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Easter Newsletter

Pg. 1: RCIA Pg. 2: Fr. Norm Pg. 3: Welcome! Fr. Dave & Mike Bauman Pg. 4: Faith Alive Retreat Recap Pg. 5: Holy Week schedule Pg. 6: School News/ STEM Soap Box Derby Pg. 7: Soap Box Derby Sponsor Form Pg. 8: Calendar of Events St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church 164 West Market Street Akron, OH 44303 330-535-3135

EASTER 2017

"The Catholic faith is meaningful to me." "My mother and daughter converted about 5 years ago." "I met Fr. Norm." "I was very much moved to become a Catholic." "To strengthen my marriage." We are pleased to welcome nine new Catholic Christians during our Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday, April 15th! They have completed our Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults program (RCIA), which gradually introduced those interested in converting to Catholicism to the many aspects, beliefs, and practices of our Faith. But the Easter Vigil Mass isn’t the end of their journey; it is actually just the beginning! This time last year, before Fr. Norm first became our pastor, we had no one in RCIA. Fr. Norm made a promise that it would be the last Easter Vigil Mass with no prospective new members…he said that next year (in 2017) “There will be people going through the RCIA program!” Led by Fr. Norm (himself a Catholic convert while a college student at The University of Akron), Deacon Bob Bender, and a team of parishioners, our new candidates and catechumens have been meeting every Sunday morning since the Fall of 2016 in the Scullen Room learning the Faith. “We also have been blessed with about 12 of our current parishioners who have been coming each week just to refresh their faith,” said Ellen Dies, our Coordinator of Faith Formation. “We have a total of 12 people who are currently going through the RCIA process,” continued Dies. “We have one candidate who has gone through the entire process, has been Baptized and made his First Communion, and was just confirmed with our grade school and PSR students. The others are continuing to prepare for their welcome into the church at a later date.” (photo courtesy of Dave Shoenfelt) (Continued on pg. 2)

RCIA (continued from pg. 1) The candidates and catechumens have had a wonderful journey, one that also included the Rite of Sending and the Election of Names, which took place at the Cathedral in downtown Cleveland the first Sunday in Lent. We are excited and blessed to have all of these people join our parish family! If you see them during Holy Week, or afterwards, please congratulate and welcome them with joy and acceptance.

Our parish is blessed to build upon a 180-year history dating back to our founding in 1837. Each generation since then has passed on a living faith in the Lord and an outreach to the surrounding community. We recognize

our call, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to continue developing ourselves as a community of disciples of Jesus Christ. You will be receiving information during the 50-day Easter season about the renewal of our Parish Pastoral Council as a core group of lay leaders whose primary responsibility is to promote the spiritual growth and mission of the parish community. The Council is the pastoral planning body of the parish. It serves as a catalyst in developing and renewing a pastoral plan for the ministries and life of the parish. The Council discerns what needs to be supported, changed, or developed to make the parish more faithful to the call of God. This will be done especially through listening to parishioners by means of personal conversations, social media, meetings, surveys, and interviews. Since the Parish Pastoral Council will be shifting its focus from a primarily reporting body to a spiritual renewal and pastoral planning leadership group, we will initiate a process for discerning new members. The following information will be briefly provided at our weekend celebrations of Eucharist with bulletin

inserts to augment what is presented at Mass:

Easter weekend, April 15-16: a brief overview of the identity and mission of a parish

April 22-23: an overview of the mission and role of a Parish Pastoral Council

April 29-30: parishioners will receive guidelines for considering individuals as possible Council members

May 6-7: parishioners will suggest names as potential Council members

Dates to be determined: 1. a Parish Pastoral Council information session 2. a discernment process of new Council

members June 3-4: commissioning new members at Mass

over the summer months with the leadership of the newly formed Parish Pastoral Council we will initiate plans for enhancing existing commissions, developing new ones, and strengthening communications with them and other parish organizations. Commissions being considered are Worship and Spiritual Life, Religious Education, Evangelization, Faith at Work, Social Service and Justice, Stewardship, Communications. Please consider becoming an active participant in one of these commissions as they are initiated. Also remember your most important ministry is what you do in daily life in your home, work, and wider community involvement.

