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Rise Against Hunger / Saint Bernadette Dining Nights Out
Tuesday, July 7 and July 21, Delia's Pizzeria and Grill, Braddock Rd, 4-8pm
present our flyer or mention Saint Bernadette when ordering!
Our Taize prayer service in July will be held one week later than usual, on July 27 at 8pm. Bring a friend.
Come to our Summer Theater Program’s production of The Little Mermaid at Bishop Ireton High School July 23, 24 and 25. Please note, it is one week earlier that previous years. Watch the bulletin for more information -- but mark your calendars now!
Bishop Burbidge invites all altar servers to join him along with other priests and seminarians for the annual picnic and competition. There’s a cookout, sports, games and a prayer service with the Bishop. Please contact the parish office to register. A liability form must be completed to participate.
Our parish thrives because of the gifts and generosity of its members. We invite you to explore the many volunteer opportunities available and consider how you might share your time and talents in service to our parish community. Whether you want to just stick your toe in or jump in the pool, there is an activity that can bring out the best in you! Discover where God may be calling you to serve. Please visit the parish website for more information or complete an interest form HERE.
All rising 6th through graduated 12th graders are invited to our summer events for youth. See the bulletin or the parish website for complete information on middle school and high school summer events.
Please plan to join us for our Rise Against Hunger Dining Out Nights. Participating restaurants include Silver Diner, Malek’s Pizza Palace, McAlister’s Deli, Delia’s, Milano’s, El Paso, and Saratoga Pizzeria. Each restaurant will generously donate a portion of their proceeds from meals purchased by our parish families. A complete Dining Nights calendar and flyers which you will need to take with you are available in the church vestibule and on the parish website.
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
Registration will open in June for next year. Continue your child's growth in the faith by signing them up for classes in 2026-27! Our class sessions will be on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and we will again offer our Special Religious Development class on Saturday mornings for students with special learning needs and our Family Faith Formation classes once a month on Sunday afternoons (for grades K-5) where parents take a larger role in their child's faith formation. Registration information will be in the parish bulletin, on the website, and will be sent via Flocknote to all currently registered children in the first week of June. Who should register? All currently registered students, including all Confirmation 2026, Confirmation 2027, and students preparing to receive First Eucharist next school year. Classes will begin on September 1 & 2. Questions about your child's registration? Call the Religious Education Office or contact the staff via email.
Who should register? All currently registered students, including all Confirmation 2026, Confirmation 2027, and students preparing to receive First Eucharist next school year. Classes will begin on September 1 & 2. Questions about your child's registration? Call the Religious Education Office or contact the staff via email.
Volunteers for 2026-2027 ~ We are still in need for volunteers (assistant catechists, teen catechists, and hall monitors). If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office or fill out the Volunteer Form on the website https://stbernpar.org/religious-education-volunteers/.
We have put up a couple of feedback forms on the parish website. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us and will help us improve our program.
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.
Our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, July 7 at 7pm in the Bradican Room. Noted local author Melanie Rigney will be our guest speaker. Melanie has published several books about lives of the saints. Her topic will be ‘Your Life With the Saints…and How to be One.” All women of the parish are welcome!
YOUTH MINISTRY
High School
All Rising 9th - graduated 12th graders are invited!
* Daily Mass and Donuts - Every Tuesday from June 30 – August 11. 9-10:30am
* Escape Room: Saint Bernadette Edition - Thursday, July 16, 7-8:30pm, Youth Room
* King’s Dominion Day - Wednesday, July 29. $40. Beginning with the 9am daily Mass
* End of Summer Social - Wednesday, August 12, 7-8:30pm at the Rectory Patio
Associates of St. John Bosco College Night ~Tuesday, June 30 - 7pm at Holy Spirit
Calling all rising college freshmen! Join us for a College Night with the Associates of St. John Bosco. Meet other rising freshmen and upperclassmen who will be attending your school and learn how to strengthen your faith while in college! All St. B’s students will go get ice cream after the event is over! Registration is required. Contact Grace for more information!
Middle School Youth Ministry
All rising 6th - 8th graders are invited to our Summer Drop-Ins! Join us July 8, July 22, and August 5 for fun, games, friends, and of course, ice cream! We will meet from 6:45-8pm in the gym.
To learn more about our middle and high school ministries,
please contact Grace Mee, gmee@stbernpar.org
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
We are living in a time of critique, so much so that it seems sometimes nothing is sacred. I would like all of us to consider this 250th anniversary of our nation’s declaration of independence as a holy moment, despite its shortcomings.
As I understand it, the Gift of the Holy Spirit we received at Confirmation called piety, is not pictured by a saint with their eyes gazing upward, rapt in prayer, hands folded, as is commonly understood by the word pious. Rather, it is the ability to recognize what is sacred in holy things, in people, in moments when God is near. Piety refers to this reverence we have for things created by God; Fear of the Lord, another of the Spirit’s Gifts, is the reverence we have before the ineffable holiness of God, God’s radical “otherness” surpassing our comprehension and even language.
