St.

Helen Church
4106 Mountain St.
Beamsville, ON L0R 1B7
Ph: 905-562-7427
Fax: 905-563-0003
Email: office@sthelenscatholic.ca
Opened - October 2, 1938 Est. as a Parish - January 1, 1986
Pastor: Rev. Krzysztof Szczepanik Sunday Masses:
Office Administration: Aggie Agnino Saturday: 5:00pm
Sunday: 9:00am, 11:00am *
*(Children’s Liturgy of the Word)
Office hours:
Tuesday to Friday 9:00am - 3:00pm Weekday Masses:
Closed on Mondays and all Statutory holidays Tuesday: 6:30pm
Wednesday to Friday: 9:00am
Website: www.sthelenscatholic.ca 2nd Friday at Albright: 10:00am
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/sthelenscatholic 3rd Friday at Mennonite: 10:00am

Sacraments Catholic Funeral Rites: Anthony van Engelen

When a death occurs in your family,
Baptism: please call the Parish Office and we
1st & 3rd Sunday at 1:00 pm. will assist you in making the neces-
Call parish office. sary liturgical arrangements.
1st Communion & Confirmation Chronic Care Facilities:
Contact the Parish Office. Pastoral visits are made monthly.
Reception of Holy Communion is
Reconciliation: available to residence.
Every Saturday 4:00pm - 4:30pm or by
appointment with the priest. Homebound:
Notify the Parish Office when serious
Marriage: illness occurs. When the sick, aged or
Arrangements six months in advance. incapacitated are confined to home for
Marriage preparation is required. an extended time, pastoral visit can be
arranged.
RCIA & RCIC:
Contact the Parish Office.
Schools
Anointing of the Sick: St. Mark School
Please let us know when someone has Principal: Steven Ward
a serious or prolonged illness or is to
have surgery. This sacrament cele- St. Edward School
brates the healing of mind and body Principal: Carla Bianco
and the forgiveness of sins. Contacts
Music Ministry:
Kindly complete the following and place in the collection basket
☐ New Parishioner* MerryofChristmas!
☐ Change address
Joyeux Noel! Buon Natale! Khristos Razhdayetsya!
Name________________________ Phone_________________
Feliz Natal! Feliz Navidad Wesolych Swiat! Sretan Bozic! Frohe Weihnachten!
Address______________________________________________
Kala Christougena! Natale Hilare!
☐ I would like to use offertory envelopes*
cell/text 905-563-7067
Email adve1@yahoo.com
Ministry Scheduling & RFM:
Rachel Reid 905-941-4150
ministryschedul-
ing@sthelenscatholic.ca
Fundraising Events:
Joe Della Manna
josephdellamanna@yahoo.ca
Facility & Grounds Maintenance:
Craig Luey 905-988-6522
craig.luey@gmail.com
Catholic Women's League:
Colleen Drake 905-563-8981
Knights of Columbus:
Marcel VanRuyven 905-931-7556
mgvanruijven@gmail.com
☐ Moving
E-mail___________________
City_____________________
Postal Code______________
 Fourth Sunday of Advent - Year C
December 23rd, 2018
Mass Intentions
 December 24 to 30, 2018
As we gather, let us remember and pray for . . .
Monday ~ Christmas Eve Dec. 24th
5:00 pm + Maria da Gloria Pereira (by the Family)
11:00 pm Special Intention (by Antonella Boncori)
Tuesday ~ The Nativity of the Lord Dec. 25th
9:00 am For the People of St. Helen Parish
11:00 am + Steve Metelsky (by Metelsky Family)
Wednesday ~ St. Stephen, The First Martyr Dec. 26th
9:00 am + Albert Stanley Baradziej (by Baradziej Family)
Thursday ~ St. John, Apostle & Evangelist Dec. 27th
9:00 am Intn’s of Rosemary Daniels (by Shirley Brunet)
Friday ~ The Holy Innocents, Martyrs Dec. 28th
9:00 am + Carmela Basile (by Maria & Tony DeStefano)
Saturday ~ …………………………………... Dec. 29th
5:00 pm For the People of St. Helen Parish
Sunday ~ The Holy Family Dec. 30th
9:00 am + Guglielmo & Angela Ricci (by Ricci Family)
11:00 am + Pasquale Burgio (by Giuseppina Burgio)
+ Libero Palmieri (by Maria & Piera Palmieri)
MINISTRY FOR THE SICK AND HOMEBOUND
We are grateful to those who give of
their time and care to bring Holy Com-
munion to our parishioners who cannot
make it to church due to sickness or in-
firmity. If you know of anyone who
would like to receive communion in
their home or while hospitalized at West Lincoln Hos-
pital, please contact the parish office.
