Congrats to our Grads!

Hi Everyone!

As this school year draws to a close, I wanted to congratulate all of the Class of 2008 grads in our parish! We will be saying goodbye and good luck to one of the founding members of this era of Saint Agnes Life Teen this summer!

Congratulations to Christina Gustafson who is a Camden Catholic graduate and will be going away to college this August!!

Christina was one of the first teens to come to SALT when we started it back up 2 years ago. She has been very involved in both SALT and our 6pm Mass since. We'll miss her!!!

I ask everyone to pray that Christina is successful and has a wonderful time at college.

Have a wonderful and safe summer! Keep watching the website for our summer events!
~Alison

Evangelization...Not Just for Committees!

Hey guys!

I just wanted to talk a little bit about evangelization. Not, you know, standing on a street corner with a cardboard sign that says "Jesus will come again" or something crazy like that. I mean simple little things, like saying something in passing to your friends about church or something like that.

Here, let me explain.

When I first started really getting into the RCIA program, my family and I talked about it. Not a lot, but I brought it up to my best friend one day when I was at her house. Her mom, who had been part of RCIA before, asked me about it, and I was telling her all about it. My best friend and her little brother had never been confirmed, so they decided that they wanted to get into the program and become confirmed. On May 18th, I'm going to go watch them both get confirmed, and then they're having a confirmation party.

There's also a family that my family is friends with, a couple named Cindy and Junius. When we started the process of becoming Catholic, Cindy was pregnant with their first child. When we saw them and got to talking, every once in a while we would say something about something that happened at RCIA (like when Fr. Cesarone told us about his first confession and accusing himself of adultery at the age of seven), and after just talking about it in passing a few times we got them interested. When baby Michael was born, they got him baptized Catholic. Since their marriage was outside the Catholic Church, they are in the process of getting it blessed so they can get confirmed, Eucharisted (is that a verb?) and be in the faith with us.

Both of those times, we didn't run up to them and say, "HEY GUESS WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE CATHOLIC COME READ THE BIBLE AND PRAY WITH US AND YOU CAN BE CATHOLIC TOO AND..." and so on. If something funny or interesting happened at church or at Life Teen, just mention it to someone. If you think they would like Life Teen, even if they're not Catholic, invite them to check it out. If they like it enough, it might interest them in becoming Catholic themselves.

Wow, this was a long post. I guess what I'm really trying to say is that anyone can evangelize without even thinking about it. I never consciously tried to evangelize anyone, and my family alone brought five people into the faith just by saying things in passing. I'm sure people with more experience in the church can do even better than us. So don't be afraid to say something -- go ahead and evangelize! It's not just for the Evangelization Committee, you know!

~Nicole

GET INVOLVED!

I realize that I may be “’preaching to the choir” here, but in light of the parish mergers and other things going on around the diocese, I thought this was a good topic to talk about.

Do you know that on average, there are about 380 people that attend the 6pm Life Teen Mass at St. Agnes? Did you also know that we regularly do not have enough Eucharistic Ministers to provide both the Body and Blood of Christ to the congregation? Do you know that we would need just EIGHT or TEN Eucharistic Ministers to be able to provide both species? EIGHT or TEN out of close to FOUR HUNDRED people. That is not a lot. (in fact only 2.5%)

This trend of people not participating in Mass and their parishes doesn’t stop at our 6pm Mass. Take a look at the front of the bulletin. Do you see all the spots where it says “office” instead of a person’s name? That’s because no one is there to run that ministry. You don’t have to be perfect to run or participate in a ministry in YOUR parish. (Think about the Church’s first Pope, Peter, for example. He denied Jesus 3 times in one night! And he was POPE!)

Our diocese is undergoing a major renovation, with many parishes merging, some closing. It used to be that there were enough practicing Catholics to keep all these parishes open. The decrease in Mass attendance has been going on for a long time, so this restructuring of the diocese has been a long time coming.

Father Jeff put it best a couple of weeks ago when he talked about how different the pews looked that Sunday (maybe the third Sunday of Easter) versus the pews on Palm Sunday, Christmas and Easter. If each parish had the attendance they had on any of those three holidays every week, there would be no need for mergers and closings.