I’ve been reading lately some editorials about our 250th birthday with some concern that the human faults of our Founders might be used as some to discount the integrity of our country’s founding values, particularly with regard to the ownership of enslaved persons. The “self-evident” truth that “all men are created equal,” with rights that included life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” was signed by the Founders—two-thirds of whom, 56—were enslavers. And only property-owning men had the right to vote. It was a document that pushed the world forward, though the world was not there yet at the time, toward making what it espoused a reality.
Some found themselves, including Thomas Jefferson (himself an owner of enslaved persons), confronted by the evil of the reality without a solution how to fix it. His original draft of the Declaration included a passage condemning King George III for introducing the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the colonies, calling it a “cruel war against human nature itself” and blamed the King for enslaving people and forcing them into distant lands. When presented to the Second Continental Congress in early July 1776, this passage triggered intense debate and exposed the deep economic and moral divides between the colonies. Virginia was the largest enslaver of all the colonies.
To secure the unity necessary to pass the Declaration, Congress ultimately deleted the entire anti-slavery passage. According to historical records and Jefferson’s own notes, delegates from southern colonies (like South Carolina and Georgia) strongly opposed the clause, while some northern delegates—whose economies were heavily tied to trade
—also supported its removal. It was deemed better to compromise for the possibility of independence and lay the groundwork for further debates that would return during the Constitutional Convention.
If you look one hundred years earlier, English philosopher John Locke defined humanity’s core natural rights as “life, liberty and the pursuit of property.” Jefferson’s change to the pursuit of happiness allowed the Declaration to avoid the elitist implications of only protecting the rights of actual property owners, including enslaved persons as property. Also, some of the Founders attributed “happiness” to civic virtue rather than material wealth.
There is clearly noted a divine origin to these inalienable rights acknowledged as being given by the Creator. It is not clear what this actually meant to the Founders whose religions ranged from Deism, Rationalism and orthodox Christianity.
Deists like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine rejected ortho-dox doctrines like the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus, instead viewing God as a ration-al “clockmaker” who set the universe in motion but does not intervene in daily life. Jefferson notoriously created his own version of the Bible—removing Jesus’ miracles and other supernatural elements.
But you can still see God working through them. The right to life is something that was presumed in their day by all people, perhaps more so than today. The right to liberty from a secular perspective included the right to personal freedom and self-determination. Jefferson’s later Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (January 1777) went on to become the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing complete freedom of conscience and the separation of church and state, establishing a sacred space where people of all religions may worship as their conscience dictates. Still today, that sacred space is called the United States of America, a place of welcome for all people. Happy Independence Day!
The Lord be with you,
Rise Against Hunger / Saint Bernadette Dining Nights Out
Monday, June 29, McAlister's Deli, Rolling Rd, 4-8pm
present our flyer or mention Saint Bernadette when ordering!
Please note : We will celebrate our Saturday morning Mass at 10am as is our custom on larger Federal Holidays i.e. Memorial and Labor Days. There is no 8am Mass on July 4th. Join us!
Join us as we welcome Fr. Daniel Rice to the parish on Sunday, June 28 after the 11am Mass in the gym.
Bishop Burbidge invites all altar servers to join him along with other priests and seminarians for the annual picnic and competition. There’s a cookout, sports, games and a prayer service with the Bishop. Please contact the parish office to register. A liability form must be completed to participate.
Our parish thrives because of the gifts and generosity of its members. We invite you to explore the many volunteer opportunities available and consider how you might share your time and talents in service to our parish community. Whether you want to just stick your toe in or jump in the pool, there is an activity that can bring out the best in you! Discover where God may be calling you to serve. Please visit the parish website for more information or complete an interest form HERE.
All rising 6th through graduated 12th graders are invited to our summer events for youth. See the bulletin or the parish website for complete information on middle school and high school summer events.
Please plan to join us for our Rise Against Hunger Dining Out Nights. Participating restaurants include Silver Diner, Malek’s Pizza Palace, McAlister’s Deli, Delia’s, Milano’s, El Paso, and Saratoga Pizzeria. Each restaurant will generously donate a portion of their proceeds from meals purchased by our parish families. A complete Dining Nights calendar and flyers which you will need to take with you are available in the church vestibule and on the parish website.
