FILM & FAITH SERIES 2015

New Year's Dinner & TEACHING MASS

Generations 

of Faith

New Year’s Dinner 

& Teaching Mass

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Dinner 5:00pm Cafeteria

Mass 6:00pm Church

Chicken Marsala (Adults)

Chicken Fingers (Children)

Mashed Potatoes

Green Beans

Corn

Green Salad

Roll & Butter

& Beverage

Teaching Mass by Father Robert Mock & Deacon Bill Hynes

PLEASE RSVP, so that we have enough food!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

RSVP to chanley@saintbenedicts.com 

or cbarber@saintbenedicts.com 

or 836-6466

Family Name: ________________________    

Phone: __________________

______ # of adults x $5.00 =    ___________

______ # of children x $2.50 = ___________

                                      Grand Total $___________

Please make check payable to Saint Benedict Church

Pizza with the Pope!

"Pizza with the Pope"

Want to go past the headlines and get to know  what the Pope really thinks?

Pope Francis recently wrote, "The Joy of the Gospel" and YOU are invited to join Deacon Bill after the 11:30 Sunday mass for a luncheon group to reflect on the Pope's words.

The "Joy of the Gospel," is five chapters long  so we will be discussing one chapter per week over five consecutive weeks in 2014: January 5, 12, 19, 26 and February 2nd.

The Joy of the Gospel is also known by its Latin title: Evangelii Gaudium.

The luncheon will be for just one hour, roughly from 12:40 - 1:40pm (starting time may very slightly depending on when mass ends).

This series is free but we invite people to make a free will offering to offset the cost of the delicious pizza!. 

Please let us know if you can join us via email: msmith@saintbenedicts.com.  

We are looking forward to seeing you and listening to your thoughts on the Pope's words. 

Please join us!  

St. Ben's is located on Main Street and Eggert Road in Eggertsville (Amherst) NY. Directions on our website - www.saintbenedicts.com

[simply click "The Joy of the Gospel" or "Evangelii Gaudium" anywhere in this blog post to begin reading the document.]

Mary, Mother of the Living Gospel!

From Pope Francis - 

a prayer to Mary 

to help us bring the Gospel to life today....

Mary, Virgin and Mother,
you who, moved by the Holy Spirit,
welcomed the word of life
in the depths of your humble faith:

as you gave yourself completely to the Eternal One,
help us to say our own “yes”
to the urgent call, as pressing as ever,
to proclaim the good news of Jesus.

Filled with Christ’s presence,
you brought joy to John the Baptist,
making him exult in the womb of his mother.

Brimming over with joy,
you sang of the great things done by God.

Standing at the foot of the cross
with unyielding faith,
you received the joyful comfort of the resurrection,
and joined the disciples in awaiting the Spirit
so that the evangelizing Church might be born.

Obtain for us now a new ardor born of the resurrection,
that we may bring to all the Gospel of life
which triumphs over death.

Give us a holy courage to seek new paths,
that the gift of unfading beauty
may reach every man and woman.

Virgin of listening and contemplation,Mother of love, Bride of the eternal wedding feast,

pray for the Church, whose pure icon you are,
that she may never be closed in on herself
or lose her passion for establishing God’s kingdom.

Star of the new evangelization,
help us to bear radiant witness to communion,
service, ardent and generous faith,
justice and love of the poor,
that the joy of the Gospel
may reach to the ends of the earth,
illuminating even the fringes of our world.

Mother of the living Gospel,
wellspring of happiness for God’s little ones,
pray for us.

Amen. Alleluia!
(Evangelii Gaudium, 288)

The "J" word.

I know what you are saying.  What is the J word exactly?

Well, the J word is JESUS.

In this very short blog post, I am inviting you to use the J word more this year.  

I know that some of you are aware that we have begun Advent and that Advent is the beginning of the church's new year of grace, but remember, not everyone knows that.  Sometimes we Catholics, even with the best of intentions, make following Jesus a little more complicated than it needs to be.  We sometimes get ahead of ourselves when trying to make new followers of Jesus.  We presume that people know words like advent or liturgy or hierarchy, the list goes on and on.  Since many of us have grown up as Catholics, we use these words effortlessly.  But people who have not yet accepted Jesus or have not heard of his love need to hear the J word more from our lips.

So let this be your new year's resolution: use the J word more!

Windows of St. Ben's Dec. 2

Monday, December 2nd at 7pm our own Deacon Bill will give a one hour presentation on the windows of our beautiful church.

