Parish Weekly Bulletin

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 27, 2007

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Friday, March 2, 2007

Monday, February 26, 2007

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Friday, March 2, 2007

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Today’s Gospel tells us of Jesus’ 40- day experience in the desert. On this, the First Sunday of Lent, we are aware of our own desert experience in the weeks to come. Like Jesus, we will fast from those things that take our full focus from God. We will grow hungry for a deeper relationship with God and for a fuller life of faith and peace. Also like Jesus, we will be tempted – and, like Jesus, we will turn to Scripture and prayer for our strength.

Living the Word: Commit to reading and meditating on a small portion of Scripture each day during Lent.

The Art & Environment Ministry has created a reflective tone in the Church; the Liturgy Planning Team and the Music Ministry have planned prayerful liturgies. The externals are in place, but now it is up to each one of us to use this time well.

On Ash Wednesday we received ashes and we heard “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.” May our reception of the ashes be the beginning of new life and springtime for each of us as we journey through the forty days of Lent.

Thanks to Judy Verny, SVF’s Pastoral associate for preparing the Lenten Booklet and weekly Lenten Reflections. I hope its prayers and reflections will be helpful to you. If you did not receive the Lenten Booklet, additional copies are available at the entrances of the Church.

A reminder that we will be celebrating Lenten Evensong on Wednesday Feb 28^th, March 7th, March 21st and March 28th at 7:00 p.m. Evensong is part of the Divine Office – the official prayers of the Church – and it is a beautiful blend of psalms, scripture readings, hymns and intercessory prayers. If you are looking for a reflective and prayerful space during this Lenten season, I invite you to join us for Evensong.

Another opportunity for prayer during Lent is the Stations of the Cross which will be prayed in the Church each Friday evening at 7:00 p.m.

Also, an important part of our Lenten observance this year at SVF will be an Inter-Parish Mission that we will have with All Saints Parish. Please be sure to reserve the dates of March 12-15 for this important time of prayer for our parish.

Next Sunday we begin the Archdiocesan Annual Fund Drive. Your support makes possible a wide variety of ministries throughout the Archdiocese. It is also a major source of funding for the Retirement Fund for Diocesan Priest, the education of seminarians and lay ministers, and St. Rita School for the Deaf. A pledge card has been sent to each member of the parish. Our parish’s goal this year is $31,000. Please know that every gift is important no matter how large or small it may be.

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

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.

Please welcome the newest member of our faith community: Carson Gregory Tierney, son of Phillip & Darlene Tierney who was recently baptized. Congratulations to the proud parents.

God brings us through difficult experiences and always leads us to life. Depend on the Holy Spirit to guide you on the path of life.

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.

St. Vincent for the Poor Society would like to thank you for your generosity to our monthly collection.

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, Ginny Farrell, Ferd Forney, Virginia Howd, Sarah Kuczaj, Mary Langemeier, Shirley Milostan, Shirley Quatman, Mary Lou Runge, Tom Sweeney, 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:

St. Susanna – Mason - 398-3821

3/10 – 9AM

3/26 – 7PM

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

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 we began 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, a Lenten booklet, which we prepared, was inserted in last week’s bulletin. 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 its content. In addition, each week, inserted in the bulletin, you will find daily scripture reflections, prayer suggestions and activities. The daily reflections can also be accessed on the parish website, www.svfchurch.org. Click on “church.”

For your convenience we will have additional 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!

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

This Sunday, at the 10:30 AM Mass, Catechumens: Christie Olvera, Emily Patterson, Timeca Williams and PREP students, Emily, Nathan & Blake Doyle will request 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 this evening.

Confirmation Candidates & their Sponsors are reminded to attend the final Spirit Night, this Tuesday, February 27^th, from 7–9 PM in the community building/gym.

As part of their preparation for the sacrament of Confirmation, Candidates will attend a retreat next Sunday, March 4^th at SVF from 1:30 – 8:00 PM.

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

The journeys of Lent and of life are less like linear paths than complicated labyrinths. Their complex twisting patterns have many loops, often almost retracing the same path. There are blind alleys, dead ends and no short cuts. Yet, while we often can feel lost along the labyrinth path, traveling the maze of the Way is the greatest of all adventures. The Lenten Labyrinth is a guide for this journey of transformation, which has the power to change – to radically enrich – our way of thinking, loving and believing.

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.

Our annual, "Artist in Residence", program begins on Monday, February 26th. This year we welcome, Debra Conner, a professional writer and poet. She will help us further implement and meet our writing goal. All parishioners are welcome to stop by and join us for her special presentations. We thank our PTO for their continual support in this excellent program and a special "Thank You" to Mrs. Julie Abraham, for helping coordinate this wonderful opportunity for our children!

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.

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: St. Xavier – First Honors: Michael Berger, Scott Boyle, Steven Boyle, Kevin Chase, Scott Feltrup, Charles Glaescher, John Muething, Scott O’Brien, Connor Sambrookes, Mark Vangeloff– Second Honors: Anthony DeGregorio, Zachery Mountel, Patrick Poplis. 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.

It will be EASY to remember when the Fish Fry events will be held at SVF this year. Due to increasing requests and great response from the parish, the Athletic Commission will be able to host a Fish Fry EVERY Friday in March!

We will be receiving additional assistance from our Boy Scouts and their families to help host the extra Fridays that we have added and our thanks to them for making this possible.

Please spread the word. Plan to include your family and friends so we can make this a successful endeavor! If you know someone who works in the area, please tell them it's a great place to stop on the way home.

Dates: March 2, 9, 16, 23 & 30 (every Friday in Lent except 1st and Good Friday).

*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 now! Contact Donna Broderick @ 891 – 3532 *Boy's and Girl's Track and Field Gr. K - 8 (with St. Gertrude) Forms due now! Contact Lesley Marsh@ 683 - 9455

SVF MOMS GROUP is holding its next meeting on Wednesday March 7, 2007 from 7-9pm in Hamilton Hall. This month our speaker will be Dr. Mirkham from Children's Hospital to discuss child development stages and answer any questions we have about our own children. We will also have time to share our spring-cleaning tips. We would like to meet more moms of young children from Saint Vincent Ferrer at our meetings. Any questions please contact Heather Leland (513) 985-0617 or dhleland@fuse.net.

Attend the SVF Men's Club Meeting on Wed February 28 at 8:00 p.m. in the Cafeteria. Join us for a snow clear and no charge parking. Spaghetti on the menu.

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.

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. 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!

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 popular Adult Spirituality Institute will continue its sixth year of study this winter with the theme “Giants of Faith.”

Mondays, 10AM – Noon, Feb. 26^th – Mar. 19^th, Rev. Timothy Schehr, PhD will present “Healing Passages in the Bible” – stories of Naamah, Job and Tobit.

Mondays, 10AM – Noon, Apr. 16^th – May 7^th, Sr. Deborah Harmeling will present “Medieval Women Mystics.”

The series will be held at the Athenaeum of Ohio. Fees are nominal. For additional information, please call 231-2223, ext. 143.

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 27, 2007

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Friday, March 2, 2007

Calendar for the Week

Monday, February 26, 2007

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Friday, March 2, 2007

Sunday, March 4, 2007

PARISH LIBRARY

BOOKSHELF SPOTLIGHT

Debra Conner, poet and actress, hosts