A LETTER FROM OUR PASTOR

CANDIDATES: Dawn Bilinovich Daniel McCarthy Phil Schuchter Leah Telepak Jim Welling CATECHUMENS Dale Norris Katey Hoffman Deborah Roberson Dylan Timberlake

The following candidates will be welcomed into full membership at a later date: Allen Mickley Faye Moriarty Marie Rader Patrick Quinn has already received all the sacraments and is a new and fully participating member of our faith community, but he continues to participate in the RCIA classes to strengthen his faith.

Most of you, by now, have met or heard or read something about our newest St. Vincent Rectory resident, Fr. David Halaiko. You may know that he was born in Akron, baptized at St. Vincent Church by Fr. Griesmer in 1941, was assigned as the founding pastor at Nativity of the Lord Jesus Catholic Church where he served for over 30 years and retired in

2016 – to take up residence in our St. Vincent Rectory. You may not be aware that Fr. Halaiko: • Officiates at approximately 60 Masses a month • Presides at the 6:30 a.m. Masses every Monday

and Wednesday morning • Is the author (and publisher) of 3 books:

The Holy Land – A Handbook for Christian Pilgrims, self-published in 1990 (no longer in

print, but Fr. Dave has a few copies available The Holy Land, A guide for pilgrims, written with Mike Aquilina (available on Amazon) Akron Area Catholic and Orthodox Churches, a photographic pilgrimage of the Akron area Catholic and Orthodox churches published in 2015 (available on Amazon)

• Is an accomplished artist – his 1990 publication contains a large number of pencil drawings that give visual resonance to the text

• Is interested in architecture, botany and biology, and is an avid absorber and dispenser of historical data and art

• Has a license to act as a Holy Land guide in Israel. Fr. Halaiko (or Fr. Dave) is also very “tech” savvy. In 2014 he created a pictorial, computer-generated program that can be used as a teaching seminar for parishioners interested in learning more about the life, times, places, death of Jesus Christ, and what happened/happens next. This 5-part series includes:

Part 1. An Introduction to the Holy Land (Nazareth, Ain Karem, Bethlehem)

Part 2. The Galilee Ministry Part 3. …to Jerusalem Part 4. Holy Week Part 5. …from Jerusalem

(photos courtesy of Dave Shoenfelt)

We haven’t officially welcomed our new Maintenance Supervisor, Mike Bauman, to our community…so now is the time. Mike joined the St. Vincent staff in November 2016 and has been busy with projects and “must-dos” since day one. Though you may not see the fruits of his labor, they are plentiful: In the school he has repaired

the heating system, cleaned the floors, groomed the restrooms, painted some walls and fixed some electri-cal problems. He is also working closely with the Building & Grounds Committee to come up with a plan to prioritize the repair/replace/renovate projects on the Committee’s 17 pages of what is needed around the church, school, and grounds to get St. Vincent into ship-shape condition. Some of those future projects include installing new grease traps and warming plates in the Corrigan Hall kitchen, covering the butcher-block countertops with stainless steel (to meet code), restoring or renovating the restrooms and floors in the school, updating our STEM School classroom, as well as additional painting and more electrical fixes, cleaning out and renovating the third floor of the rectory, more painting, and focusing on painting/re-papering the church. For some of this work he’ll have to go out for best-price bids, but he intends to fix what he and his co-opted Dad can do on their own. Mike lives in Hartville and, with his wife of almost nine years, Alissa, and their two children - three-year-old Samuel and newborn Jameson. They are members of Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Alissa is a working mom, and Mike is a “Mr. Fix-it” and woodworker in his spare time. With help from his Dad and input from Alissa, Mike has remodeled his current home and is making plans to sell it and find another renovation project in which to move his family. Mike is a valuable and valued member of our St. Vincent staff. He is also now officially welcomed!

