Our Advent Sanctuary
Photo credit: Margaret Dick
December 6 – December 13, 2015
Weekly Activities
Sunday, December 6 at 3:00 p.m. ~ The Freudig Singers of WNY in concert in the church
Tuesday, December 8 at 7:00 p.m. ~ Choir Rehearsal in St. Charles Hall
Wednesday, December 9 at 6:15 p.m. ~ Sodality Christmas Dinner at Family Tree Restaurant
Thursday, December 10 at 8:00 p.m. ~ Bingo will be played in St. Charles Hall*
Friday, December 11 from 10 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. ~ Preparation for assembly of Holiday Prisoner Packages in church
Friday, December 11 beginning at 6:00 p.m. ~ Assembly of Holiday Prisoner Packages in church
Saturday, December 12 from 9:30 a.m. to 12 Noon ~ Helping Hands Food Pantry in St. Charles Hall
Saturday, December 12 following the 4:30 p.m. Mass ~ Pastor’s reception for parish volunteers in the rectory
Saturday, December 12 at 8:00 p.m. ~ Bingo will be played in St. Charles Hall*
Sunday, December 13 following 10:00 a.m. Mass ~ Transfer of Christmas decorations from storage to church
Sunday, December 13 following 10:00 a.m. Mass ~ Pastor’s reception for parish volunteers in the rectory
*In response to requests from our players, we have instituted age restrictions for admission to Bingo. As of Thursday, October 15, we no longer admit children under 8 years of age.
We now have a Bingo camera with TV monitors and electronic verification!
To check the Red, White & Blue and progressive Share-the-Wealth carry over amounts
and progressive numbers for this week, click HERE and visit our Facebook page.
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
December 8
Photo credit: Margaret Dick
Mass Intentions
Sunday, December 6 ~ Mass at 10:00 a.m. – Margaret E. Schirmann (Requested by Mary C. Stoddard) and Leonard Dinder (Requested by the Gallisdorfers)
Monday, December 7 ~ St. Ambrose, Apostle ~ Communion Service at 11:00 a.m. in Daily Mass Chapel
Tuesday, December 8 ~ Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a Holy Day of Obligation ~ Mass at 6:00 p.m. – Members of Blessed Trinity Parish
Wednesday, December 9 ~ St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin ~ Mass at 11:00 a.m. – Winifred Enright (Estate)
Thursday, December 10 ~ Mass at 11:00 a.m. – Anna Snyder (Estate)
Friday, December 11 ~ St. Damasus I ~ Mass at 11:00 a.m. – Bridget Blesnuk (Parents)
Saturday, December 12 ~ Our Lady of Guadalupe ~ Vigil Mass at 4:30 p.m. -Joseph Kohn (Family)
Sunday, December 13 ~ Mass at 10:00 a.m. – Dan Stabler (Ed Marien) and Norine Hackney (The Dunnigan Family)
Readings for the Week of December 6
Sunday: Bar 5:1-9; Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7; Phil 1:4-6, 8-11; Lk 3:1-6
Monday: Is 35:1-10; Ps 85:9-14; Lk 5: 17-26
Tuesday: Gn 3:9-15, 20; Ps 98:1-4; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38
Wednesday: Is 40:25-31; Ps 103:1-4, 8, 10; Mt 11:28-30
Thursday: Is 41:13-20; Ps 145:1, 9-13; Mt 11:11-15
Friday: Is 48:17-19; Ps 1:1-4, 6; Mt 11:16-19
Saturday: Zec 2:14-17; Jdt 13:18-19; Lk 1:26-28 or Lk 1:39-47
Sunday, December 13: Zep 3:14-18a; Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6; Phil 4:4-7; Lk 3:10-18
The Freudig Singers in concert at Blessed Trinity, December 6 at 3 PM.
News from our Parish Community
We hope you “saved your fork,” because this is Christmas Pie Sunday! Be with us on December 6 at 3 PM when the Freudig Singers of WNY serve up their Magnificent Pie. There will be generous helpings of traditional and contemporary music for the holiday season including pieces as varied as Samuel Scheidt’s Magnificat and a medley of songs from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The concert concludes with a pie reception in St. Charles Hall and an auction of signature pies prepared by the singers. Tickets are $10.
Tuesday, December 8, is a Holy Day of Obligation: the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Virgin Mary. Please join us as we observe this feast with Mass on Tuesday Evening at 6:00 PM.
We’ve Met Our 2015 Cocoa Challenge! Thank you for your generous donations. The Holiday Prisoner Package Project, a work of mercy and hope begun by sister Karen Klimczak and now continued by Peaceprints Prison Ministries, still needs your help. Volunteers are needed to fill 2,100 gift bags for inmates at the Albion and Wende Correctional Falcilities. Help assemble the gifts here at Blessed Trinity on Friday, December 11, in two shifts: 10 AM – 1 PM (unpacking, sorting, counting, prepping shipping boxes, bag decorating) and 6 PM to completion (gift assembly and packing the shipping boxes).
