St. Jude Catholic Church

READINGS:
Monday: (The Conversion of St. Paul)
Acts 22:3-16; Ps 117:1,2; Mk 16:15-18
Tuesday: (Sts. Timothy & Titus)
2 Tm 1:1-8; Ps 96:1-3,7-8,10; Mk 3:31-35
Wednesday: 2 Sm 7:4-17; Ps 89:4-5,27-30;
Mk 4:1-20
Thursday: (St. Thomas Aquinas) 2 Sm 7:18-19,
24-29; Ps 132:1-5,11-14; Mk 4:21-25
Friday: 2 Sm 11:1-4a,5-10a,13-17; Ps 51:3-7,10-11;
Mk 4:26-34
Saturday: 2 Sm 12:1-7a,10-17; Ps 51:12-17;
Mk 4:35-41
Sunday: Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jer 1:4-5,17-19; Ps 71:1-6,15,17; 1 Cor 12:31–13:13; Lk 4:21-30
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MASS INTENTIONS:
January 23rd: for greater respect for human life
January 24th: for the people of St. Jude
January 25th: for S.S. Gabriel
January 27th: in Thanksgiving
January 29th: for John Pettit
January 30th: for our Catholic School students

LAST WEEK’S COLLECTION Budget Actual
Reg. Collection $ 5,294 $4,426
YTD Total $153,526 $150,007
Mortgage Balance 12/23/09 $16,792

Respect Life Collection Today, we take up the annual collection for Respect Life activities. These funds are used throughout the diocese to support efforts to renew respect for human life. Some of these funds were returned to us in the New River Valley through underwriting of the youth bus trip to the March for Life, through payment for gasoline for the mobile ultrasound unit at the Pregnancy Resource Center, and through educational resources provided by the diocese. Thank you for your support for Respect Life activities.

Haiti Relief Efforts Our parish will join with other parishes throughout the diocese in a special collection on Feb 7 to help Catholic Relief Services in the long-term rebuilding of Port-au-Prince. In addition, our local efforts to assist the people of Matabonite, Haiti continue through the work of the David Goy Foundation. If you would like to make a special contribution toward assisting Matabonite, or would like to begin receiving the Haiti newsletter, let us know at the church office. Mail can be sent to the David Goy Foundation at the church address.

SCHEDULES FOR NEXT WEEKEND:
January 30 & 31:

ALTAR SERVERS:
SAT: Alexis & Sasha von Spakovsky
SUN: Jonathan Joseph, Nate Notebaert, Michael
Wheeler

LECTORS:
SAT: Maureen Herbert, Brad Shean
SUN: Youth

GREETERS:
SAT: Erv Stauss
SUN: Marijane Whitescarver, Diamond Joseph

EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS:
SAT: Mary & Jim H., Angie F.
SUN: Allison W., Ed Weyer, Judy W., Cheryl A.,
Jeff & Teresa B., Gwen B.

Catholic Schools Week begins January 31. The students and staff from St. John Neumann Academy, our local Catholic school, will join us for Mass on Jan 31. This is an opportunity for our parish to support Catholic education. Please let them know that we care about their work of teaching the faith.

Financial Goals: The Finance Council has set a goal of paying off the mortgage in 2010. If you would like to make an end-of-year donation to our building fund, please use the envelopes in the commons marked "My Offering" or write "Building Fund" in the memo line on your check and drop it in the collection basket.

Pancake/Casserole Breakfast – The St. Jude Knights of Columbus Council 11639 is hosting a Pancake & Casserole Breakfast on Sunday Jan. 31st. The break-fast will commence upon the conclusion of Mass. All proceeds from the breakfast goes to support the Seminarians of the Richmond Diocese. Please come to enjoy and support this event.

UPCOMING COMMITTEE MEETINGS:

PASTORAL COUNCIL - 7pm Thursday, 2/4

CHRISTIAN FORMATION

RCIA–will meet this Wed., Jan. 27th, at 7:30 p.m. following the 7:00 Mass. The topic will be The New Testament presented by Karen Melendez.

VIRTUS Training: All adults working with children and youth under the age of 18 are required to attend the diocesan workshop, VIRTUS, Protecting God's Children. The next workshop offered in the New River Valley is going to be on Feb. 8th at St. Mary's in Blacksburg at 7pm. There is no charge, but you need to pre-register. Go to www.virtusonline.com to register. Contact Sue Ellerbrock at oreoangel@Yahoo.com if you have
any questions.

