Bellarmine Chapel Bulletin

To receive the Bellarmine bulletin by email, please send your name to Liz Keuffer at Keuffer@xavier.edu.   Thank you!

April 20, 2008

Fifth Sunday of Easter

BELLARMINE CALENDAR

Sunday, April 20

Children’s Liturgy of the Word

2:00 PM Family Mass

Monday, April 21

7:00 PM Baptism Preparation - Parish Center

7:00 PM Saint Vincent de Paul - Activity Room

Tuesday, April 22

6:45 PM Religious Education - St. Agnes, Bond Hill

7:00 PM Small Faith Community Orientation - Parish Center

Wednesday, April 23

7:00 PM BYG - Parish Center

Thursday, April 24

6:00 PM AMOS Banquet - Cintas Center

7:00 PM RCIA - Parish Center

Friday, April 25

7:00 PM Junior High Challenge Party - O’Connor Sports Center

8:00 PM Schola Concert

Saturday, April 26

9:00 AM St. Vincent de Paul - Activity Room

9:30 AM Will Our Kids Have Faith? - Chapel

Sunday, April 27

Fair Trade Coffee and Streetvibes for Sale

STAFF NEWS

Stephanie Beck Borden has let us know she was invited to consider a new and exciting job, one that she has now decided to take. After her four years here at Bellarmine, I know that I, and many of you, will miss her active leadership. But knowing her, I can say that her next step makes perfect sense.

In early May, Stephanie will become the Ohio State Coordinator for Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. This is a networking organization whose mission is to provide information to Catholics about Church Social Teaching as it relates to public participation in society. It is a way to advance the prophetic voice of the Catholic Social Tradition across a broad spectrum of Catholic constituencies, to strengthen our collective voice in decision-making about the common good. This is a role that will allow Stephanie to stay in membership with the parish, to work with the local AMOS Project as well, while following a passion for organizing in a broader context for social change.

I want to voice our collective thanks to Stephanie for her dedication here, helping us channel our ambitions for outreach and justice commitments, and just for getting to know so many of us, appreciating our community spirit and worship life. And she has brought new strength of organization to our day to day workings, especially through the St. Vincent de Paul ministry and our Community Care Network. Parish ministry was a new venture for her, and she will continue to be part of it now, from the pews, with her husband Phil and two daughters. Meanwhile we will be consulting among the parish, as we have before, about our needs and appropriate timing for a person to follow in her role.

                                                                                                                                                                ~Richard Bollman, S.J.

"WILL OUR KIDS HAVE FAITH?"

Saturday April 26, 9:30 AM, at the Chapel

Join us for a presentation on this topic by Sean Reynolds, Bellarmine parishioner and archdiocesan Director of Youth Ministry. You'll learn about national trends, and discover how our own questions and experience are part of the larger picture. The goal is to strengthen faith formation here, the role of the parish and of the parents. The issues are not new, but the priority and urgency in them is newly important to all of us. Let's begin to pray for good, confident guidance for our community, of all ages! Pick up a brochure at the Teen Info Table today. Who should come? Parents, teachers, youth volunteers and professionals. All are welcome.

There will be an orientation meeting for all who signed up to volunteer with IHN (Interfaith Hospitality Network) on Monday, April 28 at 7:00 PM in the activity room at the chapel.

Important information regarding our commitment to IHN and our responsibilities as support hosts will be discussed. Those who volunteered in March will share their experiences. Anyone who is interested in this ministry is welcome to attend. If you have questions, contact Kathy Aerni at 871-7803.

Please keep the family of Angie Buechner in your prayers. Angie’s mother, Gail Hoetker, died on April 13 at the age of 94. Funeral services were held on Saturday.

SMALL FAITH GROUP OPPORTUNITY

Lois Campbell, member of the World Executive Council for Christian Life Communities, will be at Bellarmine on May 1 to introduce another way that new or existing small faith communities can engage the Spiritual Exercises. 

Registration forms and additional information are available in the vestibule today for our Summer Religion Program for children in grades 1-6. It will be held from July 28-August 8 at St. Clement Parish in St. Bernard. The program last year was very successful and we look forward to having your children participate this year.

Please be assured that the summer program will be supplemented by periodic gatherings of families that will reinforce throughout the year what is learned in the summer. The entire parish will be encouraged to attend these meetings as we continue our process of developing a program of intergenerational catechesis.

Priority registration for the participating parishes will end on May 19th. After that date and if there are openings in the classrooms, families from other parishes will be able to register for the summer program. We will limit the number of students in each class to 20 and expect that the space will fill up quickly, so we encourage you to register early.

Many of you have been asking how you can be of assistance as Gary undergoes this new series of treatments. For the next couple of weeks, the boxes we use for outreach collections will be out for those who wish to make a financial contribution. Gary had to make the difficult decision to close the 84-year-old family business. As he is unable to work, he will apply for disability benefits, but many of you know what a long and perilous process that can be with multiple denials of claims. And, of course, the medical costs mount each day. Whatever you are able to do is most appreciated. Thank you for your continued love, support and prayers.

Come and support our friends in Kosovo

Keep Saturday, April 26 open for a fun overnight experience in Mt. Notre Dame’s gym.

8 PM to 8 AM, Cost ONLY $10.00

All high school aged teens welcome. Bring a friend.

