Our Lady of Mount Carmel will be celebrating with Santa Claus on December 7th after Mass. Lunch and kids activities will be provided for all.

The Women of Magnify invite you to A Women's Advent Evening of Reflection,

Join us for an evening of prayer, praise and reflection with National Catholic Speaker, Kristin Molitor on December 12, 2025, from 6:30-8:30pm with light refreshments to follow.

The Gathering Barn of Avon, 35204 Co Rd 155, Avon, MN 56310.

Contact Leah Brix for more information: leahbrixauthor@gmail.com.

RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) / OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults)

RCIA to OCIA

In Advent, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops introduced the “Order of Christian Initiation of Adults” (OCIA) which is the revised process by which adults (anyone over the age of 7) will enter the Church or receive sacraments outside of the usual religious education program. This update to the former Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) comes with some notable changes. The most significant is that OCIA will take no less than one year for any person who is not already a baptized Christian. With this in mind, OCIA classes will begin the first week of Lent this year and continue until Easter of 2026. These classes will continue year-round and individuals are welcome to join at any point, but the process will take at least one year from the time an individual begins. If you know anyone who is interested in entering the Church or receiving sacraments such as confirmation, please have them contact the ACC Office or crossrockaccpa@gmail.com.

• Baptisms 

• Baptism Preparations 

• Weddings 

• Communion at Home 

• Home Visits 

• Funerals 

Contact: Pastoral Associate crossrockaccpa@gmail.com or 320-412-9342.

It is a special blessing to be able to bring up the gifts during Mass. It is also important to participate in Mass as much as possible. If th ushers ask you and / or your family to bring up the gifts, please be open to this opportunity. The ushers will tell you when to come to the back of the church and they will teach you what to do. What a wonderful way to show Jesus you love him.

St. Stanislaus Giving Tree: We invite you to participate in helping those in need during the Christmas season. Morrison County Social Services have given us a list of children, teens and adults who are in need. Help us spread the Love of Christ by purchasing a $25 gift for them. 

The Giving Tree is in the entrance of the church. Please read the note by the tree with the instructions.

ACC Office Reminders: 

*Office hours are Monday-Thursday 9:00am-3:30pm 

  Friday 9:00am- 12:oopm

*Bulletin Information: If you would like something in the bulletin, please have it to Anne Krystosek at crossrockoffice@gmail.com by Tuesday of the week that you want it in the bulletin.   **** For the month of December and beginning of January, the bulletin deadlines are as follows:  December 14th due on the 8th, December 21st due on the 12th, December 28th due on the 22nd, January 4th due on December 26th. Please call or email the day before these deadlines to ensure enough time to fit everything in.  ****

*When writing a check for giving, please write it out to the individual parish, as the bank will NOT cash/deposit a check written to Cross Rock ACC 

*If you are mailing something to one of the parishes please use the ACC Office Address. This assures that contributions and correspondence are taken care of in a timely manner. 

Cross Rock ACC Office, PO Box 189, Rice, MN 56367

*Mass Intentions - $10.00 each. If you are writing a check for Mass Intentions for any of the parishes, the check should be made out to the individual parish. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the office at 320-393-2725. THANK YOU for your help with this. 

*If you have any changes to your household such as a phone # change, address change, member change please contact the office so we can update our programs. 

*We keep children on their parents' registration until they are 24. If they want to remain members, they will need to contact the office or they will be taken off the census program.

We will be decorating for Christmas on Sunday, December 21st after the 8:30am Mass. All help is welcome and appreciated!

The Advent Tree is up in the Narthex. Please consider taking a tag and fulfilling. All donations stay in the local community. Please have items returned to the tree by the week of December 14-19. Thank you for your generosity during this Advent Season. Gift cards will be accepted as well.

There will be a Family Mass for our Religious Ed students and their families on Wednesday, December 17th at 6:30pm in Rice. All are welcome to attend.

Members of the Holy Trinity Knights of Columbus Council 13398 will be selling our annual raffle tickets before and after Mass starting November 16, 2025. Tickets are $20.00 each and the drawing will be held on December 14. Please join us in the basement for coffee and rolls and fellowship.

