SMP has begun a recruitment drive for new altar servers (both youth and adult). All interested applicants must be : at least in the 4th grade and be available to serve weddings (youth) and funerals (adults) and also prepared to serve at any of our four churches. Mass scheduling is done via an electronic program able to adjust for time and location. Please contact any of the parish offices.

Due to the Covid surge the Alpha program has been delayed until March 3rd. We encourage interested participants and volunteers to continue to register through the link at the top of the page

St. Matthew Parish will continue the tradition of a Championship Football Pool for the game on Sunday February 13th. The entry fee is $40 per block with payouts of 1st qtr. $250, Half time $500, 3rd qtr. $250 and Final Score $1,000. Forms will be located at the church doors or found on our website. Entries are due by Noon Wednesday February 9, 2022. Checks are payable to St. Matthew Parish. Forms and payment can be placed in the collection basket in an envelope marked "Championship Football Pool" or mail to Holy Spirit Church 608 Farragut Street, Millvale PA 15209 Attn: Terry Schiebel. Thanks! CLICK ABOVE FOR THE ELECTRONIC ENTRY FORM

There will be a meeting of ALL Christian Mothers from our parish on Tuesday January 4th at 6:30pm at the St. Aloysius Social Hall. All are welcome including current and new members who would like to participate. Please bring a non perishable food item.

St. Matthew Parish Rummage House at St. Aloysius Church is having our 1st Furniture –Artwork Sale at Holy Spirit School building THIS Saturday, Dec. 11, from 9:00 am – 2:00pm. Please park in front of the Holy Spirit Church/School Cafeteria, but enter at the School on Farragut Street. Click here for more details

SMP Christian Mothers will be having a cookie sale after all Masses on December 11 & 12 and 18 & 19. Cookie packages range from $4.00-$8.00. Thank you for your support!

December 5th after the 9:00 am Mass at AS. Join us in the AS Activities Bldg. Hope to see you there!

SMP Music Ministry invites all parishioners to share their music gifts with our parish community for Advent, Christmas, and Confirmation. Rehearsals begin Tuesday November 23rd from 7 - 8:30pm at Saint Bonaventure Church, and will rotate between each of our churches. We ask that all Choir members be willing to travel to all churches. Click on the title for more information

Christmas Party December 7th 2021, at 6pm at the All Saints Activities Building. You must RSVP to Carol at 412-821-1914 by November 29th. Please state your preference of Stuffed Pork or Chicken Marsala. All are invited including anyone who would like to become a member on that evening.

The SMP ladies of Charity will meet on Saturday November 20th at 9:15am in Newmeyer Hall . All members of the SMP LOC are encouraged to attend. Please bring a non-perishable item for the Bread of Life Food Bank in Etna. A light breakfast will be served at 8:45

The Ladies of Charity are hosting a blood drive, November 7 from 8am - 1pm at the All Saints Activity building. Appointments are recommended but walk ins are accepted. You can schedule on line at heeps://donateblood.centralbloodbank.org. If you can not schedule online, please call 412-209-7000

Saint Matthew Parish live streams Mass each Sunday on our Facebook page. You can watch it here on our website by clicking on the title above. Times for Live streams may fluctuate until we are able to receive help with this ministry. If you care to help us live stream Sunday mass please contact the parish office.

The St. Matthew Parish High School Youth Group meets every Wednesday at St. Bonaventure's Church in Newmeyer Hall from 7:00-9:00 pm. A pizza dinner is provided. Come join in the fun games and discipleship with other teenagers. Bring a friend! Contact Jonah Soucy for more in- formation.

St. Matthew Parish has available low-gluten hosts for those who have difficulties with Celiac Disease and other similar disorders. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, products containing less than 20 ppm (parts per million) may be labeled as "gluten free." An article in the magazine Gluten-Free Living states that the equivalent of 27,000 ppm (10 milligrams) per day is usually safe, though this number may well vary from person to person. The low-gluten hosts from our provider are 100ppm and are approved for use by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. If you are in need of a low-gluten host, please come to the sacristy (where the Priest and Deacon vest). There the Priest will discuss with you how you will be able to receive safely.

Fall Registration for the Children's Faith Formation program is now underway. Register by going to the Religious Ed page. For more information, please call Louis Bosco (PK-6th Grade) at 412-923-3413; or Jonah Soucy (7th-8th Grades) at 412-923-3415.

Hallow is a Catholic prayer and meditation app that helps you deepen your relationship with God through audio-guided contemplative prayer, meditation, Bible studies, and spiritual music. Hallow - Blog: This module shares engaging blog-style articles on prayer. It is updated year-round with new content, from basic "how-to" techniques on prayers such as the Examen, the Rosary, and Lectio Divina, to helpful guides and tips on cultivating a vibrant prayer life. Hallow - Video: This module provides 5-20 minute guided meditations that help your flock build daily prayer habits. New, premium video content that is usually reserved for Hallow's paid subscribers will be featured every week through this module. CLICK ON THE TITLE TO BE REDIRECTED TO THE RESOURCES PAGE

As this pandemic starts to slow down and things start to open back up, we are looking to run an Alpha evangelization series in our parish. Our goal is to have Alpha running at all four of our Churches. In order to make this happen, we are in great need of people willing to lead small group discussions. This is not a teaching roll, but one of facilitating conversation. Training will be provided. We are looking to kick off the training in early February, so please reach out to Jonah at youthministry@stbonaventureparish.org or ext. 415, ASAP if you would be interested in helping out!

Your Bulletin can now be found under the Resource tab at the top of the website.

Epiphany is a day to make our homes glitter with the exuberance of gold, frankincense and myrrh. It's the customary day to bless the home for the New Year, although this blessing is fitting whenever you can gather the household in January. There are many variations of the Epiphany Home Blessing, one of the simpler ones is quoted below. It can be prayed as part of mealtime grace, and it can be embellished by writing with chalk above the front door "21 + C + M + B + 21" (the initials of the three holy kings, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, or the first letters of the Latin inscription: Christus mansionem benedicat—May Christ bless this home.). Then everyone walks from room-to-room sprinkling the home with holy water, a sign of the River Jordan. A twig from the Christmas tree makes a fine sprinkler. You can pray: God of Bethlehem and of Cana, God of Jordan's leaping waters in baptism you bring us into your family. You wed us, embracing us as your beloved. May we fill this home we have made with kindness to one another, with hospitality to guests, and with abundant care for every stranger. By the gentle light of a star, guide home all who seek you on paths of faith, hope and love, where we will join the angels in proclaiming your praise: Glory in heaven and peace on earth, now and forever. Amen.

A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. This candymaker incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and the firmness of the promise of God. The Candymaker made the candy in the form of a “J” to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the staff of the Good Shepherd, with which He reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lamb’s who like all sheep, have gone astray. Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received, by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life. Unfortunately, the candy became known as the Candy Cane a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas. But the meaning remains for those who “have eyes to see and ears to hear.” May this symbol again be used to witness to the Wonder of Jesus and His Great Love that came down at Christmas and remains the ultimate and dominant force in the universe today.