The Sodality’s Christmas Dinner Party is this Wednesday, December 9, at 6:15 PM at the Family Tree Restaurant, 4346 N. Bailey Ave., Amherst. The restaurant needs to know entrée choices (baked fish, pot roast or pork roast) ahead of time, so if you made a reservation without specifying an entrée, please contact either Patty Gallisdorfer or Vera Andrew right away. Checks should be made payable to “Ladies Sodality”; the $25 cost includes tax and gratuity. Member Dianne Riordan will share the story of her all-too-brief relationship forged late in life with her birth mother. She has generously offered to make copies of her memoir, The Names of My Mothers, available to us at a discounted rate of $12, with proceeds of each sale ($4) going to the Ladies Sodality. If you would like to read her book before the dinner, please see Dianne at church this Sunday.
Delivering Christmas Gift Bags ~ Many thanks to all who have contributed to the Sodality’s gift collection for our homebound parishioners and those in senior care facilities. Gift bags are being assembled this week and will be available at church next weekend, December 12/13. Please contact Mickey Dick by clicking HERE if you are willing to deliver one and visit with its recipient.
Father Reger invites dedicated parish volunteers to the Rectory for coffee and … after services on the weekend of December 12/13 so that he might thank you for your ministry to our church community during the past year. He looks forward to greeting readers, choir members, Eucharistic Ministers, ushers, Saturday sacristans, bereavement committee members, food pantry volunteers and coordinators for Family Promise and the Peaceprints Prison Project.
Next weekend also marks the beginning of our decorating for Christmas. Following Mass on Sunday, December 13, we will need help in bringing decorations up from the church basement. It doesn’t take long, but it does require all the helping hands and feet that we can get (if you still “do stairs”).
Our Spiritual Journey from Advent to Lent ~ During the Advent season, our Parish Council invites you to join your fellow parishioners in reading A Spirituality of Being Human by local author Hugh Brady, D. Min. In Dr. Brady’s own words, “a spirituality of being human…is loving and accepting human nature in its brokenness and in its state of grace. It is awareness of the deeply transformative experience of being human.” A group discussion of the book is planned for the Lenten season, which begins on February 10. Copies of the book are available after Sunday Mass from Dianne Riordan, or you can pick one up at the rectory. The purchase price is $20, with a portion being donated to the Little Portion Friary. There will also be a limited number of copies available to borrow and return for someone else to read.
Change in Time of Christmas Eve Service ~ This year our Christmas Eve Mass will be celebrated at 10 PM instead of the traditional Midnight, with choir preludes beginning at 9:30 PM. We don’t want to disappoint anyone planning to attend our Christmas Eve service, so please help us spread the word about the time change to former parishioners, friends or family members. Mass on Christmas morning will be at the usual time of 10 AM.
Retirement fund for Religious ~ Support elderly religious. A parishioner writes, “As a Catholic school student from grades K-12, I was formed to be the person I am by many religious brothers and sisters, and I am forever grateful.” Show your appreciation for the senior Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests who made a positive difference in so many lives. Please give generously to the collection for the Retirement Fund for Religious on the weekend of December 12/13.
Summary of Nov. 18, 2015 Parish Council Meeting ~ The Finance Council meets weekly. Insurance will cover most of the damage done to St. Charles Hall some weeks ago. The FLARE building will get a new boiler; estimated cost to the parish – $12,000. The Membership Committee is developing a two-part plan to identify ways to increase parish presence. Perhaps some people have a problem getting to Blessed Trinity. Also, what can we do to attract new members? The Community Life Committee has been in contact with our parish shut-ins. Rev. Joseph Rogliano has been appointed vicar for our vicariate: Northwest Central. Evelyn Brady will facilitate parish discussion of her husband’s book, A Spirituality of Being Human, during Lent. Watch the weekly bulletin during Advent for details. Save the Date: Blessed Trinity will host “Christmas in the City” on Sunday, January 3, from 2 – 4 p.m.
News from our Vicariate Cluster and the Wider Community
Christmas Crèches on Display ~ Fr. Roy Herberger invites you to experience a display of 560 nativity sets from 59 countries. These international crèches will be shown at Ss. Columba-Brigid Church located at 75 Hickory and Eagle St. (one block south of Clinton). The building is handicapped accessible. The hours are 1 – 4 p.m. every weekend in December (EXCEPT December 26 and 27) and on January 2 and 3. There is no charge, and there is a special section for children.