St. John Neumann Catholic Community
Staffed by Oblates of St. Francis de Sales
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Office Hours:
9:00am-7:00pm Monday-Thursday*
9:00am-5:00pm Friday*
*most weeks
Main Office: 703-860-8510
11900 Lawyers Rd
Reston, VA 20191
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Mass Schedule:
Saturday Vigil: 5:00pm
Sunday: 7:30am, 9:30am, 11:30am, 1:30pm (Spanish), 5:00pm
Weekday Mass: Monday-Friday: 9:00am; Wednesday: 7:00pm
Reconciliation (Confessions)
Saturday: 10:00-10:30am (English), or by appointment
Sunday: 12:00pm (Spanish), most Sundays
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Dear Friends,
Here we are at the beginning of March and the first full week of Lent. I have always looked forward to the month of March primarily due to the excitement of March Madness, as well as for the hints of spring just around the corner. In more recent years, I have to admit another reason I look forward to March is the opportunity to embrace the season of Lent and all it has to offer. In my younger years I looked upon Lent more in dredge and something to have to suffer through in order to get to Easter Sunday. Now I do my best to experience Lent as a retreat and the time to allow for positive transformation in my relationship to God, self, and others.
In the past several weeks, I seem to have been doing quite a bit of marriage preparation with engaged couples. Though this a typical ministry in a parish especially one like ours, the number of couples I have met with in the last few weeks seems to be unusually high. I have been reflecting how the marriage preparation process for an engaged couple can be filled with personal transformation and grace-filled moments, not just one more requirement to check-off the “to do list” or to endure. This can be a time when couples are open to personal transformation that will not only enhance their own relationship, but also invites them to reflect on the role of God in their marriage and life together. After all, these couples are embracing a sacrament. The preparation process encourages couples to see their marriage as a vocation and that they play an important role in the life of the church and in society. This period is an invitation for couples to reflect on the significance of God in their relationship and perhaps in areas where this understanding can grow.
Just as the marriage preparation process offers graced filled moments, I would suggest the season of Lent does as well for all of us. Through honest introspection in our relationship to God, self, and others, we open up ourselves to the possibilities of life giving transformation. May all of us be open to the graced filled moments that this season of Lent offers.
Live Jesus,
Fr. Joe
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Observing Lent as a Family
Angela Davis
In Lent, we are called to
pray
,
fast
, and
give
to prepare our hearts for Easter. There are many options for how to incorporate these three Lenten practices yourself and with your family.
PRAY
: In Matthew 6:5, Jesus tells us:
"
When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men."
Jesus doesn't want us to pray to impress others; Jesus wants a real relationship with each one of us.
Choose one way that your family can increase prayer during this Lenten season. Perhaps this means instituting a formal daily family prayer time in the morning or evening, praying the Our Father together at a meal each day, finding times to be more intentionally thankful, or enjoying God’s creation together by taking a walk. Whatever your prayer be, help your family focus on the relationship with Jesus.
FAST
: In the Gospel reading on the first Sunday of Lent we hear about Jesus' fasting in the desert for 40 days. He does this to strengthen his human will to align more perfectly with the Father's. He calls us to fast as well, though it does not necessarily have to be from food. Depending on the ages of your children, fasting can be a hard concept to fully grasp and even harder for them to rally behind. There are many ways, though, that any child can fast or give sacrifices. In our family, we plan to start very small this year so that it is not seen as a negative experience from our son's perspective. We can fast from using mean words, fast from wasting food, fast from using single use plastics, and of course, fast from pepperoni on our pizza on Friday nights (this will be felt hard in our home).
GIVE
: In Mark 10:17-22, Jesus tells a rich man to "
g
o and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
Giving is a great way to spread Christ's love to others while growing closer to Him yourself. There are many ways to do this as a family. Consider cleaning out the house some and choosing items to donate while talking about the people who will receive these items and how much God loves them. Consider giving time as a family to volunteer, pickup litter, bake cookies for a neighbor. Quite possible most impactful, help your children find ways that they can be giving within the home and model this for them as well.
Whichever ways you choose to observe Lent as an adult, try to point it out so that your kids can learn from your example. Whatever you do as a family, make sure to discuss why you are doing it. Lent is a time for us to decrease our focus on material and worldly things while increasing our focus on Jesus. Like so many other things, this begins small and begins in the home.
Have a blessed Lent!
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Catholic Mass Explained
The Introductory Rite (cont.)
Fr Don Heet, OSFS
The penitential rite may seem to have a rather obvious meaning, but in fact it has an involved history. What we know as the penitential rite has a very recent origin. Those of us of a certain age can remember when the
Confiteor
(also known as the confession of sins) was recited only by the priest and the server at the foot of the altar; it was not part of the congregation’s prayer. While the
Kyrie eleison
(Lord have mercy) was part of the congregation’s prayer and was often sung by the choir or the congregation, originally the phrases “Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy, Lord have mercy” were understood not as a rite of penance; rather, they were the beginning of a litany, just as we begin the Litany of the Saints today. For this reason, in recent years, “Lord have mercy” was one of the suggested responses to the prayer of the faithful, which in fact is where it originated in the early church. However, the repetition of the phrase “have mercy” suggested repentance, and so, over the course of centuries, it has come to be seen as a rite of the congregation acknowledging its sinfulness. Finally, it was not until the revision of the liturgy in 1969 that the three statements addressing the Lord (e.g. “You are Son of God and Son of Mary, Lord have mercy”), as well as the introduction inviting the assembled to “call to mind their sins,” were added. For all that, it really is not a time to examine our conscience – for which there is seldom enough time. Rather, it is an invitation to recall that our sins have been forgiven by the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus that we are about to celebrate in the liturgy.
