PLEASE NOTE
Due to evenings getting dark earlier during the winter months
the Church will now be locked between 4 and 4:30 P.M.
AND
Due to incidents in our parking lots we suggest
you make sure your car is locked while at Church.

We continue to ask each week that parishioners pray for the chronically ill of our parish. If you have a friend or loved one in need of our parish prayers please call the Rectory at 589-2800.

Also, please remember our Emergency prayer network that prays for specific intentions that require a concerted effort due to their critical nature. To facilitate the network, please call Michele Pipinich. The network people then pray frequently for the next 72 hours. We would appreciate a return call with the outcome so we can praise God for His faithfulness.

This week we pray for
Louise Fowlie, Caroline Fratti, Vince Valdez,
Claudia Frye and William Quintana

As we have done for many years, we ask that each of us remember with love those members of our Parish family who are confined to their homes or to nursing homes because of illness or advanced years. We can open our hearts to them by bringing an unwrapped new Christmas gift to the baskets placed on our altar steps. Some suggestions are: lap robes, slippers, dusters, sweaters, nightgowns, pajamas, knee socks, robes, or a note or card telling them that we pray for them and that we love them. We can bring the joy of Christ to these precious people.

ADOPT A FAMILY-There are many people in San Mateo County who don’t have the means to celebrate Christmas as they might like. Like last year we have designated families affected by Hurricane Katrina from our Adopted Parishes in Gulfport, Mississippi. We will be having a “Giving Tree” set up in front of church. This tree will be “decorated” with paper ornaments containing a profile of a family you might be able to help. If you have the means to share your Christmas spirit, stop by and pick an ornament. Gifts or Scrip will be collected after Masses THIS WEEKEND , and Collected Dec. 9 & 10 and 16 & 17. Call Rob Aveson for more information.

SIMBANG GABI

Celebrate SIMBANG GABI or Misa de Gallo
Novena of Masses in preparation for Christmas:

Fellowship after all Masses at the Little Church hosted by the FilAm Group.

FIL-AM CHRISTMAS PARTY DINNER DANCE

Saturday, December 16th
In Hennessy Hall
Dinner at 7:30 p.m. and Dancing until 11:30 p.m.
$25 per person

For Tickets contact Adelaida Gallagher or Encar Sanchez.

THANK YOU

Through the generosity of our parishioners and the efforts of the St. Robert’s students. The St. Vincent de Paul Society was able to bring food to over 50 families for their Thanksgiving celebrations.

A Huge Thank you to all who donated to this worthy cause. To the people who delivered the sorted bags of food and a special thanks to our 7th grade students who collected and carried the great amount of food to the storage shed for its boxing. God bless you one and all!

Saint Vincent de Society

WHEN CHRISTMAS IS NEAR

On Saturday, Dec. 23, we’ll be doing some cleaning and all the decorating for Christmas! If you can help, please come in your old clothes at 9:30 am. If you can bring dust cloths, a Dust Buster or its equivalent, or a bucket and mop, that would be great! The usual envelopes for donations for flowers will be in the pews, but if you’d like to bring a poinsettia, please don’t bring it until the 23^rd.

Thank you very much. S. Sheral

CAROLING! CAROLING! HERE WE GO!

Yes, it’s that time of year. It’s time for the choir’s annual caroling trip to Emmanuel Convalescent Hospital to give a little holiday cheer to those who may not get it any other way. This is the fourth year that we have been invited to sing.

We are going to gather on Sun. Dec. 17th at 1 PM to pass out the music. We will then caravan to the hospital to sing for about an hour. We will plan to arrive there at 2 PM. As we did last year, we are inviting those of you who can give about 2 hours of your time to join us. There will be familiar carols, so that everyone can feel comfortable singing. All are welcome, it will give you another chance to sing Christmas carols besides on Christmas Eve.

The healing power of music is tremendous and the giving of your time can be an important way of showing your faith. The smiles and tears from some of the elderly last year made our short time with them a moving experience.

Following our caroling trip, we will gather for a wassail party at the home of one of our choir members. No need to bring anything; the choir will supply some food and the spiced cider!

This is something we can do during the holiday season that can make a difference in the lives of some of our elderly. I hope that many of you can join us for an afternoon of caroling.

Kevin Imbimbo

AIDS LUNCH
December 13th

We are scheduled for the 2nd Wednesday of each month. If you can prepare a favorite cookie, snack or lunch item for 10 to 12 people, please drop it off at the Children's Chapel, in the back of Church, by 9 a.m. on December 13th Please pack the items in a non-returnable container. Frozen items are ok!

Thanks to all who contributed their time an energy.

