January 30-31, 2010
Our gratitude and appreciation for your generous response to our Haiti Earthquake Relief effort of two weeks ago. On that first weekend we collected $10,100.00, which has been sent to Catholic Relief Services. We published the address of CRS to which individuals can send their private offerings, for thoroughness sake, here it is again: Catholic Relief Services at P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD, 21203. Make sure you indicate it is for Haiti earthquake relief. You may also donate online at www.crs.org.
Thank you for your compassion and generosity!
Speaking of compassion and generosity, here are the Offertory donation totals for late December, early January and a couple of donation totals for a few special collections (Thank you for your trust in Corpus Christi!):
December 12-13: $17,500.00 December 26-27: $28,500 (inclusive of monthly credit card donations)
Retired Religious: $4,700.00 January 2-3, 2010: $29,500
December 19-20: $19,200.00 January 9-10: $15,800
December 24-25: $28, 782.00 January 17-18: $13,400 Janauary23-24: $22,400.00 (inclusive of credit cards)
Bishop Tod and World Marriage Encounter invite all married couples who would like to celebrate their marriage in a special way on World Marriage Day to join them at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange NEXT Sunday, February 7 at the 11:15 Mass.
Fr. Frank Pavone, the National Director for Priests for Life will be speaking THIS Wednesday, February 3rd , 7:30-9:00 p.m. at the Diocese of Orange Marywood Auditorium, 2811 East Villa Real Dr. Orange. There is no charge and all are invited.
If you are grieving the loss of your marriage through death, divorce or separation, you are invited to Marywood Retreat Center in Orange for the weekend of February 26-28. A trained team will lead participants through a healing and growth program. For more information please call Michelle at 949-589-5609 or Larry at 714-227-9550.
Hey Corpus Christi Kids! Christi Kids Club Winter/Spring 2010 Session begins February 10th! Christi Kids Club for our K through 3rd graders and Clubhouse for our 4th and 5th graders. We have great activities planned for everyone! In addition to all the fun arts and crafts and outreach activities we offer to K through 3rd graders, Christi Kids upper classmen (4th and 5th graders) meet downstairs for music, bible study and cool games and time to hang out with our high school Havenites. This is a great way to decompress with friends after school and get to know your fellow Corpus Christi pals. Special attention will be given to Lent, including a Seder Supper and Stations of the Cross for kids. The fun happens Wednesdays, from 4:00 to 5:30 pm, beginning February 10th through April 21st, 2010. K through 3rd grade meet in the Good Shepherd room, 4th and 5th graders meet downstairs. Registration forms are available on the concierge tables and in the Good Shepherd/Childcare room, or by contacting Peggy Armenta at peggyarmenta@corpuschristialisoviejo.org. Christi Kids Club is like a second neighborhood, where our Corpus Christi kids can meet and grow in their faith together. Sign your child up for this one-of-a-kind program!
Attention Junior High and High School Students – Christi Kid’s Club needs you! Do you remember being little and thinking big kids were totally cool? Well here’s your chance to be adored, and to be a big brother or big sister to a whole bunch of fun kids. Wednesday afternoons from 4:00 to 5:30, Christi Kid’s Club will be meeting for fun and fellowship. Can you play too? Great way to get in those service hours too! Be a part of our team. (Play dough included!) Contact Peggy Armenta at peggyarmenta@corpuschristialisoviejo.org (949) 389-9209.
Bishop Tod will preside at a special Mass in honor of the annual World Day of the Sick at Holy Family Cathedral on February 6, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. Celebrated in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Mass will include the anointing of the sick, laying on of hands, blessing of the hands of caregivers and a blessing with water from the miraculous spring in the grotto area in Lourdes, France. Special parking and seating (and seating assistance) will be provided for the wheel chair bound, walkers, etc. For more information, please call 714-282-3012. Thank you.
So far we have pork skewers, chicken skewers, pulled pork sandwiches, bacon, beer, champagne…….
So far we have booths featuring Philippine food (always a winner), the incomparable BACON booth featuring NOTHING BUT BACON!, a beverage, champagne/beer booth, a Bootstraps Booth featuring Pulled Barbeque Pork Sandwiches along with containers of pulled pork to take home…. and Music Ministry is rumored to be gearing up for some sort of cuisine!?!?! On top of that, Ron Ploof will be selling and autographing copies of his NEW BOOK “Read This First’ for those who wish to purchase his insightful take on New Social Media. Following each of the Masses on the weekend of February 13-14, 2009 we will again be featuring our own version of a Mardi Gras’esque/Valentine’s event with our Parish Food Fair. Similar to what we have done in the past, groups and individuals have an opportunity to showcase an ethnic or personal food for purchase and enjoyment after ALL the Masses (Saturday and Sunday). This is a festive and fun way to enjoy each other’s favorite foods and perhaps even generate a bit of revenue for the Building Fund. The parish will provide plates, napkins eating utensils, awnings, and tables. Each participant/group is responsible for donating a minimum of 50% of all proceeds from their food sales to the Building Fund. If you want further information or would like to commit to a booth, please make contact with our Food Fair Coordinator, Tim Moran, at 215-2676.