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
On June 28, we celebrate the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul and on July 3, the feast of St. Thomas. All three were apostles and were given the mission "to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." You can find suggestions of ways to celebrate Saints Peter and Paul here: https://www.waterfrontacademy.org/single-post/ways-to-celebrate-june-29-sts-peter-and-paul-apostles-solemnity-with-your-children
Registration will open in June for next year. Continue your child's growth in the faith by signing them up for classes in 2026-27! Our class sessions will be on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and we will again offer our Special Religious Development class on Saturday mornings for students with special learning needs and our Family Faith Formation classes once a month on Sunday afternoons (for grades K-5) where parents take a larger role in their child's faith formation. Registration information will be in the parish bulletin, on the website, and will be sent via Flocknote to all currently registered children in the first week of June. Who should register? All currently registered students, including all Confirmation 2026, Confirmation 2027, and students preparing to receive First Eucharist next school year. Classes will begin on September 1 & 2. Questions about your child's registration? Call the Religious Education Office or contact the staff via email.
Who should register? All currently registered students, including all Confirmation 2026, Confirmation 2027, and students preparing to receive First Eucharist next school year. Classes will begin on September 1 & 2. Questions about your child's registration? Call the Religious Education Office or contact the staff via email.
Volunteers for 2026-2027 ~ We are still in need for volunteers (assistant catechists, teen catechists, and hall monitors). If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office or fill out the Volunteer Form on the website https://stbernpar.org/religious-education-volunteers/.
We have put up a couple of feedback forms on the parish website. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us and will help us improve our program.
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.
Our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, July 7 at 7pm in the Bradican Room. Noted local author Melanie Rigney will be our guest speaker. Melanie has published several books about lives of the saints. Her topic will be ‘Your Life With the Saints…and How to be One.” All women of the parish are welcome!
YOUTH MINISTRY
High School
All Rising 9th - graduated 12th graders are invited!
* Daily Mass and Donuts - Every Tuesday from June 30 – August 11. 9-10:30am
* Escape Room: Saint Bernadette Edition - Thursday, July 16, 7-8:30pm, Youth Room
* King’s Dominion Day - Wednesday, July 29. $40. Beginning with the 9am daily Mass
* End of Summer Social - Wednesday, August 12, 7-8:30pm at the Rectory Patio
Associates of St. John Bosco College Night ~Tuesday, June 30 - 7pm at Holy Spirit
Calling all rising college freshmen! Join us for a College Night with the Associates of St. John Bosco. Meet other rising freshmen and upperclassmen who will be attending your school and learn how to strengthen your faith while in college! All St. B’s students will go get ice cream after the event is over! Registration is required. Contact Grace for more information!
Middle School Youth Ministry
All rising 6th - 8th graders are invited to our Summer Drop-Ins! Join us July 8, July 22, and August 5 for fun, games, friends, and of course, ice cream! We will meet from 6:45-8pm in the gym.
To learn more about our middle and high school ministries,
please contact Grace Mee, gmee@stbernpar.org
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
We welcome Fr. Daniel Rice this weekend to our parish community and hope you can come to meet him at a reception after the 11am Mass. I will ask him to write a piece about himself for publication in the bulletin July 12, since probably a lot of people will be away for the weekend of the 4th of July. Bishop has given us permission to celebrate the prayers for Independence Day at all the Masses for Sunday this year.
BREAKING NEWS! Last week we completed three meetings with prospective general contractors who are now refining their bids on the design documents for our new Parish Life Center! Once final bids are in we will award the project to the winning general contractor after the holiday.
It has been long coming. We started talking about this Parish Life Center when we were finishing up the expansion of administrative offices in the school and the addition of a second preschool classroom in 2016-17. When I came here the pastor’s office was so spacious. I knew all it needed was another eight feet of width for a second preschool classroom. It would double our chances of continued enrollment in kindergarten and ensure the future of the school. I moved into one of the regular offices (originally intended as cell bedrooms for the sisters) with what I thought was a temporary arrangement until we had a chance to remodel the offices to be more functional. Temporary has become permanent as our budget has ruled out office renovations.
After final drawings are done and permits are obtained from Fairfax County, we anticipate breaking ground as early as Spring 2028 and construction will take about a year, maybe a little less.
Since the new building is a continuation of the existing building, all parish staff will located on the top floor with office access from the preschool entrance during construction where you will find the front office. We’ll have to do some creative planning for that year; the Bradican Room level and the first level of the offices will likely be offline.
We haven’t put up final pictures of how the building will actually look, because design is still ongoing. We are proceeding with what
is called a “design-build” program with the contractor, who will be involved in guiding the design process from here forward, guarantee the job at a set budget, and ensure that the project does not go over budget. That means that we will value- engineer construction details to make sure we get the building we hope for at a price we can afford. In some cases, design can be simplified and building materials can be substituted. Especially now, with the volatility in building supplies, energy costs, and markets, keeping to the budget will be a moving target and will need to be watched carefully.
