Cancelled

Hey guys,
sorry to inform you that the retreat is cancelled! The Lions Camp on Camano Island doesn't have water, or electricity right now and they're pretty low on the priority list for the PUD. We'll be rescheduling it, but don't worry....there's more excitement to come for December, check out the calendar! See you all on Sunday! Have fun in the snow!!!

Retreat??

So here's the deal. Snow! Unless you're living in a hole, you should know by now that there's lots of snow outside, no school, and super icy roads. I personally think that having a retreat in the snow would be awesome. However, we're not sure if there's another blizzard coming, or if the power will be staying on throughout Camano Island. So we're going to wait another 24 hours to see if we're still having this Advent Retreat. Keep Checking for updates! If we do have the retreat just bring your $25 with your permission form to the Lions Camp on Camano Island on Friday night at 4:30. In the meantime, enjoy the snow!!!

Advent retreat!!!!

Get your permission forms and money in by Monday the 27th so we have an idea of how much food to buy etc!!!!

That's $25.00 to St. Cecilia's Parish!

The Big Bad Media - Food Poisoning

Scripture Genesis 3:1-6 - The Fall of Man....
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the LORD God had made. The serpent asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?"
The woman answered the serpent: "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.'"

But the serpent said to the woman: "You certainly will not die!
No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad."
The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

We all want to be good people, right? God created us to be go to heaven. How are we supposed to become good people? Where are we supposed to get our information from?
“Where should we get our information about morals from?”

Examine your day ! “Day in the life of...…you!”

Do the Media Survival Test.

Top five: tv shows watched, movies seen, video games played, songs on the radio, web sites visited

How many of you would watch this with…..friends, brother or sister, grandparent, mom or dad, Virgin Mary, Jesus? Why?

What are we saturating ourselves with?

“What does the big bad media tell you?”
You’re not good enough. You need this stuff to make you happy. Do whatever you want, whenever you want. Life is all about pleasure. Sex feels good so do it. Drinking until you’re trashed makes you feel good, so do it. Being skinny will get you a boyfriend and you don’t have any value without one, so stop eating. God doesn’t exist. Churchy people are fanatics. Churches and rules just suffocate you, so don’t go.

This is what you’re saturating your life with. Commercials, tv, video games, talking on the phone, listening to pop radio, surfing the internet, reading magazines. You saturate in this, you talk to your friends who saturate in this....don't drown in the world's media!

It may not hurt you right away on the surface, but this marrs your soul. Engaging in this sort of activity without thinking about it, will contaminate your soul and affect your relationships, your life, and those around you.

Where are we getting our morals?

What does the media want from you?
It wants your $$money$$. The people that fuel the media are out to make a buck. They don’t care about your soul.
How do they get you hooked? The slippery slope of desensitization.

Shock, shock, shock! Everything is about shock value. Elvis Presley shocked people in the 50’s. Michael Jackson and Madonna shocked people in the 80’s. The Spice Girls shocked people in the 90’s. What’s shocking now? Where are we going? What do you have to hold on to?

So what do we do about this?

You have the choice. You have the power to change this culture with your faith. Pope John Paul II talks about a culture of death. This is the culture of death. A culture that tells us we can do things without God in mind and we’ll be okay…A culture that whispers that same thing the serpent whispered to Eve in garden of Eden. Pleasure without God. It’s called “Hedonism: That pleasure is the principle good and proper goal of all action. Self indulgence.” No! In Christ we find real freedom. We are called by God and by His Church to build a culture of life, the City of God, bring ourselves and others to heaven.

How do we do it? By the choices we make, how we spend our time, how we think about the media that we take in, how we guard our eyes and ears, how we educate ourselves, who we choose to listen to, how we examine our lives, how we discern God’s plan for our lives, how much we listen to God’s voice.

Here’s the truth about living a Catholic life….It’s hard.

John 15:18-20 Jesus says....

"If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.
Remember the word I spoke to you, 'No slave is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you."

Catholicism is not for wussies. But it’s only hard if we try to do it on our own. We have to realize that we can’t do this of our own power and alone. This is why God said he would never leave us, this is why God gave us the Eucharist, this is why God died for us, and this is why he gave us this Church and the sacraments, that we might be strengthened for the journey home to him.

Examine yourself in relation to what you take in......

How much have you let the media influence your life?
Honestly, do you spend more time at church and speaking with your parents than you do watching tv, listening to the radio, surfing the internet, and talking to your friends on the phone? What messages from the media do you struggle with the most?
Have you been told or ever felt that the Church stifles your freedom? Or suppresses your freedom?
How have you been desensitized in your life?
What can you do in your life to use your time more wisely? How can you center on the things that give you better morals instead of the lies from the media?
How practical is all of this? Do you think you’ll actually do it? Why or why not?
Why is it so much harder to spend 15 minutes praying instead of watching TV?

