Knight of the Month is Ron Rychlak Family of the Month is the Bill Reynolds Family The mid-winter meeting will be January 4^th, in Tupelo. Thanks, to all who have helped with the car parking! We still have one home game left and it would be great to see some new faces helping. The next game is against Mississippi State on Thanksgiving.   We are planning our Christmas party on December 28^th. If you would like to help, please contact Joe Tull (at 234-5454).   Please, help with our food drive for Thanksgiving. There will be a box in the back of the church, for non-perishable food items. If you would like to donate a turkey or other perishable items, please take them to the food pantry.   We will be collecting toys, and other items for Christmas. A great way of thanking God for a blessing of your children is to donate a gift for every little blessing that you have received. We will also be getting information on needy families in the community. If you know of someone, please feel free to contact Mike Mitchell (236-7074 mmitch56@bellsouth.net) or Mark Shows (234-7110 mshows@olemiss.edu)   We will be having free babysitting on December 14^th, to parents to do their Christmas shopping. Please take advantage of this service.   On November 30^th, we will be setting up our advent wreath up in front of the church. The more help we have the faster things will go.   From Your Membership Director                                             Our Fall Membership Drive is alive, but not so well. As of late October we have had no new membership applications (Form 100) submitted.   We must continue to invite our fellow parishioners to join the Knights of Columbus. You probably get tired of hearing me say "Ask another man to become a Knight of Columbus," but as your Membership Director it’s part of my job.   A First Degree Exemplification is planned for our next monthly meeting on Thursday, November 7^th at 7:00 pm. Come and join your Brother Knights at our council meeting.   Since our Fraternal Year began on July 1^st. we have not added any new members to our Council. Remember, our goal for this year is seven new members before June 30 of 2003. Therefore, we must continue to reach out to those men who would make new Knights – but someone must ask them to consider becoming a member.   As I said in last months news letter- "Those men at St. John’s deserve the opportunity to become a member of the Knights of Columbus." so- "Ask a man to become a Knights of Columbus."   Viva Jesus,   Bob Hudson, Membership Director     Jacob Eftink – Church Committee The Spirit of Columbus Contest was a success.  We had
about twenty entrants in the picture contest.  The winners
were Michaela Godfrey and Amber Kieth in the younger
division and Dan Mossing and Yvonne Thorpe in the older
division.
     Have a happy Thanksgiving!     Brother Knights, as we enter into The Year of The Rosary, I feel it is certainly appropriate to include the addition of The Luminous Mysteries or Mysteries of Light into the Traditional Mysteries of The Rosary. Below is a portion of the Pope’s Apostolic Letter where he proposes the addition of the Mysteries of Light. I found this to be a very powerful addition to the Traditional Mysteries. Should you desire a copy of the Pope’s entire Apostolic Letter please email me at Jeffrey.Hooper@Cardinal.com. And I will be happy to forward you the entire letter. FIAT ! Jeffrey Hooper / Oxford MS Council 10901 ============================================================================

The Mysteries of Light

21. Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which may be called in a special way "mysteries of light". Certainly the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. He is the "light of the world" (Jn 8:12). Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom. In proposing to the Christian community five significant moments - "luminous" mysteries - during this phase of Christ's life, I think that the following can be fittingly singled out: (1) his Baptism in the Jordan, (2) his self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana, (3) his proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion, (4) his Transfiguration, and finally, (5) his institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery.

Each of these mysteries is a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus. The Baptism in the Jordan is first of all a mystery of light. Here, as Christ descends into the waters, the innocent one who became "sin" for our sake (cf. 2Cor 5:21), the heavens open wide and the voice of the Father declares him the beloved Son (cf. Mt 3:17 and parallels), while the Spirit descends on him to invest him with the mission which he is to carry out. Another mystery of light is the first of the signs, given at Cana (cf. Jn 2:1- 12), when Christ changes water into wine and opens the hearts of the disciples to faith, thanks to the intervention of Mary, the first among believers. Another mystery of light is the preaching by which Jesus proclaims the coming of the Kingdom of God, calls to conversion (cf. Mk 1:15) and forgives the sins of all who draw near to him in humble trust (cf. Mk 2:3-13; Lk 7:47- 48): the inauguration of that ministry of mercy which he continues to exercise until the end of the world, particularly through the Sacrament of Reconciliation which he has entrusted to his Church (cf. Jn 20:22-23). The mystery of light par excellence is the Transfiguration, traditionally believed to have taken place on Mount Tabor. The glory of the Godhead shines forth from the face of Christ as the Father commands the astonished Apostles to "listen to him" (cf. Lk 9:35 and parallels) and to prepare to experience with him the agony of the Passion, so as to come with him to the joy of the Resurrection and a life transfigured by the Holy Spirit. A final mystery of light is the institution of the Eucharist, in which Christ offers his body and blood as food under the signs of bread and wine, and testifies "to the end" his love for humanity (Jn 13:1), for whose salvation he will offer himself in sacrifice.

In these mysteries, apart from the miracle at Cana, the presence of Mary remains in the background. The Gospels make only the briefest reference to her occasional presence at one moment or other during the preaching of Jesus (cf. Mk 3:31-5; Jn 2:12), and they give no indication that she was present at the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. Yet the role she assumed at Cana in some way accompanies Christ throughout his ministry. The revelation made directly by the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan and echoed by John the Baptist is placed upon Mary's lips at Cana, and it becomes the great maternal counsel which Mary addresses to the Church of every age: "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5). This counsel is a fitting introduction to the words and signs of Christ's public ministry and it forms the Marian foundation of all the "mysteries of light".