Hello, St. Clement parishioners & friends!
We are looking forward to celebrating our parish patron St. Clement of Rome tomorrow, Saturday Nov. 23rd! Bilingual Mass with Bishop Konderla will start at noon. A potluck in the Marian Center will follow. Click here for the potluck RSVP/signup sheet. If you missed last week’s newsletter and would like to learn more about our parish patron and parish history, click here for the English version or here for the Spanish version.
Christmas Charitable Giving Opportunities
The Outreach holiday food certificate donation envelopes and Women’s Guild Christmas Jar remain available at the back of the church. Thank you for your support!
The Women’s Guild annual Christmas Bake Sale and Craft Fair is scheduled for the weekend of Dec 7th & 8th. If you’d like to contribute items to that, please contact the parish office.
Save the Date: Karlo Broussard Visit 4 Dec 2024
We are happy to welcome Karlo Broussard back to our parish on Wednesday, December 4th at 6:30 pm in the Marian Center.
Karlo will be giving a special Advent talk on Mary, offering insights and reflections that will help deepen our understanding and appreciation of this holy season.
As a renowned teacher of apologetics, catechesis, and evangelization, Karlo has dedicated his life to equipping the faithful with the tools to share and defend our Catholic faith. He is an apologetics speaker for Catholic Answers and a partner with our diocese in various ministry efforts.
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from an expert in the faith and to grow in your Advent journey!
Join Us for the Christmas Pageant!
All K-5th Graders are invited to be part of our Christmas pageant during the 5:00 pm Christmas Eve Mass. It’s a beautiful way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas as we share this special moment with our parish community.
Rehearsal Dates:
- Wednesday, December 4th – 6:15-6:45 pm
- Wednesday, December 11th – 6:15-6:45 pm
- Wednesday, December 18th – 6:15-6:45 pm
- Monday, December 23rd – 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Signup sheets are available in the church foyer.
Interested in helping with the pageant for years to come? We would love to have you involved! For more details, contact Molly Garrison at Religioused@stcbixby.org or 918-366-3166. Let’s make this Christmas unforgettable by celebrating the season together!
Angel Tree
‘Tis the Season of Giving!
The Angel Tree will be set up in the back of the church starting this weekend, offering us all a special opportunity to make a difference. Each angel represents someone who is supported by our Outreach program or a family within our parish. Through the generosity of our Women's Guild, Youth Group and Outreach, we are able to continue this beautiful tradition of giving.
Please consider picking an angel, purchasing a gift, and returning it *wrapped with the angel tag attached* by Sunday, December 15th. Your kindness will bring joy and hope to those in need this holiday season.
Thank you for your generosity and love!
As Thanksgiving approaches, we thought we’d draw attention the Catholic roots of the American holiday. Here’s one article shedding some light on that. Here’s another about a central figure of the Thanksgiving story, a Native American we know as Squanto.
At St. Clement, Mass will be celebrated at 8:30am on Thanksgiving morning.
Thanksgiving and Being Catholic
Parishioner and catechist Roger Patovisti wrote the following for his 8th Grade pre-Confirmation class.
Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the United States. It started in the early days of the country, when people gave thanks to God for the harvest. The Pilgrims in Plymouth celebrated one of the first Thanksgivings in 1621. Over time, this tradition spread across the country. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official holiday.
Many families use this time to reflect on the things they are grateful for. It is a day focused on giving thanks for blessings, big and small.
For Catholics, gratitude is an important part of life. The Bible teaches us to always give thanks to God. We are taught to be thankful not only for good things but also in difficult times. Being thankful is more than just saying “thank you.” It is recognizing that everything we have is a gift from God. Gratitude helps us see God’s goodness in our lives every day.
Thanksgiving, then, is a good time for Catholics to practice this attitude of thankfulness. It reminds us to thank God for the blessings we often take for granted—our food, our family, and our faith. For Catholics, Thanksgiving is not just about a meal. It is about seeing God’s hand in our lives and giving Him thanks in everything.
Gratitude is very important in the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2638) says that every Christian prayer should include thanksgiving. This means we should thank God at all times, not just when things are going well. God gives us every good thing. Even in hard times, we can find reasons to be grateful because God is always with us.
Gratitude is more than just words. It is a way of living. Being grateful helps us grow closer to God. It helps us see that everything we have comes from Him. By living with a grateful heart, we open ourselves to His grace and share His love with others.
Many saints also taught about gratitude. St. Paul, in his letters, often wrote about giving thanks. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, he says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” St. Paul reminds us that gratitude is not just a feeling but a choice.
The Eucharist is the center of Catholic worship, and the word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving.” When Catholics go to Mass, they are offering thanks to God. In the Eucharist, we remember the great gift of Jesus’ sacrifice. We thank God for His love and for giving us the chance to be with Him. Every time we receive the Eucharist, we are united with Jesus and the Church in a prayer of thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a good time to include your Catholic faith in your celebration. It is easy to make faith a part of this special day. By doing so, we can remember that all of our blessings come from God. Thanksgiving is not just about food and family. It is a chance to give thanks to God in a deeper way.
One way to do this is by saying a prayer before and after the meal.
- Prayer before the meal: “Bless us, O Lord, and these your gifts, which we are about to receive from your bounty, through Christ our Lord. AMEN.”
- Prayer after the meal: “We give you thanks, almighty God, for these and all your gifts which we have received through Christ our Lord. AMEN.”
Thanksgiving is more than just a holiday. It is a way of life. While we focus on gratitude during this time, we can make thankfulness a habit all year long. Living with an attitude of gratitude helps us see God’s goodness in our daily lives. It changes how we look at everything and brings us closer to God.
When we live with gratitude every day, we become more aware of how blessed we are. We learn to see God’s hand in all things. Thanksgiving is not just a once-a-year event. It is a daily choice to thank God and share His blessings with others.
As we reflect on what we are thankful for, it’s important to remember that gratitude is more than a feeling. It’s a choice we make each day. By choosing to focus on the good, we can find joy even in challenging moments. And when we practice gratitude regularly, we open our hearts to the many blessings that surround us.
Reflection Questions
- What are some simple things in your life that you are thankful for?
- How can you practice gratitude each day, not just during special times?
- In what ways can you share your blessings with others around you?
Links:
We invite folks to send names (first only are fine!) to include on a list of people for whom to pray, such as the sick and suffering of our parish. If you’d like to add a name to the prayer list (yours or someone else’s *with their permission), please email that info to Bonnie at music@stcbixby.org. Please specify that you’re sending names for the prayer list.