Holy Conversation

Confirmation video link

2019-04-08T16:54:00.000-04:00

The Lower Allegheny Valley Catholic Community celebrated confirmation with Bishop Zubik at St. Joseph Church on Monday, April 8.

You can watch a video of the ceremony here.

Congratulations to all of our young people who received the sacrament!

Advent Resources

2018-12-05T21:19:00.000-05:00

There are a multitude of resources available for deepening your spiritual life during Advent and Christmas. Here are just a few.

We have a weekly one-sheet handout called “Keeping the Season” that includes a prayer, reflection on the Sunday Scriptures, and shorter reflections for each day of the week. If you would like to receive it by email, please contact Andy Bechman here.

Matthew Kelly at Dynamic Catholic is once again presenting “Best Advent Ever.” Visit the website here to learn how to receive daily brief videos via email.

Sacred Advent is a “daily email prayer break,” based on the writings of Sacred Space—the online prayer site of the Irish Jesuits. It gives you the opportunity to prayerfully read and pray with a Scripture passage each day. Loyola Press offers it on their website here.

There are many reflections and prayers available on the Creighton University Online Ministries “Praying Advent” page here.

May you and yours have a blessed Advent!

More resources on the sexual abuse crisis

2018-09-14T22:32:00.002-04:00

A great deal is being written and said concerning the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, including my previous post here.

Here are a few additional resources that I have found helpful.

First, listening to some reports, or even reading the grand jury report quickly, you can get the impression that the sexual abuse of children is still occurring at a high rate within the Church. While of course, no level of incidence of such actions can be considered acceptable, most of the incidents we are hearing about now did occur years ago.

Two charts, published by America (the magazine of the Jesuits in the U.S.) show this.

The first shows that, on average, offenders mentioned in the grand jury report were born in 1933 and ordained in 1961.

The second shows that documented incidents of abuse peaked in the 1970s and have decreased greatly since.

You can find these charts in context here.

I do not underline these facts to minimize the horror of what happened. It is important that we remain vigilant in pursuing the policies that have protected our children better since the adoption of The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in 2002. But it is also important to recognize that there is not a wave of new abuse occurring now. What we are facing now is the scope of the failure of Church authorities to protect children in the past, and particularly, how to deal with failures on the part of bishops.

In spite of its too-flippant title, this piece by Michael Cook of Mercator.net sounds some cautionary notes that—for all of our anger—are good to hear.

Still, the situation does call for systemic reform. This piece by Russell Pollitt, SJ (director of the Jesuit Institute of South Africa) is the best short analysis I have seen of some of the systemic issues that we must deal with.

At the end of his piece, Fr. Pollitt cautions against scapegoating gay priests. Some commentators, including Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin, indeed focus here on what he refers to as a “homosexual subculture within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church” and on a pattern of sin that he relates decisively to homosexuality. On the other hand, James Martin, SJ, a defender of the place of LGBT Catholics within the Church, has written strongly here against any campaign to seek out and remove gay priests.

Are there resources that you have found helpful in understanding the mess we are in or pointing toward some ways forward? Please send them to me here, or include them in a comment to this post. I moderate the comments, so it will not appear immediately. Also, I welcome any other comments you may have.

Resources related to the sexual abuse crisis

2018-08-22T17:52:00.000-04:00

In the wake of the grand jury report released last week, many of us find ourselves stunned, angry, dismayed, and a dozen other emotions. As we try to find our way forward, we need to be as well informed as we can. Here is an initial offering of resources that I hope might help.

The grand jury report itself can be found on the Pennsylvania attorney general’s website here. The responses filed to the report are available on the same page and deserve attention. First, though, I would recommend watching the brief video on the same page, which focuses on the experience of a few of the survivors. Their experience must inform our way forward.

America magazine, published by the Jesuits, has collected links to their recent coverage here.

America also has many older articles that may help. Among them is this helpful summary of the report published by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice on the causes and context of sexual abuse of minors by priests.

Finally (for now), Fr. James Martin’s “Prayer for Angry Catholics” was written in 2012. Thanks to Mary Ellen Maher for pointing me to it.

Pope Francis's Homily for Pentecost

2018-05-25T22:49:00.000-04:00

In his Pentecost homily, Pope Francis gave a concise and stirring description of the work of the Holy Spirit. Here is the text, courtesy of ZENIT.

