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Watch your mailbox! All registered parishioners will be receiving our Parish Renewal Handbook, Ministry Catalog and Annual Report, right about now. Please read it. Visit ministry leaders in the tents outside Masses next weekend and consider how you might get involved in parish life!
Join us for our monthly Taizé Ecumenical Prayer service on Monday, 15 September at 8pm in the church. Bring your friends, all are welcome!
The Knights of Columbus will be collecting donations for the Coats for Kids program this weekend and next weekend. Their goal is for no child to go without a coat during this winter season.
On November 4, Virginians will be selecting candidates for all 100 seats in the House of Delegates as well as for Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General. We will host a nonpartisan voter registration event after the 9am, 11am and before the 1pm Mass in Spanish next Sunday 21 September. The registration deadline for the general election is Friday, October 24. All materials will be bilingual.
All couples celebrating a Golden or Silver Anniversary are invited to a Wedding Anniversaries Mass on Sunday, October 19, 2:30pm at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More. Please call the parish office to register no later than Monday, October 3.
Thank you to all who have responded to our request to reduce our parish envelope costs. If you are receiving offertory envelopes but don’t use them or no longer wish to receive them, please contact our parish office so that we can remove that service from your registration file. Remember Second and Special Collections can be done electronically through Faith Direct.
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
Another week of Religious Education in the books. Please remember there are no cell phones allowed in classes, and smart watches will need to be put in “do not disturb” mode. Children should bring their book(s) in their clear plastic folder each week to class, and parents should check the folder weekly for assignments and information from the catechist. Class times on Tuesday and Wednesday are 6-7:15pm-- please arrive and pick-up on time! Students arriving more than 15 minutes late will have to be signed in by a parent at door 1.
Please remember that the Confirmation kick-off meetings are this month! It is a mandatory meeting for both parents and children held at the church from 6:15-7:15pm. Confirmation 2027 kick-off will be on September 14 and Confirmation 2026 kick-off will be on September 28.
Today, September 14, we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The feast commemorates two historic events, the discovery of the True Cross of Christ by St. Helena and the dedication of the basilica on Calvary (Church of the Holy Sepulcher) built by her son, St. Constantine the Great. You can read about the story of the discovery of the True Cross here https://faithandfabricdesign.com/2013/09/activity-feast-of-exaltation-of-holy.html and it gives you a directions of the Holy Cross activity to do with your children. Or you can go on a pilgrimage to the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington, DC to see the replicas of the Holy Land shrines.
Children’s Liturgy of the Word (CLOW) is held during the Sunday 9am Mass to proclaim God’s Word to our three-to-six year old children at a level they can understand. If you would like to sign your child up, please use this link: https://forms.office.com/r/jtBEQmQ0ys or scan the QR code at left. As the CLOW team preps for the new school year, we are in need of volunteers to help teach the children and to be classroom aides. If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please reach out to Kathryn Melton at yanezka@gmail.com or Lynn Jones at ljones@stbernpar.org.
Volunteers for 2025-2026 ~ As we prepare to plan for the upcoming Religious Education school year, please discern if you would like to help. We are in need of Lead Catechists and aides. If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office or fill out the Volunteer Form on the website. You will also find the QR Code at the bulletin board.
WOMEN'S MINISTRY
Come and enjoy warm fellowship and great food. No need to RSVP. For more information, please email us at women@stbernpar.org. Monday, September 15 is our next Dinner with Friends at 5pm, at Saratoga Pizzeria, 8050 Rolling Road. This casual meal is one of our normal dinners on the 1st the 3rd Monday of every
month.
NEW DATE! Our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, September 16 at 7pm in the Bradican Room. We have a very special program tonight. Father James will favor us with a vocal and guitar performance including some self-composed songs and some more familiar and popular favorites. This will surely be an evening not to be missed!YOUTH MINISTRY
High School Socials
All high schoolers are invited to join us for Tuesday Socials every Tuesday from 7-8:30pm! Meet in the youth room (in the parish office) for games, ice cream, and a discussion on the faith.
All High schoolers are invited for dinner, games, a fellowship on Saturday, September 13. Meet in the Bradican room from 6-8:30pm!
