St. Cloud/Sartell Widowed Persons Socials for January, 2012:

Dinner: Sunday, January 29, Ciatti’s Ristorante

 27^th &  Division, St. Cloud, 4:00 pm social, 5:00 pm dinner

Central MN Area Grief Service providers presents the 6^th annual grief seminar: EarthSons and EarthStories, a Time for Healing with guest speaker, Doug Wood. This event will take place on Sunday, January 29, at 1:00-3:30 pm in CentraCare Plaza, Windfeldt Room, 1900 CentraCare Circle, St. Cloud. Through stories and song, noted local author and musician Doug Wood will share insights and wisdom learned from life’s lessons. For more information call 320-529-0427. Fee is $5.00, scholarships available.

Place of Hope meal will be served on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 5:00 pm by members of St. Francis Xavier Parish. We are deeply grateful for this commitment.

2012 ELITE Fundraiser Cards are available from any one of the Knights of Columbus or the parish office. $10 of the $20 donation will go directly to the Knights of Columbus.

Please stop by the parish office, M-F, 8:00 am—5:00 pm.

ATTENTION: UPCOMING VOLUNTEERS

Will you be doing some volunteer work in the very near future? Would you like to help the parish earn up to $500 when you volunteer? Please read the enclosed flyer in this week’s bulletin for details in how this can happen.

Please join us at the

Gathering in the Arts

8^th Annual Art Show and Sale

Sunday, February 12, 2012   

1:30-4:30 p.m.

St. Francis Xavier Gathering Place

Admission Free

Refreshments

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS BENEFIT BREAKFAST

All are invited to a benefit breakfast served by the Bishop Trobec Council 5276 Knights of Columbus on Sunday, February 12^th at the St. Stephen Parish Hall – serving from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. The menu includes sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns, fresh fruit, and beverages. Pre-sale tickets are: Adults $7.00, Seniors (55+) $6.00, Children (5–12) $4.00 and Preschool eat FREE. Tickets are being sold by Knights of Columbus members and are available at the Parish Office. Come and enjoy a breakfast and fellowship with your family, friends, and neighbors. Thank you for your support.

SCHOOL NEWS

Service Project during Catholic Schools Week

The theme this year is Catholic Schools: Faith. Academics. Service. The week has been planned with activities that demonstrate each of those characteristics. For the service project we are going to put together birthday bags for the Catholic Charities Food Shelf.

· Students in Preschool  and Kindergarten are collecting Cake Mixes - White, Chocolate, or Marble

· Students in grades 1, 2, and 3, are collecting Canned Frosting – White or Chocolate

· Students in grades 4, 5, and 6 are collecting New unopened birth candles, and/or small new gift items to put in the Birthday Bags. Examples: stuffed toy, book, pencils, cards, trinkets, etc.

· At the Birthday Mass for the month of January this Friday, the 27^th, students will take to the altar what they have brought. This is the Friday before the official beginning of Catholic Schools Week.

· During Catholic Schools Week the 2^nd graders will decorate the bags .

On Friday, February 3, we will have a birthday party at which SFX will present a representative from the parish food shelf committee with the Birthday Bags.

Parishioners are invited to donate birthday bag items. Just drop them off in either the parish or school office!

FOOD SHELF COLLECTIONS

St. Francis Xavier parish continues to collect food for the local food shelves the first weekend of each month. However, if you have items you wish to donate, please feel free to drop them at the entrances of the church in the designated boxes anytime during the month. The month of March will be National Food Share month. Watch future bulletins  for more information and donation opportunities. Thank you for helping feed the hungry!

CATHOLIC UNITED FINANCIAL RAFFLE BENEFITS ST. FRANCIS XAVIER SCHOOL

The CUF raffle for our parish school is in its second week. Tickets will be for sale in the Gathering Place on weekends. The raffle is a fundraiser for St. Francis Xavier. Unlike some fundraisers, 100% of the money raised stays with our school.

There are great prizes to be won!

· 2012 Ford Escape

· 3 hotel getaways,

· 8 kindle fires and more.

Tickets are $5 each. Stop by the today and get your tickets! Your support is greatly appreciated

A CATHOLIC WOMEN’S CONFERENCE

“Love Makes Everything Possible” - A Catholic Woman’s Conference will be held on Saturday, February 4 from 7:00 am to 3:15 pm at Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Rockville. Speakers are Maureen and Jim Otremba and Father Scott Pogatshnik. The day begins with 7:00 am Confessions and 8:00 am Mass and includes a light breakfast and elegant lunch. Registration is $30 and $15 for students. There is limited seating, please call Diane Hansen at 252-9299 for availability.

BECOME A PARISH WEBSITE SPONSOR

We invite your business or organization to become part of our growing online ministry. It's a very affordable way to put your message in front of fellow parishioners and a highly-local audience.

In 2011, our website had 74,602 page views, 22,699 visits, and 9,942 unique visitors.   41.17% of those viewing our parish website were new visitors and the number of visits continues to grow. With website sponsorship, you'll be supporting a vital parish ministry.

Call parishioner Mark Kuhl for additional information at 266-1393