Do You Know Jesus?

Second Sunday of Advent
Matthew 3:1-12

         Today’s Gospel is about John the Baptist preparing others for the coming of Jesus. John the Baptist is was known to be an uninhibited free spirit who was not afraid to speak out to the religious leaders of the time and he did so telling them to “Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
  Advent is a season when we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. It is a time to reflect on our lives and our actions toward others. It is a time to ask ourselves if we need to make changes to become better Christians. Have you had time to reflect on the changes you want to make in your life – changes that would bring you closer to God?            

FROM THE DESK OF MRS. STASI
Standardized Testing Results
Parents of students in Grades 3, 5, and 7 should receive their child's results from the October, 2007 standardized testing this week in the mail.

All parents are invited to attend an informational meeting on the interpretation of the ITBS results. The meeting will be in the St. Joseph School hall from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on December 11.

Winter Recess is Here!
As we head into the colder months, please remember to send your children to school with warm coats for recess. Students will go out for recess on all but the very coldest days, so, hats, scarves and mittens are a must! Boots are also a good idea when there is snow on the ground. Girls will not be allowed outside with bare legs on cold days. Please send them to school with pants, sweats or PJs to cover their legs if they are wearing skirts. We hate to see their sad faces when they aren't allowed out. Questions? Contact Ann Klein 630-963-9281

FROM THE DESK OF SR DOROTHY

Dear Family,
As we continue our journey in Advent we celebrate the fun Feast of St. Nicholas today. While it is fun there are many lessons. What is our attitude in receiving gifts? Do we look upon gifts as a reminder of God’s goodness and that of others? As we receive a gift do we consider giving away something we have to someone?

God is wise! This would keep us from accumulation and the need to set time aside to get rid of our stuff! It is also a reminder that all belongs to God.

Just a reminder that the feast of the Immaculate Conception is Saturday and since this is the feast of the patron saint of the United States it is a Holy Day of Obligation. Our country truly needs the prayers. Mass at St. Joe’s is 8:00 a.m... Hope you have had time to review the prayer flip calendar and are taking the time to talk with God.

Sr. Dorothy

St. Joseph School
Open House Jan 27
1:15 - 3:00 pm


Catholic Schools Week 2008 
Catholic Schools Light the Way

St. Joseph school will begin the celebration of Catholic Schools Week on Sunday, January 27 during our St. Joseph School Open House.  This year’s theme is “Catholic Schools Light the Way,” with a stained-glass logo that underscores our faith-based education and the light of knowledge we strive to kindle in our students. We will continue our celebration with special activities throughout the week. For further details please see the St. Joseph School Website and future e-Messenger Newsletters.

The Catholic Schools Week Committee is in need of prize donations for the Basketball Shootout.  
Specifically we are looking for unused toys, games, sports equipment/apparel or gift certificates that would be of interest for students in grades K-8.

We are also looking for volunteers to staff the registration table and Basketball Shootout.

Please contact Laura Freeman at:  freeman98@comcast.net

Bulletin Board

2007 Christmas Concert
Thursday December 20th

Tickets will be included in the paper messenger being sent home on Thursday, December 13th. This year, it is open seating for the noon concert. Each family will receive 2 tickets for the evening concert. Space is limited at the evening concert, so we cannot offer extra tickets for that show.

Noon Performance Students will wear their uniforms for this performance. Third Grade's Live Nativity will bring their costumes and change at school. Church doors open at 11:30am.
Evening Performance 6:30 pm Church and School doors open at 6:00pm. Students in grades K-2 and 4-5 will wear their Sunday best/dress up/church clothes. Students in grades 6-8 will wear church appropriate white tops and dark bottoms. Third grade Live Nativity will come to the church wearing their costumes. Grades K-3 report to the church basement. Grades 4-5 report to the school hall. Grades 6-8 report to their homerooms.

Children’s Christmas Liturgy
Monday, December 24, 2007 4:00 p.m.

Join in the celebration of Christmas!
Children of St. Joseph Parish in grades 3 through 8 are invited to participate in the 4:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Mass in the Church.

We are in need of greeters, candle-bearers, gift-bearers, ushers and readers.  Please complete the form below and send it to the Parish Center. There are a limited number of ministry roles within liturgy.  You will be assigned to a particular ministry based on the number and age of those that respond and the order in which they come in.

Please note that if you are singing with the Choristers you are already participating in a ministry for the Christmas Eve Mass.  Please do not sign up for another ministry.

