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Saint Cecilia School

»  NEWS FROM THE PEWS

A Newsletter of St. Cecilia Parish

March 2008

LENTEN OBSERVANCES

Lent, forty days of reflection, prayer, penance, fasting, and almsgiving leading toward Holy Week and the Triduum, continues this month.  Special observances and events include:

Days of Abstinence:  Catholics 14 years of age and older are obligated to abstain from eating meat on all the Fridays of Lent.   Good Friday, March 21, is also a Fast Day – Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are permitted one full meal and two smaller meals.

Almsgiving Opportunities here in Lent include:

• There are several diocesan collections in Lent, including the Catholic Relief Services Collection on March 2.  On Good Friday, March 21 we have the Collection for the Holy Land.  There are envelopes for these in your monthly packet.

• Children in grade 1 and above attending our Parish School of Religion (PSR) classes were given Lenten coin folders. Money collected goes to the Holy Childhood Association for their work in mission communities.  These should be returned by Palm Sunday, March 16.

• Those parishioners participating in the Rice Bowl should return their donations by Good Friday, March 21.

Prayer Opportunities include Stations of the Cross; prayed here on the Fridays of Lent at 7:00 p.m. (Note: Since we have the Celebration of the Passion that afternoon, we do not have Stations on Good Friday).  You are also encouraged to attend Daily Masses. The schedules for our weekday Masses are published in the Sunday bulletins each week.

Lent is an opportune time to get closer to Our Lord by spending time in adoration of Him.  Our Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is held in the Day Chapel the first Friday and Saturday of the month.  Jesus challenged his apostles, “Cannot you watch one hour with Me?”  Will your response to this question be positive?  On March 7 & 8, we ask that you please pray particularly for all those in need of physical and spiritual healing. 

Another way to get closer to the Lord is by learning. Our final sessions of Adult Ed’s video/discussion series based on Fr. Michael Himes’ video, A Lenten Journey will be held Sundays, March 2 & 9 at 10:50 a.m. in Meeting Rooms A & B. The session “God Sees Into the Heart” will also be presented on Monday, March 3 at 7 p.m. in the school art room.

Tenebrae is a special service at which the adult choir and other ministers lead us in psalms, lamentations and hymns to prepare us for the dark days to come before the glory of the Resurrection.   While the chants and readings progress, candles are gradually extinguished until the church is dark.  Our program will be held on Monday of Holy Week, March 17 at 7:30 p.m. Your participation is invited.
 

“YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN”

These words are central to the Sacrament of Penance, also known as the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. It is an opportunity for us to feel God’s love and forgiveness, and to receive the help of the Holy Spirit in healing our relationships with God, with ourselves, and with the Church community. 

The Catholic Church’s teaching on the issue of obligatory confession is:  After having reached the age of discretion, each of the faithful is bound by an obligation faithfully to confess serious sins at least once a year.  Many Catholics make a special effort to go to confession during Lent.

Here in St. Cecilia Parish, we are given the opportunity for individual confessions every Saturday afternoon (except Holy Saturday) at 4:00 in the Penance Chapel, located just inside the double doorway into the Day Chapel.

 In addition, we will have a Parish Lenten Penance Service on Monday, March 10, at 7:00 p.m. At this communal service, there will be a number of priests stationed in the church to hear individual confessions.

BINGO TEAM SCHEDULES

Team Members, please clip and save this schedule of dates. If you are going to miss a scheduled date for your team, please make an effort to obtain a substitute. If you need a replacement list of workers, please call (878-5353) or stop in the Parish Office.

ST. VINCENT DEPAUL SOCIETY

Our society has been very blessed in 2008 as we have had several parishioners interested in becoming members.  We are thankful for these individuals who have shown an interest and have come to our meetings this year.  During the month of January our on-call members received many calls for assistance.  We have provided rent support, medical assistance and food deliveries to multiple families.  We are thankful to 3 societies who helped us by twinning with us to provide the rent support.  Their support enables us to fill the needs of our community on the southwest side.

