Bulletin for the Week of May 18, 2008

ATTENTION ALL FAMILIES:
Looking for an opportunity to get away and enjoy your family? You are invited to one of three Family Guggenheim sessions (August 14-17, August 21-24 and October 10-12) to be held at the Guggenheim Center in Saranac Lake. Family Fun, prayer, swimming, workshops, mountain climbing, liturgy and more—please contact the rectory for more details and registration forms.

LITURGY:
Most of you have often heard the word liturgy in reference to the Catholic worship. Liturgy is the public, communal, and official worship of members of the Catholic Church. It is communal, which means it is not prayer that you do alone. It is official, which means the Church governs it. The Mass is the central sacred liturgical celebration of the Catholic Church and the basis for most other liturgical celebrations. Each of the seven sacraments have their own liturgical rituals. A Funeral is an another example of a liturgy. However, a group prayer service is not liturgy because it is not an official worship service of he Church. The word liturgy comes from a Greek term meaning “public work or work done on behalf of the people.” In keeping wit this definition, liturgy means the participation of Catholics in the work of God .So our liturgies aren’t something we do, but something God does and we participate. A every Mass Jesus is at work bringing us our salvation. Every liturgical celebration is an action of Christ the High Priest and of his Mystical Body, which is the Church. It therefore requires the participation of the People of God in the work of God. The priest leads or presides at the liturgical celebration. The congregation or assembly of people who are gathered at a liturgical celebration are not just spectators, but should be full and active participants in the celebration. Work on your liturgical skills. Spend some time with each week’s readings beforehand. Come to Mass expecting to encounter Jesus Christ.

YEAR OF ST. PAUL
Paul the Apostle Begins His Mission: After Paul’s baptism, he remained some days in Damascus, and then went to Arabia, possibly for a year or two to prepare himself for his future missionary activity. Having returned to Damascus, he stayed there for a time, preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. This provoked the Jewish community and he had to escape from the city. He then went to Jerusalem to see Peter and the other apostles and was accepted into the Christian community. Later Paul went back to his native Tarsus, where he began to evangelize his own province until called by Barnabus to Antioch in Syria (49 AD). After one year, on the occasion of a famine, both Barnabus and Paul were sent with alms to the poor Christian community at Jerusalem. Having fulfilled their mission they returned to Antioch.

MAY CROWING AT SETON CATHOLIC CENTRAL SCHOOL:
Seton Catholic Central will celebrate its annual May Crowning honoring the Blessed Mother on May 22 at 1:15 pm at the school. All are most welcome to come and celebrate this event.

BAPTISM:
Gavin Francis Drollette, son of Brian and Laura (McDermott) Drollette became a member of the Catholic community through the Sacrament of Baptism on May 11th.

CAMP GUGGENHEIM:
The Camp operates six weekly sessions from June 29th – August 8th. Each weekly Camp begins on Sunday at 3 pm and ends on Friday at noon. Weeks One through Five are specifically designated for 12-15 year olds. Week Six is for 16-18 year olds. The Camp fee is $235.00 including a non-refundable $100 deposit. For more information www.catholiccamps.org

MOST HOLY TRINITY:
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. This, the most translated verse in the Bible, sums up the grand work of God to put creation rightly in place. We are invited to share God’s own life and to take our proper place at his wedding feast as his adopted family. The gracious gift of the Lord Jesus Christ, the embracing love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all!