A Historic Tweet!

Dear Friends, I just launched NEWS.VA Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ!  With my prayers and blessings,  Benedictus XVI

 

NEWS.VA

The Vatican Today

Bing! The Light Goes On

Today, I met someone through an inadvertent gaffe, and I think that person and I will come to be good friends in spite of my blunder.  As I was flitting about the blogosphere, as I’ve been known to do occasionally—did you all hear my husband laugh out loud just now?  Anyway, while I was out and about, I read an article posted by PatHound over on the Association of Catholic Women Bloggers.  It was a great article written by Father Patrick Brennan, and well worth reading.  I wanted Pat to know how much I appreciated her posting the Good Father’s article and shot off a message that started off something like this—

Hey, Pat~ Great article, thanks for posting it, blah, blah, blah...

I hit the submit button, and off it went, as did I.  Before I left the site, however, I was scanning the list of authors who contribute to the blog … when I came across Father Patrick Brennan’s name again.  BING!  The light goes on.  I didn’t just write a message to Father “Pat(rick)” Brennan, and greet him by saying … Hey, Pat, did I?  There was one way to find out.  The author of the article, Father Brennan, mentioned he had posted the article on his website today, too.  If I wanted to know, all I had to do was click Father Patrick’s link.  So, what the heck, holding my breath, I clicked.  Yikes!  You can read my apology here, visit Father Patrick Brennan’s blog, Humblepiety here, and read the post that led me to Father Patrick below.

As you can see, Father “Pat” and I have struck up a friendship now that we’ve got our introductions straight, and he’s kindly allowed me to post his article on our Parish blog.  Be sure to click the links above, and check out his other fascinating posts, and if you happen to be a lover of cats, you’ll be pleasantly surprised!  Be sure to mention you’re a friend of mine, because I’m sure he’ll take pity on you and offer up a few extra prayers for your care! 

Whoever acts on these words of mine!

Reading the gospel today I see the inspiration for the fairy tale the “Big Bad Wolf” published in 1843, the tale of the three pigs who huffed and puffed!  

The gospel is a real goodie! It contains a wonderful few words from Jesus, words not to be missed!

There is a practical reality of listening to and acting upon the words of Christ and this is demonstrated quite beautifully. The listener is left in no doubt about the importance of hearing Jesus’ words and putting them into practice.

We all need to reside somewhere, a shelter, a place to base our lives, a sanctuary, a place to call our own, the Englishman’s home is his castle! The home is important whatever way we look at it. If my home is built on sand, the foundations will not keep the house in one piece, a downfall of rain and my home is gone!! So simple and so practical too, this for me is the essence of a good spiritual life simple and practical!

Jesus tells us the importance of making a foundation when it comes to sustaining faith It is no good saying I love Jesus dearly but I love bickering just as much! Not much point in saying I accept forgiveness for my weakness from the sacramental encounter with Christ and then stubbornly refuse to forgive those who trespass against me! There is little gain in sitting in my Sunday best in church each Sunday and the rest of the week persecuting my neighbor! Simple, we cry, I get it! But good to be reminded of it and I think that is the beauty of the scriptures A little gentle reminder to me to say: Am I taking care of the foundations of my faith: Prayer, trust, Mass, confession, charity, love, hope joy, peace, neighborliness, gentleness, patience, reverence, modesty, humility? There are a lot of foundations! One or other may slip and bring the house down! Stormy weather in life’s journey could loosen the foundations, so it is good to concentrate on them now and again. How are your foundations?

What cements the Word of God in the Mass today is the bit of advice from Jesus that says; don’t just listen to God’s Word but act on it! In other words receive it, allow it to make an impact on you, enable it to penetrate to the very foundations our faith is built on and allow it to repair and tweek the cracks and strains we find.

When troubles come and boy oh boy do they come! When doubts come to the surface, when we look at the media laying before us the weakness and the sins of "holy" trusted men and in some cases the vile crimes of those in positions of trust, as it has done recently it feels as if the house we have built in faith is shifting on its foundations, it is shaking, we are shaking with fear, anger, indignation, disbelief.... in these moments we dig deep we check the foundations, we see that our Faith is built on the rock of faith in Christ a sustaining and encouraging rock in bad times and good.

Take care of the foundations, act on the Words of God!

By Father Patrick Brennan

Boys Scouts Garage Sale

Do you have "stuff" that you don't use just taking up space around your house and garage?  Put it to good use at the Annual St. Ambrose Boy Scouts Garage Sale.   It's the perfect place to take it, as the sale helps raise funds for the scouts to go to summer camp.

You can drop off your items on Friday, June 24th, between 4:00pm-7:00pm at the Church. The scouts will be hovering around the east side of the Vaughan Center, near the playground.

The sale is June 25th from 6:00am-11:00am, in the parking lot of the Church.

Whether or not you donate, be sure to come out and support the boy scouts. As the old adage goes "one man's trash is another man's treasure".