Everyone is welcome.  Please save the date and invite your family and friends.

This is a new presentation, so even those who have attended one in the past are encouraged to join us again for new details and new images from our church. 

It is a multi-media presentation.  No walking required this time.

Family Picnic Aug. 18th

Parish Picnic
Eggert Road lot

 

THIS Sunday, August 18th after the 11:30 Mass

Hot dogs and hamburgers will be served beginning at 1:00 pm along with Beer, Pop and water (cash bar)  Free Coffee.  Pot Luck dinner beginning at 4pm

 

Games & Prizes

 

Snacks

 

Raffle

 

Theme Basket

 

Advance Sale Tickets: $5.00 Adults

Day of Picnic: $7.00 Adults

$3.00 Children 6-14

$5.00 Children 6-14

5 & Under: Free

contact rectory@saintbenedicts.com anytime
or call 834.1041 during office hours.

 

Auction Baskets can be dropped off at the Rectory during regular business hours.

Please consider donating a basket for the auction.

Deacon Bill's Nigerian experience

As you know, Deacon Bill spent part of the summer in Nigeria observing and providing service to Catholic schools run by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (FSC's).  He worked primarily in Naka, Benue State and Ondo, Ondo State (Central Nigeria). The majority of students in Naka are from the Tiv tribe and those in Ondo are primarily Yoruba.  Both tribes are substantially Catholic.

Here are some photos from his recent visit.

Most of the villagers of Naka, and most of the students when not boarding at the school, live in round mud huts such as these:

 

Here is a photo of the road leading to the school.  It is traversed by foot, motorcycles and the occasional car.  It is the rainy season now so it is usually very muddy.  About 3km down this road was St. Therese's Parish where I attended daily and Sunday Mass. There were about 100 villagers for daily Mass. There were two Sunday Masses the 6:30am in English and the 10am in Tiv.

 

 

Here are some photos of Deacon Bill with students at the schools:

 

 

In addition to working with the secondary school (they use the JSS and SSS system - middle school and high school ages) students, Deacon Bill gave theological presentations to six Postulants of the Brothers of the Christian School.  Postulants are those considering a vocation as a Christian Brother.  If they choose to continue and if they are approved for admission, they will become Novices and spend about seven years in Nairobi, Kenya.  Here he is with five of his postulant students:

 

Nigeria has many vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. One seminary Deacon Bill visited had 800 seminarians (in one diocese alone!!!).  Permanent deacons, however, are new to Nigeria and Africa in general.  There are three permanent deacons in Nigeria currently.  When Deacon Bill asked how many of his students wanted to become priests or sisters, virtually every hand went up.

 

The Church in Nigeria is very grateful for the European and American Catholic missionaries who established the Church in Nigeria.  While it may seem that Nigeria has priests to spare, the fact is that the population of Nigeria is growing so quickly that many of the parishes have three and four "outpost" parishes they service. Most of these outposts are not financially able to become independent parishes yet, but undoubtedly will do so in coming years.

 

 

 

Pray for the growing Church in Nigeria! 

 

Feel free to contact Deacon Bill if you want to discuss his visit in more detail - deaconhynes@gmail.com.



 



5 simple Summery things to do!

As the summer vacation season begins, many people make a big mistake.  They take a vacation from Jesus!

Let's have a different type of summer this year.  Let's realize that this is a great time to grow in our faith and to share it. 

Here are five simple Summery things you can do:

1. Feed your faith first.  Discover a nearby summer parish while on vacation and worship there on Sundays with your new vacation community.  After all, we are called "catholic" (which means "universal" in Greek) because we are everywhere. In particular, pray for the poor and those who will never have a vacation from their labor. Use your vacation to "give back" a bit - volunteer, or give a summer offering to Catholic Relief Services or Catholic Charities, for example.

2. Sign up for tweets from Pope Francis @pontifex.  Read what he has to say each day on your smartphone. Retweet him now and again.  Also, check out his daily homilies at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/cotidie/2013/index_en.htm  They are short and to the point.  Please let your family and friends know about these tidbits of papal wisdom.

3. Use your summer vacation to write little notes to your children and grandchildren about how much you love them!  Include a few sentences about how much you pray for them (you do, right?).  Let them know why your Catholic Faith has been so important to you through the years. And don't forget to always begin your writings (emails too!) with JMJ - Jesus, Mary and Joseph - or AMDG - Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam - for the greater glory of God - or some other phrase showing that God is first in your life.

