What about the other 6?

Where are you seeing God these days? Where do you need to see God?
Check out this Twitter-like experience from Loyola Press: Other 6

Why Are You Still Here?

This month we've been asking the Big Question at IC: why are we Catholic? We've spent the whole year of formation talking about how we are called to Go Make Disciples, upon Jesus' command to do so. But of course, it'd be pretty difficult to be a disciple who makes disciples in a Church if we don't know why we, ourselves, are here.

So at Generations of Faith last month, and at the doors of the Church, we have made available buttons with this challenge: Ask Me Why I'm Catholic. The first part of being able to wear that pin out in public and answer the question for those who ask us, is to know for ourselves what our answer is.

And it can't be denied that this is a trying and discouraging time in the recent history of the Church, considering the allegations and bad news that seem to be flying everywhere around the world. Maybe there is no better time to answer the B.Q. for ourselves. Why am I Catholic? Why am I still Catholic?

Here, BustedHalo.com offers interviews with young adult Catholics in New York on their opinions about the Scandal and about why they still come to Mass. They ask:

• Why are people still here?
• How do you feel about how the Church has handled the situation (the sexual abuse Scandal)?
• How has this effected your feelings about the Pope and the Church hierarchy?
• What can Catholics do to help resolve the situation?
• Why do you continue coming to Church each week?

They invite you to view the interviews and share comments on their Youtube page, and we welcome them here. What are your thoughts?

Greetings from Sunny Las Vegas!

Your intrepid blogger is away in beautiful, warm, Catholic Las Vegas at the conference for the National Conference of Catechetical Leadership, a wonderful organization. Fr. Mehm, Elaine Connelly, and Scott and Margo Morin are your reps here at this great (so far!) conference. Our week was kicked off with a fantastic keynote from Fr. Allen Figueroa Deck, S.J. This afternoon our workshops begin, and on it goes. So far so good! We will try to update you from here when possible (wifi is $13.00 a day! What the heck?!) but we appreciate your prayers for our learning and safe travel. We miss IC when we're away, but we promise to come home with knew knowledge and exciting ideas to pass on!

We hear it's cold in Massachusetts... (snicker snicker!)

-MM

Another Great Weekend!

It was a great weekend at Immaculate Conception, with Generations of Faith on Friday and Sunday asking the Big Question: Why are you Catholic? Some great "volunteers" answered that question for us in the large-group opening.

Sunday we welcomed Trent Jonnathan Rodwell-Willis into the Church through Baptism and his family was presented with a beautiful hand-made blanket from our knitting group!

So... why are you Catholic?

Have you seen the buttons?
At Generations of Faith this past weekend, we all were given a chance to come up with the answer to the question: Why am I Catholic?
Then, we were given nifty blue buttons that boldly challenge the world. They say:
Ask Me Why I'm Catholic
If you were wearing a pin like that, and someone asked you the Big Question, what would your response be?
Here are two responses to this question that reflect the news of our times: Here, one from Timothy Radcliffe in the British journal - The Tablet, and one from Elizabeth Scalia, featured on National Public Radio.

Here, too, is the video shown at this weekend's GOF gatherings, from Catholics Come Home:

What are your thoughts?

Easter Vigil Photographs

Photographs from our beautiful Easter Vigil can be viewed by clicking on the picture above!

Easter is here!

Happy Easter to all! Christ is risen indeed! From all of us at Immaculate Conception Parish to you and yours, may this Easter season be a blessed and happy one.

Pictures from our beautiful Easter vigil will be posted here soon. Anyone have pictures from Easter Sunday Masses? Please forward them to us!

Thank you to everyone who made Holy Week a beautiful and holy time at IC.

Good Friday and Holy Saturday morning

Holy Week is beautiful at Immaculate Conception. Over a hundred youth and adults fasted from food for 24 hours to raise over $10,000 for Catholic Relief Services. Our Good Friday service was full, with hundreds of faithful people stepping forward to reverence the cross. Today your fellow parishioners were back to decorate the church for tonight's celebration of the Easter Vigil (at 7:30PM). We are truly blessed as a parish! Check out the pictures from Friday night and Saturday morning by clicking on the picture above!

Scenes from Holy Week

Click on this picture to see photos from Palm Sunday's 11:00 Mass:











Click on this picture to see scenes from today's Stations of the Cross, with our Food Fast participants:

Pictures from Holy Thursday Mass

...can be seen on our Facebook photo page (even if you're not a Facebook member). Check them out!

Holy Thursday

It's Holy Thursday! Here's a sneak peek at what you will see tonight at 7:30:

Lent comes to an end with the celebration of Triduum, the great three days that celebrate the central mystery of our faith. In fact, the word Triduum (pronounced Trih-doo-um) is Latin, and means "three days." In this case, the three days means three, 24-hour periods which start at the beginning of the celebration of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, and come to an end the evening of Easter Sunday.

On Holy Thursday, we hear about Jesus washing the feet of his Disciples. Jesus showed great humility in leadership with this act, and we recognize this event as the birth of the Priesthood. You may have heard this day called Maundy Thursday - this refers to the "mandatum", or mandate - the command that Jesus gave that "as I have done for you, you should do also (referring to this act of servant leadership)." At Immaculate Conception (and at most Catholic parishes in one form or another), we re-enact this scene by inviting parishioners to the front of the church to have their feet washed with warm water by one of the parish ministers.

At the end of Mass this night, the consecrated Eucharist will be removed in a solemn procession, to be kept in a special place until the Communion Service on Good Friday. This is to commemorate that Christ’s body was laid in a tomb upon his death. Many churches stay open through the night for Eucharistic Adoration - this commemorates the disciples staying with Jesus as he awaited his trial and death. At Immaculate Conception, you are invited to stay and pray in the chapel.

from our Holy Week FAQ, available at the church doors all week!

MM