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33rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
November 17, 2024 |
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of cosmic signs and the coming of the Son of Man, reminding us of the fleeting nature of things. While His words can seem unsettling, they carry a message of hope: Our consolation and hope is found in the lasting nature of Jesus’ words and God’s never-ending love for us. On this World Day of the Poor, we reflect on the theme, “The prayer of the poor rises up to God” (Sir 21:5). The cries of the poor do not go unheard; God listens attentively and calls each of us to be instruments of His response. As we lift the poor through our prayers and works of mercy, we reflect the unwavering love of God, who cares for every person.
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Eucharistic Adoration
In preparation for the 2025 Jubilee Year 'Pilgrims of Hope,' 2024 has been designated a Year of  Prayer. The Holy Father explained that the Year of Prayer is dedicated “to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer, prayer in personal life, in the life of the Church, prayer in the world.”
As we celebrate this "Year of Prayer," we invite you to join us for a sacred and prayerful hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament on Wednesday, November 27th at 7:00pm. Let us come together in prayer and prepare ourselves spiritually for the joys of Advent and the blessings of the Jubilee Year. This hour of Eucharistic Adoration will offer a space for personal prayer, reflection on the scriptures, and connecting with the Lord through song and silence.
“The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
is the best time that you will spend on earth….” St. Teresa of Calcutta
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Thank you Dahlia!
 For the past 20 years, Dahlia Brannigan has been serving as our Youth & Family Ministry Coordinator here at St. Kevin’s. She has helped lead countless youth events, including the Autumn Hike, Christmas Crafts & Caroling, Edge, School & Sacramental Retreats, Ignite, FIAT Youth & Family Masses, many other social and spiritual gatherings, and the exceptionally popular Vacation Bible School. She has facilitated faith formation for so many children and has witnessed them grow into young adults. At this time, we will still be able to enjoy Dahlia’s beautiful voice as a cantor at our Masses and see her as a fellow Parishioner, but she is stepping down from her position in Youth Ministry. On behalf of the Parish, we extend our sincerest gratitude to her for all that she has done and for her commitment to the young people of the Parish. Thank you so much Dahlia!
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Culture of Life Ministry Christmas Card Sales 
Christmas Cards will be sold in the foyer after each of the Masses on the weekend of November 23rd/24th. All funds generated support women and preborn children in need through the parish Culture of Life Ministry. Packages of 10 elegant cards for only $10. Cash only please. Last year we sold out!!
Thank you for your generosity and for supporting a Culture for LIFE!!
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Tours of The Hope Centre
 The St. Kevin Parish Social Justice Committee is organizing tours of The Hope Centre for our parishioners. There will be three options to visit the centre: Tuesday, November 26th at 9:45am; Wednesday, November 27th at 3:00pm; and Thursday, November 28th at 9:45am. If you have always wanted to walk through The Hope Centre and get a better sense of all that they do for our community, please consider signing up to take a tour. The Social Justice Committee will be at a table in the foyer on the weekends of November 16th/17th and November 23rd/24th for you to sign-up. We hope you will join us!
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Holy Name Society - Stations of the Cross 
The Holy Name Society invites parishioners to join them in praying the Stations of the Cross for the Holy Souls in Purgatory on Friday, November 22nd at 7:00pm in the Church. All are welcome.
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Catholic Women’s League News 
APPLE STRUDEL: The CWL will be taking orders for frozen APPLE strudels (baking instructions included) before and after masses this weekend and next - November 23/24. They are $20 each and you can bake them either from frozen or thawed. Pick ups will be on Saturday, December 7th from 4:30-6:00pm OR Sunday, December 8th from 8:30am-12:30pm in the foyer of the church. Call Lorrie at 905-734-4828 or email lmack@cogeco.ca to place your order. And remember, “If you bake it, they will come.”
