Bellarmine Chapel Bulletin

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

March 16, 2008

Palm Sunday

BELLARMINE CALENDAR

Monday, March 17

7:00 PM St. Vincent de Paul - Activity Room

Tuesday, March 18

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

Thursday, March 20

8:00 PM Holy Thursday Liturgy

Friday, March 21

8:00 PM Good Friday

Saturday, March 22

9:00 PM Easter Vigil, followed by party in Nieporté Lounge

Sunday, March 23

No 7 PM Liturgy, No Childcare at 9 and 11

Monday, March 24

7:30 PM Centering Prayer - Activity Room

Wednesday, March 26

7:00 PM Social Mission Core - Aerni’s Home

Thursday, March 27

7:00 PM RCIA - Activity Room

Saturday, March 29

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

Sunday, March 30

Fair Trade Coffee and Streetvibes for Sale

Infant Baptism

Outreach Collection for Habitat for Humanity

1:00 PM First Communion Retreat - Parish Center

HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE

Holy Thursday - 8 PM

Good Friday - 8 PM

Easter Vigil - 9 PM (followed by party)

Easter Sunday - 9 AM, 11 AM

There will not be a 7 PM liturgy on Easter, nor will there be childcare at the morning masses. The chapel offices will be closed on Friday, March 21 and Monday, March 24. There will be no bulletin on Easter Sunday.

Do you believe in the mighty power of God, the healing power of Jesus, the true guidance of the Spirit? Have angels graced your life? Do you have a personal story that helped you believe so firmly? Please contact Sue Antoinette if you may be open to sharing your story with some of Bellarmine’s youth. 745-4224 or antoinette@xavier.edu.

Update on children's book drive: XU Alternative Breaks would like to thank Bellarmine Parish for its enthusiasm in donating books for refugee children. The response was so overwhelming that we will only be able to take a small percentage of the books with us to Buffalo. But don't worry! Some of the other AB trips will also involve work with children, so the books should still come in handy, and if not, we will donate the rest to a worthy charity. Thank you for your tremendous generosity!

IT’S ALMOST TIME TO PARTY — EASTER STYLE!

In the Christian tradition, Easter Vigil is the biggest party of the year as we recall our common story, celebrate the resurrection in our midst, and invite our elect to join us more intimately around the table at the feast of the Lord. In our Bellarmine community, we continue the party after the Vigil in the Nieporté Lounge, located behind the chapel. Please bring cookies, cake, candy, nuts, veggies and dip, bread, wine, beer–anything to share. Soft drinks and utensils will be provided. The lounge will be open about an hour before the Vigil begins to drop food off. We have a limited amount of space to refrigerate things, as needed, in the chapel’s sacristy and activity room. It’s always a great party—and this year’s promises to be a special one indeed. Please call Liz Keuffer at 745-3398 with any questions.

RANDOM QUOTE

Faith is like radar that sees through the fog.  ~Corrie Ten Boom, Tramp for the Lord

Beginning March 30, you will be able to reserve your seats at the AMOS Banquet, which will be on April 24 at the Schiff Family Conference Center. Alexia Kelley, Executive Director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good will be the featured speaker for the evening. She spent nearly 10 years working for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, which has funded the work of The AMOS Project and organizations like it all over the country. We will come together and celebrate the successes of last year. Those successes include an agreement in the Banks development plan to hire low-income workers from here in Cincinnati, assisting janitors in securing their first ever labor contract with downtown building owners, helping Kroger employees retain healthcare and pension benefits during their contract negotiations and moving 300 new and infrequent voters to the polls for the November elections. Lots to celebrate and many things to look forward to in 2008. Please be sure to join us! Tickets will be $40.

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

We are building the 12^th Shalom Coalition Habitat House this year. Building season starts in April. As usual, we need your financial support to make this happen. Eight churches and the employees of one local corporation join together to raise the $78,000 in monetary or "in-kind" donations to purchase the land/permits/materials/labor (minimal due to our great volunteer crew) that are necessary to raise the house.

We are building a 3-bedroom, 1100+ sq ft. house.   The partner family will build right along with us, paying their 500 hours of sweat equity required as a down payment. They will then pay a 20 year interest free mortgage for this house. It is truly a hand up, not a hand out. Their mortgage payments help to support the ongoing mission of Cincinnati HfH in the years to come. Also, 10% of all the money raised for this house is tithed to Kenya Habitat for Humanity.

Our collection will take place on Sunday, March 30. Please look for the folks in hard hats and the collection boxes at the chapel exits. Thanks to all who have helped us in the last 11 houses, and to all who will help us this year!

RETREATS AT MSC

Thomas Merton Retreat – The Milford Spiritual Center is offering a retreat on the writings of Thomas Merton April 4-6, led by Jonathan Montaldo, associate director of the Merton Institute. Mr. Montaldo is also the director of the Bethany Springs Retreat Center and a past president of the International Thomas Merton Society. The JSC retreat will focus on those writing by Merton intended to help with the integration of the spiritual and secular lives. For information, call the Milford Spiritual Center at (513) 248-3500, ext. 10.

