The Gift of Giving

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Friends –

I am happy to introduce our Christmas Catalog of Giving,

which lists opportunities to help our parish. In case you are not

aware of the tragic events of Thursday, October 13th: a construc-

tion worker fell some 125 feet from the attic above the church

ceiling onto the middle of the center aisle and was killed instantly.

His name was Janusz Zdybel. He was installing the hardware for

safety lines for Phase Two of our Raise the Roof Project, which is

the replacement of the main roof. Please keep him and his surviv-

ing family in your prayers. The accident has caused an enormous

unplanned stress on our budget and we need your additional sup-

port.

As much as I miss the upper Church, I realized as I have again

and again since the tragic accident occurred, that the Church is the

people of God in service to one another because we are children of

God.

On November 6th, our parish served approximately 450 guests

at the Homeless Banquet with over 100 volunteers. I thank God

for all those who came to the banquet; those who served; and

those who make the banquets possible with their financial support,

primarily through a grant by the Wasily Family Foundation. After

the Sunday mass at 10 am, our parish hosts transformed our make-

shift Auditorium Church into a banquet hall; served the dinner;

and then restored the Church in time for the evening masses. We

will re-open our Winter Homeless Shelter -- albeit later than usual

-- on Monday, January 2nd. It will be a little more difficult this

year because of reduced city funding, but the shelter is a priority

for the parish. Check your calendars -- we will need hosts to

spend the night with our guests in the Auditorium and provide

hospitality. Fordham University, in solidarity with our parish,

will again perform their amazing Annual Christmas Lessons and

Carols Concert either in the Church if we are open or in our make-

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shift Auditorium Church. I'm so grateful to the students, staff,

and faculty at Fordham especially Mr. Robert Minotti, the Di-

rector the Choir. If there is a theme to life at Saint Paul's

since the accident, that theme is "solidarity" which is one of the

themes of Catholic Social Teaching. Solidarity recognizes that

we are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic,

economic, and ideological differences and wherever in our

world people may live. Loving our neighbor has global dimen-

sions in a shrinking world. At the core of the virtue of solidarity

is the pursuit of justice and peace in which Pope Paul VI taught

that if we want peace, we must also work for justice in a world

surrounded by violence and conflict. The beginning of solidar-

ity comes from the gift of our faith lived in our parish and in our

daily lives -- and there have been countless examples seen in

our parish. As Thanksgiving approaches, we will be taking up

the Catholic Charities collection as a sign of our solidarity with

people in need throughout the City and State of NY. Our Mus-

tard Seed Community (Nicaraguan Orphanage for Special

Needs Children) will seek donations through their "Giving Tur-

key.” Our Saint Vincent de Paul Society will be busy in our

food pantry and special Thanksgiving offerings. Soon we'll be

putting up our Giving Tree for the support of various charities at

Christmas time. And, indeed there is much need around the

world -- we will be offering a special collection next year as re-

quested by Catholic Relief Services for the relief of the starva-

tion in the Horn of Africa. Thank you for your prayerful and fi-

nancial support as sign of our solidarity with one another.

Check out opportunities to support the parish on-line at

www.stpaultheapostle.org or in this catalog.

May the celebration of Christmas bring you great joy and

peace! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

- Fr Gil

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Table of Contents In Memory Of

St. Paul’s Wish List

Prepare Ye the Way

Deck the Halls

Angels We Have Heard on High

Behold!

Imagine

Raise the Roof

Bell System

Illuminated Bible

Give Greatly

The Giving Tree

Slipper Sunday

Winter’s Eve

Loaves and Fishes

Pantry

Christmas Fun for Everyone

Winter’s Eve : Take 2

Give and Give Again

Busted Halo

Bookstore

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8

10

10

11

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13

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14

16

18

19

20

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24

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25

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Janusz Zdybel Family Fund

Janusz was a construction worker helping to repair

our second phase of the roof repair project. He fell to

his death while working here.

If you would like to contribute to this fund you can

pay via Parish Pay, or by Check.

Checks should be made out to Church of St. Paul the

Apostle, with a memo Janusz Zdybel Family Fund

One check from the Parish will be sent to the family

once the drive is over.

Christmas Memory Flower Drive

Remember your loved ones in this special way in the

Christmas season. Their name will be listed in our

bulletin for prayers of the faithful. Suggested Dona-

tion $40.

Planned Giving

There are many ways to make gifts to The Church of

Saint Paul the Apostle now and in the future while

also maintaining or even enhancing your personal fi-

nancial security and that of your loved ones. Through

careful planning, you may find that you can make

meaningful gifts while you also:

Give in ways that can actually "give back" for a

time - providing extra income in retirement years

or to help fund educational expenses and other

needs.

Add meaning to your gift by using it to honor a

special friend or loved one.

Save money on income, gift, and estate taxes and

redirect those amounts for use in ways you

choose.

Enjoy your giving more - knowing you are in-

vesting in the Historic Church of Saint Paul the

Apostle as we serve the west side neighborhood

in our outreach endeavors. Certain gifts allow

you to give the most you can at the lowest possi-

ble cost.

