St. Jude Parish
Advent Happenings and Christmas Masses
Fellow St Jude Parishioners:

Happy New Year! Yes, our Church’s liturgical year begins with Advent, so we do indeed begin a new year. I find acronyms helpful, so let us prayerfully consider the following as we prepare for Christmas:

A. Always be ready. Prepare for both Jesus’ birth and His second coming. 
D. Do all we can to continue to stay healthy…masking…social distancing…hygiene. 
V. Visit one another often and safely…telephone…text…e-mail…FaceTime… Zoom. 
E. Embrace the daily blessings and graces that God showers upon us. 
N. Never doubt…Jesus is always with us. At our baptism and confirmation, we received the grace to assist us in living our Christian life, in imitation of Jesus.
T. Tell someone how very special they are. How you see the Spirit of the Lord upon them (Isaiah 11), and how you see in them joy, peace and kindness (Galatians 5).

My prayers are with each of you for a Blessed and Joy filled Advent and Christmas Season.

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Fr. Henry J. Hoffman
ADVENT HAPPENINGS:
·      St. Jude Virtual Christmas Concert. Enjoy some very special Christmas music from the comfort of your own home! On Sunday, December 20th at 7 PM, classical Christmas music as well as sing-a-longs will be performed for SJ parishioners by our own David Baranowski, his wife Jennifer, and violinist Rachel Handman (who has played in many Broadway shows). You will be able to access the concert by going to our website, stjuderc.org. A recording of the concert will be available for viewing any time after that. Don't miss it!!
·     Messages of Joy, Advent devotional. Our Advent gift to you! You can pick one up at the office, or in the Church while they last.

·     Knights of Columbus Christmas Tree Lighting will be held on December 7 after the 7 PM Vigil Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Due to Covid restrictions, parishioners will be asked to view the tree lighting from the comfort of their own car; instructions will be given at Mass.
Parish Online Bulletin Board December/Advent

We are so happy to introduce to you our December/Advent Online Bulletin Board. We had a wonderful response to our November ‘HOPE’ Board and we thank all those who participated by posting their reflections and prayers.

We have expanded our December/Advent Board, adding more columns, resources, crafts, etc. We are excited to introduce it to you and we hope that, as before, you add your thoughts and pictures. This Board is a great way to stay connected as a Parish and for all of us to share our faith. Once again, feel free to sign your names or to post anonymously. 

Why not take go there right now:
As always, our password is Jude
December/Advent Link: 
·     Advent Calendar for our parish, with suggested daily Advent activities, has been generously created by Shannon Carey, our Youth Coordinator. You can print this for yourself by clicking here or downloading from the website https://files.constantcontact.com/6f819e9d701/34ee85c6-1f41-49a5-b79a-2404747044d3.pdf. Please contact Shannon at  shannon.carey@stjuderc.com if you have questions, comments or activities you would like to share.
·     Giving Tree for Blessed Sacrament Parish will be in our lobby beginning Dec. 5. Fr. Skip is requesting gift cards for his teens to Subway, McDonald’s, Burger King, Popeye’s or Dunkin’ Donuts. Please drop off your gift by December 19 in the St. Jude lobby or at the parish office. Monetary gifts will be accepted as well. Due to Covid concerns, we have had to take a hiatus from our traditional Appalachian gift giving.
·     Advent Faith Evening via Zoom – a 45 min. presentation on Prayer Before the Blessed Sacrament – what it means and how to participate. It will be offered by Deacon Tuccio on December 5 at 10 AM as well as December 8 at 8 PM. You need only attend one session. Join the Zoom meeting at https://zoom.us/j/3024949317.
If you have any questions, please contact Deacon at deacon.tuccio@stjuderc.com. 

·     Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament will be available all 3 Fridays of Advent – Dec. 4, 11 and 18 from 7-8 PM in the Church.
CHRISTMAS MASS SCHEDULE

Many thanks to all of you who took the time to respond to our Christmas Mass survey. Based on the responses, we will offer Mass at the times below. Please keep in mind that seating will be very limited, due to Covid restrictions, so reservations will be necessary. We would like to give you the first opportunity to reserve seats early for yourself and your family, so we are opening reservations now for all of you who receive this newsletter, before we spread the word to the local community. You will have one week to preregister, before we open this to the public on Wednesday, December 9.

           Christmas Eve: 2 PM, 3:30 PM, 5 PM and 6:30 PM
           Christmas Day: 7:30 AM, 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM     
           Due to Covid-19, this schedule is subject to change.

    
Livestreaming

For those of you who do not feel comfortable coming to church for Mass, you can participate virtually by watching the live stream recordings of our Christmas Eve Masses (2:00 pm and 6:30 pm) and Christmas Day masses (7:30 and 11:30 am). The Masses are recorded and available for viewing anytime during and after the Mass https://www.stjuderc.org/masses.html

Also, our 9 AM daily Mass (Monday - Thursday) is now livestreamed, as are our Saturday Vigil Mass at 4:00 pm and Sunday Masses 7:30 and 11:30 am.   

Christmas Gift from our Knights of Columbus

The Knights of Columbus will be giving Matthew Kelly’s latest book to each family at all Christmas Masses. If you are unable to attend Mass at Christmas, you can pick one up in the Church or at the office. Thank you to our Knights for their generosity to our parishioners.    

Confession Hours

Confessions on Saturday afternoon will be in the day chapel at 3:00 pm on Saturdays.  Confessions are also by appointment, please call 203-261-6404 to set up an appointment.    
St Jude Parish
707 Monroe Tpke
Monroe, CT 06468
203-261-6404