Latest Announcements
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Summer is here!
Registration for Religious Education classes for the 2025-2026 school year have begun. Please visit our link on the parish website.
Plan to stay a little after the 5pm Mass on Corpus Christi Sunday, June 22, for a eucharistic procession, devotions, and benediction.
Please keep our Saint Bernadette Youth Workcamp participants and volunteers in your prayers as they witness Christ’s love for others while serving those in the community of Winchester this upcoming week.
ECHO is looking for volunteers 13 years old or older to help stuff 1300 backpacks with school supplies. These will be distributed before school starts to families in need of assistance. Please see today’s bulletin for more information.
Thank you to all who have responded to our request to reduce our parish envelope costs. If you are receiving offertory envelopes but don’t use them or no longer wish to receive them, please contact our parish office so that we can remove that service from your registration file. Remember Second and Special Collections can be done electronically through Faith Direct.
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
Happy Feast of Corpus Christi! We celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi the Second Sunday after Pentecost. This Feast commemorates the gift of the Eucharist in our lives, celebrating the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine. One thing you can do to celebrate is attend our parish’s Corpus Christi procession after the 5pm Sunday Mass. With the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Saint John Paul II National Shrine, or the Shrine of St Elizabeth Ann Seton within driving distance, you can go on a Eucharistic Pilgrimage with your children. You can find a bucket list, Eucharistic Pilgrimage Passport and Stamps here. https://www.looktohimandberadiant.com/2023/05/eucharistic-pilgrimage-resources-for.html
Registration for 2025-2026 ~ Registration is now open. Continue your child's growth in the faith by signing them up for classes in 2025-26! Our class sessions will be on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and we will again offer our Special Religious Development class on Saturday mornings for students with special learning needs and our Family Faith Formation classes once a month on Sunday afternoons (for grades K-5) where parents take a larger role in their child's faith formation. You can register through the link on the parish website on the Religious Education page. You will also see the QR Code in the bulletin board in the narthex and outside the church.
Who should register? All currently registered students, including all Confirmation 2025, Confirmation 2026, and students preparing to receive First Eucharist next school year.
Questions about your child's registration? Call the Religious Education Office or contact the staff via email.
Volunteers for 2025-2026 ~ As we prepare to plan for the upcoming Religious Education school year, please discern if you would like to help. We are in need of Lead Catechists and aides. If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office or fill out the Volunteer Form on the website. You will also find the QR Code at the bulletin board.
WOMEN'S MINISTRY
Come and enjoy warm fellowship and great food. No need to RSVP. For more information, please email us at women@stbernpar.org.
Monday, July 7, is our next Dinner with Friends at 5pm, at Saratoga Pizzeria, 8050 Rolling Road. This casual meal in addition to our normal dinner on the 1st and the 3rd Monday of every monthYOUTH MINISTRY
All rising 6th through 8th graders are invited to our Summer Drop-Ins! Join us July 2nd, July 16th, and July 30th for fun, games, friends, and of course, ice cream! We will meet from 6:45-8pm in the gym.
All rising 9th - graduated 12th graders are invited to join us! • July 8 - Game Night - Ice cream sundaes and fun in the youth room - 7-8:30pm, • July 23 - King’s Dominion Day - $39/ticket, volunteers and drivers needed!,
• August 5 - End of Summer Social - bonfire, s’mores, and games on the rectory patio - 7-8:30pm.
To learn more about our middle and high school ministries, please contact Grace Mee, gmee@stbernpar.org
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
We look around today and are bewildered by the intolerance that people have for one another. It would be naive to expect everyone to agree, but is it naive to expect people to at least try to agree?
And we’ve seen a lot of protests in recent years and now, more than ever. I believe that people are seeking a true and better reality and believe the path we are on needs to change. Being free to speak out in a peaceful and respectful way is a hallmark of democratic culture. We also know there are those who would want to subvert this right into something disrespectful and violent, even dangerous and destructive.
I think the world needs to have a sincere conversation about the nature of dissent. Dissent, or the act of disagreeing and expressing that disagreement, is often considered a virtue in democratic societies. It can be crucial for social progress, holding power accountable, and fostering a more just and equitable society. While dissent can be disruptive, it also plays a vital role in informing public opinion, driving policy changes, protecting fundamental rights.
