Daily Monday - Friday 8:00 A.M

Rectory Office Father John Reiker

Pastor ext. 102 johnreiker01@gmail.com

Deacon Richard L. Stevens

rlsteve@sbcglobal.net

Deacon Jim G’Sell james.r.gsell@gmail.com

314-484-2055

Mrs. Rusalyne Ahlemeyer Business Manager, ext. 104

rusalynesahr@att.net

Mrs. Jackie Dostal Secretary, ext. 100 jackiesahr@att.net

Cafeteria Ext. 212

For submissions to our facebook page, the website, or our parish app please email Mike at mike63051@yahoo.com. Or phone: 314-401-3334 Please allow several days for submission to be approved and posted. Thank You

Religious Instruction Parish School of Religion

Phone (636) 677-4868 ext 118 Grades (pre-K through 8)

Mrs. Kathy Joslin mrskathyjoslin@yahoo.com

Adults - RCIA Please contact:

The Rectory Office 636-677-4868 ext. 100

Sacramental Preparation Baptism Preparation Meeting: Infant Baptisms require parental attendance at a meeting prior to baptism. Meetings will be held with the Pastor in the rectory. Call rectory office for information 636-677-4868, ext. 100. Baptisms: After 10:15 AM Mass on a Sunday of mutual arrangement. Call rectory office to schedule 636-677-4868, ext. 100.

Bulletin Deadline Monday 9:00 a.m. the week you need it to be published in the bulletin. Notices must be submitted in writing: email text to jackiesahr@att.net.

Marriages: Make arrangements with Priest or Deacon of your choice no less than six months prior to proposed wedding date.

Parish Help Line: St. Vincent de Paul Society, 1-877-238-3228, ext. 3329

New Parishioners: Welcome! Please register by contacting the rectory during business hours @ 677-4868 ext. 100

Change of Address or Telephone: Please call the rectory during business hours. 677-4868 ext. 100

Archdiocese of St .Louis Website: www.archstl.org

Catholic Elementary School: All of our parish children who wish to attend a catholic elementary school may do so at the school of their choice and still remain parishioners of St. Anthony of Padua. Call rectory for details.

Sixth Sunday of Easter - Year C May 26, 2019

Mass Schedule

Confessions Saturday 4:20-4:50 P.M.

By appointment anytime

Holy Days 8:00 A.M. - 7:00 P.M.

RECTORY CLOSED ON ALL HOLY DAYS

Sunday Saturday 5:00 P.M.

Sunday 8:30 A.M., 10:15 A.M.

St. Anthony of Padua 3009 High Ridge Blvd. High Ridge, MO 63049

Business Hours Monday - Friday

7:30 A.M. - 2:30 P.M. Phone (636) 677-4868

Fax (636) 677-2781 Website www.stanthonyhr.org

Pastor Father John Reiker

Parish Mission Statement Our mission is to be on fire with the love of Jesus Christ,

and with the help of the Holy Spirit, to celebrate our community of faith in the Eucharist

and to share God’s love and mercy with our neighbors through our ministries and evangelization.

Pastor’s Column

St. Anthony of Padua, High Ridge, MO

Spread the Gospel, the Good News about Jesus and His St. Anthony Family. A Holy Community through Holy Communion! Your brother in Jesus,

Prayer of the Week

O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of Your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of Your redemption. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Thought for the Week A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to Church every Sunday. He wrote: “I’ve gone for 30 years now, and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 ser-mons, but for the life of me, I can’t remember a sin-gle one of them. So, I think I’m wasting my time, the preachers and priests are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.” This started a real controversy in the “Letters to the Editor” column. Much to the delight of the editor, it went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: “I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourish-ment, I would be spiritually dead today!” Thank God for our physical and our spiritual nourishment! IF YOU CANNOT SEE GOD IN ALL, YOU CAN-NOT SEE GOD AT ALL!

