ST. JUDE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY   PAGE EIGHT    NOVEMBER 5,  2000

One of the most special ministries in our parish, is "Embracing the Dying".    Those in this ministry embrace those who are dying and their families.     They serve as spiritual hospice persons.     Helping the dying person and the family to share last thoughts and feelings.     Helping the family to accept the impending death of a loved one.     Helping the dying person with their family to compose their funeral service:  music, Readings, etc.    So that on the day of the Christian Burial ritual, the family truly feels one with their beloved who has died and gone to the Lord, and knows that their loved one helped put this together as what they wanted all to feel, and be comforted by, during the funeral rituals.

If you would like to join this ministry of love and compassion, please contact either Debbie Meier at 818 - 597 - 1464, or Jean Marie Cull at 805 - 497 - 6473.

St. Jude's 55+ Club meets the second Wednesday of each month after the 12:05 p.m. Mass.    If you enjoy seniors, then our 55 Plus Club is for you.    Age does not matter.    Any age is welcome!     Come along and join our crowd.     Next meeting will be November 8^th.

We begin with a Pot Luck.    Just bring along a homemade or a store-bought dish --- salad, hot dish, dessert.     Whatever your taste buds desire, will please us.    We enjoy food and company!    And, do bring along a friend!

Deacon Joe and Carol Manion will speak next month about being a Permanent Deacon family.

Please bring to the November meeting food for our adopt-a-family.  Items such as boxes of cake mix, beans, candy, flour, cans of veggies, etc.  As of yet we don't have a specific family and as soon as we do I will try to put it in the bulletin.  If for some reason you are not able to attend the November meeting items can be taken to the rectory.

At the November meeting there will be a sign-up sheet for the annual Thanksgiving Dinner.

THERE WILL NOT BE A MEETING IN DECEMBER.

The Bereavement Support Group has resumed meeting every other Wednesday evening in the Parish School Library from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.      This group is open to everyone who has experienced a loss within the past two years.   

For more information, please contact Louise Engel-Ruck at 805 - 374 - 2864

Calling All Moms!  Please join us Mondays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon as we share the thrill and joy of watching our children making friends and having fun within our Parish Community.

We need you to join right now so we can make our Great Circle of Caring and Sharing Friends even larger.

For more information, please contact Julie Lavacca at 818 - 889 - 8272, or Lourdes Steele 818 - 879 - 1482.

In memory of two Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus --- Father Jim McKeon and Deacon Al Caffrey --- our local Knights of Columbus Council has given our parish two "Vocation Chalices".      These are real chalices used at Mass.

Each Sunday a family takes home one of these chalices.     The family places the chalice on their dinner table as a reminder to pray for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life during that week.     The following Sunday the family brings the chalice to Mass, and bring-up the chalice during the Presentation of the Gifts with the bread and wine.   The Priest at that Mass then uses that chalice during that Mass.     At the end of Mass, the priest presents that chalice to another family to take home for the week.

If your family would like to sign-up to receive a chalices for a week, and pray for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life during your evening meal, please contact Jay DeLeondaris at 818 - 707 - 2761.

If you are new to our parish community, please come by our Pastoral Parish Office to meet the staff and priests and to register.     If time is of the essence, then garb a registration form from the back of the church, fill it out and turn it in.      Soon after registering, our Newcomers Hospitality will visit your home and share with you about our many parish activities, and then you can leave your imprint on who we are. 

If you are interested in welcoming newcomers to our parish family, please contact Denise Ferrone at 818 - 597 - 9177 or Monica Larson at 818 - 597 - 9177.