Newsletter | August 3, 2021 |
|
Experience Christ in the Eucharist at holy Mass. We look forward to seeing you in person! Mass times are:
Saturday at 5:00pm
Sunday at 9:00am
Sunday at 11:00am
We strongly recommend wearing masks to create a safe environment for our brothers and sister who are not vaccinated. Some changes you'll see at Mass to keep everyone safe - ushers seat you, no singing, and no Blood of Christ. Physical distancing no longer needs to be monitored. Clearly marked sections for worship are available for people seeking physical distancing.
Please continue to self-screen and stay home if you are not feeling well. Dispensation to attend Sunday Mass is still in effect. Sick, vulnerable, at-risk, and otherwise concerned persons are encouraged to celebrate Mass with us via live stream.
|
|
DELTA VARIANT AND MASKING |
|
The Delta variant, which is highly transmissible, is now widespread across the United States and has quadrupled the case count this month alone. Reports acknowledge that even people who have been vaccinated may still transmit the virus and be infected by this Delta variant. Because of this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its masking guidance, recommending that everyone wear masks in indoor public spaces - even if they’ve been vaccinated.
Due to the risks of the Delta variant and our desire to protect our children and the vulnerable in our community, WE ARE STRONGLY RECOMMENDING MASK WEARING during Mass celebrations.
Our goal with this guidance is to ensure safety, protect the vulnerable among us, and support the common good. Please remember that many people are unvaccinated and may not be able to receive the vaccine for various reasons. As a welcoming Catholic Church, we must ensure they feel safe and welcome to worship in person.
|
|
WOMEN'S BOOK GROUP
Tonight, August 3 at 7:00pm
|
|
Hope to see you tonight for wine, chocolate, and wonderful conversation!
This month's book is Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor. The book for September is Between Heaven and Mirth by James Martin
|
|
"WALK ON WATER" HIKE
Tomorrow, August 4, on the Feast of St. John Vianney
|
|
Celebrate St. John Vianney's Feast Day with us! Bring a water bottle and join us for a hike in friendship and fellowship! Discover Pass needed for parking. Meet at the playground, next to the parking lot. Please email sweaver@sjvkirkland.org to RSVP so no one gets left behind.
|
|
WOMEN'S RETREAT
Hold on to Love
|
|
Thirty beautiful women from St. John Vianney Parish are Holding on to Love, after an inspiring weekend retreat at Saint Andrew’s Retreat House. Perfect weather, a beautiful location on Hood Canal, and two amazing women, Patricia Wuertzer and Laura Stanger, who led us through a heartfelt look at C.S. Lewis’ Four Loves, as we experience these in our own lives. How can we get rid of any “sticky love” in our hearts, the kind that drains our emotional energy and keeps us from loving the way God calls us to love, following the Golden Rule? Singing and dancing, sharing deeply within our small groups, with lots of laughter and a generous portion of cleansing tears, we began to fill our Heart Bowls with Agape Love - that unconditional love Jesus came to model for us - a love we can now share more fully with our dear ones, and in some way with each person God puts in our path today. Thank you, dear Patricia Wuertzer and Laura Stanger, for leading us on our journey. Our Heart Bowls are filled to the brim. ~Peggy Anderson
The weekend at the SJV Womens Retreat on Hood Canal was filled with L-O-V-E throughout. The diversity of women and their life experiences, combined with a shared fellowship in Christ’s unwavering love for each of us was the perfect recipe for a long overdue time of peace and reflection of ‘Holding on to Love.’ A time to take a deep breath and relax. There were both tears and laughter, as we were in the trusted and comforting hands of two magnificent leaders, each of whom found the most incredible ways to remind us that the weekend was time for US ~ a time to create, meet new people, learn new ways to pray for the changes we seek (individually and for the world) while remembering that we are the hands and feet of God as we allow L-O-V-E to lead the way. In this incredible way, my faith was strengthened. Already looking forward to next year! ~With Gratitude, Michele Carleton
|
|
WELCOME OUR NEWLY BAPTIZED |
|
Madelyn Rose
Greyson Reign
Oliver James
May Jesus bless these precious little ones with His love and grace always.
