Trust

I found in the Catholic Update a reflection to tie in with our trust topic.

"Trusting as Joseph Did...Jer 23:5-8/Mt 1:18-25

St. Joseph, a quiet and unassuming man, experienced God as an earthquake. Mary's pregnancy shocked and devastated him. As he tossed and turned at night, God asked him to embrace Mary's child as his own. He did. Later he was told to flee with his family into a foreign land. He did. We know little else about this man except that, amid the whirlwinds of his life, he trusted and obeyed God. Maybe that's all we need to know.

Action: Reflect on a time God came as an earthquake.
Prayer: St. Joseph, help me to trust God amid the whirlwinds of life."

December Meeting Recap

Hi Connect!

Here is a recap of our meeting earlier this month. Sorry it's late. It's been a busy month. =)

The meeting was a lot of fun. Nieves and Rob brought their kids and they said it was fun too! We had lots of desserts to share and some delicious homemade dishes. The white elephant gift exchange had lots of neat presents. I went home with much needed wrapping paper for this month.

We will not be able to volunteer this month with OSL. No one is available to make it on the 29th. So Phil will look into available dates in January.

Our discussion topic was trust, led by Nieves. She interviewed family, friends and coworkers. She found many ways people are dealing with trust in their lives. Trust issues include: Abandonment by parents. Spouse's driving and falling asleep at the wheel. Business companies and contracts. Trusting God will do it in His time. Will God return? Marriages affected by affairs and divorce. Friendships taking years to build, but seconds to destroy. Neighbors watching out for each other.
Trust is something many of us constantly deal with...it is dependence...it is assurance...it is hope. Thank you Nieves for sharing what you have learned!

Our next meeting will be on January 8th instead of the 1st, New Years Day. Rob volunteered to lead the discussion. =) Let me know when you decide on a topic.

I wish everyone a safe and Blessed Christmas with your family and friends!! Merry Christmas!

God Bless!
Reggie

December 4th Meeting

Hello Connect!

I hope everyone is doing well!
I'm excited about our meeting this Tuesday, December 4th at 7 PM in the youth room.
-We'll have our usual potluck, maybe bring a favorite holiday dish or dessert to share.
-Discuss this month's community service event: help prepare a dinner meal for the Operation Sack Lunch program in Seattle. Phil has volunteered us to help out on Saturday, December 29th. Let's plan carpool. =)
-Don't forget to bring a $10 present for our annual white elephant gift exchange.
-Nieves will lead the discussion on trust...the advantages and disadvantages...and how it helps a person be more at peace with themselves and with God.

I look forward to seeing everyone! Thank you for making time to grow spiritually, and making time for family and friends. How are you celebrating Advent this year? I would love to hear more about it, just post a comment on our blog. http://easconnect.blogspot.com/
I started the Advent celebration this weekend decorating our Christmas tree with my husband and boys, reminiscing over each ornament. Then celebrated dinner with friends and family. It was a great feeling to spend quality time with each other and to share our love for one another.

Happy Advent!
Reggie

November meeting recap

Hi Connect!
Here is the update of the meeting last week.
Service: Help St. Vincent de Paul with Thanksgiving baskets on Nov 16th and 17th. See my previous email or our blog for more details. For December, we're looking into available dates to help prepare and serve food for Operation Sack Lunch. Always a fun event to give back to our community.
Social: Our next meeting will include a white elephant gift exchange! $10 limit. Bring something cool or funny.
Topic: We met with Deacon Craig and had an informative discussion on Advent. What memories do you recall of Advent as a child? Nativity scene? Picking a Christmas tree? Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year in the Catholic Church. Advent is a celebration beginning four Sundays before Christmas. This year Advent begins on December 2nd. It is a celebration of Christ's birth at Christmas. It is a celebration of Jesus's duality, his two natures- humanity and Divinity. It also is a celebration of His second coming at the end of time.