4. Are you "connected" to the internet on vacation?  if so, maybe "disconnect" for a few days.  Chances are good that you will feel more peaceful and more attuned to the beauty around you.  Tell your internet friends the results when you "reconnect."  Give God online credit for these gifts when you reconnect.  After all, God is the maker of all good things - it is His peace and beauty you are rediscovering on vacation! 

5. Show your faith.  Wear your beautiful cross necklace.  Pray the rosary in your Adirondack chair.  Get that religious tattoo you've thought about for years - a cross, the Holy Face of Jesus, Our Lady of Guadalupe, etc. (assuming you're over 18!). Read the Bible in your cottage.  Make a summer commitment to daily morning (lauds) or evening (vespers) prayer with the Church. Read at least one religious book. When people ask you about these things, mention how much your faith means to you.  Be willing to follow up with them or refer them to someone who can answer their questions.


In a previous blog post we gave a great prayer  to say often during summer - (the Benedicite from the Book of Daniel).

Have a truly blessed summer!

5 Techie Lenten ideas

Lent is the Church's yearly penitential "training camp."  We go back to the basic Christian practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving (acts of charity) to refresh our relationship with God and our fellow human beings who were made in God's image and likeness. Take a look at Matthew chapter 6 often this Lent.

Here are five Lenten ideas for "techie" Catholics:

1) GO COLD TURKEY - disconnect for 40 days.  No Tweets, no FB posts, no LinkedIn updates, no email, no texts...nada!  Spend the time you would have spent on technology in prayer.  This is for the strong willed though; be warned - it isn't easy! 

2) PRAISED BE JESUS CHRIST! - change your PC, iPad and Smartphone "backgrounds" to an icon of Jesus for Lent and Holy Week.  Say "Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!" every time you see Him.  Then offer a prayer for His special ones - the poor, the homeless, the persecuted, aborted children, victims of war, the forgotten elderly, etc.

3) TWEET AND FACEBOOK JESUS - make it a point to tweet or post to FB something about Jesus and your faith everyday during Lent. This is a good time to examine your "techie" conscience too...are you using technology to proclaim the Gospel or simply for personal gain?

4) PHOTO PRAYER - randomly go through your digital pics and say a prayer for everyone you see. Does someone in your photo album need a call from you?  a note?   an email?   a visit?    forgiveness?

5) A DOLLAR FOR THE POOR - every time you post a photo of yourself, or your cute kitty, or your amazing dog, give a dollar to Catholic Charities or Catholic Relief Services. 

Happy Lent!
from your friends at St. Benedict's Parish, Amherst NY.

Tech & Religious Ed. Workshop here

TECHNOLOGY & RELIGIOUS EDUCATION WORKSHOP

St. Benedict's is hosting a special Diocesan workshop on Tuesday, March 13th from 6:30 to 8:00 on using technology to tell the Story of Christ. The workshop is being led by Tim Welch who is the author of Technology Tools for Your Ministry. Tim is a consultant for the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota. The workshop is open to everyone, but would be very valuable for anyone interested in teaching religious education. Please Call 847-5501 to register or email esantini@buffalodiocese.org. This workshop is free due to a grant from Our Sunday Visitor.

Thank you Tom and Maureen!

St. Benedict's Parish is extremely grateful for all the hard work Tom and Maureen Kerr have been doing to get our new website up and running. It was truly an amazing feat to have it ready for the rush of Christmas website searches! Many parishioners may not realize that our new website received well over 150,000 hits in just the first three weeks of December alone. 

Tom engaging our Faith Formation students,
encouraging their participation
in our technological endeavors.

The website looks fantastic - clearly organized, easy to use, and cleanly arranged. The homepage is continually updated with new information.  This is now an ongoing project that demands countless hours of behind-the-scenes work. The new content management system (CMS) allows the parish to rapidly update our website and to extend this ministry to ever-larger groups. Tom is great about increasing participation at every step of the way. You will notice, for example, that our 11th graders in the Faith Formation program have already added their contribution to the homepage and we have been up only a couple of weeks!  There will be much more of this collaborative input coming soon. Video and audio in-house productions, live recordings of Masses and/or homilies, faith testimonies and much more will be appearing in the course of the year.

