Article on Mother Teresa (Martina Niou)

Dear Friends,

I came across this article and found it really, really good and thought-provoking. You may already know this, but I never knew of the spiritual challengens that Mother Teresa encountered in her journey of faith. I must say that I now respect her even more. This article is a bit long but it's a worthwhile read.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415-1,00.html

God Bless,

Martina

"Church is Our Home" -- Meeting Report & Following Action (Cris Chen)

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

First of all, I would like to apologize for my late meeting report from our last Sunday kick-off meeting.

Thank be to God, our meeting went very smoothly and fruitfully. Especially all the positive thoughts which focus on : Increasing the Sense of Community and Belonging.

The conclusions are:

“Take actions instead of talking” and

The easiest way to invite more people to join us is “from our Daily Bread – Eating” – through the dinner or lunch with our friends"

Our action items are:

1. Within the next weeks or so: Gathering with your church’s friends (in our SJCCC friend).

2. In the near future (1-3 months), we wish we can organize a “Group Gathering” to invite you friends to join us. - It will be announced later in the month.

教會是我們的家，目前將重點放在建立團體的凝聚力。

以聚餐的方式，促進團體凝聚力。

行動：

1. 未來數週內，（以開會的人為基礎）邀請數位教友朋友或家庭，以不同方式聚餐。

2. 未來數月（1至3個月），擴大聚餐的層面。

Peace in Christ,

Cris

SJCCC Choir CD Publishing Reception/James Hua

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

You are all invited to SJCCC Choir CD Publishing Reception this Sunday after 3 PM Mass. Here are details:


敬 邀
時間：八月二十六日聯合彌撒之後
地點：St. Clare 教堂 • North Parish Hall
聖荷西華人天主教會(SJCCC)將於八月二十六日聯合彌撒之後，在樓上教堂首先舉行一個簡單的福傳CD發表會。由聖詠團選唱數首聖歌，揭開福傳CD的序幕。發表會之後在Parish Hall 將有一個簡單的義賣茶會，我們準備了點心、茶水，並有幻燈片介紹CD的錄製及美工設計等等。義賣所得捐款將交予SJCCC 作為未來福傳基金。茶會之後，將贈送每個參與家庭一張福傳CD，也歡迎您邀請教外親朋好友參加，我們也將贈送參加來賓們一張CD。希望這一張福傳CD能成為一粒種子，藉著您，引領更多人認識天主、接近天主。

May God bless this CD!

James

聖依納爵神操 Workshop by Sr. Fu/Ana Tsai

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"The Faith is our Foundation" execution group is extremely happy to
announce that Sister Fu will host the Spiritual Exercises workshop of
St. Ignatius of Loyola on this Saturday.

You're welcome to this workshop... your friends too.  See schedule
below for your information.  Please contact Ana Tsai for details.

「信仰是我們的基礎」工作小組很高興能請到傅世英修女
在8/25 (週六)， 9:00 am-5:30 pm, 為團體帶領聖依納爵神操。

欲知詳情或有疑問者可洽詢黃鳳梧, Ana Tsai

Do you want to help spreading the "good news?" - Jenny Pama

Dear Lighthouse,

SJCCC has an evangelization committee. The purpose of this committee is promote our faith and SJCCC in our local areas.

On this Sunday, this committee will meet and share ideas on "how to". I know many of us have expressed interested in this area. Elisa and Dean have already joined this committee and helped out in various activities.

If you too are interested 'spreading the good news with others," please attend this short meeting. Go and find out what you can offer.

Time: 8/19, from 1pm - 2:45pm (before the 3pm Chinese mass).

Location: St. Claire at 941 Lexington St, Santa Clara, CA 95050.

-Jenny

Workshop-Find God In Your Life/Jenny Pama

Dear Lighthouse,

A wonderful workshop is coming next week.

When : 8/25/07 ( 9 AM to 9 PM)

What : How to experience God's touch in your Daily Life- St. Ignatius Spirituality.

Where : North Hall of St. Clare Church --> 941 Lexington Street, Santa Clara, 95050.

Who : Sr. Helen Fu

Please do not miss this opportunity. Sister Helen Fu has over 25 years experience in this area. She will show you that God is with you all the time. You might not konw it, but He is here.

Come and Taste by yourself. Get first hand experience on the "Good News" within your own life, then tell the others about it.

*Lunch will be provided for $6/person (vegetarian, fish & BBQ beef or pork & fish).

*Please RSVP by next Monday.

Guest Speaker on 9/1 - Jenny Pama

Dear Lighthouse,

There will not be a Bible study on 9/1. Instead, we will have a guest speaker, Sister Yueh.

Sister Yueh is a very experienced "counselor' in many areas. She can talk about anything and/or answer any of your questions. Below is a little bio of Sister Yueh.

Sister Yueh wants us to decide the topic(s) of 9/1's talk. She is open to anything.

So email me you ideas by the end of this week.

