St. Basil Social Concerns November 2025 Newsletter


St. Basil Social Concerns November 2025 Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Fair Trade Fair

The 21st annual Fair Trade Fair is Sunday November 9 from 8 AM to 1 PM in the Family Life Center. The fair has ten great vendors who are excited to be coming back to St. Basil. Vendors have told us how much they love our parishioners who are eager to hear the unique stories of our fair trade artisans and growers!

Highlight FTF vendors from Holy Land

Canaan olive oils and spices are back! One World has a table featuring these delicious products. Please pray for the olive oil growers who are largely prevented from tending their groves.

Olivewood artisans’ sales are gone as there are no tourists in Bethlehem. Please pray for peace and for all the suffering people in the Holy Land.

Advent Giving Tree

St. Basil's annual Advent Giving Tree begins the weekend of November 22-23 and continues until Sunday December 7. We will sort the donations after the 11 AM Mass on Sunday December 7.

To participate in the giving tree, pick a tag from one of the tables in the church gathering area and purchase the gift. Return gift cards and checks to the parish office. Return physical gifts, unwrapped, to the gathering area.

Caritas Jerusalem Gaza Update

For those of you wondering about St. Basil's ties to Caritas Jerusalem, the proceeds from the raffle at the Fair Trade Fair go to Caritas Jerusalem. Caritas distributes the money to people in need in Gaza. You can learn more about Caritas Jerusalem at the following link:

https://caritasjr.org

Here is the update from Caritas Jerusalem.

Caritas Jerusalem Newsflash – Gaza Update
Gaza City / Deir al-Balah, 29 October 2025 –
Yesterday, our teams in Gaza reported intense bombardments in Gaza City, in the area surrounding our main medical center in Al Shatei’ Refugee Camo. The shelling was so heavy that it shook the entire building, causing several windows to fall off — fortunately, they were repaired immediately.
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Similar bombardments occurred in Deir al-Balah, near our medical point in Al-Birkeh area. Thankfully, no casualties were reported in either location, and operations have since returned to normal.
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Despite the ongoing “ceasefire,” which is, quite paradoxically, still officially “in force,” yesterday’s incidents are yet another stark reminder of the fragile reality on the ground.

Next Meeting

Thursday November 13 at 6:30 PM in the parish office.

Newsletter Archives

You can read previous newsletters at the newsletter homepage.

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St. Basil Social Concerns Commission

This is the newsletter for the Social Concerns Commission of St. Basil the Great parish in Brecksville Ohio. The newsletter lets the rest of the parish know about what the commission is doing, upcoming talks, and upcoming collections. Subscribe to be notified by email of upcoming events. When you hit the Subscribe button, a window may open asking you to subscribe to three unrelated newsletters. Hit the Maybe Later button to close the window and avoid subscribing to those newsletters.

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