Church Bulletin July 27, 2008

FINANCIAL:

• Offertory-$6566.50 (Envelopes Returned-165)
• Tuition-$3223.33
• Loose-$307.00
• Poor $30.00 (Envelopes returned - 4)

Many Thanks to All Who Continue to Support Our Parish!

PARISH NEEDS PROJECTS UPDATE:
About 25 men of the parish worked part and/or all of two days sealing our parking lots and drive.  All of their donated labor saved the parish about $9000!  The only expense to the parish being materials ($2969.50).  Great job men!! The whole parish thanks you!!
The roof of the church will be replaced in late August (the current roof is nearly 100 years old).  Anyone who could help tear off the old roof, please call either Fr. Jeff at 583-2488 or Joe Tobben at 583-2889.  Also, if anyone has any scaffolding we could use, it would be appreciated.

COMMUNAL ANOINTING OF THE SICK:  The Sacrament of the Sick will be administered to all who wish to receive it at the First Saturday Mass in September, September 6 at 8:00 a.m.  All are eligible to receive the Sacrament who are in the state of grace and are suffering from any serious sickness, whether physical or psychological.  Even if you have been previously anointed, you may receive the Sacrament each time there is a new “crisis” in the sickness.  If uncertain, give yourself the benefit of the double.  The Sacrament of the Sick was formerly known as Last Rites.  Actually, the Sacrament for the Dying, or Last Rites, is Viaticum, which is the Eucharist given as Food for the Journey.  The Sacrament of the Sick is given for healing and it is up to the Lord to decide whether that be physical or spiritual or both, depending on His Wisdom. (Of course, persons unable to attend, due to their illness, may contact one of the priests to come to them to be Anointed privately.)

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN KNOWING MORE ABOUT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?  We will be starting a new group this Fall for all those interested in learning the basics of the Catholic faith, or who are or might be interested in becoming Catholic themselves.  It is understood that by joining this group you do not commit yourself to becoming Catholic.  We encourage, too, any who are Catholic and would like to learn more about the teachings of their faith to  join us.  We call this group the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) and we will be meeting on Sunday mornings in between Masses.  If you are interested in registering or learning more, contact Fr. Jeff, Fr. Don at 583-2488 or Diana Smith at 239-9773.

RETROUVAILLE – HELP FOR TROUBLED MARRIAGE:  Do you feel lost or alone?  Are you hurt, disillusioned, angry with each other?  Have you thought about separation and divorce?  Are you constantly arguing?  There is help out there!  Visit www.helpourmarriage.com or call 800-470-2008.  You CAN save your marriage!

The 90 member choir and orchestra of the Young Catholic Musicians will hold auditions during July.  These young people (aged 10-17) represent over 50 churches and schools in the Archdiocese.  They learn quality liturgical music and lead the music for Mass once each month at different parishes.  Singers and instrumentalists, call Fr. Bruce Forman (314-231-7464) or Mrs. Mary Smith (314-962-9260) for additional information and to schedule an audition.

The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the homes of St. John’s Parish:  Father Don has been visiting the homes of our parishioners.  In accordance with the suggestion of Archbishop Burke he will come to your homes, or come back to your homes, to Enthrone the Sacred Heart upon request.  By enthroning the Sacred Heart you are inviting Jesus to come and live in your home.  It is a special grace for you and your family.  Father also has available some beautiful pictures of the Sacred Heart.  They still need framing - you can ask about them.  Please call Father Don with any questions if interested.

Preparation for a Second Marriage or Remarriage Preparation - A marriage preparation class, “Learning from the Past, Building for the Future,” is available for engaged couples, where one or both individuals have been married before.  This class will take place on Friday evening August 22 and all day Saturday, August 23.  For more information or to sign up, call Gail McDonough at 314-792-7178 or visit the website at www.stlCatholics.org.

Annual Catholic Appeal - If you have not returned your card please do so as soon as possible. You can drop it in the collection basket. Please return your card even if you are unable to donate at this time. Thank you to all who pledged!!