All 9-12th grade boys are invited to join us for a bonfire, s’mores, and games on Thursday, September 25th from 7-8:30pm. Meet on the rectory patio. Contact JP McLaughlin for more information (JPMcLaughlin@stbernpar.org)
Daily Mass and Donuts - September 23 - All high schoolers are invited to take advantage of the FCPS student holiday and join us for 9am daily Mass, followed by donuts and fellowship in the youth room until 10:30.
Middle School Youth Ministry - our next gathering is 17 September
Next gathering - September 17 - All 6th-8th graders are invited for games, snacks, and fun every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month! Meet in the school gym from 6:45-8pm.
To learn more about our middle and high school ministries,
please contact Grace Mee, gmee@stbernpar.org
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
I used a quote by Pope Francis in my homily last week that has stayed with me. Do you remember as we watched him walk completely alone through an empty Saint Peter’s Square at the height of the pandemic, and the world watched Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at the front, locked doors? Kneeling there he prayed to God a prayer of confession for how we have not been good stewards of the gifts we have received, not heeded unprecedented levels of suffering, wars and injustice, not listened to the cry of the poor or of our ailing planet. He said, “We carried on regardless, thinking we would stay healthy in a world that was sick.”
I hear it all the time in the confessional. I was talking to a friend of mine who is a pastoral care counselor who spoke about the general reality in the therapeutic community. We are living in a time of uncertainty, confusion, and despair. So many people who do not know what to do. They are “stuck.”
I’m working on planning the Burke/Springfield Interfaith Thanksgiving Prayer Service (HERE! Tuesday, November 25 - mark your calendars!) and came across a song while I was gardening last week. I don’t think I had heard it before, but it will be the song for the combined interfaith choir. The song is “Thankful,” sung by Josh Groban.
Somedays, we forget to look around us. Somedays, we can’t see the joy that surrounds us. So caught up inside ourselves, we take when we should give. So for tonight we pray for what we know can be; and on this day we hope for
what we still can’t see. It’s up to us, to be the change, and even though we all can still do more, There’s so much to be thankful for.
Look beyond ourselves, there’s so much sorrow. It’s way too late to say I’ll cry tomorrow. Each of us must find our truth, we’re so long overdue.
So for tonight we pray for what we know can be; and everyday, we hope for what we still can’t see...
The solution is to get out of ourselves, and discover something greater. Enough! The solution to depression is not mindless busy-ness. In fact, that often makes it worse. But ask the question: what would you be doing? What can you do to make a difference? What is important to you? What kind of world – what kind of Church – do we leave for our children?
The therapeutic response for a person in distress is to identify their values. And their boundaries. Ask if they hold themselves accountable? And focus on gratitude to God who has given us so many things we forget on a daily basis to acknowledge. Share that knowledge and faith will grow. Faith that is shared grows many times faster than when I am alone.
The same question applies to a parish community on Parish Life Weekend. Have we identified our values? Our limits? Do we hold ourselves accountable for the life of this parish family?
So what do we do about that? The answer is to do something. Actions reveal the integrity of our words. Act, and just do the next right thing.
This weekend is Parish Life Weekend, perhaps you’ve heard. What I do know is that nothing will happen if we don’t act. The challenge to you this weekend is to consider this place where you belong, and your part in making it stronger and more beautiful, all of us together. Through a deeper commitment to the spiritual life. Through a deeper commitment to care for someone or serve others in Church work. Through a deeper commitment to help our parish afford our vision to grow in prayer and service to God and each other.
Pages 14-21 in this bulletin are reprinted from a previous year, a reflection on discipleship (and the four pillars of hospitality prayer, formation, and service) and its authentic expressions. Please review it.
Also, I hope everyone has received our Parish Renewal Handbook, Ministry Catalog and Annual Report. Please read it. We did a lot of work to produce it!
Prayerfully consider how we will discover something greater than ourselves in the coming year. “See,” Jesus says, “I make all things new.” He does that through our service as the living members of his Body in this place, in this time, as we work together to advance the work of salvation.
The Lord be with you,
Watch your mailbox! All registered parishioners will be receiving our Parish Renewal Handbook, Ministry Catalog and Annual Report, probably beginning September 5.
