YOUR CHRISTMAS OFFERING:

Christmas is a traditional time for people to make an extra offering to the Church. As you consider your Christmas offering to Saint Casimir’s, I ask you to consider the place our Parish has in your heart. For most, our Parish is more than just a place to go to Church on Sundays. It is where we go in times of joy and grief, in times of hope and despair, and in times of healing. We all know that winter is the most expensive time of the year and as a parish, we face many challenges. So we ask that everyone make an extra effort to give a substantial offering this Christmas, because it is only because of your generous support that we can continue our work.

CHRISTMAS WAFERS and 2017 CALENDARS
 

     Traditional Christmas Wafers are available at the main entrance to the Church at Mass times, in the lower hall after the 10:00 Mass and at the Rectory during the week. We encourage everyone in the Parish to participate in this ancient Eastern European tradition

    Our 2017 Church calendars are available on the tables in the main lobby of the Church. We thank our friends and fellow parishioners at the Jakubs Funeral Home for providing them again this year.

COFFEE SCHEDULE

As we prepare the 2017 10:00 Mass Coffee schedule, we invite all organizations and parish families to continue hosting these coffee socials and look forward to having new people join as hosts. To volunteer contact Dalia Armonas (jarmonas@sbcglobal.net) Loretta Gudenas (lgudenas@yahoo.com /216-481-0465) or Ingrid Civinskas (icivinsk@yahoo.com /440-838-0652)

CHRISTMAS CONFESSIONS
 

Confessions will be heard here on Saturday, December 17^th from 4:30-5:00pm, and Wednesday and Thursday, December 21–22 after the 7:30am Mass. There will be NO confessions on Christmas Eve.

     “Winter returns to Cleveland”should be the headline of the week. As I write this column, we are under our second “Lake snow advisory” and “Winter weather advisory” of the season. A week ago (Dec. 9-10) we had nearly 18 inches of snow, and we’re looking forward to the same thing happening again. By the time you read this, the storm will have passed and we will be looking at rain, sleet and snow. Just one year ago, the temperatures were in the 60's breaking records for warmth.

     I want to remind everyone to be very careful when you are out in the winter. Snow and ice are everywhere. Here at St. Casimir’s we try to keep our property clear of snow and ice, but that is not always possible. A fall for anyone, especially our older members is dangerous. Also, for our older members, the cold is dangerous. As we face very cold and snowy weather, please be careful and use common sense about going out in this weather, even going out to Church. Remember, God does not expect the impossible from any of us. Also, remember, if you to miss Mass on a given Sunday, please make up for your missed offering. Unfortunately, our expenses never take a break.

     On a different note, next weekend, we celebrate Christmas.  Roma Bandza, our music director, has been working with children from our Lithuanian community, and our new children’s choir will make its debut next Saturday at our late night Christmas Eve Mass at 10:30pm. I hope that many of you will come to the Mass to hear them. I also invite you to come to our Family Mass on Christmas Eve at 4:00pm and help our English speaking children sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus.

     Christmas is such a beautiful time of the year. I look forward to seeing every one of you at one of the Masses on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, and ask you to invite your neighbors and friends to join us.

God Bless!   Fr. Joe Bacevice

HELP DECORATE THE CHURCH FOR CHRISTMAS
 

Sunday, December 18^th, after the 12:00 Mass, (at about 12:45pm) we invite you to come help decorate the Church for Christmas. Many hands make light work. We hope to see you there!

FATHER BACEVICE’S 40TH JUBILEE

On Sunday, January 15^th, Father Bacevice will celebrate his 40^th Anniversary as a priest. On that day, we will have one Mass at 10:00am (bilingual) followed by a brunch in our upper hall (gym). We invite everyone to join us that day at Mass and at the brunch. There is no cost for the brunch but we ask you to notify Loretta Gudenas at lgudenas@yahoo.com (or drop a note in the collection basket) by January 5^th to let us know if you are attending and how many people are coming from your household. Even if you forget to respond, please know that you are still welcome to come to the brunch.

CHRISTMAS COOKIE COFFEE SOCIAL

Sunday, January 1, everyone is invited to a family-style Coffee Social after the 10:00 Mass. Parish families are invited to bring a plate of Christmas cookies to the lower hall to share the Christmas spirit (and goodies) with fellow parishioners.