Christmas Eve Masses At St. Paul Church 4:00 PM- Children’s Mass 6:00 PM –  Liturgy with Carols Christmas Day Mass At St. Paul church 9:30 AM – Liturgy with Carols

Thank You for Your Generosity
    Once again the parishioners of St. Paul parish have given generously to those less fortunate than themselves.  All the tags were taken off the Giving Tree, some families taking two or even three tags.  The people who will be receiving these gifts will be very appreciative.  Your generous hearts have been tapped on many occasions and you have always answered.  Thank you so much for all you do for the missions, for the food pantry, and of course for you parish.  You do understand the Spirit of Christmas!

Info Sharing from Haiti …  Last week we were fortunate enough to be visited by the two women who are heading the Faith & Concern project for Haiti.  While they were here I had the chance to learn more about the mission we share with St. Bridgit and Sacred Heart Parish in Lexington MA.  Lee Crivello, the new chairperson of the organization has visited Haiti several times in the past five years. She shared some very interesting facts that you may be interested in knowing.
    First of all, the three parishes mentioned above, which includes us, are essentially the ones who are providing the money for the teachers’ salaries.  The total operating budget for the teacher salaries is approximately $40,000 and no, this is not an error.  There are 54 teachers in an area that includes one main school presently with eleven grades. All of the teachers are paid within the budget.  Also included in this system are 12 chapel schools in the surrounding areas which provide schooling to children who live too far to travel on a daily basis.  There is a total of 1200 children being educated.
     Until this year, CRS was providing the one hot meal a day the children were receiving.  This is mostly beans and rice.  Only children in grades 1 – 6 were given this meal.  The older children did not eat lunch unless they were fortunate enough to bring something from home.  This rarely happened. This year all the students are being fed the noon meal.  The outlying chapel schools are not being provided with any lunch since they do not have the facilities for storage food supplies.  
    There are some classes that have desks, i.e. a small board about 6” – 12” but many classes have no desks at all.  Some students have at least one workbook but only if they could afford to purchase one.  Other than that, there are no materials.  The classes are virtually empty.  The students do learn however and they are very serious about their education.  The parents are appreciative of the fact that their children will have more opportunity than they had. 
    Both women visiting us repeatedly emphasized their gratitude for all we do for the education of the children of Haiti.  Your generosity is very much appreciated.  The educational system of Fonts des Blancs in Haiti would have great difficulty existing at all without us.
    Thank you everyone.  If you have any questions about our mission feel free to contact me.  Lorette

Electronic Offering:
Our Parish is now able to take your offertory donations through Credit or Debit card.  If you wish to make you contribution in this manner, simply fill in the following and return to our office. 

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Please Check:  ______MasterCard ______Visa
                       ______Debit MasterCard _____Debit Visa
Card Number:____________________________________
Expiration:_________________Amount:_______________
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____One time _____Weekly_____Bi-Weekly ______Monthly

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News from the CYA (Catholic Young Adults)
    The CYA group now meets the 2nd Wednesday of each month.  If you are between the ages of 20-39, please join us at our next meeting at St. Paul’s Church from 6:30-8:00 pm.

Attention Married Couples!
    Ah yes, the calm, quiet, comforting holiday season! What? That’s not happening in your house?  Perhaps you should consider a weekend away!  Join us on Valentines’ weekend (Feb. 9-11, 2007) for an opportunity to rejuvenate your relationship.  Register now to claim your space!  Register at: registration@wwmenh.org.
                       
Time to Think of Summer Camps!
    “Camp Fatima for boys and Camp Bernadette for girls are taking registrations for their summer sessions.  For more information contact, Michael Drumm, (603)364-5851, PO Box 206 Gilmanton I.W., NH 03837, mdrumm@diocamps.org, or visit our website at www.diocamps.org.  Don’t wait as sessions are filling up quickly.
                   
Tapes and CDs Available
    If any of you are interested in listening to good spiritual material, you are invited to check the vestibule of the church for tapes and CDs that are available. The good news is that they are FREE.  The producers of this material do this as a ministry in order that we are able to benefit from their work.  We received these from a generous parishioner who is willing to share her findings.  The topics include talks on the Sacraments, Conversion, The Rosary etc.  You can keep it as long as you want to and you can feel free to pass them on to friends or neighbors you think would appreciate them.