In This Issue:
Share Your Talent New Look! New Name! St. Vincent de Paul St. Mary Magdalen New Face Announcements Weekly Readings

I will open my mouth in parables. I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.

Share Your Talent and Raise Money
for Our New Multipurpose Building

At the SJV picnic on August 28, (2:00 PM to 4:00 PM on the grass near the Rectory), we will have a silent auction. Parishioners with a talent or skill, or just time and energy, will offer their services in exchange for a donation to the parish building fund. Each offering will have a sign up sheet so bidders can enter their bid. At 3:45 PM bidding will close and the winners of each service will be announced. (You need not be present to win an auction.) Once the donation is received, the winning bidder will get a certificate to take to the parishioner offering the service.

What service can you offer? Mowing the lawn? Weeding a garden? Cooking a special dinner? Teaching a craft? Making a memory book? Babysitting? Driving someone to appointment? Help clean out a garage? Swimming lessons?

So far we have the following items for auction:

In a Jam! Parishioner offers a three hour hands-on session learning to make jam or jelly. You bring the fruit.

Basket Case! Parishioner offers full day lesson in making a basket. Materials supplied. Minimum bid $50.

Labyrinth Parishioner offers introduction to the labyrinth and time to walk a labyrinth overlooking Silicon Valley.

Fairy Garden Parishioner offers instruction in creating a small container garden for the fairies. One fairy included. Some materials required. Suitable parent-child event.

What service can you offer?

To offer a service for our Silent Auction, email newsletter@sjvnews.net or phone Ellen Turner at 272-9234. If we all pitch in, we can make that building a reality while learning and sharing with fellow parishioners.

Parish Picnic Shindig ! Sunday, August 28 St. John Vianney Rectory Gardens Potluck 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Please bring your favorite dish or food item that corresponds with the first letter of your last name:

Note: Beverages, plates, utensils & napkins will be provided.

If you would like to help out, please contact Pat Garcia at 926-3826, Ann McEntee at 923-5788 or Ray & Ellen Turner at 272-9234.

New Look! New Name!

The SJV Communication Team is working on a new look for the weekly parish email newsletter and we thought it would be good to have a new name to go along with the new look.

So, what name do you think we should apply to our weekly newsletter? Send us your suggestions. The Communication Team will take all suggestions until August 15. Then we will cull through them and narrow the selection to a small number.

At the parish picnic, on Sunday, August 28, we will let parishioners vote on their favorite choices. The new name will be announced in our first anniversary issue, at the start of October.

To submit a name, send an email to newsletter@sjvnews.net .

St. Vincent de Paul: Feast July 19

St. Vincent de Paul was born into a peasant family in France, in 1581, yet his life story and work seems very contemporary. Since he showed great intelligence as a child, his family sacrificed to provide him with an excellent education. He became a priest, perhaps not for the best of reasons. It was a way to escape the poverty of his childhood and to provide for his family. He spent his twenties seeking better posts and positions. However, his comfortable life did not make him happy.

Noticing the incredible poverty and hard life of the peasants on his benefactor's estate, Vincent recommitted his life to Jesus Christ and began to focus his life on serving the poor. He used his talents for organization and his ability to inspire to organize parishioners to take care of the poor. He used his connections to the wealthy to get funds to support his projects.

Vincent established the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians), a religious community of priests and brothers, and, with Louise de Marillac, founded the Daughters of Charity.

To watch a short video about St. Vincent de Paul, and for more information, visit www.vincentians.net/vincentsstory.php .

For information about the Daughters of Charity, visit their website at www.doc.org .

St. Mary Magdalen: Feast July 22

Mary Magdalen, Apostle to the Apostles, has been much maligned by the church. The bible tells us little about her, but it most definitely does not say she was a prostitute or even a great sinner. There was a time in the late sixth century where scholars tried to simplify the bible by taking all the women named Mary (or unnamed women) in the New Testament and rolling them into one composite person. Thus Mary of Magdala became the sister of Lazerus and Martha, the woman caught in adultry, and the prostitute who washed Jesus feet drying them with her hair. There is really no reason to believe all those women were the same person.

So who was Mary Magdalen? In the New Testament she is mentioned among the women who accompanied Christ and ministered to Him (Luke 8:2-3), where it is also said that seven devils had been cast out of her (Mark 16:9). At the time the scripture was written, having devils indicated mental illness, not sin or evil. Mary of Magdala is next named as standing at the foot of the cross (Mark 15:40; Matthew 27:56; John 19:25; Luke 23:49). She saw Christ laid in the tomb, and she was the first recorded witness of the Resurrection. It was Mary who told Peter and the other Disciples that the Lord had risen, which is why she is called the Apostle to the Apostles.

From her frequent mention in the Gospels, we can tell Mary Magdalen was important to the early Christian community. She is one woman who is not named as belonging to a man. She was not called "the daughter of..." or "the wife of..." which would have been traditional, and was the case with most other women mentioned in the New Testament. Also, when several women are mentioned, Mary of Magdala is listed first, again indicating her importance to the community.

If you are interested in Mary Magdala, you might like to borrow the book, Mary Magdalen: Myth and Metaphor, by Susan Haskins. She has done exhaustive research on this early Christian leader.

For more information about Mary Magdala, visit the website www.futurechurch.org/marym .

New Face at the Parish Office
by Olga Rodriguez

Gloria Luna is the new receptionist at Saint John Vianney Parish working Monday through Thursday, 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. She was born and raised in this community. She started work here one month ago. She previously worked for a firm for 30 years doing computer and word processing. She came to work for Saint John Vianney as a part time employee as she now has children.

In her spare time, Gloria enjoys reading and gardening. When asked how does she like it so far, her response was an ambitious "There is so much to learn yet!"

I invite anyone to take a moment and say hello to Gloria and welcome her to our parish as a staff member. Please let her know how much we appreciate her hard work.

Announcements

Extreme Bowling for Extreme Middle School Students
WHAT: We are going Extreme Bowling (Glow-in-the-Dark Bowling)
WHO: Any 6th, 7th, or 8th Grader
WHEN: Friday, July 22nd (meet at SJV by 7:45 PM, we will be back at 11 PM)
WHERE: We'll Carpool to Oakridge Lanes
COST: $12.00 per person (includes Pizza)

Come and meet new friends, hang out with old ones, and have a lot of fun! Must RSVP by Monday, July 18th with David Cortese at 258-7832 x34 or dcortese@sjvsj.net .

Tikkun's Spiritual Activism Conference, will be held July 20-23 in Berkeley, and should be a powerful experience for all who can attend. For additional information, visit their website: www.tikkun.org/community/spiritual_activism_conference

Family Faith Formation is offered by St. John Vianney Parish. Registration priority is given to our own parishioners. Click here to see the latest revision of "Class Schedule & Registration Information" for the upcoming catechetical year.

* HELP NEEDED! * Family Faith Formation is seeking individuals who are interested in becoming a Catechist or Catechist aide for grades 1-6. Classes are held on Tuesday evenings, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM (grades 3, 4 & 5) or Sunday mornings, 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM (grades 1-6). TRAINING WILL BE PROVIDED. Please contact 258-7832 x18 for more information. We look forward to hearing from you!

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 email mwood@sjvsj.org or contact Co-Principal, Martha Wood at (408) 258-7677.

Weekly Readings

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