NKCC

One ‘Ohana

The next One ‘Ohana gathering will be held on Sunday, December 11th at 12noon.  As usual, we will begin with lunch.  This month’s topic will be the SACRAMENT of MARRIAGE.  The event for the month is preparing for Christmas and celebrating the Holy Family.  The Adult Session will be conducted by Father Marvin Samiano from the Marriage Tribunal in Honolulu.  Father will talk about marriage, the freedom to marry, and annulment.  There are always so many questions about this subject and Father will be here to help provide answers.

Cooks With Time and Big Hearts Needed

We have been asked to recruit volunteers to cook an evening meal at the HOPE Emergency Shelter in the Old Industrial Area.  The food is already there in the kitchen.  The commitment is just a matter of preparing it for the residents.  Most volunteers have selected one day a month.  The whole thing should take no more than 2 hours.  The days remaining uncovered are the following: 2nd, 3rd, 4th Mondays and the 2nd Thursday of the month.  We also need a few people who might be willing to substitute when a regular person and/or group is unable to make it.  The time would be 4:30PM to 6:30PM.

Thank you in advance for your willingness to “feed the hungry.

Sew-A-Thon

Mahalo to all.  Our efforts to provide dresses for girls around the world are yielding results.  The recent “Sew-a-Thon” yielded 45 dresses in one day, due to the generous donation of time,  materials, machines, and the talent of about a dozen women. Hundreds of Kona-produced “pillowcase” dresses were shipped to Cambodia and several locations in Africa and the Philippines.  Several Big Island physicians have sponsored shipments.

We extend our thanks also to those who provided the seed money to get things started in the summer, and to those from HOPE Services who provided instruction to several women at The Friendly Place!  Our next shipment of 100 dresses is heading for the Philippines, just in time for Christmas.  Check out the One ‘Ohana web pages for pictures from the event.

Giving Tree

Like last Advent, this year we will have a GIVING TREE.  This is one way in which we, as a parish, can assist those less fortunate in our foreign missions.  The Global Solidarity Committee asks that you remove an ornament from the tree and place your donation in the attached envelope.  Regardless of how little we feel we have to offer our own family and friends this Christmas, we still have more than those who live in extreme poverty in the Philippines and Africa.  Children and adults, alike, lack the very basic things we take for granted.  A child in the Philippines does not look for a toy at Christmas.  These kids are thrilled with a pair of shoes or a little something extra to eat.  St. Michael's Parish has made Christmas a little brighter before and we can do it again this year!

Engaging Spirituality

Are you deeply concerned about our world?  · Are you looking for wisdom about how to follow Jesus with integrity in times like these?  · Are you open to opportunities for spiritual growth?

If your answer to these questions is an enthusiastic “YES,” then you may be ready for a spiritually-intensive experience called Engaging Spirituality.

Engaging Spirituality is a prayerful process that invites us to draw this world down into ourselves, to hold it in prayer together, and to practice living deeply.

If you would like a glimpse into this process, join us for an introductory discussion on Saturday, December 10th at 10am at Immaculate Conception Church Hall.  For more information on Engaging Spirituality, contact:  Zola Ingram – 329-4049 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it / Cynthia Taylor – 960-0734 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Bake Sale

Arrion Llantos (Lovette's son) is asking for support from the St. Michael's community for his fundraising project.  He is taking Citizenship Class at Kealakehe High School and is organizing a bake sale to be held on Dec. 3rd from 9AM-3PM at Walmart.  The proceeds of the bake sale will go towards St. Michael's Building Fund.

The parents of his classmates will bake some goods, but Arrion needs more baked goods to sell and also some promo help so people will buy.  If you are willing to help, please bring baked goods to Walmart on the 3rd of December at 9AM.

Social Justice Book Club

The Social Justice Book Club will discuss Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder at its next meeting.  In the book, Tracy Kidder follows Deogratias, a young man from the African nation of Burundi.  He arrives at JFK Airport with $200, no English, and no contacts, but with the help of strangers and an incredible will, he becomes an American citizen and medical doctor.  He travels back to Burundi to build a clinic and public health system.  Please join us in a discussion of the book and issues related to immigration.  The Book Club meets December 1st after the noon Mass at 12:30pm in Immaculate Conception Hall.