If you’ve read this far, thank you! Now here’s where you come in. I’m not exactly sure exactly who reads this blog, but this applies to anyone. Here are some small (and not so small) things you can do!

TEENS: Start getting involved in your church now! At our 6pm Mass, you can volunteer to be an usher, or bring up the gifts, or be a lector (you have to be confirmed to be a lector). Come to our Life Teen meetings or get involved in another ministry at church. Make it to church every week- even when your parents don’t “make” you.

YOUNGER KIDS: You can get involved in the children’s choir or be an altar server! If you come to the 6pm Mass, we can always use some help gathering up the songbooks after Mass. And remember when you get older to stay involved in church- it’s really important.

PARENTS: We really can use help during Mass. We definitely are in need of Eucharistic Ministers (at any of the masses, but most especially the 6pm). Help your kids stay involved in their church- whether it be as an altar server, usher, lector, or a Life Teen member.

ADULTS (w/ or w/o kids): Volunteer for a ministry. There are so many at our particular parish. Find something that interests you and go to a meeting! There are so many aspects of the church that you may not even know exist!

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR EVERYONE: Go to Mass every week. It’s simple, really. We are commanded by God to worship. Going to Mass only on holidays does not make you a Catholic. If you want to truly be Catholic, you have to go to Mass WEEKLY. There are only a few excuses that you should miss Mass- one of them being that you are so ill you can’t leave your house (or your hospital bed), another is if it is physically impossible. (You are in a rainforest in South America giving needed medical care to orphans, and the closest Catholic Church is 500 miles away and would necessitate you to fly and take a boat and then hike through dangerous mountains).

I know that a lot of people are upset at the bishop and the diocese for the merger and closings, but really, it is us as a whole, who didn’t stop it. Think about all of the good the Camden Diocese does for people all over South Jersey. There is Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden, St John of God School, various nursing homes and hospice centers. When the church does so much for us around here and around the world, why can’t we give something back. PLEASE GET INVOLVED!

(Thanks for listening to my rant)
~Alison

Generation Life

Hey guys!

I just wanted everyone to know about this great group called Generation Life. They visited my school a few months back, and it was really fun. They're a pro-life group that does really cool things like go to the beach in the summer to talk to young people about the issues. They're all about chastity as well, and waiting for marriage, which is really cool. They also meet for others things, like ice skating and prayer vigils.

This Saturday they're doing a prayer vigil at the Philadelphia's Women's Abortion Center from 7-8:45 AM, and then they're going to a mass together. Next Tuesday is wear your pro-life shirt to school day, and in June they are having a Beach Outreach.

The website is www.generationlife.org, and on the top of that page has a link to the upcoming events. On the events page is a phone number to call to be part of the prayer vigil this Saturday. Hope to see you there!

~Nicole

Summer Vacation Bible Camp

Hey guys!

This summer (well, technically, every summer), our parish is doing a program called Summer Vacation Bible Camp. Usually teens come and help out decorating and other stuff.

The bulletin will have an insert in it soon about this. On the front will be a letter, and the back is a contract. You should definitely sign it and return it if you want to volunteer. The theme is a science lab, so it would be great if you would start thinking up some great ideas! I'm on the decorating/enviroment team, so I'm basically spending all of my time thinking up ideas and implementing them for decorations. We could certainly use some help! Think giant paper mache beakers, mad scientists, and 3-D molecules!

Keep your eyes peeled for the bulletin paper!

~Nicole

Just a Few Thoughts on Easter...

Hey guys! I just thought I would share something with everyone. I must admit, I haven't had much experience in the Catholic Church (In fact, I'm getting all of my sacraments on Saturday, so technically I'm not in the Church), but this Easter is very different from my other Easters. This year, I didn't care nearly as much about candy as I usually do. I transferred into a Catholic school this year, and for Easter we watched The Passion of the Christ. Even though that movie had been out for a few years now, this was the first time I had watched it, and it was intense.

