August 15th
On this great feast day, the Church commemorates the happy departure from mortal life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Her translation into the kingdom of Her Son, where He crowned Her with immortal glory and enthroned Her above all the other Saints and heavenly spirits.

Mass Schedule for the Solemnity of the Assumption
Holy Day of Obligation

Thursday, August 14, 7:00pm
Vigil Mass @ St. Joseph’s

Friday, August 15, 9:00am
Holy Day Mass @ St. Mary’s

Scheduled for
Saturday, September 6th
@ St. Mary's from 9-12
in the Family Life Center With Baptisms to follow September 14th

Preparation classes for baptism are a requirement for parents or expectant parents of children up to 5 years old and are generally held every other month.

Godparents are encouraged to attend as well.

We invite you to call early in your pregnancy to register for a class.

Call: Francell Busa
(936) 870-4145 (fbusa@embarqmail.com),
Gaby Tryon (936) 448-1342,
Anita Thornton (936) 448-2974
En espanol: Maria Pena, (936) 588-4765

Beginning with the first CCE class on September 17, St. Mary's Choristers will rehearse in the Church from 6 -- 7pm on CCE class evenings (Wednesdays), and St. Mary's Chimes Choir will rehearse in the Hall. These new programs for 3rd through 8th grade students will be open for registration with CCE registration on Aug. 17 and Aug. 24.

The Choristers and Chimes Choirs will be singing and playing at regular Sunday Mass approximately once every month and at many special events, such as First Communion, Confirmation, Christmas, and Easter. Help your children to learn about the music of our faith so that they can truly fully participate in worship. For more information, contact Linda Armstrong at 936-825-0565, or leave a message at the church office.

A warm thank-you and a heartfelt congratulations to our St. Mary's Men's Choir. With only two rehearsals, they truly sounded like a (large!) choir of angels when they sang at Mass. If you see them, please extend your thanks. We hope to bring them back together at a later date. Such talent we have at St. Mary's!!!

Please join us on Wednesday, August 20 for 9:00am morning Mass, followed by fellowship in St. Mary's Hall. Bring a snack to share. Get to know the homeschooling families at St. Mary's and help us plan activities for the upcoming school year. Wanda O'Brien 597-6328.

We need kolache bakers to bake kolaches for one of the most successful booths at the bazaar! Pans and recipes will be handed out following the Masses the weekends of Aug. 9-10 and Aug. 16-17 for you to bake your kolaches and bring them to the Bazaar.

Don't know how to bake them? Francell Busa will be giving a Kolache Baking Demo on Wednesday, August 13 at 9:45am in the Family Life Center Kitchen. Please sign up for that by contacting Francell at 936-870-4145(h) or 936-825-1503(c)

On Monday, August 11, our Guardian Angel Senior Group will once again be host to the Senior Fun Day of the Northern Senior Senate. We will have a great fellowship day with bingo and a catered meal. In previous years, we have hosted 200 and more at this fun event. Anyone 55 or over interested in attending must contact Laveta Malek at 936-894-2465 by July 25. Cost of meal is $7.00.

How long did you date your beloved? If married, how long were you engaged? If parishioners were asked these questions, answers would vary greatly. So when individuals decide to get to know God and develop an intimate relationship with Him, who are we to know His time-schedule? Each person's journey is based on God's time and God's grace, rather than on our parish calendar and a published RCIA "program."

The Rite itself implores us to respect the individuality of each person's journey: "The rite of initiation is suited to a spiritual journey of adults that varies according to the many forms of God's grace, the free cooperation of the individuals, the action of the Church, and the circumstances of time and place" (RCIA, #5).

Your St. Mary's/St. Joseph's RCIA Team is attempting to meet the needs of all inquirers. While we've begun informal discussions over the phone with people and in the FLC on Sundays, we welcome anyone at any time throughout the year. We urge all parishioners to recognize their Baptismal promise of fulfilling their own Catholic identity by evangelizing to non-Catholics. YOU, too, are a member of our initiation ministry! Please do your part by encouraging others to join our discussions of faith. Check out our Sunday topics, and join us yourself to continue your lifelong catechesis of Catholicism. All are welcome!!!!!

