What First Communion Means

Every Saturday in April, a group of Saint John Vianney students will be celebrating their First Eucharist. We asked Mrs. Dianna Albert’s Second Grade class (Room 204) what their First Communion meant to them. They wrote their responses in pencil on lined paper.  The newsletter staff scanned their pages into a brief online presentation. Click here to see the great work her students produced.  Mrs. Albert’s class will be receiving their First Eucharist on Saturday, April 23.

Congratulations to all our First Communion recipients !

Progressive Coffee Party

On Saturday, April 16, parishioners gathered for a progressive coffee party! Meeting at the SJV parking lot, we broke into small groups and set off on our adventure in Fair Trade Coffee. (We cannot remember why we decided to meet at 8 AM! That was too early! Next time, we'll start later!)

We visited a lot of coffee houses in our part of San Jose. Today we'll talk about two local spots. Next week we'll talk about some others.

Rafiki's on the corner of White Road and Alum Rock Road is a fairly new local business that has added a lot to our community. Right across the street from James Lick High School, it is right at the center of a reviving Alum Rock district. The manager was very pleasant and helpful. Rafiki's sells Fair Trade coffee but does not brew it usually. As a small business, they are doing the best they can to compete against the big chains. We hope that St. John Vianney parishioners will support this shop so that they can continue to do business in our community. If you are already a regular at Rafiki's, remind them to use as much Fair Trade coffee as possible. If you are not a regular there, stop in and introduce yourself. You will find them friendly and welcoming.

We also visited the Coffee Cup at Country Club Center, on McKee at Toyon. This is a place where many parishioners spend time and money. On most mornings, after 7:45 AM Mass, you will find SJV folks sharing a coffee, a sweet roll, the paper, and the latest news. The owners of the Coffee Cup, a Vietnamese family, were not aware of Fair Trade Coffee before we talked with them. We left them information, and they said they would investigate. This is a place where SJV parishioners could have a big effect. Ask, politely, if they have Fair Trade coffee. Eventually, if we keep asking they will certainly start brewing it.

www.ncrlc.com/GWofA-webpage.html

Where Else Can I Buy Fair Trade?

Fair Trade coffee is available at Rafiki's, Starbucks, and SaveMart. At our local SaveMart, you can find Fair Trade coffee on Aisle 17, near the back of the store, along with organic foods. They also carry Seventh Generation products, which are safe and environmentally friendly.

When you shop at SaveMart, they always ask "Did you find everything you were looking for?" You can try responding with a request that they carry Fair Trade decaf in addition to the Fair Trade coffee they already have. Eventually, if we ask for it, and buy it, they will carry Fair Trade coffee and Fair Trade decaf coffee. We can help change the world!

Opportunity to Share

Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley, (formerly known as Christmas in April ) has  selected 33 homes in San Jose, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, and Santa Clara to   receive free chores. These homes belong to the  elderly or poor who cannot afford to fix up things around their homes. Volunteers come in and do all kinds of chores, from simple yard cleanup to such substantial projects as new floors, exterior paint jobs and kitchen remodeling. This is a chance to do something wonderful for someone in need. The non-profit has also targeted four buildings belonging to non-profit groups serving the community.

Can you help out on April 23 or April 30? If so, contact www.rebuildingtogether-sv.org or call (408) 920-5944.

Smug About Fruit Trees
by Diana Foss

I helped pick about 2,000 pounds of grapefruit, oranges and lemons from some amazingly prolific Willow Glen backyard trees this morning. I volunteered with Village Harvest, www.villageharvest.org , which donated the fruit to the Second Harvest Food Bank. Food bank clients are especially grateful for fresh produce at all times of the year; even the lemons are snapped up.

Joni Diserens, who helps run Village Harvest, admits that the organization is small enough that they'd get swamped with too many offers of groaning fruit trees. But I have so often ridden by beautiful trees surrounded by rotten fruit lying on the ground, and fantasized about pulling over and picking it all to put it to good use. So if you're blessed with a tree that gives far more fruit than you can handle (and, really, my own fig tree falls into this category) then I encourage you to contact Village Harvest and watch in amazement as six cheerful volunteers strip your tree of every fruit within reach (and clean up afterward.) Imagine the convenience!