TWO NEW MEMBERS OF OUR PARISH FAMILY

FAITH ALIVE RETREAT FAITH Alive certainly held true at the March 3rd and March 4th retreat at St. Hilary’s, which brought over 100 people together to renew their faith and to be better disciples of Jesus as Catholic Christians. In its 14th year, this retreat was a weekend where people came together to strengthen their personal relationship with God. The theme, “Find God and let God find you,” was separated into four sections throughout the weekend. Our pastor, Fr. Norm, led the Friday night and all-day Saturday retreat and we felt blessed to welcome about 50 of our parishioners in this first-ever parish gathering of its kind.

Of course, it was easy for participants to get involved and be excited when it was being led by Fr. Norm!

“The Faith Alive retreat was a tremendous weekend filled with faith sharing and fellowship. It was a great way to get recharged to help in dealing with all that life throws at us day to day. The turnout from SVDP Parishioners was wonderful. I really enjoyed meeting so many fellow parishioners that I had never met before. I am looking forward to next year’s event,” said Pierre Ferrer.

Our parishioners experienced a stronger sense of Church and they heard some moving personal stories from some inspired speakers. It was a powerful experience to hear these speakers share their walks of faith. We were treated to wonderful music during the entire weekend. One highlight (and surprise) was a concert by the mother-and-son duo of Carla and Jason Davis. If their names sound familiar, they were the same duo that performed at Fr. Norm’s installation dinner. Their voices are incredible and their love of God certainly shows through their music. The retreat closed with our worshipping at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

"The Faith Alive Retreat exceeded my pre-retreat high hopes and expectations. One of my many takeaways was to remember to consciously recommit oneself every day to do God's will throughout the day," said Dale Cook.

PALM SUNDAY Saturday, April 8, 2017 Vigil Mass – 5 p.m. Sunday, April 9, 2017 Masses: 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. MONDAY, April 10

Mass - 6:30 a.m. Confessions – 6 p.m. – 7 p.m.

TUESDAY, April 11 Mass - 6:30 a.m.

Interfaith Service – Temple Israel 6 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, April 12

Mass - 6:30 a.m. Tenebrae - 7 p.m.

HOLY THURSDAY, April 13 Confessions – 10 a.m. - Noon

Mass of the Lord’s Supper - 7 p.m. (Followed by Adoration until Midnight)

GOOD FRIDAY, April 14

Tre-Ore (Private Devotion in Church) Noon – 3 p.m.

Ecumenical Prayer Service – Church of Our Saviour – Noon – 1 p.m.

Solemn Liturgical Service – 3 p.m. (Liturgy of the Word, Adoration of the Holy Cross, Holy Communion)

Stations of the Cross – 7 p.m.

HOLY SATURDAY, April 15 Blessing of the Easter Food - 1 p.m. - Church

EASTER VIGIL: 9 p.m.

EASTER SUNDAY, April 16 Masses - 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.

2017 Gravity Racing Challenge STEM Team Competition Soap Box Derby

St. Vincent de Paul Parish School is gearing up for another awesome day at the Gravity Racing Challenge STEM Team Competition Soap Box Derby at Derby Downs. This Competition promotes the S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, and math) initiative in education through gravity racing. The Gravity Racing Challenge® (GRC) STEM Team program is designed to provide K-12 educators and students with meaningful, project- and standards-based, inter-curricular learning opportunities. In describing the importance of this program for our learners, Engineering teacher John Milam states, “Aerodynamics, physics, and Newton’s Laws of Motion are complex topics in our Diocesan Standards. The SVDP Racing Program enables students to better understand these difficult curriculum standards through motivating, engaging and real-world applications of engineering.” On May 20th from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m., SVDP will race the following cars: Grade 3: Stock Car plus mini-car competition Grade 4: Stock Car plus mini-car competition Grade 5: Super Stock Car plus mini-car competition Grade 6: Super Stock Car Grade 7: Super Stock Car Grade 8: Two Super Stock Cars The Soap Box Derby is only possible because of the support from the parents of our school and parishioners at St. Vincent de Paul Parish. We would love for you to be involved - whether during the school day, at the race track, or donation to our program, we appreciate it! Please reach out to our school Principal, Maria Meeker, at mmeeker@stvincentelementary.com and get involved!

