Faith Formation Family News for August 14, 2013 CONTENTS: * Little Ones Cartoons * 1. Dance for Life This Saturday, August 17 (For All Ages) 2. Archdiocesan Youth Day (September 21) Last Chance to Register! 3. Get Involved in St. Gabriel s [Upcoming Activities] Loaves & Fishes Monday, August 19 Healing Mass Tuesday, August 20 Church Clean-up Day Saturday, August 31 St. Gabriel s Fall Festival September 6, 7 & 8 (Just a few weeks away!) 4. Prayer of the Week Blessing of Fields 5. Articles for Parents from At Home with Our Faith Don t Skip Meals, Especially Sunday Mass 6. Results of Last Spring s Faith Formation Evaluation 7. Rediscover: Faith What is Confirmation?.... and Can you share REDISCOVER with at least one other person? 8. Could You Please Consider Becoming a Catechist? [Something to think about] My Experience as a Catechist. By Ben Martinka Why I Became a Catechist. By Tracey Madder 9. We Did Not Create Ourselves: A One-Minute Meditation 10. News from The Catholic Spirit 11. Videos With a Message Cody s Story Our Partnership With the Diocese of Kitui, Kenya The Cry of the Poor Dance Your Shoes Off (Easter) 12. An Irish Priest is Tranferred to Texas (Catholic Humor)
1. DANCE FOR LIFE (For ALL ages) This Saturday Evening, August 17 EVERYONE IS INVITED Bring your Family! Bring your friends! Music from the 1940 s to today! Refreshments. Door Prizes. Party Favors for the first 200 guests. THIS SATURDAY, AUGUST 17. $7.00 per person -- $30.00 per family. A dance to benefit SAGRADIA FAMILIA. Questions? Call McKaela Laxen at 952-200-6989 or Teresa at 952-465-6989 dance for life! Saturday, August 17, 2013 6:00 PM - 11:00 PM WHERE: St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church, St. John Campus, School Gym 6 Interlachen Rd Hopkins MN 55343 WILL YOU ATTEND? VIEW THIS INVITATION
2. ARCHDIOCESAN YOUTH DAY (September 21) LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER! This is for teens going into Grades 9 12. There are over 100 parishes participating. We only have until next week to fill our last few spots after that we have to give them up to other parishes with waiting lists. So sign up soon! IT S FREE, so the price is right! Date and Time: Saturday, September 21, 2013. 2:00 to 9:00 p.m. Location: Holy Family Catholic High School in Victoria, MN Kick off the 2013 school year by joining together with other youth in the spirit of faith. Please contact a friend and register soon by calling the Faith Formation Office 952-935-5536. Join Archbishop John C. Nienstedt in a special event just for high school age Catholic youth (9 th 12 th Grade in Fall)! Date and Time: Saturday, September 21, 2013 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (registration opens @ 1:00) Location: Holy Family Catholic High School 8101 Kochia Lane. Victoria, MN 55386 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! 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! 3. GET INVOLVED IN ST. GABRIEL S (Upcoming Activities for Families) LOAVES AND FISHES ON MONDAY, AUG. 19 Sign-up in the foyer at St. John s Campus to help prepare the meal at Holy Rosary at 3:00pm. Or to set-up and serve. Or clean-up after the meal (5:30 to 6:30pm). We do all this at Holy Rosary Catholic Church: 2424 18th Ave. S., Mpls, MN 55404. (612) 724-8929. For information contact Deacon Darrel and Chris Branch at (952)-929-8695. HEALING MASS - Tuesday, August 20 Father Jim Livingston will celebrate a Healing Mass on Tuesday, August 20 at 7:00pm at St. Joseph Campus church. Please join us for rosary and Mass. Direct all questions to Barb at (952) 933-8423.
CHURCH CLEAN-UP DAY (Saturday, August 31) HELP CLEAN-UP THE GROUNDS AT ST. JOSEPH S CAMPUS TO PREPARE FOR THE FALL FESTIVAL Saturday, August 31, from 9:30am to Noon. Bring your gloves and a few garden tools, as we weed, rake, sweep and otherwise tidy up where our food & music tent and cake-walk will be. If you can t come the entire time, just come when you can. Questions: Contact Romaine at (952) 988-0955. ST. GABRIEL S FALL FESTIVAL (September 6, 7 & 8) Our FALL FESTIVAL is a great community builder. There s something for everyone that weekend at BOTH CAMPUSES. We hope to have EVERY FAMILY participate in some way. PLEASE SEE THE ATTACHED FLYER FOR ALL THE DETAILS. 4. PRAYER OF THE WEEK. Blessing of Fields O God, from the very beginning of time you commanded the earth to bring forth vegetation and fruit of every kind.
