Bulletin_20171217

Saint Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church
600 South Main Street, Atmore, Alabama 36502
Rectory: (251) 368-3615 Office/Fax: (251) 368-1801
E-Mail: strobertparish@frontiernet.net
Reverend Arulappan Jayaraj, Pastor (251-229-5071)
Reverend Charles Hirudhayam, Parochial Vicar (251-253-7921)
Third Sunday of Advent
December 17, 2017

WEEKEND:
Saturday:
Vigil Mass…………………………..5:00 PM
Sunday:
Mass………………………………...9:00 AM
CCD (Sep—May)…………………10:15 AM
Hispanic Mass (1st Sun)…...……11:00 AM
Church Schedule
WEEKDAY:
Monday: Mass……………………4:30 PM
Tuesday: Mass………………….. 4:30 PM
Wednesday: No Mass
Thursday: Mass……………...…..4:30 PM
Friday: Mass……………………...4:30 PM
First Friday Exception
Mass………………………………..5:00 PM
Adoration follows Mass
Reconciliation: 15 minutes before Saturday and Sunday Mass or by appointment
Sacrament of Baptism: Requires one month prior notification
Marriage: Requires a six-month notice in advance of the marriage date
Hispanic Mass
Sunday, January 7th, 11:00 AM
Parish Meetings
Parish Council—Friday, January 5th, 10:00 AM
Parish Women’s Group—Wednesday, January 24th, 4:00 PM
Stewardship
LAST WEEKEND’S COLLECTION
Regular Collection $2091.26
Building Fund $65.00
Candles $2.00
Christmas Flowers $212.00
Retired Religious $251.00
Special Collections
Building Fund—January 6th / 7th

News and Announcements
Christmas / New
Year Mass Schedule
Advent Penance Service
Tuesday, December 19th, 6:00 PM
Christmas Eve, Sunday, December 24th
Regular Sunday Mass: 9:00 AM
Children’s (Vigil Mass): 5:00 PM
Midnight Mass: 12:00 AM
Christmas Day, Monday, December 25th
Christmas Mass: 10:00 AM
New Year’s Eve, Sunday, December 31st
Regular Sunday Mass: 9:00 AM
New Year’s Day, Monday, January 1st
New Year’s Mass: 12:00 PM
Please sign up on the sheet at the back of
the church.
Parish Council: Our next Parish Council
meeting will be Friday, January 5th at
10:00 AM. Please mark your calendars
and let’s get the new year off to a good
start.
Parish Women’s Group: There will be no
meeting of the group this month
(December). Our next meeting will be
Wednesday, January 24th at 4:00 PM.
Have a happy and blessed Christmas.
December CCD Schedule:
- 17th: CCD Class
- 24th: No CCD Class (Christmas Eve)
- 31st: No CCD Class (Christmas & New
Years Eve)
CCD Children’s Christmas Party: Our
CCD Christmas party will be held Sunday,
December 17th in Boland Hall.
Advent Penance Service: Mark your calendars
now! Our parish Advent Penance
Service will be Tuesday, December 19th
at 6:00 PM. Spend some time examining
your conscience before the service, then
come and unburden your soul of sin and
reconcile yourself with our Lord. Receive
God’s forgiveness and absolution from
your sins so you can move forward effortlessly
through the remainder of the season
of Advent and welcome the Christ child at
Christmas.
Help Needed: We need people to volunteer
to help decorate the church interior for
Christmas. Help will be needed Friday and
Saturday, December 22nd and 23rd.

Third Sunday of Advent
"Rejoice: the Lord is nigh." As Christmas draws
near, the Church emphasizes the joy which
should be in our hearts over all that the birth of
our Savior means for us. The great joy of Christians
is to see the day drawing nigh when the
Lord will come again in His glory to lead them
into His kingdom. The oft-repeated Veni
("Come") of Advent is an echo not only of the
prophets but also of the conclusion of the Apocalypse
of St. John: "Come, Lord Jesus," the last
words of the New Testament.
Today is known as Gaudete Sunday. The term
Gaudete refers to the first word of the Entrance
Antiphon, "Rejoice". Rose vestments are worn
to emphasize our joy that Christmas is near, and
we also light the rose candle on our Advent
wreath.
December 17th marks the beginning of the O
Antiphons, the seven jewels of our liturgy, dating
back to the fourth century, one for each day until
Christmas Eve. These antiphons address Christ
with seven magnificent Messianic titles, based
on the Old Testament prophecies and types of
Christ. The Church recalls the variety of the ills
of man before the coming of the Redeemer. See
O Come! The O Antiphons and Rejoice the Lord
is Near! for more information on the O Antiphons
by Jennifer Gregory Miller.
The Week Ahead
Monday
Mass: 4:30 PM
Tuesday
Mass: 4:30 PM
“The Mass Readings Explained”:
5:00 PM
Advent Penance Service: 6:00 PM
Wednesday
No Mass
Thursday
St. Peter Canisius, Priest &
Doctor of the Church
Mass: 4:30 PM
“Knit Pickers”: 6:30 PM
Friday
Mass: 4:30 PM
Saturday
St. John of Kanty, Priest
Vigil Mass: 5:00 PM
Sunday
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Community Rosary: 8:30 AM
Mass: 9:00 AM
Christ Even Now on the Way to Bethlehem
Evidently, in the mind of holy Church, neither the
prophecy concerning Bethlehem Ephrata nor its
fulfillment in the day of Caesar Augustus is to be
considered merely a glorious divine disposition
and achievement. No, the prophecy of Micheus
is still being verified every day, but predominantly
during the annual Advent season; for the self-

