Immaculate Conception Church
208 7th Avenue West
Hendersonville, NC 28791
Church Office
611 North Church St.
Suite 101
Hendersonville, NC 28792
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We are a joyful Catholic community of disciples of Jesus Christ, moved by love, to seek the lost and the broken and bring them home |
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IC Blessings + Bendiciones de IC
August 1, 2021
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Imagine if you can
That you could understand
God’s perfect plan
Completely.
In every small degree
You can clearly see
What He has prepared for us
Uniquely.
His birth from one so pure
You surely would aver
You knew it all along
Obliquely.
Our faith has long defined
Her ranking in mankind
Outranks all others gifts
Exceedingly.
And thus do we this year again
In August declare to men
She lives in Heaven now
Body and soul
Fully.
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Let us all rejoice
That God has made this choice
So we can comprehend
Our own life’s journey’s end
Faithfully.
That when we come to die
We too shall all decry
Our bodies soon will live
Like hers
Eternally
Poem by Sid Baker
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Nancy Armstrong
Mary Ellen Frier, wife of John Frier
Janice “Jan” Hexdall, wife of Ken Hexdall
Patricia Rush
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Lester W. Klotzbach, a former longtime parishioner of Immaculate Conception, passed away June 12, 2021, in Holy Family Hospice, Parma, Ohio. Les was a constant presence in our church gardens for over 20 years.
Eternal rest grant to them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.
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Parishioner of the Month
Viviana DeTeresa
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Viviana, better known as “Vivi,” lived in the South Florida area for 50 years after emigrating as a child from Chile. She and her husband Sam, a retired Air Traffic Controller with the FAA, have been married for 37 years, and have two daughters, and one granddaughter, all living in Florida.
“Throughout the years we spent many summers with my husband’s family in Brevard,” Vivi explains, “and we fell in love with the beauty of the mountains!” When her husband retired three years ago, they decided to make this area their new “forever home.”
While she held many jobs over the years, Vivi found her last job as a Paraprofessional (teacher’s aide) at an elementary school assisting children on the autism spectrum “challenging at times, but I learned so much from the children I helped,” she shares.
When they first moved to Fletcher, NC, Vivi began searching for a Catholic Church to attend. “I came to Immaculate Conception,” she says with a smile, “and felt so welcomed when the usher opened the door with a smile and greeted me with a ‘good morning’, I felt like I had come home!” Vivi found everyone warm and friendly and liked all the ministries with which you can get involved.
“I found I can use my Spanish, when needed, to help at the Attic,” she says.
“I use my knitting skills as a member of the Prayer Shawl Ministry. I am a member of the Women’s Guild, and participate in Cursillo.”
When not doing something with a ministry, Vivi enjoys a variety of activities. “I usually hike once a week with a group of women, some of whom I met at Immaculate Conception!” she exclaims. “I also enjoy knitting, reading, card making and I recently took up photography which gives me an opportunity to capture the beauty of the area.” Vivi admits that both she and Sam love to spoil their dog, Kensi, as well.
Vivi feels that Immaculate Conception is such a great place “because of the priests who minister and guide their flock, the friendly parish staff, and all the amazing people who participate and give so much of themselves to the parish community.”
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A young boy was late coming home from school. His mother asked him what was the reason for the delay. The young boy replied: “On my way home, I saw a little girl crying because a wheel had come off her bike, so I stopped to help her.” The mother smiled and said: “How could you help her, you don’t know how to fix a wheel?” Without even looking up, the little boy said: “I know that, so I just helped her cry.”
Moral of this story: Just do what you can!
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Welcome Chris & Lisa Deneen |
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Chris and Lisa Deneen moved to North Carolina from the west coast for Chris’s work in March of 2021. After a great cross country road trip visiting amazing places and seeing lots of family, they began their home search, and feel extremely fortunate to have “discovered” the Hendersonville area.