CHRIST RENEWS HIS PARISH RETREATS RETURNING TO ST. JOHN’S:  We had an outstanding women’s CRHP retreat this last Spring-ask those who participated-and had to cancel the men’s weekend because of some who had to drop out at the last minute.  But the Weekends are again scheduled for this Fall and will be coming the first & third weekends of October: Sat & Sun, Oct. 4-5 for the Women and Sat & Sun, Oct. 18-19 for the Men (one week prior to the Sausage Supper).  Mark your calendar.  It is wonderful way to enter into a deeper closeness to the Lord.  And in Him we truly grow in a relationship one to another.   Pray about it.  You won’t regret it.  This has been a proven way of growth in faith.

You’re probably looking forward to a summer vacation.  A Marriage Encounter Weekend could be the best vacation of your life!  Call 314-469-7317 or go to www.stl-wwme.org to sign up for a Weekend on August 8 -10.

HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATION:  Starting with the First Friday in August, and every First Friday,  there will be a monthly Holy Hour for Vocations, 7:30 pm, at Holy Redeemer Parish, 17 Joy Ave. Webster Groves.  All those interested in promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life, as well as those discerning a vocation, are welcome to attend.  The Holy Hour will include Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, quiet time and prayers.

FROM MEN'S SODALITY -  New windows have been installed  in the computer lab/ library. The outside frames need to be primed and painted. The date hasn't been set to do this yet, but I am looking for anyone who may be able to help on a Saturday. Please call Allen Gephardt at 636-239-7518.

Don't pay your trashman to haul away your newspapers and magazines.  Drop them off at St. John's and help us earn cash.  The paper recycling bins are located next to the baseball field.
Paper Recycling Update:  The recycling contest is still on,  and we can win up to an additional $1,000 if we collect 20.96 tons of paper during the months of May - August.  We recycled 3.9 tons of paper for the month of June.  Keep up the good work! 

Anthony Tobben Benefit Fund - Anthony's family has set up a benefit fund to help with expenses while he is recovering from injuries sustained in an auto accident.  Any donations or assistance is very much appreciated.  Donations can be made at any Bank of Washington Branch or mailed to Bank of Washington, P. O. Box 377,  Washington, MO 63090; checks should be made payable to Anthony Tobben Benefit Fund.  For more information call Jessica Homeyer at 742-9780.  THANK YOU!

Congratulations to the new School Board Members:  Tina Brueggemann & Joni Obermark

Congratulations to the new Parish Council Members: Patrick Smith, Randy Smith, Richard Riegel.

Linda Hope will be available for childcare this summer.  If interested, please call 583-8181.

Parishioner/college student looking to mow lawns and weed eating.  Please call Marty at 584-9368.  Thanks!

Attention Business Owners, Professionals and Self Employed - Liturgical Publication, Inc. (LPI), our bulletin publisher, will have Mike Anderson our parish representative visiting our parish within the next few weeks to serve our bulletin.  We would like to thank our present advertisers for renewing their ad and thereby continuing their support of our parish.  To obtain information about advertising for the new publication year, please contact Mike directly at 800-950-9952 ext. 2612.  Keep in mind; our advertising sponsors make your bulletin possible.

Pizza Hut fundraisers.  Washington Pizza Hut from Noon - 6 p.m. Future fundraiser Sundays to watch for are:  July 20, August 17, September 2. Proceeds for the summer months are put toward the outdoor classroom/nature areas. Thank you for your support.

The Legion of Mary has been leading the rosary before mass.  The rosary will begin 20 minutes before mass starts.  We would like to invite anyone who is interested in participating to please do so.  "Mary guides the faithful to the Eucharist. (Pope John Paul II)."

Legion of Mary: We are still looking for more auxiliary members to commit to daily rosary and prayers for the work of the Legion.  This does not entail any meetings, but becomes the crucial back up for the success of our spiritual work of evangelizing that the Legion does.  If you are at all interested in the possibility of becoming an active member and attending the meetings, take a flyer from the Legion poster in the vestibule.  It explains it in more detail.  Thanks to all who have already committed to being a Legion auxiliary member.  The members are growing and we need you so much! 