Many have said if reporters and photo-graphers were allowed to show what is actually happening in places like Ukraine or Gaza to the world, that the world would demand an end to these conflicts immediately. It is well-known that the catalyst that finally brought the inhumanity of racism (which resulted in the civil rights movement) to public attention was video footage that was suddenly on everyone’s living room television, of people being attacked by dogs and hit with water cannons.
People might be content with “out of sight, out of mind,” but only until they see it and can’t get it out of their minds.
For too many people today dissent is seen as a chasm that cannot be crossed. You’re in, or your out. Somebody has decided the tent isn’t big enough for all of us. This happens even in our Church with devastating consequences. All of us are on a path coming to truth and to faith, and all of us are going to shift our understandings of faith and prayer, of service and mission with time and life experience. It is by this process that we, the Church, can shape society. Otherwise, society shapes the Church, which we can see is not working. Dissent does not mean excommunication -- it never has, but we still excommunicate each other in our minds.
In our “Spiritual but not Religious” gatherings there was a lot of conversation about what drives or keeps people away from the Church. Often it is based on a person’s agreement with what the Church offers as teaching or even a misunderstanding. One does not have to agree completely to seek faith: God calls us where we are to become who he made us to be and faith seeks understanding. Perfection is not prerequisite. Likewise, one can grapple with what they are called to be and seek God in the manner of faithfulness that they are able to muster at the present time. Life is not a level, uncurving road. It has its valleys and its potholes and it doesn’t do anyone any good to pretend that it doesn’t.
I guess the question I’m working with today is: In the life of the Church, where is the meeting place of critical obedience and faithful dissent? Where can this conversation take place without refusal and rejection? The only safe place I know is in the heart of the Church community, where we can lead the conversation to the wider world with the compassion and self-emptying love that is unique to Jesus Christ. Here should be the place where this kind of civil exchange should be safe and honored. Today’s Gospel (Tuesday) was “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It is not moral perfection that Jesus is talking about, however. He is not demanding the impossible - nor can we even define what God’s perfection might be. Rather, be like your Father whose sun shines on the bad and the good; whose rain falls on the just and the unjust. Love your enemies. Do not greet your friends only: even tax collectors and pagans do that, Jesus says. Do not allow judgement to divide before you even know who you are judging. You never know what kind of burden someone is carrying around.
Maybe our example will inspire many others to carry forward a desire to understand with waves of sincere concern for all God’s creation.
The Lord be with you.
Happy Father's Day!
Registration for Religious Education classes for the 2025-2026 school year have begun.
Please plan to join us for an evening of sung prayer in the Taizé tradition. All are welcome. Monday evening, 16 June 8-8:45m the church.
Parish offices will be closed on Friday 20 June for the Federal Holiday.
Plan to stay a little after the 5pm Mass on Corpus Christi Sunday, June 22, for a eucharistic procession, devotions, and benediction.
We congratulate Frs. Jeb and James their respective Ordination Anniversaries. Fr. Jeb was ordained June 11, 2011 and Fr. James was ordained June. 6 2020. Happy Anniversary!
Thank you to all who have responded to our request to reduce our parish envelope costs. If you are receiving offertory envelopes but don’t use them or no longer wish to receive them, please contact our parish office so that we can remove that service from your registration file. Remember Second and Special Collections can be done electronically through Faith Direct.
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
Happy Trinity Sunday!!! Trinity Sunday is the Sunday following Pentecost. We celebrate the trinity: three persons, one God. What better way to celebrate, teach and enjoy the summer than by making Trinity Sundaes! Create your Trinity Sundaes by using Neapolitan ice cream: three flavors, one ice cream 
You can also find other Trinity print outs and activities here. https://www.catholicicing.com/trinity-resources-for-catholic-kids/
Registration for 2025-2026 ~ Registration is now open. Continue your child's growth in the faith by signing them up for classes in 2025-26! Our class sessions will be on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and we will again offer our Special Religious Development class on Saturday mornings for students with special learning needs and our Family Faith Formation classes once a month on Sunday afternoons (for grades K-5) where parents take a larger role in their child's faith formation. You can register through the link on the parish website on the Religious Education page. You will also see the QR Code in the bulletin board in the narthex and outside the church.
