MASS SCHEDULE Saturday (Sunday Liturgy)………………..6:00 p.m. Sunday 7:30 (EN), 10:30 (EN) & 12noon (EN) 9:00 (SP) Daily Mass…………………………………. 8:30 a.m. Mon & Wed & Fri (EN) and Tue & Thu (SP)

CONFESSIONS Monday thru Friday……………….by appointment Thursday……………………………….6:00-7:00 p.m. Saturday………………………………..5:00-5:50 p.m.

WEEKLY EUCHARISTIC ADORATION Thursday……………………………….3:00-7:00 p.m. Monday-Friday (Adoration Chapel) 8:00a.m.-5:00 p.m.

CLERGY

Rev. José R. Peréz-Martínez, JCD, Pastor

Rev. Alfredo Basualdo, In Res.

DEACONS

Adam Garza Nestor Huizar Charles Pope

PARISH STAFF

Alice Ortiz Assistant to the Pastor

Dina Ruiz Pastoral Administrator

Charlotte Keller Financial Administrator

Yolanda Gutierrez Parish Bookkeeper

Griselda Picaso Communications & Bulletin Editor

Mary Zavala

Director of Religious Education

Faith Zavala Youth Director

Rafael Torres Hall Manager

Ignacio Rabago Campus Maintenance Supervisor

Linda Ramos Gift Shop Coordinator

Graciela Rivera

Wedding Coordinator

TELEPHONE NUMBERS Parish Of ice

Of ice: 210.924.4401 Fax: 210.924.4075

Religious Education Of ice: 210.924.6470

OFFICE HOURS Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Of ice closed for lunch from 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

236 E. PETALUMA BLVD • SAN ANTONIO, TX 78221

210.924.4401 • Email: stlawrcommunications@gmail.com Website: www.stlawrencesa.org

— Mateo 1:23

— Ma hew 1:23

Fourth Sunday of Advent December 22, 2019

Today the Church celebrates the Fourth Sunday of Advent. We light the last candle on our Advent wreath and our preparation for Christmas is almost finished. We also reach the culmi-nation of the O Antiphons. In previous antiphons our cry was directed to the Messiah as He manifested Himself to the Chosen People, to the Gentiles, and in nature; now He is addressed in person and asked to remain with us as Emmanuel.

Reading this final antiphon gives the feeling that a climax has indeed come. The very term Emmanuel, God with us, reveals the kindly, human heart of Jesus — He wants to be one of us, a Child of man, with all our human weakness and suffering; He wants to experience how hard it is to be man. He wants to remain with us to the end of time, He wants to dwell within us, He wants to make us share His nature.

wwwfacebook.com St. Lawrence Catholic Church, San Antonio Texas

GlorytoGodinthehighest,andonearthpeacetothoseonwhomhisfavorrests!-Luke 2:14 While we await the coming of our Lord in the simple form of the newborn Jesus, our hope is that his birth inds us all with open hearts. We pray that at this very moment the Holy Spirit may shower you with peace, joy and profound love. Like baby Jesus, in our journey as Disciples of Christ, we sometimes ind ourselves as an infant child, fragile, vulnerable, so very small; may we also ind within ourselves the gifts He left for us; his mighty strength, so we may endure the challenges that come, his wisdom, so we may ind our way to his grace and his in inite love, so we may ind peace and hope in every moment of our existence. We are grateful for your hard work and dedication to the life of our beloved St. Lawrence, the Martyr Catholic Church. May the blessings this Christmas Season brings to your life today remain with you always. From your friends and Staff at St. Lawrence, Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!!! Mientras esperamos la venida de Jesucristo, en forma de un fragil bebe, recien nacido, nuestra espe-ranza es que su nacimiento nos encuentre a todos con el corazon abierto. Le pedimos a Dios que en este momento el Espıritu Santo los bendiga con dones de paz, alegrıa y un amor in inito. Que en este viaje como Discıpulos de Cristo, cuando nos encontremos como un bebe recien nacido, fragil, vulnerable y muy, pero muy pequeno; tambien encontremos dentro de nosotros los dones que Jesus nos dejo; fortaleza, para que podamos soportar los desafıos de la vida, sabidurıa, para discernir nuestro camino hacia su gracia y amor in inito, para que podamos encontrar paz y esperanza en cada paso de nuestra vida. Estamos muy agradecidos por todo su trabajo, por todo lo que contribuyen a la vida de nuestra amada parroquia, St. Lawrence, the Martyr Catholic Church. Nuestro deseo es que las bendiciones que recibas esta Navidad, permanezcan contigo para siempre. Tus amigos y Equipo de Trabajo de St. Lawrence, te desean una muy feliz Navidad !!!

