Linda Collins is requesting help to move

It might be we're only moving her stuff into storage, but the time and date has now been set:  Monday, December 31st at 10:30 am.

She is a bit flexible to get the help she needs, and she'll be leaving stuff for St. Vincent De Paul to collect later, but she would like to accomplish this on Monday to hopefully get more help.

This is one of those "all hands are good hands" events for our council; an excellent chance to model for your children and grandchildren the virtue of charity.

You can call Linda at 971-263-7612 for more info.

1921 SW Marigold St., Portland, OR 97219

We have a great love for our Vietnamese community!

I'm posting this letter from Fr. Matt Libra at St. Rose of Lima (Update from same below, so if you're getting this at 7pm on Christmas Eve, be sure to read the whole thing, or come back!) based on the news this morning, because due to our connection to St. Anthony's, we've got a great love for our Vietnamese community.

At 12:30 am Christmas Eve, a vandal drove an SUV through the Vietnamese Vicariate parish Our Lady of LaVang.  The vandal first hit the building, then drove through the main entrance, drove in circles over the pews, then exited the building, and was finally captured by police 15 minutes away at the Baxter Auto Parts near Portland Meadows (the pictures on Koin 6 shows that this wasn't exactly an off-road SUV, damage to the vehicle is so extensive that I'm surprised he made it that far).

However, I think that the response of Fr. Angsar and Fr. Libra is appropriate, and amazing.  Please keep this congregation in your prayers.

Attack at Lavang

https://www.koin.com/news/crashes/suv-crashes-at-ne-portland-church-drives-off/1673505837 Dear Parishioners and friends, Someone drove their vehicle into Our Lady of Lavang parish early this morning and destroyed all their pews and several entryways.  Their parishioners heard about it on the news and have showed up en masse to help clean up so they can celebrate Christmas.  Fr. Ansgar and several of their parishioners have been working since 2am. They don't know what to do at this point.  Luckily the building remains structurally sound and their plan is to clean up and hold services in their church tonight.  We offered them our chairs, our space, anything we can give.  They are quite overwhelmed and shocked as you might imagine. The one thing Fr. Ansgar, their pastor, asked for was that we pray for forgiveness.  The perpetrator turned himself in, is not known to their parish, but Fr. Ansgar doesn't want anyone's heart to become hard at Christmas.  I know you are all busy with Christmas preparations, but please pause for a moment and pray for Our Lady of Lavang parish, pray for the offender, and if you have any practical skills or help you can provide check in with them. with Hope that Christ might change our world for better by changing each of our hearts, Fr. Matt Libra --------------------------------------- From Fr. Matt, a few hours later: Lavang update In 3 hours time parishioners from Our Lady of Lavang showed up to make room at the inn for Jesus.  Lavang also wants to thank the St. Rose parishioners who showed up to help.  What happened brings tears to our eyes. Destroyed pews are removed.  Broken glass and mangled entryways have been cleaned up and made "temporary new".  Even temporary doors have been installed to keep the cold out.  A thousand chairs have been set up.  Hundreds of people have come and are still coming to help out in any way, from people with construction skills, to youth, to priests and bishops, everyone who believes it is better when Jesus is in the center of our world.  One parishioner said to me "My faith is stronger because of this".  In moments like this, God does something.  When distraction and distress happen, we learn what matters most and what doesn't matter.  No one cares that there is plywood showing.  Everyone is beaming, because of this response of love.  Thank you to all the parishioners and priests of Our Lady of Lavang parish - you gave us a beautiful example of making room for Jesus at the inn of your hearts! All Masses at Our Lady of Lavang will be held as scheduled, they even gained some seating by doing it this way.  As Fr. Ansgar said - now our church will be a place of pilgrimage as people come to see what has happened here.  He continues to ask for prayers for the person who did this, who suffers from mental illness.

Linda got a reprieve

She now does not need to move until January 2.  Better plans will be forthcoming.

St. Clare's Parishioner needs help moving

Linda Collins is a disabled parishioner at St. Clare's with MS.   She is getting evicted from her current home at 1921 Marigold St.

She knows this is short notice, but she'd like help possibly as soon as Thursday.

Her phone number is 971-263-7612

She is willing to rent a U-Haul, but I told her we have some men with pickup trucks; if a U-Haul is needed she will need a ride as her car has broken down.

From SIS at St. Clare's

Dear friends,

     Our long time parishioner and friend Bob Kocarnik is in Meridian Park Hospital 

with pneumonia.  Bob has been an active member of our parish and at 93 he has 

still been visiting Markham House faithfully every fourth Wednesday.

Let's all pray for him and for his family.

      This Wednesday, December 19th, will be the St. Clare Community Reconciliation 

Service in the church at 7 p.m. (If you cannot make it to this service, Reconciliation 

will still be available after morning mass on Thursday and Friday and at the usual 

4:30 time on Saturday).

     On a dark, rainy, but joyful (Gaudate) Sunday, this prayer from some sixteen 

centuries ago still speaks to us. From St. Augustine of Hippo: Look on us, Jesus, 

and let all the darkness of our souls disappear before the beams of your brightness.  

Fill us with your holy love, and open to us the treasures of your wisdom.  

You know all our desires, so bring to perfection what you have started and what the 

Holy Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer.  Amen.

  

  Blessings on your last week before Christmas.

Sheila

 

Hoilday Party

Remember, no business meeting this month.  Instead, Friday Night, December 21st at 7pm will be the Knights of Columbus Holiday Potluck!  Families are invited!  Anybody from either SJF or St. Clare's is welcome as well, to make merry with us and find out what we do!

Come find out who won Knight of the Year and Family of the Year, and enjoy good food brought by your fellow Knights.  Bring anything you like!

St. Clare's Parish Center, from 7pm-9pm, on Friday, December 21.

Also, you should have gotten an e-mail from our financial secretary Phil Jarvis, with the State Charities "Green Sheet".  Pray about it, and bring your green sheet to hand to Phil on Friday.

Next Breakfast at SJF

Will be February 10, 2019, one week after the breakfast at St. Clare's.  This will enable us to shop for both and save money.

As agreed in the last meeting, 100% of the proceeds will go to the SJF Building Fund.

Next breakfast at SJF

Since we aren't going to have a business meeting in December, SJF breakfast captain Mike Devlin, mdevprop@hotmail.com, would like your opinion on two upcoming dates:
January 13th would be three weeks before our next breakfast at St. Clare's.
February 10th would be the week after.

Please let Mike know of your preference, and we'll discuss at the potluck on the 21st.