Advent is here!

When I was a kid, my family observed advent even as we were writing our Christmas lists and dreaming of Christmas morning. I have great happy memories of the traditions we shared, which all flowed from our Catholic faith. Each year we brought out the Advent calendar, and it really did fill me with anticipation, waiting for another day to come so we could open another paper door. On Saturday nights at dinner, we would pray from a little Advent wreath booklet that our parish had given out, and each week it would someone's turn to light the appropriate candles.
Now at our own home, we are opening a door a day on the Advent calendar that was given out to the parents at last month's GOF, our blue books are on our bedside stands, and we have the wreath up in our dining room. But there are so many new-fangled ways to celebrate and pray through Advent, even online. Here are some of our favorites:

• American Catholic has a great Frequently Asked Questions page up, with all you want to know about Advent there.
• If that's too much reading for you, here are the top ten things to know about Advent, just to pique your interest!
• Beliefnet has a nifty Advent Calendar up with interesting facts, some challenges, and other activities for adults.
• The US Conference of Catholic Bishops offers this online Advent calendar, a great place to check in every day from your desk!
• St. Margaret Mary Parish in Naperville, IL is famous for its online Advent calendar - it's a great one to visit with your kids!
• There are so many great places to visit online to make your Advent journey a special one, but one of the best places to visit is our chapel, for daily Mass at 6:30 AM or anytime during the day (until around 2:00) to visit with the Lord. We'll save a seat for you!

Advent Stars

It's Advent at Immaculate Conception (and everywhere)! The church is resplendent in purple and the Advent wreath is up, one candle lit to signify the first Sunday of the season. The walls of the church are covered with Advent Stars, hundreds and hundreds of opportunities for us to share our bounty with people who are truly in need. The gift requests range from kitchen utensils to blue jeans to specific toys to diapers and toiletries. We can do so much to make Christ known to people who need Him, just by sharing the blessings we have been given. Come on down and take a star or two!

Annual Wreath Sale

Our annual wreath sale is underway at all the Masses today, and all sales benefit Youth Ministry! Come on down and support our young people while adding a dash of beauty to your home. Many thanks to all our helpers who made the sale happen this year!

Thanksgiving at ICYM

Our Youth Ministry celebrated the annual Youth Ministry Thanksgiving, and welcomed more guests than ever, including our beloved college students, back from their adventures! It was a wonderful night, made even better by the presence of Fr. Mehm and Fr. Tamiru. The rectory was full of happy people, lots of laughter and... karaoke. Thanks to the Ryan family for providing the 29.4 pound turkey and thanks to all who came to celebrate! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

HELP Needed!

Help Deacon Mark hang the Advent Stars this Saturday at noon in the main church! We need as many helping hands as possible to transform our church walls into starry skies of opportunities to give this Advent season. No R.S.V.P. necessary, just show up at the church and jump in! This is a GREAT opportunity for families to serve together!

(photo credit: M. Skiffington, from Flickr)

A Prayer For Giving:
Lord God, we give thanks for the resources that allow us to be your partners in caring for your people. We give you thanks that "we are here to help each other... walk the mile and bear the load." We pray for joyful hearts in all of our giving. Amen.

Scenes from All Saints Day at I.C.

I don't know if you're aware of this, but there were truly saints among us at the 9AM Mass on All Saints Day here at IC! Check them out, and see if you can guess the identities of our Saints- write your guesses as comments on the post!































Coffee and Donuts was hostessed that day by our Ministry of
Consolation and Christian Service. Thanks to them for the fun time
and delicious goodies!

Cancellation

Sorry! Due to our head-knitter's illness, Knit/Crochet/Chat/ Pray is canceled for tonight. We'll reschedule soon though! Keep on knitting!

A Hole in the Lot

Watch out tomorrow, Wednesday, November 18th as there is a large 12 foot deep hole in our parking lot. There's a problem with the sewer system, which was placed there in 1961. Well, it lasted a long time with out a problem... but it has given up. So please be careful and watch out for big trucks and deep holes.

In case you've missed it...

Up in the main index of this page is a link to our Generations of Faith page - GO MAKE DISCIPLES - for this year of evangelization and discipleship. You can click there for more information about each month's focus.
What? You say you don't GO to Generations of Faith? Well we still have something for you - at that link you can learn about our learning themes each month. We want to be a parish of life-long-learners, and we know not all learning happens at programs and events. Take a minute to learn a bit about the Reign of God by clicking on "this month"!
-MM

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, in November!

Have you seen it? The Christmas decorations are up in stores, and the commercials are airing... I've heard that some radio stations have ALREADY changed to all-Christmas-music-all-the-time. I know I am not the only one to be annoyed with this rushing, I like the season of Advent and think it's worth lingering in... and of course there's the Catholic understanding that the actual Christmas season doesn't even begin until... well, Christmas.
But, I guess, we might as well face it, the world is in a hurry to be Christmas-y. But I don't think we have to join them in this madness to change the calendar. There are a lot of great ways to pray Advent and your parish is one of the best places to do it! Check back here often during Advent for great prayer resources. We'll keep you posted, and will do our best to keep you focused on the Reason... for every season!
-MM

Veterans

We ask for blessings on all those who have served their country in the armed forces. We ask for healing for the veterans who have been wounded, in body and soul, in conflicts around the globe. Bring solace to them, O Lord; may we pray for them when they cannot pray. Echoing John Paul II, we ask for an end to wars and the dawning of a new era of peace, as a way to honor all the veterans of past wars. Have mercy on all our veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and all others. Bring peace to their hearts and peace to the regions they fought in. Bless all the soldiers who served in non-combative posts; May their calling to service continue in their lives in many positive ways. Give us all the creative vision to see a world which, grown weary with fighting, Moves to affirming the life of every human being and so moves beyond war. Hear our prayer, O Prince of Peace, hear our prayer. Amen.

"ROMANCE WITHOUT REGRET" with Jason Evert

A presentation for teens (Grades 7-12) and their parents

Where:Immaculate Conception Church

600 Pleasant Street

Malden, MA 02148

When: Sunday, December 6, 2009 from 12:45 PM to 2:30 PM

To rave reviews, Mr. Evert has spoken to over 50,000 students, parents and faculty within the Archdiocese of Boston since 2005. Don’t miss this remarkable and entertaining presentation on the important topic of Chastity. Find out more about Jason at www.chastity.com.

This I Believe.

If you're following the news these days, you know there are plenty of people out there who need prayer. In times of trouble many of us turn to prayer for comfort, to help, and to ask to see God's intention for our needs and the needs of the world.
Here's a beautiful audio piece that contains some reminders of why we pray. It's from the radio series "This I Believe." What do you believe about prayer?