While we are observing our Lenten season we have decided to make 1000 sandwiches at our March 4 meeting. We will have a short meeting beginning at 7:00pm but will have it completed by 7:30 so that we may start the sandwiches.  We welcome anyone who would like to give their time to this worthy cause. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting however, if you are only interested in helping with the sandwich-making for our Lenten project, please come at 7:30pm.

We are also trying to provide an Easter egg hunt and lunch for children within a local subdivision.  We have served some of these families with support this past year and believe this would be a nice way to celebrate and share the Easter joy.  In the past we helped the YWCA family center and this year we would like to help those in our direct community.

The 2008 Regional Conference will be held in Columbus from May 1 – 3.  This will take the efforts of multiple church societies coming together to make the conference successful for the following states:  Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio.  We will have members attend as well as provide cookies for the hospitality room.  Please keep us in your prayers that this conference will give much insight to members attending the weekend.

This month we will have a collection since there are 5 Sundays in March.  We will have members at the doors on March 29 and 30 to accept your alms.   We appreciate your continued support. 

COMING UP

In compliance with diocesan policies and in anticipation of their planned audit of our parish, we request that all volunteers for any parish program sign and return this page to the parish office (you may put it in the Sunday collection basket, or mail it). If your family needs additional copies or you have any questions, please contact Mike Agriesti in the Parish Office (878-5353).

SAINT CECILIA PARISH CODE OF CONDUCT

-Staff/Volunteers work collaboratively with the pastor and/or other associates in ministry.

-Staff/Volunteers faithfully represent and practice the teachings of the Catholic Church with integrity in word and action.

-Staff/Volunteers are competent and receive education and training commensurate with their role(s) and responsibilities.

-Staff/Volunteers respect the diversity of spiritualities in the faith community and will not make their own personal form of spirituality normative.

-Staff/Volunteers serve all people without regard to gender, creed, national origin, marital status, socioeconomic status, or political beliefs.

-Staff/Volunteers act to ensure all persons have access to the resources, services and opportunities they require with particular regard for persons with special needs and disabilities.

-Staff/Volunteers are accountable to the pastor or other duly appointed representative.

-Staff/Volunteers are called to serve the faith community, carrying out their ministry conscientiously, zealously and diligently.

-Staff/Volunteers exercise responsible stewardship of resources while holding themselves to the highest standards of integrity regarding fiscal matters placed in their trust.

-Staff/Volunteers respect confidentiality.

-Staff/Volunteers adhere to civil and ecclesial law, policy and procedure concerning the reporting of neglect, suspected abuse or when physical harm could come to the person or to a third party.

-Staff/Volunteer support the rights and roles of parents while ministering to the needs and concerns of minors.

-Staff/Volunteers are aware they have considerable personal power because of their ministerial position. Therefore, they will sustain respectful ministerial relationships, avoiding manipulation and other abuses of power. Physical, sexual, or romantic relationships between adult staff/volunteer and a minor are unethical and are prohibited.

-Staff/Volunteers model healthy and positive behaviors with minors. Procuring, providing, or using alcohol and/or controlled substances for or with minors is unethical and is prohibited.

-Staff/Volunteers are aware of the signs of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and neglect.

-Staff/Volunteers are aware of their limitations with respect to paraprofessional counseling and make appropriate referrals.

-Staff/Volunteers are aware of and comply with all applicable parish and/or diocesan policies with special attention to sexual misconduct, safety, transportation, parental permissions, and medical emergency policies.

I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THE ABOVE CODE OF CONDUCT AND COMMIT TO UPHOLD THIS CODE IN MY MINISTRY.

Staff/Volunteer’s Signature______________________________________Date________

Please PRINT name._______________________________________________________

COMMUNITY BILLBOARD

TOWN HALL MEETING - Success breeds success!  One of the top eight priorities included in Saint Cecilia's Strategic Plan for Development ("PSD") is to hold periodic Town Hall meetings.  This informative new initiative was kicked off back in November to an appreciative crowd, so plan to join us the evening of Wednesday, April 30th in the Parish Center for the second installment in this series.

