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Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 15 August 2021
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
As much as parish ministries are tied to the school calendar year, you can always expect activity in the parish to come back to life once people have taken care of their summer responsibilities and recreation. We are still waiting to see what this looks like, exactly, how much of our plans will be able to take place in person.
One thing is certain: for ministries to be successful, many people are required to come together to make it happen. Students in our school would not succeed without the support and dedication of parents but even then the efforts of many parishioners are also required, people who (during normal times) come to the school and volunteer in so many ways. Masses could not be celebrated with such solemnity and beauty without lectors,
eucharistic ministers and music ministers who come together and serve. Faith formation for our children, youth and adults is a task that is vital to our families and parish family, and the future of our Church. The ministry is not optional. But we always struggle with how to pull it off. People in this area especially, I have found, are often too busy for even the most fundamental needs of parish life.
Youth ministry is going to be especially challenging as this year begins. Our new director of youth ministry suddenly decided she wanted to stay closer to home and went back to her teaching job from last year. Applicants are few and we are back to square one. And yet this most important ministry, which includes middle-school and high-school programs, as well as the Confirmation team program, must proceed.
Two of the reasons youth ministry is so difficult is that is not a priority of the youth, who have too many other programmed activities, and it is largely not supported by parents. This support includes both the encouragement and insistence that their teens be involved in the life of the Church, as well as their presence in helping events and activities happen. If we don't live as the Church, we will not remain in the Church. How many, many families do you know who have daughters and sons no longer practicing faith and live with regret. It doesn't have to be this way, but families must get involved, together.
Our calendar may not proceed as planned for now, but we still have a couple of ideas and events coming up and I am making this appeal. We want to make Sunday nights special for families with youth. You, young people in the parish, are invited to serve the Mass as lectors, choir members, ushers and servers. You, families with youth, are invited in a special way to come together at this Mass. Mass eventually will be followed with a meal together, and a program for youth. This will begin on Sunday evening, September 12, when we hope you can come—the youth to one program, and parents to a meeting so we can get organized and do something special for them. Anyone who would like to get involved is welcome, once you have completed the necessary background checks and Virtus compliance for youth safety. As ever, if you would like to be a core team member, please call us.
Our next steps will depend on your response. We can make this happen.
The Lord be with you.
Streaming Masses and Announcements for the week of 8 August 2021
RESERVATIONS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED
Please see the COVID Response and Guide on the left for NEW COVID Protocols issued by the Bishop are effective Friday, 28 May 2021
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
We have learned that work will begin on the choir platform in the church on Monday morning. The workers will begin their day at 6am and take a break at 8:45 for 9am Mass, resuming work after Mass has ended. To accomplish the work, we will need to move the 7am Mass to the chapel for about a month. The construction schedule will be complicated when considering weddings and funerals, so we need to give them as much time as we can. We also ask that those who pray the rosary after weekday Masses move to the chapel at the end of Mass. Religious Education Registration for School Year 2021-22 is now open on the parish website. Please tell your friends! We’d like to have everyone register by mid-July to help us plan for the fall. Tuition prices will increase on July 17. It’s time to start thinking about RCIA. The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults begins September 11 and we welcome all who are interested in learning more about our Catholic Faith. If you or someone you know are seeking answers and might be thinking about joining the Catholic Church, call and register for the process in the parish office.
Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 8 August 2021
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
One of the things I missed most during pandemic and one of the things I most appreciate about the Mass now is your beautiful singing. I remember being in the pew and singing at Mass or concelebrating with a lot of priests at ordinations and the Chrism Mass, and sometimes it isn't such a great experience, depending on who is sitting next to you. If only you could sit up in front with me and hear how such a mix of your voices comes together to make such a beautiful sound.
We are singing quite a bit more than before pandemic: don't stop! Maybe this is another example of how we have emerged from difficulty with a deeper appreciation of the richness of life and faith. Beauty born out of the silence, coming together as one voice, the voice of Jesus, embracing community emerging from so much solitude. It is just good to be together and see the joy as we can greet each other and see smiles again.