That movie was researched for years by Mel Gibson, as his way of atonement for everything he's done in the past. It was graphic, but very moving. I almost cried when Mary and Jesus saw each other while Jesus carried his cross. It really made me think about the true meaning of Easter.

I don't think the Easter Bunny was crucified, haha. So when you're thinking about the Easter Bunny this Sunday and all the chocolate, just try to watch this movie once. It will definitely change your outlook. It definitely changed mine.

~Nicole

Dante's Trivia Inferno!

Hey guys! There's this really fun game I found on the internet. It's a Catholic trivia game, where if you get enough questions right, you make it to heaven. It's really hard, but it's addicting. It took me about a week to make it to heaven. How long will it take you?




~Nicole

Some Cool Christian Bands

Hey!

Here are some really cool Christian bands. The music ranges from rock to alternative rock to pop to hip-hop and beyond. Their music may not sound like Christian music all of the time, but the message is really powerful and heartfelt:

Jars of clay
Plumb
Group 1 Crew
Mark Roach
Newsboys
The Rocket Summer
Casting Crowns
POD
Relient K
V Enna
David Phelps
Superchick
ZoeGirl
Jimmy Needham
Third day
Chris Tomlin
Grey Holiday
Across the sky

Why don't you try listening to some of them? I'm sure you'll find at least a couple of bands in here that match your music taste!


~Nicole

December is a holy month,but it is also a fun month! December 16th is Game Night and December 30th is a New Year's Party. Check out the website and bulletin for more 411.

Vatican Art Stolen!!!

Rascally Pirates have stolen art form the Vatican's archives, help us Vatican Ninja, you're our only hope!
Click here to play!

The Quest Begins!!!!

We hope all 9-12th graders will join us for our next event:

THE QUEST BEGINS!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
7:15-8:3opm
Parish Center

Old members, new members and friends alike are encouraged to attend this event designed to help us all get to know each other better and to meet our new Youth Minister, Lola Higgins! There will be games, snacks and PIZZA!!

Any questions, please contact Lola at stagneslifeteen@gmail.com

We encourage everyone to attend the 6pm Mass that precedes our events on Sunday evenings.

Welcome Back!

As summer draws to an end this Labor Day weekend, we'd like to welcome everyone back as we start up Life Teen again this year!

Our first event will be next Sunday, Sept 9 7:15-8:30pm. Come join us for a Welcome Back Ice Cream Social in the Parish Center!

Any questions, contact Vinnie or Alison: stagneslifeteen@gmail.com

We hope to see you there!

How do you make a priest?

To hear the latest episode of one of my favorite podcasts, The Catholic Underground, click here. This is a great episode, when the host discusses his ordination mass, which just happened on pentecost. It's awesome to hear the joy in Fr. Chris' voice, and get a summary of what's actually happening at an ordination mass.

-Vinnie

Why so cruel?

All the recent discussion about derogatory comments in the media is worthwhile. Why do we consider cruelty so entertaining? It seems like an awful lot of entertainers, and a lot of what we consider entertaining is people being cruel to each other. Please be careful what you're listening to and watching.

-Vinnie

Prayers & Intentions for March 11-17, 2007

Here are this week's prayers and intentions for our third week of Lent.

Intentions: (Theme= People We've Never Met)
Sunday: Todd's Grandpop, Orphans
Monday: Mike's Mom-Moms
Tuesday: Soldiers & their Families
Wednesday: Courtney's Grandpop, Rob Lowe
Thursday: Christina's Two Grandpops & Grandmom
Friday: All people on earth who are starving
Saturday: All people on earth who are sick

Here are this weeks Prayers:

SUNDAY
Prayer to Become More Like Jesus

God, our Father, you redeemed us and made us Your children in Christ.

Through Him, You have saved us from death and given us Your Divine life of grace.

By becoming more like Jesus on Earth, may I come to share His glory in Heaven.

Give me the peace of Your kingdom which this world does not give.

By Your loving care, protect the good You have given me.

Open my eyes to the wonders of Your love that I may serve you with a willing heart.

MONDAY

Prayer to Live as a Child of God

Father in Heaven,

When the Spirit came down upon Jesus at His Baptism in the Jordan,

You revealed Him as Your own Beloved Son.

