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Thank You St. Thomas More!
The following organizations would like to thank St. Thomas More for its generosity and assistance: Family Violence Prevention Center of Orange County, Inc.; Network, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; Bread for the World; Pregnancy Support Services; Inter-Faith Council for Social Service; Orange Congregations in Mission; Run for Life; Habitat for Humanity.
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MORE News
& Links
January 2012 Vol. 7 No. 1
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Greetings!
2012 is here! Happy New Year! What could be better than kicking off your New Year by catching up on your St. Thomas More news? Read below for a special message from Father Scott.
Here's to a happy and healthy New Year! Enjoy!
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Pastor's Points:Look Both Ways
In the January 2012 edition of "Celebration" Patricia Datchuck Sánchez and Rafael Sánchez Alonso wrote an article about the Lectionary themes for the month. Here is part of what they wrote:
"At the outset of the year now beginning, the sacred texts, their authors and countless generations of believers who have gone before us offer wise counsel: "Look both ways." Look back with gratitude at the year now being committed to history, and look ahead with the hope and trust to the future we have yet to experience.
Unfortunately, some of us come to this new year with the baggage of the past, with regret and guilt and remorse, and perhaps these emotions may be warranted. Nevertheless, the gift of the new year invites us to surrender the past to the past so we can appreciate the grace of a fresh beginning."
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Welcome to St. Thomas More!
Join us in welcoming those who
joined our parish in November!
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Youth Ministry E-News
Read the Youth Ministry e-newsletter to find out what they are up to this winter! |
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Drew Melvin: The Irene Briggaman Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient
At the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce's Salute to Community Heroes on December 13, Drew Melvin received the Irene Briggaman Lifetime Achievement Award. This special award for service is named in honor of parishioner, Irene Briggaman, who was its first recipient. It is not given every year - only when an individual has shown a lifetime of exceptional service and volunteerism that has made a profound impact on the community over the long term. Below are capsules from the letter of nomination and support letters, and Drew's biography in the evening's program.
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World Day for Peace 2012
Message of Pope Benedict for World Day of Peace, on "Educating Young People in Justice and Peace"
In 1968 Pope Paul VI declared January 1 to be the World Day for Peace, and he and every Pope since have also observed the day, and each year published a message to promote the cause of peace. Pope Benedict XVI was very inspired by World Youth Day this year in Spain, attended by Catholic youth from around the world including St. Thomas More parish. Therefore his message World Day of Peace 2012 is entitled "Educating Young People in Justice and Peace".
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An Update from Fr. Paul Kapochina
Dear St. Thomas More,
Last month we had the opportunity to celebrate our parish feast (Christ the King). It was very grand with over one thousand people in attendance, walking from far distances to the main church for the celebrations. The New Bishop was in attendance and gave us his apostolic blessings. Since this feast is dedicated to the youth, the youth of the parish had different games and entertained themselves after the Holy Mass until midnight. I must admit that the Bishop was so impressed to see the unity and love prevailing in the parish. I was able to send the Bishop to see all the outstations of the parish and he was shocked to see the poverty of the area and I want to quote his remark, "We must begin to seek funding to educate these people to bring them out of this abject poverty". Read the rest of Fr. Paul's letter and see more photos.
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Appalachian Shoebox Christmas
On Saturday morning, December 10th, St. Thomas More Catholic School second-grade teacher Patti Wagner and Jim Layne arrived in Charleston, West Virginia, with 385 gifts in brightly wrapped shoeboxes from the students at STM.
The gifts of toys, food, warm scarves, hats and gloves, were to be distributed to children who live in Dingess, West Virginia, and the surrounding areas, deep in the Appalachian Mountains. This is the fifth year that STM students have taken part in this child-centered, hands-on project. Gift cards and monetary donations were also contributed by several members of the school community.
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"Financial" Year-End Giving Tips and Reminders
Many of us are getting ready for the holidays by planning the holiday get-togethers and menus and, of course, the seemingly endless shopping lists. December is also a good time to access your contributions for the year and to make any adjustments so that you can still claim them on your 2011 taxes. Below are the deadlines for when we will accept various payment options in the parish office in order to be included on your 2011 Charitable Contribution Statement.
Checks: must be dated in December and received no later than Monday Jan. 9th
Cash: must be received in the parish office no later than Monday Jan. 9th
Besides the normal cash and check donations, there are other options for giving that you might consider.
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St. Thomas More Catholic Church provides links to other web sites, both here and throughout our web site, solely for the convenience of our web site visitors, and assumes no responsibility for, nor endorses, these web sites, their content or their sponsoring organizations.
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Welcome