We will celebrate Parish Life Weekend September 13-14, and Commitment Sunday the following weekend. Please review the book and consider how you might get involved in parish life!
Join us for our monthly Taizé Ecumenical Prayer service on Monday, 15 September at 8pm in the church. Bring your friends, all are welcome!
All couples celebrating a Golden or Silver Anniversary are invited to a Wedding Anniversaries Mass on Sunday, October 19, 2:30pm at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More. Please call the parish office to register no later than Monday, October 3.
Thank you to all who have responded to our request to reduce our parish envelope costs. If you are receiving offertory envelopes but don’t use them or no longer wish to receive them, please contact our parish office so that we can remove that service from your registration file. Remember Second and Special Collections can be done electronically through Faith Direct.
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
Happy September! There is a lot going on in the Catholic Church this week. Today, September 7, Pope Leo XIV will canonize Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassiti. Their devotion to the Eucharist was central to their spiritual life. Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint who died in 2006 and was known for his computer-savvy which brought attention to Eucharistic miracles, and Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died in 1925 and was a Third Order Dominican known for his charity. EWTN has produced documentaries about them. You can learn about Carlo Acutis in the “I Am With You” documentary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUpqQneSOFM. You can watch American pilgrims visit places close to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVFAZm1j_fo or watch the EWTN documentary “To The Top,” Verso I’alto (“To the heights”).
Children’s Liturgy of the Word (CLOW) is held during the Sunday 9am Mass to proclaim God’s Word to our three-to-six year olds at a level they can understand. If you would like to sign your child up, please use this link: https://forms.office.com/r/jtBEQmQ0ys or scan the QR code at left. As the CLOW team preps for the new school year, we are in need of volunteers to help teach the children and to be classroom aides. If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please reach out to Kathryn Melton at yanezka@gmail.com or Lynn Jones at ljones@stbernpar.org.
Volunteers for 2025-2026 ~ As we prepare to plan for the upcoming Religious Education school year, please discern if you would like to help. We are in need of Lead Catechists and aides. If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office or fill out the Volunteer Form on the website. You will also find the QR Code at the bulletin board.
WOMEN'S MINISTRY
Come and enjoy warm fellowship and great food. No need to RSVP. For more information, please email us at women@stbernpar.org. Monday, September 15 is our next Dinner with Friends at 5pm, at Saratoga Pizzeria, 8050 Rolling Road. This casual meal is one of our normal dinners on the 1st the 3rd Monday of every
month.
NEW DATE! Our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, September 16 at 7pm in the Bradican Room. We have a very special program tonight. Father James will favor us with a vocal and guitar performance including some self-composed songs and some more familiar and popular favorites. This will surely be an evening not to be missed!YOUTH MINISTRY
High School Socials
All high schoolers are invited to join us for Tuesday Socials every Tuesday from 7-8:30pm! Meet in the youth room (in the parish office) for games, ice cream, and a discussion on the faith.
All High schoolers are invited for dinner, games, a fellowship on Saturday, September 13. Meet in the Bradican room from 6-8:30pm!
Middle School Youth Ministry - our next gathering is 17 September
All 6th-8th graders are invited for games, snacks, and fun every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month! Meet in the school gym from 6:45-8pm.
To learn more about our middle and high school ministries,
please contact Grace Mee, gmee@stbernpar.org
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
This past week we completed the Parish Renewal Handbook, Ministry Catalog, and Annual Report for 2025 and sent it to the printer. You should be receiving it in the few days around this weekend.
When you get the catalog, I ask that you read it prayerfully to consider your place at Saint Bernadette. It is good to belong; it is better and healthier, both spiritually and emotionally, to belong and be involved! Once again this year, I ask everyone to consider how they plan to grow (1) in prayer, (2) in service, and (3) in giving to the parish offertory during the coming year. If we don’t make concrete commitments, we maybe just do whatever we did last year, or grow indifferent. The growth we want is living more deeply connected to God and his family. Our life of grace depends upon it. The finances of our parish with ever-rising costs also depends on you.
