On a Wing and a Prayer

Transcription

1 On a Wing and a Prayer December 2012 Newsletter Guardian Angels Catholic Community Just. Faithful. Catholic. Join us for mass every Sunday at 5PM and every Friday at 7AM (starting Jan this mass will be on Wednesdays at 7AM) Advent at Guardian Angels starts with a Retreat with Rev. Vernon Meyer on Dec. 1. We will have a Parish Potluck on Sunday, Dec. 9 after mass and we will celebrate Christmas, the Incarnation, the Word made Flesh on Dec. 24 th at 9PM

2 What else is going on in December! Guardian Angels Calendar Preachers: Dec 2: Sue; Dec 9: Elaine; Dec 16: Sue; Dec 23: Barb Don t forget to pick up your Advent 2012 Little Blue Book! Guardian Angels T Shirts! Available at Mass. $8 each! Our Richard Rohr Recorded Webcast Series continues! Sunday Evenings 6:30 8:00pm December 2, 2012 January 6, 2013 There is no fee for these events. Invite a friend to join you! Guardian Angels Catholic Community, 1701 S College Ave, Tempe, AZ , message phone. Fr. Richard Rohr is a Franciscan friar and internationally known author and speaker. He founded the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1971, and the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1986, where he presently serves as Founding Director. He considers the proclamation of the Gospel to be his primary call, and uses many different platforms to communicate the message. Themes he addresses in service of the Gospel include Scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace and justice issues, male spirituality, the Enneagram, and eco spirituality. The Father Rohr webcasts all take place at Guardian Angels Catholic Community. We share space with Community Christian Church at the address above. Guardian Angels is an ecumenical and inclusive Catholic community. We invite you to join us for our Sunday Liturgy at 5:00 pm prior to the webcast if you are so inclined. December 2, 2012 Practicing Contemplation and Facing Paradox Could contemplation be described as an ability to hold and absorb seeming contradictions? Is paradoxical thinking at the heart of faith? Fr. Richard thinks so, and will illustrate why and how. January 6, 2013 Immortal Diamond: the True Self and the Risen Christ The metaphor immortal diamond is taken from Gerard Manley Hopkins, and is used in Fr. Richard s next book as an ideal image for the soul, the true self, and the risen Christ all at once.

3 Our Peter invites us to enjoy a holiday concert with Orpheus, the Male Chorus of Phoenix. They will sing Dec. 4 at Velda Rose United Methodist Church, 5540 E Main St Mesa. That concert is at 7:30pm. Peter has tickets at the house, or you can buy them at the door. Several of us have been to an Orpheus Concert. It really is wonderful. If you do come to one of these events, please say "hello" to Peter afterwards! We ve been invited to a Fun Night Islamic Community Center of Tempe (131 East 6th Street Tempe, AZ (480) ) on Friday, December 7. Imam Ahmad has invited us to join in a program that includes night prayer (about 10 minutes) at 7:30PM followed by storytelling and refreshments. The program will last about an hour and a half. All are welcome to learn more about our Muslim sisters and brothers. Modest dress is appreciated (i.e. no shorts, no sleeveless shirts)

4 Guardian Angels next Leadership Council Meeting will be on Monday, December 5PM at the Church. These are open meetings so you are welcome to attend leadership council you HAVE to attend! THE LONGEST NIGHT SERVICE The holiday season is often hectic, and can be an especially difficult time for many people. If you or someone you love is struggling with grief, the loss of a loved one, divorce, illness, depression, job loss, or other issues, or are just overwhelmed by the chaos of the season, please attend this quiet meaningful service. In this calming service those mixed emotions can be acknowledged; and peace, comfort, and hope brought into the lives of those in need. Please join us at 7:00 pm on Thursday December 20 in the Sanctuary at Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation. All are welcome. Located at 6400 W Del Rio, Chandler More info can be found at A beautiful song to use for reflection during a time of year that can be difficult for many: We will be participating in Tempe s Fifth Annual Observance of the National Homeless Memorial Day sponsored by TEAM Tempe Interfaith. We remember on this longest night of the year those who have died on our streets in The Service will be held on Friday, December 6:30PM at University Presbyterian Church, 139 East Alameda Drive, Tempe, AZ 85282, (480) There will be a meal available at 5:30PM for all our homeless brothers and sisters who may need a meal before the Service. Photographs by Larry Mishler

5 On Saturday, November 10 we blessed bicycles in our parking lot. It was a small but wonderful group of healthy bikers! All the bikes were blessed and we passed out teeny, tiny bike bumper stickers! If you missed it, no worries! We will do it again in the Spring! FOR A THINKING CHURCH IN ARIZONA The next JAAZ Lecture will be in January

6 Below, the adorable Ghan girls on Thanksgiving Morning! Those cinnamon buns look YUMMY! We gathered on Thanksgiving Eve for our Annual Interfaith Service. Beautiful music, wonderful people with inspirational readings, prayers and witness.

7 We had a great number of folks from Guardian Angels who attended the Interfaith Service. Below a beautiful picture of Carol & Peter Bennett and family at the Thanksgiving Eve Service.

8 And of course some new pictures of Claire Violet!

9 From Rachel Held Evans Just for fun, this weekend I'll be posting a few excerpts from A Year of Biblical Womanhood that relate to the holidays. I hope yours are joyous! NOTE: Don't read if you don't have a sense of humor. Wrote this with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek. :-) *** Okay, I m just going to come right out and say it: A lot of women secretly hate Christmas. Now, don t get me wrong. We love that picturesque moment in which the tree is lit, the fire is crackling, and children outfitted in matching candy-cane pajamas dance around the living room to Tchaikovsky, showing off armfuls of new toys while a twenty-pound ham bakes in the oven; we just hate the anxiety disorder we developed while attempting to produce it. There seems to be some kind of universal agreement that the advances achieved through women s liberation need not apply during the holidays. It s as though the first trumpet peals of It s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year sent blasting over the PA at Bed Bath & Beyond are designed to trigger an internal short that shocks us all into Stepford mode, donning aprons and strained smiles and sweaters that have no business surviving another decade. From the baking aisle to the post office line to the wrapping paper bin in the attic, women populate every forgotten corner of Christmas.

10 Who got up at 4 a.m. to put the turkey in the oven? A woman. Who elbowed you out of the last reindeer Pillow Pet left on the shelf? A woman. Who sent the Christmas card describing her eighteen-year old son s incarceration as a short break before college? A woman. Who remembered to include batteries at the bottom of each stocking? A woman. And who gets the credit for pulling it all off? Santa. That s right. A man. Oh, we would be a lot angrier about all of this if we weren t so tired. But by the time the 25th rolls around, we re all out of fight. Drained of our humanity, we have more important things to attend to dishes, returns, disappointed inlaws, and a mild addiction to whatever holiday-themed Starbucks product we were pumping through our systems that year... Read the rest in A Year of Biblical Womanhood. BRING YOUR QUESTIONS TO GUARDIAN ANGELS!! WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!

11 Check out the Guardian Angels Facebook page! Regular updates, pictures and info shared on this page: A Blessed Holiday Season to you and yours! THE ECUMENICAL CATHOLIC COMMUNION A Wonderful Way of Being Catholic!