FEBRUARY 7th, 2010

Please remember in your prayers Russell Reckling, who died and was buried this past week.  May God grant him the peace of Heaven and consolation to his family.   

OFFERTORY FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 17, 2010:

Envelopes (699) $16,094.00
Loose Checks (22) 624.00
Loose Donations       481.00
Total $17,199.00

OFFERTORY FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 24, 2010:

Envelopes (645) $15,756.50
Loose Checks (39) 1,203.00
Loose Donations       499.50
Total $17,459.00

May God reward you with His blessings for your continued support of your parish.

MONEY COUNTERS FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 14TH  - Raymond Latz, Ron Krick, Mark and Kathy Wodarcyk.

News from Our Lady School
Kindergarten registration for families new to Our Lady School will be held this Sunday, February 7, 2010 in the gym from 10:30 until noon.  Please bring your child's birth certificate, baptismal certificate, and custody papers if applicable.  There is a $30 registration fee and a $100 deposit.   Our Lady offers a full-day kindergarten program. Kindergarten screening will be held in April. We look forward to welcoming your child to kindergarten.

2010-11 Tuition Assistance
File your taxes early!  FACT applications are now being accepted for 2010-11 Diocesan Grants (Grades K-12) and Our Lady Guardian Angel Tuition Assistance (Grades K-8).  Deadline is Monday, March 15, 2010.  All applications and supporting documents must be received by FACT by this date.  This year the diocese will only accept on-line applications.  Application fee is $25.00.  Questions, contact Debbie at 875-5411.

March 15           FACT application due for tuition assistance

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
This Thursday’s RCIA topic on February 11th will be Commandments 4,5,7 & 8; Chapters 28-32.  All are welcome from 7-9 PM on Thursday in the Parish Life Center. The Rite of Sending and Rite of Election are coming up on Sunday, February 21!  Please pray for our participants.

First Reconciliation Retreat
Saturday, February 20, is the date for the First Reconciliation Retreat. The retreat will be held in the school (cafeteria end) from 1-4 pm.  Registration forms will be available in next week’s Wavelength for OLPH School Students and will be delivered this weekend for OLPH PSR students.  2nd grade families are welcome to attend and if a registration is needed, simply e-mail Camille at ckopczewski@ourladyofperpetualhelp.ne.

No PSR/ Sunday Preschool next week, February 14th
Sessions will resume Sunday, February 21.  After this weekend, there are only 9 PSR sessions left for this school year and 8 Sunday Preschool sessions left. Time passes quickly. Please pray for all of our students in Sunday Religious Education.


Generation Change Schedule Change due to XLT:  The final Generation Change session will be on Wed., Feb. 10.
  
Super Hero University, Life Teen’s Annual Retreat!  March. 12-14 It's all about VIRTUE. Where in your teen's life, besides the Domestic Church, is anyone holding up VIRTUE as something to value?  (Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance, Faith, Hope, Love)  This weekend could be another great blessing to your family.  Please send your teen.

Parishioners:  Would you consider sponsoring a teen for the Life Teen Retreat?  We have teens who want to come but families are struggling financially.  Any donation toward sponsoring a teen would be a great gift.  Just recently a teen facebooked me asking for financial assistance.  A freshmen in high school asking to come on the retreat!  The cost per person is $125.  Thank you for your generosity.

   How do you know if you are called to a retreat?  Here are some of the top indicators:  If you feel drawn to it. If you feel strong opposition toward the retreat.  If you fear the mention of retreat.  If you have had several invitations to attend ( to include hounding). If you are comfortable with your relationship with God.  If you desire to increase your relationship with God.  If you feel alone, or inadequate, or even sinful. If your name is Joe. If any of these describes you, prayerfully consider attending the next Disciples for Life Retreat , March 19th -21st.  To register, call Karen Cook at 871-5224 or onepete315@aol.com.

Next week is our parish collection for the Catholic Times weekly newspaper.  Donation envelopes for this collection are included in your February collection packet.  For ONLY $17 per year (parish rate), readers receive a Catholic perspective on the world around us: local, national, worldwide, and Vatican news; diocesan, parish, and school stories; articles, regular columns, editorials, and events are delivered right to your home.  As an evangelization tool, Bishop Campbell encourages every Catholic family to receive the Catholic Times.  Look for your envelope and sign up for, or continue receiving, the newspaper of our diocese, the Catholic Times.

In Celebration of Valentine's Day, the OLPH Respect Life Committee will be offering an expectant family blessing during the 9:30 Mass on Sunday, February 14. Any families that are expecting, adopting, or trying to conceive, are asked to attend this Mass so that they may receive this special blessing.

Congratulations to the family  of  Jake Donahue, who this Sunday was welcomed into our faith community through the Sacrament of Baptism.

PRE-BAPTISMAL CLASS will be held next Sunday, February 14, at 2:00 p.m. in the Parish Life Center.  Please call the Parish Office (875-3322) to register.