WE WALK BY FAITH – One of our goals from St. Jude's We Walk By Faith survey was to address how we are promoting Catholic identity in children and adult religious education within our parish. We are promoting our Catholic identity in the following ways:
**In our Elementary program, the classes teach Catholic Traditions, prayers, learning how the Catholic Bible is different from the King James version; etc.
**In the middle school program, the students have a course called Being Catholic, Exploring the Bible and Gathering to Celebrate, about our Mass and traditions. In the high school curricula, we teach the course Exploring Catholicism. We also use the Catholic Youth Bible with our teens.
**In Adult Education, we have promoted our Catholic identity by the materials, study, and discussion at adult faith formation gatherings in recent months: Scripture and the writings of Pope John Paul II on dealing with suffering; the role of St. Peter, St. Paul, and several Apostolic Fathers in the development of church structure, the papacy, and theological concepts of our faith. The current study uses Scripture and a specifically Catholic approach (Archbishop Dolan's Called To Be Holy as well as lectio divina prayer) in the focus on spirituality and holiness in our lives.

Adult Faith Formation –We will continue our study Jan. 24 & 25 with Ch. 2 Faith (pp.22-35) and Ch. 3 Hope (pp. 36-48) on Sunday evening 6:30-8pm & Monday morning 10-11:30am.

FOCUS - A Diocesan Weekend Retreat for Young Adults to hear God’s voice - will be held Jan. 29-31 at the Holy Family Retreat Center in Hampton VA. If interested, please see info on the bulletin boards.

NEW BULLETIN ADVERTISERS NEEDED!!
New advertisers interested in signing up, please contact the church office ASAP. We currently have several spaces available. Your ad will run until December 31.

PRAYER REQUESTS, HOSPITALIZATIONS, HOMEBOUND ILLNESSES, ANY NEEDS YOU WOULD WISH TO SHARE WITH THE PARISH COMMUNITY– Please call the office or place your requests in our box in the commons. Our parish prayer chain will pray for those petitions each week. Please pray for the health of Henry Moore, Martha Ann & Ned McGreevy, Tegan Wright, Cheryl Sweeney, Mike & Ginny Piper, Mary Mundy, Kathi Slayman, Russell Dulaney, Lois Castonguay, Roger Hermann, Linda Coulter, Randy Rakes & Josefine Hanel. Please pray for those parishioners (or family members) in the Armed Forces: Sean Semple, Capt. Chuck Gill, US Army, Capt. Jamie Ferrelly, Adam Wyttenbach, David Wyttenbach, Cpl. Will Brock, USMC, LTJG Miguel Melendez, Coast Guard, LT Kristina Melendez, Navy, John Holscher, USN & Kris Tardif, Army.

This year let’s celebrate “SOUPER BOWL” weekend on Feb. 7th by bringing non-perishable food to replenish the Radford Food Pantry. There is a container at the back of the church for your food items and also a box for monetary donations.

Catholic Advocacy Day - The Virginia Catholic Conference is sponsoring this annual opportunity to meet with elected representatives in Richmond on Thurs., Jan. 28, 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. The day begins with prayer and briefings at St. Peter’s Catholic Church. Come join the conversation about issues of respecting life, social and economic justice, education, and family life. For registration form, visit www.vacatholic.org and click on Catholic Advocacy Day Flyer, or call (804) 225-8565. Both Arlington Bishop Paul Loverde and Richmond Bishop Francis DiLorenzo will offer welcoming remarks.

ENGAGED ENCOUNTER WEEKEND (Jan 29-31) in Va Beach is a weekend marriage preparation program for engaged couples and those contemplating marriage; to register or for more info visit engagedencounter.org or call 804-320-8289.

What can you do to help your teen grow in their faith? Encourage them to attend a Discovery Retreat! What’s Discovery? A peer-led retreat for 9th & 10th graders that deals with discovering one’s identity and their relationship with the Lord. A life changing experience! Some area retreats available: Smith Mountain Lake Feb. 5-7 and again Mar. 5-7 and in Goshen, VA Mar. 12-14. Spaces are limited. Please call Renee Turk (540-293-4011) for details or refer to www.richmonddiocese.org for further information.