All participants, except Choristers, must attend a practice session to be held on:
Saturday, December 22nd
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
in the Church

A NOTE FROM THE 'ROOS!
G'day Mates! Mrs. Salek is in a bit of pickle. She'd like to update the bulletin board and write a new letter for the web site, but she's missing photos and journals from recent trips. Can you help her out? If you've taken one of us along on your journeys, we're really grateful, but Mrs. Salek's class hasn't had any trips to calculate for extra credit (and you know how important that can be!) So if you can get her any information in the next few days, it would be appreciated.

By the way only Ozzie and Aussie have arrangements for Christmas vacation, and it looks like we girls are staying home unless a couple of you offer to take us along on your cruise, or to see The Mouse, or even to cousin Mildred's in Cleveland. So here's hoping a couple of you will drop Mrs. Salek a note and volunteer to take us wherever Christmas is going to be this year. We're dying to meet you and your family!! Sydney and JoJo

Santa Workshop Thank You
Student Council would like to thank everyone for coming to our Santa's Workshop! We had a wonderful turn out and the day was enjoyed by all! Thanks to everyone who participated, we have raised $1,000 for C.O.W.s, Computer on Wheels for Children's Hospital of Illinois! What a wonderful gift! Check back in April when Student Council attends convention in Springfield, Illinois to find out how much money all the schools in Illinois, including ours, raised for C.O.Ws Thank you to all the Student Council members and parents who were our little elves! Thank you to Mrs. Crawford, Mrs. Shover, Mrs. Malone, and Mrs. Fahey who helped organize this event with Student Council. We'd like to send out a Ho- Ho-Ho thank you to Santa Claus who was wonderful and a delight! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For more information on C.O.W.s please go to www.iajhsc.org.

If you are missing a photo of you with Santa from the workshop - please contact Marcy Rensi @ 630-910-7513.

St. Joseph Holiday Shopping

For the next few weeks, several retailers have increased their percent back to us; Border's 11%, iTunes 5%, Burger King 6%, Bath and Body Works 19%, BP 4%, and Harry and David 13%. Amazon.com is now a $25 gift card. Quiznos is now longer supplying gift cards. Keep those orders coming!

Manna Holiday Order Form 
Printable Manna Holiday Form                                                                      
Limited time only – additional offerings            
November 26th, December 3rd, 10th & 17th

Orders due by 9am Mondays – checks made payable to St. Joseph Parish
____ Pick up order – school Fri 9:30, mass Sat 5:00, Sun 8:45, Sun 10:30, or Parish center
____ Send with Messenger child ____ Automatic withdrawal

Restaurants                                             Retail
______ Auntie Anne’s $10                    ______ Circuit City $25/$100
______ Bennigans $25                         ______ Fannie May $20
______ Buca di Beppo $25                   ______ Footlocker $25
______ Buffalo Wild Wings $25             ______ Harry and David $25
______ Buona $10                               ______ KB Toys $20
______ California Pizza Kitchen $25      ______ Land’s End $25
______ Champs $25                            ______ Linen’s and Things $25
______ Cheesecake Factory $25           ______ Lowes Home Imprmnt $25/$100
______ Chuck E Cheese $10                ______ Macy’s $25/$100
______ Claim Jumpers $25                   ______ Shutterfly $25
______ Egg Harbor $15                        ______ Sharper Image $25
______ Famous Dave’s $25                  ______ Staples $25
______ Honey Baked Ham $20             ______ Steve and Barry’s $25
______ Houlihan’s $10                         ______ William Sonoma $25/$100
______ Old Country Buffet $25             ______ CVS Pharmacy $10
______ Spaghetti Warehouse $25                       
______ Max and Erma’s $25
______ Pizza Hut $10                                      
______ Qdoba Mexican Grill $25                                      
______ Applebee’s $10                                                    
______ Rockbottom $25
______ Sweet Tomatoes $10                 
______ Dennis Uniform $20
______ Brunswick Zone $10
 Specialty ______ Dennis Uniform $20______ Brunswick Zone $10

My Total Order is over $400 ______          **include my standing order
Free $10 Starbucks card ___            or                Free $10 Bath Body Works card ___
Free $10 Panera card ___                 or                Free $10 Downtown Downers ___
Order Total:  _______         
Name:  ___________________________    Parish Number:  ___________

Questions?  Contact Sue Errichiello (960-0835) or Cindy Jagielo (241-3735)

Mom's Calendar

This fall the students from 7th and 8th grade participated in the ‘Classroom Projects’ portion of the Hoe Down fundraiser.  Their project was a ‘Mom’s 13-month Calendar. The calendar contains 13 months beginning in January 2008 and is decorated with original artwork created by all of the students.  Each month has the day/date down the left side and headings along the top for all family members, beginning with Mom.  It also includes school and national holidays. 

