GLVN Bulletin
News for GLVN Volunteers (Thông Tin cho ThẦy Cô GLVN)
November 17, 2016
As the Year of Mercy officially ends this weekend with the closing of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, I am so humbled by God’s mercy and love in my life. It was such a blessing to get to share part of my Year of Mercy journey with you on our recent Holy Door pilgrimage. Photos from that trip are below.) If I wrote about my Year of Mercy experience, this message would get quite long and you would never get to all the important GLVN info in the rest of this Bulletin!
All I can say is that it has been an exercise in virtue for me. Learning to run to God to ask for His forgiveness. Learning to let God embrace me even when I don’t feel His arms around me. Learning to forgive others. (That last one has been the toughest.)
With each Holy Door I walked through and each prayer I prayed, God reminded me that His Mercy knows no bounds. It’s unconditional because His love is unconditional. And in receiving His merciful love, I am called to give it to others, not keep it as my own.
Whenever I would head home after my mini-pilgrimages to Holy Doors this past year, I would always ask myself, “Where am I being called to bring His merciful love?” And over and over again, His hand continued to lead me to all the youth at our parish. From choosing me for this principal role to giving me new opportunities to partner with and support others in our church who love our youth just as much as I do … to the extraordinary challenges God keeps placing in front of me (and all of us) to help our youth know, love, serve and unite with Him … there’s so many joys and so many prayers still needed.
And just when those challenges to bring Christ to our youth seemed too big for us to handle this past week, God answered a tiny prayer. The prayers I know some of us have been praying this week were, “Lord, how can we learn more about the faith issues our youth have today? How can we be more compassionate towards our youth and their struggles while still holding firm to Catholic teaching as we do our work as Catechists?”
This week, Pope Francis announced the theme of the next synod (an important meeting of Bishops with the Pope to look deeper into the needs and issues facing the the Church in the world today). The upcoming synod focus will be “Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment.”
While we may not see the results of this worldwide focus of our universal Catholic Church for years to come, the fact that the Pope and all our bishops will be exploring, discussing, discerning and praying for the very things that we are struggling with in our effort to evangelize our youth and help them discern their vocation to love and serve God … This is something to praise God for and a wonderful reminder that when you offer all your worries to God, He responds.
Thank you again for your perseverance as a Catechist, and God bless all of you for all that you do and sacrifice for the youth in our program.
P.S. I wanted to share a collage of my Holy Door pilgrimage during the Year of Mercy. I had planned to make the last visits in my pilgrimage to the ones in MN and never imagined that 93 of you would be joining me on that trip! Thank you to everyone who came and prayed with me and my family! It was a wonderful and blessed day together!
Advent & Christmas – A Season of Giving
A flyer to give parents and students info about our various Advent & Christmas activities in GLVN will be left on your desks. Please hand these out to the students this week and ask them to read and share it with their families. It’s in English on one side and Vietnamese on the other side. Click here for a preview of the flyer.
A few reminders for teachers/TAs:
- Don’t forget to mark your calendars for our Catechist Advent Retreat! Dec. 3 from 5-9 pm. It will be a great time with Frere!
- Christmas party – more details on how the day will flow will be shared next week. All activities will take place within your classroom, so just want to make sure that all teachers/TAs still plan on being with your students that day even though it’s an all-school event that we will have activities prepared for.
- Christmas Card project – The Christmas Card boxes that we are selling have arrived. We will have them in the GLVN office if you are interested in seeing what they look like. Please help us remind the students about this giving project! If you know of people who typically send Christmas Cards, take the opportunity to share with them about our giving project.
No Class on 11/27
Enjoy the Thanksgiving break! Have a blessed Thanksgiving, and know that we are so thankful to God for each and every one of our Catechists!
Correction: VN Teacher Meeting
So, so sorry for the mistake on the date in last week's bulletin -- the meeting is not until Dec. 11.
Để tiếp tục thảo luận về đề tài: Dạy Tiếng Việt không đánh vần, thân mời tất cả các Giảng Viên Việt Ngữ đến tham dự buổi họp ngày 11 tháng 12 , lúc 10:00 AM , phòng 103. Sự hiện diện và đóng góp ý kiến của quý Thầy, Cô sẽ giúp cho chương trình ngày càng tốt hơn.
Thân ái trong Chúa
Nương
Sunday, Dec 11, 2016, 10:00 AM
Room 103 Teacher Meeting Room
Morning Prayer Together
Don't forget to join us exactly at 9:45 a.m. each Sunday morning in the Teacher's Lounge for morning prayer together. It will be brief (2-3 minutes) so that you can get to your classrooms before 10. Whether there are 30 of us or just 2 of us -- this brief prayer time will take place every Sunday, so please join in to offer up our day to Jesus!
All-School Prayer for 2016-2017
KINH NHẬT TỤNG THÁNH TÔ-MA AQUI-NÔ
Lạy Thiên Chúa của con, xin cho con một trí tuệ để nhận biết Chúa, một trái tim để tìm kiếm Chúa, sự khôn ngoan để gặp gỡ Chúa, mọi hành động được đẹp lòng Chúa một lòng kiên trì chờ đợi Chúa, và sau cùng là niềm hy vọng sẽ được ôm chặt lấy Chúa. Amen.
St. Thomas Aquinas Daily Prayer
Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.
Important GLVN Documents & Forms
New updates to the calendar below as of 10/25/16. See blue & pink highlights.
- First Review and Exam dates have been moved to January
- Parent/Teacher conferences have been moved to February
- Ephata Confirmation retreat is now scheduled for Feb. 3-5
Chuong Trinh Giao Ly Viet Ngu
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Email: chipham.sasjhparish@gmail.com
Website: www.gxannagiusehien.net
Phone: 00000000