Christmas Spirit Magic at OLL
On Saturday, December 17th Our Lady of the Lake Events Committee, with the aid of Pope John High School’s faculty and students, brought “Christ in Christmas” to life. This event, in the spirit of the true meaning of Christmas, brought together young children ages 5 through 10 and teens ages 14 through 17 to build Teddy Bears for the children in homeless shelters in the Sussex County area. This year the bears were donated to the over 100 families currently resident at the Samaritan Inn in Franklin. The children placed hearts into the bears they made, and gave them one final hug and kiss before placing them on a table to be blessed by Father David McDonnell. Following the blessing of the bears, the children were thanked with a musical program given by the Pope John HS students that included Christmas carols, scripture readings, and two scenes from Dickens “A Christmas Carol”. Christ in Christmas concluded with a visit from Santa Claus and Sister Tomasina from the Samaritan Inn. Santa asked the children to pack his sack with the bears so that he could take them over to the Samaritan Inn. Santa remained to have dinner with the children. A wonderful Italian feast was prepared by the members of Marquette Council #588 of the Knights of Columbus.