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA
December 9th

See Santa present each child with a gift. There will be a breakfast and children can create a unique gift for someone special. Get your photo taken with Santa . Contact Jean Jauregui. There will be two seatings, at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Cost is $7.00 per adult and $5.00 per child. We will be serving a full breakfast including sausages, bacon, french toast and scrambled eggs. Reservations are a must.

The Challenge of Advent
Here we are in the first weekend of Advent. Everything is purple; the Advent wreath graces the sanctuary; the music has changed to a more reflective key with the Gloria omitted for the season. Outside, in the stores and on the sidewalks, it has been Christmas since before Thanksgiving. Advent isn’t Lent, of course, but it is an invitation to go more deeply into our relationship with the Lord and with one another. This Sunday’s gospel reminds us of the last judgment and of our need to be ready when the Lord comes. It is referring to the second coming at the end of time and at the end of time for me when I die. The Church wisely knows that we can’t really celebrate Christmas unless we are prepared through entering into the faithful waiting and hoping of the chosen people. Just as we wouldn’t dream of having Ash Wednesday followed four days later by Easter Sunday, so we shouldn’t skip over these blessed days of Advent by wearing our special Christmas outfits and having our tree and all our decorations up and lit.

I know that it is difficult to ignore the timetable of our society, but the liturgy slows us down and, if we let it, will keep us from missing a very important period for our spirituality. Some people leave for vacation halfway through Advent and want to enjoy the tree before they go; others needed to have their adult children string the lights when they were home for the Thanksgiving weekend. I realize that I’m going against the prevailing cultures and many families’ traditional practice, but if you’ve kept the Advent traditions of lighting the Advent wreath and waiting to wear red and green and to light the tree and play Christmas music until Christmas Eve, you’ll know why I’m so committed to Advent.

For an Advent wreath, all you need is a plate, some evergreens and either three purple candles and a pink one or four white candles with three purple and one pink ribbon. Light one candle each week at dinner and ask God to bless those you love, our parish and the whole human family with peace. Wear purple these Advent days, except at Christmas parties; listen to classical music perhaps, instead of nonstop Christmas carols. Most of our friends don’t need anything, so we spend hours trying to find something they’d like. Resist the consumerism in the air! Let the people you love know that you’ve made a donation in their name to the Katrina victims or Heifer Project or Habitat for Humanity or Catholic Worker. Do your Christmas cards a few at a time, so they don’t seem like a burden or, if you’re really rushed, wait and send them after Christmas so you can respond to news that was shared with you by family and friends.

Some families put out their crèche early, but without the Christ Child and the kings. The Child comes on Christmas Eve and the kings make their way from a back bedroom, arriving on their feast. Christmas begins on Christmas Eve and the twelve days of Christmas last until Jan. 6, the Feast of the Three Kings, the Epiphany, Little Christmas as it is known in many cultures.

Happy Advent! S. Sheral

     
We are now accepting applications for our 2007/2008 Kindergarten class. Child must be 5 years of age by September 1, 2007 and you will need copies of your child’s birth and baptismal certificates and social security card. Please contact the school office at (650) 583-5065 if you would like an application.

OPEN HOUSE
St. Robert School will hold its annual Open House on Thursday evening, January 25th. The evening will begin at 7 p.m. All are welcome.

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY
St. Roberts 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 an/or ethnic origin in its administration of education policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs and athletic and other school administered programs.

SUNDAY COLLECTION

Thank you for your generous donation of $2,758.15 to the Campaign for Human Development.

    
SIGN UP FOR E-CONTRIBUTIONS

Go to www.saintroberts.org and click on the e-contributions button. The first page explains the details. There is a button to take you to the e-paluch registration page. You can register online using either your checking account or credit card.

There is no cost to you for this service.

ST. ROBERTS CENTERPLATE TEAM NEEDS YOUR HELP

AT THE LAST CENTERPLATE 2006 SCHEDULED 49ER GAME
Call the Rectory at 589-2800 or sign-up on the web site at
www.saintroberts.org/centrplt.htm to help

Centerplate 2006 Schedule

Name:_________________________________Home Phone:___________________

Cell Phone:_______________Email:_______________________________________

Dress Code: Full length black slacks, (jeans or spandex are not permitted), white shirt with collar, closed toe comfortable shoes (preferably black or white).

We will car pool from the rectory. For those working in San Francisco, you can meet the group at the gate. Volunteers between 16-21 years of age must provide a copy of a picture id which includes his/her birth date.

Our Centerplate totals:
Baseball: $26,663.20
49er Training Camp: $7,282.71
49er games: $15,104.96
for a total of: $49,050.87
Thanks to the many people who have volunteered.