Connect Meeting on Monday 11/28

The Connect team will meet on Monday, 11/28 at 6:30pm.  We will meet at Hot Iron Mongolian Grill this time to have dinner and share together.  Reggie will lead a discussion about observing the Sabbath.  Here is some prep work that Reggie did for the discussion.  See you on Monday!


I was very intrigued by the insert in one of our Sunday bulletins from the Catholic Update, "Sabbath Moments in a Busy World" by Susan Rowland. 

"A Sabbath Moment is a brief pause in one's day to pull away from work, to refresh oneself, to pray, to think about God."

"It is true that the Catholic Church through the authority of Christ replaced the Hebrew Sabbath (Saturday) with the Lord's Day (Sunday); however, this occurred very early - well before the time of Emperor Constantine in the fourth century. For Christians two important events happened on Sunday. First, the Resurrection of Christ occurred on Easter Sunday (John 20:1ff). Secondly, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Church on Pentecost Sunday (Acts 2:1ff). Also after His Resurrection, Jesus appeared to the Apostles twice, each on Sunday (John 20:19 & 26). As a result, Sunday became known as the Lord's Day for Christians." -A Catholic Response, Inc.

Now the essential point of the Commandment is that we set one day a week holy to the Lord. It is the only one of the Ten Commandments that has to do with how we treat ourselves. Deadlines and productivity are a measure of our worth that many of us feel work is our real life and our spiritual life is second. So I wanted us to recheck how we are keeping the Sabbath. How are we resting and taking the time to reflect about God? Is it going to church on Sunday, then finishing off chores before going back to work or school the next day? A common excuse is we do not have the time. So to help overcome that obstacle, we must make celebrating the Sabbath or the Lord's Day intentional and plan ahead. Resting, renewing, prioritizing for one day a week helps bring order to the chaos of our lives.

Before we meet on Monday, the 28th, at the Mongolian Grill, I would like everyone to practice the Sabbath at least once. Put aside all distractions: work, homework, chores, cooking, bills, projects, checking email and facebook for one day and rest, be present. Plan your rest by enjoying God's gifts, God's presence - alone reading, listening to music, visiting with loved ones, or with your church community. Then I want you to share your experience with us: what you did, what you didn't do =), if it was easy or difficult and why, obstacles you came across, how did one day of rest affect you the rest of the week. If celebrating Sabbath is a common practice for you, then please share with us how you have
made it work in your life to help others succeed.

I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's stories!

St. Vincent de Paul and Thanksgiving

Cybee has organized a service event in conjunction with the St. Vincent de Paul Society at the Church.  SVDP will arrange and deliver Thanksgiving baskets on 11/18 and 11/19.  The Connect team will help out with this effort.  Cybee needs to know who can help.  If you are interested in helping on either day please let Phil or Cybee know soon.

Next Meeting on Monday 11/7

We'll have a Connect meeting at the Spotted Cow in Mill Creek coming up soon.  Our next one is scheduled for Monday 11/7 at 7:00PM.  At the meeting we'll distribute some information related to the upcoming new translation of the English Mass.  Did you know the Mass translation will change starting in Advent?  Come on over and hear some of the changes.  Also, you can take a look at this site for details and a FAQ.


http://old.usccb.org/romanmissal/

November and December Events

The Connect Team met earlier this week and came up with a list of events for November and December.  We'll give more details about these at our information session on this Saturday.

11/7: Connect Meeting at The Spotted Cow
11/18-11/19: Helping out St. Vincent de Paul
11/28: Connect Meeting at The Spotted Cow
12/3: Bothell Country Village Christmas Lighting With Santa
12/17: Operation Sack Lunch

Check Us Out This Saturday!

This is a reminder that we will host an information session this Saturday at 2PM at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.  We will meet in the Youth room which is located downstairs.  Come on by to meet the team and learn about our events in November and December.  We have some great service events planned, and we hope to see you there!

Connect Information Session Coming Soon!

The Connect team will soon hold an information session at the Parish aimed at getting some new members.  We will meet at St. Elizabeth's on Saturday 10/25 at 2PM in the Youth room.  We will go over the great events we've hosted throughout the past six months and also go over some plans we have for the future.  If you have any questions feel free to let us know!

Seattle Sounders in August!

The Connect group will head to Qwest CenturyLink Field on Saturday August 27th to see a Seattle Sounders game.  We'd love to have you join us.  We are looking at getting a block of tickets with a group rate.  The tickets will be $32 and include unlimited food and soft drinks!  If you're interested please let Phil know or leave a comment here.

Pictures from Habitat for Humanity

We worked at Habitat for Humanity last month cleaning up the landscaping around four new homes and planting several trees.  We also worked inside the houses to get them ready for people to move in.  It was hard work, but it was a lot of fun.  Here are some pictures from the event.

Welcome to Our Blog!

Hello,

My name is Phil Waligora.  For the past few months I have been involved with a group of young adults at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Bothell, WA.  During that time we have organized meetings to conduct Bible study, come together as a group to share meals, and have had a lot of fun.  We have organized three major events within the community as well.

During May we participated in a 5K Walk/Run to raise money for a charity.  In June we helped out Habitat for Humanity of Snhomish County.  Coming up in July we will go to Operation Sack Lunch in Seattle, WA.  We believe working with the community and giving back is a great way to celebrate our Catholic faith.

I hope you will come back to this blog often to see hear about our announcements and activities.  I also hope that you will consider joining us sometime in the future.  We're always on the look out for new activities and members and would love to have you with us.  If you are interested, feel free to contact us here on the blog.


Thanks,
Phil