Tri-Council Christmas Dinner: Once again, we will be celebrating with our sisters in the league from St. Andrew and St. Mary parishes. Join us at Swiss Chalet on Thursday, December 5th at 5:30pm. Enjoy the festive special, salad, dessert, tea or coffee all for $30 (taxes and tip included). Spaces are limited so call Phyllis at 905-788-0368 to reserve your spot. We are also asking you to bring a donation of a warm winter item – hat, mitts, scarf – as part of our initiative to help the unhoused stay warm this winter.
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Sunday Missals, Calendars, and Parish Envelopes
Sunday Missals for 2024-2025 are on sale from the Parish Office for $5. They will be on sale in the foyer at all Masses this weekend.
2025 Religious Calendars, provided by J.J. Patterson & Sons Funeral Residence are available for a donation of $1. All donations go to our Share Advent Fund to help those in need in our community.
Parish Donation Envelopes for 2025 will be available in the foyer for pick-up on the weekend of November 30th/December 1st. They will be sorted by alphabetical order and please be sure to pick up yours. Please do not use them until next year. If you are new to the parish and would like donation envelopes for next year, please take one of the unassigned boxes and please wait to use it until 2025. For those who are new but would like to donate this year, please simply use a blank envelope but be sure to include your name and address on it.
We thank you for your support.
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Please remember the Poor Box as you leave the Church.
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Worth Repeating
The items below you may have seen before but remain here if seasonally important information
or
General information that people need to review from time to time.
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Housekeeping Reminders
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Please place hymn books neatly back in their spots. Please be sure to dispose of tissues, wrappers, or other debris when leaving. And don’t forget your bulletin. Please do not leave behind daily Missalettes at the end of the month – simply recycle them.
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When entering the parking lot please do so from Niagara Street and exit via Northcote. Please drive slowly in our parking lot as well. If you are parking on the side streets for Mass, please be respectful of road signs and driveways. Please be sure to lock your car doors when you come for Mass or any other function.
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Please also be very careful with perfumes and colognes. Some parishioners tend to go very heavy with these and it can be difficult for fellow parishioners with allergies or breathing troubles. We have had many parishioners come to us about this requesting that we ask people to not wear scents. Please refrain or use the tiniest amount possible.
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For those who place loose bills or coins in the collection – we would like to give you proper credit for income tax purposes. Please consider using our Visitor envelopes or asking Father/our Staff for a box of envelopes.
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The Vineyard, the Diocese of St. Catharines journal has gone digital.
It can be viewed at http://saintcd.com/diocesan-directory/the-vineyard
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Safety Reminder
We wish to remind Parishioners to please lock car doors when attending Mass and please do not leave valuables in vehicles, in the parking lot or on the street. Thank you.
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Catholic Marriage Tribunal
If you are considering remarriage in the Catholic Church at some point, or hoping to enter a marriage with someone previously married, please speak to a priest, or contact the Diocesan Catholic Marriage Tribunal in St. Catharines at 905-687-8817. Information Pamphlets are available through the parish.
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PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Due to the privacy laws, the hospital does not list our parishioners by address or parish unless you state your religion as ST. KEVIN PARISH when you are admitted. It would help the parish visiting team if when the hospital asks religion – you respond ST. KEVIN'S PARISH. If you or a family member enter a hospital for several days please be sure to call the parish office to let us know if you wish a visit. If you wish the Anointing of the Sick before an operation, either at home or while in the hospital, be sure to inform the parish office. A priest will come as soon as possible to administer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. We also have a group of lay people from our parish who each week visit or bring communion to Catholic parishioners in the hospital. Please, we need to know that you are there!
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A Review of Some Parish Policies
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Requests: We often receive requests for baptism or marriage, or Pastoral References for teachers, who are not members of St. Kevin's Parish. Examples would be: They might like our church and so want to get married here although they live elsewhere. Or: they were baptized here and so they would like their child to be baptized here although they live elsewhere. Or: I went to Notre Dame College School. The main point here is "they live elsewhere". Now – wherever elsewhere might be, there is a Catholic parish there. Our policy is to minister to the parishioners of St. Kevin's. We have more than 3400 families; there is a lot of ministry work for us to do here. Our focus and attention is first and foremost on our own parishioners.