From The Knights of Columbus Perpetual Help Council:  Thank you to all who contributed to Diocesan Vocations on January 23rd and 24th.  The amount collected was $1,754.00.  Vocations are everybody's business.  Pray for Vocations!  Is there a Vocation for you?  If you hear the call, will you answer? 

St. Vincent de Paul Society members thank Our Lady parishioners for their generous donations of $2,154.39 to help those in need.

Alert…..EARLY BULLETIN DEADLINE
Because of the President’s Day holiday, all information for the   Sunday, February 21st bulletin must be in the Parish Office by 8:00 a.m. on Friday, February 13.

Cheer the Josephinum seminarians to victory!  The Pontifical College Josephinum will host a seminary basketball tournament February 12-14.  Support our PCJ seminarians as they play against other seminaries! Tickets may be purchased at the door and are $2 for adults, $1 for students and seniors (each day). The tournament begins at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and continues Saturday from 8:00 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Call 614-885-5585 for more information.

EPIC Course this Sunday, February 7.  The topic is The Persecution, Part 2.  We will meet in the Parish Life Center.  Due to the Superbowl, we will have two times available: 3-5pm and 6:30-8:30pm.  All are welcome to attend.

Got kids?  If you're a mom, get on down to the Moms' Group of Our Lady.  Our next meeting is Tuesday, February 9, at 9:30am in the church basement.  Come meet some warm and friendly women and listen to our wonderful speaker, Nancy Madrid, as she shares her story of Catholic motherhood of 10
children.  Can't wait to see you there!

Valentine Celebration with the Silver Streaks
Wednesday, February 10, 6:00 p.m., in the Parish Life Center.  Bring your favorite appetizer or finger food to share.  Drinks furnished.  Program:  Our Lady School’s Children’s Choir.  Come join us!

Cake Bingo!!!! Join us on February 13th at 6pm in the school gym!  Our Lady School Board is sponsoring this family fun event for the Parish and School community to share a fun Valentine's evening!  Bingo winners will receive yummy cakes, cupcakes, or desserts donated by families of the Church and School.  In addition, there will be a 50/50 raffle.  And don't miss the end of the evening when the Grand Prize is drawn...tickets to the Broadway production of "101 Dalmatians"!  Detailed information and admission prices can be found in the Gathering Space. Please contact Julie Freeman, jfreeart@aol.com, with any questions or if you would like to volunteer!  See you then!

Festival Planning Meeting
Your festival committee has their first meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 16, at 7:00pm in the Knight’s room downstairs.  We encourage anyone who would like to take part in the planning process to attend.  All are welcome.  We hope to see you on the 16th.

Parish Women’s Association
3rd Annual Catholic Women’s Conference
February 27, 2010 – 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Lausche Building, Ohio Expo Center
717 E. 17th Ave., Columbus

We would like reservations by February 9.  Please call Mary Gamble at 871-7475 or Andrea Adler at 305-1108.

What is Cum Christo???
A fun, informational meeting will be held at St. Cecilia Parish on February 14 at 7:00 p.m.  This meeting is for anyone who is curious about Cum Christo or Cursillo.  The meeting will include presentations by Fr. Leo Connolly and members of the Cum Christo community.  Refreshments will follow.  Everyone is welcome.  For more information, call Ada at 614-878-3372.

After  Communion  Prayer

Lord Jesus, Bread of Life and hope of the world,
You have given of yourself totally for love of us and the love continues in this most precious gift of the Eucharist.  I am grateful and humbled that you should come to me in such an intimate way.  Allow me O God to be changed by this union with you.

Amen

Mount Carmel East Chaplaincy Services

    

