A Thanksgiving Poem

From Cornerstone of Hope – A Home for the Grieving

Dear Father who art in Heaven. . .

Please join our family on this Thanksgiving Day

And bless each one as we sit down to pray

As we remember those who have joined you above

So dearly missed and deeply loved.

 

Please provide us strength on this Thanksgiving Day

Bless us with memories of those faraway . . .

Please grant patience to family and friends as we grieve

And help us reach out to others who are bereaved.

 

We give thanks to you on this Thanksgiving Day . .

For Your presence in our lives each and everyday.

For Your comfort, guidance, and never ending love. . .

And for taking care of our loved ones. . .In Heaven above.

As we light this candle on this Thanksgiving Day. . .

And it glows in memory of those in Heaven today . . .

May their lights always shine down on us and give us light. . .

And may we feel their presence along with Yours tonight.

 

May the peace and tranquility of this Thanksgiving Day

Be an everlasting light within each of us along the way . . .

Let’s bow our heads and give our Thanks to God above. . .

For our blessings, whether on earth or in Heaven above. . .

Amen

 Sister Pat 

What would make Christmas more meaningful to you?

WHAT WOULD MAKE CHRISTMAS MORE MEANINGFUL TO YOU THIS YEAR??

(This is a question we are circulating among our family members this year.  Here is one response.)

I think about this question and the first thought that comes is family. I love being together and sharing find myself treasuring each person in our family more than I already thought I could. I am grateful to family members who  bring us all together around the holidays especially Thanksgiving and Christmas, and at restaurants, resorts, etc. for whoever can make them; for initiating some get togethers during the year when we can share what’s happening in our lives (doesn’t always have to be about religion – or politics for that matter although I believe faith is important). I have had in my possession for years now many family albums with photos that go back a couple generations at least. I appreciate those of our family joined by commitment and marriage may also have family photos and memories of your families too.

Perhaps this is the year when these treasured mementos can be shared, mused, laughed, cried over and handed on in a respectful way (thought of scanning them onto discs? – soon hard photos may disappear). How to do this?? Any suggestions?? Maybe these photos remind me that those here now and those who have died are never really gone or lost. It saddens me to think children, grandchildren, great grandnieces and nephews may never see a photo of their grandpas, grandmas, great uncles, great aunts when they were younger and may never know the stories, personalities, behind some of our relatives made up our past. I admit when I was younger all of this never really interested me. Maybe I’m getting old and the history of our family tree intrigues me; who were our ancestors? Each one with their own stories just like us. Maybe the fact that I had missed so much family life by being in the convent in earlier yrs . . . As I write this I kind of smile – me – looking to the past – when I find myself focusing my life in the HERE and NOW !  So, with that awareness . . .maybe what would make Christmas meaningful to me this year is reveling, sharing, rejoicing, crying and giving thanks to God in the HERE and NOW, for the fact that we – not just our families but ALL families – are truly ONE, united with one another. I can’t wait to be together with family this Thanksgiving and Christmas and really SEE and BE with everyone! The photos after all may just be a springboard to recall our oneness and the love we have inherited and now share with one another and with others.
Sister Pat

Signing the Senses

On Sunday, November 30, St. John Neumann Parish will celebrate the Rite of Welcoming for three Catechumens and five Candidates for Full Communion.   This Rite marks the first step in their journey toward membership in the Catholic Church and is an important one in that the Candidates appear publicly for the first time to declare their intentions to beome its members.  The Church through the Presider and the Assembly in turn welcome them as persons who intend to join them around the Eucharistic Table.

During the Rite the Sponsors of the Catechumens and Candidates will mark the senses of their candidate by forming a Cross with their thumb over each of the senses.   Below is that part of the Rite, that hopefully remind each of us of our mission as Disciples of Jesus.

Receive the sign of the cross on your ears, that you may hear the voice of the Lord.

Receive the sign of the cross on your eyes, that you may see the glory of God.

Receive the sign of the cross on your lips, that you may respond to the word of God.

Receive the sign of the cross over your heart, that Christ may dwell there by faith.

Receive the sign of the cross on your shoulders, that you may bear the gentle yoke of Christ.

Receive the sign of the cross on your hands, that Christ may be known in the work which you do.

Receive the sign of the cross on your feet, that you may walk in the way of Christ.

Celebrant:  Almighty God, by the cross and resurrection of your Son you have given life to your people

Your servants have received the sign of the cross: make them living proof of its ssving power and help them to persevere in the footsteps of Christ.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen’

Sister Pat

 

 

POWER GRAB

POWER GRAB                                                                              by Nancy Fiamingo

 This week I’m looking for POWER!  That’s right I want power and I want LOTS of it.  I am leading a team of adults who will be leading dozens of teenagers on a potentially life-changing retreat weekend.  

We need the power of your prayer to lead us forward.  I humbly ask for one of the greatest gifts that virtually anyone can share – the gift of your prayer on our behalf.  Please pray for me, for the Core Team, for our adult support team, our priests, our LT Band, and most of all, please pray for our high school teenagers to open their hearts to the love and power of God in their lives.  Please pray that they then take the fruit of this retreat into their families and their schools, their teams, and their work places. 