Mass Intentions for the Weekend

Sat., December 21, 2019

6:00 pm Almendarez Family† Naun Delgado† Irma Guerra† Delilah Jeter (Health) Candi Ortiz† Emilio Ortiz† James McDaniel† Rosalinda Mireles† David Ramos† Juan Ramos†

Sun., December 22, 2019

7:30am Raul De La Garza† Delilah Jetter (Health) Felix Salas† Dora Sepulveda† Maria Vidaurri†

9:00am Jose Andres Arredondo† Ruben Flores† Oscar Gonzales† Rita Nanez† Roberto Ramos† Maria Elena Terrazas† Indalicio Uriaga† Gilberto R. Vasquez† Soledad Zavala†

10:30am Darren Dominguez† Katherine Fernandez Health Jose Gonzalez† Bianca Herrera (SI) Delilah Jetter (Health) Carrie Villarreal† Everardo Villarreal†

12:00pm Lillie Anaya† Francisco Anaya† Tomas Cruz† Emilio Cruz† Edmundo Zaragoza-health Eloise Zaragoza†

< Eucharistic Adoration-Thursday, 3pm-

7pm in the Church and Monday-Friday,

8am-5pm in the Chapel.

Adoración Eucarística- jueves de 3pm-

7pm en la Iglesia y de Lunes a Viernes de

8am-5pm en la Capilla.

Congratulations Ms. Kayla Treviño & Austin Cordova received the Sacra-ment of Marriage on December 21st at 2 pm. May the Almighty bless you in a special way today and remain with you always. Prayers and best wishes.

With just three days to go until Christmas, the kind of preparation

we may be focused on may have little to do with Jesus’ birth. Let us take this opportunity to focus on the true gift of Christmas. A virgin will bear a son, one in the line of David, who will be called Emmanuel, “God is with us.” Along with preparing gifts and Christmas dinner, let us also prepare a place in our hearts for God to be with us.

Three figures in today’s readings choose to place their trust in God, each after appearing reluctant to do so. Ahaz, the king of Judah, disingenuously protests his unworthiness in making a request of the LORD when actually he fears that he will need to accept the sign. Paul now calls himself “a slave of Christ Jesus,” but had formerly persecuted Christians (Romans 1:1). Finally, Joseph was ready to divorce Mary until the angel of the Lord counseled him otherwise. Each chose to place his trust in God once God gave him a sign. As God is truly with us, do we have faith in the signs God gives us?

Sometimes the opposite of faith is fear. Judah feared its hostile neighbors and Ahaz feared he would lose his power. Mary was found with child and Joseph feared a marriage to an unfaithful wife. Each overcame his fear through faith in God’s promises.

Through the angel Gabriel, God revealed Mary’s mission to her. She was to bear the

Son of God: Jesus, the Messiah. Mary consented, “May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Through the angel of the Lord, God revealed Joseph’s mission to him. He was to take Mary into his home. Joseph “did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took his wife into his home” (Matthew 1:24). Jesus had a mission as well, revealed in his very name: to save the people from their sins. Like Mary and Joseph, Jesus accepted his mission. For this, we are filled with joy.

St. Lawrence Catholic Church Page 3

St. Lawrence Catholic Church Page 4 Con sólo

tres días para que

llegue la Navidad la clase de preparación que es-temos haciendo puede tener muy poco que ver con el nacimiento de Jesús. Aprovechemos en-tonces esta oportunidad para poner nuestra aten-ción en el verdadero regalo de la Navidad. Una virgen dará a luz un hijo, del linaje de David, y se llamará Emmanuel, “Dios-con-nosotros”. Junto con la preparación de regalos y con la cena de Navidad preparemos también un lugar en nuestro corazón para que Dios esté con nosotros.

Hay tres personajes en las lecturas de hoy que deci-dieron poner su con anza en Dios después de pri-mero estar reacios a hacerlo. Ajaz, el rey de Judá, protesta hipócritamente ser indigno de pedirle una señal al Señor, cuando en realidad teme tener que aceptar esa señal una vez dada. Pablo ahora se lla-ma a sí mismo “siervo de Cristo Jesús”, pero antes perseguía o cialmente a los cristianos (romanos 1, 1). Por último José estaba dispuesto a divorciarse de María hasta que el ángel del Señor le aconsejó lo contrario. Cada uno de ellos decidió poner su con-

anza en Dios después de haber recibido una señal de Dios. Dios está verdaderamente con nosotros, así pues, ¿tenemos fe en las señales que Dios nos da?