Prayer Chain Available for Prayer Request: We have begun our Prayer Chain and we thank the 20 people of our parish who are listed on our chain.  If you would like, when you have a special need and would like others joining you in praying for it, call Marilyn Kleekamp at 742-4981 or Glenda Adrian at 239-6919 and they will get all on the Prayer Chain to pray with you.  You yourself do not have to be a member of this Prayer Chain to make a prayer request.

Funds donated to the St. Vincent DePaul Society help area families with rent, utilities, medicine and food. From January – June, 2008 the St. Vincent DePaul helped 59 families for a total of $8263.41.  Thank you for your generous donations. 

On Sunday, August 3 is the Latin America Apostolate Archdiocesan collection.  This collection supports the five St. Louis priest missionaries in Bolivia and Belize.  Because of the great poverty in Bolivia and in Belize, the lack of sufficient native clergy, these St. Louis priest missionaries need our support to serve the people of God there.  In Latin American, there is one priest for 20,000 Catholics, while here in St. Louis, there is one priest for 2,000 Catholics.   The goal of our priest missionaries is to evangelize in a way that makes missionary disciples of the Lord Jesus.  This includes the training of native vocations to the priesthood.  Our priest missionaries can only do what we make possible through our prayers and donations. Thank you for your prayers and donations.  To find our more about how your donation help, please visit the website www.stlmissions.org and click on Latin America Apostolate.

Children deserve to grow up with a healthy understanding of sexuality and its proper place in human relationships.  They should be spared the degrading manifestations and the crude manipulation of sexuality so prevalent today.  They have a right to be educated in authentic moral values rooted in the dignity of the human person.  This brings us back to our consideration of the centrality of the family and the need to promote the Gospel of life.  What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today?  We need to reassess urgently the values underpinning society, so that a sound moral formation can be offered to young people and adults alike. 
Pope Benedict XVI, Celebration of Vespers and Meeting with the Bishops of the United States of America, April 16, 2008

Anne Jacquin is a queen candidate for the 2008 Washington Town and Country Fair. She is the daughter of David and Terri Jacquin. Anne is selling season passes for the fair now until August 4th: Adult tickets are $40, Children ages 6-12 are $25 and children ages 5 and under are free. Starting in July she will being selling tickets after 10:30 mass. To purchase tickets or for more information on the tickets or about the fair please call Anne at 636-388-0070.

Adam and Eve had the only “marriage” made in Heaven.  The rest of us have to work at it daily!  If you want to improve communication with your spouse, ask her or him to go on a Marriage Encounter Weekend.  You won’t regret it!  Call 314-469-7317 or go to www.stl-wwme.org for information and reservations.

Housekeeping available - call Kathy at 742-2036 after 6:00 p.m.; light stable keeping available if needed.

Your most important work may begin after your retire The Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) is now accepting applications for the 2008-09 volunteer year.  Retired men and women interested in committing two days a week to serving the poor in St. Louis from September thru June are welcome to attend.  Ignatian Volunteers gather monthly for prayer and reflection on their service and they meet one on one with a trained spiritual reflector for personal support in their spiritual life.

Instructions for Baptism are usually held the fourth Thursday of each month, from 7-8 p.m. at the rectory. If you plan to attend please call the rectory. The next class will be held August 28, 2008.

St. Johns Goes Wireless! Thanks to YHTI and Radio Comm Paging, St. Johns now has a wireless Internet connection! So long satellite! Having a wireless Internet connection has greatly increased the speed and dependability of our Internet service. We are very excited about this change. It is a great addition to our Technology future. This service is also available for use at your home. If you do not have access to broadband cable (Charter Pipeline or DSL) this may work for you. All you need is a line of sight from the top of your house to the towers in either Krakow or Ming Estates area and be within the service radius. And best of all, the service is local!

