January 15-16, 2011
Our NEW CHAPTERS Women’s Ministry is bearing much fruit:
The Feminine Spiritual Journey
There is a path that is well trodden. It has been traveled by Eve, Mary, Rebecca, Martha, Ruth, Elizabeth, Teresa, Agnes, Rose, Rita and so many other women throughout the course of history. It is the path often referred to today as the Feminine Spiritual Journey, a unique, dynamic, transformative walk with the Lord. As women of the 21st century, we too are invited to walk this path (consciously or unconsciously) in our own special way. However, we don’t walk it alone or outside the history of the countless beautiful women that have journeyed before us.
Their path, although distinct, has so much to teach us! It is with this in mind that Chapters announces a five-week reflection on the Feminine Spiritual Journey. Facilitated by Shawn Wehan, Coordinator of Adult Faith Formation, the reflection will involve both lecture and small group sharing involving Biblical history, Church teachings, spirituality and feminine theology. Scheduled on Wednesday evenings beginning at 7PM, Feb. 2, 9, 16, 23 and March 2nd. Located in meeting rooms 1 & 2. (Asking for $10 supplies fee for course).
GLOW: God’s Love of Women
Join us THIS Friday, January 21st after 8 a.m. mass for our first GLOW Get-together! We will be serving breakfast and will have time to fellowship with the women of Corpus Christi.
Contact Jackie Kleinhammes for further information at 837-4441or jkleinhammes@cox.net (Childcare not provided).
The New Year always marks a time of resolution, exciting expectations and hope for growth and joy. Now that 2011 has arrived, why not begin the year by looking once more at our brothers and sisters who have modeled for us a journey well trodden. Corpus Christi’s Adult Faith Formation presents “Walking with the Saints,” a three-week course exploring ordinary people who became extraordinary through their faith and passion for the Lord. This engaging and provocative course will be taught by Shawn Wehan (Coordinator of Adult Faith Formation) and will involve both lecture and small group sharing. Classes will take place on Monday evenings at 7PM and repeated Tuesday mornings at 10AM. Course registration is NOT necessary. Remaining course dates are: Jan. 24, 25.
Do you want to add your OWN flavor to our Corpus Christi Mardi Gras????
The weeks between the end of Christmas and the beginning of Lent (March 9th) are when our Southern friends start to celebrate Mardi Gras, with the revelry ceasing with the arrival of Ash Wednesday at Midnight. Following each of the Masses on the weekend of March 5-6 we will again be featuring our own version of a Mardi Gras’esque 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 not competitive but rather a festive and fun way to enjoy each other’s favorite foods and tastily generate revenue for our 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.
It is a special treat to bring family and friends to Mass but it can become awkward at Communion if you have not explained to them that we Roman Catholics are a ‘closed communion’ Church, meaning that Eucharist/Communion is for Roman Catholics only. Eucharist is a final statement of shared belief and of being in full communion with the Church of Rome, meaning acceptance of the Catholic hierarchy, the pope, teachings of the Church, etc. Thus, members of other faiths or denominations are welcome to come forward with their hands/arms crossed over their heart so as to receive a blessing. It becomes stilted when someone of another faith obviously does not know what to do or say. So, to avoid these embarrassing moments, please guide/instruct your non-Catholic friends on what Eucharist means to us and how they are welcome to receive a blessing and not communion. Thanks!
Special Evening Prayer at Holy Family Cathedral on January 22nd….
You are invited to participate in ‘Evening Prayer to End Abortion’, on Saturday, January 22 7:00 p.m. at Holy Family Cathedral (566 S. Glassell St. Orange), to be Led by Auxiliary Bishop Cirilo Flores, members of the clergy, members of Religious communities. Bishop Brown invites our Catholic community as well as all people of good will to join together for a day of fasting, prayer and works of charity in our desire to restore a culture of life and a civilization of love to this country.
