Wow! It's so wonderful to see how our little H2O Project has grown!
We recently received an update from Fr. Ryan with pics and stories of how the people of our sister parish in Togo, Africa are doing. Follow this link to read his letter and found out what we can do to help.
Togo update
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
H2O Project Week II
Friday, February 20, 2009
Romans fiiiiiive 8!- But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us......
Mount 2009- Wow! I LUV Bein' Catholic!
Our high school youth group spent the weekend of February 13th-15th on retreat at Mount St. Mary's Seminary. There we spent lots of time in Eucharistic adoration, singing praise and worship songs, and listening to dynamic speakers break open the mysteries of our faith.
Saturday was Valentine's Day and all 1600 young people were given a special challenge. We were encouraged to tell Jesus that we love Him 100 times within 24 hours. If we all did this, then we would be able to send Jesus over 160,000 valentines. Pretty cool huh?
Happy Valentine's Day Jesus, from Mount 2009.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Give it up 2 Give it Away
4 children die every minute because they lack clean water.
As little at $10.00 can provide one person with a lifetime supply of clean water. The Challenge...for 2 weeks:
1. Make water your only beverage.
2. Save the money you would have spent on other beverages.
3. At the end of 2 weeks, contribute 100% of the funds you collected to Catholic Relief Services and help them drill a well.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Mount 2009- Some changes to what you need to know....
When: February 13th-15th 2009
Where: Mount St. Mary’s Seminary
Leaving on Friday: We will meet at 3:00pm in the Fr. Meyer Field. We will be driving in vans and leaving promptly at 3:30pm. Please don’t be late!
Retuning on Sunday: We will return to the school cafeteria by 6:00pm on Sunday.
Cost: $75.00
What to bring:
-Yourselves
-An open heart!
-Sleeping bags (we will be sleeping on the floor)
-Pillow
-Modest, comfortable clothing with something nice to wear for Sunday Mass.
-Sports clothes: tennis shoes, tshirts and sweatshirts, etc.
-Toiletries and pajamas
-Towel and washcloth
-Camera (if you want)
-Pen
-Notebook/journal
NO ALCOHOL, DRUGS, or ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES OF ANY KIND!
Absolutely NO ipods, cell phones, watches, computers, and anything else that you can think of that’s electronic, makes noise and wouldn’t be appropriate for a retreat.
Whoa, Take It Easy, Chief!
So I just opened up, on a lark, a little daily devotional I have from the Catholic Book Publishing Co. called Every Day Is a Gift. The reading for the day goes:
SCRIPTURE: "By patient endurance you will save your lives," Luke 21:19.
REFLECTION: "Practice patience toward everyone, and especially toward yourself. Never be disturbed because of your imperfections, but always get up bravely after a fall," St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church.
PRAYER: "God of Patience, let me endure my imperfections without rebellion. Help me to be patient with myself as well as with others."
My first thought was, "Whoa." That's because being gentle and patient, with others and with myself have been big on my mind lately. I have also been thinking about how patience with others and patience with myself are related. Yesterday those thoughts had been especially frequent on my mind.
My second thought was, "Well, wait a minute." After all, some people don't care about their imperfections and their vices, don't try to root them out, but rather seem very happy to have them. Should we encourage them to be more patient with themselves, or more aggressive against their sins?
My third thought was, "Ah!" I cannot make a whit's difference in whether somebody else takes his faults seriously enough. I cannot even really know whether he takes them seriously or not. I probably can't even gauge whether he merely seems to take them seriously when he is near me. I am biased. I either like him or not; I either share his faults or not. That affects how I see things. I am not God. Better to let others worry about whether they are too patient or not. For me, it is best just to try to get rid of my faults, and be patient with myself and with others when faults pop up.
Music video
Remember the vocations video with the Eucharistic procession that Fr. Avelino showed us at youth group on Friday? (If not, please see Jesus in the Streets of New York below.) This is a remix of that video using an awesome song by Kutless...enjoy!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
The Month in Review
“Why are we looking for life on Mars, when we can’t find it in the womb?”
- David Harper
Our high school youth group has spent the month of January learning about the Church’s teachings on life issues. At our Friday night meetings we have hosted several guest speakers whose presentations covered embryonic stem cell research, IVF, and the Freedom of Choice Act. We also had the opportunity to send postcards to our Senators and Representatives expressing our pro-life views and our concerns about the possibility of new pro-abortion legislation in our country. We hosted the USCCB People of Life Display in St. Martin’s Church hall as means of providing information to our parishioners. We also spent a Saturday morning praying the rosary for an end to abortion and the healing of women and men who suffer after having had abortions. We attended the March for Life on January 22nd in Washington, DC. Three of our young people read the Prayers of the Faithful at the respect life Mass that was held at the Verizon Center and one of our teens authored beautiful pro-life rosary meditations that were used there as well. Our teens shared their personal pro-life testimonies and provided music, skits, and leadership at the pro-life concert we held for 400 teens the night before the March for Life. Many of our young people and older parishioners shared in a period of Eucharistic adoration for life. We have spiritually adopted unborn babies who we pray for daily. Finally, our teens encountered the pro-life message in the viewing of the movie Bella, a beautifully pro-child, pro-family experience.
Our high school youth group has spent the month of January learning about the Church’s teachings on life issues. At our Friday night meetings we have hosted several guest speakers whose presentations covered embryonic stem cell research, IVF, and the Freedom of Choice Act. We also had the opportunity to send postcards to our Senators and Representatives expressing our pro-life views and our concerns about the possibility of new pro-abortion legislation in our country. We hosted the USCCB People of Life Display in St. Martin’s Church hall as means of providing information to our parishioners. We also spent a Saturday morning praying the rosary for an end to abortion and the healing of women and men who suffer after having had abortions. We attended the March for Life on January 22nd in Washington, DC. Three of our young people read the Prayers of the Faithful at the respect life Mass that was held at the Verizon Center and one of our teens authored beautiful pro-life rosary meditations that were used there as well. Our teens shared their personal pro-life testimonies and provided music, skits, and leadership at the pro-life concert we held for 400 teens the night before the March for Life. Many of our young people and older parishioners shared in a period of Eucharistic adoration for life. We have spiritually adopted unborn babies who we pray for daily. Finally, our teens encountered the pro-life message in the viewing of the movie Bella, a beautifully pro-child, pro-family experience.
Our teens have been getting busy about being people of life!
Here's our YouTube Video...can you find yourself in the crowd?
Hey Hey! Ho Ho! Roe v. Wade has got to go!
Pics from our pro-life month.....
Ellen, David, and Juana... super fantastic readers at the Mass at the Verizon Center... with 30,000 people. Way to go! 
Burger King....a delicious lunch after praying in front of the abortion clinic on one of the coldest days of the year! 
Ever wondered about the loaves and the fishes? They were a symbol of the Eucharist.... Who is Jesus Christ, broken and shared for all. We witnessed this at the Mass at the Verizon Center....Eucharist for 30,000 of our closest friends! 
Yes, Lord! Yes, Lord! Yes! Yes! Lord!
Waves of mercy...waves of grace....
Maria, Ana, Veronica, and Ryan
Lunch! This is where we learned that Nghia likes to smash his sandwiches before eating them....yum!
Fr. Raul....it was so nice to see you!
Here's the whole St. Martin's crew...what a good lookin' group of people!
Shannon and Bridget
The March for Life
Hanging out at youth group with our friends from Kentucky....
The children with Father Dan
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