FYI:  If you need to contact Fr. Jeff or Fr. Don you can do so via email to the rectory, the address is: stjohnsgild@yhti.net

Sick or injured of the Parish: Ginny Ehlenbeck, Mike Stosz, Sharon Stosz, Jim Hellmann, Tony Tobben, Roberta Maune, David Hardin, Casper & Rose Haberberger, Judy Duvall. We ask the Lord to bless all those who are sick or injured in our community, those who are in nursing homes and those homebound.

Communion at home for the sick and shut-in's: Please keep this in mind:  If you or someone in the family is convalescing or returning from the hospital and would like Communion at home, give us a call at the rectory.  Even if it's only for a few weeks.  Want to hear from you.  So often it seems we are not aware of those who might be ministered to in this way.

The Prayer Petition Box is in the church vestibule. Please put your prayer petitions in so we may pray for your needs.

Are you new to our parish?  Recently moved to this area??  See Fr. Jeff or Fr. Don and they will be happy to register you and your family or call the rectory and we can send you a registration card.  We want YOU as part of our parish community!

Learn more about the Catholic Faith by listening to Catholic Radio Program; "Faith Conversations" on Covenant Network WRYT-AM(1080), and KHOJ-AM (1460) 7a.m. Mondays and 3:30 p.m. Thursdays.

School News SAVE THE DATE!  It is time again for the semi-annual St. John's scrapbook event to benefit our school.  Look for more advertising coming out soon.  Reservations can be made by contacting Betsy Williams at 390-4081 or catfish67@hughes.net.  Hope to see you there! SEPTEMBER 20, 2008 St. John's Scrapbook Extravaganza PRINCIPAL’S CORNER: We have just completed “Camp Invention”.  Mrs. Koch, Mrs. Burke and Mrs. Stamminger, three of our teachers, hosted 23 children for a week of learning and fun.  It was a wonderful school year. I knew I’d have many duties, but the one that kept me the most busy was counting blessings. What a parish!  What a school!   Wow! We are currently in the process of a S.I.P. (Self-improvement Plan, formerly known as the “self study :”) Every school/parish in the Archdiocese Is required to undergo this process every seven years. This year it is our turn Mrs. Karen Maune graciously agreed to “chair” this process. It is an astronomical amount of work and a huge investment of TIME. They have been meeting throughout this past school year. The categories from the archdiocese are: Catholic Identity, Curriculum, and Institution. There is a committee for each of these, and they generally consist of school parents, teachers, principal, pastor, and of course, the chairperson, Karen Maune. Currently the Institution Committee is in process. They have done the “walk through”, made suggestions, tossed out ideas, consulted with the appropriate parties. They will write up a report for the visiting team based on the 4 criteria that the archdiocese asks us to evaluate. Those areas are:  1. safe    2. secure    3. attractive   4. Promotes the best learning environment. The visiting team consists of educators from other schools throughout the archdiocese. They will be on site for 2 or 3 days. Their “job” is to look at the document  we will have created, based upon findings of the committees, and verify and/or make recommendations based upon their own findings. Nothing will be decided until all appropriate parties have reviewed the information and recommendations. Please hold the committees and this wonderful faith community in  your hearts and prayers during this very time consuming process. Our “kidlets” deserve the best possible education within our means. If we don’t have the “stuff” we need, we have a work ethic off the charts, a faith that moves mountains, and grateful love to God and His children. Barb Danner, Principal St. John’s School St. John's Window Clings Show your St. John's Pride by displaying your very own "We Love St. John the Baptist Church and School" Window Cling.  They sell for just $1 and are available at the Scrip Card Table after all weekend Masses.  Thanks for supporting our great Church and School! St. John's Student Council is collecting can tabs (soda, etc.) to benefit the Ronald McDonald house.  A sign and box is in the back of church for you to place your can tabs in.  Thank you! Safe Environment Program “Protecting God’s Children” - In order to be in compliance with the directives from the Archdiocese, all priests and religious, employees and volunteers 18 or older who work with our children in any capacity MUST: --ATTEND ONE Protecting God’s Children Workshop, --COMPLETE a form for a background check, and --SIGN a commitment to follow strictly the rules and guidelines set forth in the Code of Ethical Conduct issued by the Archdioceses BEFORE being able to participate in any activities involving children at St. John’s.  This includes mid-day recess, field trips, athletics, scouts, etc.  Visit www.archstl.org for sites and dates and times of workshops as they are held throughout the diocese on a regular basis.  If you have any questions regarding the “Protecting God’s Children” Program, please see Fr. Jeff. At the start of the 08-09 school year, if your name is not listed as having attended a workshop you will not be allowed to volunteer with school activities. Tuition for the 08-09 school year begins with the first Sunday in June, ends with the last Sunday in May, and is as follows: 1 child in grades kindergarten-8th - $70 weekly $3,640.00 YR 2 or more children in grades kindergarten-8th - $90 weekly $4,680.00 YR Preschool fees: 1 day-$21 1 half day-$16   2 days-$39           2 half days-$29   3 days-$57           3 half days-$42   4 days-$72 4 half days-$52   5 days-$85 5 half days-$60 Notices were sent out to all those still owing tuition.  07-08 Tuition must be paid before the start of the new school year or we will have to discuss if your child/children can continue attending St. John’s School. DID YOU KNOW? St. John's School serves children from Kindergarten thru 8th grade; that the teacher to student ratio is 10-1; that we offer before school care and after school care programs and Preschool; that our students consistently score well against national averages; that our students are well prepared as they continue onto high school; that we offer daily religion classes; music, PE and have an updated science lab; that we offer extracurricular sports programs for the kids; and that we offer daily hot lunches. If you would like more information about the school or if you are interested in enrolling your child, please call the school office at 583-2392 or see Fr. Jeff. Scrip Cards are changing the way people shop nation wide. One of the simplest ways to raise funds for our church and school is through the St. John's Scrip Program or as we like to call it, Cash Rewards.  St. John's is rewarded with cash from the places where you already shop!  For every $25 you spend at JC Penneys, St. John's receives 5%; for every $25 you spend at Hillermann's Nursery, St. John's receives 10% of that $25.  Currently, funds we raise primarily support the Home & School Organization; however, with greater parish wide use and support, this program has the potential to raise thousands of dollars each year for our church as well. Stop by the table after Mass or give us a call so we can explain in detail how easy it is to raise money for St. John's.  Call Diana Smith 239-9773 or Linda Kulpa 742-2514; we are anxious to explain this program to all our parishioners at St. John's. Scrip tip: Don't forget that you can use scrip cards to pay your JC Penney and Kohl's bills.