Who should register? All currently registered students, including all Confirmation 2025, Confirmation 2026, and students preparing to receive First Eucharist next school year.
Questions about your child's registration? Call the Religious Education Office or contact the staff via email.
Volunteers for 2025-2026 ~ As we prepare to plan for the upcoming Religious Education school year, please discern if you would like to help. We are in need of Lead Catechists and aides. If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office or fill out the Volunteer Form on the website. You will also find the QR Code at the bulletin board.
WOMEN'S MINISTRY
Monday, June 16 is our next Dinner with Friends at 5pm, at Saratoga Pizzeria, 8050 Rolling Road. We meet for this casual meal on the 1st and the 3rd Monday of every month.YOUTH MINISTRY
All rising 6th through 8th graders are invited to our Summer Drop-Ins! Join us July 2nd, July 16th, and July 30th for fun, games, friends, and of course, ice cream! We will meet from 6:45-8pm in the gym.
All rising 9th - graduated 12th graders are invited to join us! • July 8 - Game Night - Ice cream sundaes and fun in the youth room - 7-8:30pm, • July 23 - King’s Dominion Day - $39/ticket, volunteers and drivers needed!,
• August 5 - End of Summer Social - bonfire, s’mores, and games on the rectory patio - 7-8:30pm.
To learn more about our middle and high school ministries, please contact Grace Mee, gmee@stbernpar.org
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
You might think that Christmas or Easter might be the busiest times of the year for the parish. They are busy, for sure, especially when you think of all the confessions leading up to them and preparations of the church and liturgies.
But this year, I think the last two weeks have been the busiest of all. It was an unusual confluence of the end of the school year, graduation, and Pentecost that formed the backdrop of end-of-the-year activities for nearly every parish ministry or group. I was double or triple booked most evenings and I apologize that I couldn’t get to everything. It wasn’t possible.
But it has also left me with so many thoughts and things to write about that I’m wondering where to start.
First of all, the school. The end of the year, with its many traditions and a lot of fun, has been reported each week to you in the bulletin by Dr. Burgess, our principal.
One of the highlights for me was the 7th and 8th grade volleyball tournament. First, 7B beat 7A and then 8B bested 8A. Finally, 7B was victorious over 8B. To be honest, it wasn’t the best volleyball people have seen, but the entire school gets to come and cheer, and the kids have the best time. It is perhaps the loudest experience of my entire year (except the Catholic Charites Ball) and it took me nearly a full day to get the ringing out my ears.
I had to give my regrets both to the Knights of Columbus and their annual Grand Knight’s dinner and the Capital Wind Symphony concert on Friday night because we had so many parishioners participating in the Together We Rise Against Hunger meal packing event. It was great to be out in the world seeing so many Saint Bernadette people as well as meeting people from other churches, synagogues and mosques.
What brought all of us together was that we packed bags of rice, soy protein, dried vegetables and vitamins, each bag making six servings. We exceeded our goal of 150,000 meals in five shifts Thursday and Friday evenings and Saturday morning. It is a truly profound way to feed the hungry. The bags we filled and the boxes we packed are making their way to the Philippines for a feeding program in elementary schools. In many places of the world kids come to school just to be able to eat. This way they learn and get a much-needed meal.
The Graduation Mass—as well as the Mass the last day of school—and the awards ceremonies that followed told the story of how smart and talented our parish kids are. From the perspective of looking back on all the accomplishment and success of a truly good school year, our gratitude to our amazing faculty, administration, and dedicated parents gave me a great deal of
satisfaction for so much work done this year.
And, finally, one of my favorite things is Solemn Vespers on Pentecost night, when the beautifully composed and executed sung prayer gives such a sense of peace and goodwill, and unity, as we bring all of this to a close and move back into Ordinary Time. And, on top of it, we celebrated with Mike Harrison and unveiled his beautiful gift of “The Madonna of the Veil.”
We saw Ordinary Time green briefly between the Christmas season and Lent, and now we will be wearing green until November 29! Somehow, I feel like that will be here before we know it.