FYI, you will be pleased to know our recent Collegian/University Young Adult Dinner was a GREAT success with 30 people in attendance. Lively conversation and interaction resulted in an e-mail outreach being established to connect our collegians to the larger parish and a ‘beginning of summer’ and an ‘end of summer ‘ event being planned in addition to maintaining the Christmas break outreach. All Corpus Christi College/University-aged youth are welcome to send their name and e-mail info to FKB for inclusion in future contacts.
The first Sacramental Prep Session of 2011 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, nor attend this upcoming Sacramental Prep Session.)
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 29th 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 proper Registration and paperwork requirements, please contact Susie Hays at 389-9008. Please note…NO DROP-INS without prior Registration! For more info please call Ali Gaby 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.
With the arrival of 2011, IRS suitable donation statements are available ONLY for those parishioners who are REGISTERED and have used envelopes. We automatically send out acknowledgments for all monetary gifts of $250+ but we do not keep a record except for those Registered and who are using envelopes. For those who use checks, copies of your cancelled checks will usually suffice with the IRS, as will your credit card statements indicating payments to Corpus Christi. For your envelope donation receipt, please call Susie Hays at 389-9008. Also, please note that your 2010 PSA pledge donations will be acknowledged separately by the Diocese of Orange and do not come from us. Thanks.
Pastoral Services Appeal 2011: We are the rocks on which WE will build OUR Church…(continued)
While but one parish within the larger Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, to those who dwell and infuse our parish with life, Corpus Christi Catholic-Christian Community is a unique and very special home. It was offered to us as a dream and we have patiently created and brought to life each and every aspect of the family we easily take for granted. With commitment, tenacity, sacrifice, labor and copious sweat and tears, Corpus Christi is a story continually being told, written and created by those who join their lives within it. With a 15% yearly turnover in parishioners, the ebb and flow of people annually moving in and out of Aliso Viejo brings fresh opportunity to remember and reclaim our story as we invite our newest family members to share it with us and to consider how ordinary people working together have become the rocks on which an extraordinary community is being built.
In 1989, long before there was a Grand Hall or a lawn on which summer dinners are celebrated, the Diocese of Orange purchased 5.3 acres of barren land in what was then an undeveloped part of Orange County. Assigned to a neighboring parish in 1997 by Bishop Norman McFarland, Fr. Fred K. Bailey initiated a ‘Pastoral Outreach of St. Timothy’s to the People of Aliso Viejo’ as a way to determine the viability of a parish in this rapidly growing community.
As part of this endeavor, one week before Christmas in 1997, dozens of volunteers hand-delivered announcements/invitations to every home and apartment in the area of an impending Mass. The Oak Grove Elementary School Auditorium was leased and on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 4, 1998, the first exploratory Mass was celebrated.
One Mass followed another and the ‘Pastoral Outreach’ rapidly outgrew its ‘St. Oak Grove’ crib. A fresh search led our growing community to the Aliso Viejo Middle School auditorium where, week after week, the makings of a Catholic Liturgy were rolled from a steel storage shed on the school playground. Colorful artwork and creative science projects provided unusual backdrops for sacred celebrations of Eucharist, a large dappled horse named ‘Buck,’ placidly roamed amongst parked cars and when the school air-conditioning was turned off we simply sang louder so as to be heard over the roar of electric fans moving the tepid air.
It was here on the courtyard of the Middle School that the PARISH of Corpus Christi Catholic-Christian Community was born. Established by Bishop Tod Brown on the morning of June 6, 1999 with Fr. Fred as Founding Pastor, Parish Offices were soon leased in a nearby Industrial Park, the space dominated by a large steel roll-up door. With neither heat nor air conditioning (but an abundance of ants,) the warehouse offices nonetheless provided the new parish with a proud ‘sense of place’.
Remember, Parish Registration is the start of being able to seek such Sacramental encounters as Baptisms, First Communions as well as being able to receive tax receipts for donations. Parish Registration opens the way to participate FULLY within Corpus Christi! Registration forms are available on the Concierge Shelves.
