WB 2_18

2006-2007

PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL

Chairperson Tom Kronenberger 792-0109

Vice-Chairperson Gerald Shannon 791-9313

Member-at-Large Bill Mountel 793-7634

Member-at-Large Mary Kay Lynch 731-7155

Member-at-Large Chris Homan 745-9958

Member-at-Large Mark Maxwell 793-6559

Member-at-Large Angie Broughton 793-1926

Athletics Rick Sanz 791-0545

Building & Finance Ray Bauman 984-4239

Religious Ed. Sue Gleason 891-4280

School Comm. Allen Arthur 984-1984

Worship Karen Hulefeld 984-3664

Development Comm. Patty Lowe 793-1112

Community Life Sandie Wubbolding 561-1911

Social Justice Comm. Chris Homan 745-9958

Festival Comm. Sharon Molinaro 936-0004

Communication & Volunteer Recruitment Comm.

Mitch Baker 793-1992

Communion Visits to the Homebound -Members of this ministry take Holy Communion and visit with parishioners who are unable to attend Mass. This service is available for short and long term convalescence. Please call Tom Sweeney (791-3939) or Judy Verny (791-6321).

Driving Ministry– For parishioners needing transportation to weekend Mass, for health related appointments and grocery shopping. Please call Donna Piening (791-7449) or the Parish Office (791-9030).

Prayer Chain – To request prayers for a special intention call the Parish Office (791-9030),

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Ash Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Friday, February 23, 2007

Monday, February 19, 2007

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Friday, February 23, 2007

Sunday, February 25, 2007

In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus, honestly and clearly, explain what it means to follow him and to be “children of the Most High.” And it’s pretty demanding. The love, generosity, goodness, and mercy Christians extend to others seem to defy natural human tendencies and a sense of justice. We often hear ourselves say, “Enough is enough” or “It just isn’t fair.” Today’s Gospel tells us that our understanding of “enough” isn’t, in fact, enough; that our sense of “fair” is not, in fact, an adequate measure of “fair” – not for “children of the Most High.”

Living the Word: Think about how Lent can be a time for us to focus on being “extreme” Christians.

February 21 Masses will be at 6:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Ashes will be distributed at all three Masses. The schoolchildren will be in attendance at the 8:30 a.m. Mass. The door collection that day will be for our support of the rebuilding of the Catholic Church in Eastern Europe. There is a special envelope provided with your collection envelopes.

For many centuries, it has been the custom of the Church for Catholics to fast and abstain from meat on particular days during the penitential season of Lent. Here is a summary of the fasting regulations for your reference:

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of abstinence from meat and also days of fast (which is often described as limiting yourself to a simple full meal).

The law of abstinence binds all Catholics over 14 years of age. The law of fasting binds all Catholics from their 18^th year until the beginning of their 60^th year.

This year during Lent Stations of the cross will be on Friday evenings at 7:00 p.m. beginning on Friday, February 23.

Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. on February 28, March 7, March 21 and March 28 we will gather for this traditional prayer.

In order to use those forty days as a time of prayer and fasting to prepare for the celebration of the Easter sacraments with our Catechumens and Candidates, we do not plan to schedule any baptisms during Lent (February 21 thru April 4th) except in cases of an emergency or pastoral necessity. We are looking forward to celebrating the living waters of baptism with the new members of our faith community throughout the Easter season.

The Archdiocesan Fund Drive will begin March 4 in all the parishes of the Archdiocese. Over the years this appeal has become an important source of funding for the many ministries of the Archdiocese.

Please welcome the newest members of our faith community: Elizabeth Marie Mason, daughter of Joe & Susan Mason and Kennedy Andrea Miller, daughter of Peter & Shawna Miller who were recently baptized. Congratulations to the proud parents.

“Love your enemy and do good.” What would our world be like if we really did live this directive? You can make a difference!