Announcements!

We've got an Advent retreat coming up! Dec 1-2 at the Lions Camp on Camano Island. Pick up your registration forms in the foyer and at Youth group on Sunday! Registration forms must be in by Monday Nov. 27th if you want to come!

We're going to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Pacific Science Center. If you're interested sign up at youth group. We're going to try to get tickets for December 9th!

If you like decorating, sign up to decorate Merril Gardens retirement community for Christmas on Nov. 24th! Renee will be heading that function!

Prayer!!! (Capture the flag this wed @ 8pm)

You can’t show someone you love them or have a relationship with someone if you aren’t communicating with them. Prayer is lifting our hearts to God and our way of communicating with Him.

Mass is prayer perfected. In it we not only communicate our hearts to God by participating in all 4 different types of prayer, we take part in the Eucharist which brings us into a perfect heavenly union with God. Heaven kisses earth at consecration. God gives his body to us in perfect love in the Mass as a bridegroom gives himself to his bride.

Types of Prayer (stuff in brackets is when we do it at Mass)
Adoration – Praising God (Gloria and Alleluia)

Contrition – Asking for God’s forgiveness (Kyrie Eleison)

Petition – Asking God for a favor (Prayers of the Faithful)

Thanksgiving – Showing God gratitude (Eucharist)

Some different ways of entering into prayer

Traditional Prayers http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/index.htm

Meditation http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12345b.htm

Rosary http://www.newadvent.org/search/?cx=000299817191393086628%3Aifmbhlr-8x0&q=rosary&sa=Search&cof=FORID%3A9

lectio divina http://www.walburga.org/Lectio.html

Office of the Hours/Liturgy of the Hours/Divine Office/Brievary

(Also called the prayer of the Church)www.universalis.com

and

http://www.walburga.org/Office.html

Singing Holy Music

Just remember that your prayers are always answered. They may not be answered in the way that you want, but God who knows you inside and out, and better than you know yourself will answer your prayers. Our God will answer them in his time when he sees it is best.

Prayer is asking in faith. This is an opportunity for you to show your faith and perseverance in prayer.
Faith is to be sure of what you hoped for, and the evidence of things unseen.

Christ and the Agony in the Garden… “take this cup away from me, but not my will but your will be done.”

It's like using a cell phone......

Are you answering your phone?
Do you have good reception? Does your phone have static?

Just remember God's phone is always on, he never has a dropped call, and he's got infinite bars of reception. He is always listening, and always speaking to you. Are you always listening and always speaking to Him?

Pray without ceasing.

And don't forget, you can talk to Jesus face to face. He's in Catholic Churches everywhere.....Jesus is in the gold box! Or sometimes if you're lucky in a monstrance exposed. You don't have to imagine him, he's right there.

If you have any questions, leave a comment or e-mail Val cecilia3@catholicweb.com

UIOGD

Announcements

Merril Gardens retirement community is looking for youth volunteers to decorate for Christmas!!! All interested youth are invited to come decorate the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 24th) at 9am. Contact Val at the office or during youth group for more info.

The High School Advent retreat is coming up on December 1st and 2nd at the Lions Camp on Camano Island. Save the date! We’ll be joining youth from our neighbor parish Immaculate Conception, Arlington.
High School and Middle School Youth keep your eyes peeled on the website for the date and time of our
EXTREME CAPTURE THE FLAG

at STANWOOD HIGH SCHOOL. It’s COMING....

Post Convention

Convention was fabulous!! We had a great time listening to Ennie Hickman, Deacon Harold Burke Sivers, and Sarah Bauer, going to workshops, going to mass, praying, hearing some fun music, riding mechanical bulls, dancing, getting lost while trying to find our sleeping parish, and much more.

St. Cecilia's had an awesome showing with 19 teens and 6 chaperones and 2 teens in ACCY! You guys are awesome. To those of you who sadly couldn't come, start psyching yourself up for next year. Ask those who went this year, it was about 2/3 of our youth group!!

Special Thanks to the Chaperones, Tim and Marie Salerno, Kathy Zietz, Jeannie Smith, and Colin Parish it couldn't have happened without you!

Jesus....

....One Way, True Life.



Hillsongs - One Way

I Lay my life down at your feet, your the only one i need

I turn to you and you were always there.

In troubled times it's you i seek, i put you first thats all i need,

I humble all I am all to you!



One Way Jesus, your the only one that I could live for.

One Way Jesus, your the only one that I could live for.



You were always, always there. Every how and everywhere

Your grace abounds so deeply within me

You will never ever change, yesterday today the same

Forever 'til forever meets no end



You are the way the truth and the life

We live by faith and not by sight for you.

We're living all for you

Seussical the Musical

Hey! Who wants to go see Bianca Campbell on the 11th at 7pm in Seussical the Musical? Leave a comment if you want to come.

Click here for more information about Seussical the Musical