I hope feel how exciting this is for the life of our parish. Especially now, with the parish coming to life more each day, we will have a place to grow into. We have been so limited in our potential as a parish simply because we lack space to do anything... This building will change our lives.
Thank you, thank you, all you who have made this possible, about 925 families. The two campaigns have been accomplished without major donors, which means we have pulled together and accomplished this goal bit by bit, each as of you are able. (Of course, we wouldn’t turn away any major donors if you still might be interested!) When this is done, it will be a home for our parish family which has already grown by 125 families since the beginning of the year.
We will keep you informed of developments as we learn them! Pray for our discernment and keep our future general contractor in your prayers. Especially, pray that preparations get completed in a timely manner so we can get started as soon as possible!
One last note, it is time to start planning for the coming year if you might be interested in joining the Catholic Church. The OCIA program (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults) begins the first week of September in both English and Spanish -- it will be here before we know it. We meet on most Monday nights 7:15–8:30pm in the Bradican Room. The cohort that forms is a community within a community as seekers walk together with our excellent team in learning more about faith and life. If you are interested or know anyone who might be considering the Church, please know you are invited to come and see.
The Lord be with you,
Rise Against Hunger / Saint Bernadette Dining Nights Out
Wednesday, June 24, Saratoga Pizza and Grill, 4-8pm
present our flyer or mention Saint Bernadette when ordering!
Please join us as we bid a fond farewell for Fr. Jeb as he embarks on his new assignment as Pastor of Saint Philip Church in Falls Church on Sunday, June 21 after the 11am Mass in the gym.
Then, join us as we welcome Fr. Daniel Rice to the parish on Sunday, June 28 after the 11am Mass in the gym.
All rising 6th through graduated 12th graders are invited to our summer events for youth. See the bulletin or the parish website for complete information on middle school and high school summer events.
Please plan to join us for our Saint Bernadette Dining Nights, taking place November 12–14, in support of our Parish Work of Mercy, Rise Against Hunger. Participating restaurants include Silver Diner, Malek’s Pizza Palace, McAlister’s Deli, Delia’s, Milano’s, El Paso, and Saratoga Pizzeria. Each restaurant will generously donate a portion of its proceeds from meals purchased by our parish families. A complete Dining Nights calendar and flyers are available in the church vestibule and on the parish website. Thank you for your support for helping us make a difference. Its starts with a meal.
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
On June 24, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist to honor his birth. Did you know that St. John the Baptist was the only saint besides Mary and Jesus whose birth the Catholic Church celebrates? He was chosen by God to prepare the way for Jesus. You can learn more about the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist here: https://watch.formed.org/videos/sacred-art-the-nativity-of-john-the-baptist. You can find suggestions to celebrate St. John the Baptist with your children here: https://www.reallifeathome.com/celebrate-saint-john-the-baptist/
Registration will open in June for next year. Continue your child's growth in the faith by signing them up for classes in 2026-27! Our class sessions will be on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and we will again offer our Special Religious Development class on Saturday mornings for students with special learning needs and our Family Faith Formation classes once a month on Sunday afternoons (for grades K-5) where parents take a larger role in their child's faith formation. Registration information will be in the parish bulletin, on the website, and will be sent via Flocknote to all currently registered children in the first week of June. Who should register? All currently registered students, including all Confirmation 2026, Confirmation 2027, and students preparing to receive First Eucharist next school year. Classes will begin on September 1 & 2. Questions about your child's registration? Call the Religious Education Office or contact the staff via email.
Volunteers for 2026-2027 ~ We are still in need for volunteers (assistant catechists, teen catechists, and hall monitors). If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office or fill out the Volunteer Form on the website https://stbernpar.org/religious-education-volunteers/.
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.
Our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, July 7 at 7pm in the Bradican Room. Noted local author Melanie Rigney will be our guest speaker. Melanie has published several books about lives of the saints. Her topic will be ‘Your Life With the Saints…and How to be One.” All women of the parish are welcome!
YOUTH MINISTRY
High School
All Rising 9th - graduated 12th graders are invited!
* Daily Mass and Donuts - Every Tuesday from June 30 – August 11. 9-10:30am
* Escape Room: Saint Bernadette Edition - Thursday, July 16, 7-8:30pm, Youth Room
* King’s Dominion Day - Wednesday, July 29. $40. Beginning with the 9am daily Mass
* End of Summer Social - Wednesday, August 12, 7-8:30pm at the Rectory Patio
Associates of St. John Bosco College Night ~Tuesday, June 30 - 7pm at Holy Spirit
Calling all rising college freshmen! Join us for a College Night with the Associates of St. John Bosco. Meet other rising freshmen and upperclassmen who will be attending your school and learn how to strengthen your faith while in college! All St. B’s students will go get ice cream after the event is over! Registration is required. Contact Grace for more information!