So how can we make Advent more meaningful this year and avoid the commercialism? It begins with awareness and being intentional. We can start by forming traditions with our family. Celebrate old and new traditions. Decorate your Christmas tree together as a family and reminisce about each ornament. Light a candle every week. Begin and end each day with a daily prayer. Give back to your community. Give the best gift of all...your time. Make time to be with your family, friends, and your Heavenly Father in prayer. Be present. Be intentional.
Thank you Deacon Craig for leading the discussion!
I wish you all a wonderful Advent Season! Let us celebrate the gift of life, love and Christ!

Please make time to join us at our next meeting. =) December 4th. Nieves will lead the discussion on trust...the advantages and disadvantages...and how it helps a person be more at peace with themselves and with God.
I hope to see you then!
Reggie

November Community Service

Hi Connect!
Our volunteer opportunity this month:
1.Help prepare the Thanksgiving food baskets for The Society of St. Vincent de Paul on November 16th, Friday, at 2 PM at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church in station 1, downstairs.
2.Then deliver the baskets to the selected families in need the next morning, Saturday, November 17th, at 9:30 AM in station 1.

If you can help out, thank you! It only took a couple hours both days. If you are not able to give your time, please consider donating food or money to help feed the hungry in our local community.

Thank you Cy for coordinating!

God Bless,
Reggie

Sex & Marriage Study Group

Becky would like to invite you to listen to a talk series by Christopher West on the Theology of the Body starting November 29th. Questions or RSVP contact her at rebecca.harmon@ymail.com. Please read her invite below:

Hello folks,
Since several people in Connect had expressed interest in the Theology of the Body group I am starting up, please see the announcement below for details! If you have questions or want to RSVP, feel free to reply to this email. Cheers!
Becky ----------------

Have you ever wondered...what does it mean to be male or female? Is it possible to change sexes? Is it good for members of the same sex to engage in sexual activity? What exactly is marriage and can it be redefined? Is celibacy unhealthy and repressive? Is there anything wrong with self-stimulation or pornography? Is contraception good for relationships and society? What does sexual purity mean and is it even possible?

According to John Paul the Great, these and other questions regarding sexuality go straight to the heart of what it means to be human. How we answer such questions determines whether our culture is life and love affirming or falls into the sorts of errors that gave rise to the abuses of Nazism, Fascism and Communism. During his papacy, JPII presented the Church's teaching in an exciting and powerful reformulation that his biographer, George Weigel, called "a time bomb set to go off with dramatic consequences." The "Theology of the Body," as JPII's work has been called, is brought down to the layperson's level in a series of talks by the scholar and speaker Christopher West.

Come join other adults at Alleluia Catholic Store in Bothell to listen to these talks on Thursday evenings, from 6:30-8:30pm, starting Nov. 29th. Drop-ins always welcome, but for the fullest benefit of the series, it is best to attend from the beginning. Study guides available for purchase in-store. Refreshments provided.

reminder meeting, 11/6/12

Hi Connect,
Just a friendly reminder of our next meeting on Tuesday, November 6th at 7 PM. Bring a favorite dish/dessert to share. Our new Deacon Craig will be discussing Advent. A great opportunity to get to know one of our leaders at our church.

Check your calendar...Society of St. Vincent de Paul would like our help with building the Thanksgiving baskets on Friday, November 16th and delivering the baskets the next day. Last year we were able to carpool with Connect members and deliver baskets together. It was fun! So let me know if you can make it. Cy will keep us posted with the definite meeting time.

I also found in the Sunday bulletin an interesting meeting you might be interested in. Dr. Tom Curran will be speaking at the church on November 7th from 7-9 PM. He will explain how to deepen our faith alongside Catholics all over the world. Connecting with Pope Benedict XVI announcement that 2013 is the year of faith, a year of reflection and rediscovery of the foundations of our faith.

Hope to see you at our potluck meeting!
Many Blessings,
Reggie

Next meeting on election day!

Hello Connect!