Parents are expected to attend the program prior to the baptism of their first child. Godparents are welcome. The program is offered quarterly. The next program will be offered Sunday, March 18^th at 1:15 p.m. in the Chapel. Please call the Parish Office to register.

Our next-door collection for our St. Vincent for the Poor Society will take place on February 17 & 18. The baskets will be in the back of Church. Your generosity is appreciated.

Thanks to the many parishioners who used their FOCAS 50 cards at Kroger over the holiday season. This continues to be an important source of revenue for St. Vincent, generating over $30,000 a year for our church and school. Please continue to support this program!

So that as a parish we can keep in our prayers those in our community who are ill, St. Vincent Ferrer Parish would like to publish the names of those parishioners and their families who are in the hospital, recovering from an illness or going through treatments. We ask that you contact the Parish Office at 791-9030.

Marilyn Arthur, Florence Bailey, Jean Funch-Conrad, Jean Cornett, Joe Crachiolo, Anne Durkin, Ferd Forney, Virginia Howd, Sarah Kuczaj, Mary Langemeier, Shirley Milostan, Shirley Quatman, Mary Lou Runge, Thomas Tressler, Phyllis Villari.

ALL ST. VINCENT FERRER

FALL VOLUNTEERS & CHAPERONES

must participate in a Child Protection Workshop and be Fingerprinted

Workshop & Fingerprinting Dates

New parish volunteers who will be working with children this school year, or those who have not yet had a chance to be fingerprinted or take the workshop will have the opportunity to participate in them at neighboring parishes.

WORKSHOPS:

Immaculate Heart of Mary – Beechmont

Call 388-4466 to confirm!

2^nd Monday of each month @7:30PM

3^rd Wednesday of each month @ 4PM

St. John the Evangelist Parish, West Chester

Wed., Feb. 14, 9AM-Noon – St. John Hall

9080 Cincinnati-Dayton Rd. 777-6433

PERMANENT FINGERPRINTING SITES:

Archdiocese of Cincinnati - 421-3131

100 E. 8th Street

Mon. ~ Fri., 9:00AM - 4:00 PM

Holy Trinity, Norwood – 366-4400

Mon. ~ Thurs., 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

St. John, West Chester – 777-6433

Wed., 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Mon. & Tues., 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Sat., 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM

Additional Child Protection Orientation Workshop and Fingerprinting dates and times can be found at www.catholiccincinnati.org , the Archdiocesan website. Click on “Fingerprinting Information”, then onto “Sites” and “Calendar.” For further information please call Pastoral Associate, Judy Verny, in the Parish Office at 791-6321.

LENT ~ RECONCILE WITH GOD, SHARE HIS COMPASSION On Ash Wednesday, February 21^st, we begin our annual pilgrimage of prayer and reflection in preparation for Easter. This year in our liturgies and prayer services we will be highlighting the theme, “Reconciliation with God ~ Share His Compassion.” This is the season when the whole Christian community is called to repentance and a change of heart. It is also the time when the members of the GIFT Program (R.C.I.A.) make their final preparation for the Easter sacraments. As a parish, let’s accompany them on their faith journey and renew in our lives a true sense of conversion and commitment to the gospel of Jesus.

To help set a prayerful tone for these forty days, we have prepared a Lenten booklet, which will be inserted in the bulletin this weekend. The format has suggestions for Lenten practices and prayers, such as an examination of conscience and different ways of fasting. A calendar of the Lenten liturgies and services here at St. Vincent Ferrer is also part of it content. In addition, each week we will have an insert in the bulletin, which has daily scripture reflections, prayer suggestions and activities. We will have addition copies of the booklet and each week’s reflection in the back of church.

We hope that this new format will be prayerful and easy to use. The pastoral staff would appreciate your comments!