Saint of the Week Blessed John Duns Scotus

Franciscan Theologian (ca.1266-1308)

John Duns, later known as the Subtle Doctor, was called Scotus on account of his birth in Scotland. He entered the Franciscans at the age of fifteen and was later ordained a priest. After studies in Oxford and Paris, he went on to hold teaching positions in Paris and Cologne. He was acclaimed as one of the greatest of the scholastic theologians. His mystically charged theology held particular charm for the Fran-ciscans, rendering in philosophical terms the crea-tion-centered spirituality of their holy founder. Duns Scotus defined God as infinite love. He taught that the Incarnation was not required as pay-ment for sin; it was willed through eternity as an ex-pression of God’s love, and hence God’s desire for consummated union with creation. Our redemption by the cross was likewise an expression of God’s love and compassion rather than an appeasement of God’s anger or a form of compensation for God’s injured majesty. He believed that knowledge of God’s love should evoke a loving response on the part of humanity. He wrote, “I am of the opinion that God wished to redeem us in this fashion principally in order to draw us to his love.” Through our own loving self-gift, he argued, we join with Christ in be-coming “co-lovers” of the Holy Trinity. Duns Scotus died November 8, 1308. He was beatified in 1993. “O Lord, our God...Teach your servant to show by reason what he holds with faith most certain, that you are the most eminent, the first efficient cause and the last end.” —Blessed John Duns Scotus

Welcome To all our Guests, Fr. John Reiker, Deacon Dick Stevens and Deacon Jim G’Sell and All your sisters and brothers at St. Anthony’s Parish Family welcome you and hope that your time with us may be a moment of spiritual experience. You are always welcome here and if you would like to become a member of this parish or are thinking to become a Catholic, contact the Rectory office. Our phone is 636-677-4868 ext. 100.

Estelle Young Sharon Maier Nancy Glass Pat Hoffmann Mike Menne

Jacqueline Gries Jessica Kilper

Rose Hill Jeff Jackson Nick Wilson

George Russell Maryann Kyle Pruitt

Jeanne Burnau John Kindt

Roman Stolarski Mason Korn

Jimmy Bowles Dave Riley

Becky Quigley Ryan Bowles

Isaiah Thornton Emersen Hercules

Caleb Scanlon

Bob Kilper Donald Moore Bob Townsend Freeman Fouts

Mary Ellen Miller Brad Hook

Ryan Heard John McCarthy Tom Conboy

Mason Lohman Adam Petry

Nancy Kalkbrenner Dean Stegmann Richard Siebert

Judy Brouk Marcus Utama Janet Parker

Justin Schnieders

Please Pray for the Sick

Names of the sick will remain on the list above for a month. You may contact the office to have a name added to the list for an addi-tional month at a time. New additions will appear at the top of the list as they are received.

NOTE: Due to privacy laws, hospitals no longer notify us when parishioners are patients. If you wish a visit from the parish staff please notify the office. Thank you.

Monday, May 27 St. Augustine of Canterbury 9:00 A.M. Beatrice Brandel Tuesday, May 28 Easter Weekday 8:00 A.M. Vicki Norton Wednesday, May 29 Easter Weekday 8:00 A.M. Beatrice Johnson Thursday, May 30 Easter Weekday 8:00 AM Woody Johnson Friday, May 31 The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary 8:00 AM Marian Shelby Saturday, June 1 St. Justin 5:00 P.M. Don Mergelkamp Sunday, June 2 The Ascension of the Lord 8:30 A.M. Ladies Sodality 10:15 A.M. Parishioners of St. Anthony

This Week with Our St. Anthony Parish Family

Mass Intentions

Readings for the Week

ATTENTION PLEASE EARLY BULLETIN SUBMISSION

DEADLINES I will be out of the office beginning June 6 through June 23rd due to eye surgery. We are asking that all parishioners who need items published in the bulletin for the weekends of June 15/16 and June 22/23 would PLEASE submit the requested articles

on or before Monday, May 20th. EXPIRED! ALSO, the July 6/7 bulletin articles are due in the office on or before Monday, June 24th. Your kind attention to this is greatly appreciated! Thanks, Jackie D.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 26, 2019 May the peoples praise you, O God;

may all the peoples praise you! -- Psalm 67:6 Monday: Acts 16:11-15; Ps 149:1b-6a, 9b;

Jn 15:26 -- 16:4a Tuesday: Acts 16:22-34; Ps 138:1-3, 7c-8; Jn 16:5-11 Wednesday: Acts 17:15, 22 -- 18:1; Ps 148:1-2, 11-14; Jn 16:12-15 Thursday: Acts 1:1-11; Ps 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph 1:17-23 or Heb 9:24-28; 10:19-23; Lk 24:46-53 (for Ascension); otherwise Acts 18:1-8; Ps 98:1-4; Jn 16:16-20 Friday: Zep 3:14-18a or Rom 12:9-16; Is 12:2-3, 4bcd-6; Lk 1:39-56 Saturday: Acts 18:23-28; Ps 47:2-3, 8-10; Jn 16:23b-28 Sunday: Acts 7:55-60; Ps 97:1-2, 6-7, 9; Rv 22:12-14, 16-17, 20; Jn 17:20-26; or, for Ascension, Acts 1:1-11; Ps 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph 1:17-23 or Heb 9:24-28; 10:19-23; Lk 24:46-53

