»  NEWS FROM THE PEWS

COMMUNITY BILLBOARD

LENDING A HELPING HAND - This month’s Food Pantry Collection is scheduled for the weekend of April 5 & 6. Please bring your donations of non-perishable canned or boxed foodstuffs to the Gathering Space.  We are in particular need of these items: beef stew, canned meat, jelly, canned fruit, soups, toilet paper and toothbrushes. We have plenty of cereal and canned vegetables in stock.  Thank you!

VOLUNTEERS will soon be busy with spring clean-up, planting and maintaining the parish gardens.  Individuals or families may volunteer occasional help, or may adopt a small area for the season.  Teenagers are welcome – this is a great service hour opportunity!  Call the Parish Office (878-5353) or June Bergman (878-6913).

ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT – Our prayer intention for May 2 & 3 is for the students graduating from school this year.  Let us give all of them, and their families, our prayer support! 

SAFE ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM: For all volunteers in our parish who are 18 or older and have contact with children, the diocese has established three criteria on Safe Environment.  These are a background check, a Code of Conduct, and attendance at a Protecting God’s Children child abuse awareness workshop.  You may call the Parish Office (878-5353) if you wish to schedule a time for fingerprinting.  The cost is $30 and is a tax-deductible expense. 

Attendance at any PGC workshop in the diocese is acceptable, please register online at www.virtus.org, and select the “Diocese of Columbus.”   Opportunities include Monday, April 7 at St. Charles School at 6 p.m.; Sunday, May 4 at St. Dominic Church, 1 p.m.; and Sunday, May 18 at St. Joan of Arc in Powell, 9:00 a.m.  If you do not have Internet access, please call Barb Cain at 241-2565.

BISHOP READY HIGH SCHOOL’S 2nd quarter Honor Roll includes: First Honors – Kyle Bergman, Clare Bochy, Bridget Brown, Jacob Chapman, David Dubiel, Cory Faist, Joshua Hall, Jessica Hanley, John Hanley, Matt Hodanbosi, Ryleigh Kirby, Samantha Macioce, Veronica Ringel, Anna Schmidt, Kristina Schmidt, Julianne Wallace; Second Honors - Kelsey Bennett, Michael Hamby, Adam Herron, Justine Hutton, Ashley Inks, Lindsey Kusan, Valerie Lemery, Ryan McClincy, Michael Morgan, Danielle Parisey, Robert Reed, Adam Rood, Robert Shane, Joel Thomas, Caitlin Waldo; Distinction List -: Ryan Clark, Philippe Dumont, Evan Hutton, Angelina Mozzetti, Albert Rozman III, Gabrielle Santiago, Kyle Schreck.  Please join with us in congratulating these young people who have worked so diligently!

BLOOD DRIVE: St. Cecilia and the Knights of Columbus Council 5899 will be hosting a Blood Drive on Thursday, May 1 from 2 to 8 P.M. in Meeting Rooms A & B.  A typical blood donation takes approximately an hour, and can help save the lives of three people.  Why not schedule some time to give the gift of life to someone in need?

Donors must be at least 17, in generally good health, and have a positive photo identification (Red Cross Blood Donors Card or Ohio Drivers license or State ID).

ST VINCENT DEPAUL SOCIETY

For the month of February we had 9 food deliveries.  We also were able to help a client with utility bills to avoid shut off for her and her children.  We continue to take calls from JOIN (Joint Organization for Inter-City Needs) and from the parish office.  If you know of someone who needs assistance please ask them to call either JOIN (241-2531) or the parish office.  We serve those in the 43228 and 43119 zip codes.

For our March meeting we shortened the meeting to 30 minutes and set up our tables to make 1000 sandwiches that were given to St. Lawrence Haven.  We’d like to thank all the parishioners (50) who came to help with our sandwich project for Lent.  We were blessed to have so many families come with their children.  The Haven is operated by the Diocese and is located at Holy Cross church downtown.  They serve the downtown homeless Mon – Fri and provide food for approximately 400 clients each day.  They are always looking for volunteers to help serve the community during the lunch time hours.  To volunteer, please call 228-0799.

The JOIN office along with the Diocese’s St Vincent DePaul clothing store is also looking for volunteers.  They have moved to 578 E. Main St.  They would like to keep the clothing store open more days during the week.  To do so they need volunteers to sort and stock clothing as well as help clients as they visit the store.  To volunteer, please call 241-2531.