Holy Father’s Homily on Pentecost (Full Text)

‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.’

Following is the Homily Pope Francis delivered May 20, 2018, at Mass on Pentecost in St. Peter’s Basilica.

In the first reading of today’s Liturgy, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is compared to “the rush of a violent wind” (Acts2:2). What does this image tell us? It makes us think of a powerful force that is not an end in itself, but effects change. Wind, in fact, brings change: warmth when it is cold, cool when it is hot, rain when the land is parched… this is why it brings change. The Holy Spirit, on a very different level, does the same. He is the divine force that changes the world. The Sequence reminded us of this: the Spirit is “in toil, comfort sweet; solace in the midst of woe”. And so we beseech him: “Heal our wounds, our strength renew; on our dryness pour your dew; wash the stains of guilt away”. The Spirit enters into situations and transforms them. He changes hearts and he changes situations.

The Holy Spirit changes hearts. Jesus had told his disciples: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). That is exactly what happened. Those disciples, at first fearful, huddled behind closed doors even after the Master’s resurrection, are transformed by the Spirit and, as Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “they bear witness to him” (cf. Jn 15:27). No longer hesitant, they are courageous and starting from Jerusalem, they go forth to the ends of the earth. Timid while Jesus was still among them, they are bold when he is gone, because the Spirit changed their hearts.

The Spirit frees hearts chained by fear. He overcomes all resistance. To those content with half measures, he inspires whole-hearted generosity. He opens hearts that are closed. He impels the comfortable to go out and serve. He drives the self-satisfied to set out in new directions. He makes the lukewarm thrill to new dreams. That is what it means to change hearts. Plenty of people promise change, new beginnings, prodigious renewals, but experience teaches us that no earthly attempt to change reality can ever completely satisfy the human heart. Yet the change that the Spirit brings is different. It does not revolutionize life around us but changes our hearts. It does not free us from the weight of our problems but liberates us within so that we can face them. It does not give us everything at once but makes us press on confidently, never growing weary of life. The Spirit keeps our hearts young – a renewed youth. Youth, for all our attempts to prolong it, sooner or later fades away; the Spirit, instead, prevents the only kind of aging that is unhealthy: namely, growing old within. How does he do this? By renewing our hearts, by pardoning sinners. Here is the great change: from guilty, he makes us righteous and thus changes everything. From slaves of sin, we become free, from servants we become beloved children, from worthless worthy, from disillusioned filled with hope. By the working of the Holy Spirit, joy is reborn and peace blossoms in our hearts.

Today, then, let us learn what to do when we are in need of real change. And who among us does not need a change? Particularly when we are downcast, wearied by life’s burdens, oppressed by our own weakness, at those times when it is hard to keep going and loving seems impossible. In those moments, we need a powerful “jolt”: the Holy Spirit, the power of God. In the Creed, we profess that he is the “giver of life”. How good it would be for us each day to feel this jolt of life! To say when we wake up each morning: “Come, Holy Spirit, come into my heart, come into my day”.

The Spirit does not only change hearts; he changes situations. Like the wind that blows everywhere, he penetrates to the most unimaginable situations. In the Acts of the Apostles – a book we need to pick up and read, whose main character is the Holy Spirit – we are caught up in an amazing series of events. When the disciples least expect it, the Holy Spirit sends them out to the pagans. He opens up new paths, as in the episode of the deacon Philip. The Spirit drives Philip to a desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza… (How heartrending that name sounds to us today! May the Spirit change hearts and situations and bring peace to the Holy Land!) Along the way, Philip preaches to an Ethiopian court official and baptizes him. Then the Spirit brings him to Azotus, and then on to Caesarea, in constantly new situations, to spread the newness of God. Then too, there is Paul, “compelled by the Spirit” (Acts20:22), who travels far and wide, bringing the Gospel to peoples he had never seen. Where the Spirit is, something is always happening; where he blows, things are never calm.