Infant Baptism is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month. If you would like to have your child baptized, please contact Laura, Lstanger@sjvkirkland.org, to get the online class materials and register for the Baptism session.
|
|
KIDS FAITH FORMATION
Sundays at 10:15am
|
|
Kids are invited to join Zoom Children's Liturgy of the Word. Monthly faith formation packets are also available. Email Laura, LStanger@sjvkirkland.org, for more information. See you this Sunday!
|
|
High Schoolers and Middle Schoolers, mark your calendars for our kick off retreat on October 2 & 3 , Discernment & the Half Blood Prince (after the 6th book in the Harry Potter series). For more details or information about Youth Group, please contact Maybeth, mterashima@sjvkirkland.org.
|
|
Despite the hot days, the nights are getting cooler for the migrant workers at the Tri Parish Food Bank/YMP. New, twin size blankets needed. Please drop off in the Narthex. |
|
We have had several “chip drops” for our gardens dropped by the front entrance and we need to spread them around. They are very useful for soil enrichment while keeping weeds down - and they don't cost us anything, just the labor to spread them around. If you feel called, please contact Greg at gleptich@sjvkirkland.org.
|
|
REFLECTIONS ON CARING FOR OUR COMMON HOME
From Laudato Si
|
|
In his encyclical Laudato Si, Pope Francis identifies a set of personality traits that have contributed to the crisis facing our common home and that prevent meaningful action in responding to it. These include a fanatical anthropocentrism, which views humankind as the “owner" of God’s creation to do with as we see fit; a focus on individualism, which sees individuals as autonomous and self-identifying; a wanton consumerism, which views the acquisition of material possessions as the goal of human existence and sees wastefulness as a right; and a transactional view of reality, in which all things, including all forms of life, are evaluated from the viewpoint of their utility to an individual (an emphasis on the priority of being useful over the priority of being, to paraphrase the German bishops). Unfortunately, these values are so entrenched in our society that, to one degree or another, we all share them.
To help us break away from this culture of individualism, anthropocentrism, and consumerism, Pope Francis stresses intergenerational solidarity. By removing the focus from ourselves and placing the focus on the generations before and after us, it allows us to see ourselves not as isolated individuals, not as self-identifying and self-defining beings, but rather as a part of something that transcends ourselves.
In part, intergenerational solidarity allows us to look back at those who have come before us and to recognize the influence that our families have had in our lives. In many cases, we come from families that have worshipped and served God for a very long time, often over many centuries. That family tradition has defined who we as individuals are; we do not stand apart from or outside of that tradition. Similarly, we are members of a faith that was founded by Jesus and disseminated by his apostles. His disciples, as well as the early Patristic Fathers, shaped our faith and, in the process, also shaped who we are. Here again, we do not stand apart from or outside of that tradition; it forms an intimate part of whom we as individuals are. We are, in short, connected to those who have come before us; we stand in an intimate relationship to them.
Intergenerational solidarity also leads us to look forward, to those who will come after us. Because they will reflect who we as individuals are just as we reflect who our ancestors were, we want to ensure that the values and the traditions that we pass on reflect the best version of ourselves. Entitlement, egocentrism, consumerism, selfishness, or self-aggrandizement are all traits that we would rather not pass on to our progeny and traits that we’d rather not be known for. We want to ensure that we leave a positive legacy rather than a negative one.
But most importantly, intergenerational solidarity forces us to ask ourselves about the world that we are leaving future generations. Is it a world of possibilities, a world filled with life, a world that exudes the glory of God and His creation? Or is a world in which much of the life that God has created has perished and all remaining life is threatened? Is it a world filled with hope, or a world filled with despair? An honest assessment should point out the disparity between the world we’d like to leave our offspring and the world that we are in fact leaving our offspring. And that in turn should lead us both to examine ourselves, who we are, and who we want to be, as well as to take action to ensure that the world we leave behind is one that will continue to sustain and nurture the generations that follow us.
|
|
Ushers and seaters have a particularly special role to play at this time. Please prayerfully consider volunteering. If you would like to help usher or seat people at our weekend Masses please contact Greg, gleptich@sjvkirkland.org.
|
|
LOOKING FOR WAYS TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITY? |
|
Jesuit Volunteer EnCorps, a program of JVC Northwest, facilitates fulfilling opportunities for service, community, and spiritual formation for adults 50+ who are committed to social and ecological justice. In addition to part-time volunteer service, members meet monthly online or in-person, creating spiritual community through shared reflection. Our values are rooted in the Catholic Ignatian tradition, and JV EnCorps is an inclusive and welcoming community of folks from all faith perspectives.
Already engaged in service through your parish ministry or a local nonprofit organization? JV EnCorps could be the perfect way for you to add additional support, reflection, and personal growth to your current volunteer service.
Learn more about what JV EnCorps service is like:
Priority application deadline: August 31, 2021. Opening Retreat in September. For more info and to apply, visit www.jvencorps.org.
|
|
If there are others you know who would also like to receive our newsletter, please let them know they can sign up. |
|
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR NEWSLETTER SPONSORS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