ARE YOU REGISTERED IN OUR PARISH?
If you are new to the parish or have been attending
Mass here, ensure that you are registered by complet-
ing the tear off section at the front of this bulletin.
Please do not take for granted that you are registered in
the parish, just because you attend Mass here. In the
future, should you be in need of a pastoral letter
(godparent, school, sponsor for confirmation, teacher
referral, etc.), it would be difficult to issue one if you
are not formally registered with the parish.
PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY
The Prayer Shawl Ministry continues
to create handcrafted shawls for pa-
rishioners, their families and friends
who are coping with illness, loneli-
ness, pain or trouble. During the
past year, we have distributed many
prayer shawls and lap blankets. The shawls are knitted
with compassion and prayerfulness. They are available
The week of Dec. 24 - 30, the Sanctuary Lamp
burns in memory of GIUSEPPE FABBRO
The Sanctuary Lamp burns to remind us of Christ’s
presence in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.
If you wish to sponsor the sanctuary lamp for one
week the stipend is $35.00
Stewardship of Treasure
December 16, 2018 ~ Offertory (158) $2,933.25
Loose 279.85
Building Fund (51) 2,440.00
“May God bless you for your faithful stewardship!”
to anyone who needs one. Please call the office to re-
quest a shawl or lap blanket or if you would like to join
this ministry. We meet monthly and welcome new
members.
CWL News
The CWL meeting on Jan 1st is cancelled. Next meet-
ing will be the 1st Tuesday in February (5th) following
the 6:30 p.m. Mass. All ladies of the parish are wel-
come and bring a friend.
OFFERTORY ENVELOPES
Please pick up your 2019 Offertory envelopes are care-
fully check the label notifying the office of any errors
or changes. Please wait until January to use the new
box of envelopes.
CHRISTMAS MASS SCHEDULE 2018
Mass times:
Dec. 24 - Christmas Eve - 5:00 p.m. (children’s Mass), 11:00p.m.
Dec. 25 - Christmas Day - 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
Jan. 1 - New Year’s Day - 10:00 a.m.
ANNUAL OFFENCE DECLARATIONS
If you were asked to sign a declaration for this year and
have done so, we thank you. Anyone still needing to
sign their declaration is to do so by January 15th.
Forms can found in the vestibule or sacristy. Please re-
turn your signed form to the office to keep your status
current.
CHILDREN’S
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT
All children are welcome to
participate in the dramati-
zation of the Gospel at the
Children's Christmas Eve
Mass, December 24th at 5:00 p.m. Those wishing to
be angels, please wear white shirts. Those wishing to be
shepherds, please wear bathrobes with towels. Please
arrive by 4:20 p.m. to prepare.
 PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS
Hope of a ruler and shepherd who will “be peace”.
(Micah)
Jesus offered himself to do God’s will. (Hebrews)
Elizabeth acknowledges Jesus in Mary’s visita-
tion.” (Luke)
When the angel Gabriel encoun-
tered Mary, perhaps during her
evening walk, he told her of God’s
plan to birth the “Son of the Most
High” into life through her body. It
was an incomprehensible request of
preposterous proportion. Mary
could have said “no,” but instead, she said “May it be
done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).Three
months later, Mary’s cousin Elizabeth said to her:
“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to
you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
In our lives, God speaks to us and we know what he
asks of us. May our response be the same as Mary’s
so that the purpose of our lives could also be fulfilled.