May 26, 2019

May 26, 2019 - June 2, 2019 SUNDAY - May 26 Youth Group (STAY) donuts and baked goods after Masses MONDAY - May 27 Mass 9:00 AM Memorial Day Holiday—Office Closed NO Patriotic Rosary TUESDAY - May 28 Quilters 9:00 AM Cub Scout Parents 7:00 PM (aud) Choir 7:00 PM ACTS Core Team 7:00 PM (Little Lambs) WEDNESDAY - May 29 STAY (Youth Group) Garage Sale drop-off donations 5-8 PM (see article opposite column) Youth Group 6:00 PM Men’s ACTS Team 6:30 PM (cafe) THURSDAY - May 30 Women’s Retreat Team Formation 6:00 PM (cafe) FRIDAY - May 31 Clean Church after 8:00 AM Mass SATURDAY– June 1 First Saturday Prayer Breakfast 9:00 (café) Youth Group Garage Sale 7-1 (see opposite column) Jonah Prayer Ministry after 5:00 PM Mass SUNDAY - June 2 Youth Group (STAY) donuts and baked goods after Masses Jonah Prayer Ministry after Masses Children’s Liturgy of the Word 10:15AM Mass

Upcoming Events

June 9th Blood Drive June 15th STAY Car Wash June 20 - 23 Men’s ACTS Retreat June 21st Parents’ Night Out August 8 - 11 Women’s ACTS Retreat

Activities This Week

The STAY high school youth group is now meeting weekly. Wednesday evenings at 6:00 PM to 6:30 PM for social time and meeting starts at 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM. To receive our emails, please send your name and e-mail address to Rachel at beautifulmountain96@gmail.com to be added to the list.

• Youth Group will have donuts and baked goods available after the Sunday morning Masses

• There will be Youth Group Rum-

mage sale held at Timber Ridge’s Subdivision Garage Sale – 2909 Elderwood Circle – June 1; 7-1(Items for the sale may be dropped off May 29th 5-8pm at address above

• Carwash – June 15th, 10 –1

(tentatively) at Hwy 30 and Little Brennen

OLQP/ ST. ANTHONY'S WOMENS ACTS RETREAT

August 8 - 11, 2019

Parents’ Night Out Sponsored by the Youth Group (STAY)

Friday, June 21st 6 PM - 10 PM (school auditorium)

See registration form on page 8 (next page) of this bulletin

May 2015 I went on my retreat feeling lost and not sure where I was supposed to be in life. While on retreat I had my aha mo-ment. Feeling that I was not alone and loved by the Holy Spirit. When the oppor-tunity came that I could be on team. I knew that I wanted / needed to be there I wanted to share my love of God ,to let other ladies that they are not alone. This next retreat will be my 3rd teaming and so looking toward to share my love with MY parish family.

Carolyn Turek

St. Anthony of Padua, High Ridge, MO

Sponsored by STAY (St. Anthony’s Youth Group) Friday, June 21st 6pm to 10pm in school auditorium

Parent’s Name: _________________________________________________ Phone # (where you can be reached) ________________________________ Email: _________________________________________________________ Child/ Children’s names and ages: 1. _____________________________________________________________ 2. _____________________________________________________________ 3. _____________________________________________________________ 4. _____________________________________________________________ Any special instructions (i.e. allergies, etc)______________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

RESERVATIONS ONLY RSVP BY: June 17TH TO: RACHEL SCHOENBERGER

314-556-1811 Beautifulmountain96@gmail.com

DONATIONS ACCEPTED

May 26, 2019

We would like to thank

Don’s Automotive

for advertising in our parish bulletin. Because of their generosity we do not pay for our bulletins to be printed. Please patronize our advertisers and thank them for supporting our parish.

We clean Church every Friday after the 8:00 AM Mass. Our Heavenly Dusters are in need of help! If you can offer any time, it would be deeply ap-preciated. Thank you!

