18 - 24 August, 2001

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

On Saturday I joined twenty some members of the newly formed planning team for the strategic planning process in which we are engaged for a three hour training session. Dr. Notarantonio facilitated what turned out to be a very stimulating and uplifting morning. This was a pleasant surprise to me. I prefer to think of Saturday mornings as putter-around-the- house time. This is in fact serious time dedicated to getting laundry done, the kitchen cleaned up and my seemingly self-multiplying piles of assorted papers beat back into some semblance of order. The greatest satisfaction in the training session for me was sharing with so many people are dreams and vision of what we would like the parish to be in twenty years. We then moved closer to home and worked on a smaller scale as we talked about five and three years from now.

I was amazed at all the great ideas that emerged. I kept saying to others, and to myself, "Just think of all the ideas we would have if everyone in the parish contributed just one idea." I still think it would be tremendous. In fact, that is what the suggestion boxes in the entrance to church and in the parish center invite each and every one to do.

• Parish Center Summer Hours
  During the months of July and August the Parish Office hours are as follows:
  
  • Monday through Wednesday: 8:30 am - 7:00 pm
    
  • Thursday and Friday: Closed
• The Spiritual Committee is donating Scapulars. They have been blessed by Fr. Dennis. If you are interested in obtaining one, they are located in the back of the church.
• N. K. Food Pantry
  Summer is now upon us. Donations of juice or juice boxes would be greatly appreciated during these hot summer months. Thank you.
• The CIRCLE OF PRAYER is formed by members of our parish family who commit themselves to daily intercession for the requests received from anyone seeking prayerful support in time of need. The CIRCLE OF PRAYER invites you to join us to pray for those in IMMEDIATE NEED of prayers within our parish, family and friends. Please join us! If you are interested, please call Liz O'Keefe, 295-0438, Gerry Grabowski, 294-6314, or if you prefer to receive E-Mail, angel55288@aol.com, or sbcwickford@aol.com. To all those who pray daily, for our CIRCLE OF PRAYER, many thanks. May God Bless all of you, and give you many blessings. May he shower you with peace, joy and love. Thank you for your dedication and devotion.
• SPRED:
  You can be a godparent, a friend, a brother or a sister to someone in the parish. You can be that special person in someone's spiritual life. All you have to do is open your heart and hear the call. Volunteer to become a member of our SPRED community. To learn more contact Nancy Gagnon, 295-2582, parish chairperson.

On August 11, the Futures Committee, led by our consultant, Dr. Elaine Notarantonio, hosted a workshop for the newly formed Core Team to begin the next phase of our strategic planning process. The workshop focused on the following six areas of concern identified by our recent parish survey:

• Liturgy and Evangelism
• Church Structure and Premises
• Youth Education and Programs
• Adult Education and Programs
• Stewardship and Giving
• Communication

As we get more people involved over the next month, the small groups will be generating more ideas and analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in each of the six areas. In September, the entire Core Team will meet to perform our next step, which is to assess the ideas collected in each area.

If you are interested in participating, don't wait for us to call you. Please identify yourself to Tom Orsi (phone at 294-4369 or e-mail TomOrsi@home.com), the parish center (295-0387 or email sbcwickford@aol.com), or any member of the Core Team. This is a perfect opportunity to help create the parish you've always wanted.

The Parish Council will resume its work during August. The Executive Board will meet Monday, August 20th at 7:30 pm.

The Parish Council meetings begin with the installation of the new officers at 7:00 pm Tuesday, August 28th.

We have many new students and are in need of both teachers and SPACE. If you are willing to teach a CCD Class at home (Grades 4 - 7) please call us. You may choose your own day and time.

The Parish picnic scheduled for August 19th has been postponed. Judging from the response we have received, the August date isn't good. Everyone is too busy having fun. We will notify everyone as soon as a new date is scheduled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

BAPTIZED BUT NOT CONFIRMED?
Is this you? Or somebody you know? For any number of reasons baptized Catholics do not always complete their initiation into the Church. This is done through the Sacrament of Confirmation and receiving Holy Communion. This is a simple process of preparation that results in the satisfaction of participating fully in the sacramental life that Christ has given us for our joy and support. For more information, please call the Parish Center and ask for Father.

http://www.sbcwickford.org/mediacenter/mediacenter.html

The Media Center will remain open during the summer. Come in and browse our shelves for summer reading.

Hours:
Saturday: After 5:00 pm Mass
Sunday: 8:00 am - 1:00 pm

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? Herman Hesse once said "There is a miracle in every new beginning" and this new school year coming up is definitely new and improved. The Youth Ministry has grown larger in size, in energy and in activities. We could really use YOUR time, talent, and treasures to make it a great and glorious MIRACLE. The youth of St. Bernard would like to meet you and get to know YOU as individuals. Your positive influence and role modeling will help shine light on our church community for the young people of the next generation.

Catholic Youth Week is our kick-off to the beginning of the 2001-2002 year of fun and exciting social, spiritual, and service activities. We will be starting the week with a mass on Sept. 23rd and we will be painting murals for the parish center. Monday night of that week, there will be a workshop on Christian leadership; Wednesday is an introduction to some community service opportunities; and Friday is a Social fun night.

Our PLANNING MEETING for both adults and youths is September 11 (Tues) from 7 - 8:30 pm. Don't miss out on the Miracle, just step out of your box and try something new, this could work as a miracle for the both of us.

Any questions, concerns, comments - call Dawn at 294-9351 or check the church website at http://www.sbcwickford.org/youthministry/youthministry.html.

"Catholic teaching offers a consistent set of moral principles for assessing issues, platforms, and campaigns. Because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we start with the dignity of the human person. Our teaching calls us to protect human life from conception to natural death, to defend the poor and vulnerable, and to work toward a more just society and a more peaceful world."

(Administrative Board, US Bishops, Faithful Citizenship, 1999, p. II)

Anyone having a mass said for a family member or friend and would like to bring the gifts to the Altar during Mass, please contact Dee Scanlon at 884-0166 and let her know the date and the time the Mass is being said and she will take care of notifying the proper people. Thank you.

Note: The New American Bible version of this week's readings can be found here.

Please submit any bulletin materials directly to the Parish Office, or via e-mail to sbcwickford@aol.com, attention to Jane Allen. The deadline for the submission is Tuesday by 5:00 pm and please take into consideration of the cutoff time and the space limit. Thank you for your cooperation.

In today's second reading St. Paul encourages us not to grow weary or lose heart, but to persevere in following Jesus. Our willingness to give of ourselves, even in the face of conflict and division, is one way to measure our discipleship.

Treasures Shared

August 11 / 12

Actual $4,223.00

Budget $5,817.00

Capital Improvement Collection $1,942.00

Thank you for your continuous support and generosity.