“…We Have To Do Our Part…”

…”Brothers and sisters: I pray always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” The letter to the Philippians on this Second Sunday of Advent speaks powerfully to our parish community. Saint Paul confidently proclaims that God will bless our efforts and work for the Lord and…bring it to completion. It’s a partnership – us and God – better said, God and us…working as partners to build a better world for all of God’s people. And, God will take our efforts, bless them, and complete them. We have to do our part – and God will do the rest.

…You are amazing partners with the Lord in caring for our brothers and sisters this Christmas. It was humbling to see the Advent giving trees pretty much picked clean last weekend after Masses. God bless you for all you do for those in need. There are a few more tags on the trees representing a few additional families that have been ‘adopted’ by the care and compassion of our community. God bless you partners with the Lord.

…Many thanks to all who responded last week to our request for some help cleaning the Church. Given the construction and the need to clean the Church for the weekend, many hands are greatly appreciated. If you can offer a few hours any time over the next few weeks, send me an email and we will let you know when we are cleaning between now and Christmas. Thank you so much.

…All the pews need to come out of the Church on Wednesday, December 26. We need your help. We are trying to do this ourselves instead of paying the contractors $20,000 for the work. If you can (even a little), send me an email (frbob@StAmbrose.us) and we will get you time and all the details. BTW….you are welcome to take your favorite pew home with you!! We are partners in renewing the house of God.

…This coming week, all of Littlest Angels Preschool Families will be gathering to see their children and grandchildren in their Christmas concert. They will also be the first to see the renderings and floor plan for the new building that will be built across the street to create a new home for our thriving preschool program. Our parish is NOT building the new facility or paying for the building, rather we will pay a modest rent which will allow our preschool to grow and respond to the needs of our families. The other exciting news is that this new facility will have a complete sport court/gym that can be rented by our parish for CYO games and other sport events. As many know, we are always out of gym time. This new facility will help serve our parish community and our region. We are blessed to have a strong partnership with the developers which will be a great blessing for our parish. The property will be cleared next week and the houses demolished in anticipation of starting construction in early spring.

…Next week you will see the trees removed from the front of our parish (by Pearl Road). Painfully, we are cutting these trees down because they are splitting and dying. Last year’s snow broke branches on cars. We will eventually re-landscape the area.

…Speaking of trees….have you taken the time to view the Christmas Trees inside the Church. They are loaded with ANGEL ornaments from so many families in our parish community. We have collected them for the past ten years….representing hundreds of our families. They are simply beautiful, and even more a beautiful, a representation of the goodness of our community — our parish family – made up of so many who do the work of the Lord – like angels! There’s always room for your family ornament on the trees.

…Last weekend’s Breakfast with Saint Ambrose and Saint Nick was a great event…truly wonderful for about 600 of our members. This Saturday, December 8, our music ministry is setting the tone for the season by a wonderful Advent/Christmas concert. Please join us at 7:00 pm in the Church. Next Sunday is our Living Nativity….with live animals and a wonderful presentation of the Birth of our Savior. It’s a perfect moment to help your children and grandchildren remember the reason for the season.

…Next Saturday afternoon is all about partnerships…..working together to make lots and lots of Christmas cookies…to share best recipes and techniques….and bring all the generations together for a fun afternoon of Cookie Making. See the bulletin for details.

…This past week one of our long-time members left a lasting gift to our parish community by remembering Saint Ambrose (our parish) in her WILL. We received a generous gift to our parish building fund that will help us renew and repair our Church. Please remember Rose McNulty who is now with the angels, in your prayers. May her goodness inspire all of us to leave a gift to our parish family.

…Please remember to invite your family and friends to join us for the Christmas concert and Living Nativity. They are wonderful ways to share the joy of the season and the goodness of our parish community.

…Thank you for your continued support for our parish community. Together we are doing great good for the Lord and our community. In this season of gift giving, please consider a generous gift to our parish community this Christmas. We are partners with the Lord. God will bless all of our offerings and efforts.

…Please join us on Tuesday evening for our Communal Penance at 7:00 pm. There will be several priests available for reconciliation. We will also have priests available for Reconciliation on Friday afternoon at 1 pm. Come experience the peace and mercy of the Lord.

…Check out the display board with the selections for the Church (colors, carpet, etc.) in the Parish Life Center. It’s all coming together….Praise be God.

…May these days of Advent be filled with God’s peace. We are partners with the Lord. As we walk with God, God walks with us!

P.S. Thank you for the GREAT collection. It really helps us ‘catch up’ and also have the resources we need for our community. God bless you.