Girl Scouts Project Helps Soldiers

We, the Cadettes of Girl Scout Troop 2028 are working on our Silver Award.  Our project is to provide stockings for soldiers deployed in defense of our country.  Time is an issue:  we need to prepare, complete and ship out by Monday, December 12th.  Our cutoff for completed stockings is December 9th.  Therefore, we would like to have donations in by December 4th.  We humbly ask for donations that can be placed in a Christmas stocking.  Items needed:

Christmas Stockings/ chapstick/ dice/ deck of cards/ hard candy, gum, candy canes, mints/ notepads (small)/ Spam/ pencil & sharpener/ sunscreen/ tissue/ shampoo & conditioner/ toothpaste & toothbrush / dental floss/ hand sanitizer/ batteries-AA & AAA/ flashlights/ razors & shaving cream/ chips, mac nuts, cookies/ puzzle books (small)/ cotton balls/ First Aid Kit (small)/ sewing kit/ nail file/ CDs & DVDs

We welcome stockings already stuffed, as well as items to stuff into stockings.  Any monetary donations will be used toward postage to send these packages to the troops.

A Hui Hou Crematory & Funeral Home, 74-5615 Luhia Street (Palm Terrace Plaza) in the Old Industrial Area is a receiving station Monday through Friday from 9am–4pm; other hours by appointment:  329-5137.

Thankfully, Cadettes Paulette Abaire, Sarah Emmons, Madison Brumbaugh

First Sunday of Advent, cycle B

With Advent we begin our new liturgical year. We again prepare for the coming of Christ at the end of time and in time at Christmas. Last but not least, we begin to use the new translation of the Roman Missal this weekend. Today's Gospel proclaims that we should "be alert." Those involved with liturgical ministry may find the ending of today's Gospel amusing in the context of the implementation, "May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping." There'll be no chance of that happening at today's liturgies, for sure! Everyone will be paying close attention. Years of work and struggle have gone into this revision and, in the midst of everything, the Holy Spirit lives and guides us. Today we call to mind the words of Isaiah in the first reading, "Yet, O Lord…we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands." Celebrants should not make a joke if and when they stumble over new words. Be instruments of peace to your people. Implore them not to judge and to be willing to let the potter mold us all. Everyone should simply agree to refrain from making judgments about the new texts until we have some time to gain familiarity with the wording. Perhaps we will even gain fresh insight from today's new texts.

This Thursday, December 1, we celebrate an important international health day: World AIDS Day. Let not our liturgical tasks today diminish our concern for these mostly economically poor 33 million people of God's creation who are infected with HIV.

By Elaine Rendler-McQueeney, from Today's Liturgy 2012 © 2011, OCP. All rights reserved.

This Is the Day

Year B contains some of the most beloved readings of our tradition, ones that provide us with a rich palette of colors for liturgical preparation. With some exceptions, Mark's gospel is proclaimed in this season and throughout this year.

Today's warning from Mark 13, "Stay awake!" urges us to prepare for Christ's final coming. Certainly today's acclamation is "When we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus, until you come in glory."

The liturgy of the First Sunday of Advent, Year B, is rich with imagery evocative of the return of Christ both at the end of time and for us now in this hopeful season. Readings from the last few weeks were concerned with harvest. They dovetail with today's gospel, which exhorts us to "be ready."

The Isaiah reading is a prayer of distress from a people who think God has abandoned them. Perhaps their words ring true for many people today. But as Tad Guzie says in The Book of Sacramental Basics (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1981): "This is what any sacramental celebration tries to overcome — not God's distance from us, because there is none, but rather our distance from God and our unawareness of the love that is there for us."

By Elaine Rendler-McQueeney, from This is the Day
© 1995, OCP. All rights reserved.

Stewardship Report - Nov. 19th-20th