Fr. John L. Swickard

  -Next Sunday falls on the annual celebration of Valentine’s Day and has been set aside as a Sunday to focus and rejoice in the Sacrament of Marriage.  In preparation, it might be good to review some of the thinking of the Church on this great state of life.  For the Church, the Sacrament of Marriage flows from the gifts given at the Sacrament of Baptism.  The new way of life bestowed at baptism comes with gifts and a mission for the individual Christian.  Fundamentally, this mission is to grow into the love we have received by learning daily the work of love.  Jesus is clear about this and summarizes it in His simple teaching that to be His disciple, we must each day deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow in His footsteps.  This daily growth for little ones is best done in the context of the family. It is a family affair.  In the little family of the home, with all together growing in unselfishness, there exists a small version of the dynamic of the Communion of Saints.  Each grows to know and develop the gifts received, and as this growth continues, in the silence of the listening heart, one begins to hear a call from God that will shape the work of one’s adult life.  This call can take one of three forms.  It can be a call to the single life as one continues to function joyfully in the family of God in service to others.  (Sometimes there is no room given for such a call as this, moving people to think that it is not a true calling.  For those who receive it, there is no doubt that this call comes from God.)  The call can take the form of a vocation to the priestly or consecrated life.  In this life, one dedicates in a special way all one’s energies to a specific work for the family of God.  There are a variety of types of this calling in service for the church.  This parish is served by priests who belong to the Diocese of Columbus under the Bishop of Columbus.  The call celebrated next Sunday is the one to the Sacrament of Marriage.  For a couple approaching this sacrament, it is very important to be aware of the true call from the Lord for the union one is moved to enter.  For many in this busy world, the details of wedding planning can be so overpowering that there is little room for discernment and listening to the small and real voice of God, calling for such a union.  It should be obvious that for the Sacrament of Marriage to form properly, each person should be in union with Christ in the Eucharist and in daily prayer.  One’s family can be an important help in the decision to marry.  Another factor that is almost totally overlooked by the world of today is the importance of the virtue of chastity to be functioning and healthy as one navigates the relationships opened up from adolescence onward.  A person who is under the domination of the sexual appetite and has not moved into the grace of chastity is not well equipped to decide in favor of the Sacrament of Marriage.  In this regard, it seems critically important for individuals to cultivate true and lasting friendships as a background and a healthy environment for the choice of marriage.  Those who move into marriage without the necessary freedom, motivated by a sense of desperation of any variety, are seeking to build a future on very shaky ground.  The joy that is evident in the hearts of a couple who are individually centered on Christ, and who recognize His love drawing them into the union of the Sacrament of Marriage, is a wonderful gift for them and for the church.  Joined in Christ, they have all that they need to grow in His love together and to form the first great school of love for the family.  Children born into such a union are surrounded by the love of God in and through the love of their parents.  Prayer and church are essential and happy ingredients of such a family.  The love between husband and wife, rooted in the love of Jesus, is designed to radiate intensely the joy that is the foundation of the Kingdom of Heaven.  The Sacrament of Marriage is described as a little church in which dwells in a real way the presence of the love of Jesus.  The little churches come together at least once a week to form the big church of the parish, and around the Eucharistic table of the Lord are strengthened and nourished as their individual presence strengthens and nourishes the whole group.  Most Valentine cards do not carry much of the thoughts expressed above.  It might be a great challenge for couples to design a card (for one another) that reflects the reality of the Sacrament of Marriage and even share some of this way of marriage with the children.  The pastor looks forward to the day when two young people, who come seeking marriage, already know and desire the great mission of the Sacrament of Marriage and are ready joyfully to take on the faith responsibilities associated with living out a sacramental life.  Prayers for all those who are doing the work of the Sacrament of Marriage are always needed.  A case can be made that Jesus is the Valentine from the Father that once received makes every mission that the Father asks of us a joy to carry out.  May all those in the mission of the Sacrament of Marriage be especially blessed and offer fine example for all the young who will also be called to this great state in life.

   -It has brought great joy to the ears of those who have been in need of such a service that the hearing assistance spoken about in earlier  pages has arrived.  Small receivers can be requested from the ushers, and when these are attached to the ear “buds” (that need to be purchased) or to any ear devices that fit the receiver, hearing issues are greatly relieved.  With the installation of this service also came some improvement of the sound system in church in general.  The rumor that the celebrant will periodically do a wake-up check by tapping on his microphone a few times has not been substantiated.  Some have wondered if pride will make it difficult for those with hearing issues to make use of this new service.  It is hoped that this will not be the case.  The little receivers must be returned to the ushers after Mass so that they can be used by others.  Hopefully, this improvement will help many of those who have remarked how little they are able to hear of the Mass prayers and even the homily.

   -A lovely stand has been constructed by a member of the parish and is now in place in the sanctuary to the left of the ambo by the rear wall.  On it has been placed the little statue of the Risen Christ that came to Our Lady during Advent of this past year.  (It had been placed on a little table in the Sacristy Chapel.)  All are welcome to examine this powerful little work up close although not as the Mass is being celebrated.  Special thanks to this parishioner (who often gathers after the weekday Mass for coffee) for this really beautiful stand for the statue of Jesus.  Hopefully, both stand and statue will lead many hearts to the love of God. 

   -In just a few weeks the season of Lent will begin.  In the midst of winter, a season of penance can seem to add stress to already existing stress.  Yet when seen in a proper way, it can become the season of grace it is intended to be for the people of God.  The season lasts 40 days.  In that time, the healing and repair work needed due to the damage of sin and selfishness is to be addressed.  This is very true and much needed.  Putting this in another way, Lent is a season in which we are asked to become better at loving.  The pull of selfishness that remains even after the matter of Original Sin has been taken care of in baptism moves us away from loving unselfishly and tempts us to use precious time and energy doing deeds of selfishness, deeds  that literally lead to a dead end.  How much better for us to be working toward growth in acts of unselfish love.  This could be the basis of a family Lenten program.  Each person could notice an individual weakness and make a public promise to do better throughout the season. (The listings for each family member’s resolution could be placed on the refrigerator.)  Each week after the Sunday Mass, the family could gather for breakfast and review how the Lenten growth is progressing.  The list should include each family member, even the mother and father.  What a gift for the family if selfish behavior (that never brings healthy growth in love) is targeted and in a specific way listed for elimination.  Against a background of prayer and acts designed to show God we love Him in return for His love for us, such a program could bring much health and perhaps many laughs to a family who decided to celebrate Lent together.