1. ST. GABRIEL S ANNUAL BLOOMING PLANT SALE This Weekend

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1 Faith Formation Family News for May 9, 2013 CONTENTS: 1. St. Gabriel s Blooming Plant Sale This Weekend 2. The Living Water Project Results 3. Parish Events Get Involved! St. John s School Spring Concert (May 13) Please Help Us Clean Up our Parish Cemetery (May 18) Pre-Memorial Day Event (May 18) 4. Prayer of the Week Prayer for Faith 5. Articles for Parents from At Home with Our Faith Balancing Act (part 2) 6. Rediscover Faith: Give me five good reasons why going to Mass every Sunday is absolutely necessary. 7. News from The Catholic Spirit 8. Videos With a Message Happiness Here! Reunions 9. Friends: A One-Minute Meditation 10. Archdiocesan Youth Day 11. Photos from last Sunday s First Communion 1. ST. GABRIEL S ANNUAL BLOOMING PLANT SALE This Weekend SPRING IS (sort of ) HERE (for the 3 rd or 4 th time!) Come beautify your home with a huge variety of healthy and beautiful plants. Surprise Mom with a lovely hanging basket or create your own planter with a wonderful selection of flowering plants and fillers. On display at the St. John s Campus on Preston Avenue. Our expert staff can help you with all your gardening needs.

2 Friday, May 10 from 8:00am - 6:00pm Saturday, May 11 from 8:00am - 6:00pm Sunday, May 12 from 8:00am - 12:00pm CAN YOU LEND A HAND? Volunteers are needed for this great fundraiser! Please sign up in the foyer at the St. John s Campus. For more information contact: Mary Rivers at (952) or mermerrivers@yahoo.com 2. LIVING WATER PROJECT RESULTS Thanks to everyone who made donations for this cause. o Our Faith Formation students turned in a total of $461.71! WONDERFUL! o Our money will be added to the $ that was collected by St. John s School students and parishioners, making a grand total of $ o This money will be sent in to our Archdiocesan Center for Mission, who in turn will send this to the Diocese of Kitui, Kenya in Africa. What is the Church like in Kitui? o The donations from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are going to the Parish of St. Mathias Mulumba in Endau. Fr. Charles Kyalo is the pastor.

3 o The parish has 12 outstations. An outstation is a community which is located some distance from the main parish in the village of Endau, the furthest one being 32 miles away. The pastor can visit these outstations for Mass and Baptisms only once a month at the most, since the roads are rough. In between these visits by the priest, these outstation communities have faith leaders who gather the people for prayers each Sunday, hold religious education during the week, and organize Small Christian Communities of neighborhood families which gather once per week to reflect on the upcoming Sunday Bible Readings. o The Catholic Church also does what it can in these outstations to help the people deal with famine, drought, and low levels of education. These communities are in the driest areas of Kitui, where women walk miles for water. o The donations from St. Gabriel s Faith Formation and St. John s School are going directly to help the people in the Endau outstation of Katumbi (Kah-toom-bee). Our donations will help these people dig earthen water dams (reservoirs).

4 Please continue to pray for the physical and spiritual well-being of the people in the Katumbi outstation. o Yes, our donations will help a lot. But it will not solve all their problems. Yours prayers are the most helpful thing you can give. o Asante sana! ( thank you very much in Swahili) 3. PARISH EVENTS Get Involved! ST. JOHN S SCHOOL SPRING CONCERT Next Monday, May 13 at 7:00 pm in the church at St. John s Campus. All are invited!

5 PLEASE HELP US CLEAN UP OUR PARISH CEMETERY Saturday, May 18 Please join us on Saturday, May 18 from 10am to Noon at St. Margaret s Cemetery (South on Shady Oak Road, left on Bren Road, then the first right Directly behind the Scoreboard Restaurant). St. Margaret s Cemetery is the PARISH CEMETERY OF ST. GABRIEL S CHURCH, named after the very first Catholic Church in the Hopkins area, St. Margaret s Church ( ). Bring your yard tools, gloves, loppers, square shovels, and come ready to work. Questions? Call Jay Strachota at Help us spruce up the cemetery for when Fr. Liekhus presides at our outdoor MEMORIAL DAY MASS there. PRE-MEMORIAL DAY EVENT ALL ARE INVITED to our Pre-Memorial Day Event on Saturday, May 18 following the 4:30pm Mass at St. Joseph Campus. Prayers for the Military in the Church after Mass, then a light meal in the social hall with a Film and Talk about the Fort Snelling MEMORIAL RIFLE SQUAD! For Food Planning - Please call Kathleen Esh at (952) or kmeyesh@yahoo.com. 4. PRAYER OF THE WEEK.

6 Prayer for Faith By Fr. Gerald Keefe My Jesus, how often I feel very small and inadequate before great tasks and responsibilities. What can I do but bring all that I have, even though it isn t much, and place all this in Your hands, wait for Your blessing, breaking, thanking and receive back again with amazing power to reach all who depend on me, fill them with goodness and still have more than what I started with. May I never hold back my gifts from You. May I believe that Your blessing multiplies my smallest gifts to maximum powers. May I rejoice that You return the task to me and I have the personal thrill of seeing many satisfied by my ministrations. I adore Your wisdom, Your power, Your sharing. Amen. 5. ARTICLES FOR PARENTS from Balancing Act Dealing with: Finding a balance between children s activities and a sane family life. Pace your activity schedule to make sure it includes FAMILY TIME.

