Bulletin for the Week of August 3, 2008

PRAYING WITH THE BIBLE
Pick a passage and read the text.
Consider the context (culture, history of the time).
Grasp the Author's intent. What was he trying to say or get across to the audience he was writing to?
Think about how this passage speaks to you today. Reading the Bible is really about listening, and a big part of listening is looking to your own experience in search of what God is saying to you (the technical term is discernment).

ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT:
Eucharistic Adoration is held every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 6 am to 9 pm at St. John’s Church Adoration Chapel, downstairs. For more information, please call 561-5083 or email Sjohnsadoration@aol.com

REDFORD PICNIC:
The 153rd Annual Redford Picnic will be held Sunday, August 17, on the grounds of the Church of the Assumption of Mary School. Features include full meals of either roast beef or ham from noon to 6 pm, an auction beginning at noon, live entertainment, games of skill and chance, pull tabs, refreshments, and rides on the famous merry-go-round. Raffles for $5,000, quilts, afghans and fun for everyone.

THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY:
Catholics observe the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary this year on Friday, August 15 -- celebrating Mary's being taken bodily to Heaven after her death. This feast is sometimes referred to as the Dormition (falling asleep) of the Virgin Mary. The Feast of the Assumption celebrates both the departure of Mary from this life by her natural death, and her assumption bodily into heaven. Along with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8) the Assumption is a principal feast of the Blessed Virgin and a Holy Day of Obligation in the United States. The belief of the assumption of Mary into heaven after her death is first expressed in narratives of the fifth and sixth centuries. Even though these were never official, they bear witness to the very early belief in this teaching of the Catholic Church. We have no real knowledge of the day, year, and manner of Mary’s death. The dates which have been assigned to her death vary between three and fifteen years after Jesus’ death. There is an important difference, of course, between the ascension of Jesus into Heaven after His Resurrection, and the assumption of Mary. To ascend is to rise up under one's own power; while to be assumed means something that is done to a person.

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
We meet the Lord in the strangest places. Elijah spent the night listening to he wind, feeling the earthquake and surrounded with fire, but the Lord was not in any of these. He came in a gentle breeze. We would like great events for meeting our God, but most often we stirs our hearts and minds very gently. If we listen, we encounter the Lord. Like Peter, we walk toward the Lord. The Lord says, “Come!” We respond: “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus, and sustain our faith.”

THE YEAR OF SAINT PAUL:
Was God’s plan of salvation frustrated by Israel’s rejection of the coming of the Messiah? Paul recounts the many blessings of the Israelites: “theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Messiah.” God’s plan of salvation is for all people, Jews, Christians and non-Christians. As Christians, we cannot boast of our superior advantage over the Jews or non-Christians. God’s choice of His love for His people, especially, the Jews, is forever. Let us pray for Church unity in charity. St. Paul, Apostle of the Gentiles, pray for us.

MARRIAGE TIP:
Having a successful marriage depends not so much on FINDING the right person but BEING the right person. Is there a change I can make in my own behavior that will make our marriage happier?