They love the outdoors and are happily exploring the many hiking areas of WNC, and look forward to pursuing other outdoor interests – including golf – after they complete the many “projects” that often come with moving. At the moment, you will find them most often exploring Home Depot or Lowes for items for the project of the week.
Chris and Lisa enjoy being active in their community, especially their parish community. They have been Eucharistic Ministers, lectors, ushers, confirmation and grade school religious education teachers, life teen support team members, and retreat team members. They look forward to seeing where they will become involved in the Immaculate Conception Parish Community.
Please say, “Hello” when you see them at Mass.
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Welcome To Our New Organist! |
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The parishioners of Immaculate Conception welcome Frank Argento, our new organist, to our parish community! Frank moved from New Haven, CT to the Asheville area in 2001. “We had visited several times, and thought it would be a great place to live,” he explains.
Frank has been playing the piano and the organ for about 65 plus years and he’s “still enjoying it!!” He has taught private piano lessons for about 45 years. “My students have ranged in age from 4 to my 91 year old beginner,” he says with a smile. “I’m still learning a lot and loving it!” He also teaches classroom music to elementary age students at Veritas Christian Academy since 2001.
Frank enjoys a variety of music. “My favorite music besides classical is jazz standards (American song book), and the show tunes of the Rodgers and Hammerstein era.” While he finds that right now he doesn’t have time for a hobby, “If I had time for a hobby, it would be woodturning,” he shares.
“I am very happy to have some part in the music here at Immaculate Conception,” he says, “and my thanks go to Fr. Cook and all of the great cantors for making me ‘feel at home.’ It’s a pleasure to be here!”
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CALLING ALL GARDEN ANGELS |
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Feliciano Botello, Ann Nolan, Bob Gray and Terry Sardinia invite you to join them in a COMMUNITY GARDEN WORK DAY - Saturday - August 14 from 8:30 to 10:30 A.M. No experience necessary. (Rain date: August 21.) Water and snacks will be provided.
If you would like to join us, bring garden gloves, a trowel and/or clippers. Don’t have any? No problem, we have extras. We will be weeding, digging and trimming ivy and pachysandra to make our church property look great.
Looking forward to seeing you on the 14th!
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The Women’s Guild will be sponsoring a rummage sale on August 27 & 28 from 9 – 4 in the St. Francis room at the church. This is a smaller space than usual so we will not be able to accept donations of clothes, furniture, sporting goods, lamps or holiday items. You can bring items you wish to donate to the St Francis room August 23 – 26 from 10 – 3. We will also be accepting donations in the St. Francis room after masses August 21 & 22. Proceeds benefitting charities of Immaculate Conception Women’s Guild. We’re excited to be able to offer this event to our community, and look forward to seeing you there.
For more information please contact:
Mickey Mell: 828-685-8070 or Mickeymell@Bellsouth.net
Mary Lou Varnes: 828-435-1652 or marylou546@att.net
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ME? BE A CATECHIST? I CAN’T DO THAT!! |
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“Me? Be a catechist? I can’t do that!” If Fr. Cook or our Faith Formation Director, Claudia Yepez, or our Youth Minister, Emily Siever approached you asking you to be a catechist, is that what your answer would be? For most parishioners, the answer is “Yes!” There are lots of reasons for not being a catechist – “ I don’t know enough about my religion.” “I couldn’t answer their questions.” “I’m not a teacher, I wouldn’t know how!” “I work and don’t have time.” But there are even more reasons for giving of your time, love, patience, and joy to helping our young Catholic Christians grow in their faith by echoing God’s love to our children.
Being a catechist is immensely important, but it’s really not that hard! A catechist guides our children, teens, and even adults to a personal relationship with Jesus through their words, actions, life, and the sharing of your stories. Being a catechist means that you are willing to share your love of Christ with others. Jesus is at the heart of being a catechist.