How are you? Our next meeting is already one week away! It is on Tuesday, November 6th, at 7 PM in the youth room. Same day as election day. Don't forget to mail your ballot in before then! Everyone's opinion counts and should be heard.

The topic for this month is Advent. We have a guest speaker from the parish staff who has volunteered to lead this topic, Craig Lundberg. Thank you for volunteering! He will discuss the meaning, history, and how to prepare for Advent. An emphasis on how to make this Advent and Christmas more spiritually meaningful to us and our families this year. Hopefully address why it is so commercialized and how we can avoid that distraction and teach that to our family and friends.

Cy found out that Habitat for Humanity is starting a new building project and there are available Saturday openings from November-January. She will also update us on St. Vincent de Paul Thanksgiving baskets. They have a list of items in the bulletin that they still need. If we could help donate food, items or money for the baskets, that would be wonderful! We'll discuss more at the meeting.

Glendora also has volunteer information for Catholic Community Services to share with us.

Looking forward to seeing everyone again! Enjoy the beautiful, vibrant fall colors before they're all gone!

In God's Blessing,
Reggie

October Meeting- Presidential Election 2012

Hi Connect!

It was great seeing more familiar faces last night. It was a fun and engaging meeting.

Thank you, Jonathan, for leading the discussion on 3 political issues that affect the Catholic community: protection of life, contraception and gay marriage. Very sensitive topics, that I am very grateful we were able to share with each other any questions, information or opinions we had in a very open and respectful manner. I just love this group! =)

So Jonathan tied the issues with the Theology of the Body, a study of God revealed through our human bodies, a communion with God and others. Love as giving versus using. Love and marriage is total free, faithful and fruitful. It was very interesting to look at these issues through this point of view.

Here is a very brief summary:

1. Protection of Life- We are made in image like God. Capital punishment, let us repent until our last day. Abortion, God does not make mistakes. The church allows exception of this if endangers mother's life.
2. Contraception- President Obama’s plan that all employers, including religious institutions, who provide health insurance include birth control at no cost. For- women's rights, freedom to choose, financial and planned parenting. Against- Woman then becomes an object of desire, natural family planning
3. Gay marriage- for- equal rights, against- love homosexual people, but condemn the act. Government cannot redefine marriage. not fruitful.

Here are websites recommended by members to check out.
Phil recommends:
Here is a link to the podcast I was talking about. People can go here in itunes to subscribe to it http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-stuff-you-should/id412678859b
Their normal web site is http://catholicstuffpodcast.com/

Jonathan recommends:
The following are the links that I used to get my information:
- http://www.catholicvote.org/index.php?/site : Great site to check out all of the issues including ones we covered and others we did not. It also shows where each candidate stands on the issues.
These sites go into great detail on the church's reasoning behind their stances on the issues:
- http://www.catholicbridge.com/ - http://chastity.com/ - http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/

Cy recommends:
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=D9vQt6IXXaM&hd

The first presidential debate was today. The debate schedule is as follows: October 11, VP debate. October 16, Presidential debate. October 22, Presidential debate.

Thank you again to everyone for participating in the meeting. Thank you, Jonathan for leading the engaging discussion. Don't forget to vote!

God Bless,

Reggie

Next Meeting, October 2nd

Hello Connect!

I can't believe October is just around the corner! I hope everyone is doing well and having a Blessed month.

Our last meeting was very refreshing. I was so happy to see and catch up with a few Connect members I haven't seen in a couple months!

Thank you, Suzanne, for leading the group through a very relaxing meditation. She asked us to keep an open-mind, turned off the lights, lit candles and played sounds of waves crashing at the beach. She was able to guide us to visualize Jesus and have a conversation with him. At first, it was hard for me to keep my mind from wandering after a long day. Once I was able to hear the birds chirping, I knew my mind was free.=) I definitely recommend everyone to try this technique to help calm the mind, create a sense of contentment, and have a conversation with Jesus.