All of this is to say that these things don’t happen by themselves. You are the community who comes together and, using your gifts and talents, make things happen. Imagine any of this without the singers in the choir or the people who prepared all the many receptions over the past few weeks. Thanks to leaders in our brilliant school community, our teachers and admin staff, especially Dr. Burgess. Thanks to our parish staff, especially Rick Caporali who organizes us to make things happen, and David Mathers who makes it beautiful.
Now let’s focus on making Ordinary Time Extraordinary! Stay in touch between all the trips and summer fun, and watch for new developments in all areas of parish life.
The Lord be with you.
Join us on Pentecost Sunday, June 8 for Solemn Vespers, following the 5pm Mass at 6:15pm. A most beautiful way to close the Easter Season celebrating the birthday of the Church. The Novena to the Holy Spirit began Friday, May 30. You
will find the text of the prayers in a handy pull-out section of the 25 May bulletin starting on page 7 or electronically here Holy Spirit Novena 2025.
Please join us for an unveiling ceremony of a beautiful piece of art that has been kindly donated to Saint Bernadette by parishioner, Mike Harrison. The painting has been recently restored. This beautiful piece is called, “Madonna of the Veil”.
This painting is a copy of one painted by Carlo Dolci in the 17th century (1616-1686, Florence). It is estimated to be well over 150 years old. We will unveil the artwork after the Solemn Vespers, Sunday, June 8 at approximately 6:45p. Come
celebrate this welcome addition of art to our parish.
St. Lucy Food Drive is June 7/8. Blue bags will be collected after all Masses this weekend.
Concerts at Saint Bernadette presents the Capital Wind Symphony in a free concert on Friday, June 6, at 7:30 pm. All are welcome!
Join us for our monthly (third Monday) Taizé Prayer Service Monday night, June 16, 8–8:45pm. Come for a peaceful moment of simple song, silence and prayer for unity.
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
Happy Pentecost Sunday! It is the last day of the Easter Season. Pentecost is the day the Holy Spirit came down and filled the Apostles with the gifts they needed to lead the Church. It is also the birthday of the Church. You can celebrate Pentecost Sunday by making or decorating a “birthday cake.” You can find directions and suggestions on how to decorate the cake at this link. https://www.catholicicing.com/pentecost-day-celebration-with-strawberry-cake-happy-birthday-to-the-church/.
Registration for 2025-2026 ~ Registration is now open for next year. Continue your child’s growth in the faith by signing them up for classes in 2025-26! Our class sessions will be on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and we will again offer our Special Religious Development class on Saturday mornings for students with special learning needs and our Family Faith Formation classes once a month on Sunday afternoons (for grades K-5) where parents take a larger role in their child’s faith formation.
Registration information will be in the parish bulletin, on the website, and will be sent via Flocknote to all currently registered children in the first week of June. Who should register? All currently registered students, including all Confirmation 2025, Confirmation 2026, and students preparing to receive First Eucharist next school year. Questions about your child’s registration? Call the Religious Education Office or contact the staff via email.
Volunteers for 2025-2026 ~ As we prepare to plan for the upcoming Religious Education school year, please discern if you would like to help. We are in need of Lead Catechists and aides. If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office or fill out the Volunteer Form on the website. You will also find the QR Code at the bulletin board.
WOMEN'S MINISTRY
Monday, June 2 is our next Dinner with Friends at 5pm, at Saratoga Pizzeria, 8050 Rolling Road. We meet for this casual meal on the 1st and the 3rd Monday of every month.
Our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, June 10 at 7pm in the Bradican Room. Chair yoga is back! Join us to work out the kinks and enjoy some healthy snacks.
Monday, June 16 is our next Dinner with Friends at 5pm, at Saratoga Pizzeria, 8050 Rolling Road. We meet for this casual meal on the 1st and the 3rd Monday of every month.YOUTH MINISTRY
Middle School Summer Drop-InsAll rising 6th through 8th graders are invited to our Summer Drop-Ins! Join us July 2nd, July 16th, and July 30th for fun, games, friends, and of course, ice cream! We will meet from 6:45-8pm in the gym.