The structured presentation will feature a financial overview of the parish and school, details on the PSD progress and upcoming goals, and an opportunity for you to ask questions and provide input.  Before and after the presentations we'll have tables setup and staffed by many of the wonderful volunteer ministries here at Saint Cecilia so please come by and explore the variety of good work being done by our parish family. Refreshments and child care will be provided.  Please watch for more details. See you there!

LENDING A HELPING HAND: March is a “five Sunday” month, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society will be collecting donations in the Gathering Space the weekend of March 29 & 30.

Our next Food Pantry Collection to benefit the Westland Ecumenical Food Pantry will be April 5 & 6.  Please bring your donations to the Gathering Space.

In the past month, we received a thank you from A. Palmer, who received a robe from the Giving Tree Program. At the beginning of February, we received a Thank You note sent from the Birthright of Columbus, expressing appreciation for the baby items they received through our Respect Life Group’s Baby Bootie Project in January.

ST. CECILIA FISH FRY will be held each Friday through March 14 in the St. Cecilia School Hall from 5 - 7:30 p.m. Prices are $4 for children under 12; $7 for Seniors, $8 for Adults, and $26 for a family (2 adults and up to 4 children). Eat-in or Drive-Thru are available.

HELP NEEDED: Each year, there is a turnover of helpers for parish programs such as the Parish Festival, P.S.R., Sunday childcare, VBS, coaching the athletic  teams…and we expect this will be the case as we look ahead in 2008 & 2009.

Please keep in mind that adult volunteers (18 & older) in contact with minor children MUST meet the diocesan Safe Environment qualifications.  There are two components: attending a session of the child abuse awareness workshop Protecting God’s Children and having a background check done.  If you have been considering becoming a helper, please call the office (878-5353) for more information.  Our parish also requests that you sign the diocesan Code of Conduct – a copy of which is included in this month’s newsletter.

CONGRATULATIONS: Jarrod Hay is the winner of the 3rd grade level ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) District Spelling Bee.  Jarrod is a second grader who attends PSR classes here on Sundays.  Two members of St. Cecilia Parish who are students at Bishop Ready High School were named to the National Honor Society in a ceremony held in late January at the school.  They are senior Kristina Schmidt and junior Samantha Macioce.  Congratulations to these fine young students and their families for these honors!

RICA: Please continue to pray for the men and women who are preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation at Easter as well as all who are seeking to follow Christ in the Roman Catholic Church.

SUNDAY CHIDCARE: Families with little ones are encouraged to take advantage of this free service, offered during the 9:30 a.m. Mass when PSR classes are in session.  We limit the group to 10 children, ages 6 months to 3 ½ years. For more information, please contact Mrs. Brooke Spina at 851-1035.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS

SACRAMENTAL PREPARATION PROGRAMS

Confirmation - The candidates and sponsors will attend a Day of Reflection here on Saturday, March 8.  Included in the schedule for the day is a Penance Service with individual confessions. The day concludes with the 5:00 Mass.

The final date to earn Service Hours is Friday, March 7.  The completed Service Hour Reports, as well as the Confirmation Name Forms, are due in the Parish Office on Monday, March 10.  The final step in the preparation program is the Confirmation Practice on Thursday, April 3. Our Night of Confirmation is Monday, April 7.

Attention, Seventh Graders: It’s not too soon to begin thinking about a sponsor as well as working on your Confirmation Service Hours for 2009!  We will accept hours starting in January 2008.  Choices available now or coming up very soon include helping with the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s  sandwich-making on Tuesday, March 4 (7:30 p.m. in Meeting Room A); Knights of Columbus Fish Dinners (call Mark Hunter at 871-8467) and helping to prepare the church for Holy Week. 

First Communion - Our 64 second graders are now in the intensive portion of their preparation for this sacrament.  We have been sharing the Take Home Retreat scrapbooks and also begun working on the paper quilt squares in class.

