Frank: 314.740.1160.

We have an initiative to connect people to small faith sharing groups. If you are interested in joining a small group, please contact Jessica Rowley (314.918.2766 or email).

We Tithe as a parish and we need your recommendations
We donate 10% of our collections to worthy causes. We do this as an act of faith, trusting that, in doing this, we will still be able to meet our financial needs. Please let the Parish Council know about worthy organizations that you would like us to contribute to. Information needed: your name, name of organization you are suggesting, to whom check should be made payable, where to send check and to whose attention. Please send your suggestions to Marilyn Tenholder.

Matthew 25

The Matthew 25 Fund helps members in our community who need financial assistance. All information concerning the people with whom we work is held in the strictest confidence. If you would like to contribute to this fund, make your check payable to Matthew 25, and place it in the collection basket. If you need assistance from the fund, contact Peggy Montgomery.

Membership Care Prayer List
If you have a joy or concern you would like to share on the prayer list please contact someone on the pastoral team.

Jessica Rowley 314.918.2766;

Frank Krebs 314.740.1160;

We have a SafeChurch Policy to protect our children and other vulnerable populations.

Fundraising

Please keep our Schnucks E-Scrip fund raiser in mind when you shop. If you don't already have an E-Scrip card, please call Marilyn Tenholder (314.323.1467) and she will get one to you. There is no charge and all you have to do is activate it by either a phone call or by going online. Simply show the card when you check out and a percentage of your purchase cost will be rebated back to Sts. Clare & Francis. Thank you!

ECC Midwest

Partner Communities

Emmaus

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

San Damiano

Little Rock, Arkansas

St. Jerome

Tulsa, Oklahoma

COMMUNITY CORNER...

our family news

(It is good for us to know what's happening in each other's lives. If you have any news you'd like to share with the community, please email Steve ).

The Weekly News
November 28, 2013

First Week of Advent

Saturday, November 30, 2013

5:00 pm

Readings: Is 2:1-5; Rom 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44

Presider: Jessica Rowley

Homilist: George von Stamwitz

Readers: Karen Diehl, Therese Gabriel

Eucharistic Ministers: Marty Campbell, Barbara Harris, Barb Winkler

Sacristan: Lorraine Tiffin

If you are not able to serve in your scheduled ministry, please let Steve know when you get a substitute so that we can publish the correct names in the newsletter. Thanks.

scampbell@ppcsinc.org or call or text 314.603.9991.

Communal Work of Service

KIVA

Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.

This week we will tell you about the third of the loans we funded in the Philippines.

Efipania is 52 years old and has four children, three of whom are in school. She is a very hardworking entrepreneur. Efipania has a hollow blocks manufacturing business in the Philippines. She requested a $250 loan amount to purchase cement, sand, gravel and other materials. We loaned her $100.

Efipania has been in this business for 18 years. In the future she would like to save enough money so she could afford to send her children to college.

Kiva operates by partnering with local groups. The field partner working with Efipania was established with an aim to help women achieve self-sufficiency, particularly in her province's low-income communities.

----------------------

The Kiva group expects to meet again sometime in January to extend more loans. Anyone who is interested may join us. The date will be announced in the future. If you have any questions or want further information, please contact Clarence Heller (marclar123@aol.com, 636.256.6515).

Fair Trade

Equal Exchange Fair Trade Organic Coffee and Chocolate products will be available for purchase on December 14, the second Saturday. This will be the last time before this year's end that I'll be setting up in the Gathering Space, so stock up for your holiday good times. Ground coffee and beans, tea, chocolate bars, chocolate chips and cocoa mix will be offered. Yumm. Thanks for your support of small- scale farmers in far off places.

Homilies

George's homily from November 16, Persisting to New Beginnings, and all homilies from Sts. Clare & Francis, can be found at http://scfhomilies.wordpress.com/.

Sponsored by Friends of SCF

Week of Guided Prayer

An Ecumenical Retreat in Everyday Life

Starts December 1, 2013

Meet one-on-one with a prayer guide 30 minutes each day, afternoon or evening, Monday through Friday. Co-hosted by Mary Queen of Peace, Webster Groves Christian and Webster Hills United Methodist Churches. For more information, or to register, visit www.weekofguidedprayer.org or contact Clarence Heller at 636.256.6515 or marclar123@aol.com.

~~~~~

Mercy Center

Revisiting the Visitation

An Advent evening of prayer

Led by Kathleen Davis

Monday, December 2, 2013, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

$20 payable at door

This Advent, spend an evening with Mary and Elizabeth as they share the miraculous wonder of their chosen roles in salvation history. With the help of scripture, images, and contemporary theology, we will revisit this holy encounter through the lens of motherhood and discipleship.

Presenter: Kathleen Davis holds a Masters of Arts in Pastoral Studies from Aquinas Institute of Theology.

A Time to Proclaim the Dawn

A quiet Advent day of prayer

Guided by Harry Byrne, OP at Mercy Center, Frontenac

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Registration: 9:00 a.m. Program: 9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Non-refundable registration: $25 due November 15, 2013
Total cost, including registration: $75 (includes lunch)

In Advent, we are invited to reflect and pray as we remember Christ's mission to bring a new "dawning," a saving light, a renewed hope into the world. It is a special time when God enters into human life to bring us reconciliation and unconditional love through his son, Jesus. Becoming more aware of these holy gifts enables us to bring enriched meaning to the pilgrimage that we call our life of faith. So let us in reflection and prayer "proclaim the dawn!"

Presenter: Harry Byrne, OP is Professor Emeritus at Aquinas Institute of Theology.

Contact: Bonnie Green (314) 909-4677 or bgreen@mercycenterstl.org

~~~~~

Fr. Dickson Cemetery

Give and Glow

Friday, December 6, 2013

6:30 - 8:30 pm

Fr. Dickson's 'Ghosts of Christmas Past' invite everyone to a Christmas party to benefit the St. Louis Area Food Bank!

Join them around a bonfire in a traditional Gospel Christmas carol sing-a-long.
Enjoy hot cocoa and take a stroll along the candlelit bike trail and Sappington House complex (where you just might meet Ms. Peppermint Patty or Santa-on-a-Bike!)
The Barn restaurant will be open for yummy seasonal desserts.

Price of Admission: Canned goods to help fill area food banks.

random sightings

wisdom...reflection...insight...amusement

Sts. Clare & Francis offers information about other organizations and activities as a way of providing information that we feel is useful or relevant to our members and to the public. As an Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) organization, Sts. Clare & Francis is required to abide by certain rules. Sts. Clare & Francis is absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Sts. Clare & Francis is also prohibited from devoting a substantial part of its activities to attempting to influence legislation. As a result of these rules, we do not specifically endorse these organizations or activities nor do they specifically represent the views of Sts. Clare & Francis, to the extent that doing so would jeopardize Sts. Clare & Francis' standing as a Section 501(c)(3) organization.

If you have an item that you wish to submit for publication in the Weekly News, please send it to

Steve Campbell no later than noon on Wednesday of the week you would like it to appear. If you cannot send an

e-mail, you may contact Steve at 314.603.9991.