In addition, Tom wrote the $15,000 grant that the parish recently received from The Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo. He shepherded us through the exhaustive grant process. This grant award will be used to "foster spiritual growth with adults, families, children, youth, young adults, and the entire community. We hope to revitalize and mobilize our parish by connecting, welcoming and engaging spiritual seekers... By more effectively utilizing digital technologies we will enhance our parish's outreach and engagement efforts." Maureen handles the substantial grant documentation as we proceed.

We will be seeing much more of Tom and Maureen's work in the weeks and months ahead. Please check the parish website often http://www.saintbenedicts.com/. 

There is no doubt that their forward thinking and technological abilities will bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God. In fact, they already have!  Tom and Maureen have already made St. Benedict's a leader in integrated technology in the service of evangelization.

Thank you both!

Catholics "Recovering Faith" - interview

Lorene Hanley Duquin, wife of our parish Business Manager Dick Duquin, is a well-known author on Catholic topics, particularly evangelization. She writes for OSV - Our Sunday Visitor.

Here she is interviewed on FOX News about her recent book "Recovering Faith: Stories of Catholics Who Came Home."  OSV, 2011.

Catholics in America - survey results

Fifth survey of Catholics in America released

http://ncronline.org/news/fifth-survey-catholics-america-released

The latest version of American Catholics is the fifth in a series of surveys of Catholic attitudes conducted every six years. Taken together, they make up one of the deepest and most consistent portraits ever compiled of the membership of the country's largest religious denomination.

During the last quarter century, Catholic attitudes and practices, as well as the makeup of the church itself, have changed markedly even as Catholics have maintained a steady conviction about certain core beliefs. Stated in simplest terms, Catholics in the past 25 years have become more autonomous when making decisions about important moral issues; less reliant on official teaching in reaching those decisions; and less deferential to the authority of the Vatican and individual bishops.

The full contents of the report and an explanation of how it was done are contained in a special section of the print version of the National Catholic Reporter and is reproduced here [2], a total of 13 essays accompanied by a variety of charts and graphs illustrating the findings.

Some significant points:
Foundational theological convictions and the sacraments remain at the core of belief for most Catholics.For 73 percent of Catholics, belief in the Resurrection is very important while teachings about Mary as the mother of God are very important to 64 percent.Sixty-three percent say that sacraments such as the Eucharist are very important.

Sixty-seven percent rate "helping the poor" as very important, ranking it nearly as essential to their beliefs as the Resurrection.Mass attendance rates remain fairly steady but vary across generations. The attendance rate of the youngest generation of Catholics, known as Millennials, or those coming of age in the 21st century, is lowest of all generations surveyed. But even most Hispanics, whose attendance rate is higher than non-Hispanics, agree that weekly Mass attendance isn't necessary to be considered a good Catholic.

The generation known as the "pre-Vatican II" generation is disappearing. At the same time, the Millenial generation of Catholics is filling the ranks. One of the distinctive characteristics of Millennials is that 45 percent are currently of Hispanic background and that number is expected to grow over the next two decades.

Hispanics and non-Hispanics disagree on a number of issues. One significant difference: 70 percent of Hispanics say helping the poor is important while 56 percent of others say it is. Hispanics also are more traditional in their views of the necessity to agree with church teachings on a range of issues, including remarrying after a divorce and abortion, than non-Hispanics.

According to the survey: "One in five Catholics … says that church leaders such as the pope and bishops are the proper arbiters of right and wrong" in such matters as divorce and remarriage, abortion, sex outside of marriage, homosexuality and contraception, while maintaining that either the individual alone or the individual considering the teaching of church leaders is the proper locus of authority for deciding on such matters.In a sign that religion as well as politics is local, most Catholics give favorable reviews to the leadership of the U.S. bishops as a whole, and particularly of their local bishops.

At the same time, the survey "finds a consensus among American Catholics that the bishops have come up short in their handling of the sex abuse issues," with most Catholics saying the issue has damaged the political credibility of church leaders and impaired the ability of priests "to meet the spiritual and pastoral needs of their parishioners.

"The survey was conducted online among a sample of 1,442 self-identified Catholic adults who are part of the Knowledge Networks' KnowledgePanel. (See "About the survey" in accompanying stories for more detail on the methodology of the study. [3]) The interviews were conducted April 25-May 2. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.The survey's sponsors included an anonymous donor whose contribution was matched by donations from The Rotondaro Family Foundation, the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Sutudies, the Rudolf Family Foundation, the Donegal Foundation and the Luger Family Foundation.William V. D'Antonio, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies at the Catholic University of America, led this fifth survey, as he has all the others. His colleagues this year were Mary Gautier, senior research associate at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, and Michele Dillon, professor of sociology and chair of the department at the University of New Hampshire. 