When, in the life of our communities, we experience a certain “listlessness”, when we prefer peace and quiet to the newness of God, it is a bad sign. It means that we are trying to find shelter from the wind of the Spirit. When we live for self-preservation and keep close to home, it is not a good sign. The Spirit blows, but we lower our sails. And yet, how often have we seen him work wonders! Frequently, even in the bleakest of times, the Spirit has raised up the most outstanding holiness! Because he is the soul of the Church, who constantly enlivens her with renewed hope, fills her with joy, makes her fruitful, and causes new life to blossom. In a family, when a new baby is born, it upsets our schedules, it makes us lose sleep, but it also brings us a joy that renews our lives, driving us on, expanding us in love. So it is with the Spirit: he brings a “taste of childhood” to the Church. Time and time again he gives new birth. He revives our first love. The Spirit reminds the Church that, for all her centuries of history, she is always the youthful bride with whom the Lord is madly in love. Let us never tire of welcoming the Spirit into our lives, of invoking him before everything we do: “Come, Holy Spirit!”

He will bring his power of change, a unique power that is, so to say, both centripetal and centrifugal. It is centripetal, that is, it seeks the center because it works deep within our hearts. It brings unity amid division, peace amid affliction, strength amid temptations. Paul reminds us of this in the second reading, when he writes that the fruits of the Spirit are joy, peace, faithfulness, and self-control (cf. Gal 5:22). The Spirit grants intimacy with God, the inner strength to keep going. Yet, at the same time, he is a centrifugal force, that is, one pushing outward. The one who centers us is also the one who drives us to the peripheries, to every human periphery. The one who reveals God also opens our hearts to our brothers and sisters. He sends us, he makes us witnesses, and so he pours out on us – again in the words of Paul – love, kindness, generosity, and gentleness. Only in the Consoler Spirit do we speak words of life and truly encourage others. Those who live by the Spirit live in this constant spiritual tension: they find themselves pulled both towards God and towards the world.

Let us ask him to make us live in exactly that way. Holy Spirit, violent wind of God, blow upon us, blow into our hearts and make us breathe forth the tenderness of the Father! Blow upon the Church and impel her to the ends of the earth, so that, brought by you, she may bring nothing other than you. Blow upon our world the soothing warmth of peace and the refreshing cool of hope. Come Holy Spirit, change us within and renew the face of the earth. Amen.

https://zenit.org/articles/holy-fathers-homily-on-pentecost-full-text/

Service Saturday!

2017-09-27T15:51:00.001-04:00

Our young people worked with Allegheny Valley Habitat for Humanity last Saturday.

CateCarnival 2017!

2017-09-27T15:37:00.003-04:00

Our second annual CateCarnival kicked off the catechetical year with fun and food for our religious education program families!

Youth Ministry Summer 2017 Pictures

2017-07-25T12:32:00.000-04:00

Here's a review of the summer youth ministry projects via photographs.

First, the Appalachia mission trip.

The team gathers before departing for West Virginia.

On site at Our Lady of the Hills

After that, there was lots of work:


And a sense of accomplishment when it was done!

A grateful couple acknowledged the group's work.

Then it was time to come home for the welcome celebration. The year's theme was "Be Transformed," so the cake was appropriate!

And we can't forget Camp Helping Hand, where middle school students did service work closer to home:

Congratulations to all the young people who participated in these projects, and thanks to the adults who took part!

Faith & Politics, Part 3

2017-02-15T17:46:00.000-05:00

A dozen parish members and guests gathered for our final session in the series on a cold wintry evening. This time, we got a picture before we said goodbye.

In this session, called "Practically Faithful," we tried to answer two main questions:

How do we deal with the differences among us?

How do we move toward integrity?

First, we considered spiritual practices that might help us. Among the ones the group raised were meditation, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, and any other kinds of prayer that "open us up" to others.

Then we spoke of interpersonal practices that might help us overcome differences.

One example came from Katharine Hayhoe, a Texas Tech climate scientist, who illustrated a Haidt-type approach to talking with people who did not believe in climate change in this video:

I noted that, in this and other videos, Hayhoe is clear about her Evangelical Christianity as well as her stance on climate science. By being open about her own life, she acts as a bridge to scientists (who may believe that Christianity is opposed to science) and evangelicals (who may not realize that their faith is compatible with science).

Another practice is "fraternizing with the enemy," illustrated in the story of Marci Velando, a pro-choice California woman who marched in the West Coast March for Life to support her friends, a group of Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. Whenever we cross boundaries and get to know people with different views, we are doing something to counter some of our current political polarization. I shared a little of my experience as a participant in both the Women's March on Washington and the March for Life this year.