(Dr. Sharon Skeans, RCIA Director; contact her at skeans@consolidated.net)

Our family can never say, "thank you" properly for the kindness, prayers, Masses, and other forms of affection to our family during the loss of our son and brother, Hayden O'Brien. Words fail at expressing the love we have for all of you as you share in our loss and help us to carry this Cross. We want to especially thank Fr. Ed for all of his time in visiting the hospital and then in making the funeral a most memorable occasion; the office staff, especially Gail, for all the extra work that was needed planning the funeral; James Bochat for his many hours of work; the St. Mary's Altar Society for a wonderful luncheon; the St. Mary's Men's Club for traffic control; Bill Malek and Deacon David Jarvis for conducting the Wake Service; the Boy Scouts for their honor guard; and all the countless others who helped. We love you all and are proud to be members of such a holy parish.

Blessings, Tim, Wanda, Emma, Maddie, Tess, and Max O'Brien

THE GABRIEL PROJECT is the parish-based crisis pregnancy intervention program. If you have any baby items (cribs, playpen, clothes, blankets, etc.) that you would like to donate, these items will be passed along with Love to the women and babies that need our help and support. If you would like to assist with this ministry, please contact Wanda O'Brien at 597-6328 or tjobrien911@hughes.net to see how you can put your specific talent to use. If are someone in need of the services of THE GABRIEL PROJECT, please use the contact information above. Information will stay confidential.

Help Us Please!

Since our food pantry is getting low on non-perishable foods, we are asking each family to bring a donation of food each week. A few canned goods from each family add up to a parish family reaching out, sharing and living the teachings of the gospel and St. Vincent de Paul. Large wicker baskets are provided in the foyer of St. Mary"s Hall and St. Joseph's Hall to accept your offerings.
Thank you!!

ATTENTION: THERE WILL BE NO MEETING IN AUGUST!

St. Vincent de Paul will not be meeting in August due to our bazaar preparations. However, we will keep all of you in our prayers, and if we can be of any assistance to you, please call the parish office, and leave a message. Following the model of St. Vincent de Paul, we are called to be kind and loving servants, and we encourage you to call and share your needs.

Don't forget the Guardian Angels Monthly Officers' meeting on Tuesday, August 5 , 10:00am in the SM FLC.

Also... it's BINGO this month ... come join us on Thursday, August 21, 2008 in the SM Hall from 10:00am--2:00pm for good food, good company and plenty of fun!

Anyone and everyone is invited to join the Domino Club.
Fun will be had every Tuesday at St. Mary's Parish Hall from 11:30am-3:00pm.

Bring a snack to share!

For more information, contact:
Helen Noble @
936-873-2516

or

Frances Campbell @
936-894-2079.

. . . will be holding their monthly meeting on
Tuesday, August 19, 2008.

Dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting will follow at 7:00 p.m. in the SM Hall.

The St. Mary Catholic Church Cemetery Committee and Fr. Ed have been working on improvements to St. Mary Cemetery for some time. They are in the process of installing a new wrought iron fence around the cemetery and are requesting families or individuals to sponsor a 10' section of the fence for $500 per section. A permanent plaque at the front of the cemetery will denote sponsorships.

Donations are still being accepted for the St. Mary's Restoration fund. There are spaces still available and sponsors will be recognized on a permanent plaque.

Call the parish office at 936-894-2223 for more information on both projects.

The St. Joseph's Altar Society will not meet during the months
of July, August and September. The next meeting is Oct. 14.