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In

Memory

Of

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Saint Paul’s

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Wish List

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Prepare Ye

the Way

Deck the

Halls

-Advent Candles

$115 each

-Family Day Ad-

vent Wreath Kits $10

(50 needed)

-Christmas Trees:

18ft (4) $500

4-6 ft (15) $60

-Wreath (14) $70

-Church Door Wreath $100

-Altar Candles (2) $ 185

-Garland and Bows $300

-Christmas Lights $950

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St. Michael’s Chapel (Church Auditorium Hall)

Improvements

Appropriately named after St. Michael, the Protector

of all. The Auditorium served us well as a worship space while the Church was

closed

-Sound System $14,000 -LED Lighting $2,500

Behold!

Angels

We Have

Heard on

High

Decorate the Church!

December 18, 2011

Following 5:15

Children’s Christmas Pageant

Dec. 24th, 2011

-Costumes - $200

-Set Builders - Time+Talent

-Pizza Party Sponsor - $150

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Raise the

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Roof: $1.9 million

Imagine...

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The New Bell

System Initiated

on 9/11/2011

$8,950

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Imagine...

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A Fordham Alumni has given us a very generous matching

gift donation of $50,000 toward the purchase

of the six volume set of the St. John’s University, Illumi-

nated Bible, Heritage Edition.

The St. John’s Illuminated Bible is the first hand-written,

hand-illuminated Bible in over 500 years. It is

located in Collegeville, Minnesota at St. John’s University

and was commissioned by the Benedictine Monks. A

limited number of copies of this beautiful bible are being

published.

Servant of God, Fr. Isaac Hecker, CSP, founder of the first

mission community of American priests, said:

“The reading of the Bible is the most salutary of all reading.

We say to Catholic readers, Read the Bible!

Read it with prayer, that you may be enlightened by the

light of the Holy Spirit to understand what you read….

Read it with gratitude to God's Church, which has pre-

served it and placed it in your hands to be read and to

be followed.” (The Church and The Age)

To have this six-volume set as a part of the overall Ameri-

can collection of Religious Artwork would be

a wonderful addition for our Church.

The Heritage Edition of the Illuminated Bible

for the Church of St. Paul the Apostle

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Imagine...

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Give Greatly...

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The Giving Tree Starts December 3rd -

Gifts are due December 18th

The years gifts go to:

Give Greatly...

The Abbott House

www.abbotthouse.net

Children from birth

to 21 years

Encore 49

www.encorecommunityservices.org

Senior Citizens

The Guardian Society

at Catholic Charities

www.cgshb.org

Children in Foster

Homes

Green Chimneys

www.greenchimneys.org

Teenagers

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Give Greatly...

Slipper Sunday!

December 11th, 2011

Bring a wrapped pair of slippers. The Gift Tag should identify gender and size: Kids, Moms, Dads, Grandma, Grandpa

These will be donated to our pantry

families and Encore 49.

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Winter’s Eve

Give Greatly...

Baked Goods Donation The neighbors are dropping by Nov. 28th

Please commit to donating baked goods.

RSVP welcomecenter@stpaultheapostle.org,

Subject: Baked Goods

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Loaves and FishesSoup

Kitchen

Donate $30 for a pot of soup to feed 20.

Now serving over 100 guests every

Tuesday and Thursday.

Give Greatly...

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Give Greatly... Donate Canned and Boxed

Food to Our Pantry

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Movies: 6:15 - Lil’ Drummer Boy 7:45 - A Charlie Brown Christmas Caroling 7:00 - Visit from St. Nic Home-Made Treats Monday, Nov. 28th 6:30-9:30 pm

Winter’s Eve Fun for

Everyone

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Give and Give Again Give the Gift of Flowers and automatically donate to

the Church of St. Paul the Apostle too!

Here’s a fun gift that keeps giving. If you send a gift from

1-800-flowers.com use the CodeCB1177Z. Chur-

chblooms will donate 8% of the purchased amount to the

Church of St. Paul the Apostle! Love when that happens!

Call 1-888-755-7474 to order by phone

www.churchblooms.com

Fun for

Everyone

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Celebrate

10 Years Young

Gala: March 8th

Tickets to Gala

and Auction:

$250

Fun for

Everyone

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Church of St. Paul the Apostle Welcomecenter and Bookstore

Profits of the Bookstore go to the Church

Buy your cards and gifts at the Welcomecenter-Bookstore

Hours:

Monday-Friday 10AM-5:30PM

Saturday 10AM-6:30PM

Sunday 8:30AM-8PM

We appreciate your Support

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For more information on Giving,

contact the Welcomecenter.

Many monetary contributions

can be made online through

ParishPay.com.

Make checks payable to “Saint

Paul the Apostle Church” and

specify in the memo area where

you want the donation directed.

For Flower Memorial Donations

please fill out a Flower Dona-

tion Envelope.

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Thank You

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Church Hours:

Monday - Friday 7:00 am to 6:30 pm

Saturday 7:00 am to 6:30 pm

Sunday 7:00 am to 9:00 pm

Parish Center Hours:

Monday - Friday 9:00 am to 9:00 pm

Saturday 8:00 am to 6:30 pm

Sunday 9:00 am to 9:00 pm