ATTENTION BUSINESS OWNERS and GENEROUS PARISHIONERS! Mary Ottenberg from JS Paluch will be working on setting up the advertising sponsorships for our bulletin. Advertise-ments can be purchased for a business, family or a sponsor ad. Please support our sponsors! Their generosity helps us to enjoy our FREE bulletin publication every week throughout the year! If you would like to have your business card handed out on a weekly basis and can help this effort, please call Mary Ot-tenberg at 314-757-7598, or email @ ottenbergm@jspaluch.com

Choir Tuesdays - Choir 7:00 PM for practice All new members welcome: Teens, adults and any 7th or 8th graders Questions/concerns: Nancy: upholster52@aol.com

BUNCO Sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary

KC Small Hall (Saloon)

6000 Antire Rd High Ridge Every 3rd Wednesday

11 AM to 1 PM Bring a small snack to share, Your own drinks and $5.00

Safe Environment The purpose of the Safe Environment Program is to create and maintain a safe environment for all God’s children. All employees, volunteers, religious, priests, and deacons who work with or near children must be compliant with the Safe Environment Pro-gram of the Archdiocese of St. Louis set forth by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. To register for an upcoming workshop, visit www.archstl.org and click on the Protecting God’s Children link in the center of the page. You will be redirected to the Virtusonline.org site to complete the registration process. Please let the parish office know if you would like to be removed from the list of active volunteers. You must also contact the Mis-souri Family Care Safety Registry at 1-866-422-6872 with address changes.

Men’s ACTS Retreat June 20-23, 19 Women’s ACTS Retreat August 8-11, 19

The parishes of OLQP & St. Anthony of Padua wel-comes all adults over 21yrs of age to an opportunity to renew your spirituality, strengthen your faith and build lasting friendships. It is presented by your fellow parishioners, with spiritual direction from the deacons and pastors of our church. Registration forms with more details on the retreat are in the back of church or at the parish offices. Contact Directors: Rich Ortmann 314-574-0084 or Penny Challans 314-221-0029 for more information Please see last page of this bulletin for registration form for the Men’s ACTS Retreat.

First Saturday Prayer Breakfast June 1, 2019

Please come for a hot breakfast from IHOP, and some spiritual nourishment from one of our own in a presentation. The Ladies Auxiliary will be our hosts. Food is served at 9am. May the Lord con-tinue to bless our parish. Your sisters and brothers in Christ, Parish Council Please note there will be no Saturday breakfast in July and August. See you all again in September. May we all be blessed with a great summer, and don’t forget the Car show in August.

St. Anthony of Padua, High Ridge, MO

SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital is the only free-standing Catholic pediatric hospital in the country. When SSM Health Cardinal Glennon opened its doors in 1956, a promise was made to the community that any child in need of care would be welcomed, whether their parents could afford to pay for care or not. That promise still holds true today. Many of you will remember the story of John Smith, a young man who fell through the ice of a frozen lake and was with-out a pulse for nearly an hour. His odds-defying recovery is the subject of the new movie, Breakthrough. St. Anthony of Padua please join us in helping make miracles like John's possible by making a donation at Mass during Glennon Sunday weekend, June 1-2 or online at glennon.org. On behalf of our patients and families, may God bless you for providing hope, healing, faith and compassion to every child who walks through the doors at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon.

May 26, 2019

St. Anthony PSR News Enrollment for the 2019-2020 school year is open!

Registration forms for Little Lambs (ages 3-5), Kindergarten, and grades 1-8 can be found on the parish website at www.stanthonyhr.org under the Education tab. Return registration forms to the parish office. For more information, contact Kathy Joslin at mrskathyjoslin@yahoo.com or call 636-677-4868 ext. 118 or 636-677-1567.

First Communion and Confirmation 2019 Let us once again congratulate and promise our prayers for our newly Confirmed and First Communicants of May 2019 at St. Anthony of Padua. As well, a big thank you to Fr. John Reiker and all who helped prepare the students for these Sacraments.

Thank you, Mr. Pat Crowley for photographing at Confirmation.

Blood Donors Urgently Needed June 9, 2019 Blood Drive on Sunday, June 9th from 9 am to 1 PM in cafeteria below church. We would like at least 20 donors. Please help save a LIFE by giving blood. During the summer especially blood is urgently needed because of accidents due to people traveling and burns suffered from fires, and diseases such as, cancer, heart, and many others. One pint of blood will save up to 4 lives. Many lives will be saved with your donation. I surely would appreciate all you can do to help. Contact Clarence R Surmeier at 314-303-7415 or email me at Clarence744@yahoo.com if you can donate. If you are low on iron please eat some raisins or grapes the night before to bring up your iron level. And all donors drink some fluid in the morning and some form of ID, such as a driver’s license. Please note scheduled appointments will be taken first. Donors needed after all the Masses on Sunday. If you attend Saturday night Mass please come early on Sunday morning if possible. Thank you!

