Church of the Transfiguration 4000 E. Castro Valley Blvd., Castro Valley, CA 94552-4908

(510) 538-7941 Fax (510) 538-7983 E-mail: transfig_office@sbcglobal.net Website: www.transfigchurch.com December 18, 2016

Rev. Mario L. Borges, Pastor ● Rev. Terence O’Malley, Parochial Administrator Deacon Martin J. Leach ● Deacon John A. Mignano ● Deacon Timothy L. Moore ● Deacon Burton J. Rigley

LITURGICAL MINISTRY: Eucharistic Ministers, Stephen and Carina Kowalewski Lectors, Barbara Mehan Altar Servers, Clarence Decano Youth Liturgy, Michelle Gilman

FINANCE COUNCIL: Chairman, Mark Zaleski

PARISH ORGANIZATIONS: Catholic Youth Organization (CYO), 60 Plus or Minus Club, Cursillo Group

SAINT VINCENT de PAUL SOCIETY: (510) 274-0830 Serving our community.

SICK & HOMEBOUND MINISTRY: Claudia Paquette, (510) 537-8986

STEWARDSHIP: Chairperson, Ed Coelho, (510) 881-5705 WINGS “Women in God’s Spirit”: Trish Ferrari, (510) 581-7263 HALL MANAGER: Pat Ballinger, (510) 537-1502

HALL RENTAL MANAGER: Monica Corona, 510-239-7941

YOUTH MINISTRY: Alfonso Corona III transfig.oasis@gmail.com PARISH OFFICE: Phone: (510) 538-7941 Fax: (510) 538-7983 Hours: 8:00 a.m. — 4:30 p.m., Monday-Thursday (Closed between 12:00 & 1:00 p.m.) Friday, 9:00a.m. — 12:00 Noon - Saturday & Sunday—Closed Secretary, Gloria Meeker Secretary/Bookkeeper, Phyllis Moore

SCHEDULE OF MASSES Saturdays 4:00 p.m. Sundays 7:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. (Except First Fridays - 9:30 a.m.) Communion Service - Saturdays, 8:00 a.m. CONFESSIONS Saturdays 3:00-3:45 p.m. BAPTISMS: Pre-baptismal class is required. Class is held the second Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the Rectory. Please call the Parish Office, (510) 538-7941, to register. MATRIMONY: Six months advance notice required. Please call the parish office. WEDDING COORDINATOR: Mel Speed (510) 909-9334 or melspeed@live.com FUNERALS: Please contact the funeral home of your choice and then the parish office. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: Director, Patrice Ballinger (510) 537-1502 or TransfigCCD@aol.com RCIA: Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults Please call the parish office. MUSIC MINISTRY: Director, Alexander Katsman (510) 538-7941, Ext. 302 or Transfig_Music@sbcglobal.net

Mission Statement: “Transfiguring Our Community Through Faith”

Fourth Sunday of Advent December 18, 2016

They shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”

— Matthew 1:23

Mass Intentions (December 17-24, 2016) Sat. 4:00 p.m. Mario Cirimele Sun. 7:30 a.m. John Leli 9:00 a.m. For the People 11:00 a.m. Mark Nedderman Mon. 8:00 a.m. Special Intention for Manuel & Maria Costa Tues. 8:00 a.m. Joseph Golick Wed. 8:00 a.m. Melba Sawyer Thurs. 8:00 a.m. Special Intention for Linda Merkt Fri. 8:00 a.m. Special Intention for Manuel & Maria Costa and Family Sat. 4:00 p.m. For the People Midnight For the People

Stewardship Corner The collection total for the weekend of: December 3rd & 4th—$12,350.00 December 10th & 11th—$9,207.00 (compared to $12,000 average weekly stewardship goal) Christmas Flowers—$1,668.00 Religious Retirement—$1,941.00 Thank you for continuing in your stewardship role of providing for the upkeep of our parish community.

We extend a warm welcome to new parishioners. Please pick up a registration form in the vestibule of the church and return it to the Parish Office. This helps us to serve you better.