The first part of the catalog has some texts (Sacred Scripture and other Church teachings) for your reflection and meditation. Read a little bit at a time, allow the thoughts to resonate in your memory. Those of us who are older can remember back to a time (I hope) when we lived our lives with the Church more at our center. Much of our younger people today simply don’t know what that could be like. Our world works very hard to draw us away from God and from each other, and convince us that the practice of faith (religion) isn’t as necessary or as important. Unfortunately, too many people have bought the lie. Prayer and Sacred Scripture is something that we need every day. Making our “living sacrifice of praise” to God at Mass is not only required. It is the one thing that shapes us into Christ himself and makes us come alive. That life quickly begins to stagnate as soon as people stop coming to Mass to offer themselves to the Father in Jesus.
The second part of the catalog is a listing of all the ministries in the parish. You are asked to look through this section and prayerfully consider where God might be calling you to serve. Choose one. There is not a person that God is not calling to serve among his people. It might not be in the Church itself, it might be outside, at work, in the home. But the way he calls us is through the gifts we were given at Baptism. In this case, the Called and Gifted Workshop or something like it is so important, taking time to consider our life experiences and see where God was working through us: those moments when we realize that we couldn’t have done that alone, it must have been God with us. Whatever gift you were working through at that time is the path God has for you, and you are invited to take that path not only to serve as Jesus serves, but to find fulfillment. Talk to a representative of Called and Gifted to see if you would like to include it on your Commitment Card. If there is interest, we will plan another Workshop.
(1) Decide how you will add to your commitment of prayer working on your relationship with God in the coming year. Then (2) Choose your ministry for the coming year. You will have the added opportunity to speak with people already serving in various parish ministries under the tents in front of church before and after all Masses on next weekend, September 13-14. This year we will not have sign-up sheets at the tents, you will include your commitments of time and talent on the Commitment Card the next weekend, September 20-21. Give a new ministry a try—if it doesn’t bring you to life, if it becomes a chore, then that is not the ministry for you. The Church is not a place anymore where people must just fill the gaps of need as volunteers. You must respond because you are truly called.
Finally, everyone is asked (3) to prayerfully consider if the contribution you make to the Church is enough. As Rick Caporali said at all the Masses in early Summer, our Sunday collections have stayed pretty much flat for eight years. Maybe it is time to consider giving more? Like the cost of living, the costs of running a parish have continued to increase, as always, and as we develop ministries, add the staff needed to bring our parish community and ministry to life, and expand our campus, your support is needed more than ever. Please, give it consideration.
Now is the time for our parish to dream about what is possible with the new building. Possibilities increase exponentially with the space to achieve them. The Holy Spirit is leading us in the direction of becoming a great community and light for all.
The Lord be with you,
Our parish offices will be closed on Monday, 1 September, in observance of the Labor Day holiday. Please note: NO 7am Mass on Monday only
Watch your mailbox! All registered parishioners will be receiving our Parish Renewal Handbook, Ministry Catalog and Annual Report, probably beginning September 5.
We will celebrate Parish Life Weekend September 13-14, and Commitment Sunday the following weekend. Please review the book and consider how you might get involved in parish life!
Thanks to the good people of Saint Bernadette! Another amazing Saint Lucy Food Project drive: 8,284 pounds of food, $1,340 in donations! Especially now that our government has
canceled assistance for the poor, your help is more needed than ever.
Join us for our monthly Taizé Ecumenical Prayer service on Monday, 15 September at 8pm in the church. Bring your friends, all are welcome!
Thank you to all who have responded to our request to reduce our parish envelope costs. If you are receiving offertory envelopes but don’t use them or no longer wish to receive them, please contact our parish office so that we can remove that service from your registration file. Remember Second and Special Collections can be done electronically through Faith Direct.
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
Next Sunday, September 7, two contemporary saints will be canonized: Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint who died in 2006 and was known for his computer-savvy which brought attention to Eucharistic miracles, and Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died in 1925 and was a Third Order Dominican known for his charity. Click here https://youtu.be/d97Vn7q2n3I?feature=shared to watch a video on how the Church declares saints, and click here https://ewtn.co.uk/article-breaking-carlo-acutis-to-be-canonized-sept-7-with-pier-giorgio-frassati/ to learn about them.