You provide the sower with seed and give bread to eat. Grant, we pray, that this land, enriched by your bounty and cultivated by human hands, may be fertile with abundant crops. Then your people, enriched by the gifts of your goodness, will praise you unceasingly now and for ages unending. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Book of Blessings 5. ARTICLES FOR PARENTS from DON T SKIP MEALS, ESPECIALLY SUNDAY MASS. Dealing with: The importance of making Sunday Mass attendance a family habit. How Sunday Mass is like a family meal. Excuses to avoid. Most nights, our family of six eats dinner together. It s rarely a Norman Rockwell scene. Jamie, 6, sometimes chews with her mouth open just to get a rise out of her sister Teenasia, 7. Fourteen-year-old Jacob too often acts as the fact-checker for 11-year-old Liam s stories.
Almost once a week we run out of salad dressing, and lately I ve been forgetting to set the timer for the dinner rolls, and we ve had to cut off the blackened, Frisbee-like bottoms. Despite our nonperfect dinners, we come together each night anyway. While I may routinely ruin dinner rolls, I m pretty good at spinach fettuccini. And when Jacob can hold back from correcting Liam, he finds his brother tells an entertaining tale. Bill and I recognize that a meal doesn t need to be perfect to be nourishing. So it is with Sunday Mass. The Eucharist is a family meal. And even when the Mass isn t perfect, it still nourishes us. Like the family meals around our own kitchen table, we go to church because we know it s good for us we come because it will fill us and keep us spiritually healthy. Take a look at the common excuses we may find not to attend Sunday Mass regularly, and watch what happens when we apply them to family dinners. I can pray anywhere. Yes, you can. And you should. We can eat anywhere too. But gulping a burger on the way to a soccer game feels very different from sitting down with the family for an organized meal. A bowl of popcorn on the couch, a popsicle on a porch swing, a crisp apple while walking in the woods all these are wonderful experiences of food, but we would never mistake a snack for a meal. In the same way, praying on our own, no matter how meaningful, is not a substitute for coming together for Mass. No one notices if I m not there. You d be surprised. Twice in my 14-year history as a parent one of my children behaved so terribly that I sent them to eat dinner in their bedroom rather than at the kitchen table. As the rest of us ate, I was amazed at how empty the table felt without that one child. Each family s attendance at a Mass means something to others who are there. Whether it s a child in another family who likes to say peace to your son, or an elderly woman who looks forward to your baby s smile, we notice each other s presence and feel the absence as well....more next week 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 Best in Class award in 2013 from the Associated Church Press, as well as a First Place General Excellence award from the Catholic Press Association for the past four years running.
6. RESULTS FROM LAST SPRING S FAITH FORMATION EVALUATION Thanks to everyone who completed an evaluation last Spring. We DID read and study all the feedback you gave. I m sorry it s taken so long to share the results however, here they are. If you want the SHORT ANSWER, here is a brief summary: Day of FF Sessions: Keep on Sunday evening. Length of Sessions: Keep at 90 minutes. Time of Sessions: Keep at 6:00 to 7:30pm. Locations of Sessions: St. John s campus in fall. St. Joseph s campus in Spring. If you want to see a listing of all the responses, and a detailed commentary on the evaluation, please see the attachment. Again, thanks to everyone who shared their viewpoints with me. Please know that I am open to your comments and suggestions AT ANY TIME. So don t wait for an evaluation to share your good ideas with me! 7. REDISCOVER: FAITH Want to learn more about your faith? Check out http://rediscover-faith.org/ for their large collection of answers to questions of importance to all of us. Here s a sample of a short answer to the question: What is Confirmation? http://rediscover.archspm.org/belonging/topic.php?id=7285
IF YOU LIKE THESE REDISCOVER TIDBITS, DO YOU THINK YOU COULD TELL OTHERS ABOUT THEM? Pick up a SUMMER SHARE CARD (business card sized) from the REDISCOVER kiosk at the main entrance of our Churches. They re designed to be easy to hand out to friends, family or co-workers. This short video explains how to do this: http://rediscover.archspm.org/resources/video.php?id=8601 8. COULD YOU PLEASE CONSIDER BECOMING A CATECHIST? MY EXPERIENCE AS A CATECHIST by Ben Martinka Spreading the faith is Christ's commandment and commission to his disciples. It is also the purest form of love and greatest gift we can give to our children, to the growth of our parish, families, and the Church at large, as well as to future generations. And the kids really are hungry for it! It is so rewarding to hear their questions and watch the wheels in their heads and spirits turning and their "aha!" moments! And their gratitude. It's also a great way to further your own education in and understanding of the faith as well as your ability to articulate it, and to create prayer experiences that are genuine for both yourself and your students. Ben Martinka is a volunteer catechist at St. Gabriel s, working with Grades 6, 7 & 8 in our team-based EDGE Program.