7 See children s talents as gifts from God. Denise and Arthur, parents of three children ages 4 to 11, keep guidelines in mind as they choose activities for their kids. The younger the child, the more time with us. The older the child, the more time with others and making decisions on how to balance time, Denise says. If we miss signing them up for something for which they have a real talent, we are not going to stress over this. We believe God is generous and gives us more talents and gifts than we can ever really use. Parents who feel they may never say no to their children s desire to join one more sport or activity are at risk for a frenetic family life that damages parents and children alike. The responsibility of parenting a gifted artist or athlete includes helping the child develop a sense of stewardship regarding his or her gift. John and Anne, parents of four, take this approach. We value making choices, and weighing value. We try to discern what God s will is for our time and talent who is served by what we do, says Anne. Listening to kids and teaching them to listen to themselves. Parents of middle-schoolers and teens need to begin to nudge their children toward their own decision-making but also keep an eye on the child s physical, emotional, and mental health. What has kept our daughters in certain activities and out of others has been their desire, enjoyment, and level of skill and interest, says Pam, mother of two. We have watched as friends have chosen a state cup soccer game over a graduation, and we have not agreed with those choices. I think parents get so caught up that their child gets to a high-level team that they accept Sunday morning games, tremendous expenses, and family stress to maintain that status. Our place of peace has come from asking, At what price? Maria, mother of two teens, says, When my kids have approached me with ideas, I try to listen to them and ascertain what s in it for them before I clobber it with any of my preconceived notions, anxieties, or hesitations. I love watching my kids become who they want to be without me putting a handprint on it. by Annemarie Scobey, from the pages of At Home with Our Faith, Claretian Publications print newsletter for parents on nurturing spirituality in the home. Winner of the 2012 Best in Class award from the Associated

8 Church Press, as well as a First Place General Excellence award from the Catholic Press Association for the past three years running. 6. REDISCOVER FAITH Want to learn more about your faith? Check out for their large collection of answers to questions of importance to all of us. Here s a sample of a short 1-page answer to the question: Give me five good reasons why going to Mass every Sunday is absolutely necessary. Rediscover the beauty of Sunday worship! 7. NEWS FROM THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT (Our Archdiocesan Newspaper) The May 3 edition: _lkqemuag3pondtyzl0pyxyfvdluootptgt0os4412i7g3u9dk5r1ix4qw6rekuhou6d6_49m7hjyxpyxnyeh1g1e 95_Gq2DWOEm 8. VIDEOS WITH A MESSAGE

9 Happiness Here! This video features the "Happiness Here" street art. On this particular day the artist placed seven "Happiness Here" spaces in Washington Square Park. This video simply shows people interaction with the "Happiness Here" interactive street art on that day. While this is only a small sample, it offers a little insight and glimpse at the various interactions people have when encountering a happiness here space. With a simple idea and chalk, street art welcomes people to stand inside "happiness" to "provoke thought about what happiness is." REUNIONS Returning servicemembers receive heroes' welcomes from friends and loved ones. This video is 5:31 minutes FRIENDS: A One-Minute Meditation Reflection for the Day My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me. --Henry Ford To be a friend involves risk. Friends confront each other when it's needed, but they do it out of love and with compassion. All of us need a friend who will tell us when we are acting out of line, when we are "not able to see the forest for the trees." Friends are there for us in the struggles rooting us on, maybe teasing us a bit, helping us get past the difficulties and eventually helping us find the gift embedded in them. Friends risk upsetting us, if it means we may become better people. We need to be grateful for these people. Theirs is not always an easy job. Many of us have big egos; we don't want to be told that we are wrong. However, friends keep seeing the best in us, even when we aren't acting our best. Theirs will be the faces we see when we look back at our lives, especially at the times of crisis and challenge. Prayer for the Day Dear God, help me be a friend, and help me be grateful for my friends.

10 Today's Action Today I will work to bring out the best in those around me, even if that means saying the hard things. If I must confront someone, I will only do it if I can do it with love and compassion. You are reading an adaptation from the Hazelden book: God Grant Me by Anonymous 10. ARCHDIOCESAN YOUTH DAY! o We re advertising this early, as it fills up really fast. Join Archbishop John C. Nienstedt in a special event just for high school age Catholic youth (9 th 12 th Grade in Fall)! THEME: We too believe and therefore speak. 2 Cor. 4:13 Archdiocesan Youth Day 2013 will bring together teens from around the archdiocese for a day of faith formation and fun! Kick off the 2013 school year by joining together with other youth in the spirit of faith. Come celebrate the truth and joy of our Catholic faith so that you can speak of Christ s love! Date and Time: September 21, :00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (registration 1:00) Location: Holy Family Catholic High School

11 8101 Kochia Lane. Victoria, MN Full day with Archbishop Nienstedt Emcee Dave Rinaldi Keynote Sean Forrest (International Catholic speaker, performing artist, author and retreat leader) Mass Opportunities for Reconciliation and Eucharistic Adoration Music by Sonar and more! P.S. There is no charge for this special event! Are you ready to join? Gather your friends! Registration is by group only, so talk to Chuck Romportl or Fr. Liekhus to sign up. Space fills up quickly, so sign up soon. We are also looking for adult chaperones to go with our group. Thanks! Chuck Romportl, St. Gabriel s Faith Formation Director. 11. PHOTOS FROM LAST SUNDAY S FIRST COMMUNION Go back to the original to see these.