Children’s Liturgy of the Word (CLOW) is held during the Sunday 9am Mass to proclaim God’s Word to our three-to-six year olds at a level they can understand. If you would like to sign your child up, please use this link: https://forms.office.com/r/jtBEQmQ0ys or scan the QR code at left. As the CLOW team preps for the new school year, we are in need of volunteers to help teach the children and to be classroom aides. If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please reach out to Kathryn Melton at yanezka@gmail.com or Lynn Jones at ljones@stbernpar.org.
Volunteers for 2025-2026 ~ As we prepare to plan for the upcoming Religious Education school year, please discern if you would like to help. We are in need of Lead Catechists and aides. If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office or fill out the Volunteer Form on the website. You will also find the QR Code at the bulletin board.
WOMEN'S MINISTRY
Come and enjoy warm fellowship and great food. No need to RSVP. For more information, please email us at women@stbernpar.org. Monday, September 1 is our next Dinner with Friends at 5pm, at Saratoga Pizzeria, 8050 Rolling Road. This casual meal is one of our normal dinners on the 1st the 3rd Monday of every month.
NEW DATE! Our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, September 16 at 7pm in the Bradican Room. We have a very special program tonight. Father James will favor us with a vocal and guitar performance including some self-composed songs and some more familiar and popular favorites. This will surely be an evening not to be missed!YOUTH MINISTRY
High School Socials begin 26 August!
All high schoolers are invited to join us for Tuesday Socials every Tuesday from 7-8:30pm! Meet in the youth room (in the parish office) for games, ice cream, and a discussion on the faith. Our first Tuesday social of the school year will be Tuesday, August 26. Contact Grace Mee for more information!
All High schoolers are invited for dinner, games, a fellowship on Saturday, September 13. Meet in the Bradican room from 6-8:30pm!
Middle School Youth Ministry begins 2 September
All 6th-8th graders are invited for games, snacks, and fun every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month! Meet in the school gym from 6:45-8pm, beginning Wednesday, September 2.
To learn more about our middle and high school ministries,
please contact Grace Mee, gmee@stbernpar.org
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
s you know, I have been reflecting on the value and success of a strong community as a refuge from all the moral chaos and lack of truth. I have been interviewing all our inquirers coming into this year’s OCIA program, and there seems to be a consistent thread that runs throughout their seeking: we all need a place where the mess of the world can be viewed from a perspective of faith. That foundation of faith needs to be strong. We aren’t going to make sense out of most of what is happening in the world today. Nor do we need to. We just need a perspective from which we realize life isn’t about the world, anyway. It is beyond, a much broader horizon that we often forget is there, from here in the trenches. We need a community of faith, it is in our DNA.
Also, I have been doing a deep dive into the experiences of Saint Paul in his four journeys in preparation for our upcoming parish pilgrimage.
Against all expectations, the early Christian community grew with remarkable speed in the first centuries after Christ. Several factors help explain this unlikely expansion.
The Roman Empire, like the world today, was vast, multicultural, and often hostile to new movements. Christianity’s rise from a small group of Galilean disciples to a faith spanning cities and continents signals something powerful at work.
Of course, there were shared languages and roads: The Pax Romana provided a relatively stable political environment, with trade routes and Roman roads enabling ideas to spread quickly. Greek and Latin served as common tongues, allowing missionaries like Paul to communicate broadly. Imagine how much faster the message of love would have gotten out if there had been a Roman internet!
In the Church there was also social inclusivity: Christianity welcomed people across class, gender, and ethnic boundaries. Women, slaves, and the poor—those most marginalized in society—found dignity and belonging in the Christian message that “all are one in Christ.”
Most important from the Church was found hope and meaning: Jesus. The promise of eternal life, forgiveness, and God’s love spoke directly to human anxieties about suffering, mortality, and injustice.
Persecution, though brutal, often backfired. Martyrs who faced death with courage stirred curiosity and admiration among non-believers. Stories of their witness inspired others, making Christianity appear not weak, but indestructible. Communities that cared for their sick, buried their dead, and practiced charity stood out in times of plague and crisis, offering practical as well as spiritual refuge.
Missionary zeal, especially that of the Apostles and early bishops, created tight-knit communities that multiplied in households and cities. Local leaders adapted the message without losing unity, giving Christianity both flexibility and coherence.
Against the odds, then, the early Church’s growth owed less to power and more to persuasion, compassion, and conviction.