So our next meeting is in one week! October 2nd at 7 PM in the Youth room. Jonathan will lead the discussion and it's another interesting one! We will discuss the upcoming election and how it will affect us. I know I have been horrible keeping up with the current issues, so I have a lot of studying to do. =) Please join us, I'd love to hear your opinion!

Have a Blessed week,
Reggie

If you want to post an entry/topic let me know! I'd love to post it. Comment on posts anytime.=)

meeting rescheduled to 9/11/12

Just a reminder that our September meeting is not today, September 4th, and is rescheduled for next week September 11th, 7 PM in the youth room. Bring a dish/appetizer you'd like to share at the potluck dinner. We're thinking of trying to plan a dinner theme next time, we'll talk about it some more. Suzanne will either discuss meditation or song as prayer, come and find out! =) If you would like to lead upcoming discussions, please let me know, and I'll add you to the sign up sheet. See you next week! Blessings, Reggie

Sounders Game, August 5th, 2012

Helping the homeless

In July, several members of the Connect group and friends were able to help prepare and serve a meal to homeless men at Operation Sack Lunch in downtown Seattle. As you can tell from the previous post of our group pictures, we had a great time! Our chef was very funny and very welcoming. The homeless men we served were part of the Compass Center Men’s Program. A transitional housing with case management-based housing for 78 men. Meals are provided, participants may stay up to one year; in exchange they must be clean and sober, and pay 30% of his income. The men were very appreciative of our help. Some more louder than others, but we also heard the quiet ones.

The moment that sticks out for me was when a couple of us volunteers let a homeless man in the secured building because he said he had an appointment at 4 PM. He had a gray beard, stood about 5'5", looked in his early 50's and had 2 large, black, plastic, garbage bags with him. We told the chef who located the coordinator. He was early, it was 3 PM. They sat him down in the cafeteria and the chef asked him if he ate today. He said, "No ma'am." Then she said with a very upbeat voice, "We'll take care of that." and brought him some snacks to eat. It was a hot day. I can't imagine being without water or food for that long or even longer. I wouldn't know what to do. Homelessness can happen to anyone at anytime. This link lists our basic survival needs in this order: shelter, water, fire and food.Basic needs We take these basic needs for granted everyday and we shouldn't. So I pray and thank God for opening our hearts to help those in need. I thank God for giving us the strength that each person can make a difference. I pray to God to help end homelessness and hunger.

I hope to create with the group a bookmark with a prayer, possibly with a pocket-sized Bible, to hand out to the men the next time we volunteer there. Help guide them on their journey...this new door of hope. Please take the time to check out their site Operation Sack Lunch to learn more about this great program and see how else you can help make a difference to end hunger.

Thank you to Rhea, Jeffery, Phil, Suzanne, Jonathan, Kristen, and Jordan for volunteering your time!

Operation Sack Lunch 2012

July meeting topic

Hello Connect! Our meeting in July, Phil gave a talk on St. Francis of Assisi. His faith journey began by being born of wealth and had participated in wild parties. Then on his way to the Fourth Crusade, he turned back and his conversion to God began. St. Francis is considered the founder of all Franciscan orders and the patron saint of animals, ecologists and merchants. Very interesting and memorable story. Thanks Phil for sharing!

Mariners Game Photos

Here are the photos from the Mariners game we attended on June 30th. What an amazing game and fun time we had!!

Mariner's Game

We had a great time at the Mariner's game. It was Viva Las Vargas Night versus the Red Sox. Some of us arrived early enough to receive free big, gold sunglasses to sport during the game. We won in overtime in the 11th inning. The highlight for me was the Connect group and family members appearing on the live, big screen dancing, six times! Someone was able to cross that off her bucket list. =) 
Rhea will be posting pictures soon to share our fun event.

