OUR MINISTRY OF PRAYER

Please remember in prayer the intentions written in our Book of Prayer located in each Church and the Parish Center entrance area. We also remember those persons who have requested prayers through the prayer chain.

Also, please remember the following parishioners in prayer: Francis Bittle, Dorothy Burkard, Dick Cool, Margaret Cornejo, Winnie Dillon, Denise Ferguson, Joan Fink, Darrell Fitzgerald, Ethel Fitzgerald, Doris Glass, Cole Hahn, Peggy Kauffman, Dick Lee, Anna Little, Jeanette Massena, Rosemary McDermott, Dolores Munafo, Tony Newman , Francis Ott, Leslie Persse, Rita Priest, Charles Putman, Mary Reckley, Elfriede Ridenour, Lilly Shumaker, Margaret Smith, Mildred Smith, Robert Smith, Fr. Leo Tittler, Maddie Toth and James Wivell, Sr.

FOR PRAYER REQUESTS

please call the Parish Office at (301) 447-2367 or Linda McCauley at (301) 271-7561.

NEW EMERGENCY NUMBER for our PARISHES

If the parish office is closed and you have an emergency that requires you to contact someone immediately, please call Barbara at (301) 875-4957.

SNOW POLICY for WEEKDAY MASSES

If schools are late or closed due to inclement weather, there will not be daily Mass that day.

THANK YOU!

A special thanks to all who made our Advent and Christmas seasons a wonderful experience:

• Denise Thompson and all the parents and children involved in the Christmas pageant
• Gail Bunyan and all the folks who participated in the Live Nativity, especially the Bosteks for bringing Maybelle, the donkey and the 2 sheep
• All those who worked in the kitchen for the pot luck supper/cookies & hot chocolate
• Everyone who decorated our worship spaces for Advent and Christmas
• All the liturgical ministers who made our celebrations joyous
• All those who attended and enjoyed all of the activities during these seasons

We hope all these events helped to enhance your experience of preparing for and celebrating the Incarnation.

BLOOD DRIVE

Our next Blood Drive will be held on Monday, January 26, in Our Lady of Mt. Carmel’s Parish Center from 2:00-8:00 pm. Call Terri Allen at (301) 271-7872 to make an appointment. Walk-ins are also welcome.

HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH MINISTRY EVENTS

• Jan 31  Bingo at Edenton Retirement Community.  Leave OLMC at 12 noon and return at 3 pm.  RSVP to Lori Carter (301) 271-4050 by 1/25/09.
• Feb 1  Youth Mass & HSYM Meeting - 11 am OLMC.  Celebrate Mass with your friends and join us for a High School Youth Ministry Meeting following Mass until 1:30 pm.  Food, fun and friends! 
• Feb 13-15 Be A Rockstar-Mount 2009! Be a part of this great eucharistic prayer festival right in our own backyard! Speakers include Father Scott Courtney and Chris Padgett. Music by The Matt Maher Band. Check it out at www.mount2009.com.

Registration & payment due to Lori Carter (301-271-4050) by January 11, 2009.

YOUTH MINISTRY MUSIC PRACTICES

for students in grades 6 – 12 are held Sunday evenings 6:30 - 8:00 pm in the OLMC Parish Center. Upcoming practices are scheduled for:  January 11 (liturgy meeting), 18, 25, February 15 & 22, March 22 & 29. A Pizza social will follow the practices.

SMAC YOUTH MINISTRY NEWS

All 6th, 7th and 8th grade parishioners are invited to the next SMAC meeting on Friday, January 16th from 7:15 to 8:45 pm in the old Schoolhouse at St. Anthony’s. Don’t miss the fun, food and friends! For information call Mike Miller at (301) 271-9871.

SMAC! CALENDAR of EVENTS

• Jan 16 – SMAC Meeting – 7:15 pm SASH

CHOIR REHEARSALS BEGIN

Choir practices will begin on Thursday, January 8, at 6:30 pm in St. Anthony’s Choir Loft. Newcomers and current members are welcome.

CASH BASH
Saturday, February 14, 3 – 8 pm
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish Center
4 Drawing per Hour
1st drawing $400
2nd drawing $300
3rd drawing $200
4th drawing $100
8:00 pm Grand Prize $3,000
(based on the 3-Digit MD Lottery)
You need not be present to win

Also available:
Games of chance & Tip jars
Music by the Backroads
Tickets: $25 per person
(includes food & refreshments)
Only one person admitted per ticket.
No tickets will be sold at the door.

Tickets are on sale at the parishes’ office (located at St. Anthony’s) for $25. Either stop in the office or give us a call at (301) 447-2367.   We need people to help sell tickets. Please call the office (301) 447-2367 if you are able to take a packet of 5 to sell or if you would be willing to sell tickets after the weekend Masses. Thanks we need your help to make this benefit a success for our parishes.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

• Jan 6 – Bring Your Own Craft – 1 pm SASH
• Jan 19 – Finance Committee Mtg. – 7 pm SAS
• Jan 20 – Pastoral Council Mtg. – 7 pm OLMC
• Jan 24 – Reg. Social Justice Mtg.– 9am OLMC
• Jan 26 – Blood Drive – 2 pm OLMC

PEACE & SOCIAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE - an education and action ministry

To volunteer or participate in any activities, please contact Deacon John Hawkins at (301) 271-2194 or JHawkins@archbalt.org.