Congregational singing was a big part of the renewal of the liturgy in Vatican II, to be able to sing as the people of God, the Body of Christ, in our own words. Prior to the Council singing was limited pretty much to the choir, if there even was one. Most parishes didn't. Musical texts tended to be antiphons and psalms in Latin and some scriptural texts from the New Testament. There had been some exploration in Europe of the incorporation of hymns into the Mass during the several decades before the Council, but hymnody is something that really has only developed in the last century, many songs coming from the Protestant traditions. Since the Council, the Catholic Church has given the greatest leadership in liturgical music, creating and publishing a wide repertoire of music. Because of this we can draw from traditional as well as new selections, and try to incorporate as many expressions as we can to shape our community prayer.
Even though I served as a cantor for many years, there was a time even after ordination when I thought that the purpose of liturgical music was just to give all of you something to do while I did what I needed to do. "What's with singing all of the verses?" Somebody just asked me this the other day. With our full, active and conscious participation as the goal, music is not only a beautiful contribution to the Mass, it is authentic prayer. Our music director, David Mathers, selects music not only for its appropriateness for a particular day or season and its musical integrity, but also its prayerfulness. Always read music with comprehension: if it moves your heart to speak to God in an authentic way, it has done its job.
You may have noticed that we still don't have English hymnals in the pews. They have been ordered - and we have chosen our new hymnal very carefully with all these values in mind. It includes what we think represents music and texts of beauty, range of tradition, and cultural diversity. They should come in October.
The Lord be with you.
Streaming Masses and Announcements for the week of 1 August 2021
RESERVATIONS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED
Please see the COVID Response and Guide on the left for NEW COVID Protocols issued by the Bishop are effective Friday, 28 May 2021
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Religious Education Registration for School Year 2021-22 is now open on the parish website. Please tell your friends! We’d like to have everyone register by mid-July to help us plan for the fall. Tuition prices will increase on July 17. It’s time to start thinking about RCIA. The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults begins September 11 and we welcome all who are interested in learning more about our Catholic Faith. If you or someone you know are seeking answers and might be thinking about joining the Catholic Church, call and register for the process in the parish office. Sunday, August 1 at 7:30pm, Saint Bernadette will host a free concert called "Nostalgic Travelings" featuring Soprano Ashlyn Rock and Pianist Andrew Miller. The thrilling program features songs by Ottorino Respighi, Franz Liszt, and Sergei Rachmaninov, and the famously difficult piano suite "Gaspard de la Nuit" by Maurice Ravel. Please plan to join us.
Saint Bernadette is looking to establish a team of 3-5 volunteers to assist with setting up packing venues in NoVa for the Rise Against Hunger Program. The team’s commitment would be 2-5hrs, one or two Saturdays a quarter. There is a certain degree of physical activity associated with the setup, i.e. moving tables and bagged product. The ability to work a pallet jack, a sense of logistics and organization would be helpful but not necessary, training will be made available in August. Please contact Rick Caporali, rcaporali@stbernpar.org or 703-451-8576. See today's bulletin for more information.
Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 1 August 2021
The Lord be with you.
Streaming Masses and Announcements for the week of 25 July 2021
RESERVATIONS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED
Please see the COVID Response and Guide on the left for NEW COVID Protocols issued by the Bishop are effective Friday, 28 May 2021
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for Seventeeth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Religious Education Registration for School Year 2021-22 is now open on the parish website. Please tell your friends! We’d like to have everyone register by mid-July to help us plan for the fall. Tuition prices will increase on July 17. World Day of Prayer for Grandparents and the Elderly See today's bulletin for more information.
It’s time to start thinking about RCIA. The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults begins September 11 and we welcome all who are interested in learning more about our Catholic Faith. If you or someone you know are seeking answers and might be thinking about joining the Catholic Church, call and register for the process in the parish office.
Saint Bernadette is looking to establish a team of 3-5 volunteers to assist with setting up packing venues in NoVa for the Rise Against Hunger Program. The team’s commitment would be 2-5hrs, one or two Saturdays a quarter. There is a certain degree of physical activity associated with the setup, i.e. moving tables and bagged product. The ability to work a pallet jack, a sense of logistics and organization would be helpful but not necessary, training will be made available in August. Please contact Rick Caporali, rcaporali@stbernpar.org or 703-451-8576. See today's bulletin for more information.
Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 25 July 2021
The Lord be with you,
Streaming Masses and Weekly Announcements for 18 July 2021
RESERVATIONS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED
Please see the COVID Response and Guide on the left for NEW COVID Protocols issued by the Bishop are effective Friday, 28 May 2021
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Religious Education Registration for School Year 2021-22 is now open on the parish website. Please tell your friends! We’d like to have everyone register by mid-July to help us plan for the fall. Tuition prices will increase on July 17.
