentiality. Training is provided by the Seattle Archdiocese. The next training September 13-15, 2017. If you believe this could be your calling, please contact Father Crispin to talk more about it. 
We are in need of wire coat hangers for a family who makes evergreen wreaths.  If you have any extras, please bring them to the Parish office and we will pass them along.
Church Decorating Opportunities
 
Christmas Decorating - Sunday, December 18, 2016, Noon
 
De-decorating - Sunday, January 8, 2017, Noon
 
email:   stjohndecorating@gmail.com to sign up.

 
I used to think that books should be kept pristine, unmarked, in neat rows on book shelves.  Several years ago, after I started reading Kindle books, I completely changed my mind.  I wanted my paper books to be as useful as my Kindle books with their highlighting and search functions.  So, I started underlining the nuggets, writing margin notes, and folding pages.  The books lying around my house in various piles now look well used, the good ones anyway.  The beauty of my underlined-annotated-folded books is that I can pick one up and in moments recall the highlights and find the nuggets.
 
Do you remember, early in November, this column was about Fr. Cal Christiansen's article titled "Why don't I feel God's presence when I pray?"  Well, this evening I happened to flip through Archbishop Charles Chaput's book, Living the Catholic Faith: Rediscovering the Basics.  I found page 49 dog-eared.  Here's the paragraph, with the nugget at the end underlined:
 
Here's another point about prayer.  Though we pray for four basic reasons, the first three get the lion's share of our attention: (1) We ask God for things we want and need, including His forgiveness. (2) We praise Him for His greatness; (3) We thank him for His gifts. Yet we often overlook another very important kind of prayer:  We should pray in order to listen for God's will.  Remember the words of Mary to the servants at Cana: "Do whatever He tells you."  We can't hear what God wants to tell us if we don't cultivate a habit of listening, along with the inner silence it requires.  Prayer is not a monologue.  God knows us better than we know ourselves.  If we listen, sooner or later we'll feel His presence.

If you have prayer nuggets you'd like to share with the parish, email Bill Marty, bill@takenroad.com.  Thanks!
Swahili lesson!
Father provided us with some of the Swahili phrases he uses at Mass so that we can practice and be ready!  :)  Asante Sana Padre!
  1. Jambo (Hello/Hi)  -   Jambo.
  2. Habari ( any news/how are you) - Nzuri (sana ) - Good/Very Good
  3. Salaam/ Amani (Peace) - Salaam/Amani ( Peace
  4. Mambo (What's up? For  young people) - Poa! (cool)
  5. Thank you Jesus - Praise you Jesus: Asante Yesu - Sifa kwa Yesu!
  6. Blessings - Baraka
  7. Be Blessed - Barikiwa or Ubarikiwe
  8. Karibu - You are welcome (Is also used for "come in": as in "welcome, come in".)
St John School Auction
The 2017 St. John auction is many months away, but the planning has begun!  If you haven't already heard, the theme of the auction is 1980s Prom.  You have been warned - you have many months to plan your outfits - complete with poufy sleeves, bows, ruffles and metallic/neon colors. 

We have many advertising and sponsorship levels available.
Click here and here to learn more.
 
The St. John Auction will take place on Friday, April 28th at Fremont Studios.  More information to come... stay tuned in the next few months!
Saint of the Month

Saint Maria Goretti
(1890-1902, Italy)
Feast Day: July 6