Aug 1 St. Alphonsus Liguori: Jer 26:1-9 * Ps 69:5,8-10,14 * Mt 13:54-58
Aug 2 [Sts. Eusebius of Vercelli and Peter Julian Eymard]: Jer 26:11-16,24 * Ps 69:15-16,30-31,33-34 * Mt 14:1-12
Aug 3, Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Is 55:1-3 * Ps 145:8-9,15-16,17-18 * Rom 8:35,37-39 * Mt 14:13-21
Aug 4 St. John Mary Vianney: Jer 28:1-17 * Ps 119:29,43,79,80,95,102 * Mt 14:22-36
Aug 5 [The Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major]: Jer 30:1-2,12-15,18-22 * Ps 102:16-18,19-21,29,22-23 * Mt 15:1-2,10-14
Aug 6, The Transfiguration of the Lord: Dn 7:9-10,13-14 * Ps 97:1-2,5-6,9 * 2 Pt 1:16-19 * Mt 17:1-9
Aug 7 [ Sts. Sixtus II and Companions and St. Cajetan]: Jer 31:31-34 * Ps 51:12-13,14-15,18-19 * Mt 16:13-23
Aug 8 St. Dominic: Na 2:1,3; 3:1-3,6-7 * Dt 32:35-36,39,41 * Mt 16:24-28
Aug 9 [St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross]: Hb 1:12--2:4 * Ps 9:8-9,10-11,12-13 * Mt 17:14-20
Aug 10, Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: 1 Kgs 19:9a,11-13a * Ps 85:9,10,11-12,13-14 * Rom 9:1-5 * Mt 14:22-33
Aug 11 St. Clare: Ez 1:2-5,24-28c * Ps 148:1-2,11-12,13,14 * Mt 17:22-27
Aug 12: Ez 2:8--3:4 * 119:14,24,72,103,111,131 * Mt 18:1-5,10,12-14
Aug 13 [Sts. Pontian and Hippolytus]: Ez 9:1-7,10:18-22 * Ps 113:1-2,3-4,5-6 * Mt 18:15-20
Aug 14 St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe: Ez 12:1-12 * Ps 78:56-57,58-59,61-62 * Mt 18:21--19:1
Aug 15, The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Rv 11:19a;12:1-6a * Ps 45:10,11,12,16 * 1 Cor 15:20-27 * Lk 1:39-56
Aug 16 [St. Stephen of Hungary ]: Ez 18:1-10,13b,30-32 * Ps 51:12-13,14-15,18-19 * Mt 19:13-15
Aug 17, Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time: Is 56:1,6-7 * Ps 67:2-3,5,6,8 * Rom 11:13-15,29-32 * Mt 15:21-28
Aug 18 [ St. Jane Frances de Chantal]: Ez 24:15-24 * Dt 32:18-19,20,21 * Mt 19:16-22
Aug 19 [St. John Eudes]: Ez 28:1-10 * Dt 32:26-27,27-28,30,35-36 * Mt 19:23-30
Aug 20 St. Bernard: Ez 34:1-11 * Ps 23:1-3,3-4,5,6 * Mt 20:1-16
Aug 21 St. Pius X: Ez 36:23-28 * Ps 51:12-13,14-15,18-19 * Mt 22:1-14
Aug 22 The Queenship of Mary: Ez 37:1-14 * Ps 107:2-3,4-5,6-7,8-9 * Mt 22:34-40
Aug 23 [St. Rose of Lima ]: Ez 43:1-7ab * Ps 85:9-10,11-12,13-14 * Mt 23:1-12
Aug 24, Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time: Is 22:19-23 * Ps 138:1-2,2-3,6,8 * Rom 11:33-36 * Mt 16:13-20
Aug 25 [ Sts. Louis and Joseph Calasanz]: 2 Thes 1:1-5,11-12 * Ps 96:1-2,2-3,4-5 * Mt 23:13-22
Aug 26: 2 Thes 2:1-3a,14-17 * Ps 96:10,11-12,13 * Mt 23:23-26
Aug 27 St. Monica: 2 Thes 3:6-10,16-18 * Ps 128:1-2,4-5 * Mt 23:27-32
Aug 28 St. Augustine : 1 Cor 1:1-9 * Ps 145:2-3,4-5,6-7 * Mt 24:42-51
Aug 29 The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist: 1 Cor 1:17-25 * Ps 33:1-2,4-5,10-11 * Mk 6:17-29*
Aug 30 [BVM]: 1 Cor 1:26-31 * Ps 33:12-13,18-19,20-21 * 25:14-30
Aug 31, Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time: Jer 20:7-9 * Ps 63:2,3-4,5-6,8-9 * Rom 12:1-2 * Mt 16:21-27