ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

It was the year 2000—the turn of the century and the beginning of a new millennium (maybe?). The Class of 2012 was moving up from kindergarten to the big time of 1st Grade. They were definitely seedlings, who have now grown into giant plants, and, in some cases, towering trees.

Growth has meant big achievements and giant steps. All of these we will applaud this weekend as we pray at Baccalaureate and cheer at Graduation. But growth is simply what happens to us; maturity is what we make happen.

The mustard seed in this Sunday’s gospel grows big and becomes a giant plant. Its size, however, is not the sign of God’s Kingdom. After all, monsters get big enough to become giants. The sign of the Kingdom is in the last line of Jesus’ parable—“’and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’” It so happens that the mustard seed grew big, but, more importantly, the mustard plant became mature enough to make something extraordinary happen and to make it happen for others. Imagine--room for everyone, no matter what sky they fly and a welcome that says, “You’re home.”

To the Class of 2012, grow; don’t worry, it happens. And always mature; make it happen for others.

KidsRelig Registration 2012-2013

KidsRelig Registration for 2012-2013 is up and running. Almost 80 kids have already been registered.

PLEASE REGISTER NOW! Go to the Parish Website at www.sjsmrcc.com and click on the Religious Education (CCD) tab on the left. This opens the Religious Education Page with a welcoming letter and important links at the top of the page. There are two links:

• 2012-2013 Registration Form

• 2012-2013 Fees & Payment Options Page with credit card payment program.

For newcomers, it’s quick and easy. For veterans, it’s as easy as ever.

(Bus registration will come later, once we see how many have registered for KidsRelig.)

First Time Registrants

REGISTER & GET CONNECTED

Are you new to the parish or is your #1 going into First Grade? It is so important that you register as soon as possible. Registration gets you into our email address book, which is the lifeline of communication for KidsRelig. You won’t know what’s happening unless you are connected online.

Thanks for Responding to the Invitation to Join Us

Our invitation to join us as new teachers, new substitute teachers, new assistants, new helpers in the office and the hallway has already inspired responses, and we are so very grateful. We need as many of you as possible. Not just to do the jobs that have to be done, but to create a wider and deeper community of parishioners sharing in the awesomeness and joyfulness of KidsRelig. Please give it some serious and prayerful thought. It’s you we need, and you and you and you. Say “yes,” and contact me at

kidsrelig@optimum.net

Love,

Deacon Charlie

SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHIRST

As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, we hear the gospel story of the Last Supper as told by Mark. I counted the lines of that story as it is printed in the Gospel Book. There are 17 lines about preparation and 14 about the celebration itself. More than half are about getting ready.


The disciples ask Jesus, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you?” And Jesus tells them to look for a guy with a water jar, who will lead them to an upper room furnished and ready. That’s where they are to make preparations. And the disciples found it just as he had told them, “and they prepared the Passover.”

As I meet with teachers to review last year’s KidsRelig, launch this year’s registration, order new books and materials, prepare curricula, form classes, search for new teachers and other volunteers, publish next year’s calendar and more, I realize that we only celebrate because we prepare, and we only prepare because we celebrate. In fact, that’s what KidsRelig is all about—preparation for the celebration and celebration of our preparation. Sunday, we celebrate; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we prepare. Without Sunday, the other days become empty promises; without the other days, Sunday becomes shallow words.

KidsRelig is not just midweek gospel story-hour. It is the hard work of getting a guest room ready for Jesus himself “to eat the Passover with his disciples.” And the equally hard work of getting our kids ready to drink the cup of discipleship—the lifeblood of the covenant, which is established and sustained by sacrifice for others.

KidsRelig Registration 2012-2013

KidsRelig Registration for 2012-2013 will be live and on-line this Monday, June 11, 2012. Go to the Parish Website at www.sjsmrcc.com and click on the Religious Education (CCD) tab on the left. This opens the Religious Education Page with a welcoming letter and important links at the top of the page. There are two links:

• 2012-2013 Registration Form

• 2012-2013 Fees & Payment Options Page with credit card payment program.

For newcomers, it’s quick and easy. For veterans, it’s as easy as ever.
(Bus registration will come later, once we see how many have registered for KidsRelig.)

Register for KidsRelig Now

Please, Please, Please, Please!!!

Come, Join Us

New teachers, new substitute teachers, new assistants, new helpers in the office and the hallway. We need as many of you as possible. Not just to do the jobs that have to be done, but to create a wider and deeper community of parishioners sharing in the awesomeness and joyfulness of KidsRelig. Please give it some serious and prayerful thought. It’s you we need, and you and you and you. Say “yes,” and contact me at

kidsrelig@optimum.net

Love,

Deacon Charlie

TRINITY SUNDAY

On this Trinity Sunday, what does the God-story say to us? Jesus, the Preacher of that story in Word and Flesh, tells us that our God is a family. We are invited into that family. And if we live in that family, the one who invites us will be with us always.




I couldn’t help but think that this is a perfect time of year to celebrate Trinity Sunday. It is a time of weddings, First Communions, graduations; it’s a time of family vacations and family reunions. This has already started in my family, and here at St. John and St. Mary, we are between First Communion and Baccalaureate. I have been blessed lately to be with all our kids and grandkids and their great-grandparents. I have been equally blessed to have been with the kids we teach every week and see them with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins—a scene to be repeated at Baccalaureate, except written larger.