Algunas veces lo opuesto a la fe es el temor. Judá temía a sus vecinos hos-tiles y Ajaz temía perder el poder. María concibió un niño y José temía un matrimonio con una esposa in el. Cada uno de ellos superó su temor por su fe en las promesas de Dios.

Por medio del ángel Gabriel Dios le reveló a María cuál sería la misión de ella. Daría a luz al Hijo de Dios: Jesús, el Mesías. María consintió y dijo: “cúmplase en mí lo que me has dicho” (Lucas 1, 38). Por medio del ángel del Señor Dios le reveló a José la misión que a él se le con aba. Debía lle-

var consigo a María a su casa. José “hizo lo que le había mandado el ángel del Señor y recibió a su esposa (Mateo 1, 24). Jesús también tenía una misión, revelada en su propio nombre: redimir a las personas de sus pecados. Al igual que María y José, Jesús acepta su misión. Por eso nosotros nos llenamos de júbilo.

Adriana Chavez

Gilbert G. Chavez Gilberto R. Chavez

Lorraine Diaz Melba Delagarza De Leon family

Robert Dromgoole Dn. Arturo Garcia Cynthia Gonzalez

Julia Herrera Gloria Izaguirre Jesus Izaguirre

David Keller Gloria Lambaria

Janeth Lopez Carlos Manzanares Valen n Mar nez

Ruben McRae Leonard Morales Manuel Palacios

Clarisa Peña Robert Perez ,Jr.

Deacon Charles Pope Stella Pope Joel Serna Luis Torres

Jessica Rose Tristan Linda Vargas

Edmundo Zaragoza

"The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God

gives it light, and the Lamb is the light."

Revelation 21:23

Is lit for the eternal rest of †Adela Chapa

From December 22, 2019

through December 28, 2019

Fr. Frank Iacona, C.M.F. of Cross Cath-olic Outreach will be visiting our parish next weekend to speak at all the Masses on behalf of the poor in developing countries. Cross Catholic Outreach was founded to create a meaningful link be-tween parishes in America and the priests and nuns working in the Church overseas in the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Central and South America.

—Pedro Rubalcava

St. Lawrence Catholic Church Page 5

READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: Mal 3:1-4, 23-34; Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-10, 14; Lk 1:57-66 Tuesday: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Ps 89:2-5, 27, 29; Lk 1:67-79 Wednesday: 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] Thursday: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59; Ps 31:3cd-4, 6, 8ab, 16bc, 17; Mt 10:17-22 Friday: 1 Jn 1:1-4; Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12; Jn 20:1a, 2-8 Saturday: 1 Jn 1:5 — 2:2; Ps 124:2-5, 7cd-8; Mt 2:13-18 Sunday: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14; Ps 128:1-5; Col 3:12-21 [12-17]; Mt 2:13-15, 19-23

LECTURAS DE LA SEMANA Lunes: Mal 3:1-4, 23-34; Sal 25 (24):4-5ab, 8-10, 14; Lc 1:57-66 Martes: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Sal 89 (88):2-5, 27, 29; Lc 1:67-79 Miércoles: Vigilia: Is 62:1-5; Sal 89 (88):4-5, 16-17, 27, 29; Hch 13:16-17, 22-25; Mt 1:1-25 [18-25] Noche: Is 9:1-6; Sal 96 (95):1-3, 11-13; Tit 2:11-14; Lc 2:1-14 Aurora: Is 62:11-12; Sal 97 (96):1, 6, 11-12; Tit 3:4-7; Lc 2:15-20 Día: Is 52:7-10; Sal 98 (97):1-6; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 [1-5, 9-14] Jueves: Hch 6:8-10; 7:54-59; Sal 31 (30):3cd-4, 6, 8ab, 16bc, 17; Mt 10:17-22 Viernes: 1 Jn 1:1-4; Sal 97 (96):1-2, 5-6, 11-12; Jn 20:1a, 2-8 Sábado: 1 Jn 1:5 — 2:2; Sal 124 (123):2-5, 7cd-8; Mt 2:13-18 Domingo: Eclo 3:2-6, 12-14;Sal 128 (127):1-5;Col 3:12-21 [12-17];Mt2:13-15,19-23

The parish office will be CLOSED on December 24th & 25th in observance of the Christmas Holidays.