We hope to see you all there in support of our wonderful Boy Scout Troop!!!

For questions call John Steffen 801.244.4806

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About.....Blogging?

Have you had a chance to poke around our new parish blog?  Well, it just got a lot easier. 

Thanks to the efforts of the computer geek on the blogging team, we now have a page entitled, “Come Play With Us.”  You can click here to explore and learn the “how to’s” of romping about @St.Ambrose blog.  http://atstambrose.blogspot.com/p/come-play-with-us.html

This page has simple explanations and instructions on how to comment on a post, how to follow us, how to submit ideas for future posts, and most important of all, how to sign up to receive updates by email.

We encourage every parishioner to receive updates by email, here:  http://atstambrose.blogspot.com/  The submission form is on the left side, right below our Welcome Message.  Just type in your email address and click the submit button—voila!

Your @St,Ambrose blogging team wants to make this a fun, interactive place for all of us.  It’s the place to find up-to-date information on parish events, groups, volunteer opportunities, and lots of other Catholic stuff.  And when you sign up to receive updates by email, you will automatically receive new information as it is posted. 

It’s your own personal online coffee klatch—a casual social gathering for coffee and conversation via the Internet—so, pull up a chair, fire-up  that computer, and grab your cup of joe, here we go…

One more thing…it will be very helpful to bookmark or mark as a favorite @St.Ambroses’ home page:  http://atstambrose.blogspot.com/  That way you can easily pop in, look around, and go right to the information you need by using our nifty “search” feature.

 

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words...

Sunday, Father Andrezj told us about the Holy Trinity Icon during his homily.  The Holy Trinity Icon depicts the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  God invites us to sit at the table with him.  The message: there is always a place at the table for us, always...

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Today we are celebrating the Feast of the Blessed Trinity, the Feast of God, of the center of our faith: God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When one thinks of the Trinity, one usually thinks of the aspect of the mystery: they are Three and they are One, one God in three Persons. Actually God in his greatness cannot be anything but a mystery for us, yet he revealed himself. We can know him in his Son and thus also know the Father and the Holy Spirit. Instead today’s Liturgy draws our attention not so much to this mystery as to the reality of love that is contained in this first and supreme mystery of our faith. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one because God is love and love is an absolute life-giving force; the unity created by love is a unity greater than a purely physical unity.  read more...

St. Ambrose Parish Picnic: Slideshow

More from the picnic...

One hundred and twenty-six photos for your viewing pleasure!

Yes, there's more...

STEWARDSHIP — What does it mean to YOU?

STEWARDSHIP. What does it mean to YOU? What does it mean to the person next to you? Chances are there are many descriptions of the good work associated with this concept. It is all encompassing. But almost all responses will have the common factor of being a disciple of Christ! That’s it! In being a disciple of Christ it means that we live our promise of Baptism and Confirmation, that we carry our faith into our every action! Jesus is with us, guides us in our actions if we only ask Him for His help through prayer. He shows us the way through the gospel so we know how to act. 

Bishop John Wester invites every parish to establish a Stewardship Council to focus on Stewardship within our parish. With Bishop Wester’s guidance, this group of 20 devoted parishioners from St. Ambrose Parish, we begin the study of what we do well, what we need to improve, and how we will make the needed changes in keeping participation in our parish meaningful to all parishioners. Our Stewardship Council looks forward to talking with you, parishioners, to incorporate your ideas in the parish plan.

As we begin this journey, we experience a conversion of heart that comes through the Holy Spirit working within us. The US Council of Catholic Bishop’s stewardship pastoral letter tells us:

            Beginning in conversion, change of mind and heart,

            the commitment is expressed not in a single action,

            nor even in a number of actions over a period of time,

            but in an entire way of life.

We look forward to our work with you, fellow parishioners.

Rosemary Baron, Stewardship Council Chair

St. Ambrose Parish Picnic

I love parish picnics. They are a time of great fun, fellowship and enjoyment. They also remind me about the original version of the parish picnic—the generosity of God shown in the feeding of the five thousand on five loaves of bread and two fish. We’re reminded that the Eucharist itself is a meal in which we are fed and nourished in our souls for meeting the joys and challenges of life.

We’re also reminded how abundant our lives really are.

Click to enlarge photos

Click to enlarge photos

 

Click to enlarge photos

Ten Easy Ways to be a Good Steward

1.     Watch TV

Whether it’s American Idol or CSI, we all have our favorite television programs. Turn TV watching into a stewardship activity by recording your favorite show, then fast forwarding through the commercials when you play it back.  You can watch a 60 minute show in 42 minutes.  Then use those 18 windfall minutes to pray.  That’s stewardship of time.

2.     Treat yourself to gourmet coffee

Do you make a Starbucks run every morning?  OK, nobody’s going to make you feel guilty for your little indulgence.  All we ask is that once a week you make your coffee at home, (yes, you can use Starbucks beans).  Then drop the money you didn’t spend into the collection box for the poor located in the back of the church.  God loves a cheerful giver!

