News - December 2016 RSS Feed

Copies of the January edition of The Word Among Us, a daily devotional guide for Catholics based on the lectionary readings for each day, are available in the narthex.

A Baptism Preparation class will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 5, in the parish hall. If you are a parent planning to baptize a child or you have the honor to be a godparent for a child being baptized, this is the class for you. For more information please call Dcn. Dave Rausch at 681-9146.

Please note that there will be only one Mass next Sunday morning (New Year's Day) at 10 a.m. The Saturday evening vigil Mass will be celebrated at 5 p.m. as usual.

Once again, our parish's Angel Tree project was a huge success! Thanks to the generosity of so many parishioners, we were able to provide Christmas gifts for approximately 135 children!

The Circle Christmas Party scheduled for this evening has been cancelled due to the inclement weather.

Copies of Bishop Zurek's Pastoral Letter on the Ordained Priesthood are available in the narthex. You are encouraged to take a copy and read this reflection on the ministry of priests.

Beginning next Sunday, January 22, Fr. Busch will teach a class entitled "Branches of Christianity." Based on a course he taught several times at St. Gregory's University in Oklahoma, this class will examine the history, beliefs, and practices of various Christian communities, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Methodists, the Amish, Baptists, and Churches of Christ. The class will also study the results of ecumenical dialogue that has occured between the Roman Catholic Church and these communities in the past half century. Join us on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.

There will be no Faith Formation classes on New Year's Day. Classes will resume on Sunday, January 8. Our next regular Wednesday night youth gathering will be on January 4.

Practice for all altar servers who are assigned for one of the Christmas Eve or Christmas Day Masses will be held on Friday, December 23 at 10:30 a.m. in the church. Please make sure you attend this practice if you are scheduled to serve!

Join us this Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. as we decorate the church for our Christmas celebrations. There will be plenty to do for parishioners of all ages. Light refreshments will be served.

All intermediate, junior high, and high school students are invited to join us this Wednesday evening for Mass (hopefully!) at 6 p.m. in the church. Following Mass, we will watch "The Nativity Story" in the parish hall. Please bring your favorite snack to share and a gift for our Baby Jesus Shower (diapers, formula, wipes, etc., which will be donated to the Amarillo Agency for Women. Please note that the evening will end a little later than usual ... probably around 8:30 p.m. See you there!

The schedule for daily Masses is tentative, to be determined by the condition of Fr. Busch's voice. If Fr. Busch cannot celebrate Mass as scheduled, it will be announced through Flocknote. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (December 8) is a holyday of obligation for all Catholics. We will have a Vigil Mass on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. This will be *the only Mass* here at St. Ann's. The Catholic Student Center (2610 4th Ave. in Canyon) will have a Mass on Thursday at 12:30 p.m.

Please stop by the tables in the parish hall after Mass to pick up your stewardship envelopes for 2017. The envelopes are arranged alphabetically. There are some unassigned envelopes for new families. If you take an unassigned box of envelopes, please include all of your information on the envelope the first couple of times you use them so that we can connect that envelope number with you.

Cathlic Extension calendars for 2017, featuring saints of the Americas, are available in the narthex. Please take only one calendar per family. Thank you to Roger and Cindy Cross for donating these calendars.

Please sign up on the sheet in the narthexif you are available to serve as an altar server, lector, Communion minister, or usher for any of our liturgies on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.

This month, our parish is helping to build a home for a family in need in Amarillo. The Knights of Columbus helped to paint the house this past Thursday, and our youth will be hleping with finishing touches on the house on Saturday, December 17. In addition, our parish contributed $1,000 to this project. Thank you for making a difference in our community and in the lives of those in need!

The Ladies of St. Ann's invite you once again to participate in our Angel Tree project. Please choose an angel from the tree in the narthex. Each angel is marked "boy" or "girl" and includes the child's age and clothing size, along with gift ideas suggested by the parents. Please return your wrapped packages (tied together with ribbon or yarn, and with the angel tied to the ribbon) under the Angel Tree by no later than Sunday, December 18.

All intermediate, junior high, and high school students are invited to join us this Wednesday for Mass at 6 p.m. in the church for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a holyday of obligation. Following Mass, we will gather in the parish hall for pizza and Christmas Bingo, with lots of fun prizes.