December 2019 Newsletter

Loving Father, help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts. May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’ sake. Amen. A Prayer for Christmas Eve

–Robert Louis Stevenson

A Christmas Basket Testimony Each year Holy Family hosts the Christmas Basket program, a week-long event packed with tasks to ensure that less fortunate families in the Brentwood area receive a beautiful and generous Christmas. Holy Family’s parishioners gather together as one to help make this possible by packing boxes, wrapping presents, and even delivering those presents to the doors of these families. Holy Family parishioners, Cindy and Lonnie Younger participated in this program last year and had a remarkable experience.

“As new parishioners we decided to volunteer for the Men’s Club Christmas Basket Project and wanted to share our experience as well as to pass on the gratitude of those we delivered to on Saturday. We came on Thursday morning to help unload the truck and get the boxes ready and then again on Saturday morning to make deliveries. We picked two families to deliver the food/gifts. Even though you gave us a heads up that these families may want to visit with us, we never expected the outpouring of gratitude to us and HFCC. They needed to share their stories, to have someone listen, not judge why they were the recipients of such generosity. We gave hugs, shared laughs, and in the end we received more than we delivered.

Thank you, Men’s Club. We were so impressed with how well organized everything was and the significant number of parishioners who volunteered their time and treasure. As Father Joe stated in this morning’s homily, this truly is a wonderful HFCC community project to help those in need and for us, it made our Christmas holy.”

Each year Holy Family hosts the Christmas Basket program, a week-long event packed with tasks to ensure that less fortunate families in the Brentwood area receive a beautiful and generous Christmas. Holy Family’s parishioners gather together as one to help make this possible by packing boxes, wrapping presents, and even delivering those presents to the doors of these families. Holy Family parishioners, Cindy and Lonnie Younger participated in this program last year and had a remarkable experience.

“As new parishioners we decided to volunteer for the Men’s Club Christmas Basket Project and wanted to share our experience as well as to pass on the gratitude of those we delivered to on Saturday. We came on Thursday morning to help unload the truck and get the boxes ready and then again on Saturday

morning to make deliveries. We picked two families to deliver the food/gifts. Even though you gave us a heads up that these families may want to visit with us, we never expected the outpouring of gratitude to us and HFCC. They needed to share their stories, to have someone listen, not judge why they were the recipients of such generosity. We gave hugs, shared laughs, and in the end we received more than we delivered.

Thank you, Men’s Club. We were so impressed with how well organized everything was and the significant number of parishioners who volunteered their time and treasure. As Father Joe stated in this morning’s homily, this truly is a wonderful HFCC community project to help those in need and for us, it made our Christmas holy.”