KEVIN A. KEENAN
Director of Communications
Diocese of Buffalo
795 Main St.
Buffalo, NY  14203
(716) 847-8719
(716) 847-8722 {fax}

Email update on new responses at Mass

Praised be Jesus Christ!

We are in the final stages of preparation for the new responses at Mass.  The new responses go into effect on the First Sunday of Advent (the weekend after Thanksgiving).

Please invite as MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE to the presentation in our church Wednesday 26 October from 7 to 8pm  The church is handicapped accessible.  Please invite your teachers, volunteers, and all the members of groups you belong to.  We will cover the reasons for the changes, the new responses, and offer some catechesis on the liturgy along the Way. This is the ONLY major presentation on the changes in our parish.

UPDATE:
1. We begin inviting the congregation to the 26 Oct. presentation at Masses this weekend and will continue to address the changes going forward.
2. The pew cards with the new responses have arrived.
3. The new Breaking Bread worship aids have arrived and begin in Advent (new responses included)  Glenn has the new musical pieces lined up and ready to go.
4. The Sacramentaries are in.
5. Announcements continue on the bulletin, facebook, twitter and website.  Here is the US Bishops website on the changes - http://old.usccb.org/romanmissal/
6. The School, Faith Formation Program and RCIA are addressing the changes in classes.
7. An invitational video is on the website.
8. We will soon send an invitational email out to those in our distribution list.
9. Our priests and deacon are studying their parts (pray for us!!!!)

Thanks for all you are doing to make this transition as smooth as possible!   See you on the 26th.
deacon bill+
--
Deacon William Hynes
http://www.saintbenedicts.com/
twitter - @stbensamherst
facebook - http://on.fb.me/gpfyMZ

Jesus and the modern world!

Technology quick survey results

A sincere "thank you" to all who participated in our technological quick survey this past weekend!
Here are the results:

SAINT BENEDICT SURVEY
SEPTEMBER 17-­‐18, 2011

RESULTS
463 Responses were received including 3 visitor responses

RESPONSES BY AGE
         6‐12                 13‐18                 19­‐25                   26­‐60                61+
  count 13                     19                        13                        203                 214
   %      3%                    4%                       3%                       44%              46%

HAVE YOU USED THE ST. BENEDICT WEBSITE?
270 Yes (58%) 193 No (42%)
        6­‐12                 13­‐18                  19‐25                 26­‐60                61+
 Yes   5                         16                         9                       150                  90
 No    8                           3                         4                         53                 124

DO YOU USE EMAIL?
354 Yes (77%) 109 No (23%)
       6­‐12                  13­‐18                   19­‐25                 26-­‐60              61+
 Yes  7                          19                       13                       162                183
 No   6                           0                          1                         41                  61

INTERESTING FACT:
92 (26%) of the 354 parishioners with email AND have not used the Parish website
       6­‐12                  13­‐18                   19­‐25                 26­‐60                61+
         4                          3                           3                        43                   39

5 Responses added a comment that they had no computers.
We received email addresses from 255 people.

Hope in an Increasingly Faithless Culture

Hope in an Increasingly Faithless Culture

We’ve all heard the statistics. People (and youth in particular) are leaving the Church at alarming rates. It seems like the message of Christ’s saving power is either falling on deaf ears or teenagers feel that Confirmation is a graduation from the faith. I have struggled with the fact that at an ordinary Sunday Mass at St. Benedict, there is an unbalance in the age pool of people regularly attending. And even then, the youth aren’t the only ones to blame as I’m sure that if all the adults who claim they are Catholic really showed up, there would be standing room only (think Christmas and Easter).

            Many people have hypothesized about the reasoning for youth leaving the Church and others have spent time pondering ways of bringing youth back. I am unable to, at this point in time, express any consequential statement on either of those ends. Rather, this blog post is one of reassurance that in fact not all hope is lost.

I am not proposing that the statistics lie. I am not living on a cloud of naivety that says that there has not been a change in youth attendance in the Eucharist over the past fifty years. I am writing though, to state that I don’t think the Church is going to disappear anytime soon. There are still enough of us out here that will never, ever reject our faith and turn away from our Savior.

