Interfaith Labyrinth Service

Join Grace North Church for an interfaith labyrinth service this Friday night.
They light 97 candles around the rim of the labyrinth, dim the lights, and a small band(cello, violin, piano, guitar, and mandolin) leads people in singing quiet,
reflective chants from all the world's religions. During that time, people
are free to meditate, pray, sing, read, walk or dance the labyrinth, however
the Spirit moves them. Come be held in song, while you walk the labyrinth!

6pm-7pm, Friday, January 28th at Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St.,
Berkeley, CA 94709 in the Labyrinth Hall
Last friday night of every month.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

On 27 January 1945, the advancing Soviet army entered the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp complex, liberating more than 7000 remaining prisoners, for the most part ill or dying. Days earlier, the SS had forced nearly 60,000 prisoners to evacuate the camp and embark on the infamous 'Death Marches' in which many thousands lost their lives. In 2005, the UN General Assembly designated 27 January as the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, the day upon which, every year, the world would mark and remember the Holocaust and its victims.

http://www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance/

Wofford College president Ben Dunlap tells the story of Sandor Teszler, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who taught him about passionate living and lifelong learning.

Prayer for Christian Unity

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY
January 18 - 23, 2011

"One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer"
theme for 2011: Acts 2:42-47


The Church Unity Octave, a forerunner of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was developed by Father Paul Wattson, SA, at Graymoor in Garrison, New York, and was first observed at Graymoor from January 18-25, 1908. Today, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites the whole Christian community throughout the world to pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” (John 17:21).

In 1966, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat (now Council) for Promoting Christian Unity began collaborating as a common international text for worldwide usage. Since 1968 these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups around the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2011

Chosen Theme: One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer (cf. Acts 2:42)

The theme for the annual celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2011 has been announced by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches. The theme for the 2011 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer. It comes from Acts Chapter 2 versus 42. For 2011, the churches in Jerusalem were the initial consultants to the Joint Working Group for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The Christians of Jerusalem call upon their brothers and sisters to make this week of prayer an occasion of renewed commitment to work for genuine ecumenism grounded in the experience of the early Church.

Taken from: Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute http://www.geii.org/wpcu_index.htm

Robert Lopez, GA
HNU Campus Ministry

Quest: Traditional Undergrad Retreat

Holy Names University

Quest Retreat
Villa, Los Gatos

Traditional Undergrad Retreat
Feb. 11-13, 2011

A special time and space off-campus for undergraduate students to:

• Build community
• Have an opportunity for spiritual reflection and development of the whole self
• Create deeper connections between students, the University community, and the charism of the Holy Names Sisters

Cost: $135
Students pay $15

Registration Deadline: Jan. 28, 2011

Contact: Carrie Rehak Director of Campus Ministry rehak@hnu.edu, Ext. 1081

RE Congress

THE LOS ANGELES RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CONGRESS

"Hold Firm ... Trust!"

2011

HNU Students at RE Congress, with Matt Maher

The annual Religious Education Congress held in Anaheim, CA, is ready to enrich and revitalize us once more. Sponsored by the Office of Religious Education at the Los Angeles Archdiocese, Congress draws in excess of 40,000 participants over the course of this internationally acclaimed four-day event, with more than 300 workshops to choose from, covering a vast range of topics and interests from spirituality and personal development to biblical studies, theology and liturgical music.

Over the weekend participants will enjoy morning praise, workshops, evening liturgies and a variety of prayer experiences with internationally renowned leaders in the areas of liturgical music and worship. Noontime and evening concerts offer additional opportunities for praise and worship – delightful experiences which engage and renew participants!

Check out pics and comments from last year's participants: http://www.hnu.edu/studentLife/involvement/campusMinistryEducationCongress.html

Dates

We will leave HNU on Th., 3/17 , returning on Sun., 3/20.

Location
Congress is held at the Anaheim Convention Center, located at 800 West Katella Ave. in Anaheim, CA (just across from Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure). We will be taking vans.

Fee
Through the generosity of Sisters of the Holy Names, student leaders, whose applications have been accepted by Campus Ministry, will only be required to cover the cost of registration: $60 (nonrefundable; $70 after 2/4/2010); individual meals; and Disneyland (optional, discounts for Disneyland are available for Congress participants.) Some fundraising, required.

If your application is accepted, HNU will cover your other expenses (transportation, room and group meals). Do not register until your application has been accepted.

Registration
The Registration Guidebook contains all workshop and speaker descriptions, entertainment and liturgy options, and a listing of all public events during Congress: http://www.recongress.org/

Priority for this HNU Campus Ministry Leadership opportunity will be given to:

• Students who are or will be actively involved in Campus Ministry
• Students who have demonstrated a commitment to leadership and / or ministry on the HNU campus or in the community.
• Undergraduates

REQUIRED ORIENTATION MEETING (PARTICIPANTS MUST ATTEND ONE OF THE FOLLOWING):

· Wed., 1/19, dinner (Public Market)

· Sun, 1/23, after 7PM Mass (small Chapel)

· Th., 2/10, lunchtime (J.M. Long Lounge, Brennan Hall)

For more information contact:

• Carrie Rehak, Director of Campus Ministry, in Founders C, ext. 1082
• www.RECongress.org, 213-637-7348.

We Shall Overcome

Darfur Fridays

Prayers for Peace and Healing in Arizona

We hold in our prayers those whose lives have been impacted by the shooting in Arizona: the victims and their friends and families; those who have died; the many courageous and skilled people whose responses saved many lives; and, the medical professionals who are tending to those who are injured. We will remember them very specially at our Mass this Sunday, January 16, as we pray for peace and healing and honor our great model of non-violence, justice, and change, Martin Luther King, Jr.