What can we learn from the early Church today as heirs of the Tradition? First, we focus on Jesus. We take advantage of the gifts we have received that enable us to communicate Jesus in the trade routes and roads that we travel in our daily lives to the people we encounter there. This is where you as lay people have your advantage. The Church takes care of you so you can take care of others. Pope Francis called us the field hospital for all those who are out fighting the good fight every day.
We need to continue the Tradition of being inclusive, not exclusive, to all those who have been left behind by the world, all those who are vulnerable and lack a voice. We have to be ready to give them the kerygma: the need of the world for salvation and the solution offered to all of us in Jesus, God’s Son, who entered into our humanity and by his cross, death and resurrection, makes all things new. Not just some things or some people, but all.
We need to think not so much about power and who has it, but rather focus on unity, compassion and forgiveness.
Start watching your mailboxes for our Parish Renewal Handbook, Ministry Catalog, and Annual Report! Parish Life Weekend is in two weeks!
To our sisters and brothers at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis:
When one member of the Body rejoices, the Body rejoices.
When one member of the Body suffers, the Body suffers.
When one member of the Body mourns, the Body mourns.
We mourn with you, standing from afar, but know our presence with you. We pray for hope and healing for your victims and families who are struggling with this reality. We implore God for the end of this senseless violence, hate, and inhumanity. May God’s peace be with you, and may they rest in peace.
To our brothers and sisters here at Saint Bernadette:
We stand in solidarity with the Catholic Church and condemn this act with deep sadness, and pray for resolution. We also renew our commitment to making our first priority the safety and well-being of our children and our families. We take our security measures very seriously and ask for your partnership to remind our children about the importance of our safety procedures and how they can contribute to the well-being of all by listening attentively and following the guidance of parish leaders. The Lord be with you.
Calling all rising 4th graders who would like to serve at the altar as Altar Servers! Training starts September 8, so contact Jean Corday in the parish office to sign up.
Bring your blue Saint Lucy Food Drive bags this weekend at Masses, August 23-24. See p. 13 of this weekend's bulletin for a list of most needed items. Thank you for your generosity.
The Knights of Columbus are hosting a Pancake Breakfast for the parish this Sunday, August 24 following the 7, 9, and 11am Masses to celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year. Proceeds will go to K of C charities.
There will be a Rise Against Hunger planning meeting this Sunday, August 24 in the Bradican Room. Come and see how you can get involved in all the aspects of providing meals around the world with thousands of life changing meals.
Thank you to all who have responded to our request to reduce our parish envelope costs. If you are receiving offertory envelopes but don’t use them or no longer wish to receive them, please contact our parish office so that we can remove that service from your registration file. Remember Second and Special Collections can be done electronically through Faith Direct.
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
Happy Sunday! This week on August 22 we celebrate the feast day of the Queenship of Mary. The Queenship of Mary falls on the octave of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to Catholic tradition, as Christ is king of the world and saves the people from their sins, Mary is queen over the earth because of her role in the story of divine redemption, serving as the mother to the Savior.” One delicious way to celebrate the feast day is by creating Coronation parfaits. Instructions can be found here. https://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2013/08/blueberry-peach-parfaits-for-coronation.html.
Children's Liturgy of the Word ~ As the CLOW team preps for the new school year, we are in need of volunteers. If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please reach out to Kathryn Melton at yanezka@gmail.com or Lynn Jones at ljones@stbernpar.org.
Volunteers for 2025-2026 ~ As we prepare to plan for the upcoming Religious Education school year, please discern if you would like to help. We are in need of Lead Catechists and aides. If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office or fill out the Volunteer Form on the website. You will also find the QR Code at the bulletin board.
WOMEN'S MINISTRY
Come and enjoy warm fellowship and great food. No need to RSVP. For more information, please email us at women@stbernpar.org. Monday, August 18, is our next Dinner with Friends at 5pm, at Saratoga Pizzeria, 8050 Rolling Road. We meet for this casual meal on the 1st and the 3rd Monday of every month.
YOUTH MINISTRY
High School Socials begin 26 August!