Middle School Youth Ministry
All rising 6th - 8th graders are invited to our Summer Drop-Ins! Join us June 24, July 8, July 22, and August 5 for fun, games, friends, and of course, ice cream! We will meet from 6:45-8pm in the gym.
To learn more about our middle and high school ministries,
please contact Grace Mee, gmee@stbernpar.org
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
First, we wish Fr. Jeb all good things as he assumes his new responsibilities as pastor of Saint Phillip Parish. Also, we thank him for his contribution to the spiritual and communal life of Saint Bernadette. It is a daunting experience to be a pastor for the first time (and even the second). I remember having a lot of doubts about myself when I went to Fredericksburg. There were many good people who welcomed me and brought me up to speed, and we pray that Fr. Jeb’s experience is the same.
Now we come to the sesquiquincentennial (half five hundredth) anniversary of our nation and the Declaration of Independence. Imagine being one of the leaders of those thirteen colonies and stepping out onto un-explored territory. It was the time of change from emperors and kings to “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” to quote President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, dedicating the nation to the preservation of a democratic republic after the Civil War nearly tore it apart.
It was the dignity of the human person -- despite how it was challenged historically in our country with the treatment of immigrants, enslaved persons, manifest destiny and native Americans, and human rights -- that shaped our conversations around small group tables for the past six months in our faith250 program. The program served as an alternative focus on how we can be together in unity with our multifaith country and seek to heal our divisiveness. This unity is not something that is easily achieved; you have to really want it in order for it to come about.
Much is being written this week about the optic of bloody cagefighting for cheering crowds as a part of our national 250th celebration and how it resembles the solution of the Caesars at the decline of the Roman republic to appease the masses by “bread and circus” (gladiatorial fights).
We need to find a better solution as a community to express the foundational love that binds us and calls us to compassion and care for one another. To seek peace and not war, to seek the good of the other rather than promotion and enrichment of the self, which is the witness of the world at our present time. Our children are taking notes. We need to be a counter-cultural voice that recalls the values that were present at the time of our founding.
I keep remembering Cardinal McElroy’s talk on priest/theologian John Courtney Murray, SJ’s understanding of democracy and Catholic Social Teaching. Democracy wasn’t intended to serve ideology, he said. Democracy is intended to serve people.
Pope Leo, in his new encyclical Magnifica humanitas, says, “Founded on Christ, the living stone, we experience the powerful and mysterious action of the Holy Spirit, and we believe that every authentic human effort to cooperate with him for the good will be blessed by our heavenly Father, in whom we place our hope. For this reason, we can diligently contribute to every initiative that builds a more just world, and we can call others to collaborate in promoting the integral development of every human being. We wish to engage in dialogue with all men and women of our time, with whom we share in the events, questions and aspirations of humanity.”
The bishops of the United States (USCCB), have just produced a National Prayer Service Honoring the Many Journeys that Shaped America. I will plan with our Parish Advisory Board and our newly-forming Committee on Multicultural Affairs to plan this prayer service here in the fall, hopefully around Labor Day. It will be an opportunity for people in the parish of all ethnicities, countries of origin, and languages to tell their stories and grow deeper in community together. I would like ALL people in our diverse community to be represented. If you are interested in this project, please talk to me. We are ALL Americans, with many expressions.
The introduction to the prayer service says this: In observance of our 250th anniversary, and “rooted in the Church’s pastoral mission of welcome, accompaniment, and solidarity, the purpose of the prayer service is to acknowlege and honor the many and diverse communities that have journeyed to the United States in search of hope, safety, and opportunity, while also recognizing the voices, sufferings, and enduring contribu-tions of those who were forcibly brought to this land.” This sounds like a more worthy starting point for unity and healing.
The Lord be with you,
Rise Against Hunger / Saint Bernadette Dining Nights Out
Monday, June 15, Silver Diner, Springfield Town Center, 5-8pm
present our flyer or mention Saint Bernadette when ordering!
Join us on Monday, June 15, for an evening of prayer and songs in the Taizé tradition beginning at 8pm. Bring a friend.
Please join us as we bid a fond farewell for Fr. Jeb as he embarks on his new assignment as Pastor of Saint Philip Church in Falls Church on Sunday, June 21 after the 11am Mass in the gym.
Then, join us as we welcome Fr. Daniel Rice to the parish on Sunday, June 28 after the 11am Mass in the gym.
Due to the very generous support of St. Bernadette Parishioners, our high schoolers have been able to raise 100% of the funds needed for them to attend Workcamp later this month. On behalf of our teens and adult volunteers, thank you for supporting our work of making homes warmer, safer, and dryer for our neighbors in need.
All rising 6th through graduated 12th graders are invited to our summer events for youth. See the bulletin or the parish website for complete information on middle school and high school summer events.
