January 14-15, 2012
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!
2012 offers fresh opportunities to deepen your faith via our Adult Faith Formation offerings….
Corpus Christi Adult Faith Formation presents “Discernment and the Spiritual Journey” a reflective spiritual course focused on the topic of vocation and “calling”. From everyday “simple issues” to “What should I do with the rest of my life?,” this course will explore the grand topic of discernment and insights from scripture , the saints and modern spiritual thinkers. The class will be taught by Shawn Wehan (Coordinator of Adult Faith Formation) and will involve spiritual reading, lecture and small group sharing. The class will take place on Monday evenings at 7PM and repeated Tuesday mornings at 10AM. The following are the remaining course dates: January 16 & 17
In addition…please make plans for these…
Jan 30 & 31 February 6 & 7, 13 & 14: Couples of the Bible February 27 & 28, March 5 & 6, 19 & 20, 26 & 27: The Theology of the Pascal Mystery Lenten special events: March 2nd Friday Soup — Movie/Reflections: “The Way March 16th Friday Soup — Prayer Labyrinth March 30th Stations of the Cross April 16 & 17, 23 & 24, 30 & May 1, 7 :
Church History as Told Through the Great Popes May 21 & 22, 28 & 29, June 4 & 5, 11 & 12, 18 & 19: The Book of Acts July 9 & 10, 16 & 17, 23 & 24, 30 & 31: God ~ The Evidence
A tasty weekend is approaching…do you have a recipe you want to showcase????
The weeks between the end of Christmas and the beginning of Lent (February 22nd) 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 February 11-12 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.
KEEPING OUR CHILDREN SAFE: Corpus Christi’s FISH presents a Safe Environment Program for our children on Saturday January, 21st @ 3:30pm-4:30pm in the meeting rooms. Taught by our own FISH parents and teachers with the Kids and Company Safety program, we will cover age-appropriate topics including 8 Basic Rules for Child Safety, Personal Safety, and Secret/Trick Alert. Parents welcome with their K-5th Grade Children. Please email fish@corpuschristialisoviejo.org with any questions.
Something NEW for our kids is coming…but we need YOUR help…
Adult Volunteers are urgently needed to support the revised Corpus Christi Kids outreach; ‘Corpus Christi Kids Care.’ This group will be open to our children in grades 1 through 5. This group is “service oriented” and will be offered in 6-week increments. KICK OFF, Wednesday, February 29th, 2012. The sessions will begin at 4:00 pm and end promptly at 5:30 pm. Kids will be actively making a difference in the lives of others. Many adults are needed to facilitate small groups. This project will not be possible if adult supervision is not adequate. Small groups will be working on tasks simultaneously. Examples: preparing sack lunches for Isaiah House, fostering pen pals with kids of our Sister Parish, St. Polycarp, preparing ‘Birthday Party Bags’ and ‘Personal Care Bags’ for teens being served by South County Outreach, letter writing to the men and women of our military who are hospitalized, making blankets for residents of local shelter facilities and much, much more. ‘Corpus Christi Kids Care’, help us enable them to serve! Cathy Allard invites you to an organizational meeting, Wednesday January 18th at 6:30 pm, Office Conference Room RSVP at 389-9209
With the arrival of 2012, 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 2011 PSA pledge donations will be acknowledged separately by the Diocese of Orange and do not come from us. Thanks.
Networking and Employment Transition Support Ministry: Kick off your New Year with a fresh approach to your job search and join career expert Karina Napuri for a can’t miss presentation entitled: “Outcome Oriented Networking – A Return on Your Time Invested (ROTI)”at 7:30 pm on January 19, 2012. Ms. Napuri will guide you toward developing a purposeful networking plan that is outcome oriented and results focused, one that will help you stay on track with the right activities to land your ideal job. She is a Learning & Organizational Development leader with more than 14 years experience in Human Resources and Business Management experience. She has developed and implemented candidate screening and interviewing tools, skills assessments, selection standards, job descriptions, competencies, and performance criteria for positions at all levels within organizations. She has first hand knowledge about what it takes to land a high level role in a difficult economy. Her methodology was used by her accountability group, which was comprised of 7 high level candidates, all of whom landed their next assignment applying this measurable approach with great success. You can too. Please RSVP by contacting Ed Jordan at ejordan@noletspirits.com or 949-389-1715.