It is valuable also to notice, as Gandhi did and Pope Francis clearly does, that no one person or group possesses the whole truth. Rather, we need each other in order to move closer to the truth. I cited as an example how, at the recent synods on the Family at the Vatican, Pope Francis gave the bishops room to share ideas and debate opinions, without controlling their discussions. This is a significant departure from Vatican practice at such synods, which have often been tightly controlled.

Finally, I recalled the "seamless garment" image that Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago used in the 1980s. In the Wade Lecture of March 11, 1984, Cardinal Bernardin said:

There is, I maintain, a political and psychological linkage among the life issues—from war to welfare concerns—which we ignore at our own peril: a systemic vision of life seeks to expand the moral imagination of a society, not partition it into airtight categories.

Similarly, in On Care for Our Common Home (Laudato Si'), Pope Francis called for an integrated approach:

That is why it is no longer enough to speak only of the integrity of ecosystems. We have to dare to speak of the integrity of human life, of the need to promote and unify all the great values. [224]

In the current American political framework, this is very difficult, with political parties that emphasize certain concerns of Catholic social teaching, but are far afield on others.

In the end, we had to recognize that our efforts to prepare the way for the coming of the Reign of God will always fall short. This is not a reason to give up, but a reason to open ourselves to God's mercy expressed in Jesus. We ended our session standing in silence for several minutes before this image of Jesus Pantocrator (the Ruler of All) from the great basilica of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and, once more, we chanted the Lord's Prayer together.

Faith & Politics, Part 2

2017-02-15T16:26:00.001-05:00

The second session of our Faith & Politics series was probably the most challenging for the twenty or so participants. Once again, we tried to "think about our think" in order to gain a new perspective on why good people often disagree about religion and politics.

This time, we used the perspective of moral psychology. The session was titled, "The Righteous Mind: Evolutionary roots of the human mind." After a Candlemas prayer, I spent the first part of the session presenting ideas from moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt, from his book The Righteous Mind. The presentation was accompanied by PowerPoint slides, a few of them below.

Haidt argues from social science research that we do not tend to use our rational minds to search for truth. Rather, we form quick, intuitive judgments and use our minds to justify our actions or those of the team we belong to.

An image Haidt uses is to describe our minds as like an elephant and rider. The rider represents our conscious reasoning; the elephant represents the many mental processes that occur outside our awareness.

We like to think that the rider is in charge but--at least initially--that does not seem to be the case. Our animal minds evolved to size up situations quickly with lightning judgments. Once these judgments are made, our conscious mind tends to act like a press secretary by justifying the things we have already done to others.

Haidt also asserts that different cultures (and groups within cultures) have built their moral outlooks on certain basic "moral foundations" that evolved as humans began to live in communities. These moral foundations include the following:

When Haidt and his colleagues published a "Moral Foundations Questionnaire" online, self-described liberals tended to show a different pattern of attention to the moral foundations than self-described conservatives did. In short, liberals placed more emphasis on the Care and Fairness foundations, while conservatives tended to attend to all five, including the Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity foundations ( the Liberty/Oppression foundation was formulated after this research).

So, conservatives tend to have a political advantage because they more naturally address a greater number of the moral foundations.

Three members of our group had taken the Moral Foundation Questionnaire online, and our responses are shown in the chart below.

The green bar represents my responses. The blue bar represents liberals, the red bar conservatives. The gray bar is the compiled response of the three members of our group who took the survey before the session.

At least two of our group respondents are self-described political liberals, so the results are a bit surprising. We show a pattern more typical of conservatives. I wonder whether Catholic liberals might have a greater appreciation for the Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity foundations than other liberals?

Finally, in a third metaphor, Haidt argues that our minds are 90% chimp and 10% bee.

We possess in or minds a mechanism that Haidt dubs the "hive switch."

Experiences that lift us out of the everyday--experiences of nature, for example, or of charged group gatherings like a rock concert or NFL football game--trigger this switch and make a deep impression on us.

Is there hope for us, with our minds designed by evolution for "groupish righteousness"? Haidt thinks so, under certain circumstances.

After a break, we watched two more videos on Catholic Social Teaching from Catholic Relief Services and the U.S. bishops.

Which of the two videos do you think would appeal most strongly to political liberals? to political conservatives?