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
On June 15, we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Germaine Cousin. She was an unlikely saint. But her goodness with how she accepted her daily life of mistreatment with patience, kindness, and trust in God inspired many people. She is the patron saint of the sick, abused children, and those with disabilities. Her story shows that even the most hidden life can be full of grace and meaning in God’s eyes. You can learn about her story here: https://youtu.be/b2l9r0-BcC0?si=lqR_qSlkMhtJ7img
Registration will open in June for next year. Continue your child's growth in the faith by signing them up for classes in 2026-27! Our class sessions will be on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and we will again offer our Special Religious Development class on Saturday mornings for students with special learning needs and our Family Faith Formation classes once a month on Sunday afternoons (for grades K-5) where parents take a larger role in their child's faith formation. Registration information will be in the parish bulletin, on the website, and will be sent via Flocknote to all currently registered children in the first week of June. Who should register? All currently registered students, including all Confirmation 2026, Confirmation 2027, and students preparing to receive First Eucharist next school year. Classes will begin on September 1 & 2. Questions about your child's registration? Call the Religious Education Office or contact the staff via email.
Volunteers for 2026-2027 ~ We are still in need for volunteers (assistant catechists, teen catechists, and hall monitors). If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office or fill out the Volunteer Form on the website https://stbernpar.org/religious-education-volunteers/.
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.
Our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, June 16 at 7pm in the Bradican Room. Noted local author Melanie Rigney will be our guest speaker. Melanie has published several books about lives of the saints. Her topic will be ‘Your Life With the Saints…and How to be One.” All women of the parish are welcome!
YOUTH MINISTRY
High School
All Rising 9th - graduated 12th graders are invited!
* Daily Mass and Donuts - Every Tuesday from June 30 – August 11. 9-10:30am
* Escape Room: Saint Bernadette Edition - Thursday, July 16, 7-8:30pm, Youth Room
* King’s Dominion Day - Wednesday, July 29. $40. Beginning with the 9am daily Mass
* End of Summer Social - Wednesday, August 12, 7-8:30pm at the Rectory Patio
Rock climbing at Sport Rock - All 9-12th graders are invited to join us at Sport Rock for rock climbing on Sunday, June 14. The cost is $15. Contact Grace to register!
Associates of St. John Bosco College Night ~Tuesday, June 30 - 7pm at Holy Spirit
Calling all rising college freshmen! Join us for a College Night with the Associates of St. John Bosco. Meet other rising freshmen and upperclassmen who will be attending your school and learn how to strengthen your faith while in college! All St. B’s students will go get ice cream after the event is over! Registration is required. Contact Grace for more information!
Middle School Youth Ministry
All rising 6th - 8th graders are invited to our Summer Drop-Ins! Join us June 24, July 8, July 22, and August 5 for fun, games, friends, and of course, ice cream! We will meet from 6:45-8pm in the gym.
To learn more about our middle and high school ministries,
please contact Grace Mee, gmee@stbernpar.org
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
For many weeks I have been reprinting Pope Leo’s weekly Wednesday General Audience catechesis in Rome “Vatican Council II through its Documents,” a treasure of faith formation for all the world. He wrote in his initial introduction that the Council, whose original participants have nearly all died, needs to be renewed in the hearts of all the faithful, and remembered.
This week’s teaching (on page 10), is particularly beautiful. If we don’t know the Church we celebrate, how can it have meaning in our lives? How can we gather and pray in ignorance? It either becomes a personal devotion, or a cause of indifference.
It is in this spirit that I want to bring up once again the Saint Michael the Archangel prayer at the end of Mass, something that has become a source of division in the Church -- and prayer should never divide.
I remember my parents talking about this at the time of the implementation of the reforms of the Mass at the end of Vatican II. The Saint Michael prayer was no longer a part of the Mass. Technically, it never was, but had become the common practice of the Church since the late 1800s. My parents, who were stern critics of Vatican II (and, the way it was often poorly rolled out without education and formation, many people were), became part of the crowd that would shout the prayer after Mass in protest of the changes. I think it is that memory which haunts me every time it suddenly takes on a life of its own. Some people pray that prayer louder than they pray the responses at Mass.
I’ve written about this before, and was publicly humiliated (at least, that was the intention) of someone in the diocese who has championed traditionalist causes ever since I have been ordained. I won a “millstone award” in one newsletter issue, but accepted it as a badge of courage because the usual target of that award at the time was Pope Francis. Enough with division!
So, I thought I might write about it again.