We want to thank those parents who have already turned in their Baptismal Certificates, Retreat Permission Forms and Name Forms; the due date for these is Wednesday, March 12.  The children will come together for the Jesus Day retreat on Saturday, April 5.  It will begin at 9:00 a.m.

Baptism – During Lent, we do not hold our Parent Baptism Class nor do we have infant baptisms.  Upcoming dates for the Parent Baptism Classes are Sundays, April 13 and June 8.  If you wish to attend a session, please call the Parish Office at 878-5353 to pre-register.  It is desirable that both parents attend the class, even if only one parent is a practicing Catholic.

Engaged Couples: We will host the diocesan Pre-Cana Program here on Saturday, May 17.  Registrations need to be received by the diocesan Marriage and Family Life Office, either online at www.colsdioc.org, or call 241-2560 for a hard copy.

P.S.R. We remind our Parish School of Religion parents that our Easter Vacation is scheduled for Sunday and Monday, March 23 & 24. 

We also encourage them to participate in the TRIP (Tuition Reimbursement Incentive Program and earn credit towards future PSR fees by purchasing a $5 Kroger card here. It may be “loaded” by cash, check, debit or credit card at any Kroger grocery or gas station prior to making your purchases.  5% of the amount you load in calendar year 2008 is credited to your 2009-2010 PSR fees – but only if you purchase the $5 card here. 

2008 VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL will be here on June 23 – 27.  We have chosen the Ligouri program SonWorld: A Thrilling Ride With Jesus!  The Scriptural theme is to “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” Joshua 24:15.  In an adventure park setting, children will be encouraged to: Choose to Believe; Choose to Act; Choose Forgiveness; Choose to Obey and (the best choice of all!) to Choose Jesus.  We are encouraging all adults and teens who wish to volunteer as helpers, either before or during the VBS, to let us know of your interest by calling 878-0133.

Forming Our Conscience about the DEATH PENALTY

Society has a duty to defend life against violence and to reach out to victims

of crime. Yet our nation’s continued reliance on the death penalty cannot

be justified. Because we have other ways to protect society that are more

respectful of human life, the USCCB supports efforts to end the use of the death penalty and, in the meantime, to restrain its use through broader use of DNA evidence, access to effective counsel, and efforts to address unfairness and injustice related to application of the death penalty. (“Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship,” No. 69)

The statements in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding the death penalty are:

(2266) The efforts of the state to curb the spread of behavior harmful to people's rights and to the basic rules of civil society correspond to the requirement of safeguarding the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and the duty to inflict punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offense. Punishment has the primary aim of redressing the disorder introduced by the offense. When it is willingly accepted by the guilty party, it assumes the value of expiation. Punishment then, in addition to defending public order and protecting people's safety, has a medicinal purpose: as far as possible, it must contribute to the correction of the guilty party.

(2267) Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm—without definitively taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself—the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically non-existent.”

In his 1995 encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II said:

“… the principle set forth in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church remains valid: If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons, public authority must limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person."

In “Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops advised:

85. Promoting moral responsibility and effective responses to violent crime, curbing violence in media, supporting reasonable restrictions on access to assault weapons and handguns, and opposing the use of the death penalty are particularly important in light of a growing “culture of violence.” An ethic of responsibility, rehabilitation, and restoration should be a foundation for the reform of our broken criminal justice system. A remedial, rather than a strictly punitive, approach to offenders should be developed.

In their letter to Governor Strickland in June 2007, the Ohio Bishops put it:

As people of faith, we take this opportunity to reaffirm our opposition to the death penalty and to express our belief in the sacredness of human life and in the human capacity for change. … When a human life is at stake, there is simply no room for error. 

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER SCHEDULE

 □  What's New

 □  WEEKLY BULLETIN

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May 11, 2008

May 4, 2008

 □  NEWS FROM THE PEWS

May, 2008

April, 2008