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Parishioners should be registered: And here it is important to remember – that all of our parishioners should be registered in the parish, that is, on our books with names and phone numbers and addresses.
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Young Adults: There is a point when the young person must register in our Parish. It does not suffice to say my parents are members of St. Kevin's and I was confirmed at St. Kevin's when that person has been living on his or her own. The young adult should not depend on the faith and loyalty of parents or grandparents but must take ownership of his or her own faith. That means, as well, the young person should be engaged in the financial support of the Parish.
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Support of the Church: One of the precepts of the church – parishioners should be generous in supporting the material needs of the church. Today, we do this best by regularly using envelopes to help with the expenses of administering a very large parish such as St. Kevin's.
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Needing a Letter of Permission: Hospitality is a wonderful characteristic of St. Kevin's Parish. And we do want to be open and hospitable to folks who are not registered members in the parish. Yet – we must be careful to observe church laws and regulations. We will consider doing a marriage or a baptism of those folks from elsewhere. But – we must ask that the person or persons making this request of us have a "letter of permission" from elsewhere, that is, from the parish in which they are actually living - a letter from the Pastor of that parish giving us permission to do the baptism or marriage. Without such a letter of permission our policy must be to refuse to do such baptisms or marriages.
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Weddings: To be married in St. Kevin's, one should be registered in the parish. Please call at least six months in advance to make arrangements. If not a registered member of our parish, we must have a Letter of Permission from the Pastor in which the person(s) is registered. (See above.)
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Baptisms: To be baptized in St. Kevin's, one should be registered in the Parish. Please call as early as possible to arrange a baptism. If one is not registered, we must have a Letter of Permission from the Pastor in which the family is registered. (See above.)
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Pastoral References for Teachers: Pastoral references for teachers are given for those persons who are registered in St. Kevin's Parish. The Pastoral Reference for teachers testifies that the person practices his or her faith regularly. Sunday Eucharist is the great Christian norm for the practice of the faith. The Pastoral Reference for teachers inquires as to how active the person is in participating in different dimensions of parish or civic life.
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Godparents / Christian Witness for Baptism: At baptism, a Roman Catholic sponsor is called a Godparent. All Godparents for Baptism should be practicing Catholics. One of the sponsors at baptism must be a Roman Catholic, 16 years of age and already confirmed. A non-Catholic sponsor is called a "Christian Witness". (This presumes that the non- Catholic is indeed a practicing Christian and baptized in a Christian church). In choosing a Godparent for baptism, parents should keep in mind that a Godparent at baptism should also be the person's sponsor at Confirmation.
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Confirmation Sponsors: A Confirmation sponsor must be a practicing Roman Catholic, already confirmed and 16 years of age. We ask the sponsor at Confirmation to have a brief meeting with the Pastor of his/her Parish. Simply inform the Pastor of your desire to act as a Confirmation sponsor at St. Kevin's and kindly ask the Pastor to sign the Sponsor Form. The Sponsor Form itself presents in a clear way the expectations for a Confirmation Sponsor.
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Parish Pastoral Practice.
• If someone is seriously sick at home or in the hospital, please call the office. One of the priests will be happy to visit.
• If one is unable to come to Sunday Eucharist over a long period of time, please call the office and arrange for a communion visit on the part of our Eucharist Ministers.
• When spending time in the hospital, please indicate that you are Roman Catholic and a member of St. Kevin's.
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REMINDER:
Are You Registered in Our Parish?
Please do not take for granted that you are registered in the parish just because you attend Mass here. If we have no record of your parish membership, it could be quite embarrassing to us, or to you or your family, when someone wishes to make wedding plans, have a baby baptized, or if you have been asked to act as a sponsor for baptism or confirmation. Please fill out a registration form. This form is on the shelf in the book stand in the foyer of the church. When you have completed the form, place in the collection basket or return it to the Parish Office
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