All rising 9th - graduated 12th graders are invited to join us! • July 8 - Game Night - Ice cream sundaes and fun in the youth room - 7-8:30pm, • July 23 - King’s Dominion Day - $39/ticket, volunteers and drivers needed!, • August 5 - End of
Summer Social - bonfire, s’mores, and games on the rectory patio - 7-8:30pm.
To learn more about our middle and high school ministries, please contact Grace Mee, gmee@stbernpar.org
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
One sad effect of moving Ascension Thursday to Sunday is that we don’t hear the Gospel from the Seventh Sunday of Easter, when Jesus’ last prayer to the Father before his arrest is that we be one as they are one. Pope Leo gave a beautiful homily about it last weekend:
“The Gospel we have just heard shows us Jesus, at the Last Supper, praying on our behalf (cf. Jn 17:20). The Word of God, made man, as he nears the end of his earthly life, thinks of us, his brothers and sisters, and becomes a blessing, a prayer of petition and praise to the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we ourselves, full of wonder and trust, enter into Jesus’ prayer, we become, thanks to his love, part of a great plan that concerns all of humanity.
“Christ prays that we may ‘all be one’ (v. 21). This is the greatest good that we can desire, for this universal union brings about among his creatures the eternal communion of love that is God himself: the Father who gives life, the Son who receives it and the Spirit who shares it.
“The Lord does not want us, in this unity, to be a nameless and faceless crowd. He wants us to be one: ‘As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us’ (v. 21). The unity for which Jesus prays is thus a communion grounded in the same love with which God loves, which brings life and salvation into the world. As such, it is firstly a gift that Jesus comes to bring. From his human heart, the Son of God prays to the Father in these words: ‘I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me’ (v. 23).
“Let us listen with amazement to these words. Jesus is telling us that God loves us as he loves himself. The Father does not love us any less than he loves his only-begotten Son. In other words, with an infinite love. God does not love less, because he loves first, from the very beginning! Christ himself bears witness to this when he says to the Father: ‘You loved me before the foundation of the world’ (v. 24). And so it is: in his mercy, God has always desired to draw all people to himself. It is his life, bestowed upon us in Christ, that makes us one, uniting us with one another.”
_____
We celebrate today the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost when the Apostles (and us, by inheritance through them and their successors, the bishops) receive the Holy Spirit in his fullness. Notice, it is an event separate from their baptism. In many traditions this is equated with baptism in the Holy Spirit, when you must be born again. For this reason, for centuries Christian churches were divided over the issue of rebaptizing “converts.” A little less than 20 years ago this was still sometimes the practice.
The idea that you must be born again is complicated by the practice of infant baptism, because an infant clearly cannot make this commitment to embrace the faith and the way of life that comes with it. With the Reformation Protestants no longer considered Confirmation a sacrament as such. This later, formal renewal of our baptismal promises witnessed by the assembly disappeared, when the profession of faith no longer is made for us, but by us.
This was complicated in the Roman Church when the continuous celebration of all three sacraments of initiation no longer happened all at once (as still is practiced in Eastern Rite and Orthodox churches) due not to theological reasons, but practical: in the west, only bishops can confirm (priests can in the east) and as the Church grew there just weren’t enough bishops to do it all every week.
The charismatic movement emerged from the holiness movement within Protestant and Pentecostal churches, which emphasized a second experience of spiritual transformation after conversion. Infant baptism grew to be seen as defective.
This Pentecost, intentionally embrace your Confirmation. Renew your baptismal promises in your heart and be strong in the knowledge that by these sacraments the Holy Spirit truly, fully dwells within you. It is easy, as days get busy, to forget the absolute love of God that the gift represents.
The Lord be with you.
Join us on Pentecost Sunday, June 8 for Solemn Vespers, following the 5pm Mass at 6:15pm. A most beautiful way to close the Easter Season celebrating the birthday of the Church. The Novena to the Holy Spirit began Friday, May 30. You will find the text of the prayers in a handy pull-out section of last week's bulletin starting on page 7 or electronically here Holy Spirit Novena 2025.
St. Lucy Food Drive is June 7/8. Blue bags will be handed out after all Masses this weekend.
