Blessed Sacrament 

Catholic Church 

Blessed Sacrament Parish Life is opening up the Parish Center for its first Family Open Gym of the season THIS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8 FROM 6PM - 8PM! Parents feed your kids dinner before coming, but then bring them over to the Parish Center and let them enjoy some free play until their hearts are content or until 8PM (whichever comes first). This is a great opportunity for the kids in our Parish to get to know each other and for parents to enjoy chatting with other parents. There will be more open gyms to come over these winter months ahead, so if you miss this one, the next one is scheduled for FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8 AT 6:30PM (following the Immaculate Conception Mass).

Finals Week is December 10-15. Hundreds of students will come to the St. Stephen the Witness Catholic Student Center to study, to rest, and to recharge with food and beverages. If you like to bake or make a casserole-type dish, the college students would REALLY appreciate it! You can drop off your dish anytime at St. Stephen's starting December 7. Normal building hours are: 9AM - 10PM, Monday-Thursday, 9AM - 7PM on Saturday, and 9AM - 8PM on Sunday. Student Canter Phone is: 319-266-9863. Thanks for helping our students during their Finals Week!

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM. LIVE VIDEO CONFERENCE. This online preparation program is for first-time parents in the Waterloo parishes who are planning to baptize an infant or young child in the near future. Parents should be registered members of a parish and may either register at the class or coordinate registration soon. To register for the baptism class, CLICK ON THIS ARTICLE. To register with Blessed Sacrament Parish, please contact Maggie in the office: m.england@dbqarch.org or 319-233-6179.

As many of you heard over the weekend at Mass, we are excited to announce that Archbishop Zinkula has granted our parish to be named a Eucharistic Pilgrimage Site for the Archdiocese of Dubuque for a special six-month period during this National Eucharistic Revival. Blessed Sacrament is the ONLY church in the diocese named for the Blessed Sacrament, so this is an honor, and it is very exciting for our parish! What this basically means is that for six months (26 weeks), starting with the First Monday of Advent, December 4, and ending with our Parish Feast Day (Corpus Christi) on Sunday, June 2, 2024, our Church will be open on an almost daily basis for pilgrims to visit from all over to spend time in our church and pray before the Blessed Sacrament. We will have the Eucharist exposed for adoration during these six months on Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 9:00pm and again on Saturday from 8:30am until just before the 4:30pm Mass. This is where your help is greatly needed! Would you be willing to take one hour a week to be a committed hourly adorer at Blessed Sacrament? Will you also be willing to take that same time every week, or every other week? Click on this article to view the schedule and call the Parish Office at 319-233-6179 and let us know what time slot you want and how often you'd like to be scheduled. We will add you to the schedule and you will get text reminders before each scheduled adoration hour.

FALALALALA!!! You are invited to an afternoon of Christmas Caroling, Saturday, December 9, 1PM - 2PM at Northcrest Specialty Care Center, 2001 Heath Street, Waterloo. Our Parish Life Committee, along with the musical help of Kathy Grete (head of Youth Choir), are back again for a second year of caroling to our parishioners and other residents of Northcrest. The residents really enjoyed having us last year, and we hope to have an even BIGGER GROUP this year! This event is perfect for families and anyone who wants to join in spreading some early Christmas Cheer to those who need it most! Get the date saved on your calenddar now and see you there!