St. Vincent de Paul Parish Newsletter
Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 23, 2021

Merry Christmas to you and your families and Fr. Frank from the Staff at St Vincent de Paul!
Christmas Mass Times
Christmas Eve Mass
December 24th

5:00pm-Pacific Island choir-
Live streamed
7:00pm-Cantor and Accompanist
10pm- Choir
Christmas Day Masses
December 25th

9:00am- Pacific Island Choir
11:00am-Live streamed, Choir
(9am Choir)

No Daily Mass on 12/24
 
No Reconciliation on 12/25
 
No Vigil Mass on 12/25
 
In observance of the Christmas Holiday, the parish office will close at 3pm on 12/23 and will reopen at 9:30am on 12/29.

Daily Mass Times:

Monday - 9:00 AM
Wednesday - 9:00 AM
Thursday - 9:00 AM
Friday - 9:00 AM

Join us the first Monday of the Month at our 9am Mass with anointing of the sick afterwards
Reconciliation Times

Saturdays from 3:30pm-4:30pm


The Readings for mass are included in the Breaking
Bread Missals if you would like to follow along.
Message from your Pastor
Dear Parishioners of St. Vincent de Paul,

            I pray you and your loved ones are staying healthy and blessed as we approach Christmas this year. A year ago, many of us did not have a place to celebrate Christmas due to the pandemic. For a number of us Christmas consisted of Mass over livestream and a “virtual dinner” with family members over Zoom. At the time, I was tempted to call last year’s celebration of Christmas as the worst one ever! However, speaking for myself, the experience of being alone instead of with family offered me a powerful spiritual consolation.

           You see, the first Christmas was not easy for the Holy Family either. Luke’s Gospel tells us that Joseph and Mary were required to be in the city of Bethlehem for the Roman census at the time Mary was due to give birth. There was no room at the inn so they had to settle for a stable filled with farm animals. Can you imagine? This is how Jesus was born into our world. The first Christmas was not easy to say the least. I also received encouragement by meditating on why the celebration of Christmas matters in the first place. Celebrating Christmas makes no sense without our Easter Hope. If it were not for Jesus’ life and ministry, most especially his passion, death and resurrection, there would be no reason to celebrate Christmas at all.
           Even though we are facing another wave of Covid-19 in our community, this year is nevertheless shaping up to be much better than last year. On the other hand, we should also be cognizant that there are still a number of people in our community who will be alone at Christmas, either because they have to work, or because they have cold like symptoms, or because they are far from family and friends, or because they simply need to be careful about their health. We should also take a moment and be thankful for our health care workers, police, fire fighters, our men and women in uniform, public servants, and the list goes on who will all be sacrificing their family time on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so to serve us.

They are true heroes and deserve our gratitude. Because not everyone will have the opportunity to join us for Mass in person or be comfortable with crowds due to the pandemic, we will be live streaming both the 5 PM Christmas Eve Mass and the 11 AM Christmas Day Mass. For those attending these Masses or our other Mass times, please only come if you are feeling completely healthy and please respect the people around you by wearing a mask that completely covers your nose and your mouth.

           We live in challenging times to say the least. On the other hand, if we take the time to truly reflect on why celebrating Christmas makes sense at all, this can be a time for spiritual awakening too as we give thanks to God for giving us his only Son as our savior. I wish everyone a truly blessed Christmas.
Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Frank Schuster
Pastor 
PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
The 2022 Calendars are coming in soon. We will let you know.


A huge thank you to all the people who participated in our Virtual Giving Tree. We received donations of $7,980.00 this year! Thank you!
It is a great time to be Catholic. Our Holy Father, Pope Francis want to hear from every Catholic in the world. He wants to know how the Church is alive in your life and how the Holy Spirit is working in your life. The fancy word he is using for this is Synod. We need your help with two things.
1.      We need people to lead these sessions and people to take notes.
2.      We need you to come to a session and tell us how the Church and the Holy Spirit are a part or not of your life.
To sign up to help our share please let Katie in the office know.
“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.”
Revival Schedule

There is no Revival December 22 and 29. We will begin again on January 5th. Wishing our Revival Families a very Merry Christmas. We miss you and are excited to see you in January. The next Saturday of Service is January 15. Watch for an email in January with more details.
JustFaith is back in January. This will be the last in our three part series on Racial Justice. The last two classes have really opened my eyes to race in our country. One of the best things that I have learned from this experience has been to really listen and love people even when I disagree with them. Please sign up in the parish office. Click the link for more information about this JustFaith series. Faith and Racial Justice: Changing Systems and Structures - JustFaith Ministries
The Vincentian plan has changed for January 4th. We are not going to Brown Bear. Instead we are meeting at St. Vincent’s in the South Narthex. We are going to meet at noon and play White Elephant Bingo. Bring a wrapped gift and play bingo with us. Please note that due to Covid no food or drink will be served. Sign up in the parish office.  

The next Mothers and Others Ladies night out is going to be January 21. Join us for dinner at Jimmy Mac’s. Bring a white elephant gift to exchange. Please sign up in the parish office.
Home, Health, and Hope for Women Experiencing Homelessness
December Donations Needed 2021
A wicker basket will be in the South Narthex for donations.

Basic Needs Food Coffee, Creamer, Sugar Bread, Lunch Meat, Cheese Resident Needs …to help our women feel at home. Special Requests Churches Collecting in August: St. Vincent de Paul Catholic & Normandy Park Church of LatterDay Saints ….to help our women maintain a clean-living environment. Toilet Paper Paper Towels Clorox Wipes (urgent) Laundry Detergent Dixie Cups Pine Sol Multi-Purpose Cleaner Rinse Aid/ Jet Dry 409 Spray Cleaner Libman Wonder Mophead Tissue Boxes Hand Soap 13 Gallon Trash Bags Dryer Sheets Shower Cleaner 30 Gal. Trash Bags Tote Bags Slippers (all sizes) 2022 Calendars 2022 Planners Hand Warmers Accordion Folders Women’s Coats (large sizes) Bus Tickets Backpacks Shower Cap
Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz.wishlist/ls/1BMTT8YXQ8TJL?ref_=wl_share

St. Vincent’s wants to help you fight back against Covid. We are having two vaccination clinics. The first is January 9 and the second is January 30. Here are the links to sign up for the January 9th clinic.

5 years to 11 years
12 and up
December 23, 2021

WATCH:

CHRISTMAS IN ROME:
A CLELBRATION OF THE NATIVITY

LEARN:
The story of the
NATVIITY

LISTEN:
THE TRUE MAINING OF CHRISTMAS
BY FULTON SHEEN

Prayers of
the Faithful

For those who are sick:
Tung Do Hoang
Joan Sembar
Mark Manglona
For those who have died

Sunday Giving:
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7
Ways to give:

  • Online - signup to give onetime, weekly or monthly, click the link below to sign up.
  • Basket - put your envelope in the Basket as it's passed around during Mass.
  • Mail - you can mail your contribution to 30525 8th Ave S, Federal Way, WA 98003.