“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” John 15:12

* * * * * * *

FROM BARBARA . . .

This week’s gospel helps to continue the theme from last week – how do you recognize Jesus? Even people from far off places gathered to pay homage to this child, Jesus. They brought him gifts that signified his royalty, his divinity, and the suffering he would endure. Do we take the time to recognize how we are connected to God through Jesus’ royalty, divinity and suffering? When we were baptized the priest baptized us as “priest, prophet, and king.” God has given us so much. How do we use the gifts God has given us and do we use them for good? Take time this week to recognize your gifts and how you use them.

Thanks to all the people who made our Christmas celebrations such a wonderful experience. The music, the decorations, and the liturgical ministers helped us to prayerfully and joyfully celebrate the Incarnation. The Christmas pageant and the live Nativity helped to recognize the many ways we have to come together as a faith community. It takes many people to pull all these opportunities together and we greatly appreciate all of you.

Our Confirmation Candidates will be taking the next step in their preparation this weekend at the 11:00 Mass. They will be signing a covenant expressing their individual desire to continue to prepare to receive the sacrament. Please keep them in your prayers as they make this commitment.

May God continue to bless us all.

* * * * * * *

EMMITSBURG BLOOD DRIVE
Thursday, January 8, 2:00 – 8:00 pm
Emmitsburg Ambulance Building
Walk-ins welcome.
For more information, call
Bob Dinterman at (301) 447-2465

MOTHER SETON SCHOOL UPCOMING EVENTS

• Tuesday, January 13 - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Feast Day Mass, Basilica on South Seton Avenue, 10 am, MSS Class of 1959 - Honored Guests
• Wednesday, January 14 - Open House - 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
• Weekly - January 14 - March 4 - Strengthening Families Program Sponsored by MSS & Frederick County Mental Health Assn. 6:00 - 8:30 pm. Includes light dinner, child care, gift cards & door prizes.  Registration Required.
• Sunday, January 25 - Open House 1:00 - 3:00 pm, Info Meeting at 1:00 pm Followed by Tours, Spaghetti Dinner 12:00 - 5:00 pm
• Tuesday, January 27 - Young Author Program 10:00 am & 7:00 pm (more details later)
• Wednesday, January 28 - Open House 10:00 - 1:30 pm

Please Join Us 100 Creamery Road, Emmitsburg, Maryland.  301.447.3161 or 301.447.3165 www.mothersetonschool.org.  Schools tours arranged at a convenient time for you.

WORLD MARRIAGE DAY MASS

All married couples are cordially invited to join Archbishop Edwin O’Brien for the special World Marriage Day Mass and Reception at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, February 8, 3:00 pm. The Mass will be bilingual and interpreted for the deaf.

SEEKING OUR LONGEST MARRIED COUPLE

Our parishes are participating in Worldwide Marriage Encounter’s search for the longest married couple in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. One nominee from each parish will be honored during a special Mass celebrated by Archbishop Edwin O’Brien. Please report the names, address, wedding date, and phone number of your candidate couple, married at least 50 years, to the parish office no later than January 18. The parish will inform the longest married couple that they have been chosen, and the longest married from each parish will receive a follow-up call from the World Marriage Day committee, inquiring whether or not they plan to attend the Mass on February 8 at the Cathedral. All longest married will receive a certificate from WWME.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

There will be a special Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday event held at the Provincial House (come to the Provincial House Lobby) on Monday, January 19th from 1:00 to 2:30 pm.   This will be a time of listening to the stories of Emmitsburg's African American Heritage, as slaves and free blacks made their way to Freedom on The Freedom Trail.  Some stories are tragic, others are heroic as the African Americans who lived here, worked here or passed this way were on the road to Freedom.  This event was put together by the "Friends of Dr. King."  For more information, contact Rev. Jon Greenstone jsgreenstone@verizon.net (301) 447-6239.

DELONE CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL

A placement test has been scheduled for those 8th grade students who are interested in attending Delone Catholic High School for the 2009-2010 school year. The test will be administered on Saturday, January 17, from 8:00 am to 1:15 pm at the school, 140 S. Oxford Avenue, McSherrystown, PA. For additional information regarding the tests, please contact Sr. Maria Jude, CSJ at Delone Catholic High School at (717) 637-5969. All 8th grade applicants to DCH must take this test.

***MAKE-UP***
HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT TEST (HSPT)
Saint John’s Catholic Prep
Saturday, January 10, 2009
8:300 am Registration / 9:00 am Testing
$30 Testing Fee

Saint John’s Catholic Prep is a Catholic, coeducational college preparatory high school located at 889 Butterfly Lane in Frederick, MD. Students currently enrolled in an Archdiocese of Washington school take the high school placement test at their middle school. Students do not need to take both tests. All other interested 8th grade students are required to take this placement test. Visit Saint John’s online at www.saintjohnsprep.org or call the school at (301) 662-4210.

CATHOLICS RETURNING HOME

St. Joseph’s Church in Emmitsburg will offer a six-week series entitled “Catholics Returning Home” beginning Sunday, January 11 from 1:15 – 2:45 pm at St. Joseph’s Parish Hall, 47 DePaul Street. The sessions are for non-practicing Catholics who are seeking answers to questions about returning to the Church. If you know someone who has left the Church, please invite them to join us. For information, contact Colleen Garrett (301) 845-4753 or colleen-garrett@erols.com