The hymn we know as the “Glory to God” is also called the “greater doxology”. “Doxology” is an impressive word that means “a word of praise.” As the title suggests, there are other doxologies in the Mass - at the end of the opening prayer; in the congregation’s response to the readings in the liturgy of the word; the prayer over the gifts; the communion prayer; and at the end of the Eucharistic prayer leading to the great Amen. However, the “Glory to God” is by far the longest and most elaborate. It begins by quoting the angels’ song to the shepherds in Luke’s account of the birth of Christ. It then praises God the Father: we praise Him, bless Him, glorify Him and give Him thanks for His great glory. The third section praises Jesus, the Lamb of God, asking for His mercy, and claiming Him as the Holy One, the Lord, the Most High. Personally, I find it curious and unfortunate that only a short (four word) prepositional phrase is dedicated to the Holy Spirit. I suspect it reflects the times in which the hymn evolved, when the church was taking pains to emphasize the divinity of Jesus which was denied by heresies such as Arianism. Be that as it may, the Glory to God is a great and joyful hymn, which explains why it is sung (and it should be sung!) on Sundays outside of Advent and Lent and on major feasts and solemnities to enhance the celebration of the Eucharist on those days.
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St. Francis de Sales and St. John Neumann
Father Don Heet, OSFS
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John Neumann was born 200 years after St. Francis de Sales. We can presume that he knew of St. Francis de Sales and honored him as a saint, but I am not aware that he had a strong devotion to the earlier saint, nor that Salesian spirituality had a direct influence on him. So why is there such a strong emphasis on Salesian spirituality at St. John Neumann parish?
The answer lies in the priests who minister here. Since the founding of St. John Neumann forty years ago, members of a religious congregation, The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, have staffed the parish. The basic mission of the Oblates is to live and disseminate the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales in whatever ministry they perform. We Oblates trace our roots back to St. Francis de Sales himself. He was a bishop and spiritual writer who lived in the town of Annecy, in what is now the south-eastern section of France. Together with St. Jane de Chantal, he founded an order of nuns, the Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary, the same order who founded Visitation School in Georgetown. Throughout the 17
th
and 18
th
century the Visitation order flourished, but with the French revolution, many monasteries in France were forced to close. After the revolution, the sisters re-established the monastery in the city of Troyes under the leadership of a Swiss Visitandine, Mary de Sales Chappuis, who was also a mystic. God inspired her to convince the young chaplain of the monastery in Troyes, Fr. Louis Brisson, to found a religious of priests and brothers who would spread Salesian spirituality. Although he was very reluctant and initially resisted, Fr. Brisson finally relented and established the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. Since then the Oblates have continued their mission of living and discerning Salesian Spirituality around the world, just as we do here at St. John Neumann. Today that mission is embraced by a number of our parishioners as well as by the Oblate priests who live and minister at St. John Neumann, and that is why Salesian Spirituality is alive and well in our parish.
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Patty is the Director of Liturgy at SJN. She has worked at here for a total of 22 years! She began her career as the Music and Liturgy Secretary, then came on full-time in her current role 10 years ago.
Why he loves being Catholic...
“
Narrowing it down to one thing would be very difficult! I love that our church is universal. I once attended a Mass in one of the chapels at St. Stephen’s in Vienna, Austria.
The Mass was said in Tagalog! Another thing is the sacraments. Our ability to participate in or receive God’s grace through them is our connection to the divine. We know how profoundly we are loved by our good God as persons and as a church through this grace."
Something that always makes him smile...
'
The people here make me smile! Whether it is one of the many selfless volunteers at St. John’s or the people who make up our staff, everyone is so generous with their time, talent, treasure and are truly gracious servants."
Something you might not have known...
I’d like to share is that we welcomed our 7
th
grandchild last month!
How to contact Patty:
Email: pbartnick@saintjn.org
Phone:
(703) 860-6151
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1 - Knights of Columbus Charity Breakfast
1 - Student Peace Awards of Fairfax County
@ Sherwood Community Center
7 - Knights of Columbus Blood Drive
3 - Monthly Taize Prayer Service
15, 16, 17 - Lenten Mission: Why Are We on Earth? And other easy questions...
21 - Live Jesus @ Our Lady of Good Council (register
here
)
24 - Lenten Taize Prayer Service
29 - All Saints Car Raffle Tickets on Sale after all Masses
29 - Rooted Closing Retreat
Every Friday:
Lenten Stations of the Cross & Soup Suppers; 6:30pm;
2020 Theme:
Human Dignity - Christian Conscience
Every Wednesday
:
The Light is On -
the Sacrament of Reconciliation offered 6:30pm-8:00pm
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Scripture verse of the month:
"One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God."
(Matthew 4:4)
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