This August, World Youth Day was attended by approximately two million youth from around the globe, making this youth day in Madrid, Spain the third most highly attended. In November the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis will have about 25,000 youth in attendance. And even closer to home, this year’s Buffalo Youth Convention welcomed 720 teens to the Adams Mark Hotel in February. I was in attendance at that Convention and can say that it truly was hope-inspiring for the future of our Church… the teenagers present were excited to be there.  

As I write this blog post, I have just returned from an event on my college campus as part of the Crusade for Christ. “Cru” as it is better known around here, is a student-run organization that is exactly what it sounds like… a group of students that speaks of Christ’s presence through their words and actions. It is interdenominational, meaning that it supports a belief in Christ that is not necessarily pigeonholed into a particular sect or denomination. Tonight, we all met in the Student Activities Center (an old gymnasium from the ‘40s) and had an evening with food, music, and prayer. The attendance was remarkable. For a fairly small college (roughly 3100 undergraduates) we packed the gym and upper balcony. Midway through the event, a minister (I am not certain as to what denomination he is) spoke quite eloquently to all of us about the goodness of God. Following this “sermon” we all stood together and sang some spiritual songs led by a quite talented Christian-rock band. That experience of uniting together in prayer-song filled me with hope.

As I sat in this meeting I began to think about the fact that maybe things aren’t as bad for our Catholic Church after all. Despite large quantities of people moving away, there are still so many that are faithful. Granted, not everyone at the “Cru” meeting is Catholic but all Christians are united in common faith and maybe one day we can all be united in one Church. As a side note January 18-25, 2012 will be the week of prayer for Christian unity! As I joined in the songs and the prayer and allowed myself to be open to the Spirit, I began to think that the future of our Church isn’t so bleak after all.

Last Sunday, my first Sunday here at school, I attended the Mass hosted by the Newman Center on campus and was very impressed. I went not expecting many people to be there but I was quite surprised. The youth are out there! Once students get to college, no one is forcing them to go to Mass, especially if they are away from home. Students have the opportunity to just sleep in on a Sunday morning if they so choose and no one need ever know. Yet, students come. They are moved by the Holy Spirit and convinced that receiving the Eucharist is essential to our existence; our Catholic Mass was filled with students. And I did notice that everyone sang the hymns that were lead by the music ministers. Perhaps the reason many youth and young adults don’t sing in most home churches is because they take their cue of silence from the older generations around them!

As a closing thought I’d like to mention that my hope in the future of our faith is coming from a lot of external sources… my campus Newman Center, the Crusade for Christ, the Buffalo Youth Convention, the National Catholic Youth Convention, and World Youth Day.

Yet some may be asking, “What about St. Benedict?” I think that our beloved parish will very soon be making the list of places that instill hope for the future. This summer, our parish hired Mr. Matt Smith as Director of Youth Ministry and Religious Education. Through youth programs, Religious Ed. classes, and the Generations of Faith program I imagine that many exciting things will come from him and his staff. In addition, Mrs. Jennifer Scalisi has been hired to be the 6^th-8^th Grade Religion teacher in the school. Hopefully, that program will encourage youth to stay active as well. Finally, as we speak, an action plan is being put into place by the parish in order to build “Evangelism through Technology,” an initiative that very well could make our parish one of the most youth-friendly and technologically advanced parishes in the diocese. I’m sure that details will be more forthcoming in the months to come!

To put it simply, I am very excited. I am excited for our Church as a whole. I am excited for our diocese. I am excited for St. Benedict Parish. While evangelization is something that each and every one of us needs to value, I don’t think we necessarily need to look at it as an uphill battle. God will provide!

God, we pray
for youth who are searching for your love. Help them find you. “For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”  Matthew 7:8

-David Croglio

Religious Education Program REGISTRATION LETTER

Saint Benedict Religious Education
3980 Main Street
Amherst, New York
716-836-6444
Email: ReligiousEducation@saintbenedicts.com

Dear Students and Parents,

My name is Matt Smith.  I was recently hired to serve as the Director of Youth Ministry and Religious Education here at St. Benedict’s.  You may have heard that Sr. Virginia is stepping down after twenty-two years of faithful and dedicated service as Director of Religious Education.  I wish to personally thank her for all she did to share her faith with my family and the whole parish for all those years.

Enclosed, please find materials that you need to register your child, or children, for Religious Education at St. Benedict’s parish this year.  I would be most grateful if you could return the forms and the tuition as soon as possible so we can arrange class lists and obtain the proper number of textbooks and teachers.
We offer two styles of Religious Education:

SUNDAY CLASSES – Generations of Faith
All people of all grades and ages are welcome to join
our intergenerational faith sharing program.