*This event is organized by Agnes. Thank you Agnes.-Jenny

岳偉利­是岳安邦叔叔的姐姐

(岳安邦叔叔=Legion of Mary's Leader in SJCCC)

民國53年加入仁慈聖母會

目前在耕莘擔任牧職­蚺k

也是青少年輔導及家庭婚姻諮商專家

也擔任東吳,輔仁, 等大學天主教大專同學會的輔導­

我認識岳­蚺k已經二十多年

她是我­茪H的心靈老師

我不管是喜怒哀樂都會與她Email聯絡

Feasibility Study team of an English group/Li-Peng Chou

Dear All,

One advantage of an aging community is that it leaves more room for the next generation to grow. After so many years of growth, finally we see the English group becomes mature enough to form a standalone team. The SJCCC as a whole, now requires three groups in parallel to serve broader needs on language basis. In the past, only the Mandarin group enjoys a dedicated priest for exclusive services. Both the English group and the Cantonese group are constantly pleading for guest priests to nurture their spiritual needs. Without clear identity, members may have strong attachment to the community, but don't have the sense of spiritual belonging. The importance of a community, which is constantly communioned in Mass, is obvious. Let's take the Mandarin group as an example, even with the recent turmoils, the whole community is still united firmly in the Sunday Mass. The same thing can be observed also on the recent development of the Cantonese group. Under the leadership of Fr. Hsiao as their dedicated spiritual director, the whole team becomes very affirmative to their Evangelization goals. It is about time for us to consider the English group be transformed into an independent entity too. For this, I have obtained the permission from the council meeting to form an ad hoc study group. You are cordially invited to the feasibility study team for the establishment of an English group in our community. The initial goal is to have a full time (or part time) priest as a dedicated spiritual director to the group.

A tentative roster of the study team members is as follows:

• Jimmy Chen, finance minister;
• Steve Chu, Watermark leader;
• Marcus Liu, Lighthouse leader;
• Ujian Lee, Lighthouse leader;
• Isabel Chou, former vice chair;
• Ana Tsai, former chair;
• Yvone Chow, experienced and professional LOM;
• Patrick Ku, youth minister;
• Joanne Hsia, English Mass liturgical minister;
• Margarita Hua, Mandarin Mass liturgical ministry;
• Jesica Wong, CM director;
• Kai Min Yang, former chair;
• Tony Fu, tent builder of many youth ministries;
• Ken Wong, former chair;
• Li-peng Chou, acting chair;

In the first meeting, we'll discuss the following two subjects:

1. The necessity (from community view) and requirements (candidate qualification) of a full time or part time priest;
2. The operation model of the English group;

We will share the following thoughts:

1. Please name 4 reasons why we should/could not do it;
2. Please name 2 reasons why we should/could do it;

In order to give more thoughts for this profound change, I'll give one month for everybody to collect inputs from your related teams. The first meeting is scheduled in mid September. Here are the potential time slots:

• September 20, Thursday, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm, or
• September 22, Saturday, 10:00 am to 11:30 pm, or
• September 23, Sunday, 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm.

Please let me know your interests and availability to the team, as well as your preference to the meeting time.

Thanks, In Christ,

Li-peng

Kick Off Meeting for "Church is Our Home"/Cris Chen

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

We would like to invite you to our "Church is Our Home: Focus on Increasing Sense of Community and Belonging" initiative meeting, it is our first gathering, we wish we could utilize this opportunity to open sharing and discussion but only point to our focus --

The following is listed the gathering information for your reference:

Date: August 19, Sunday 4:30PM -- 5:30PM

Place: North Hall (next to the Parish Hall)

Agenda:

1. What do you observate and feel?

2. What do you suggest ?

3. How do we act ?

Also, attached please find the 20/20 survey results for your reference.

Please pray for our gathering and ask God's grace to lead us. Thank you for your support, and see you in August 19.

Eddie Liu & Cris Chen

SJCCC Reminder: August Council Meeting 8/9/2007 - James Hua

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Please join us in our August Council Meeting on 8/9/2007 this Thursday. We are holding this meeting at 6:30 PM in Room 6.

Please arrive on time. Please kindly send your substitute if you can not participate.

*** All SJCCC members are welcome! ***

Agenda:
1. Room 6 clean up status
2. Elect a member as St. Clare's Parish Council member
3. Form a study group to revise the bylaws
4. Form a study group for an independent English group
5. Raise the amount of gratitude to workshop speakers
       $50 to $75 for half day
       $100 to $125 for full day
       $200 to $250 for two days
6. Evangelization Team (ET) annual budget proposal of $12,000.00

We'll try to make the meeting end AEAP. Thanks! May God bless us all!

James Hua 

Help with the Chinese Moon Festival/Jenny Pama

Hello lighthouse,
The San Jose Chinese Catholic Community (SJCCC) is given a booth at this year's Moon Festival at Cupertino's memorial park 9/29 and 9/30 for the purpose of evangelization, in exchange, they are looking for folks who can help out with one of the programs at the event.

The program is to showcase Chinese wedding traditions. The exact content of which is to be determined. There will be an introductory write-up of the participating group in the festival program book. I was told that this would be an avenue for spreading the visibility of the Chinese Catholic community and lighthouse. If you are interested in helping out with the planning of or the event itself, please contact Dean Chen before Friday this week.

The Time and place of the event: September 29th and/or 30th (depending on staffing). Time slot: 3pm-5pm. Content: A demonstration of Chinese wedding tradition. Exact content to be determined. Location: Cupertino Memorial Park, Quinlan center (indoors) Contact: Dean Chen

Jenny

8 full day Ignatius spiritual exercise program/Li-Peng

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

It is a rare opportunity that our beloved Fr. Kan Guo Don will hold a 8 day private session of Ignatius spiritual exercise program. The event is sponsored by the Chinese Catholic Community in Fremont. The program is conducted in form of one-on-one sessions, total of 6 seats are allowed. Unfortunately, 5 have been taken, only one is still available. The 8 full day program is scheduled from Aug. 21 evening through Aug 30 noon, you must commit the entire time to it. If interested, please contact:

Mrs. Ivy Chu (Jerry Chu's wife)

In Christ
Li-peng