Late night pizza and early morning breakfast.

For information contact Julie Hagerty at MND

jhagerty@mndhs.org

Among its many positive traits, the Bellarmine community is most certainly a generous bunch. Thanks to everyone for your contributions of placemats, prayers, green agape, and of course cookies (we took over 5,000 dozen into the prison) for the KAIROS SOCF #7 weekend. The participants of the weekend (36 residents/inmates) put down as many cookies as they could eat over the four day retreat, and we also delivered cookies to all of the staff and residents not participating in the weekend. When someone in a cell saw us coming they would announce the others with a hardy "KAIROS COOKIES!"

It was amazing to see God's work over the weekend with the residents, volunteers, and prison officers. It was a transformative experience for many of the participants, feeling overwhelmed by the Spirit. They went from being solemn and suspicious when they first arrived to singing joyously and praying over one another (and us) at the end of the weekend. In a closing ceremony one of more intense participants proclaimed amidst near tears "I am no longer emotionally dead, I am a human being and not a monster." Another recalled talking to a fellow inmate during the weekend who said to him "them white people seem like they really care about us."

The key to KAIROS is the weekly prayer and share sessions attended by the inmates (no cookies and no special meals). The first prayer and share for this group was last weekend and approximately three fourths of the weekend participants came back to attend. This is a sign that they have experienced something that can continue to be a rock for them, a ray of hope no matter their life's circumstances. Thanks again for your contribution towards this ministry. If you have any questions or would like to find out more feel free to contact Pete Buswinka or myself.

~Mark Stockman

RANDOM QUOTE

A strange, mysterious paradox resides within this search for God. You eventually discover in all your questions and testing that Another has been with you in your quest.  And this Other has been searching for you even more persistently than you have been searching. In the end you discover that all your searching is but a reflex action to God's initiative -- a God who has sought you all your life.

~Ben Campbell Johnson

Extended hours for the final party of the season

Get in on the fun!!!

Jr. High Challenge Party

Friday, April 25, 7:00 – 11:00pm

O’Connor Sports Center 3801 Victory Parkway at XU

RSVP 745-4224

It’s party time and all Jr. High teens are welcome and so are your friends. Come for a night of outrageous fun, food and friendship. We have pizza, challenge games and the whole XU Sports Center, Gym and pool to ourselves. Forms available at the Youth Info Table and next week online at bellarminechapel.org Questions? Please RSVP for your friends so we can order enough food! Contact Sue Antoinette 745-4224 or antoinette@xavier.edu

Our current schedule:

April 23 Parish Center

April 30 Parish Center

May 7 God in Nature (Ault Park: meet at pavilion)

May 14 Affirmation Night - Parish Center

May 21 Dinner at CCWA, 958 Marion Ave., 5:30 PM Please RSVP by May 14, so we have enough food for everyone. Thanks. 745-4224

Confirmation Reminder

May 4 - 4:00 dinner, mass at 7 PM

2008 THEOLOGY ON TAP

Join us Thursdays at 7 PM (speakers start at 7:30) at Tickets Sports Café, 100 W. 6^th Street in Covington, across from Mother of God Church (ample parking in church lot). For more information please visit www.totcincinnati.org

April 24 - Happily Ever After: How to Make a Marriage Last - Betsy and Gerry Greenwell

May 1 - Are There Still Saints? - Fr. Earl Fernandes

May 8 - Mission Possible: Meet Your Local Missionaries - A Panel Discussion

Ever wonder what a Saturday morning with Bellarmine's SVDP conference looks like? At 9:00 AM, six to eight SVDP members (not everyone comes each week) gather here in the Activity Room to discuss the upcoming visits. One member has fielded the phone calls for the week and made appointments to visit six to eight clients. Once the cases are distributed, pairs of volunteers go out to clients' homes to verify and talk about their specific needs with listening ears and open hearts. Kroger cards, bus tokens and/or SVDP thrift store clothing and furniture vouchers are typically distributed in response to the client's particular situation along with information on other community resources such as food pantries and job training classes. The visit usually concludes with a shared prayer that is led by the client.

Next, members complete their second visit of the morning and then reconvene here around 11 AM to determine how to allocate our available resources. On average, each client we visit will receive $70 in total financial assistance as we carefully consider the best way to allocate our available $500 weekly budget, while requests for assistance often double or even triple the available amount. Clients are called and informed of any further direct financial assistance that we will be able to provide and then checks are written by our treasurer to landlords, Duke Energy, the Greater Cincinnati Water Works, etc. on the client's behalf. Each week, we also typically provide a voucher for a new bed to a client who has been sleeping on their floor. Our meeting then concludes around noon after we have decided how to allocate our resources and have prayed for our clients and their families. Thanks to the generous support of the Bellarmine Parish, we are able to make a significant difference to families in Evanston, Norwood and Avondale each and every week.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Mercy Neighborhood Ministries in East Walnut Hills is in need of volunteers for several positions: receptionist, professional development speakers, tutors at Mercy Connections, food pantry assistance, food delivery and development support. The time commitment varies, depending on the job. There are non-paid internships for college students as well. For information, or to volunteer, please contact Christine Sevindik at 487-6192 or csevidnik@mnministries.org.