            Children and parents gather on nine Sundays throughout the year.
            Each meeting is three hours long, from 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM,
            and includes prayer, mass, lively discussion and a delicious lunch!

Parents are the first and often the most influential teachers of the faith.
Generations of Faith is a wonderful program to strengthen faith in your home,
as well as within our larger family of faith; the church!

We will meet:
                     September 18, October 2, November 6, December 4,
                     January 8, February 5, March 4, April 1, May 6.

MONDAY CLASSES - Traditional Classroom Instruction

            Grades 1-5 meet from 4:00 - 5:15 PM
            Grades 6-12 meet from 7:00-8:15 PM

We will meet:
                     September: 26   October: 3,17, 24, 31   Nov.: 7,14, 21, 28 
                     December: 5,12,19  January: 9, 23, 30   February: 6, 13, 27 
                     March: 5, 12, 19, 26  April: 2, 16, 23, 30   May: 7, 14, 21

In summary, one engages the whole family in sharing our faith and meets on Sundays, the other program is traditional classroom instruction and meets on Mondays. Sunday gatherings are longer (and include more homework) but only meet once a month.  Monday classes are shorter and meet most every Monday during the school year. Families are invited to choose which program they like best.

CATECHETICAL SUNDAY
Whether you choose Sunday or Monday classes,
we ask that all students, parents and teachers make their first gathering of their Religious Education at St. Benedict’s Church on
Sunday, September 18th at the 10:00 AM mass.

We study our faith so that we might be better followers of our Lord. This special liturgy will start our academic year. Please make a special effort to join us!


Please Note
Busing: 
Please note we will NOT be providing bus service from Smallwood and Windermere for grades 1-5 this year.  Parents will need to arrange for their child's transportation both to and from all classes.

Snow: 
If the Public School closes because of snow or bad weather, we automatically do not have class. In case of bad weather, listen to WBEN or WRG Radio, or channel 4 & 7 (we will also send an email to all families with computers).

Sacraments:
Information about the Sacramental Programs will go out in another mailing, but for now please note that First Confession for children in 2nd Grade will be held on Saturday, March 3rd and First Communion for children in 3rd Grade will be held at noon on May 5th (and Confirmation for Grade 11 will be held sometime in May).

Tuition: 
For Parishioners, the tuition for one child is $60, two children $100, three or more is $140.
For non-parishioners, the tuition for one child is $80, two children $140, three or more is $190.
No one will be turned away from the program if they can’t afford the tuition.
Tuition is waived for the children of teachers.

I wish to apologize for these registration materials coming later that usual.  I ask for your patience, prayers and assistance during this time of transition.  Please consider becoming a teacher or volunteer in our Youth Ministry programs!  Please stop by and see me.  I am in the office everyday, but the best time to catch me is on Sunday before or after mass, or by appointment.  The Religious Education Office is located on the ground floor of the School near the front door, as indicated at the top of this letter, or you may email me at msmith@saintbenedict’s.com and/or call at 836-6444.

In closing, I wish thank all the parents and parishioners who volunteer their time to teach our children.
Thank you for sharing the good news of our faith with the next generation so we might grow
in our love of God and service to our neighbor.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Matthew R. Smith
Director of Youth Ministry and Religious Education



CHURCH OF SAINT BENEDICT                                 Date: _____________
Religious Education
REGISTRATION FORM  2011--2012
                    
Please complete this form and return it in person or by mail to:

CHURCH OF SAINT BENEDICT
Religious Education Office
3980 Main Street
Amherst, 14226
Please make tuition checks payable to: St. Benedict’s

 Please check the Religious Education Program you prefer:

         [] Sunday: Generations of Faith
         [] Monday: Traditional Classroom Instruction

Child’s Name:                                                 Gender: Female __  Male __  
Age:___  Grade as of September: ___             Date of Birth:
School presently attending:

Child’s Name:                                                 Gender: Female __  Male __  
Age:___  Grade as of September: ___             Date of Birth:
School presently attending:

Child’s Name:                                                 Gender: Female __  Male __  
Age:___  Grade as of September: ___             Date of Birth:
School presently attending:

Child’s Name:                                                  Gender: Female __  Male __ 
Age:___  Grade as of September: ___              Date of Birth:
School presently attending:

Does your child require any exceptional student educational services:
Learning Disabilities []  Language Impairment []  Emotionally Impaired []
Other _______________________________________________


Family Name:
Address:
Town:
Zip Code:

Email Address:

Daytime Phone: 
Evening Phone:             
Cell Phone:                         
Emergency Contact Phone:


Father’s Name:
Religion:
Occupation:

Mother’s first & maiden last name:
Religion:
Occupation:

Is your family registered here at St. Benedict’s Parish?   Yes []   No []

If you are not registered at St. Benedict’s, which parish do you belong to?

