All gifts much be returned by noon on Monday (December 17). You may drop them off in the narthex (under the St. Ann mosaic), in the adult education classroom (classroom #1) in the parish hall or in the parish office. They will be sorted and distributed later this week. Thank you for your generosity in helping to provide a merry Christmas to children in our community!

Please pick up your 2019 calendar and contribution envelopes after Mass this weekend from the tables in the narthex. Please find the envelope box with your name on it and take it for use throughout the year ahead. If there is not an envelope box with your name on it, please take a blank box of envelopes at the end of the table and begin using them, and we will record your envelope number.

Please stop by the table in the narthex and sign up if you are an altar server, lector, Communion minister, or usher and will be in town for either Christmas Eve/Day and/or New Year's Eve/Day. Place your name on the list, which ministry (or ministries) you are available for and then check all the Masses at which you might be able to serve. We especially need ministers for Christmas Day and New Year's Day, so if you are available for those liturgies, please be sure to indicate that. Thanks!

All students in grades 5-12 are invited to join us this Wednesday evening. We will gather for Mass in the church at 6 p.m. After Mass, we will enjoy some Santa Fe soup while watching "The Muppet Christmas Carol." This week's gathering will end around 8:15 p.m. See you there!

We are just 2 1/2 months away from our annual Czech Sausage Dinner. We still do not have an official chair for this event, so we need everyone interested in helping to organize this year's dinner to attend a meeting on Thursday, January 3, at 7 p.m. in meeting room C in the parish hall. We will look at a timeline for planning and determine who can serve as chair and committee chairs. We need everyone's help, so please make plans to attend this meeting!

The WTAMU Horn Choir, under the direction of Dr. Guli Manfredi, will perform a concert of sacred music here at St. Ann's this Thursday at 6 p.m. in the church. Please join us for this evening of music for the Advent/Christmas season!

Please make plans to join us at 3 p.m. next Sunday (December 23) as we adorn the church for our celebration of Christmas. Snacks will be served and there will be plenty of work for parishioners of all ages!

We are looking for more babysitters to join us on Sunday mornings during both the 8:30 and 11:15 Masses. Please contact the parish office at 655-3302 if you are interested in assisting with this ministry.

All students in grades 5-12 are invited to join us this Wednesday evening as we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We will begin with Mass in the church at 6 p.m., followed by a meal of tamales and rice. After supper, intermediate/junior high students and high school students will learn more about Our Lady of Guadalupe in separate sessions. See you there!

There will be no adult education classes on December 9 or December 16. Adult education will continue beginning in January.

Our Mass for this feast day and holyday of obligation will be celebrated on Friday evening (December 7) at 6 p.m. The obligation for this particular feast still exists, even though the holyday is on a Saturday, because Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, is the patron saint of our country. Please make plans to attend the vigil Mass.

Please stop by the table in the narthex for a variety of Advent resources to use with your family as we prepare for the celebration of Christmas. An Advent calendar for children, a family activity and devotional booklet, and an Advent prayer book for children are available. The Advent issue of "The Word Among Us" is also available.

If you would like to be part of the parish choir for the Christmas season, there is still time to join us for rehearsals. The choir meets on Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m. There will also be additional rehearsals after the 11:15 a.m. Mass on Sundays. Come and add your voice to our efforts to "make a joyful noise unto the Lord!"

There will be no faith formation classes (pre-K through adult) on the following Sundays:  December 23, December 30, and January 6. Classes resume on Sunday, January 13.

All students in grades 5-12 are invited to join us for our weekly youth gathering on Wednesday night. We will begin with Mass in the church at 6 p.m., followed by pancakes and sausage provided by the Knights of Columbus. After our meal, intermediate and junior high students will have a session on the Bible, while high school students will focus on this Sunday's feast of Christ the King. See you there!

There will be no confessions on Saturday, December 1.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation will not be offered this afternoon. Fr. Busch is at a school event at WT and will not be at St. Ann's until shortly before the 5 p.m. Mass.

There will be no Adoration today. Stay warm and safe!

If you are planning to have your child baptized in the next few months, or if you have been asked to serve as a godparent, please consider attending our next Baptism Preparation Class on Tuesday, November 13, at 7 p.m. in Meeting Room C.

Workbooks for the new liturgical year are available for all of our lectors. Please pick up the one with your name on it in the parish office during office hours or after Mass.