2017 Gravity Racing Challenge Soap Box Derby Sponsor Form

T-Shirt Orders All SVDP Racing Team members will receive a T-Shirt at no cost. T-shirts are designed by the 8th grade team. Only Platinum and Victory Lane sponsorship levels include names on T-Shirts.

Bronze Level Sponsorship Price: $25 QTY: ____ Total: $___________

Name as it will appear on SVDP Banner:

____________________________________________________________________________ Silver Level Sponsorship Price: $50 QTY: ____ Total: $___________ Grade level(s) you wish to sponsor (grades 3-8): _______________

Name as it will appear on SVDP Banner and Car Decal:

______________________________________________________________________________ Gold Level Sponsorship Price: $100 QTY: ____ Total: $___________ Grade level(s) you wish to sponsor (grades 3-8): ______________T-Shirt Size: _____ Name as it will appear on SVDP Banner and Car Decal:

______________________________________________________________________________

Platinum Level Sponsorship Price: $500 QTY: ____ Total: $___________ Grade level(s) you wish to sponsor (grades 3-8): _______________ Name as it will appear on SVDP Banner, Car Decal and Back of T-Shirt:

______________________________________________________________________________ T-Shirt Sizes: _____/_____/_____/_____ Victory Lane Sponsorship Price: $2000 QTY: ____ Total: $___________ Grade level(s) you wish to sponsor (grades 3-8): _______________ Name as it will appear on SVDP Banner, Car Decal and Back of T-Shirt:

______________________________________________________________________________

T-Shirt Sizes: _____/_____/_____/_____

YOUTH ADULT QTY PRICE TOTAL

SM MED LRG SM MED LRG XL 2XL # $18 __ x $18 =

Mail to: St. Vincent de Paul School 17 South Maple Street Akron, OH 44303

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

ST. VINCENT COMMUNITY COUNCIL EVENTS Thursday, April 13 - Fundraiser at Melt Bar & Grilled See the flyer in the Church Bulletin or on Facebook and dine at Melt in Montrose. The school receives a portion of the proceeds! Thursday, May 4 - STEM Family Night - at our grade school Check out all the cool STEM projects the school kids are producing!! Dinner and dessert will be served! Donations welcome! Thursday, May 18 - Fundraiser at Sweet Frog See the flyer in the church bulletin or on Facebook and enjoy some ice cream at Sweet Frog. The school receives a portion of the proceeds! Any questions call Jen Lann, SVDP Community Council/ Parents Association President, at 330.730.5860

ALTAR SOCIETY Annual May Breakfast - Sunday, May 7, following the 8:30 Mass; Cor r igan Hall; Adults & Children (12 & up) - $15 Children under 12 - $10 Gardening presentation by parishioner and expert gardener, Diane Fort Prepaid Reservations due by May 1 Contact Doris Schubert (330) 630-2349 or Karen Inman (330) 923-9734

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS Parish Recognition Breakfast Sunday, May 21, 12:30 - 2 p.m. in Corrigan Hall. $8 for adults, children under 18 free. Event recognizes adults from the parish who have volunteered their time and talent. Two students from the grade school and PSR will also be recognized who have demonstrated Christian example. Contact Brian Walsh for tickets and information (330) 864-1242 Annual Golf Outing Saturday, June 3, at Good Park Golf Course. $75 per golfer - 18 holes of golf, cart, lunch, and dinner Contact John Bryan at (330) 814-4300 for tickets and information PSR Saturday, May 6 - Closing PSR Mass 5 p.m., followed by Awards Ceremony, and light dinner

MASS TIMES Saturday Vigil: 5 p.m. Sunday: 8:30 and 11 a.m. Weekdays: 6:30 a.m. Holy Days: 6:30, 9 a.m., and 5:30 p.m. St. Vincent de Paul Church 330-535-3135 www.stvincentchurch.com Find us on Facebook at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church