3.     Keep your car looking good

How often do you take your car to the carwash?  Once a week, twice a month?  Maintaining your property is part of good stewardship.  But what if you made a commitment to wash your car by hand once a month?  You’ll get a little exercise, plus you can drop the money you would have spent into the poor box in the gathering space.

4.     Go to garage sales

If you are a garage sale junkie, nothing gets your heart racing like a good yard sale.  So, enjoy your Saturday morning treasure hunts.  Just make a commitment to drive past five sales a month.  That's about one a week.  Then enrich the Poor Box at the back of the church with $20 you didn’t spend on things that are, let’s face it, pretty much unnecessary. 

5.    Work out less.

Do you go to the gym every day?  Three times a week?  What if once a month you gave up just one trip to the gym, and instead parked your car and walked to an errand or to work, or just walked with family members or friends.  You’d be helping the environment, building relationships, and exercising the body God has entrusted to you.  When you are in good shape, it’s easier to respond to whatever purpose God calls you.

6.    Buy some new clothes.

Then donate your old clothes to the poor.  Feeling a little radical?  Choose one new thing to keep, and donate the rest to the poor.  You can drop them off in the pantry at the back of church. 

7.     Go out to dinner.

But this time, split an entrée with someone.  Believe it or not, you won’t go home hungry.  But this exercise in self control will allow you to donate the amount you would have spent on the second entrée to support people who regularly do go to bed hungry.  You’ll be answerilng God’s call to feed the poor, and you might even lose a pound or two.

8.     Do something fun.

God has given each of us different talents.  Usually, if something comes easily to us or we enjoy doing it, that is an indication we are using one of God’s gifts.  So, think about something you enjoy doing.  Do you like to paint, do crafts, teach others?  Are you a great baker, decorator, motivator, or organizer?  Now think of how you might donate some time doing what you love to do.  There are plenty of volunteer opportunities within the church that would allow you to do what you enjoy.  Call the Vaughan Center or the Church office to get hooked up, and make a return on God’s investment in you.

9.     Make new friends.

There’s a whole wide world out there just chock full of people.  Would you like to meet a few?  Consider volunteering!  Quilters Without Borders is a nondenominational group that meets every other month at a different church to make quilts that are donated to worthy organizations.  They will joyfully teach you what to do, and you’ll have fun interacting with women of varied backgrounds.  Or how about working at St. Vincent DePaul’s Soup Kitchen once a month?  Or making lunches at the Good Samaritan Program once a week? If you are handy, maybe Habitat for Humanity would be fun for you.  Think of something you enjoy doing, then think about where you can put your talents to work.  You’ll meet some amazing individuals, and help others at the same time.  That’s stewardship in action.

10. Talk on the phone

Do you love to visit on the phone?  Do your neighbors and friends think your cell phone has been surgically attached to your head?  Your cheerful voice could make someone else’s day a lot brighter.  There are plenty of homebound individuals who would love to receive a phone call from someone other than a telemarketer.  Taking just a few minutes to check on them would be a huge gift, and answers God’s call to help those who are less fortunate.

A Meeting with the Pontiff

This morning, Matt Lauer, co-anchor of the Today show, had an audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.  Lucky guy, meeting and talking with a Pope is a rare event.

Matt, along and Al Roker, were in St. Peter’s Square this morning, and afterward shared a private moment with the Pontiff and New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan.  Today, the Archbishop will give Matt and Al a private tour through the Basilica, including a look at Pope John Paul II’s newly installed tomb—the first look for an American broadcast.  NBC’s Anne Thompson will also fill us in on how the Church has embraced social media.  Those stories air tomorrow on Today.

Broadcast this morning on the Today Show:

What was the gift Matt Lauer gave the Pontiff.  It was purrrrfect ... any guesses?

The Power of Prayer

It has been said, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of."

I think a lot of people would agree with that sentiment. But did you know that, as parishioners of St. Ambrose, we are being prayed for on a regular basis?

Thanks to our St. Ambrose prayer warriors, prayers are offered weekly for our parishioners as a whole, for the needs of the parish, for the Church worldwide, and for our Country and elected officials.

Also, you can join us in our online prayer room, to request prayers or to choose someone to keep in your own prayers.  The prayer requests are handed directly to the Wednesday morning prayer group.

We’ll be posting more about prayers and praying, but in the meantime, here’s a brief explanation of our two main prayer groups. Both groups are open to everyone, and welcome anyone wishing to experience the power of praying in a group setting.

Eucharistic Adoration

This group meets from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm on Tuesdays in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, for Eucharist Adoration and to pray the rosary. This group is ongoing, so please feel free to join them whenever your schedule allows.

Weekly Prayer Group

This group meets in the Vaughan Center on Wednesday mornings at 10:00 am. They are usually finished by 10:30. They pray specifically for the needs of the Parish, and for any special prayer requests they receive. This group is ongoing, so please feel free to join them in prayer whenever your schedule allows.