Finally, in groups, we considered the following quesions:

How do you make everyday decisions? By rational consideration, or by feeling-based intuition? Are larger lifestyle decisions different?

• If Haidt is generally correct, what does that imply for how we treat differences among us?

There is much more that could be said. Certainly Haidt's naturalistic explanation of our moral frameworks is a challenge to Catholic Christian approaches to morality. Our moral tradition tends to assume that the rational mind is in--or ought to be in--control of our decision-making. Still, the doctrine of original sin allows room for a great deal in our human natures which may make it difficult for us to behave according to our ideals. And the Christian spiritual tradition--or better, traditions--would not think it strange that we had many mental processes that we are not in control of. Those processes, too, are redeemed in Christ.

We ended the evening with a "hive"-type prayer by chanting the "Our Father" together.

Faith & Politics, Part 1

2017-02-15T15:04:00.002-05:00

How is your faith related to your political convictions? An intrepid group of parish members and guests met on three evenings in January and February to explore this and other questions.

In the first session, "Rooted in Love?", we began a process of "thinking about our think" by stepping back to remember where our political views originated.

First, we read as a kind of litany part of an article by Bishop Zubik that listed all the many reasons Catholics gave him to urge him to forbid people from voting for Hillary Clinton--or Donald Trump! [You can read it here (+).] Clearly, there is a diversity of political opinion within the Catholic Church. Why do we see things differently?

We sought to explore that question by recalling our own histories. In small groups we answered questions such as:

As you look back in life, when do you think your basic political outlook was formed? What was going on in the political world at that time? Was there a group of people who were important in that development?

After a break, we considered further questions:

   Do your political ideas connect with your religion or faith?

   When and how did that happen?

   Who were the people who were most important to you in forming this connection?

Finally, we considered our religious "touchstones" in forming our political views. That is, which stories (from the Scriptures or from the lives of the saints, for example) or practices (practices of prayer; the Eucharist) inspire and guide our decisions?

As you can imagine, sharing our own stories gave us insight into how we are formed politically--and religiously! The people we were with at important times in our lives (and especially young adulthood) seem to have had a large influence on us. And it was easy to see how different experiences led us to differing political ideas.

Before and after the break, we watched short videos on Catholic social doctrine. We began with one from Trocaire, the international aid organization of the Irish Catholic bishops, on "CST [Catholic Social Teaching] in 3 minutes." You can watch it here (+).

We also watched a brief video from the U.S. bishops and Catholic Relief Services (our international aid organization) on "Life and Dignity of the Human Person." You can watch it below.

We ended with a different sort of litany--a litany of our hopes for our nation.

Religious Education Catch-up!

2016-12-13T16:49:00.002-05:00

Our young students in the religious education program have also been busy!

Students participated in activities to understand the Catholic Vision of Love.

And a 7th-grade small group prepared a Family House meal in late November!

Youth Ministry Catch-up

2016-10-31T15:32:00.001-04:00

Since our last posting, young members of our parish community and their families have been busy making a difference!

Youth leaders helped Jamie and Meredith host a Middle School Faith Rally for the diocese in our parish hall in early November!

Preparing a dinner at Family House in mid-November

Working at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store in New Kensington

Greeting Santa during a bake sale at Aspinwall's Light-Up Night celebration

Participating in an activity at the Intersection Bible study

Volunteering at Market Square for photos with Santa to benefit the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank

And caroling at the Aspinwall VA hospital in early December!

On Care for Our Common Home, Part 1

2016-10-31T15:32:00.000-04:00

Our parish study of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’s letter on care for the Earth, has reached its halfway point. We have two groups meeting, on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. If you would like to read or download the pope’s letter, you can do so on the Vatican website here (+).

In our first session, we began with prayer: St. Francis’s “Canticle of the Creatures.” Then, as an introduction, we watched a brief video from Sr. Sallie Latkovich, CSJ, of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. The video places Laudato Si’ in the context of the tradition of Catholic social teaching.

We then began reading Bill Huebsch’s summary reading guide to the letter, stopping from time to time to consult the pope’s original text, and to discuss the Pope Francis’s ideas and our own experiences and reflections.

Pope Francis addresses the letter to “every living person on the planet.” He summarizes the strong words of his predecessors, Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, on the need to change our behavior and social structures to respond to threats to our environment. And he cites the words of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (of the Orthodox churches) who has written: “For human beings… to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation; for human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests or destroying its wetlands; for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins.” (8) [Note: numbers cited in parentheses are the paragraph numbers of Laudato Si’.]