Deacon Dick Folger
4th WEEK OF ADVENT
The whole purpose of these Advent reflections pages has been to
help us find intimacy with God in the midst of our everyday
lives. So we have focused on using the background times of our
days to create an interior atmosphere that allows us to wait, to
hope, to come into contact with our longing and our desire.
The length of the Fourth Week of Advent depends on
when Christmas Eve and Christmas fall in the week.
Perhaps we can use these days to try to heighten our
awareness of whatever is going on in our lives these
days, and how that can bring us to Christmas. Some
examples might help.
So many of us experience the ironic reality that
Christmas can be the most lonely time of our
lives. Some of these “mixed feelings” or “sad feelings”
are difficult to recognize or name.
For some of us, the Christmas we will celebrate this
year pales in comparison to wonderful Christmases of
our past - perhaps because we were younger or more
“innocent” then, perhaps because some of our loved
ones who were central to our Christmas are no longer
living or not where I am, perhaps because the burdens
and struggles of my life or the changes in our world
and the conflicts around us have robbed this Christmas
of something that was there before.
For some of us, Christmas will be just another
day. Unable to get out to go to church to be with a
faith community, and without family or friends to be
with, Christmas will be a day we are tempted to ignore.
For some of us, Christmas inevitably means family
conflicts. Facing the days ahead, whether it be the last
few remaining parties, or conflicting demands of fami-
ly and friends, or the friend or relative who drinks too
much, or the experience I'm having that I drink too
much and this season is an easy excuse.
For some of us, Christmas challenges us with terrible
financial burdens. Children today become victims of
the gross commercial exploitation of the day. For those
of us struggling to make ends meet on a day to day ba-
sis, feeling the cultural pressure of buying for our chil-
dren things which we can't afford, can lead us to put
more debt on the credit card in ways that simply push
us further and further behind.
Some of us, might be really looking forward to
Christmas, and not be aware of these struggles with
Christmas, yet feel that, in spite of our best efforts to
make Advent different this year, there is still something
missing, and we still feel unready for Christmas.
For all of us, the story behind these days can draw us
in, and invite us to bring our lives to the mystery of
how Jesus came into this world and why. Our best
preparation for the Holy Night ahead and the Joyful
Morning to follow is for us to reflect upon how he
came. He came in the midst of scandal and con-
flict. He came in poverty. He was rejected before he
was born. He was born in a feed trough. He was hunt-
ed down. And he grew up in obscurity.
He did not shun our world and its poverty and con-
flict. He embraced it. And he desires to embrace us to-
day, in this day. Right where we are. Right where we
are feeling most distant. Right were we are feeling
least “religious” or “ready.” If we let him come into
our hearts to be our Savior these challenging days, we
will find ourselves entering the sacred night and morn-
ing of Christmas “joyful and triumphant” as never be-
fore.
Come, Lord Jesus. Come and visit your people.
We await your coming. Come, O Lord.
CHRISTMAS IS A SEASON, NOT SIMPLY ONE DAY
While so many of our cultures only celebrate the build-
up to Christmas, as a faith community we celebrate
Christmas for the next several weeks. And, there is
much to celebrate here, much to enter into more deeply.
Too often, the days before Christmas are too busy to
enter into the meaning of this feast or to reflect on the
daily scriptures and the graces that are offered us, in
our concrete life circumstances. This first week is a
time for us to enter into the stories of special saints who
are associated with the Birth of our Lord because of
their innocence: our first martyr and the Disciple Jesus
loved. Next week, we return to stories of Jesus' life and
ministry.
1 WEEK TO REACH THIS YEAR’S CHALLENGE!
All Christmas donations re-
ceived in the special Christ-
mas Basement Kitchen Cam-
paign Envelope to a maximum
of $10,000 will be matched by
a benefactor. With your kind support, we hope to com-
plete the kitchen and purchasing some smaller appli-
ances and dishware, glassware, dishwasher racking,
trolleys etc. Envelopes can be found in the pews.