You might not know everything about our religion, but that’s OK. The best way to learn more about your faith is to teach it. If you don’t know all the answers, tell your class that you’ll find out and let them know. You’re not a teacher? Yes, you are! Who taught your children or grandchildren to tie their shoe, catch a ball, ride a bike, bake cookies, turn on the TV, and feed the dog?? I’ll bet it was you! Maybe you don’t know how to make a lesson plan.
Today’s Faith Formation books have the lesson plans all made out for you to follow or add your own creative ideas to, and there are plenty of Internet sites with creative ideas to help. There’s also Claudia and Emily who have lots of great ideas!
You’re not a disciplinarian? Obviously, you have to have order in your class if you want to achieve anything. The best way to do that is to model the kind of behavior you’d like them to have. Agree on a few basic class rules, and respect and get to know your students. Enjoy the uniqueness of each child, and marvel at God’s creation. Your “kids” will energize you, make you smile and laugh, and get you enthused about the stories of our faith. Keep it simple and do be prepared ahead of class!!
As a former Director of Faith Formation and catechist, I am always reminded that most Faith Formation programs average around 24 one hour classes for the year. That’s one day! Sharing your love of God and Catholic Faith with our youth for one day is not too much to give back to God for his blessings! Pray about it, and see if your heart says, “Yes!”
--Kathy Meersman
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MORE LITTLE KNOWN BUT INTERESTING SAINTS AND GOD'S PLAN |
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While there is little known about many of the early Saints in the Catholic Church, many of them have interesting, faith filled lives and lessons for us to learn about. Here are the stories of two saints who only wanted to live quiet lives in prayer as hermits, but God had other plans for them.
St. Hilarion – While this saint’s name sounds like “hilarious,” he was really a very serious man who only wanted to be left alone as a hermit living a quiet, prayerful life in a hut in Palestine. When people heard that Hilarion’s prayers could bring about miracles, they began to come in crowds to ask for him to pray for them. That’s when Hilarion knew he had to move to have his quiet, peaceful life. So he moved to Egypt, but his reputation followed him, and again crowds came to him. So he moved to Sicily, Dalmatia, and finally Cyprus but everywhere he went, people came to him asking him to pray for them. Hilarion couldn’t refuse to help, and more and more miracles took place, and more and more people came to this quiet hermit. Hilarion shows us that no matter what we want, it’s what God wants for us that is most important, and God wanted Hilarion to help others with his prayers. Can your prayers help someone you know?
St. Clodoald – Most of us have heard of St. Cloud, MN. But did you know that there are actually four cities in the U.S. named St. Cloud? St. Cloud, MN has over 66,000 people,
St. Cloud, FL has over 40,000, St. Cloud, WI has 460, and St. Cloud, MO has 41, and they are all named after St. Clodoald, whom everyone called Cloud. Cloud was born as the grandson of King Clovis of the Frank Empire in the 6th century. When his grandfather died, Cloud’s father became King, and when Cloud’s Uncle murdered him, Cloud’s grandmother fled in secret with Cloud to protect him from the Uncle who also murdered Cloud’s two brothers.
Cloud lived in secret until he was a young man, and then because of the grief that wealth and power had caused his family, he gave away his wealth and renounced all power to become a monk. He asked to be allowed to live as a hermit studying Scripture and spending time in contemplative prayer in a spot outside of Paris, now called St. Cloud, France. When the people of Paris learned of this holy man, they began to come to him for advice and counsel and prayer. When Cloud’s prayers brought about miracles, more and more people flocked to him, and Cloud gave up his life as a hermit. He became a priest in 551AD and founded a monastery on the Seine River near Versailles. Today that monastery is a seminary named St. Cloud of course!! Like St. Hilarion, God had a special plan for this contemplative hermit. Have you ever thought about what God’s plan for you might be?
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Congratulations to those who received the Sacrament of Confirmation |
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The Shield Awards were presented by the Knights of Columbus on June 24
Shield Awards honor local law enforcement, emergency services
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