PAPER RECYCLING earns money for St. John's. The bins are located behind the school next to the ballfield. Acceptable items include: newspapers, magazines, catalogs, computer & fax paper, envelopes and shredded paper. Thank you for supporting St. John's.
Reminder: Acceptable items include:  Newspaper, catalogs, magazines, envelopes, computer and construction paper, and shredded paper in long strips.  Please remember that contamination in the form of phone books, plastic, cardboard, and food containers may cause the load to be rejected.  Contact Karen Maune at 636-742-2582 with any questions.  Spread the word to family and friends to recycle at St. John's.  The more we collect, the more money we make.

If you wish to rent the parish hall for any occasion (wedding, shower, reunion, anniversary or schedule a meeting, athletic event or practice, etc.) or would like to use/rent the tables & chairs, please contact Alicia Gierer at 636-667-7016.

WE NEED YOU!! - Mass/Liturgy of the Word - We are all called to participate in this celebration by being a Lector, Eucharistic Minister and/or Usher.  This is a truly rewarding ministry and no special qualifications are necessary!  Contact Fr. Jeff or Fr. Don or call Mike Stosz at 583-2928.  We need you!

St. John's Church now has its own web site at www.stjohns-gildehaus.org. Please take a look and see if you feel anything should be added. THANK YOU to Mike Stosz, mns@yhti.net, for building and maintaining the website. Forgot to pick up a bulletin... check out the website as our bulletin is posted weekly!

If you have something you would like published in the bulletin you can contact Mary Sue Hardin by email at dahmsh@charter.net. Please remember that the DEADLINE for the bulletin is WEDNESDAY.

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