During the season of Advent, The Catholic Community of Hopewell Valley is offering Alternative Gift Cards for a minimum donation of $5 per card. This is a gift that gives twice. An opportunity to give an “ALTERNATIVE GIFT” to family and friends AND to make a donation to those in need. Rescue Mission of Trenton: For the past 100 years, the Rescue Mission of Trenton has been privileged to serve the homeless, the hungry, the transient and the addicted. It provides emergency services and a continuum of programs to reclaim and reshape lives. Womanspace: Provides temporary housing for battered and abused women and their children. In addition, the women are given counseling in legal rights, referred for medical attention, and provided with job skill development opportunities. Mount Carmel Guild: Remains a true pillar of stability in our community since 1920. Mount Carmel Guild is proud to provide its brothers and sisters with clothing, food and educational services. Trenton Area Soup Kitchen: Responds to the needy by providing meals to those who are hungry and services to encourage self-sufficiency, thereby ultimately improving quality of life. St Alphonsus - Dec. 7-8, 14-15, 21-22 Sharon Skibbee 908-806-7858. St. George - Dec. 14-15, 21-22 Maryanne Wagner 215-598-3127, Terri Riley 609-737-1449. St. James - Dec. 7-8, 14-15, 21-22 Maureen Mutinsky 609-882-4944.

Click on the title to order your Christmas flowers which benefit the Knights of Columbus Columbiettes.

St. George Church would like to recognize our parish members now serving in the military. We will display their pictures in a multi-picture frame to be displayed at the St. George altar on Veterans Day. We also would like to create an address list so parishioners may write to them, and they will know they are in our thoughts and prayers. Steve Abel is the project officer and can be reached at 215-499-0793 or sgabel1@outlook.com. Please a 4X6 picture or send him a digital picture along with an address, if your service member would like to hear from our parishioners.

George’s Angels requests the donation of homemade soups to distribute to our sick, shut-in, elderly or otherwise deserving parishioners. If making chicken or vegetable soup at home, why not make a little extra to help fill our freezer? Pick up quart containers from the back of St. George Church on the 1st weekend of each month, or use your own, then bring to St. George’s on the 2nd weekend of each month. Look for the red ice chest in Church foyer. Note: Plain soups are preferred for the sick, please. Questions? Call or email Maryanne Wagner, wagner.maryanne@comcast.net, 215-598-3127.

For the year 2020, the Mercer County Federation of Holy Name Societies is offering a scholarship to a graduating high school senior who is a practicing Roman Catholic and a member of the parish. [Click the title to link to the Scholarship Application forms.] The applicant may call Mr. Robert Zotta, 609-586-3360, for more information about the application process. The deadline for submission of scholarship applications is February 21, 2020. The scholarship award will be personally presented to the recipient on Sunday, March 15, 2019, at the Parish Center of St. Raphael-HolyAngels Parish following the 7:30 AM Rev. Msgr. Richard Crean Memorial Mass.xx

A 10-Day Pilgrimage to Commemorate 100 Years since the Birth of Pope John Paul II with the Diocese of Trenton, With: Spiritual Director – Fr. Marian Kokorzycki April 29 - May 8, 2020. For more details including itinerary, map, and trip brochure, click on the title or graphic.

The Catholic Community of Hopewell Valley provides several ways to give! This includes the Pennington Quality Market (including Frozen Turkey Donations), a meal kit drop-off, or purchasing items from their market of choice. [Click on the title or graphic for details.]

After 65 years of publishing the award- winning diocesan newspaper, The Monitor is “turning a page” and moving to a new, dynamic model, featuring: 1) A new monthly magazine, 2) Expanded web presence on the newly-redesigned TrentonMonitor.com 3) Regular posting of Monitor news briefs in parish bulletins and on parish websites. For further details in the flyer, including 3 subscription options, click on the graphic.

Attention parents of 5th/6th grade girls. The local parishes are looking to get a few teams of 5th/6th grade girls together to play basketball in the Mercer County CYO program this winter. The focus will be on having fun and learning the game. If your daughter may be interested please contact Brian Smith (bsmith408@gmail.com) or Brian Ross (bmross17@gmail.com) as soon as possible.