Our world needs faith-filled and inspiring young people to bring light into the darkness.  Thank you for your prayer power.    

“Once we take our eyes away from ourselves, from our interests, from our own rights, priveldges, ambitions – then they will become clear to see Jesus around us.”
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

Pope John XXIII

As we are probably aware Pope John XXIII who was pope from 1959-1963 and the pope who convened the second vatican council will be canonized a saint along with Pope John Paul II the last Sunday of April, 2014.  Pope John XXIII taught us many lessons one of which was not to take ourselves so seriously.  In the days immediately after being elected Pope, John XXIII received a letter from Bruno, a 12 year old boy: “My dear Pope: I am undecided.  I want to be a policeman or a pope.  What do you think?””  The new pontiff replied promptly saying: “My little Bruno.   If you want my opinion, learn how to be a policeman…Anybody can be a pope; the proff of this is that I have become one.  If you ever should be in Rome, come to see me.  I would be glad to talk all of this over with you.”

Amidst all the distractions of life in the end all we have is the present moment.

“GIMME A BREAK” – TEENS’ THOUGHTS ON THE MASS

November 8, 2013                                                                                by Nancy Fiamingo

 As part of our Life Night on October 27, which focused on the 3^rd Commandment, nearly 60 teens participated in a facilitated large group discussion, which gave them the opportunity to share their thoughts on Mass. In answer to, “To me Mass is __________”, members of our group said:

HOPE – it gives me hope when I’m down and discouraged about life

BEAUTY – it is there that we truly feel loved by God and free to be ourselves

PEACEFUL – I am filled with peace in regards to lots of things that I am struggling with

UPLIFTING – I am reminded of my true worth

THE ONE THING that starts my week off right!

JOY – no matter how I feel when I walk into to Mass, I leave feeling happy

HELPFUL in keeping me connected to God and in showing me how to live

YOU – nowhere else are you more “yourself” than at Mass in communion with God and other believers

TIMELESS – God is not confined to time and space, so we are participating in a never-ending celebration

A PARADOX, BOTH REAL & MYSTICAL – at Mass, you can truly be yourself and know that you’re loved and accepted by God, but you are also participating in the Heavenly Liturgy along with all of the Angels and Saints, and our loved ones who are now in heaven.

May the Holy Mass truly be the source and summit of our lives!

 

Veterans Day

The upcoming national celebration of Veterans’ Day gives us all an opportunity to not only thank our veterans but to keep them and those presently in our armed forces in prayer.  It also provides us with time to remember what we often forget – that we are part of a total story.  We tend to think of ‘my’ story – or ‘our story’ – but in the end there is THE story – the story of God.  When all we are involved in is ‘my’ story and ‘our’ story it is so easy to forget how God has made us one – how God has loved us – how God has forgiven us – how God has shown us all compassion – how God has given us life.  We all have my story – we all have our groups we belong to – but neither one would exist if it wasn’t for THE story!

Welcoming

St. John’s is a great welcoming Parish!!

And soon our parish will be welcoming into the next phase of their formation, 6 plus RCIA candidates in what is called THE RITE OF WELCOMING..

Question:  How can we – I – welcome those considering becoming Catholic? The Rite of Welcoming or Acceptance will take place on Nov. 30 at the 5:00 pm Mass.  (A few – not you – have been known to attend another liturgy because perhaps this ritual may extend the mass by about 8 minutes).  But for many of us, it is an opportunity to get to know these prospective new members, who will be introduced to our community for the first time, to shake their hand after the liturgy and introduce ourselves.   Perhaps a part of the ritual we might all witness to them is that of the Signing of the Senses of each candidate by their sponsor:

Receive the sign of the cross on your ears, that you may hear the voice of the Lord.

Receive the sign of the cross on your eyes, that you may see the glory of God.

Receive the sign of the cros on your lips, that you may respond to the word of God.

Receive the sign of the cross over your heart, that Christ may dwell there by faith.

Receive the sign of the cross on you shoulders, that you may bear the gentle yoke of Christ.

Receive the sign of the cross on your hands, that Christ may be known in the work which you do.

Receive te sign of the cross on your feet, that you may walk in the way of Christ.

What a great “send off” into Advent if each of us would “open the door” to our hearts and look at those who are making a step in faith

in their search and journey to following Jesus, what better message might they receive from us than being joyful followers ourselves and saying “Hello, thank you for looking into our Church.  It would be great to see you at Mass each week!”

 

 

 

Zaccheus

The gospel today of Zaccheus climbing a tree to see Jesus teaches us two things.  {1} when we get away from the crowd – as Zaccheus did – that is, get away from it all, take a mental health day, vacation do we get away from it and seek out Jesus.  We all need to get away but does it conclude by coming back to the ‘same old same old’ or coming back with Jesus more in our life.  {2} Zaccheus takes action after encountering Jesus.  He gives half of his belongings away and pays back to any he has been deceitful to.  He had to be discourage – small in stature, despised by the people for his tax collection – and yet he takes action.  We all have challenges and find it difficulties in life – when we do is it a turning into ourselves or turning outward with some action so others encounter Jesus.  May this week find us in that Divine encounter.

Fr. Bob