Mark your calendars for April 9 at 7 PM and April 26 at 9:30 AM, when Sean Reynolds will be presenting information on the topic "Will Our Kids Have Faith?" You’ll learn about national trends, and be offered insights into what parents can do to strengthen their children’s faith. Look for more information in the bulletin on March 30.

REMEMBER IN PRAYER

Please keep the family of Connie Nordloh in your prayers. Connie’s mother, Agnes Stegman Farrell, died on Sunday, March 9.

40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASSINATION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Date: April 4, 2008
Time: 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Place: Sisters of Charity Motherhouse, Cedars Auditorium
Fee:$10.00 by Monday, Mar. 31, or $15.00 at the door

Presenter and Panelists answering "Where Are We Today?":S. Louise Akers, SC., S. Barbara Busch, SC., Rev. Damon Lynch III, and S. Juana Mendez, SC.

Send registration to: Sisters of Charity, OPJIC, 370 Neeb R. #101, Cincinnati, Ohio 45233

PRACTICING PEACE IN A TIME OF WAR

In addition to educating ourselves, writing letters, making phone calls, and demonstrating, we must work with our inner selves to help bring peace into our world. Building on the work of Pema Chodron, this two-part workshop, April 9 and 23, 7 - 9 PM, will involve presentation and discussion, and practices and reflection the participants will be asked to do between sessions. Held at: Sisters of Charity Motherhouse, led by Donna Steffen, SC, sponsored by: Office of Peace and Justice and the Integrity of Creation of the Sisters of Charity. For information, or to register, contact this office at: 513-451-9444.

On Good Friday, March 21, come together for an interdenominational religious event. As we recall the sufferings of Christ, we remember those who suffer locally and globally as well. Join us on Fountain Square from 12 - 1 PM for four reflections on the suffering of people today. Then from 1 - 1:30 PM we will process to the Freedom Center for the concluding Bread Service and Veneration of the Cross. This event is wheelchair accessible and signed for the hearing impaired. For information, please contact the IJPC at 579-8547.

YOUTH MINISTRY

Jr. High teens get together every other Friday from 7:00 – 9:30 PM in the Parish Center.

April 4 - Meet in the Parish Center

April 25 - Jr High Challenge Party at XU’s O’Connor Center – save the date!

Our current schedule:

March 19 and 26 No BYG

Apr 2 - BYG postponed one day to April 3:

BYG participants are asked to come to

On Thursday, April 3 at St. Ursula High School

1339 East McMillan St. 45206

Time: 6:45, a light supper served

Speaker: Julie Hagerty (Bellarmine Parishioner and teacher at MND)

Topic: Kosovo - Teenagers Towards Peace

Apr. 13 - 4:00 dinner and meeting, mass at 7 PM

Xavier University's Habitat for Humanity is having their spring fundraiser Mulch Madness. Have Xavier students come and spread your mulch. We provide the labor, you provide the mulch. The suggested donation is $15 per person per hour and we will be mulching April 5, 12, 19 and 26. Contact us at xumulchmadness@yahoo.com.

Xavier's annual Relay For Life is quickly approaching. The Planning Committee would like to extend an invitation to cancer survivors from Bellarmine Parish to partake in our event. Survivors are honored during the opening ceremony, complete the first lap around the track, and enjoy a special dinner. Register online at http://events.cancer.org/RFLxuOH under the "Survivors" link.

RANDOM QUOTE

Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.    ~Pepper Giardino

Saturday, April 19, 2008 10 AM to 12 Noon

Singers and lovers of chant are also invited to attend a workshop on The Unifying Power of Chant led by Roberta Schultz of Raison D’etre. Cost is $30 per person. Reservations recommended. The workshop will be held at Grailville Retreat Center, 932 O’Bannonville Rd. Loveland, OH 45140. More info at (513) 683-2340, lb.grailville@fuse.net, or www.grailville.org

Saturday, March 29, 9:00 - 4:30, Bergamo Center, Dayton

The Basics Workshop will make it possible for you to identify your type and to begin to understand the "point of view" of other types. You will learn to find your own most likely type and to gain knowledge of the Enneagram as a tool for psychological and spiritual growth.

The Presenters: Eric McLellan, M.Ed., PCC and Don and Carol Jackson, MSW, LISW are Certified Teachers of the Enneagram in the Narrative Tradition trained by Helen Palmer and David Daniels, MD.

Workshop Fee: $80.00 (includes lunch); Group Rates available for 2 or more registering together. To register contact: caroljax@sbcglobal.net, or Eric at 937-643-0091.

Introduction to the Enneagram, Saturday, April 5, from 9 AM - 3 PM. Led by Donna Steffen, SC at the Sisters of Charity Motherhouse, west of Downtown Cincinnati. Fee: $65 (includes lunch), or $75 after March 25. Ohio CEUs available for $15. Contact Donna at DFSteffen@aol.com

The Enneagram: Working with your Type. Saturday, April 12, 9 am - 3 pm. Led by Donna Steffen, SC at the Sisters of Charity Motherhouse. Fee: $65, or $75 after March 31. Ohio CEUs available for $15. Contact Donna at DFSteffen@aol.com After I know my type, then what? How do I work with it? This workshop will provide tools so you may live in greater wholeness and freedom.