Keep me, Your child, born of water and the Spirit, faithful to my calling.

May I, who share in Your Life, as Your child through Baptism, follow in Christ’s path of service to people. Let me become one in His Sacrifice, and hear His Word with faith.

May I live as Your child, following the example of Jesus.

TUESDAY

Prayer Before a Crucifix

(Note: use a Crucifix to pray this prayer)

Behold, O Kind and most sweet Jesus, before Thy face I humbly kneel, and with the most fervent desire of soul, I pray and beseech Thee to impress upon my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment. With deep affection and grief of soul, I ponder within myself, mentally contemplating Thy five wounds, having before my eyes the words which David the Prophet spoke concerning Thee: “They have pierced my hands and my feet, they have numbered all my bones.”

WEDNESDAY

Lenten Prayer for Spiritual Renewal

God, heavenly Father, look upon me and hear my prayer during this holy Season of Lent.

By the good works You inspire, help me to discipline my body and to be renewed in spirit.

Without You I can do nothing. By your spirit help me to know what is right and to be eager in doing Your will. Teach me to find new life through penance. Keep me from sin, and help me live by Your commandment of love. God of love, bring me back to Your. Send Your Spirit to make me strong in faith and active in good works. May my acts of penance bring me Your forgiveness, open my heart to Your love, and prepare me for the coming feast of the Resurrection of Jesus.

Lord during this Lenten Season, nourish me with Your Word of life and make me one with You in love and prayer.

Fill my heart with Your love and keep me faithful to the Gospel of Christ. Give me the grace to rise above my human weakness. Give me new life by Your Sacraments, especially the Mass.

Father, our source of life, I reach out with joy to grasp Your hand; let me walk more readily in Your ways. Guide me in Your gentle mercy, for left to myself I cannot do your Will.

Father of love, source of all blessings, help me to pass from my old life of sin to the new life of grace. Prepare me for the glory of your Kingdom. I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever.

THURSDAY

Lenten Prayer

Almighty and Everlasting God, You have given the human race Jesus Christ our Savior as a model of humility. He fulfilled Your Will by becoming Man and giving His life on the Cross. Help us to bear witness to You by following His example of suffering and make us worthy to share in His Resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son.

FRIDAY

Country Prayer for Lent

Dear Lord, we are now in the holy season of Lent. We begin to realize anew that these are the days of salvation, these are the acceptable days. We know that we are all sinners. We know that in many things we have offended Your infinite majesty. We know that sin destroys Your life in us as a drought withers the leaves and chokes the life from the land, leaving an arid, dusty desert. Help us now, Lord, in our feeble attempts to make up for past sin. Bless our efforts with the rich blessing of Your grace. Make us realize ever more our need of penance and of mortification. Help us to see, in our ordinary difficulties and duties, the trials and temptations of every day, the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities. Every day, we are so often reminded in field and wood, in sky and stream, of Your won boundless generosity to us. Help us to realize that You are never outdone in generosity and that the least thing we do for You will be rewarded, full measure, pressed down, shaken together and flowing over. Then we shall see, in our own souls, how the desert can blossom, and the dry and wasted land can bring forth the rich, useful fruit that was expected of it from the beginning.

SATURDAY

The Passion

Dear Lord Jesus, by Your Passion and Resurrection, You brought life to the world.
But the glory of the Resurrection came only after the sufferings of the Passion.
You laid down Your life willingly and gave up everything for us.
Your body was broken and fastened to a Cross, Your clothing became the prize of soldiers, your blood ebbed slowly but surely away, and Your Mother was entrusted to the beloved disciple.
Stretched out on the Cross, deprived of all earthly possessions and human aid,
You cried out to Your Father that the end had come. You had accomplished the work given You, and You committed into His hands, as a perfect gift, the little life that remained to You.
Lord, teach me to accept all afflictions after the example You have given.
Let me place my death in Yours and my weakness in Your abandonment,
Take hold of me with Your love, that same foolish love that knew no limits,
and let me offer myself to the Father with You so that I may rise with You to eternal life.