All high schoolers are invited to join us for Tuesday Socials every Tuesday from 7-8:30pm! Meet in the youth room (in the parish office) for games, ice cream, and a discussion on the faith. Our first Tuesday social of the school year will be Tuesday, August 26. Contact Grace Mee for more information!
All High schoolers are invited for dinner, games, a fellowship on Saturday, September 13. Meet in the Bradican room from 6-8:30pm!
Middle School Youth Ministry begins 2 September
All 6th-8th graders are invited for games, snacks, and fun every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month! Meet in the school gym from 6:45-8pm, beginning Wednesday, September 2.
To learn more about our middle and high school ministries,
please contact Grace Mee, gmee@stbernpar.org
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
I asked A.I. the origin of the word “pastor.” The word “pastor” originates from the Latin word “pastor,” meaning “shepherd.” This term, in turn, comes from the Latin verb “pascere,” which means “to lead to pasture, set to grazing, cause to eat.” In religious contexts, particularly within Christianity, “pastor” is used to describe a clergyman or minister who is a shepherd to a flock or congregation.
It has been my experience, however, that the job often seems more like that of a sheepdog than a shepherd, running around biting at peoples’ heels to try to move this ship of church in the right direction. You hear people use the phrase “herding cats” a lot, but I think it better to popularize “herding sheep.”
It is an interesting reflection: to lead them to pasture, to set them to grazing, and to “cause [them] to eat?” What is the old phrase – you can lead a horse to water...but you can’t make it drink! But that is, apparently, exactly my vocation.
What is the best course of action for Saint Bernadette, how do I place it in front of you, and convince you that you can’t live without it? That there is nothing more important to your life than what Jesus is offering at this and every moment of your life? I would hope that in an unobscured moment of clarity each and every person in our parish would realize that this is True. But how do we renew our hearts to make Saint Bernadette our priority as a community that brings us holiness and life?
This is not something that happens automatically, sadly. It is only inspired by an encounter of the love of God, often in prayer but sometimes in our interactions with others. There is an unconditionality of love that lays bare all our brokenness from bad experiences of love which did more harm than good. It is only actualized by the same interaction when we experience the beauty of others serving us and our service to others. This is the love that saves. This is the love whose absence on the last day will bring about the words of our Savior, reminding us that every time we did not do something out of love for the least of our brothers and sisters, we did not do it for him. It is starkly simple.
In our planning committee meeting for Parish Life Weekend there was some discussion about the use of the word “commitment.” “Commitment card.” “Commitment Sunday.” People are afraid to commit to things today, I was told. There is the pasture... so many possibilities. Please, eat. The alternative is to starve.
I need your help.
We have a great future just about to open up. Think of the possibilities with a new building: we have to plan. We have to dream. So what does a pastor do when he needs help? He forms a committee. There are a lot of jokes out there about committees and death by meetings. But I propose to you the first Church committee had 12 members, suddenly then 11, and then a new 12th was called up. We do human things by calling forth the gifts that God has already placed in our community.
I’m forming a parish advisory board because finally I think we are ready. The pasture is laid out before us. We are led to the water.
Also, I need two other principal committees first. One is a group that will effectively call forth the gifts from the many cultures and language groups that make up our parish family. I’m calling it the Multicultural Ministry Team (how original!). Everyone needs to be represented and have a part and a say in how we dream our future.
Second, I need a Communications Committee. This is particularly an area where you youth and young adult members of our family can shine. I love to tell our kids that I graduated from college before personal computers were invented. They invented the internet the year I was ordained. (They don’t believe me.) So you can see how steep my learning curve is! I make this bulletin, that is about the depth of my tech talents. BUT... YOU can get our good news out there! Think about how quickly bad news fills the world-wide web. Good news can travel just as quickly and will provide people with the hope they need so much. The best news is usually received in person: by word of mouth, share our story and get people excited! It will require commitment...
The Lord be with you.
In his weekly General Audience Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV invited all the faithful to take part in a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace in the world on this Friday, August 22, the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Pope Leo asks for prayer and fasting for all those who suffer due to war, particularly in the Holy Land and Ukraine, and “to implore the Lord to grant peace and justice, and to wipe away the tears of those who suffer because of ongoing armed conflicts.” He added, “May Mary, Queen of Peace, intercede so that peoples may find the path of peace.”