WHY I BECAME A CATECHIST - by Tracey Madder I was raised a Christian. I was taught to believe in God, to pray to Jesus, and to celebrate major Christian holidays. My parents have no religious affiliation, which is not to say that they do not believe in God or Christ. They do, but they have their own personal relationship with God. One of the events that shaped my faith occurred at the age of 16 when I went on a family trip to Barcelona, Spain. In the weeks prior to leaving for that vacation, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was first told about The Shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat by a woman we befriended at our hotel in Spain. About 20 miles outside of Barcelona, in the region of Catalonia, is a rugged mountain. Atop this mountain sits a monastery with a very holy relic, she said. I learned that pilgrims came to venerate this miraculous statue of a black Madonna and child called La Moreneta since the 12 th century. All prayers are answered at the feet of the black virgin, she claimed. Being so young, I did not understand the importance of the place I was to visit. The Shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat had been visited by many saints, including Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Multiple popes had also made the pilgrimage. The black Madonna was crowned in accordance with Canon Law and proclaimed a Patron Saint of Catalonia by Pope Leo XIII. It was one of the most significant pilgrimage sites in all of Spain. In the 13 th century shepherds found the statue in a grotto on the mountain. They witnessed a bright light and heard heavenly music which led them to the cave and statue. The shepherds told the local priest about what they heard and saw. The priest witnessed the same miracle and went on to inform the bishop. Once the bishop saw the light and heard the music, he ordered a small church to be erected in order to house the shrine, which was too heavy to move. As a sixteen year old, I was fascinated by the reports that miracles had taken place at Montserrat through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. A historian wrote, "In all ages, the sinful, the suffering, the sorrowful, have laid their woes at the feet of Our Lady of Montserrat, and none have ever gone away unheard or unaided." If all prayers are answered at the feet of the black virgin, I sure had a big prayer that needed answering.
It was on this mountain, at the feet of the black Madonna, that I made the most important prayer of my lifetime. May the Virgin please heal my mother of cancer and never allow her to get breast cancer ever again. On that significant day, my prayer was answered! Last year, our local parish had some difficulty securing a catechist to teach the third grade. I received many emails and phone calls about their struggles, as my son was in the third grade class lacking a teacher. I chose to ignore these emails and phone calls. Three days passed and each day something inside me kept telling me to volunteer to be the third grade catechist. I was not sure why. I considered myself to be one of the most ill prepared catechists of all time. After all, I had never even attended faith formation or CCD as a child. Never the less, the call was too big for me to ignore, and so I became the third grade catechist. Stopping by our parish, I picked up the materials to prepare the first lesson of the third grade. I opened up the teacher manual and staring me straight in the face was a photograph of The Shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat in Spain. It was the only real place that ever had any religious significance to me. I smiled and closed the book. Yes, Lord, I have heard your call. Tracey Madder just completed her first year as a catechist at St. Robert of Neminster Parish, Ada, MI. Have you thought about being a Faith Formation Catechist? Please contact Chuck Romportl, our Faith Formation Director, to see if becoming a Catechist is your way of answering God s call. Please prayerfully consider this ministry for yourself, or perhaps you can suggest the name of someone else who should receive the call to become a catechist. As always, we are counting on the prayers of ALL our parishioners to support the catechetical ministry here at St. Gabriel s. 9. WE DID NOT CREATE OURSELVES: A One-Minute Meditation What is obvious to me is that we did not create ourselves... life is something inside of you. You did not create it. Once you understand that, you are in a spiritual realm. --Virginia Satir We do not belong to ourselves, but to God and the universe. No one planned to come into existence; we just happened to find ourselves here. We are the expressions of creation made in the image and likeness of God. What does this mean on a practical level for how we will live today? For one thing, maybe we don't need to take ourselves