Prayer Intentions for March 4-10, 2007

Here are this week's prayer intentions! You can use the prayers in the previous post for this week, since we had a snow day the first week and didn't get a chance to meet. We are all committed to saying the prayer of the day for the following intentions:

Sunday: Alison's Great Aunt Anna, Lynda's Grandparents & Courtney's Great Grandmom Mary
Monday: Vinnie's Pop-Pop (Pasquale), Joe's Grandparents, Mike's Dad's Friend Danny Nigro
Tuesday: Christina's uncle, Christina's friend Jaden, Doug's best friend Maxine
Wednesday: Laura's Grandparents, Todd's grandmom (Barbara)
Thursday: Mike's uncle Bobby, Anthony's grandparents on both sides
Friday: Eddie's Grandmom Emma, Michael's Pop-Pop
Saturday: Kelly's Uncle Michael, Dom's Sisters that were miscarried (Collette & Loretta)

Thanks for your time! Check back for next week's prayer intentions!

It's LENT!

Sorry that we had to cancel the LIFE NIGHT last night due to the inclement weather! We will talk about Lent next week though- and our schedule has been adjusted accordingly. Check on the website for more details!

To get you in the lenten spirit for this week, here's a list of prayers, one for every day of the week this week. We wanted to make each day's prayers dedicated to the intentions of our group. We'll start that next week, for this week, say the prayers and add your own intentions. For example I'm going to pray the prayer today and say it for the intention of my grandmother who passed away this summer. Here are the prayers:

Sunday- PSALM 23 (The Lord is My Shepherd):

The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.

In green pastures you let me graze; to safe waters you lead me;

you restore my strength. You guide me along the right path for the sake of your name. Even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side; your rod and staff give me courage. You set a table before me as my enemies watch; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and love will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come.

Monday - BEGINNING OF LENT:

Lord, protect us in our struggle against evil. As we begin the discipline of Lent, make this season holy by our self-denial. May the light of Your truth bestow sight to the darkness of our sinful eyes and our repentance bring us the blessing of Your forgiveness and the gift of new life. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Tuesday - ACT OF FAITH

Almighty Father, You have called me to walk by the light of Christ, Your Son, and to trust in His wisdom. During Lent, I submit my self to Him completely and strive to believe in Him with all my heart. With my renewed commitment to Jesus, I endeavour to continue His work here on earth in helping to build Your Kingdom so that all may benefit from the message of salvation. Amen.

Wednesday -ACT OF HOPE

O my God, knowing Your almighty power, and Your infinite goodness and mercy, I hope in You that, by the merits of the Passion and Death of our Saviour Jesus Christ, You will grant me eternal life, which You have promised to all such as shall do the works of a good Christian; and these I resolve to do, with the help of Your Grace. Amen.

Thursday -ACT OF CHARITY

O my God, I love You above all things with my whole heart and soul because You are all good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of You. I forgive all who have injured me and ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen.

Friday - ACT OF CONTRITION

My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against You whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In His name, my God, have mercy. Amen.

Saturday - ACT OF LOVE

Loving God, we enter the season of Lent in the spirit of joy giving ourselves to spiritual strife, cleansing our soul and body, controlling our passions, as we limit our food, living on the virtues of the Holy Spirit; May we persevere in our longing for Christ so as to be worthy to behold His most solemn Passion and the most holy Passover, rejoicing the while with spiritual joy. Amen.

Happy Praying!

Pope John Paul II Night

Join us on Sunday as we discuss Pope John Paul II and his special dedication to young people!
We hope to see you there!

Game Night!

Thanks to everyone who came out for our Game Night last night! We had some new faces, which is always great! Bible Scattergories was great, there were some interesting answers!

And as promised, here's the picture of Vinnie and Alison at their Superbowl Party wearing handmade Colts jerseys. We hand crafted each jersey by hand, one for everyone in attendance. Some people chose not to wear them because they were rooting for the losers...uh...i mean... the bears. LOL

I like Messenger better, though

I guess I'm not the only one who thinks U2 songs are prayers! (click)