The pope recalls the life of St. Francis who, during the Middle Ages, identified with the poor and praised God for the elements of nature, which he spoke of as our sisters and brothers. Pope Francis writes: “If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs.” (11)

“The urgent challenge to protect our common home,” Pope Francis writes, “includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change. The Creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us. Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home.” (13)

We watched another CTU video, this one from Fr. Stephan Bevans, SVD, on how the pope’s call to care for the earth fits with his previous challenge for Catholics to pursue the mission of the Church.

Check this blog in the future for more information on Laudato Si' and on our study!

A Brush with Kindness

2016-10-31T14:21:00.000-04:00

Our young people and other parish members and staff worked for Habitat for Humanity last Saturday.

Cate-Carnival 2016!

2016-09-27T21:54:00.000-04:00

Our first Cate-Carnival to kick of the fall education season was a great success! There were hotdogs, popcorn, and sno-cones; face-painting, games and crafts; and information and sign-ups for our elementary religious education program as well as adult faith enrichment resources.

Thanks to all who participated and to the religious education catechists who led the activities!

One of the most popular features was photos with Pope Francis and the newly canonized St. Teresa of Kolkata. See some samples below.

Watch out for the hotdog man!

Finding Our Place in Creation

2016-09-27T21:35:00.002-04:00

On September 15, about 15 parish members and guests welcomed Prof. Daniel P. Scheid of Duquesne University to St. Scholastica. Dan spoke to us about Pope Francis's encyclical letter Care for Our Common Home (Laudato Si') as well as on his own recently published book, The Cosmic Common Good. St. Scholastica staff member Andrew Bechman took part in the conversation, as did several of the parish members present.

Dan Scheid

If you would like to listen to the evening's conversation, you can find Part 1 here (+) and Part 2 here (+) on SoundCloud.

You can also join us during October in reading Pope Francis's letter. Copies will be available at church during the month, and groups of parish members will be reading and discussing a condensed plain-language version of the document. More information is available here.

We encourage you to read and reflect upon this challenging and trenchant letter!

Dan's book

Camp Helping Hand 2016

2016-07-14T14:41:00.000-04:00

Our service camp for middle school students met this week. The participants undertook a variety of projects, including building a fence and a retaining wall!

Appalachia Mission Trip 2016

2016-07-14T14:36:00.000-04:00

During the last week of June, our parish team of teens and adults ventured into West Virginia to work in an area that was recently flooded. Their work there earned them a visit and commendation from the WV secretary of state, Natalie Tennant.

Secretary Tennant on the scene with our parish crew.

Appalachia Warm-up!

2016-06-16T15:30:00.003-04:00

New members of the Appalachia Mission group warmed up last weekend by helping in our own community.

Spaghetti Dinner!

2016-04-08T22:06:00.000-04:00

The Appalachia Mission trip crew hosted a spaghetti dinner in the CDTCA cafeteria on Sunday, April 3. Thanks to Jamie Dillon for sending the pictures below!

Living Stations

2016-04-08T21:53:00.002-04:00

Members of our youth ministry enacted Living Stations at noon on Good Friday. Their presentation was as prayerful and moving as those we remember from past years. Thanks to all the young parish members who participated, and to the adults who aided them!

Third Grade Christmas Play

2015-12-20T16:32:00.002-05:00

Children in our third grade religious education class performed a Christmas play on Sunday!

There they went a-caroling . . .

2015-12-20T16:29:00.001-05:00

Members of our youth ministry sang carols at the VA after the youth liturgy on December 12.

Parish Members Visit Haiti!

2015-12-20T16:19:00.002-05:00

During the first week of December two members of our Hope for Haiti Committee--Maureen O'Brien and John Cravotta--were able to visit Haiti and the schools that we support there. They traveled with Dr. Rodrigue Mortel, the founder of the Good Samaritans School and James Stine College in St. Marc, Haiti.

Maureen and John were able to meet the students we sponsor and to participate in the Good Samaritans School fifteenth anniversary celebration! They hope to present more of their experience to the parish, perhaps during Lent. Thanks to all who have supported our outreach to the people of Haiti!