same incarnate eternal Son of God who journeyed to Bethlehem to be born there physically,
now to the end of time comes to human souls as to spiritual Bethlehems, there to
be born anew, again and again.
But be sure to picture these merciful spiritual journeyings of Christ to the Bethlehem of
souls as all too often sadly realistic spiritual repetitions of His first long journey over the
rugged road from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Meditate long on the wanton and malicious
opposition He encounters on His way to them from souls that leave their senses and
heart and mind to be ruled by earthly vanities, and their whole selves to be willing victims
of the sensual and selfish illusions and witcheries of the seven capital vices.
Can you still fail to see why Isaias and the Baptist compare the hardships of the way of
the world's Messiah-King to souls with a rough, crooked, and almost impassable road
up steep hills and down precipitous valleys and through dangerous mountain passes?
Do you wonder that these prophets of His coming insist so strongly that merely sentimental
longings and routine prayers, however multiplied, cannot prepare us worthily for
the entrance He must expect and the welcome He craves?
Pray very honestly, therefore, that you may begin to see the practical reasons for the
Church's crying out in the desert world, and even into your own interior soul and heart:
"Prepare ye the way of the Lord: Make straight in the wilderness His paths; Every valley
shall be exalted; Every mountain and hill shall be made low; And the crooked shall be
made straight; And the rough ways plain" (Is. 40:3, 4). Then shall you see the salvation
of God!
—Excerpted from Our Way to the Father by Rev. Leo M. Krenz, S.J
(From www.catholicculture.org (Trinity Communications))

Mass Intentions
Sunday, December 17th:
St. Robert Parishioners
Monday, December 18th:
Special Intention
Tuesday, December 19th:
Special Intention
Wednesday, December 20th:
No Mass
Thursday, December 21st:
Special Intention
Friday, December 22nd:
Special Intention
Saturday, December 23rd:
Special Intention
If you are interested in having a Mass offered up for
a special intention or for a deceased person, contact
Father Jayaraj. The suggested stipend is $10.00.
Voices of the Church
“Advent is concerned with the very
connection between memory and hope
which is so necessary to us. Advent’s
intention is to awaken the most profound
and basic emotional memory; it
brings hope. The purpose of the
Church’s year is continually to rehearse
her great history of memories,
to awaken the heart’s memory so that
it can discern the star of hope...It is
the beautiful task of Advent to awaken
in all of us memories of goodness
and thus to open doors of hope.”
Prayer Requests
General Intentions
Blessed Virgin’s Intentions, Pope
Emeritus Benedict XVI, Pope
Francis I, Archbishop Rodi, Father Jayaraj,
Father Milsted, Father Charles, Father Mesa,
Priests of the Archdiocese, Bonnie Latino,
Tim DiVincenti, Curt Beck, Gene Santarelli,
Brigitte Crenshaw, Richard and Mary Powers,
Bob Vale, Persecuted Christians, Ken & Maria
Engleson, The USA, Susan & Carl Bowen,
Ron & Blinda Smith, Catherine Lambert, Mary
McPherson, Ray & Joyce Bolden, President
Donald J. Trump & Family, Betty Chaloux,
Jan LeCoque, Ronnie Vega, Frank Dukes,
Angie Schell, Maria Ewing, Michelle McKinley,
The Stephens Family, Lois Smith & Family,
Maggie Richardson, Burton Roton, Margaret
Twilley, Lawrence Quinn, Barry Labatut, Emily
Moates & Family, William Stanhope, Paul
Peck, Todd Vickery, Clyde & Iva Burkett,
Amanda Mott, Mazie Burkett, Jerry & Jean
Searcy, Sherry Lucas, Dianne Kent, Susan
Barrow, Mary Dellis, Mary Lee LeCocq and
Theresa Scott.
Our Military Family
Brock Houghton (USMC), Zachary Gooddwin
(USAF), Dan Markush (USAF), Scott Stanford
(USN), Andrew Markush (USN), Will Markush
(USN), Joshua Wilson (USAF) and Anthony
Berneche (USN).
Repose of Souls
Tim Casson, Cecelia Echavez, Sesenia
Lebumfacil and Paul Crenshaw..
--Pope Benedict XVI