Mass at 8:30AM followed by coffee & pastries in Hamilton Hall, conference/reflection, and lunch at Noon. Cost: $10- includes lunch & speaker fee

St. Patrick’s Celebration ~The Celtic Tenors w/Cincinnati Pops Orchestra at Music Hall - 2PM Bus departure - Location TBA

Next Sunday, February 25^th, Catechumens: Christie Olvera, Emily Patterson, Timeca Williams and PREP students, Emily, Nathan & Blake Doyle are requesting our recommendation to be accepted for Baptism, First Eucharist and Confirmation at Easter Vigil.

Tracy Fry, Lori Whitton, Kevin Kellar and PREP students, Tessa Weisenborn, Nicholas, Charles, and Mary Margaret Fry will be recommended as Candidates for Full Communion in the Catholic Church and will participate in the Rite of Election at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral next Sunday.

All Saints/St. Vincent Ferrer Religious Education Program is being offered once again this summer. As our parish continues to work as a pastoral region with All Saints this seems to be an excellent opportunity to collaborate in our efforts to provide an alternative quality religious education for our children for those who may be interested. S.V.F. Sunday PREP will also continue as usual.

This two-week summer program will be held June 18^th-29^th from 8:30AM – 12:30 PM, Monday through Friday, at All Saints. Registration deadline is February 28^th.

Anyone interested in more information regarding the requirements and registration for attending the program is asked to contact Sister Kaye at 791-6321, or 686-1126.

Plan to make the Parish Mission part of your Lenten Journey. The Mission sponsored by

St. Vincent Ferrer and All Saints Churches will be presented on March 12, 13, 14 and 15^th by Al Cucchetti, Retreat Coordinator at the Jesuit Spiritual Center at Milford, and Jeanne Hunt, Director of Faith Formation at Sacred Heart Church in Fairfield, Ohio. These will be both morning and evening sessions held alternately between the two parish sites.

BOOKSHELF SPOTLIGHT

In Seasons of a Family’s Life, Wendy M. Wright – parent, Church historian, and follower of the contemplative tradition offers a reflective, story-filled, and inspirational examination of the spiritual fabric of domestic life. This practical and insightful book explores family life as a context for nurturing contemplative practices in the home.

Every chapter in Wright’s thoughtful book is a lesson in gaining awareness of the joy in our experience as families and letting the sacred be more present in our frantically paced daily lives. She shows us how to pay attention to the silence that underlies our lives and encourages us to be sensitive to the ordinary moments that connect us. She reveals a family life replete with sacred spaces, rituals that enrich our time together, shared family stories, and much more. Interwoven throughout the book is a wealth of inspiring personal stories.

For those who yearn to be attentive to the wonder in their lives, her book gives a glimpse of the sacred amidst the chaos of everyday living.

Social Justice and Outreach Commission Meetings
Our next meeting will be held at 7:00 pm on Thursday, February 22 in Room B (old Music Room). Please note this is a change from our usual fourth Wednesday of each month meeting date. All are invited to attend. During the meetings we discuss and select Social Justice and Outreach activities to sponsor/promote. Meeting time is also spent planning events that will raise awareness of social action concerns supported by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and Catholic Relief Services. If you are interested in joining or have any questions, please call Chris Homan at 745-9958.

St. Vincent Ferrer Social Justice Commission is once again sponsoring a dinner for Over-the-Rhine residents at Nash Trinity United Methodist Church on Sunday, March 11th, from 3:00-6:00 p.m. Help is needed in advance to prepare casseroles, bake cakes or to make cash donations to cover expenses. Serving help is also needed for the dinner. Please contact Julie Morency at 793-3031with questions. Donations may be directed to the Parish Office, Attention: Urban Missionaries. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Congratulations to our Sixth Grade Boys Basketball Team!! They won the St. Peter and Paul School Tournament last weekend. The boys went 4 and 1 during the two-day event (Saturday and Sunday). They are 9 and 0 in league play.

Congratulations to Coach Buschbacher and Coach Heidel. The team consists of Brian Barrett, Andrew Buschbacher, Alex Heidel, Jack Hughes, Daniel Jacobs, Tim James, Sam Johnson, Ian King, and Mike McGrath. We are proud of this team and all of the athletes who represent SVF !!