This very unique and creative calendar is still available (by pre-order) for only a few more days!  Don’t miss out on this chance to become extremely organized in 2008 and enjoy a fun creation by the students.
Thanks for your support. Any questions, please call, Maureen McCormick @ 630-964-9396.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name________________________________ Phone______________________________________

# of calendars @ 30.00 each______________TOTAL _________________________________
Orders are due by December 7th c/o Sean McCormick Room 201. Delivery will be made by December 21.

LAST CHANCE!
ST. JOSEPH YOUTH MINISTRY is sponsoring a POINSETTIA SALE
As a service to you, order your Christmas Poinsettias through us! Help us raise funds to support Youth Mission Trips and Conferences. COST: $15.00 COLOR: RED or WHITE FLORIST: PHILLIPS THESE POINSETTIA'S ARE BEAUTIFUL 6 1/2” “florist quality” 6-8 blooms (You would pay at least $16.00 and up to $20.00 in the florist shop for these high quality plants) Pre-order only! In past years, on delivery weekend, MANY parishioners wanted to purchase a plant when they saw the quality of these Phillips Florist poinsettias. Order today! Take advantage of the price and convenience of picking your plants up after Mass while supporting the young people of your parish.
ORDERS DUE: Absolute Deadline is Mon. Dec. 10, but please send in A.S.A.P. (place order form in collection basket, drop it off or mail to St. Joseph Parish Center Office, 4824 Highland Ave., or turn it in to your child’s teacher or catechist) PICK-UP: St. Joseph Church December 15/16 after all Masses
—————cut here——-————————————————————————————cut here—–—-—–
(Return this half with payment)
NAME: __________________________________________________________________
PHONE #: _____________________ ALTERNATE PHONE #: _________________
Number of RED POINSETTIAS ordered ____________ Number of WHITE POINSETTIAS ordered ___________ Total AMOUNT DUE: $_____________ **PAYMENT DUE WITH ORDER**
CHECKS CAN BE MADE OUT TO ST. JOSEPH YOUTH MINISTRY WE ARE SO GRATEFUL FOR YOUR SUPPORT Blessings of Peace & Hope this Christmas from St. Joseph Parish Teens Next Page Next Page

Sr. Bernies BINGO BASH - Saturday January 12th
Great for Christmas gift–giving! Make shopping easy…give the gifts your loved ones will…”savor and enjoy” -Jeffrey Lyons NBC

Sister Bernie's BINGO BASH
Downers Grove North High School Auditorium : 4436 Main Street
7:30 pm/Doors open at 7:00 pm

Sister Bernie has the hottest bingo game in town until she discovers her bingo board mysteriously broken. Never losing hope she enlists Father Martini and Sister Cherisse to help organize a traveling bingo game ... and so begins this delightful disaster!!

In support of our 2008 World Youth Day Australia Trip:
Questions, call Youth Ministry at 603-964-0216 x1201
$25.00 per ticket in advance/$30.00 at the door.
Limited seating available

Sr. Bernie Bingo Bash Reservations

Crusader Pride

Click here for current Basketball News including practice schedules, rosters and games information.
Basketball Schedules / Rosters and Practices

Football Tradition Continues Correction
Thanks to Coach Nitti for a correction from last week's football poem write-up. Coach Nitti brought it to our attention that it was Brian Durkin who brought the poem, "The Man Who Thinks He Can" by Walter D. Wintle to the Last Hit night. Thanks, Brian for sharing. .

Fundraising

Manna

Manna Order Form
Manna Automatic Withdrawal
Manna Standing Order Forms

The Holiday order form is now available.
In addition to the standard pre-order form and standing orders, there is a Holiday order form for a limited time. Christmas orders are due in on 12/10, and 12/17. Manna pre-order forms are always available for printing on the web site. If you purchase $400 or over at one time including standing orders, you can select a $10 gift card. The promotion will run from November 16th through December 23rd. Any orders totaling $400 can choose a Starbuck card, Panera card, Bath and Body Works card, or a Downtown Downers gift certificate! The free card can be obtained at cash and carry, and for every pre-order you place from now until Christmas.

Sellers for the this week:
Friday, December 7, 9:30am school M. Byrne / R. Musil
Saturday, December 8, after 5:00pm mass N. Woods / J. Correll
Sunday, December 9, after 8:45am mass C. Piekaraczyk / S. Bowe
Sunday, December 9, after 10:30am mass T. Galvin / M. Fitzgerald
Friday, December 14, 9:30am school K. Lobes / T. O'Brien

Manna News: For the next few weeks, several retailers have increased their percent back to us; Border's 11%, iTunes 5%, Burger King 6%, Bath and Body Works 19%, BP 4%, and Harry and David 13%. Amazon.com is now a $25 gift card. Quiznos is now longer supplying gift cards. Keep those orders coming!

Community News