Remember Transfiguration in your Will and Living Trust

Adult Bible Study There will be no Bible Study on Monday, December 19th and during the holiday season. We will resume on January 9, 2017.

Coffee and Donuts Julie Monteiro & Sunita D’Costa will be hosting coffee and donuts this Sunday after the 9:00 a.m. Mass. Stop by and enjoy the fellowship.

Transfiguration Catholic Church

Church Decorating Party for Christmas You’re invited to join us for a decorating party on Tuesday, December 20 at 7:00 p.m.! There will be Christmas music, Christmas treats and plenty of Christmas Joy! Help us get our church ready to celebrate our savior’s birth! Please RSVP to the Parish Office, (510) 538-7941. (Do you have a ladder you can bring? Please let us know when you RSVP. Thank you!)

Christmas Schedule Dec. 24th—4:00 p.m. Children’s Mass

Midnight Mass—Christmas Carols—11:30 p.m. Dec. 25th—7:30, 9:00, 11:00 a.m. January 1, 2017, New Year’s Day

Mass at 7:30, 9:00, 11:00 a.m. Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God

St. Vincent de Paul Meeting Sunday, December 18th—10:00 a.m.

Parish Hall—All are welcome.

SUMMONED BY GOD As Christmas draws near, Advent’s scriptures lure us into a world of dreams, signs, wonders, and the miracle of the vir-gin birth. Too often we allow the great stories of our faith, the ones that are most familiar, simply to wash over us. To-day’s Gospel account of the events leading up to the birth of the Lord reads like a present-day soap opera. Yet Joseph’s courage, even in the midst of what must have been an incred-ibly confusing time, provides a model for us. Each week, we are summoned by God to embrace the way of goodness and truth through the proclamation of God’s holy word. Like Joseph, we are called to do as the Lord commands us. As we stand at the threshold of Christmas, let us have the courage to be open to whatever it is that the Lord will require of us as we celebrate the miracle of Bethlehem. Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.

Eucharistic Ministers Sign-up sheets for Christmas Masses are in the vestibule.

Need a last minute gift? Give the Gift of Crab Feed!

Advance sale tickets are available this week for Christmas giving. The date of the Transfiguration Crab Feed is Saturday, February 18, 2017. The cost per ticket is $45.00. Treat your family and friends to an evening of crab, dancing, and fun! To purchase a gift certificate, contact George Hall at (510) 512-6150. Regular ticket sales will start on the weekend of January 14-15, 2017 after all masses.

For Your Information The Parish Office will be closed on

Monday, December 26th and Monday, January 2nd in observance of Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Thank You The Music Ministry of Transfiguration would like to thank all of you who came and supported us at our Christmas Concert.

Baptism Class The next Baptism class will be

Tuesday, January 10, 2017. Please call the Parish Office to register.

For Your Information When writing your checks for regular or special collections, please make all checks payable to Transfiguration Church (a request made by our bank). The Church will then send one total check for each special collection to the designated charity. Also, please write in the memo portion of your check the name of the collection to which you are donating. This will help the office to give you proper credit. Thank you for your support!

Credit, Debit, and Electronic Check Offerings If you would like to make your Sunday offering by credit or debit card, or electronic check, please go to our website: transfigchurch.com, and click on the “Donate” tab. From there, click on the “Donate Now” button to be taken to a se-cure website to complete the setup of your offering.

NO Classes this Week. We will have THREE weeks off this year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Religious Education~~ C.C.D.

C . C . D .

TODAY’S READINGS First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14

Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7 Psalm 24—Gospel: Matthew 1:18-24

The English translation of the Psalm Responses from the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, Interna-tional Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.

READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: Jgs 13:2-7, 24-25a; Ps 71:3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17; Lk 1:5-25 Tuesday: Is 7:10-14; Ps 24:1-4ab, 5-6; Lk 1:26-38 Wednesday: Sg 2:8-14 or Zep 3:14-18a; Ps 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21; Lk 1:39-45 Thursday: 1 Sm 1:24-28; 1 Sm 2:1, 4-8abcd; Lk 1:46-56 Friday: Mal 3:1-4, 23-34; Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-10, 14; Lk 1:57-66 Saturday: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Ps 89:2-5, 27, 29; Lk 1:67-79 Sunday: Vigil: Is 62:1-5; Ps 89:4-5, 16-17, 27 29; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Mt 1:1-25 [18-25] Night: Is 9:1-6; Ps 96:1-3, 11-13; Ti 2:11-14; Lk 2:1-14 Dawn: Is 62:11-12; Ps 97:1, 6, 11-12; Ti 3:4-7; Lk 2:15-20 Day: Is 52:7-10; Ps 98:1-6; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 [1-5, 9-14] SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES Sunday: Fourth Sunday of Advent Tuesday: St. Peter Canisius; Winter Solstice Thursday: St. John of Kanty Friday: The Vigil of Christmas Saturday: The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)

Attention Lectors! Please pick up your workbooks in the bride’s room.

Thank you for advertising in our bulletin. We appreciate your support!

TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION By now, the first Christmas carols are heard in the home, but usually not yet in church. What is a “carol” anyway? Originally, a carol was any kind of communal song sung at a festival such as a harvest. By the thirteenth century or so, carols were associated with household celebrations. “Carol” comes from the Old French carula, meaning a circular dance. Carols weren’t for church, since the language of lit-urgy was Latin and the carols were in the common lan-guage. Their characteristic sound comes from medieval chord patterns, and they often have strong refrains for eve-ryone to sing. Even in the churches of the Reformation, car-ols didn’t make it into church services until the 1870s or so, since there was a preference for psalms. Anglicans resisted popular carols; most of our beloved carols came via the Methodists, an offshoot of the Church of England. The Catholic Church generally didn’t admit carols to liturgy either, but we didn’t make laws against them. We are told that the beloved carol “Silent Night” comes from Catholic Austria and a harried parish music director. Joseph Mohr, the priest of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, had written the words in 1816, but offered them to his music director, Franz Gruber, when the church’s organ broke. Mohr asked him to write a melody that could be played on guitar as a prelude to Mass. Gruber finished the tune just hours before mid-night Mass in 1818. The people were shocked to hear a gui-tar in church, but were charmed by the sweet lullaby. The church was swept away by a flood in the 1990s and the vil-lage later relocated, but the townspeople have set up the “Silent Night Memorial Chapel” at the site. Today the carol is in print in some three hundred languages. How wonderful that the pipe organ broke on that night! —Rev. James Field, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.

Many Thanks to All! Thank you to all who participated in the “Giving Tree” this year. Whether you purchased, delivered, or helped organize, know that it was greatly appreciated.

Your Prayers Are Requested for the Repose of the Souls of:

Frank Ramirez, Jr. (Father of Janet Smith) Roger Williams (Husband of Kathy Williams) Michael Menolascino (Husband of Mary Menolascino)

LETTER FROM POPE FRANCIS THE “JOY OF THE GOSPEL” CONTINUED...

The Proclamation of the Gospel—#163

Kerygmatic and mystagogical catechesis

Education and catechesis are at the service of this growth. We already possess a number of magisterial documents and aids on catechesis issued by the Holy See and by var-ious episcopates. I think in particular of the Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae (1979), the General Catechetical Directory (1997) and other documents whose contents need not be repeated here. I would like to offer a few brief considerations which I believe to be of particular significance.

Fr. Terry’s Remarks—Today Pope Francis reminds us once more, and do we need reminding!!, that in edu-cating and in catechizing we must never lose sight of the end. Namely; that Jesus came to redeem us and He ful-filled His mission. His death on the Cross was not an ad-mission of failure but a direct line to Resurrection and eternal life. In the weeks ahead, we will try to keep it al-ways in mind in our daily lives, practice our salvation and not replace it or place it in doubt. Our object in life is to live as redeemed sons and daughters of God and not as if somehow our redemption was still in the balance. So let us look to the scene of Bethlehem and rejoice that our salvation is at hand.