Taizé Returns - Mark your calendars and plan to join us on the third Mondays of each month at 8pm for beautiful, simple sung prayer in the tradition of the Taizé community. Intended to be an ecumenical gathering, we invite all Christians in the area to join us and pray for unity. Our first night back will be held Monday, July 19. It’s time to start thinking about RCIA. The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults begins September 11 and we welcome all who are interested in learning more about our Catholic Faith. If you or someone you know are seeking answers and might be thinking about joining the Catholic Church, call and register for the process in the parish office. Saint Bernadette is looking to establish a team of 3-5 volunteers to assist with setting up packing venues in NoVa for the Rise Against Hunger Program. The team’s commitment would be 2-5hrs, one or two Saturdays a quarter. There is a certain degree of physical activity associated with the setup, i.e. moving tables and bagged product. The ability to work a pallet jack, a sense of logistics and organization would be helpful but not necessary, training will be made available in August. Please contact Rick Caporali, rcaporali@stbernpar.org or 703-451-8576. See today's bulletin for more information.
Fr. Don's Weekly Letter ~ 18 July 2021
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
You may have heard in the announcements at Masses the last couple weeks as well as mention in recent bulletins that we are calling back all who would like to be involved in parish ministries, especially teaching religion classes to our children, altar serving, and volunteers to help with youth ministry. Now that Darcie Girmus and Sara Giffin (both featured in today's bulletin) are here at the parish, we will begin the process of determining the calendar for the coming year and how we will best use the spaces available. If you are waiting for the schedule, please be patient with us as we bring our new staff on board and have some time to meet and plan objectives for the coming year.
One of the things we will re-think this year is the RCIA program, with the intention of getting the entire parish more involved as we accompany people who are seeking deeper faith. How can you get involved in helping someone who might be considering joining the Church? How can you be part of welcoming and forming disciples?
Some adjustments need to be made to how we celebrate sacraments. For example, when we bring people into full communion with us we must be more aware and respectful of who our candidates and catechumens are. A catechumen is a person who has made the commitment to enter into formation in preparation for baptism, or full initiation. A candidate is someone who is already initiated by baptism into the Body of Christ and is hoping to make a profession of faith in the Catholic Church. Candidates are already brothers and sisters by baptism and already share the path we are on. We honor their baptism and accompany them as we all seek deeper faith together. We never refer to candidates as "converts" – they are already family.
We will also begin an RCIA program that is year-round, so that people can come to discern when they are ready – and receive the sacraments when they are ready, too. It is difficult – and silly – to say to someone who inquires about becoming Catholic in December that they have to wait until September for the beginning of the program. We will celebrate these sacraments at other times during the year with, of course, the observance of the ancient Easter Vigil as the heart.
Finally, the emphasis will be less heavy on catechetical lectures and more on the lived experience, traditions and spirituality of the Church. Less book study and more immersion, discussions grappling with contemporary issues and events. This is where all of you can help out, a community involved in the real faith formation of seekers we truly care about. I promise you, we will grow as much or more than those we hope to serve and welcome.
If you are thinking about joining the Catholic Church, come and see. We will start in September – call me for a meeting. If you want to be a part of this beautiful ministry as part of our RCIA team, you are welcome to call me as well.
The Lord be with you.
Streaming Masses and Announcement for the week of 11 July 2021
RESERVATIONS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED
Please see the COVID Response and Guide on the left for NEW COVID Protocols issued by the Bishop are effective Friday, 28 May 2021
STREAMING SUNDAY AND WEEKDAY MASSES
Today's Live-Streamed Mass
Worship Aid for Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Religious Education Registration for School Year 2021-22 is now open on the parish website. The initial registration period runs from June 1 to July 16 with a special Early Bird tuition rate: $75 for one child, $125 for two children, and $150 for three or more children. Please tell your friends! We’d like to have everyone register by mid-July to help us plan for the fall. Tuition prices will increase on July 17. Taizé Returns - Mark your calendars and plan to join us on the third Mondays of each month at 8pm for beautiful, simple sung prayer in the tradition of the Taizé community. Intended to be an ecumenical gathering, we invite all Christians in the area to join us and pray for unity. Our first night back will be held Monday, July 19.