St. Anthony of Padua, High Ridge, MO

Jonah Prayer Ministry

Our Parish’s Jonah Prayer Ministers have a prayer box mounted on the inner wall of the vestibule. You will find it on the right-hand side (near the candle stand) as you enter church. This box is for written prayer requests. All

petitions are kept confidential by your Jonah Prayer Ministers.

Follow us on Facebook Saint Anthony of Padua

High Ridge

Parish Financial Report

Thank You for Your Gifts to God & Your Parish Family

God bless you for your generous contributions.

We all appreciate your sacrifices and love of our St. Anthony Family!

Are we in your will?

For more information, please visit our website: www.stanthonyhr.org

Collections for June 2019

Weekly Contributions (general fund) Building Fund

Cardinal Glennon Hospital Catholic Communications

Holy Father

COLLECTION May 19 2019

Contribution Collection 4,118.00 Online Giving 1,290.00 Loose 352.00 Building Fund 140.00 Total for Parish 5,900.00

Charlotte Furtwengler

Ministry Schedule

May 26, 2019

St. Anthony of Padua, High Ridge, MO

Hope, Healing And Forgiveness After Abortion

If you'd like to speak with someone regarding hope and healing now, please call or text 855-801-HOPE (4673). Someone who cares is waiting to talk with you.

According to the producers of “Unplanned”, St. Louis was the top grossing city for the movie in its opening weekend. As you work through your experience, there is help for those who need guidance. In addition to talking with Fr. John or one of the deacons, additional resources are provided by the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Please look at the options below.

You can also contact the Respect Life Apostolate of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Project Rachel (for women) and Project Joseph (for men) provide healing and hope to those wounded by abortion. No matter what your experience was or how long it has been since the abortion: hope, healing, and forgiveness are available.

Project Rachel Contact: Marisol Pfaff

stlprojectrachel@archstl.org (314) 792-7565

20 Archbishop May Drive St. Louis, MO 63119

Resources Available: Women, Family Members, Friends, Individual Counseling, Support Groups, Retreats, English Language Resources

Project Joseph Contact: Chuck Raymond or Karen Nolkemper

prolife@archstl.org (314) 792-7565

20 Archbishop May Drive St. Louis, MO 63117 Resources Available:

Men, Individual Counseling, Support Groups, Retreats, English Language Resources

May 26, 2019

Activities Outside the Parish Tour de Cure Bike Ride

June 8, 2019 Raise funds for the American Diabetes Assoc.

Gary Cooley of our Parish will be participating in this event. Please go to: http://diabetes.org/stltour Click donate Enter Gary Cooley next to donate to a participant and hit search Hit donate Fill out the gift information. Thanking you in advance for your kind consideration.

Covenant Network Catholic Radio Happy Easter! Alleluia! May your celebration of Easter continue throughout this most joyful sea-son. To help maintain your focus on Jesus, tune in to Covenant Network Catholic radio where we pray daily the Holy Mass, the Rosary, the Regina Coeli and The Divine Mercy Chaplet. You will find live call-in shows, Q & A programs about Catholic teaching as well as faith-nourishing programs on Scripture, the saints and Church history. Tune in to AM 1460 on your radio, or listen on our free Covenant Network app on your mobile device or on our website:ourcatholicradio.org.

REFLECT Retreat Mid-life Singles (mid-30s to 50s): Are you looking for a renewed sense of purpose & belonging? Reg-ister today for a life-changing REFLECT weekend retreat at King’s House Retreat Center, Belleville, IL (20 min from downtown St. Louis, MO), on May 31-June 2, 2019. Take a chance and get involved... you won't regret it! Cost is $195 for meals and a single room. Visit www.ReflectRetreat.com, e-mail re-flect.stlouis@gmail.com, or call (314) 283-0044 for details.

St. Anthony of Padua, High Ridge, MO

We are now accepting applications for the June 20-23, 19 Men’s ACTS Missions Retreat weekend. This parish-based retreat offers the opportunity to renew your spirituality, to strengthen your faith and its application in your daily life, and to the build lasting friend-ships among members of the parish community. It is presented by your fellow parishioners, with spiritual direction from Fr. John Reiker and Fr. Dennis Schmidt. The retreat begins Thursday evening, June 20th, with check-in at 6:15 pm at Our Lady Queen of Peace in House Springs. Transpor-tation will be provided to and from the retreat center .The retreat concludes at OLQP at the 11:30 Mass on Sunday, June 23rd, with a reception following in the school cafeteria. Approximately 10- 14 days prior to the Retreat, you will receive a letter describing what to bring with you (clothing, reading material, etc) for the weekend.