June Meeting

It has been a busy summer so far. I love the beautiful, sunny weather we are having here in Washington! Since my last post, we have had a couple group meetings. In June, Nieves and Rob provided our entire dinner. We were very grateful for the delicious meal! Then Jeffery gave an informative speech on the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans where he visited last year with his family. We ended in Adoration in the Chapel after sharing our own personal prayer intentions. I especially enjoyed learning more about each group member's hardships and happiness. It was nice to pray together as a group and pray for each other. I hope to continue sharing more with each other. I found it very fulfilling.
-Reggie

Good Karma Pictures

Here they are! Some pictures from our successfully completed Good Karma 5k Run/Walk at Seward Park! If you have any more pictures, please be sure to send them to Reggie so we can add them to our slideshow.

May Meeting

We had a fun meeting last May 15th. We had a great turn out of friends, food and discussions. Thank you for taking the time to meet, it was great seeing everyone. I'd like to welcome a couple new members, Rob and Nieves. We look forward to seeing you at our future meetings and events!

Thank you Cy for leading the discussion on the book, "How Your Words Can Change Your World" by Bo Sanchez. Here is the list of 31 Faith Declarations you shared with us:
1. Claim for a Blessed life
2. Claim that God is bigger than your mistakes
3. Claim your health and healing
4. Claim your loved ones for God
5. Claim your freedom
6. Claim for more love in your relationship
7. Claim for God's guidance
8. Claim for financial blessings
9. Claim for spiritual growth
10. Claim for emotional healing
11. Claim for victory over trials
12. Claim for a fantastic future
13. Claim for God to use you as a rich blessing to others
14. Claim that you walk in daily miracles
15. Claim for divine protection
16. Claim your greater joy
17. Claim that you grow in having a servant's heart
18. Claim for deeper trust
19. Claim for a happy and loving family
20. Claim for your dreams to come true
21. Claim for spiritual revival
22. Claim that you become more like Jesus
23. Claim for a peaceful heart
24. Claim for patience
25. Claim for courage to do God's will
26. Claim for God's big surprises
27. Claim for a double portion of God's anointing
28. Claim for inner strength
29. Claim for open doors
30. Claim that God brings the right people to your path
31. Claim for abundance beyond what you can ever imagine to change your life forever

These are great conversation starters and prayers to have with God. You can claim one with Him everyday of the month. I will pray one each day in the month of June. I encourage you to do the same. I hope you'll join me!
Blessings,
Reggie

Good Karma 5K Run

As I was trying to re-evaluate and grasp what our mission is as a group, I was relieved to come across this article in the Catholic News Agency that supports what our group wanted to do from day one. We wanted to grow in our Catholic faith by helping others through community service.

Cardinal Robert Sarah said, “Catholics engaged in charitable work, are the presence of God. We are the expression of the love of God, the compassion of God.” So as it may seem that we are gathering together socially to help others, we are in fact growing together to share God’s love. This is the link to the article. 

 Catholic News Agency

Our next community service event is a 5K run fundraiser with Good Karma. You choose where your proceeds will benefit among 10 local nonprofit charities. They include The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Northwest Harvest, People for Puget Sound, Arts Fund, Lifelong AIDS Society, Solid Ground, Seattle Humane Society, and USO-Puget Sound. I know, there are so many great charities to choose from! I've signed up and I am supporting Seattle Children’s Hospital.

The run or walk takes place at beautiful Seward Park in Seattle on Sunday, May 27^th at 9 AM. This will be our 2^nd time participating in this fun, low-key event. Bring your family!

They offered us a group discount of $5 off per person if you wish to use it. The code for the coupon is RT12GK and our club name is Connect with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church. Please go to their website to register or for more information. 

Good Karma 5K

This is also a great way to promote a healthy, active lifestyle. So start training or exercising now…you still have plenty of time! It’s never too late to start. Remember the American Heart Association encourages a goal of 30 minutes of exercise, 5 times a week. Oh, here I go…my ultimate goal for everyone is to improve our quality of life spiritually, physically and mentally. =) I would love for us to do this together!

 American Heart Association