And if you're looking for an interesting volunteer activity, I can recommend the picking, too. Along those lines, I found Village Harvest through www.volunteermatch.org , which has scads of volunteer activities organized by zip code and proximity.

Work for Justice - Stand for Children’s Health Insurance
by Gilne Desales-Tosco

Six buses loaded with people of faith and hope took off from six different churches around the San Jose area on April 13, 2005, at 3 PM. We went on a journey to Sacramento, in solidarity with our brothers and sisters from Northern and Southern California, with the idea of advocating for health insurance coverage for all California children and youth up to age nineteen. Californians met in Sacramento Convention Hall in support of the Children’s Health Insurance Initiative for some 800,000 California children.

About five years ago, Santa Clara County, through the leadership of PACT [People Acting in Community Together], decided to use the windfall money from the tobacco settlement to provide health insurance coverage to the uninsured children of Santa Clara County. Some 37,000 children and a long waiting list of applicants became the beneficiaries. As a result of this success, other counties in California wanted to emulate Santa Clara County by investing in the health of their children.

Attendance by about 3500 people of faith, from all generations and walks of life, was expected at this town hall meeting.  Three hundred more seats were added. The meeting was simultaneously translated in Spanish, Hmong, and Russian.

I was particularly impressed by the number of attendees by people of power and those who could possibly provide support to make the decision to bring about the realization of providing health insurance coverage for all California children and youth. To mention some of them: California Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kim Belshe, Assembly Health Committee Chair Wilma Chan, Dr. Ross of California Endowment, chairperson of small business and Chamber of Commerce, teachers group, our local representatives Elaine Alquist, Joe Coto, and Liz Figueroa, and a bunch more of assembly and senate legislators from northern and southern California. The exhibit hall was packed with people whose energy and enthusiasm was more than contagious and invigorating!!!

Announcements

Future of Alum Rock Schools: PACT (People Acting In Community Together) is holding an action for the future of Alum Rock Schools on Monday, April 25, at 6:45 PM at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum Rock Avenue.  This action is organized by both, the St. John Vianney and Our Lady of Guadalupe, parishes. Please come out and support your community! For more information, contact Darby Cunning, (408) 272-9176.

First Communion Sundays: St. John Vianney Parish will continue to celebrate First Communion on April 17, and 24. This means we will likely have guests at Mass, so let's be especially welcoming and understanding.

The Housing Consortium needs pots and pans. Take a look in your cabinets to see if there are any rarely used kitchen tools that can help a needy family get established. Call Sue Lapsys at 946-7771 to arrange for pick up.

St. John Vianney School is still accepting applications for the 2005-06 school year for Kindergarten and First Grade.  Applications can be picked up in the school office Monday - Friday from 8 AM to 4 PM or on-line at our school website: www.sjvsj.org.  For more information you can e-mail mwood@sjvsj.org or contact Co-Principal, Martha Wood at (408) 258-7677.

Save the date, April 28, for the next Women's Time Out event: A Scapbooking Night hosted by Dianna Albert, SJV 2nd Grade Teacher. Her co-coordinator is Veronica Wildanger, SJV parishioner. For more information, contact Laura Rossini 254-8602.

The Spanish Speaking community of Saint John Vianney has a Desayuno (Breakfast) fundraiser the 4th Sunday of every month. All proceeds from the Desayuno go to the Multipurpose Building Fund. The next Desayuno is scheduled for Sunday, April 24, 2005, after each of the morning Masses. Donations of food are accepted. Please contact Fernando Pena for more information at (408) 258-3470.

Reminder: The Jim McEntee Legacy Story Collection wants as many people as possible to share stories of Jim, so we can all remember and imitate him. If you have a story to tell, visit the website: www.JimMcEnteeLegacy.org

The next SJV Fiesta meeting will be Thursday, April 28, at 7 PM, in the School Library. The Annual St. John Vianney Fiesta 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 position). If you are interested in the above Fiesta Positions,

The 30th annual Berryessa Art and Wine Festival will be held on Saturday, May 7 from 10 AM to 5 PM at Penitencia Creek Park (adjacent to Berryessa Community Center, 3050 Berryessa Road).  The festival will feature a variety of foods and wines, as well as 156 artisans selling their wares.  Admission is free, and all net proceeds go to music programs in Berryessa elementary and middle schools.

Weekly Readings

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