Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Are there any Christmas cookies left at your house? Most families have strong food associations with Christmas time. For some, it’s tamales, for others it’s cookies. In my family we had marinated beef ribs on Christmas Eve, ham sandwiches after Midnight Mass, and a large tray of cookies which was replenished throughout the Christmas season (all the way up to Epiphany!) I can’t remember much else. I think I might have brain damage from eating too many Christmas cookies as a child.

A lot of energy flows in and out of our families around this time of the year. We are thankful for the love we experience in them, and we are most pained when these relationships break or are damaged. We can offer both the gratitude and the laments for our families to God through the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I think it’s good to believe that they were holy not because they were perfect and always happy, but because they allowed the Spirit of God to blow through their home and their lives together. They were holy because they invited God into their family.

As a St. Robert’s family, we have many members who put in a lot of hours making our Christmas Masses beautiful. Special thanks go to our choir directors — Kevin Imbimbo, Aura Baldomero, and Manny Ortiz—and to the members of our choirs. They have worked on Christmas music for months with splendid results! Thanks also to Tom Dachauer, Theresa MacNaughton, and the many good people who decorated the church. Thanks to Rob Aveson, John Grealish, MaryAnn Saisi, Sr. Ita, Bruce Chester and Wally Mooney who have coordinated our charitable gift and food drives. To our priests, lectors, altar servers, ushers, and eucharistic ministers who spent part of their holiday time with the St. Robert’s family, we thank you! Finally, thanks go to each and every parishioner—each member, young and old, of the St. Robert’s family—for your commitment to our community and its ministry. We open our hearts anew to the Holy Spirit’s movement among us. We renew our faith that Emmanuel has come, and God is with us in this holy parish family of St. Robert’s.

Liturgy Update

Our plan for explaining and beginning new liturgical practices later in January is to do so over a three Sunday period:

• January 19th - Introduction / Keys to Good Communal Prayer & Celebration

• January 26th - Posture, Reverence, and Praying the Eucharist

• February 2nd - Bowing and the Dignity of the Communion Rite

PLEASE NOTE!!!!!

Dear Parishioners,
Please notify the priesthouse (589-2800) if a loved one is in the hospital.

Please see the magazine rack in the vestibule of church for a list of courses to be offered by the Archdiocesan School of Pastoral Leadership beginning in January. Tuition assistance is available from the parish for some courses.

The Adult Choir singing at the 9:30 Mass is seeking those interested in raising voices in praise. We are rehearsing music for Christmas and would love to invite new members to help make it truly joyous! Rehearsals are on Wednesday from 7:00-9:00PM and we gather at 9:00 AM on Sunday to warm-up.

Our St. Vincent de Paul Society is in need of pasta and pasta sauce and cereal. Please place these items in the baskets in church.

We are scheduled for the 2nd Wednesday of each month. If you can prepare a favorite cookie, snack or lunch items for 10 to 12 people, please drop it off at the Children’s Chapel, in the back of Church, by 9:00 am on January 8th. Please pack the items in a non-returnable container. Frozen items can be donated.

Do not say,
"I'm right He’s wrong."

Say
"I must love him as myself."

This is the kind of love
that Jesus taught:

a love that transforms
vivifies,
enriches,
brings peace.

Wednesday, January 1, 2002
9:00 a.m. Only

SESQUICENTENNIAL YEAR

MERCY CENTER
2300 Adeline Drive
Burlingame, CA 94010-5599
(650) 340-7474

Introversion as Conversion - Jan. 11th
Don Bisson, FMS 9-3 p.m.

EL RETIRO
300 Manresa Way
Los Altos 94022
(650) 948-4491

Vella Dankwerth Cultural Scholarship

While out-of-town you can check for nationwide Mass times and locations at (1-800-627-7846) or Internet at www.Masstimes.org.

A Catholic Site for Seekers: A new internet ministry from the Franciscans (sponsors of St. Anthony Messenger Press) seeks to help inactive Catholics reconnect with a local Catholic faith community. This site, www.oncecatholic.org, offers a special place where inactive Catholics can ask questions, interact with on-line companions, find resources and reconnect with a local parish. This website may also be beneficial for those of you are practicing Catholics.

Website for Catholic Youth: Disciples Now is an innovative and faith-filled web-based ministry for Catholic teens. It has been developed by youth ministers, campus ministers, catechetical leaders, and diocesan staff members in partnership with publishers and other youth-serving agencies. It includes a "Since you asked" feature with responses to teen questions of faith and life by Fr. Gary Bagley, Director of Youth Ministry for the Diocese of Buffalo, New York as well as a variety of interactive catechetical and fun features. Nearly 3500 teens visit the site each day. Feel free to check it out on the web at www.DisciplesNow.com.

Kindergarten Application

Applications for St. Robert School Kindergarten for the 2003/2004 school year will be accepted in the School Office Monday-Friday, January 6th through the 10th, between 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. The screening fee for each applicant is $25.00

Please bring copies of your child’s birth and baptismal records, a recent family photograph and your child’s social security number. Screening dates will be assigned on completion of the application.

Requirements for School Registration:

Family must be registered and participating members of St. Robert’s Parish or St. Bruno’s Parish. This means that the family is involved in Parish life and the financial support of the Parish. Applications will be accepted for children who are 5 years of age by September 1, 2003. All acceptances will be based on student screenings and parent interviews.

Non-Discrimination Policy

St. Robert School, mindful of its mission to be witness to the love of Christ for all, admits students of any race, color, and national and/or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at this school. St. Robert School does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, and national and/or ethnic origin in administration of educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

Open House

Albertson Community Card. If you shop there and need a card please call Linda Cuddy.