so seriously. And we certainly are not to judge our existence. We have a right to be here, just as everyone does. We can live this day fully and not hold ourselves back. We may work hard, play, and enjoy it. We need not rein in or attempt to control this force which so far exceeds our individual powers. Rather, today we can learn to flow with the current. Today, may I remember that God is within every cell of my being, and that there is not one little part of me that God did not make. You are reading an adaptation from the Hazelden book: Touchstones by Anonymous 10. NEWS FROM The August 9 edition: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=qpa4ffcab&v=001w5xuti8owgmqm1ch5 Dk21wbM7N5CIux4REDL7Bh_y6A6mf7V958tbjoTGeniMlOavw6uavCPnQ822Td4qWtGK4BEZIkCkSodD2pdPuDSJqrs5vCsdrLpvOcdK6SixddTO541h7qJphVWuchxCqMCyYRtlnB KwZsXt1TPA6yBfl0lZ6fLWKVUg%3D%3D 11. VIDEOS WITH A MESSAGE CODY S STORY A Boy With No Legs, But a Big Heart, Will Inspire You! Due to complications during pregnancy, Cody McCasland had to be born 2 months early, which eventually led to him having both legs removed... but God watched over him! Watch his inspirational story, his heart, soul and drive will MOVE you. It s 3:41 minutes at Cody's Story http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/1921-cody-sstory.
OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DIOCESE OF KITUI, KENYA This 7-minute video shows the partnership between our Archdiocesan Center for Mission with the Diocese in Kitui in Kenya, Africa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nurpax9rxa You will see many of the people and places who are being helped by the LIVING WATER PROJECT we participated in last April. THE CRY OF THE POOR (A between Sundays reflection from THE FIVE LOAVES.) Jesus tells the disciples, "I have come to bring fire to the earth and how I wish it were already burning." His passionate words are part of a larger teaching on the cost of discipleship. When we offer radical hospitality, we are "rooted" (meaning of radical) in the Gospel command to love our neighbors as ourselves. Powerfully summarized by Fr. John Foley's memorable song, The Cry of the Poor, we invite you to listen to Jesse Manibusan's evocative performance of this classic in this week's visio divina. 7-minute video for adults. http://www.thefiveloaves.com/ The LORD heard my cry. Though I am afflicted and poor, yet the LORD thinks of me. --Psalm 40 EASTER: Dance Your Shoes Off Literally and then Donate Them More than 2,000 people from Second Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, gathered at Discovery Green in the heart of Houston to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The purpose of Dance Your Shoes Off! was to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ in a powerful and celebratory way. Most importantly, each participant left a new pair of shoes on the field for those in need. These shoes will be given to local mission agencies, including Star of Hope, individuals all across the world through our mission partners and mission trips. Watch the (5:13 minute) video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kx2-j6us-o. They were inspired by over 1,300 young people, all of them members of Faith Church in Budapest, Hungary, who on April 4, 2010 celebrated Resurrection Sunday check it out at (5:24 minutes): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlsetaj-lte.
12. An Irish Priest was Transferred to Texas. (Catholic humor) Father O'Malley rose from his bed one morning. It was a fine spring day in his new west Texas mission parish. He walked to the window of his bedroom to get a deep breath of the beautiful day outside. He then noticed there was a mule lying dead in the middle of his front lawn. He promptly called the local police station. The conversation went like this: "Good morning. This is Sergeant Jones. How might I help you?" "And the best of the day te yerself. This is Father O'Malley at St. Ann 's Catholic Church. There's a mule lying dead in me front lawn and would ye be so kind as to send a couple o'yer lads to take care of the matter?" Sergeant Jones, considering himself to be quite a wit and recognizing the foreign accent, thought he would have a little fun with the good father, replied, "Well now Father, it was always my impression that you people took care of the last rites!" Without missing much of a beat, Father O'Malley replied: "Aye,'tis certainly true; but we are also obliged to notify the next of kin first, which is the reason for me call."