Debra Conner, poet and actress, hosts

St. Vincent Ferrer School will participate in the Ohio Arts Council’s Artist in Residence Program Feb. 26 through March 9. The school was one of 46 sites in Ohio to receive a grant to support an artist in residence during this school year.

This year’s artist is Debra Conner of Parkersburg, W.V, who conducts workshops and residencies in creative writing. Her writing has appeared in many publications including The West Virginia Encyclopedia, Fifty Years of West Virginia Poetry and in Ohio Schools magazine.

On Wed, Feb. 28, at 9:30 a.m., following the 8:30 a.m. Mass, Ms Conner will conduct a poetry reading for students in grades 4 thru and 8 and the parish community in the church. One character she will portray is Emily Dickinson.

On Thurs, Mar. 8th, at 7 p.m., SVF core group students in grades 5 & 6 will showcase what they have learned by individually reading the poems that they have created. This will be followed by refreshments. The program will be hosted in Hamilton Hall. All parishioners are invited to attend. This same program will be repeated in the gym on Fri, Mar. 9th at 9 a.m.

The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this residency at St. Vincent Ferrer School with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

The STAR fund stands for School Tuition Assistance Resource and is the parish’s primary resource to help families, in challenging circumstances, keep their children in our school. Without these funds, SVF would lose students and the tuition dollars they pay. Yet, our costs of running the school would be virtually the same. So, STAR funds help families AND the parish! Since STAR donations assist students, they are not assessed by the Archdiocese. Consider becoming a STAR donor by making a contribution to help others. Any sized gift is accepted.

The following students have earned honors for the second quarter: Moeller – First Honors: Dan Frank, David Frietch, Cory Frost, Robert Joseph, Ian Kowalski, Tim McWilliams, Ryan Tepe, Steven Wujek – Second Honors: Matthew Antenucci, Andrew Combs, Scott DeNoma, Alex Feldhaus, Brendan Fischer, Joe Fox, Kirt Hobler, Matthew Holtman, Chris Lafke, Brian Lowe, John McGrath, Doug Nymberg, Alex Stagge, Brian Thiery. Congratulations on a job well done! Any High School parishioner who made the honor roll needs to have their school provide us a list so your name can be included in the bulletin.

*Boy's Volleyball Gr. 3 to 8 (with All Saints) Forms due now! Contact Tad Berger @ 891 – 8035 *Boy's Tennis Gr. 7 and 8 only (with All Saints) Forms due Feb. 18 contact Donna Broderick @ 891 – 3532 *Boy's and Girl's Track and Field Gr. K - 8 (with St. Gertrude) Forms due Feb. 23 Contact Lesley Marsh@ 683 - 9455

Please mark your calendars for the annual Father – Son Communion Breakfast. Our speaker this year is Fr. Eric Knapp, S.J., Pastor of St. Xavier Church in downtown Cincinnati. His experience includes working in counseling with juvenile delinquents in Detroit, the dying poor in Cleveland, family counseling in Bolivia, retreat ministry in California and Chicago, middle school teaching on the lower east side of New York City, and homeless shelter work in Boston and leading high school service groups to build houses in Peru. Fr. Knapp will center his talk on how all men…boys, teenagers, singles and fathers…can leverage the power of prayer within each of us to recognize the unique gifts we all bring to God’s plan for us as instruments to his ultimate will.

This year’s event will take place immediately following the 9:00 AM Mass on Sunday, March 18th, and will be held in the community building. A catered full service breakfast buffet will be provided. As always, this uplifting event is open to every male member of the parish, and extended family and guests are invited to attend. To better accommodate the caterers, please RSVP to John V. Mock by 2/6/06 @ 608-5660 or preferably via email to: jvmock@fuse.net. Be sure to indicate the number of adults and children under 12 that will be attending. Make checks payable to St. Vincent Ferrer Church and send to John Mock at 6730 Michael Drive, 45243. The cost is $10 per adult and $5 for children under 12. There is a family rate of $20.

