2007 calendars are now
available in the vestibule

CONSOLATION MINISTRY
December 16th

Saint Robert’s Grief Support Group in the Convent Chapel from 3-4:15 p.m. (before the 4:30 p.m. Mass). Anyone who is suffering from the loss of a loved one-spouse, sibling, child, parent, friend or relative is invited to come and pray, share, comfort and be comforted. You are invited to bring a companion for support and strength. God bless and comfort you in your sorrow. Call Sister Patricia 589-0104 or any of the Consolation Ministry Committee.

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.

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!

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.

MEMORIAL CHRISTMAS FLOWERS

Christmas flowers and garlands will decorate the Church during the Christmas Season. If you would like to make a donation of $10 toward their purchase in memory of a loved one, please fill out the form below and return by Thursday, December 21st. Please make a check out to St. Robert's.

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

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

     
As I write this on the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, my thoughts turn to Mary, as they often do during Advent. What’s your image of Mary? This feast celebrates our belief that she was conceived without sin, even though the day’s gospel is of the angel appearing to her, telling of the conception of Jesus in her womb. She was an ordinary Jewish woman, living in a small, inconsequential town in a country noted only as a trade route for merchants. Except for this very major exception of conceiving and bearing the Son of God, the majority of her life was spent like that of most women: cooking, cleaning, drawing water, caring for her family; in a word, ordinary. It is her ordinariness, like Jesus, “like us in all things but sin” which makes her a powerful example for us to follow. Her faith from her youth until the cross, Pentecost and her death, was anything but ordinary as our faith is challenged to be.

Next Tuesday we celebrate her feast under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. When Hernán Cortez and his gold-seeking companions arrived in 1521, the Mexican people tragically welcomed them since Cortez’s light hair resembled that of a mythic god expected to visit them. The people had been mercilessly conquered, thousands killed, their advanced society in ruins, when Mary appeared 10 years later as an indigenous, native woman speaking to Juan Diego in his Nahuatl tongue. She expressed her love for him and his people and promised them her protection. She asked that a basilica be built on that spot, confirming the vision with her image on his tilma (serape).

Last Friday, was the 26^th anniversary of the deaths of the four North American martyrs in El Salvador: Maura Clark and Ita Ford, Maryknoll Sisters; Dorothy Kazel, an Ursuline; and Jean Donovan, a Cleveland lay missioner. These women, like Mary, were ordinary people, extraordinarily open to the call of God. They were maligned by the Salvadoran military for such subversive actions as teaching basic literacy skills, caring for refugees, and training community leaders. When they were murdered by the military, Madeleine Albright, then on the White House staff and the National Security Council, said that they might have been involved in gun-running for the guerrillas!

As we consider Mary and these other women who gave their lives for Jesus and his gospel, let us open ourselves to God’s call to us as ordinary women and men. May our faith be extraordinary as well. Advent blessings to you! 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.

If you're new to St. Robert's, we ask that you complete a registration form found in the vestibule of the church. Drop it either in the collection basket, the mail, or at the parish office. We will send you a New Parishioner Packet with information about the parish, its organizations and groups. If you chose, you can register online at: www.saintroberts.org.

SUNDAY COLLECTION

Thank you for your generous donation of $2,478.11 to our School, CCD and Confirmation Programs.

    
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.