We thank all of you for your continued support of our society.  Only with your financial help can we provide to those in our community.  We appreciate your help at our collections throughout the year which are 4 or 5 times a year whenever there is a 5^th Sunday in a month. 

If interested in attending a meeting, please stop by on the first Tuesday of the month when we meet in meeting room A at 7:00 pm.

St. Cecilia Preschool Turns 20 and We're Throwing a Party!

Our Preschool is turning 20 and to celebrate we will be holding an Open House on Sunday, May 4th from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Mrs. Aeh and the Preschool Staff would like to invite you to join them in the preschool rooms and Meeting Rooms A and B to celebrate how far we've come. 

Did you attend the preschool?  Do your children?  Are you considering sending your children?  Take a trip down memory lane and look at pictures of your classmates; maybe you'll even bump into a few.

As the Preschool prepares, we welcome contributions of artwork and memories.  Please contact Mrs. Aeh at 878-0134 if you'd like to help out with the celebration.

PARENTING CLASS

St. Cecilia will be offering the interactive series “Parenting by Heart,” featuring Dr. Ross Campbell and Kevin Lehman and facilitated by Mary Beth Aeh.  This four week DVD series begins Tuesday April 8^th, 7:00 p.m. in the Kindergarten room.  The cost is $20.00/person or $30.00/couple.  Childcare will be available on a limited basis.  This course will focus on parents' understanding and development of the necessary skills and strategies for promoting and sustaining positive family relationships.  For more information or to register, please contact Mary Beth Aeh, 878-0134.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS

CONFIRMATION:  March 15 was a special day for our candidates, as they attended a Day of Reflection with their sponsors.  The day culminated at the 5:00 Mass with the candidates, sponsors and their families in attendance.  Their participation was an impressive sign of their commitment to this sacrament and the continuation of their lives of faith!

The rehearsal for the candidates and their sponsors is Thursday, April 3; candidates and sponsors should report to the school by 6:45 p.m.  Our Confirmation is Monday evening, April 7; candidates and sponsors should report to the school by 6:30 p.m. 

FIRST COMMUNION:  Our Jesus Day for 2008 is Saturday, April 5.  The children should arrive at the Parish Center by 8:45, where the program will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.

The required practice for children in the April 20 group will be Thursday, April 17; for the April 27 communicants, the practice is Thursday, April 24.  On the night of the rehearsals, children will report to Meeting Room A between 6:15 – 6:25 p.m.  Rehearsals begin promptly at 6:30 with the children lining up and processing into the church.  Parents are asked to wait in the church.  On our First Communion Sundays, students will need to be in Meeting Room A by 1:25 p.m. to receive their pins and be in the group photograph.

PARENT BAPTISM CLASS: Our next sessions here are Sundays, April 13 and June 8.  Please phone the Parish Office at 878-5353 to pre-register for a class.  The program meets in Meeting Room A.  Baptisms are scheduled through the Parish Office after the parents attend the class.

PSR PROGRAM: Because of their required First Communion practices, the second graders ONLY will not have P.S.R. classes on Sunday and Monday, April 20 & 21 and 27 & 28.  The final class sessions for all our grades will be held on Sunday and Monday, May 18 & 19.

CERTIFICATION CLASSES for religion teachers are held around the diocese.  Although the classes were developed to assist catechists, they are open to any interested adult in the parish.  We will host Course IV: Liturgy and Sacraments here, from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. in Meeting Rim A.   The dates will be Saturdays, April 12 and 19 and May 3 and 10.  To learn more about the classes, please call Kathy Maggied at 878-0133.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL:  Our 2008 Vacation Bible School will meet here from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon on June 23 - 27.  The program is open to children from four years old to those entering fourth grade in the fall.  The children will take a thrilling ride with Jesus at the SonWorld Adventure Park!

Again this year, the teaching staff will be supplemented by other adults involved with the skits, crafts, snacks, activities and learning games, so we are depending on some generous people coming forward to help in these areas!  Registration and Volunteer forms should be available later this month, so please watch for them.  You may also call our office (878-0133) to let us know how you want to be involved.  Thank you!

