MARRIAGE: We congratulate and offer our prayers for a happy marriage to Graham James Gorsline and Mallory Margaret Ducatte who were married in St. James Church on November 24th. SETON CATHOLIC AND SETON ACADEMY CHRISTMAS DINNER AND SILENT AUCTION: On Sunday, December 9th the Catholic schools of Plattsburgh will hold a dinner from noon o 5 pm at the High School at 206 New York Road. Turkey with all the trimmings, including dessert. There will be a great silent auction filled with fantastic items. All the proceeds will benefit Seton Academy and Seton Catholic. Handicap accessible & Take outs available SPECIAL MEETING FOR BASKETS: The Ladies of St. James will be meeting at the Parish Center on Monday, December 3rd, at 6:30 p.m. to prepare the Christmas sunshine baskets which the elves will be delivering on December 4th. Thanks ladies for all of your help. “MY JESUS I WANT TO ADORE YOU FOR ALL” are the words of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. Eucharistic Adoration is held throughout the year every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 6 am to 9 pm at St. John’s Church Adoration Chapel, downstairs. Everyone is invited to spend some quiet time with Jesus anytime during these hours. For more information about spending a special hour with Jesus weekly, or becoming a substitute, please call 561-5083, GIVING TREE: Through the assistance of the Ladies of St. James the Giving Tree for Advent will be up by Saturday, November 24h. Your gifts will need to be under the Giving Tree by the end of Masses on December 16th. Tags with the first name of a child will be placed on the tree for whom you can bring a gift. Last year St. James Parishioners were VERY responsive to this act of giving to needy children CATHOLIC CALENDARS: Calendars for 2008 indicating the special holy days and saints of the Catholic Church are available for your home or workplace. This year they are on the theme of Christian stewardship. NEW BEGINNINGS: “NEW BEGINNINGS” is a group of divorced and separated people that meet every Thursday at 7:00 PM at St. Peter’s Church, Plattsburgh in the Upper Room. For more information contact St. Peter’s Rectory at 563-1692. BRUNCH WITH LADIES OF ST. JAMES: The Ladies of St. James Christmas Brunch will be held on December 9th at 11:30 a.m. at Cricket's Restaurant, Bearswamp Road, Peru. Tickets are $13.80 (Seniors $11.50) gratuity included in prices. Society members are asked to please bring two "unwrapped" gifts for the Chinese Auction. All ladies of the parish are invited, with their spouses/guests. Please RSVP by November 30th. A sign-up sheet is in the vestibule. REACHING OUT: Advent is a special time for reaching out to marginal and inactive Catholics and people without a church home. The primary goal is to invite others into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and His body, the Church. The success of your efforts is based on one simple principle: on a one-to-one invitation to someone who may need your invitation to come back to church on a regular basis. Finding the people to invite isn’t really hard. We just have to open our eyes. HOLY DAYS: Catholics are obliged to assist at Mass on certain holy days. Saturday, December 8th is the holy day of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Masses for this Holy Day will be at 5:30 PM on December 7th and 8:30 AM on December 8th. Please note that on Saturday, December 8th the 4:00 PM Mass is not the Mass of the Holy Day but is that of the Second Sunday of Advent. FAREWELL TO ST. LUKE: Today we end our year-long, Sunday-by-Sunday hearing of Luke’s Gospel. Luke has called us to examine our lives to determine whether or not we are living as true Catholics. We’ve heard about the need for discipline and humility and also for hospitality. Almost all of our values have been called into question. Wealth and power can ruin our chances for entering heaven. Also at the forefront of Luke’s Gospel is the need for prayer. This is a Gospel that begins with shepherds receiving the good news directly from heaven. It ends today with a thief being welcomed by Jesus into paradise.