The following prayer request is from Sr. Mary Ann to the Holy Names Sisters. In addition to the snjm connections mentioned in the prayer request, Mary McMahon, who was also injured in the recent Tucson, AZ, shooting, is the wife of a nephew of Thomasine McMahon, snjm (Los Gatos). Sr. Thomasine used to live at HNU.

Prayer request

January 10, 2011

Please remember in your prayers the many people whose lives have been impacted by the tragic shooting near Tucson, AZ, this weekend. A gunman opened fire outside a supermarket on Saturday, killing six and wounding 14, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords-Kelly. She was shot in the head and remains hospitalized.

Please remember, too, the families, friends and others who were affected by the attack, including those who responded medically, the police, hospital personnel and chaplains.

The Catholic community in Arizona is close-knit, and includes SNJMs Lorene Schuster, SNJM, and Mary Ann Rawson, SNJM, in Tucson, who have connections with a number of people who are affected by the attack. Diana Hollcraft, SNJM, lives about an hour away from Tucson.

The Catholic community also includes several of the victims. Federal Judge John M. Roll was among the six people who died. He is a former classmate of some of Sr. Mary Ann’s friends, and was active in the Knights of Columbus and St. Thomas the Apostle Church. Dorwin Stoddard, who died after blocking his wife from the gunfire, belongs to the Tucson Chaplains Association; Sr. Mary Ann has served as treasurer of that group. Christina Taylor Green, 9, was part of a children’s choir at St. Odilia Catholic Church in Tucson, a few blocks from the site of the shooting. She had made her First Communion last spring.

Rep. Giffords-Kelly is married to astronaut Mark Kelly. The administrator for NASA in Washington, D.C., is Rex Elliott, a former student of the SNJMs at Christ the King in Richland, WA. Sr. Mary Ann taught him singing and piano.

Gerald F. Kicanas, Bishop of the Diocese of Tucson, has invited the Catholic community of Tucson to gather at 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Odilia Church for a “Mass for the Healing of Our Community, Remembrance of Those Who Have Died, and for the Consolation of All Victims and Their Families.”

The shooting took place in the Casa Adobes area of town, about five miles from the center of town and a part of Pima County rather than Tucson city.

—Information from Sr. Mary Ann and from news reports

Prayers for Haiti

Please remember in your prayers the people of Haiti, on this first year anniversary of the earthquake. May we continue to find ways to reach out to them as they rebuild their lives.

A very special fundraiser for Haiti is scheduled at HNU on Thursday March3, at 7:30. More details tba.

Today we received a letter from Barbara Wander, who is presently in Haiti. Barbara Wander offered her first-hand account of the earthquake and the work being done in Haiti at HNU last spring:*

Dear Friends,

As we near the first anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, I wanted to connect with you. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR DONATIONS. I really wanted to let you know how much the Little Sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Haiti and I appreciate your support. They pray for every one of you each day. You have helped in so many ways but mainly your encouragement has been most valuable.

The Little Sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus is an order of nuns that was founded in Haiti in 1948 by Camelia Lohier and Father Farnes. It was the first indigenous order started in Haiti. Their mission is to spread the word of God; to educate poor children and adults; to teach and use environmentally sound agricultural techniques; to help meet medical needs; and to provide programs for the promotion of women. They have about 200 members and 42 missions scattered throughout all of Haiti. They work with almost 150,000 Haitians each year in their elementary and secondary schools, teacher preparation center, hospitals, clinics, programs for handicapped children, professional centers for young women, orphanages, homes for the elderly, farms, and adult education.

Eighteen of their missions were effected by the January 2010 earthquake. 150 students, 4 Sisters, 4 teachers, and 4 young women as well as other workers lost their lives at their missions. Cholera has now also claimed the lives of more students and their parents.

The Little Sisters have reopened 41 of their 42 missions. Every school is operating with some under trees or tarps, but they are educating children. Every penny given to them is used to continue their work.

You can see by the information above why I have been working with the Little Sisters for over ten years. They are remarkable women of faith and action. After the earthquake they paused, learned about earthquakes and PTSD, reassessed and got right back to work.

I have often been asked what other organizations are doing in Haiti. I can only comment on what I have seen: Catholic Relief Services has helped the Sisters with some temporary housing and food; Food for the Poor has helped transport the materials to construct a new building for the handicapped children; Hilton Fund for Sisters has continued to help and was one of the first to give funds to sustain lives after the quake; the Sisters of Loretto have offered much support and provided a means for people to make tax deductible donations; Doctors Without Borders, Partners in Health and Miami Medical Team have helped with getting medical treatment for some of those injured; Inveneo is trying to help with communications; Kinder Not Hilfe is going to replace the school at Riviere Froide. Most of the help has come from individuals who have given what they can to help.

Some of the rubble has been removed from Port au Prince. Over a million people are still living in tents or shelters made with tarps and yes some of the stories about violence in these are true as well as people being washed out to sea from them after heavy rains.

These are the realities of the situation but we do not use them as excuses for inactivity. I continue to try to convince people that investing in indigenous groups like the Little Sisters who have a proven track record and no ulterior motives must be part of the solution. Some governments or groups who have promised help are not giving it because they are afraid it will be misused or use it to make purchases for their staffs.

This has been a busy year for all of us. I have been invited to share the Little Sisters’ story to many groups and will continue to do this. Over the past ten years my belief that there are many good people in this world has strengthened, but 2010 has magnified this. My respect for the Little Sisters in Haiti and their ability to carry out their mission has also deepened. I am so grateful that I can participate in some small way and act as a conduit for you to Haiti.

With deepest gratitude,

Barbara Wander

*Many the Sisters of St Theresa were educated as school teachers when the SNJM Sisters founded the Teachers School in Papaye in Haiti twenty-six years ago.