A number of parishioners, volunteers, and parish employees have recently received emails from fake Gmail accounts impersonating our parish priests. If you receive an email that looks suspicious, please do not respond. Delete the message and do not follow instructions on these hoax emails. Our parish firewall was not breached and no part of our network has been hacked or compromised in any way. Automated “bots” “scrape” the email addresses from our parish websites and construct and send fake emails. Also, please know that neither Fr. Mike or The Catholic Community of Hopewell Valley would ever solicit money or information by email.

The Season of Creation spans five weeks between the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (September 1) and the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4). This “time for creation” offers, in the words of Pope Francis, “individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live." During this season we will provide some food for thought each week as well as suggestions for action. Don’t be afraid to come up with your own ways to care for creation. WHAT CAN YOU DO??? As individuals and families: Counteract the "Throwaway Culture" In Laudato Si', Pope Francis brings attention to our "throwaway culture," which "quickly reduces things to rubbish" (no. 22). In your daily life, try to identify the ways in which you can choose reusables, rather than disposables, such as coffee mugs, reusable bags, or cloth napkins, and commit to making one change during this month.

Hopewell Valley Catholic Youth—CRASH is group for teens in 9th-12th grade that brings youth together for fun game nights, special outings and trips, service projects, prayer, and various holiday parties. We also focus on discussing our response as Catholic Christians to social issues such as stress and anxiety, peer pressure, bullying, and dating as well as social justice issues such as helping our neighbors who are less fortunate, elderly, or disabled in our community and beyond. While we encourage service and discussion, we also make sure every meeting is filled with fun, friends, and food! Meetings are Sunday evenings from 7:00pm-9:00pm in the St. James basement. Contact: Marietta Racancoj, mracancoj@StJamesPennington.org 609-737-0122 ext. 824

Do you have an hour or so to devote to the Adoration Ministry? Please consider keeping vigil during Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, on Thursdays, at St. George Church. If you are able to commit to a specific time, or can substitute from time to time, please call John Colna (215) 862-0267. This is a special time to be with Jesus, and for Him to be present to others.

As had been announced in February of this year, the Diocese of Trenton – along with the other Roman Catholic dioceses in New Jersey – has established an Independent Victim Compensation Program (IVCP) to compensate those who, as minors, were sexually abused by a priest or deacon of the Diocese. The IVCP will be open to claims beginning June 15. The IVCP is independently administered by experienced victim compensation experts Kenneth R. Feinberg and Camille S. Biros. Mr. Feinberg was the plan administrator for the federal 9/11 victim compensation program, as well as the Boston Marathon bombing compensation program. The IVCP will handle the submission, evaluation and resolution of individual claims, and will operate independently of the Diocese or any Church-affiliated institution. The administrators of the IVCP will have complete autonomy to determine the eligibility of a claim with the guidelines of the established Protocol. The amount of compensation for those who make a claim will be determined by the IVCP administrators. All victims – no matter when the abuse occurred – are eligible to participate, and all matters will be handled confidentially. Victims of clergy sexual abuse of a minor can begin the process of utilizing the program by going to www.njdiocesesivcp.com and reviewing the Protocol for submitting a claim. Anyone who was sexually victimized as a minor by a priest or deacon of the Diocese is strongly encouraged to participate in the IVCP. The Diocese also asks that anyone who knows of someone who was abused to pass along this information to the victim so that he or she is aware of the IVCP.

I was in prison and you visited Me! The Diocese of Trenton Jail & Prison Ministry is in great need of volunteers to visit our incarcerated brothers and sisters, to remind them of God’s great love and mercy for them. We serve multiple State and County Correctional Centers and the Federal Prison at Ft. Dix. Our volunteers conduct Communion Services, Bible Studies and Prayer Services, as well as offering the gift of Listening and Pastoral Presence. If you are interested in sharing faith, hope and love with this often forgotten population, we will be conducting information sessions throughout the Diocese. Please contact Peter Haas: 609-403-7198 or phaas@dioceseoftrenton.org.

Enjoy a FREE subscription to formed.org – an incredible online gateway to the best Catholic content, all in one place! What is FORMED? It’s been compared to online video services like Netflix, but it’s so much more. Now the best study programs, movies, audio presentations, and e-books from the most trusted Catholic sources are all just a mouse-click away!