The cost for each retreatant is $260.00. A deposit of $60.00 is requested to reserve your place. The balance, $200.00, will be due at the time of check-in on Thursday, June 20th. Financial difficulties should not prevent anyone from attending this retreat. If you wish to inquire about special arrangements or need more info, please contact any of the following:

Director - Rich Ortmann 314-574-0084

Co-Directors-Mike Kinworthy 314-686-0876

Pete Ostlund 314-655-8363

Please make checks payable to: St. Anthony's ACTS and send or deliver this reservation form and deposit fee to either parish office.

RESERVATION INFORMATION Name:________________________ Parish: ________________________

Address / City / Zip Code: ______________________________ Cell Phone #: ______________________________ Home Phone #: ______________________________ Work Phone #: (Opt) ______________________________ Primary Email Address: ______________________________ Any special physical, dietary, medical or other needs for the retreat weekend? ______________________________ ______________________________

EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION:

Name:________________________ Relationship: __________________

Cell Phone #: ______________________________ Home Phone #: ______________________________ Primary Email Address: ______________________________

OLQP & St. Anthony's

Men's ACTS Retreat Mercy Retreat Center

Kirkwood, MO June 20-23, 2019

"He welcomed them,

spoke to them about the Kingdom of God and healed those who needed

to be cured"

May 26, 2019

St. Anthony of Padua & Our Lady Queen of Peace Men's ACTS Mercy Retreat Center

in Kirkwood, MO June 20-23, 2019

The ACTS (Adoration, Community, Theology, Service) Retreat movement began in San Antonio, Texas, in 1997 and came to St. Louis in the early 2000’s. It is now thriving in over 65 parishes in St. Louis and starting in many other cities. Popularity keeps increasing with the ACTS Retreats because they are parish-based, uplifting and faith-enriching week-ends. Part of the ACTS purpose is assisting parishes and parishioners in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ among Catholic communities with faith filled enrichment and fellowship by promoting, facilitating and sponsoring ACTS retreats. As we find in the reading from: Acts 2:42-47.

Adoration

A response to God’s love through prayer and worship

Community Participating in the One Body of Christ as Church

Theology

Deepening our relationship with God in order to better fulfill his will

Service Answering the call to discipleship by following the model He gave us

Q: How long is the retreat? What do I prepare for?

A: The retreat begins at OLQP in House Springs on Thursday night at 6:15pm and is complete at 9:30 AM Mass on Sunday at OLQP Bring very casual, comfortable clothing. While most of the activities take place indoors, you will likely spend some time out-doors. Also, pack things you would typically bring for a short trip such as toiletries, medications, etc. Bedding and towels are pro-vided, but you might want to pack a pillow and extra towel if you like. Also bring clothes appropriate for Mass on Sunday. Q: What about accommodations and meals?

A: You have a private room with your own restroom facilities. Three Meals served daily, with PLENTY of snacks, water, soda and coffee. Q: Are there any requirements for making the retreat?

A: All men 21+, Catholics and non-Catholics, in or out of our parish communities. The only requirement is a willingness to spend more time with God and fellow parishioners. Q: How is the retreat run?

A: Your fellow parishioners will run the retreat. They spend time prior to the retreat, meeting weekly and preparing spiritually for the retreat, as well as handling most of the planning and logistics for the weekend. Each team has a priest who has a role in the weekend as well. Q: So what exactly happens on the retreat? What activities? Is it a silent retreat? If not, am I required to participate?

A: This a little different, and part of the blessing ane enjoyment of the weekend is discovering what it means to you as it hap-pens. For this reason, it’s hard to go into specifics. There is prayer, reflection, Mass, opportunity for sacraments and discussion. You can choose to participate in the discussion as much or as little as you like. People are different, so their experience and reaction to the retreat differs, but if you talk to men and women who have been on the retreat, you’ll see that responses are typically very positive.

Q: So if I go on the retreat, am I required to participate more in the future? Do I have to do certain things? Do I have to be on a retreat team or be involved in other retreat centered acitivities?

A: The short answer is no, you don’t have to do anything after retreat. Hopefully during your retreat you learn things about your faith, yourself, and the way others practice their faith. The goal isn’t to build a larger parish retreat group; it is to build a stronger relationship with Jesus and with others in the parish community.