The Golden Wedding Jubilee Anniversary Mass, for couples celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary, will be at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 5, at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains. Please call the Parish Office, 791-9030 if you are celebrating your 50^th Anniversary so that your name can be given to the Archdiocese and an invitation to the Mass issued. All couples celebrating their 25^th, 50^th, 60^th, 70^th or 75^th Anniversary will be mailed a scroll. The deadline to call the Parish Office is March 5.

The upcoming Cincinnati Catholic Men’s Conference is Saturday, March 3. For more information call Mark Wellinghoff at 891-3511. Conference speakers include: Archbishop for the U.S. Military Services, Edwin O’Brien; U.S. Senator Sam Brownback; and former NFL player and coach, Danny Abramowicz. Tickets are $35 and include lunch.

Dee Printing, the publisher of our bulletin would like to re-emphasize the importance of deadlines. In order for them to provide us with a professionally printed bulletin we need to receive all articles in writing by Monday at 3:00 p.m. You should indicate the dates you would like your bulletin article to appear. Unless otherwise indicated, all articles will run for 2 weeks.

Be a Daymaker! Project Daymaker, a locally based non-profit mobile salon providing hair services for those in need is looking for licensed cosmetologists to volunteer their time and talent on board our mobile unit serving men, women and children in need of our loving touch. How do you feel when you receive a great shampoo and fresh haircut? The self-esteem boost is incredible to those who are homeless, abused, mentally ill or in transition in life and cannot afford the necessities much less a haircut. As a non-profit we stay on the road through cash donations to cover fuel costs, hotel lodging for driver and the biggest need of all soon will be a new vehicle. If you are interested in supporting Project Daymaker in anyway, please visit our website www.projectdaymaker.org or contact Kelly Collison, at kellycollison@projectdaymaker.org. Thank you and God Bless!

Honoring Purcell Marian High School’s 25^th Anniversary. Saturday March 31 – cocktails & dinner at Xavier University Cintas Center. For further information contact PM school office at 751-1230

Join us for a Eucharist -centered weekend of prayer, fellowship and excitement with great speakers, fantastic music and hundreds of youth ages 13 to 30 from across the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. For more information visit www.cincy2000.org or call 527-3975

The date is set, and the planning is well underway… Archbishop Moeller High School presents the Main Event 2007, Pirates of the Caribbean, on Saturday, April 21 at the Manor House in Mason. Now, supporters of Moeller will be able to go online at MoeBay.cmarket.com and bid on items that are exclusive to the web-based auction only. Please check out www.Moeller.org or call event director, Deb Geiger at 791-1680 or by email at dgeiger@moeller.org.

Mt Notre Dame High School’s (MNDHS) theme for its exciting GRANDE GALA Dinner Auction, scheduled for Saturday, March 3, is “DOO WOP BOP A GALA!” The all-girls’ school is poised to surpass its past spectacular presentations, as a legion of volunteers transforms the MND gym into a “50’s rock ’n roll” fest with a gourmet dinner, silent, oral and online auction, plus many more raffles and promotions. Topping the charts this year will be the online auction that opens Feb 12, 2007, at www.mndhs.cmarket.com.

Communion Visits to the Homebound -Members of this ministry take Holy Communion and visit with parishioners who are unable to attend Mass. This service is available for short and long term convalescence. Please call Tom Sweeney (791-3939) or Judy Verny (791-6321).

Driving Ministry– For parishioners needing transportation to weekend Mass, for health related appointments and grocery shopping. Please call Donna Piening (791-7449) or the Parish Office (791-9030).

Mass Intentions & Readings

for the Week

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Ash Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Friday, February 23, 2007

Calendar for the Week

Monday, February 19, 2007

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Friday, February 23, 2007

Sunday, February 25, 2007

PARISH LIBRARY

BOOKSHELF SPOTLIGHT

Debra Conner, poet and actress, hosts