Please join Fr. Don for three gatherings here at Saint Bernadette called SBSNRs: Let’s Talk - “Spiritual But Not Religious”, Tuesday nights in the Bradican Room, 7–8:30pm, our next talk is on June 3.
Come help us Rise Against Hunger – June 5-7
Please plan to join Christ Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Saint Bernadette Catholic Church and School, Temple B’nai Shalom, Rumi Forum, American Turkish Friendship Association, Rise Against Hunger and volunteers from the community to purchase, pack and distribute life-changing meals. In the midst of much change, we want to continue the tradition of being a shining light for the world’s most vulnerable. OUR GOAL is to PACK 150,000 LIFE-CHANGING MEALS. Learn more about this event and sign-up for one of several volunteer opportunities available between June 5-7. To sign up click here: https://www.christchurchva.org/twrah/ Select Donate/Buy Merchandise or Pack Meals to help support this event. Please contact the parish office for more information.
Concerts at Saint Bernadette presents the Capital Wind Symphony in a free concert on Friday, June 6, at 7:30 pm. All are welcome!
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
Happy Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord! Forty days after Easter Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus. It traditionally fell on a Thursday, but the the majority of dioceses in the U. S. have moved it to the 7th Sunday of Easter. One such activity that focuses us on “looking steadfastly out toward heaven” can be making and flying kites. Other Ascension activities can be found at https://www.thecatholichomeschool.com/ascension-day-crafts-activities/.
Registration for 2025-2026 ~ Registration will open in June for next year. Continue your child’s growth in the faith by signing them up for classes in 2025-26! Our class sessions will be on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and we will again offer our Special Religious Development class on Saturday mornings for students with special learning needs and our Family Faith Formation classes once a month on Sunday afternoons (for grades K-5) where parents take a larger role in their child’s faith formation.
Registration information will be in the parish bulletin, on the website, and will be sent via Flocknote to all currently registered children in the first week of June. Who should register? All currently registered students, including all Confirmation 2025, Confirmation 2026, and students preparing to receive First Eucharist next school year. Questions about your child’s registration? Call the Religious Education Office or contact us via email.
Volunteers for 2025-2026 ~ As we prepare to plan for the upcoming Religious Education school year, please discern if you would like to help. We are in need of Lead Catechists and aides. If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office.
WOMEN'S MINISTRY
Monday, June 2 is our next Dinner with Friends at 5pm, at Saratoga Pizzeria, 8050 Rolling Road. We meet for this casual meal on the 1st and the 3rd Monday of every month. Our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, June 10 at 7pm in the Bradican Room. Chair yoga is back! Join us to work out the kinks and enjoy some healthy snacks.YOUTH MINISTRY
Middle School Youth MinistryAll 6th-8th graders are invited to Middle School Youth Ministry every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month! Join us for games, snacks & fun from 6:45-8pm in the Gym. All middle schoolers are welcome, bring a friend!
Middle School Summer Drop-Ins
All rising 6th through 8th graders are invited to our Summer Drop-Ins! Join us July 2nd, July 16th, and July 30th for fun, games, friends, and of course, ice cream! We will meet from 6:45-8pm in the gym.
High School Girl's Bonfire
All 8th-12th grade girls are invited to join us for a bonfire and s’mores this Monday, June 2nd! Meet at the parish office and we will walk up to the Rectory Patio together. Contact Grace Mee (gmee@stbernpar.org) for more information and how to register!
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
This past week, after spending a week at my home parish in Kansas for my brother Bob’s ordination celebration, I have had time for a thoughtful reflection of community and its value.
Being home was a powerful experience of community and memory. Wea, Kansas is a very small farming community, though it is growing quickly with development as the city comes closer and closer. Many of the families that were there 50 years ago are still there, most of the parishioners of my parents’ generation are gone. My contemporaries are, many of them, still going to church at Queen of the Holy Rosary church.
I think the sense of community, of putting down roots, family and familiar faces that I rediscovered in Wea is what our parish families largely are missing today. We live in such a transitional culture unrooted in place that we have to work with intentionality to create the place where we feel deep belonging, where we know we can always return and feel at home.