In 1884, Pope Leo XIII ordered a set of prayers to be recited after “Low Mass” (which was the silent Mass without a choir). Called the Leonine Prayers, they included three Hail Marys, the Hail, Holy Queen (Salve regina), a prayer for freedom of the Church, and an invocation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The prayer to Saint Michael was added in 1886 as the armies of the Vatican (yes, that is right) were losing the Papal States (Lazio-Rome, Marche, Umbria, Romagna and Emilia) to the Italian republic’s Royal Italian Army. Up until then, there were a number of kingdoms and duchies, and the Pope had temporal power over his. Today, the idea of earthly power seems foreign to the papacy, and it should. The Vicar of Christ should not be a king.
When the Papal States were lost, the purpose of the Saint Michael prayer was shifted to various need of the Church, then for the intention of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia, which now comprises about 300 closely-monitored parishes after Soviet persecution, and expatriate Polish and German communities.
The practice ended in 1964 with Vatican II’s instruction Inter oecumenici, which eliminated the Leonine prayers after Mass. It was a custom never incorporated into the official text of the Roman Mass itself, although two or three generations later most thought it was a part of the Mass. They were, rather, devotional prayers that followed the liturgy.
The decision today is left to local custom.
I have never asked that the Saint Michael prayer not be prayed. It is a powerful prayer as a stand-alone devotion and it is always good to ask the saints for their assistance and intercession. It just occurs to me that the end of Mass is a weird time to pray it, because we have just completed the Mass which is Jesus’ total victory over evil, sin, and death. We are literally now embodied in his victory. It seems, in praying it, that we still need to ask for more. Moreso, if we leave the Mass with a spirit of protest, as I witnessed as a child, is that a good thing? Isn’t the Mass about the unity and peace that only Jesus can give?
For that reason I have asked that people wait until the priest leaves the sanctuary after Mass, before people pray the Saint Michael prayer. That way, at least there is a visible separation between the end of the community Mass and private devotion.
The Lord be with you,
Rise Against Hunger / Saint Bernadette Dining Nights Out
Monday, June 15, Silver Diner, Springfield Town Center, 5-8pm
present our flyer or mention Saint Bernadette when ordering!
Starting June 3, let us pray the Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a parish. USCCB resources for the Novena are reprinted in this bulletin starting on page 8. This observance is in preparation for the consecration of our country to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus on June 11. The final prayers for June 10 will be in the bulletin next week.
Join us for our annual Eucharistic Procession on Corpus Christi Sunday, following the 5pm Mass next Sunday, June 7.
The last day for coffee and donuts before summer break is June 14. We will have donuts on May 24 even though it’s a three-day weekend. Mary’s Comfort will be the host. After Spanish Mass the last donuts before summer will be June 14. Coffee and donuts will resume September 13.
Please join us as we bid a fond farewell for Fr. Jeb as he embarks on his new assignment as Pastor of Saint Philip Church in Falls Church on Sunday, June 21 after the 11am Mass in the gym.
Then, join us as we welcome Fr. Daniel Rice to the parish on Sunday, June 28 after the 11am Mass in the gym.
Due to the very generous support of St. Bernadette Parishioners, our high schoolers have been able to raise 100% of the funds needed for them to attend Workcamp later this month. On behalf of our teens and adult volunteers, thank you for supporting our work of making homes warmer, safer, and dryer for our neighbors in need.
All rising 6th through graduated 12th graders are invited to our summer events for youth. See the bulletin or the parish website for complete information on middle school and high school summer events.
FAITH FORMATION
Living the Liturgical Year:
Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, or Corpus Christi. It is a feast that celebrates the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. You can find information and activity suggestions about Corpus Christi & the Real Presence here: https://app.formed.org/app/videos/2431051. You can sign up for your parish subscription. Create an account by entering your email and looking for St. Bernadette Church, 7600 Old Keene Mill Rd., Springfield, VA.
Registration will open in June for next year. Continue your child's growth in the faith by signing them up for classes in 2026-27! Our class sessions will be on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and we will again offer our Special Religious Development class on Saturday mornings for students with special learning needs and our Family Faith Formation classes once a month on Sunday afternoons (for grades K-5) where parents take a larger role in their child's faith formation. Registration information will be in the parish bulletin, on the website, and will be sent via Flocknote to all currently registered children in the first week of June. Who should register? All currently registered students, including all Confirmation 2026, Confirmation 2027, and students preparing to receive First Eucharist next school year. Classes will begin on September 1 & 2. Questions about your child's registration? Call the Religious Education Office or contact the staff via email.
Volunteers for 2026-2027 ~ We are still in need for volunteers (assistant catechists, teen catechists, and hall monitors). If interested, please contact the Religious Education Office or fill out the Volunteer Form on the website https://stbernpar.org/religious-education-volunteers/.
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.
Our next monthly meeting will be Tuesday, June 9 at 7pm in the Bradican Room. Noted local author Melanie Rigney will be our guest speaker. Melanie has published several books about lives of the saints. Her topic will be ‘Your Life With the Saints…and How to be One.” All women of the parish are welcome!
