“It’s nice to deliver the cookies so they have something, and I feel grateful to give to those that need them," said Anthony Burmistrz, 9, who peered at baked goods with St. John the Baptist Catholic School classmates.
Zoe Bannister, 8, Burmistrz’s fellow third-grade friend added, “I think they’re going to be happy, especially if they don't see a lot of people.”
Both children were among dozens of youth that participated in a cookie bake at the Whiting parish on Dec. 7. St. John the Baptist’s Director of Religious Education Jamie Sandona was joined by parent volunteers for the event, which filled the school building with the sweet smells of a bakery.
On Dec. 11, family Christmas caroling to the homebound, along with delivering homemade cookies to shut-ins, began at the parish, located in the center of Whiting.
An intentional effort to involve the faithful in the spirit of Advent, the cookie bake and delivery to the homebound, are just a few events among a plethora of Advent and Christmas season offerings involving SJB and neighboring St. Adalbert church.
“I really want to help provide opportunities for people to engage in their faith,” Sandona said. “(Through) these activities, I want people to realize they have a place in their faith journey in the Church, in the bigger community.”
Starting on Nov. 20, parishioners participated in an interdenominational prayer service, a day before initiating the Angel Baby Program to fulfill Christmas wish lists of needy families. Senior Priest Father Jerry Schweitzer delivered an Advent Morning of Reflection on Nov. 30; later that day volunteers helped disinfect and tidy up the parish’s worship space at the community church cleaning.
The faithful began a Our Lady of Guadalupe nightly novena on Dec. 3, praying in the church.
Advent, from the Latin "ad-venire," meaning "to come to,” is a four-week season of preparation, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Advent directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and to the anniversary of Our Lord’s birth on Christmas,” as posted on www.usccb.org. "Our Advent readings call us to be alert and ready, not weighted down and distracted by the cares of this world (Lk 21:34-36).”
Along with a listing of Mass times, when St. John the Baptist and St. Adalbert Pastor and Precious Blood Father Mark Peres and Precious Blood priest in residence Father Tim McFarland are set to celebrate Saturday and Sunday liturgies, parishioners were sent a list of Advent activities.
Also included in the flyer sent in a Christmas card from the pastor were school-centered offerings such as Breakfast with Santa on Dec. 11 and the annual Christmas program on Dec. 13.
Kathy Ralphson and her daughter Catie Ralphson, an eighth-grader at SJB, rolled dough, baked treats and decorated sweets at the recent cookie bake.
"We’ve loved taking an active role at St. John’s; it has meant a lot to us,” Kathy Ralphson said.
Catie Ralphson said her favorite part of past Advent parish activities is caroling, “And just seeing the looks on the faces of the elderly people when we sang to them.”
The teen said recent church programming has helped her bond with her peers and generally lifted her thoughts.
“I think being in the Christmas spirit means to be a little more giving,” Catie Ralphson explained.
Jennifer Whitefoot, faith formation office secretary, said her Catholic faith continues to motivate her to set a good example for her daughters Tierney Whitefoot, 16, and Makayla Whitefoot, 11.
Through her volunteering she hopes to spur a revival of interest in the Church.
“It’s not like it used to be – Church isn’t a priority for many families. Many struggle to find the balance with all the things they want to do,” Jennifer Whitefoot explained, saying she hoped to help “bridge the gap” by promoting the beautiful traditions of Christmastime.
Sandona believes volunteers – be they youth, parents or seniors – are especially important to get new offerings off the ground. Earlier this month, she met with a key group of faithful who regularly step up to donate their time. They debated about one last piece of the puzzle concerning SJB’s holiday events.
A first-of-its-kind Night in Bethlehem was set, then canceled, then rescheduled as the volunteers sought to make the re-enactment-style event a possibility.
As DRE, Sandona was aware that the breadth of offerings at St. John the Baptist and St. Adalbert in the four weeks leading up to Christmas would require great effort, but the need to attract people back into the fold was worth any challenges they would encounter.
“People will get to imagine, for a moment, being back in that time," Sandona said of the Biblical setting to be recreated at SJB. “I want them to be a part of their faith, not checking off that they did an activity."
Set for Jan. 8, 2023, the Night in Bethlehem will include vignettes of a living nativity scene, a woodworking shop, a bread station and a traditional scribe or writing booth – an “experiential opportunity” for the faithful to learn about the setting into which Jesus was born.
Whitefoot believes the event slated for Jan. 8 can help local Catholics more fully appreciate the Twelve Days of Christmas, a season that begins on Dec. 25. “It is kind of a way to show our faith formation students and school kids what Christmas is actually about – not ‘Ooh, what presents am I going to get?’” she explained.
Holding fast to Church tradition and tuning out the commercialized version of the “holiday,” the end of which is often heralded by hurried “After-Christmas” sales on Dec. 26, could be a spiritually and psychologically uplifting experience, according to Sandona.
“Many people are constantly looking for the next day and not being in the day,” Sandona said.
For more information about St. John the Baptist parish offerings, call 219-659-0023, or visit www.stjohnbap.org.