I am willing to assist in the following area(s):
Teaching []  Substitute []  Classroom Assistant []
Religious Ed. Office Assistant []  Other ___________________

Parent Signature _________________________________________

Wearing Rosaries - Religious Bracelets - Jesus Pieces

As my parishioners know, I travel often and I teach religion to 16 and 17 year old boys.  I would have to say that this is about the best possible combination of activities you can have to spot male theological and fashion trends!


Rosaries I bought in NYC (Coney Island) for $1 each

 I have the sense that we are near the end of the Catholic religious bracelet trend [photo below]. I know from talking to my students, that they often had little to no idea who was on their wrist. I would teach them about the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the apparitions of Mary, or the many saints depicted on their bracelets. But I think the bracelet was not "noticeable" enough for our fashionistas. They are moving on....

The religious fashion trend that is peaking right now and will undoubtedly die out in a year or two (as all fashion trends must) is the wearing of rosaries. I see it everywhere I go.  It is particularly popular among Hispanic and African-American young men, though I see an increasing number of white men wearing rosaries too. Many of my white middle-class students wear chaplet rosaries around their wrists too. It's definitely a "guy thing." I have yet to see a woman wearing a rosary - though I'm sure some woman must have donned one somewhere!

The New York City subways are perhaps the best place to see the rosary trend in full blossom. Rosaries are now available from practically every corner vendor and kiosk operator in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and just about any city with a sizable young population.

I am conflicted about this trend.

On one hand, there is the traditional side of me that thinks rosaries are private devotional aids (a sacramental) to be kept in one's pocket.  I have no doubt that the Felician Sisters who taught me in the 1970's at my parochial school would be "freaked out" by the current trend. They would think it is disrespectful that rosaries are worn as jewelry. Part of me thinks they are correct.

On the other hand, I kind of like seeing people unashamed of their faith in Jesus. I suspect many of the wearers of rosaries today do not know the Marian aspect of the rosary or the prayers that comprise it. In fact, I am pretty sure that many of those wearing rosaries are not even Catholic. However, there is no doubt that the cross/crucifix at the beginning of the rosary marks it as a Christian thing. That puts rosary beads in the category of "Jesus pieces" or "Good Wood"  or Cross pierced-earrings or Cross tattoos for many of our young fashionistas. Our young people are simply proud of being followers of Jesus.  I am proud of them for that.

So now we Catholics must evangelize a bit. The "beads" are back! Now let's make sure they are not just a piece of bling in the mind of our young folk.  Think of this as an opportunity to speak about Jesus, Mary, Catholicism and your personal faith!

Here are three suggestions:
1. FOR THOSE WHO ARE SHY - Say a quick silent prayer for the person you see wearing a rosary or a "Jesus piece." Ask Mary to intercede for them that they may grow strong in faith, hope and love. Let the rosary wearer strengthen your faith too by reminding YOU of Christ and the Blessed Mother!
2. FOR THOSE WHO ARE A BIT BRAVER - Use rosaries as a conversation starter if you feel comfortable speaking to the wearer.  If you have rosaries in your pocket, (and shouldn't you?) take them out and compare.  Briefly tell your rosary story - when you got it, what it means to you, and especially how often you USE your rosary. Let them tell their rosary story. Maybe, just maybe, you will even trade rosaries!
3. FOR THOSE WITH HEROIC ZEAL & COURAGE - teach them the rosary. Have a card with instructions on praying the rosary in your pocket. The Knights of Columbus have a handy card - http://www.kofc.org/un/en/resources/cis/devotionals/1877.pdf  Make sure you have previously written the directions to your parish and its Sunday Mass times on the cards too.

Another useful site for learning to pray the rosary:
http://www.newadvent.org/images/rosary.pdf

Whatever your personal view on fashion trends, now is the time for us to catechize our young people. They have taken the first step by adopting our iconography and sacramentals, so let us use their fashion sense to share the Good News of salvation!