YOUTH MINISTRY
High School
All Rising 9th - graduated 12th graders are invited!
* Daily Mass and Donuts - Every Tuesday from June 30 – August 11. 9-10:30am
* Escape Room: Saint Bernadette Edition - Thursday, July 16, 7-8:30pm, Youth Room
* King’s Dominion Day - Wednesday, July 29. $40. Beginning with the 9am daily Mass
* End of Summer Social - Wednesday, August 12, 7-8:30pm at the Rectory Patio
Rock climbing at Sport Rock - All 9-12th graders are invited to join us at Sport Rock for rock climbing on Sunday, June 14. The cost is $15. Contact Grace to register!
Associates of St. John Bosco College Night ~Tuesday, June 30 - 7pm at Holy Spirit
Calling all rising college freshmen! Join us for a College Night with the Associates of St. John Bosco. Meet other rising freshmen and upperclassmen who will be attending your school and learn how to strengthen your faith while in college! All St. B’s students will go get ice cream after the event is over! Registration is required. Contact Grace for more information!
Middle School Youth Ministry
All rising 6th - 8th graders are invited to our Summer Drop-Ins! Join us June 24, July 8, July 22, and August 5 for fun, games, friends, and of course, ice cream! We will meet from 6:45-8pm in the gym.
To learn more about our middle and high school ministries,
please contact Grace Mee, gmee@stbernpar.org
Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
As the different chapters in our lives are written, I recognize one thing that is consistent for myself. I always feel at home at the altar. I am grateful to gather around your beautiful altar with you.
One of the first things I felt compelled to do when I came was to uncover that amazing altar. Someone told me I should write about this – that many of the newer members of the parish might not even know its significance. Ours is the altar at which Saint John Paul II presided on the National Mall in 1979 – it is a world treasure, a sacred relic. There is a little picture of that Mass on the south wall of the vestibule. Over time the green wood seems to have dried, and split, and twisted dramatically which, for me, makes it even more stunning. I imagine the real wood of the cross, which was the first altar. It is an honor for us to celebrate the Mass here.
Of course, the altar is only the starting point. It is the sacred portal where God’s eternal love and mercy takes concrete expression in time and space. It is here that the veil in the Holy of Holies is torn top to bottom, where God’s dwelling is open to all; he becomes present to us and we encounter him in his Mystery Presence in Christ. As people brought into one with him in baptism, we die with him daily until that day in which we shall rise to new life. In that space between the cross and the tomb we live, continuing the mission of the Father to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind, and to those in sorrow, joy.
In this encounter with our loving God, we are left speechless. The love stretches from end to end, the thread that runs through all people who ever have or ever will live. Having been given the knowledge of that love we can do nothing but proclaim it through our actions, offering our life for the spread of this love. That communion of saints gathers at every Mass at every altar in one constant movement of call and
response, sacred conversation and ex-changing self in communion, singing with angels and belonging to that company of witnesses all present in this moment of eternity. The thread of love binds us with all who have gone before, and all who are yet to be born. We are one, and fully alive.
Translating this sacred banquet into every moment, every relationship we have, every place we go, is the work of disciples who go about seeking constant renewal. Every parish family follows this path described so often by Pope Francis, after the Tradition of the Second Vatican Council. We first must openly acknowledge, encounter each other in welcome and respect, without prejudice, with humility. Soon follows a dialogue of truth, an exchange of knowledge, freely offered and respectfully received. Once we learn of each other, we discover goodness, and relationship. Love is not a concept; it only exists in the fabric of a relationship that has been established and nurtured. Love cannot exist for its own sake, any more than service for serving itself. These can only be authentic if there is a person in relationship who is the object of that love. That person is God.
As God is a community of Persons, so we too, made in his image and likeness, must enter that relationship as a community of persons, each with our gifts and dreams which are our unique contribution to the Body of Christ. We journey together. For this reason, we do not exist for ourselves, but empty ourselves seeking radical trust in God, to speak only the words the Holy Spirit offers, words of unity and mercy.
Our sixth/seventh grade Confirmation teams work together as a group to accomplish three corporal and three spiritual works of mercy. After these are complete, we gather and discuss what happened. “Whom did you serve?” I ask. After listing all the names or groups of people, we find that, at the heart of the work, it is Jesus himself who is served. Then I ask, “Who was it that they encountered?” Realizing that it would not be our names or our personal details but rather our love that anyone would remember, we realize that it is Jesus who serves through us. Community, the Body of Christ, happens when Jesus serves, and Jesus is served.
Each one of us is called to a vital role; no one is left out of God’s plan. The full flourishing of a community working together using their gifts is a great expression of Jesus’ presence in the world. The Church doesn’t exist for herself, but rather that Jesus might be made present to heal the world. So may we be!
The Lord be with you,