Announcements for Week Ending June 5th, 2011

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

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√ THURSDAY, JUNE 2ND IS ASCENSION THURSDAY. MASS WILL BE CELEBRATED AT 6:30 PM FOLLOWED BY A “POT LUCK” DINNER IN THE PARISH CENTER. SIGN-UP SHEETS ARE LOCATED IN THE BACK OF CHURCH.

√ St. Margaret’s Altar Guild will be having a Coffee Hour and short meeting for member, members at large and anyone who might be interested in joining the Altar Guild. The Coffee Hour will be held on Saturday, June 11th at 10 AM in the Parish Center. Looking forward to seeing you there!

√ Jon Rinnander will be sorting books in the Womble library from 10-2 PM, May 25, 27 and 31st. Empty cartons would be helpful if you could bring them while he is there. Recycled treasures from the library will be on sale in the parish center on Pentecost, Sunday, June 12 – to benefit TIHAN.

√ Knitters and Quilters will resume their meetings in September!

√ THIS Sunday, May 29, in the Parish Center, we’ll make migrant food packs for Samaritans to distribute to those in distress in the desert. Social action is buying in bulk (cheaper) for the basic pack. If you wish to add supplements (individual servings in durable containers), nutrition bars, trail mix, tuna pouches and fruit or applesauce cups are always welcome.

√ THANK YOU ~ to St. Michael’s ECW ~ St.Teresa’s Guild for their hard work and generous donation of $500.00 to Episcopal Relief and Development ~ Disaster Relief and a donation of $300.00 to St. Michael’s Peace Fund.

√ CASA MARIA VOLUNTEERS WILL MEET THIS FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD at 6:00 PM, in the Parish Center to prepare sack lunches. Your help is needed - the volunteers can always use a few extra hands and EXTRA dozens of SHELLED hard-boiled eggs (school is out!) Join us for fellowship and to help with this good work.

√ SUPPLY DONATIONS, GUATEMALA PROJECT ~ until June 12 only. General call for adult vitamins with minerals, ibuprophen, acetamenofen (Tyenol – adult, children, infants) and small tubes of antibiotic ointment. Add them to the treasure chest at the back of church, and we will take them to Guatemala in our suitcases. Other low-tech supply or medicine donations ~ telephone Ila. We are especially looking for small tubes of ophthalmic erythromycin and a new source for bulk low-cost purchase of prenatal vitamins.

Sun. June 5 -- St. Michael's new "prophetic" sign dedication, originally scheduled for May 29, will occur at the close of the 10:15 a.m. Mass June 5.  It's still a work in progress (like life!) at this point.  See a draft of the design on the Social Action bulletin board by the Parish Center.  And stay today to fill a few migrant food packs for us to donate to Samaritans.

A Monday Memo

We pray for the repose of the soul of Carol Watson. May her soul, and the souls of the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. Carol will be remembered at the Healing Mass this Wednesday at 12:10 PM.

The Dedication of the “Our Lady of The Desert Meditation House” will take place this Saturday. Meditation will begin at 9:15 AM with the Dedication taking place at 10:30 AM. A “Bar-B-Q” will follow.

Peace
Nancy

Church Growth Initative Workshop

You are invited to attend a special workshop this week-end at St. Michael's. The Rev. Margaret Babcock, an expert in Congregational Development, will present a workshop for Church Growth. She will be assisted by Frs. Paul Buckwalter and Allen Breckenridge as facilitators.

The workshop begins on Friday evening at 6 PM with food and refreshment and the opening session. The workshop will resume on Saturday morning at 9AM (coffee and rolls provided) and continue over lunch until 4PM closure.

Everything will take place in the Parish Center. Child care with goodies and films will be provided.

You will be happy you came to this special time together for the growth of parish.

Casa Maria - Help Needed!

Casa Maria ~ Parish Center. St. Michael's
WE NEED YOUR HELP;
No school students until September!

Friday May 6th:
Casa Maria sandwich making

Kitchen opens at 5pm, come anytime after that.
Please bring 1 OR 2 dozen peeled eggs if you can
We need medium sized boxes for transporting the lunches.
Fruit boxes from Costco or banana boxes are ideal.
MAURICE will deliver the sandwiches**
(Thanks to the Macomber Family for APRIL!)
COME join the fun! BRING FRIENDS!
(No 8th grade students until September)

Wishing you all the blessings of the Easter Season!
HE IS RISEN!
NEXT CASA MARIA: FRIDAY JUNE 3RD!
Mark your calendars for 2011:
Casa Maria is every 4 weeks...

May 6th
June 3rd
July 1st
July 29th
Aug 26th
Sept 23rd
Oct 21st
Nov 18th
Dec 16th

A Message From Our Lady of the Desert

Tucson Meditators,

Remember the photo shoot a couple of weeks ago? Well, you can view some of the results in the attachment above.

As you can see and feel, spring is quite apparent and so I thought being May and all (and Catholic tradition being Mary's month), that we might focus on ecology, (Mother) Nature, renewal, Divine Mother and a general spring cleaning of our minds and bodies.

There are two events this month centered on eco-topics.

* On Wednesday, May 11 (6pm) @ Corpus Christi Catholic Church there will be a presentation by Dr. Jonathan Overpeck from the University of Arizona on Global Warming and Climate Change. Pick up details/flyers at the Desert Meditation House.

* Eco-Spirituality Retreat @ Our Lady of the Desert Meditation House on Saturday, May 21 (9:15-2pm). A DVD teaching from Sr. Paula Gonzales and Fr. Richard Rohr will be part of the schedule along with a pot-luck vegetarian lunch. Please RSVP if you are interested in attending. This will be a (mostly silent) retreat, and we will save responsive dialog for the following week.

Enjoy the week and talk to the birds. People will think you're crazy, but so what!

Peace on the streets.

Bob Ebert
Our Lady of the Desert Meditation House

Karate Classes and The Messenger

The May issue of The Messenger is now available. Featured in this issue: a Bucharest parish fights pediatric AIDS; a look at our Altar Guild; Briefly Noted; two new ministries at St. Michael's; and three memroeis of Father Fowler. Click here for your PDF copy.

Also: a reminder! Karate Classes led by Fr. Allen Breckenridge will begin this Wednesday, May 4 at 6:30 PM in the Parish Center. Adults, young adults and children, ages 10 and up, are welcome. $35.00 per mo for the first person, additional family members are $10 each. For more information please call Fr. Allen Breckenridge at 520-808-4073.

Peace!

Karen and Nancy