I think this unrootedness is something that influences the crisis of unbelonging that we see in all religions today. If religion is truly the ritual expression of spirituality, that ritual has to take place in a context where all feel at home and valued. I don’t think this necessarily describes the world we live in today. Things happen in isolation in a virtual unreality and replace rootedness and commitment. I wonder what a community without real origins will look like in maturity. We’re starting to see it.
To have memories – especially communal memories – requires people to take time and make many attempts at showing up and creating them. Only after many experiences does something become familiar. “Familiar,” in the sense of “like family,” to whom we belong.
My family put down roots that have lasted even though we have been there only occasionally in recent years, and we made a difference. It was my dad’s vision to replace the old Catholic school that had been closed and unsafe for years (except for the gym), even though the pastor at the time didn’t care for the idea. Dad planned and promoted it, putting in endless hours, and ultimately oversaw the construction of a new school that today is still growing and expanding.
When I was in high school Fr. Brink asked me to design a coat of arms for the parish and paint a double-sided sign for the front lawn of the church. It is still there today when you come to church.
We always visit the graves of Mom and Dad in the cemetery behind the church when we are there.
As I said last week, it is uncommon for three brothers to be priests, but I think Wea had a lot to do with it. It was the community. We were the family who always stayed to the end and put away the chairs and tables when events ended.
Is it possible that a vocation might be a calling heard through your community? Certainly, a vocation needs a context where you can imagine yourself serving, hopefully with satisfaction making an impact on that community who shares your life and supports you.
Community is a precious thing, and we need to work at building it every day. Blessings follow.
The Lord be with you.
Join us on Pentecost Sunday, June 8 for Solemn Vespers, following the 5pm Mass at 6:15pm. A most beautiful way to close the Easter Season celebrating the birthday of the Church. The Novena to the Holy Spirit begins Friday, May 30. You will find the text of the prayers in a handy pull-out section of this weeks bulletin starting on page 7 or electronically here Holy Spirit Novena 2025.
St. Lucy Food Drive is June 7/8. Blue bags will be handed out after all Masses next weekend.
Parish Offices will be Closed on Monday, 25 May in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. Please note NO 7am Mass.
Please join Fr. Don for three gatherings here at Saint Bernadette called SBSNRs: Let’s Talk - “Spiritual But Not Religious”, Tuesday nights in the Bradican Room, 7–8:30pm, our next two talks are on May 27 and June 3.
Come help us Rise Against Hunger – June 5-7
Please plan to join Christ Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Saint Bernadette Catholic Church and School, Temple B’nai Shalom, Rumi Forum, American Turkish Friendship Association, Rise Against Hunger and volunteers from the community to purchase, pack and distribute life-changing meals. In the midst of much change, we want to continue the tradition of being a shining light for the world’s most vulnerable. OUR GOAL is to PACK 150,000 LIFE-CHANGING MEALS. Learn more about this event and sign-up for one of several volunteer opportunities available between June 5-7. To sign up click here: https://www.christchurchva.org/twrah/ Select Donate/Buy Merchandise or Pack Meals to help support this event. Please contact the parish office for more information.
Concerts at Saint Bernadette presents the Capital Wind Symphony in a free concert on Friday, June 7, at 7:30 pm. All are welcome!
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
In today’s Gospel reading Jesus gives us a new commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.” It is the greatest commandment to teach our children of authentic love of one another. One such activity that brings together the month of Mary and “the new commandment” is making Heart Rosaries. https://www.catholicicing.com/sacred-and-immaculate-heart-rosaries-a-fun-catholic-craft/
SPRED Mass and Reception: May 31
Registration for 2025-2026
Registration will open in June for next year. Continue your child’s growth in the faith by signing them up for classes in 2025-26! Our class sessions will be on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and we will again offer our Special Religious Development class on Saturday mornings for students with special learning needs and our Family Faith Formation classes once a month on Sunday afternoons (for grades K-5) where parents take a larger role in their child’s faith formation.
Registration information will be in the parish bulletin, on the website, and will be sent via Flocknote to all currently registered children in the first week of June. Who should register? All currently registered students, including all Confirmation 2025, Confirmation 2026, and students preparing to receive First Eucharist next school year. Questions about your child’s registration? Call the Religious Education Office or contact us via email.
