Town Hall Meeting

St. John Vianney Town Hall Meeting -  Last night, 121 members of St. John Vianney Parish gathered for a Town Hall Meeting.

The meeting opened with a prayer led by Pamela Bjorkland. She then shared with us the agenda for the evening. Next Ellen Turner gave a quick review of how the council was designed, and the basics of how it will work. The subcommittee that created the design consisted of Jim & Ann McEntee, Ray & Ellen Turner, Brendan Cunning, and Jack McBrattney. To start the process, they took a look at how a parish works. Ellen Turner explained one method used for looking at the parish, a diagram called "Great Balls of Fire!" The diagram shows how there are many things that go on in the parish and that they are all centered on Scripture, the Eucharist, and Evangelization. They attempted to organize activities according to seven categories, but found that many ministries overlap the categories. That is to say, "Life is messy, but it all works."

Then Pamela Bjorklund asked for any nominations from the floor. There were several, but most declined to serve. Ray Turner and Diane Branch were nominated from the floor and agreed to be on the ballot. Each nominee was introduced and gave answers to the three questions that the nominating Committee had set:

1. How long have you been in St. John Vianney Parish?
2. How have you been involved in SJV parish in the past or present?
3. What do you see in our parish that you really like?

Then we elected the first six members of our new Parish Council and Fr. Tim appointed three others to bring the council to the full nine members. The new council members are:

As the ballots were being counted, we heard reports on progress we have made toward the four goals we set at our Town Hall Meeting in June: Brendan Cunning spoke about Social Justice. Ellen Turner reported on the new Communication Team and Bruno Martinez reported on Youth & Young Adults and Liturgy.

Immediately after the meeting, Fr. Tim and Pamela Bjorklund met with the new members to set the date for their retreat and introduce them to some other responsibilities.

Thursdays of Lent

Mark your calendars for every Thursday in Lent. First of all, last night , we had our Town Hall Meeting where we elected the first members of our Parish council. This week, we start our Parish Mission with Fr. Kevin Joyce. Other parishes who have had a mission with Fr. Joyce have reported that it was a wonderful experience and highly recommend everyone participate.

The mission continues for four sessions, then the following Thursday we have a Parish Reconciliation Service. The Thursday after that is Holy Thursday and the beginning of our most holy celebration, the Triduum.

- 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM -

Remember that we are taking up a special collection on Easter Sunday for tsunami relief. Instead of just "giving something up for Lent" why not see what changes you can make to your lifestyle that might be used to help tsunami victims.

From the Bookshelf

How about spending some time educating yourself this Lent? Instead of "giving up" something, try spending some of your time reading a book that will help you to see Jesus in the people around you.

Some of the books we reviewed earlier in the St. John Vianney Parish Newsletter would make excellent Lenten reading:

The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality, by Ronald Rolheiser. (November 8, 2004 issue)

St. Francis and the Foolishness of God, by Marie Dennis, Joseph Nangle, OFM, Cynthia Moe-Lebeda, and Stuart Taylor. (November 12, 2004 issue)

Another book of interest is Simpler Living, Compassionate Life: a Christian Perspective, edited by Michael Schut. Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners magazine, and a speaker at the upcoming Anaheim Religious Education Congress, writes:

"In a society where 'I shop, therefore I am' results in a deep spiritual poverty, Simpler Living, Compassionate Life provides a gospel-based antidote. This wonderful collection of essays on money, time, environment, community and related topics offers a compelling alternative vision of a healthy, whole and balanced life. Used by individuals or groups, it will stimulate honest reflection and discussion about how much is enough."

The book consists of a variety of essays by many authors, including well known Catholic priest Henri Nouwen. The essays are organized around different themes, and a study guide at the end of the book gives you questions to consider alone or with others. Take the time to slow yourself down this Lent and enrich your life by simplifying it.

Share Your Memories of Lent

Would you like to contribute to the SJV Newsletter? Share a memory of Lent from your childhood, or last year. What traditions have been important in your family? Write up a short story about Lent and we will choose some stories each week to include in the newsletter.

Send your story to: newsletter@sjvonline.net

Announcements

Healing Mass and Anointing of the Sick: You are cordially invited to a Healing Mass and Anointing of the Sick in celebration of the World Day of the Sick. Msgr. Adolfo Valdivia will be the presider and homilist. The celebration will be at St. John Vianney Parish Church on Saturday, February 12 at 10:00 AM. A reception will follow in the Parish Hall. For more information, contact Mrs. Gina Sebastian at 408-923-6943 or 408-896-7829.

Please remember to turn in your pledges for the Annual Diocesan Appeal. You may do so by bringing your pledges to Mass and submitting it during the collection. We are very near our goal. Please make your contribution now, so we can move on to other things. Plus, we really could use that new sound system.

The annual St. John Vianney Fiesta "Celebrating Our Diversity" is quickly approaching - this year it is set for May 20 through May 22. We need CHAIRS and CO-CHAIRS....Manage a booth (Chair position) or assist in managing (Co-Chair). If you are interested in the above Fiesta Positions, please contact: David Couch at 408-314-2393 or at dcouch36@sbcglobal.net, or Patricia Tovar at patricia.tovar@arusd.org. To read the article, "St. John Vianney Fiesta", featured in a prior newsletter issue, please .

St. John Vianney School Registration for 2005-2006 School Year
Applications are available in the school office or online at www.sjvsj.org.
Return Applications:
   Tuesday, February 15, 2005, 5 PM - 7 PM &
   Wednesday, February 16, 2005, 5 PM - 7 PM

If you have any questions, or need additional information or tuition assistance, please contact the school at 258-7677, 8 AM - 4 PM, Monday through Friday, or you may send email to mwood@sjvsj.org.

Do you know of parishioners who do not have email but would like to get the St. John Vianney Parish Newsletter? Perhaps you could print out a copy each week to share with them. The cost of printing and mailing to everyone in the parish is prohibitive, but if everyone shares and passes it along, we can reach a lot more parishioners. Also, we post a copy on the bulletin board in the back of church, to your right as you are leaving. We are hoping that folks would read that copy there so others could see it too. We are always happy to add new members to our subscription list.

Weekly Readings

This Week:

1st Sunday of Lent, February 13
  Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
  Romans 5:12-19
  Matthew 4:1-11

Next Week:

2nd Sunday of Lent, February 20
  Genesis 12:1-4a
  2 Timothy 1:8b-10
  Matthew 17:1-9

Praying the Scriptures:
  Visit this web site for ideas on
  praying the Scriptures:
  www.liturgy.slu.edu

Join Our Mailing List!

Find out what's happening at St. John Vianney Parish by joining our email newsletter list.

To add (or remove) your email address, send an email request to newsletter@sjvonline.net or phone Ellen Turner at 408-272-9234. We will use these email addresses for St. John Vianney business only. No addresses will be visible to others.

 Visit our web site at: www.sjvsj.net