Forming Our Conscience about DISABILITIES

A new definition asserts:  “Disabilities” are the normal and anticipated outcome of the risks, strains, and stresses of the living process itself.  Therefore, the condition ceases to be merely an individual tragedy and becomes an expectation within any community.  (From a paper delivered by Mary Jane Owen to the Seventh International Conference of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care to Heath Care Workers in Vatican City on November 20, 1992)

Pope Benedict XVI has taught that “love for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind, is as essential to [the Church] as the ministry of the sacraments and preaching of the Gospel” (Deus Caritas Est, no. 22). This preferential option for the poor and vulnerable includes all who are marginalized in our nation and beyond—unborn children, persons with disabilities, the elderly and terminally ill, and victims of injustice and oppression.” (“Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, November 2007, 51)

The Bishops have issued several documents calling for inclusion of persons with disabilities in the life of the Church and community.  In “Welcome and Justice for Persons with Disabilities:  A Framework of Access and Inclusion,” they state:

• Each person is created in God's image, yet there are variations in individual abilities. Positive recognition of these differences discourages discrimination and enhances the unity of the Body of Christ.

• Our defense of life and rejection of the culture of death requires that we acknowledge the dignity and positive contributions of our brothers and sisters with disabilities. We unequivocally oppose negative attitudes toward disability which often lead to abortion, medical rationing, and euthanasia.

“Each person is created in God's image, yet there are variations in individual abilities. Positive recognition of these differences discourages discrimination and enhances the unity of the Body of Christ,” so said the U.S. Bishops in “Welcome and Justice for Persons with Disabilities.”   It goes on to say, “Our defense of life and rejection of the culture of death requires that we acknowledge the dignity and positive contributions of our brothers and sisters with disabilities.”

The Bishops said that the individual with the disability has the right “to achieve the fullest measure of personal development of which he or she is capable. These include the right to equal opportunity in education, in employment, in housing, and in health care, as well as the right to free access to public accommodations, facilities and services.  We must recognize and appreciate the contribution persons with disabilities can make to the Church's spiritual life, and encourage them to do the Lord's work in the world according to their God-given talents and capacity.”

Ms. Owen, in the paper cited above, said, “We must constantly remind ourselves that God’s gift of life is placed in fragile earthen vessels to a powerful purpose.  We have only to recognize and celebrate that reality and it will free us from past fears.  There is wisdom in vulnerability and it will bind us together powerfully, if we will only look at the reality with fresh vision.”

SPAGHETTI DINNER

The St. Cecilia 7th grade class is holding the 39th annual spaghetti dinner on April 12, 2008 from 4:30 to 8pm in the parish center.  Adults $6, Children $3 (under 12 free), and Family $20 (2 adults and 3 children).

There will be a silent auction, door prizes, raffle for cash and prizes and of course great food!!!

Proceeds from the dinner go towards the class 8th grade trip next year.  Please come and support the 7th grade class!!!!

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.  Note to Parents of Second Graders: As you know, we have First Communions scheduled for April 20 & 27.  If your team works one of these dates, you might want to negotiate a trade with someone from another team.

ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION NEWS

The Athletic Association will be holding elections for Executive Board Offices at the May meeting (May 20).  The offices that will be elected are: Athletic Director, Assistant Athletic Director, Treasurer, Secretary, Boys Sports Executive Commissioner, and Girls Sports Executive Commissioner.  The new officers will take office on July 1. 

Applications will be taken for this election through April 30.  Contact Athletic Director Mark Hunter at 871 - 8467 for questions or an application.  Applications are also available in the Parish Office.

A BIG PERSON

I wish I were:

          BIG ENOUGH to honestly admit all my shortcomings;

          BROAD ENOUGH to accept flattery without becoming vain;

          TALL ENOUGH to tower above deceit;

          STRONG ENOUGH to treasure love;

          BRAVE ENOUGH to welcome criticism;

          COMPASSIONATE ENOUGH to understand human frailties;

          WISE ENOUGH to stand by my friends;

          HUMAN ENOUGH to be thoughtful of my neighbors;

          RIGHTEOUSNESS ENOUGH to be devoted to the laws of God.

                                                          --Author unknown.

Reprinted by permission from Clip Art Features for Church Newsletters 6, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids MI, 1990.

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·