WOMEN'S MINISTRY
Monday, June 2 is our next Dinner with Friends at 5pm, at Saratoga Pizzeria, 8050 Rolling Road. We meet for this casual meal on the 1st and the 3rd Monday of every month.YOUTH MINISTRY
Middle School Youth MinistryAll 6th-8th graders are invited to Middle School Youth Ministry every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month! Join us for games, snacks & fun from 6:45-8pm in the Gym. All middle schoolers are welcome, bring a friend!
Middle School Summer Drop-Ins
All rising 6th through 8th graders are invited to our Summer Drop-Ins! Join us July 2nd, July 16th, and July 30th for fun, games, friends, and of course, ice cream! We will meet from 6:45-8pm in the gym.
High School Girl's Bonfire
All 8th-12th grade girls are invited to join us for a bonfire and s’mores this Monday, June 2nd! Meet at the parish office and we will walk up to the Rectory Patio together. Contact Grace Mee (gmee@stbernpar.org) for more information and how to register!
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
“Well, the archdiocese of Kansas City Kansas finally got one of the Rooney brothers,” said Archbishop Naumann at the beginning of his homily at my brother’s ordination to the transitional diaconate last weekend.
We were asked a lot: why?
First, if you don’t know already, my brother Bob is now a transitional deacon! His vocation story is a beautiful one, and I’d like to share a bit of it with you.
Bob and I both went to the seminary in the fall of 1989, the year our brother John was ordained a priest for Lincoln. Why not Kansas City? When we were kids, our parents were always fighting against the then-archbishop Ignatius Strecker (who served as archbishop from 1969 until 1993) and we grew up thinking he was a bad guy. He was, indeed, one of the principal council fathers of Vatican II, and he sat in sessions next to Karol Józef
Wojtyła, also known as Saint John Paul II. It is true that some crazy things were happening in the Church (in Kansas City, at least), and we were told “It’s Vatican II.”
So we were convinced that Kansas City wasn’t a good place to be a priest, even if we were to have been accepted considering our parents. So Bob and I joined the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska.
I was sent to Saint Charles Seminary in Philadelphia – I loved it, but Bob was sent to a place with a more monastic style and discipline. Not to his liking, he returned and finished his law degree at Georgetown.
But he still felt he was called. In 2006 or 7, Bob went back to seminary, this time studying for Kansas City at Mundelein, Chicago’s seminary. My dad suddenly had a stroke in 2008 (Mom was the one who had real health problems) and died in the early days of 2009. That year Bob left the seminary to take care of them. He had been a very successful medical malpractice defense litigator and took good care, first, of Dad, and then of Mom until she died in 2019.
Shortly after that, he informed us that he would be seeking to go back to the seminary, but he was already older (four years younger than me) and beyond the normal cut off age for people to enter formation. Then, the pandemic... Kansas City sent him to Saint John XXIII seminary in Boston, a seminary for “older” vocations, where he still has one more year before being ordained a priest.
He gave a beautiful homily last Sunday (which just happened to be our mom’s birthday) about why all of this matters. He spoke of sacrifice, he spoke of grace and blessing, and how we mirror the reality of Jesus in our lives – not just priests, all of us.
At the end of Mass (I presided) I thanked him for how he had literally put his own life on hold to take care of our parents, something that the others of us could not have done living at long distance.
Do you see how God, first of all, doesn’t let go? God also is faithful, though most of the time it feels like we’ve got to be the ones hanging onto him. Bob certainly enjoyed being a litigation attorney (I learned last weekend that Bob had only lost one case in 30 years), but it wasn’t really the reason he put Bob on this earth. We knew this to be true as our family came back together again (the last time we were together was also at our home church at Mom’s funeral), and his many friends and colleagues from over the years came together to his ordination and Mass as he begins this new chapter.
So often as a priest you feel like you have to be counter-cultural. But for a weekend in Kansas City it seemed normal, even if it is a bit unusual to have three in one family. If you think you might have a vocation (or know somebody who might), share this story. It’s good, and normal.
The Lord be with you.