YOUR INPUT IS NEEDED REGARDING – Diocesan Strategic Planning Study
As the fundraising arm for the Diocese of Orange, the Orange Catholic Foundation (OCF), together with our pastors and our Diocesan leadership, have been working on a planning process to prepare for our very first Diocesan-wide capital campaign. The goal of this study is to objectively assess how the needs of the Diocese are perceived by parishioners and to provide a realistic appraisal of the financial potential in our Diocese of Orange. All parishioners throughout the Diocese of Orange are asked to take approximately 15 minutes of time before Monday, January 23, 2012 to participate in a confidential, online survey about the needs of our Diocese of Orange. Please visit www.oc-foundation.org and click on the Strategic Planning Study button. Here you will then be able to read the case statement that outlines the initial needs our proposed capital campaign will address and then take a brief confidential survey to share your opinions and feedback. Thank you in advance for providing this valuable input and letting your voice be heard.
The Diocese of Orange Office of Respect Life invites you to ‘Evening Prayer’ for an end to abortion with our celebrant Fr. Sy Nguyen and Members of Clergy and Religious Communities as well as Representatives from Parishes and Centers in Orange County, Monday, January 23, 2012 (An observance of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade) 7:00 p.m. , Holy Family Cathedral 566 S. Glassell St. Orange, CA Reception to follow in Parish Hall 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.
2012 Pastoral Services Appeal – ‘I AM Corpus Christi’ continued…..
As reflected in the Craftsman style of the structure, our Grand Hall, offices, lower hall, kitchen and meeting spaces, were designed within the architectural school of the Arts and Crafts movement. Known as ‘California Craftsman,’ similar designs can be seen in historic enclaves throughout California. Emphasizing abundant use of glass, light, natural wood finishes, strong stone and rock, the Arts and Crafts style also placed ‘hidden beauty’ within its designs to delight and surprise the perceptive observer. A thoughtful statement of a Catholic-Christian might wisely be, ‘With God, there is always more than meets the eye,’ and so too it is with our Corpus Christi Phase I structures. There is much more than quickly, meets the eye, and many of our artistic and design choices have stories to share and are architectural metaphors for the people on which this parish is built.
While our Grand Hall, offices and meeting spaces serve us well, our parish home will not be finished until the permanent Church is completed. Reflecting the intimate relationships amongst our Corpus Christi family, it has always been our design effort that our permanent structures be ‘as beautiful as the people for whom they are built.’ If the Grand Hall and initial structures are perceived as artistic and beautiful, keep in mind that they are but preludes to the true ‘jewel’ of our Corpus Christi campus, our permanent Church.
The permanent Church will be constructed where the lawn presently exists. Upon completion, the permanent Sanctuary (Church) will be twice the size of the Grand Hall. Constructed in the same ‘California Craftsman’ style of architecture, it will seat 1200 people within its six sides, being modeled after the traditional six-sided node of a chalice, the same shape as the cupola of the Grand Hall. The perimeter walkways will provide additional standing room.
Within the courtyard between the Grand Hall and the permanent Church, a stream of water will seemingly flow from beneath the Church walls. Twisting its way through the courtyard (mimicked in stone by the river rock ‘streams’ already on the stairwell and tower) it will flow and pool within the Marian Mother’s Rose Garden on the left side of the Sanctuary (as facing Saddleback Valley.) There, life-sized statues of Mary in conversation with other mothers as their children play near the water will oversee a peaceful haven.
Entering the Church through large carved wooden doors, the source of the water coursing through the courtyard stream will become apparent as coming from the large black granite baptismal font (similar in design but four-times the size of our present infinity font.) From the vantage of the baptismal font, the vistas of the not-so-distant Santa Ana Mountains will be clearly visible through the spacious floor to ceiling clear-glass window inset with multi-hued glass panels in the shape of the cross.
Midway between the baptismal font and cross-inset window, the six-sided, quarried black granite altar is at the heart of the permanent Church, around which our liturgical lives revolve. Both gathering together and propelling outwards, the Altar, the Eucharistic Table of Sacrifice, will be crafted in a manner similar to the Baptismal Font, roughly hewn yet also smoothly polished. The center point around which the People of God gather, the Eucharistic Table is the point of unity where strangers become one body and The Body of Christ (Corpus Christi) is both distributed and fed. Encircling the altar, wooden pews with kneelers will ensure close proximity to the sacred actions upon the altar—the farthest pew being less than 50 feet distant. ( To be continued next week……)
