My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The Knight of Columbus at St John Vianney will be  hosting a breakfast in support of the Flower of Hope School in Haiti this Sunday September 14 at St John Vianney’s Social Hall.  St John Vianney has worked  with the School for several years and as you know that the situation in Haiti has not been good.  While  we have not been able to make Mission trips to see our friends, we are still able to support them financially. Students are educated on the basics and  taught trades such as Electrical, Beautician and Tailoring. The Flower of Hope desires to educate young rural Haitians so they can support themselves in a difficult economy.  Please see our bulletin for more details on the needs of the School.  We thank you for your generosity.

Mary Our Queen had a big weekend last week with the celebration of its 60th Anniversary of the opening of the School.  We also had an Alumni gathering last Friday where we were fortunate to have a member of first graduating class present.  Mary Our Queen also had our Fall Festival last Saturday.  Dave and Angie Mills have chaired our Fall Festival for over 10 years and we are grateful for all they have done to make our Fall Festival such a fun filled gathering.  Dave and Angie would now like to pass the baton to a new Chair for the Fall Festival. Please know that they are willing to assist the new Chair to ensure continuity.  If you are interested in chairing the Fall Festival, kindly contact the Parish Office.

We began a new season of OCIA (formally known as RCIA ) The OCIA is the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults for those wanting to learn more about our Catholic faith.  It is a time of reflection, prayer, instruction, discernment and formation.  If you are interested in learning more about our Catholic faith, please see our bulletin for more details.

A new Season of That Man is You began last Thursday.  This program is open to all men in our Family of Parishes.  It combines the best research from science with the teachings of the Catholic faith and the wisdom of the saints to develop the vision of authentic men capable of transforming themselves, their families, and the greater society.

Our Religious Education Program for both St John Vianney and Mary Our Queen have begun.  While there have been changes that needed to be made, in part due to the availability of religious education teachers and the number of students signing up for our Religious Education programs, we are still able to offer two different sessions of Religious Education in our Family of Parishes. 4:30pm at St John Vianney and 5:30pm at Mary Our Queen.  We continue make changes to our programs that allows us to grow the faith life of our families that we hope will continue to shape the faith life of our communities for our future.  If you would like to register your child in our Program, kindly contact our Parish Office.

We are happy to offer the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for our first and second graders at our Family of Parishes.  Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a Montessori-based religious formation program for children.  It seeks to create and facilitate a sacred, hands-on space called an atrium, in which both the children and their catechists can hear, ponder, and celebrate the most essential mysteries of the Christian faith as revealed in the Scriptures and the Liturgy.  The atrium is where the child develops his/her relationship with God, a relationship which already exists.

Finally, please keep September 28 free for a Tailgate Cookout at St John Vianney.  This event will begin after the 10:30am Mass.  It will be an afternoon of fun and of course Football (The Chiefs play their game at 3:25pm).  There will be a bouncy house, and a cake walk for families to have fun together.

Blessed week ahead,

Fr Marc