Oops, the ‘Last Supper’ by Leonardo da Vinci is in Milan…not in the Sistine Chapel. My bad!!! FKB
The first Sacramental Prep Session of 2010 approaches…
1. A reminder, our parish policy is that any family seeking the Sacrament of Baptism, First Reconciliation or First Eucharist, needs to have been a REGISTERED PARISHIONER for a minimum of THREE MONTHS prior to the setting of any Sacramental dates. (Thus, someone registering today, may call in three months to begin the process of scheduling a date….not register and schedule at the same time.)
2. Our next Sacramental Preparation Session for families of children desiring First Reconciliation and First Eucharist here at Corpus Christi is scheduled for Saturday, January 30th at 2:30 p.m., concluding with the 5:00 p.m. Mass. Please note that participation at one of our quarterly Sacramental Prep Sessions prior to scheduling a First Reconciliation and First Eucharist is a parish requirement. You will receive your Sacramental Registration Form at the conclusion of the session. This policy is binding for ALL families, both those who have multiple children (who may have already received one or more First Eucharists, fresh attendance at the Sacramental Prep for each child is necessary) and for those approaching the Sacraments for the first time. To ensure adequate supplies, please call Peggy Armenta at (949) 389-9209.
It is important to note that these Sacramental Preparation Sessions augment but DO NOT replace our parish policy of parents teaching their own children the essentials of our faith and introducing their own children to the person of Jesus Christ. These Prep Sessions are final steps to ensure that parental education has indeed been happening.
‘This day you shall be with me in paradise….’ 2010 Good Friday Prayer Breakfast Sponsorships
With the holidays behind us I wanted to share with you the news of our upcoming 11th Annual Good Friday Prayer Breakfast on April 2, 2010, once again hosted at the St. Regis Resort and Spa Grand Ballroom in Dana Point. With the theme of ‘This day you shall be with me in paradise’, the morning features Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J., the founder of Homeboy/Homegirl Industries in Los Angeles.
In 1992, in response to the civil unrest in Los Angeles, Fr. Greg established Homeboy Bakery with a mission of creating an environment that would provide training, work experience and the opportunity for rival gang members to set aside their gang-affiliations and work for a common good. Growing into Homeboy Industries, Fr. Greg and his team have offered a safe haven for thousands of those caught up in the cycle of gang violence. Providing the youth of Los Angeles a second chance to develop job skills and educational accomplishments, Homeboy Industries has been hailed as one of the premier gang-reform efforts in the nation. Their motto: ‘Nothing stops a bullet like a job’, has rung true for the many youth who owe their lives to Homeboy Industries.
I invite you to consider participating in this special Good Friday tradition by becoming one of our event-sponsors. We offer three levels of sponsorships: Platinum, Gold and Silver. In return for your support you will receive one (1) table for ten (10), five valet parking certificates for valet parking at the St. Regis as well as recognition in all the promotional work, the 2000 invitations to be sent to our parishioners and the printed programs for Good Friday morning. To insure the reservation of your desired seating (with each level afforded closer proximity to the speaker platform and access to Fr. Greg and the representative Homeboy youth), please do not hesitate to contact me at 949-837-4441. Jackie Kleinhammes 2010 Prayer Breakfast Coordinator
WEDNESDAY….February 17thh – ASH WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE
A particularly Catholic-Christian ritual, the placing of ashes on our foreheads in the rough shape of a cross, is scripturally inspired. It is meant to call to mind the references to Old Testament repentances of putting on ‘sackcloth and ashes’ as a way of externalizing our internal disposition. Our Simple Ash Services will commence at 4:00 a.m. for those who commute and need to get on the road. This will be followed by Services at 5:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m., 7:00 a.m. and a Mass at 8:00 a.m. and then a final Simple Ash Service at 10:00 a.m. If anyone needs to receive ashes prior to 4:00 a.m. ….simply call Fr. Fred (389-9011) on Tuesday morning (February 16) to arrange a meeting at the Church anytime after Midnight, February 17th.
Throughout this past year our community has given breath to many prayers. ‘Easter WILL come’ became a riveting and hopeful Easter morning chant; the concrete floors have been dampened with salty tears of farewell to beloved family and friends; our sons and daughters have splattered holy water far and wide as they playfully dance about the life-giving font; the lyrics and verses that have caressed our souls reverberate long after we depart to our own dwellings. Our book of Petitions beside our present Blessed Sacrament Chapel is filled with inscriptions of gratitude and lament. The annual celebrations of life have been lived and celebrated. We have faced these trying times together, sometimes lighting candles, sometimes lifting our voices, sometimes exchanging hugs and smiles. The ‘Prayer of Our Family’, while being well expressed within our Grand Hall, seeks a place of permanence, a place where it can become the ‘patina of sanctity’ eternally present before Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Your generous Pastoral Services Appeal pledge, even in these times of financial adversity, builds the
‘Prayer of Our Family.’
Need a good book? Take the next two simple steps. Pick one of the following: I, Alex Cross by James Patterson, Comfort Food or The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs, My Life in France by Julia Child, Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb. Join the discussion THIS Monday, Feb. 1, 7:00 P.M., in Meeting Room 4. Hope to see you then!