Cross Rock ACC Board Members

St. Stanislaus, Bowlus:  Gene Bechtold and Dave Waletski 

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Opole:  Katie Knettel & Pat Maciej 

Holy Cross, North Prairie:  Peter Borash & Rich Zabinski 

Immaculate Conception, Rice:  Chris Van Heel & Natalie Schmitt 

Holy Trinity, Royalton:  Gary Opatz & Steve Bishop

Bowlus Prayer Line Leader: Rita Trettel 

Royalton/North Prairie Prayer Line Leader: Janice Breth

Rice Prayer Line Leader: Colleen Burton 

*Bulletin Prayer List: Let Jean in the Office know. We need permission from the individual or family to list in bulletin.

Rice Area Senior Citizens will meet on the first Tuesday of each month at 12:00pm at the Creamery Cafe in Rice. All are Welcome.

Due to Father Greg Paffel's injury, the only Mass that will be celebrated on Tuesdays will be in Rice at 8:00am. It will be this way until Father Greg is up and able to celebrate Mass again.

It is that time of year again to start thinking about your favorite Christmas Cookie / Candy recipes. Our Annual Christmas Cookie / Candy / Gift Sale will be on December 6th this year. We are asking each parish family donate 6 dozen homemade cookies or candy for the sale. The supply of cookies and candy determine the success of the sale, so your donation is highly encouraged and appreciated. We are asking that the cookies and candy be dripped off by Friday, December 5th as that is when we will be traying them up. Drop off times are as follows: Wednesday, December 3rd thru Friday December 5th from 8:00am-6:00pm. This fundraiser is a favorite of the community, and it is because of our parishioner's generosity that we can make it happen. If you are unable to bake for this fundraiser, we would greatly appreciate a $30.00 donation. Thank you for helping to make this fundraiser a success. We are once again doing a Gently Used Christmas Decor Sale. If you have any gently used Christmas items that you would like to donate, please drop them off at the Church.

Mark your Calendars… Future ACC Events  

December 6: Rice - Christmas Cookie / Candy / Gift Sale from 9:00am to 1:00pm

December 7: Opole - Santa Day in Opole after 10:30am Mass

December 8: Royalton - Immaculate Conception Mass at 7:00am

December 8: Opole - Immaculate Conception Mass at 8:00am

December 8: Bowlus - Immaculate Conception Mass at 12:00pm

December 8: Rice - Immaculate Conception Mass at 6:00pm

December 8: Royalton - Royalton Knights of Columbus meeting at 7:00pm

December 14: Rice - Rice Knights of Columbus Ham Bingo at 1:00pm

December 15: Bowlus - Reconciliation at 6:00pm

December 16: North Prairie - Reconciliation at 6:00pm

December 17: Rice - Rice Religious Ed Student/Family Mass at 6:30pm

December 18: Opole - Reconciliation at 6:00pm

December 19: Royalton - Reconciliation at 6:00pm

December 21: Rice - Communal Penance Service at 2:00pm (Extra Priests available)

December 24: Opole - Christmas Eve Mass at 4:00pm

December 24: Royalton - Christmas Eve Mass at 4:00pm

December 24: North Prairie - Christmas Eve Mass at 6:00pm

December 24: Rice - Christmas Eve Mass at 7:00pm

December 25: Rice - Christmas Day Mass at 8:00am

December 25: Bowlus - Christmas Day Mass at 9:00am

We are Looking for Volunteers to help decorate Holy Trinity Church for Christmas. Please join us on Saturday, December 20th at 9:00am. Many hands make light work!

We will be addressing Christmas cards to members of our ACC who are homebound, recently widowed, or in the military. If there are others you would like to include, please furnish us their name and address. Pre-addressed cards to Seminarians will also be available. Join us on Thursday, December 11, following 8:00am Mass in Royalton for donuts, a beverage and socializing. Contact Pat Kasella at 3200-584-5120 if you have any questions.

The Morrison County MCCL Chapter invites teens to write a short essay about their pro-life convictions. The essay must answer this question: "Why are you pro-life?" The Essay Contest is offered to students in grades 7 - 12. Essays must be 300-500 words and are due by December 19, 2025. Winning essays will be presented at the annual Pro=Life Banquet at the Falls Ballroom on Sunday, January 25, 2026 and be awarded a cash prize. 

For more information, contact Laureen Witt at 320-632-3995.

The food shelf totals are in and our ACC youth group is so thankful for your generous contributions to our local food shelves. Together our 5 parishes donated 598.2 pounds!!!

Totals for the individual parishes were:

Rice - 202.4

North Prairie - 115.4

Royalton 111

Bowlus 107

Opole 62.4

Our ACC Youth Group will be serving coffee and donuts to our top parish contributor, Immaculate Conception after the 8:30am Mass on Sunday, December 14th.