Good morning….2011 beckons filled with opportunity and challenges. Here is the material for this weekend…enjoy! Happy New Year!!! FKB
January 8-9, 2011
GLOW: God’s Love of Women
Join us on 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. Course dates are: Jan. 10, 11, 17, 18 & 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.
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.
Networking and Employment Transition Support (NETS) Ministry: Attention all job seekers, and employers looking for the right people to make your company stronger and better, start the new year out with the best connections to reach your goals. In this amazing age of advanced technology it is imperative that you become familiar and comfortable with the cutting edge networking program, LinkedIn, for your job, career and employee search needs. Knowing just a few key elements of LinkedIn can make all the difference in attaining your goals. NETS Ministry is excited to introduce business and technology expert, John Misuraca, CPA, who will both refresh your skills and introduce new avenues in technology in his presentation: “Job Networking for Success with LinkedIn”, held on Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. John has his finger on the pulse of the corporate and private business sectors and is a valuable resource for job trends and technology training. John will provide a hands-on, step-by-step training on LinkedIn that will get you well on your way to making the right connections. Please bring your own laptop computer and join us as you take a step up in your job search. The NETS team will be on hand to assist you during the training. Please RSVP by contacting Ed Jordan at ejordan@noletspirits.com
Faith Initiative Starts at Home
The next session of Christi Kids and Christi Kids Clubhouse begins February 9 on Wednesdays from 4:00-5:30. Registration forms are available on the Concierge Shelves or by contacting Ali Gaby at aligaby@corpuschristialisoviejo.org. Ali is also looking for volunteers to donate their TALENT and TIME to help out with the assorted Christi Kids/Clubhouse tasks…again, please make contact with Ali. Be advised that Standard Safe Environment and Fingerprinting (at parish cost) will be required of all Corpus Christi volunteers prior to any involvement with our kids or parish programs. For your convenience, look for the FISH Booth at all the Masses THIS WEEKEND where you can sign up to volunteer and receive information on Safe Environment and Fingerprinting.
Book Club welcomes you to join us in the New Year! Our first meeting is Monday, January 10, 7:00 PM, meeting room 4. Our selection for the January meeting is The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein. The selection for February 1 is Fall of Giants by Ken Follett.
WE are the rocks upon which we will build OUR Church….PSA 2011 continued…..
The beauty to be found within our permanent Church will be testimony to the sacrifices and commitments embraced by our community in bringing our dreams to fruition. As we have grounded all our previous accomplishments upon wise financial stewardship , so the completion of our permanent Church requires that we not move forward on any new construction until our present construction loan (our mortgage) is greatly reduced or eliminated.
Considering that our Phase One Development effort (inclusive of architectural drawings, permits and actual construction of the buildings, landscaping and parking facilities) cost slightly under $12 million, Corpus Christi has done well in expeditiously reducing our debt to 6.5 million. Even in the midst of our economic doldrums we have paid the Diocese of Orange $50,000 a month to reduce our existing mortgage: $25,000 in monthly interest and $25,000 in monthly principal reduction. Any new conversations with the Diocese or outside lenders would not be prudent until we reduce the present debt by more than half.
Debt reduction is as exciting as watching grass grow, most of us crave the excitement of new structures rising and new opportunities developing. Nonetheless, in order for our permanent Church to eventually rise, the reduction of our mortgage is essential….and it is primarily through the annual Pastoral Services Appeal (PSA) that we generate the funds by which to pay our mortgage.
Unlike other parishes throughout Orange County who embrace ‘capital campaigns’ to fund their development, it was our decision years ago to utilize the Pastoral Services Appeal as our primary method of generating the large sums of money with which we’ve paid down our loan and continue our present mortgage payments.
As mentioned earlier, South Orange County, and Aliso Viejo in particular, has a very fluid and mobile population. The vast number of rental units and small-yard properties within Aliso Viejo result in Corpus Christi experiencing an annual 15% turnover amongst our parishioners. While workable within more established communities, a traditional multi-year ‘capital campaign’ of two or three years would be unrealistic at Corpus Christi; within a year or two 15%-30% of those making initial pledges would have moved away, and with their departure would go any long-term financial commitment.
Using the diocesan PSA allows us to support the larger Diocesan efforts, while benefiting from an already-established diocesan collection and accounting system – at no cost to our parish. While all of our fundraising efforts (the Summer ‘La Cena’s,’ Good Friday Prayer Breakfast, Food and Merchant Fairs, etc.) benefit our mortgage payments, the Pastoral Services Appeal pledge redemptions are by far our biggest source of Building Fund income.
The Pastoral Services Appeal is a ten-month pledge effort directed toward each and every wage-earning person within Corpus Christi. In anticipation of our pledge weekend, each parishioner is asked to prayerfully consider a suitable monthly pledge that will help us to expeditiously pay down our loan. Using day-to-day examples, one tank of gas now averages $50+, a car wash averages $20, movie tickets at Town Center run about $10 apiece, lunch for four at Soup Plantation is $40, and a monthly cell-phone bill for a family of four is over $200.
Our suggestion of a relatively modest pledge of $40 per week (four round-trips on the 73 Tollway?) translates into a very substantial $1600 – $2000 TOTAL commitment for the entire year.
Due to advance printing schedules we neglected to give appropriate thanks for the beauty of our Christmas decorations to TJ Yacap and Sharlene Graham as well as the other names already mentioned. For those who have wondered where we obtained the ‘chandelier’’ hanging above the Baptismal Font, it was created by our own team of Marc Jordan and Scotty Eisenbart!
Just a reminder, we have no Baptisms or First Eucharist’s during Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday, March 9th.
Mater Dei Info Night: January 11; Mater Dei High School invites families exploring options for high school to attend our second Info Night on Tuesday, January 11 at 7:00 p.m.