As good and strong and loving as we make our families, we reveal the fulfillment of the promise that God is with us always and that our God is a family.

KidsRelig Registration 2012-2013

Watch for the announcement of next year’s registration here in the bulletin, in your email inboxes and on the KidsRelig Blog. We are going to start early this year, and we really hope to finish early.

Come, Join Us

New teachers, new substitute teachers, new assistants, new helpers in the office and the hallway. We need as many of you as possible. Not just to do the jobs that have to be done, but to create a wider and deeper community of parishioners sharing in the awesomeness and joyfulness of KidsRelig. Please give it some serious and prayerful thought. It’s you we need, and you and you and you. Say “yes,” and contact me at

kidsrelig@optimum.net

Love,

Deacon Charlie

PENTECOST SUNDAY

PENTECOST  SUNDAY





The Book of the Gospels for this Sunday has a big OR in it. We can hear John’s story of the “first day of the week” when the Risen Lord stood with his disciples behind locked doors and said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

OR


We can listen in on Jesus’ promise at the Last Supper to send the Advocate, “the Spirit of truth.”

The fact is, however, there is no OR. It’s a great big AND. Peace AND Truth! As I reflect on our experience at KidsRelig, I see the AND as one of our challenges. Peace must be our gift to our kids—a peace that invites, welcomes, comforts and keeps safe. But truth must also be our gift—a truth that informs, guides, challenges and inspires. It is an awesome task we have, as awesome as that which faced the Church on Pentecost. But it is a joyful task, as joyful as that which filled the Church on Pentecost.

Come, Join Us

New teachers, new substitute teachers, new assistants, new helpers in the office and the hallway. We need as many of you as possible. Not just to do the jobs that have to be done, but to create a wider and deeper community of parishioners sharing in the awesomeness and joyfulness of KidsRelig. Please give it some serious and prayerful thought. It’s you we need, and you and you and you. Say “yes,” and contact me at

kidsrelig@optimum.net

Love,

Deacon Charlie

SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

This Sunday, we published in the Parish Bulletin the names of all our Second Graders, who made First Holy Communion last Saturday.  We chose not to publish their names in the Blog for their safety and protection.  We pray for them and ask God to bless them and their families.

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your j0y may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. (Today’s Gospel)

The force of Jesus’ words seems centrifugal—from the Father, to me, to you, to one another. A force always pushing away from the center. But the physics teachers in the crowd will remind us all that there is no such thing as centrifugal force. It has long been called the fictitious or false force or even the ghost force. Its definition is in the negative: a non-existent force which is actually the absence of a centripetal force. We are not thrown off the merry-go-round by some outward pushing force called centrifugal, but by our weakness to exert enough centripetal force to hang in there. And what is centripetal force? It is a center seeking net force required to keep moving objects in circular paths around the center. If not met, objects move away from the center in larger curved paths or go off on a tangent.

First Communion 2012

Yesterday, our Second Graders received First Holy Communion. We will publish their names next week for all to see and celebrate.

We teach them to be good and kind, to be courteous and considerate, to be attentive and respectful—all elements of love one another. But yesterday at First Communion, our kids were drawn into that single, most important, center seeking force, which gives ultimate meaning to what we do, especially to what we do well. Without this force in our lives, we wander away on curved paths and go off on tangents, even if good ones.

Yesterday, we were all filled with joy, and Jesus’ prayer is that our joy be complete by filling us with that force of love, which can only live and work in us if we exert all our strength and every effort to come to the center. God!

Love,

Deacon Charlie

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples." (Today’s Gospel)

With the image of the vine and branches, Jesus tells us that our every word and action must find their source in Him. But more than source in the sense of starting-point; it is connection and inter-connection. We must live in Him as if there is no living without Him, and through him, share in all that is living.

What better way to start this last week of preparation for First Communion than to hear this Word and live it! To teach our kids that they can hold Jesus in the palms of their hands; they can take Jesus into themselves and let Him live within them, and because He is in them to live He is for them to give.

I am reminded of the Godspell song, which is actually based on this prayer of St. Richard of Chichester:

O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother,

may I know thee more clearly,

love thee more dearly,
and follow thee more nearly, day by day.


Amen.

May this be the prayer of each of our First Communion Kids as they come to the Table of the Lord.

FIRST COMMUNION NEWS

• Rehearsals for First Communion continue this Tuesday (5/8) for the 9:30 Mass Kids and Thursday (5/10) for the 11;30 Mass Kids

• Emails have gone home about dress code, seating for families at First Communion, arrival times, photography and more; if you haven’t gotten an email, let us know at kidsrelig@optimum.net and we will get it to you.

• Look for More Emails in your Inbox with seating charts for each Mass (i.e., where your child is sitting at Mass), assignments for participation in the Mass, arrival time and where your child should report (Saints to Skelly Hall and Angels to Community Room A/B)

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

SATURDAY

MAY 12TH

9:30 AM

&

11:30 AM

Love,

Deacon Charlie