Syracuse Catholic Deaf Community
February 2001 News
Special Mass with Bishop MoynihanApril 7th 5 PM
Fr. Tom Coughlin visited us in Utica the weekend of Feb. 3-4th.
Fr. Tom Coughlin celebrating Mass
Photo by Paul Finch, of the Catholic Sun
for an upcoming article
LENT STARTS FEBRUARY 28th
ASH WEDNESDAY MASSES Wednesday, February 28th St James', Johnson City 5:15 PM
St Lucy's, Syracuse 5:15 PM
followed by a Soup Supper
St John's, Liverpool 7 PM
St Peter's, Rome 7PM
St Francis DeSales, Utica 5:15 PM
Everybody but Fr. Tom in this picture!
Penance Service
Wednesday March21st 6:30 PM
St. Francis de SalesParish Center in Utica
Fr. Peter Williamswill be available for confessions
Followed by ICDA102 meetingFr. Peter Williams Invites You
To a Mardi Gras Celebration on February 27th Tuesday, the Day Before Ash Wednesday!!
St Joseph's Parish in Camillus 6 PM MASS
A special Mardi Gras Mass with Jazz Music Followed by a non-alcoholicFamily Party in our Parish Center.
Our Deaf Community Friends are welcome to join us.
(Let your Lay Minister know so we can plan interpreters!) Please bring Snacks to share (beverages provided) and Wear Bright, Happy Colors!
The OCC Jazz Band will be there, and we will have game and prizes for kids. Fun for All!
Mardi Gras means FAT TUESDAY and is a celebration of life.
In the old days, each year, the day before Lenten Fasting began, people had one last big party.
Mardi Gras shows a positive spiritual attitude- Life is good. God loves us. We should celebrate together!
Jim Van Damme wonders if Fr. Peter is celebrating Fat Tuesday early
Jack and Ann Parish celebrated 50 years of marriage on January 27th
Deepening Our Relationship With God by Jane Long
Father Mike Depcik taught us many things during the Jubilee Retreat in December. In last month's newsletter, you read about keeping a good relationship with your best friend, God.
A relationship depends on communication. The way we can communicate with God is through prayer. Good communication between friends must be frequent and sincere.
There are several ways to pray. Some prayers are formal, using formal language that is always the same. The "Our Father" is a formal prayer. The Mass is a formal prayer.
Other prayers are informal, using our own thoughts and words just as we would if we were communicating with our best friend. Good friends praise each other. Sometimes they ask for help or favors. Sometimes good friends need to apologize or say "I'm sorry" to keep the friendship strong. And everyone likes to be thanked for things they do for us. This is the same with God.
Here are some examples of four kinds of informal prayers. We can praise God. For example: "God, you are so wonderful!" We can ask God for things. For example: "God, please help my brother get better." Or "Please, God, let there be peace on Earth."
We can tell God we are sorry. For example- "God, I'm sorry I got mad today." And we can tell God thank you. For example - "God, thank you for my good friends."An easy was to remember thefour different informal prayers is to remember the word PAST. "P" for praise;"A" for ask-, "S" for sorry; and "T" for thank you.
God always is ready to pay attention to our prayers. He always answers our prayers. Sometimes hisanswer is not immediate. Sometimes his answer is not what we expect. Just like a good and loving parent may say "no" sometimes to a child, God knows best what we need.The most important part ofa good friendship is communication. Our best friend is God, and he wants you to communicate with him. When God becomes the center of your life, it makes him very happy.
