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Prayerie Pal
Member
| Joined: | Sat Mar 24th, 2007 |
| Location: | Omaha, Nebraska USA |
| Posts: | 245 |
| First Name: | susie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Presbyterian,Methodist, Charismatic Catholic, Pentecostal, Evangelical, and now Truly Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Jun 18th, 2007 11:55 pm |
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While discussing RCIA and other things with a Catholic friend at work, I told her about some dreams and hopes I had for our new lay apostolate we started last year here in Omaha called RECON and the expectations and hopes I have for another 'facet' to RECON involving a radio program in the future. (I volunteer at KVSS and I know there's a reason God has led me there, and I "see" something on the horizon...)
My friend, Mary, agreed that many times, there's sometimes a big lack of "activity" after 9 months or so of RCIA and sometimes, if sponsors haven't been all that enthused or involved, many (up to 20% or more I've heard) drop between the cracks and sometimes out the door of the Church to more "lively" fellowships or perhaps even stumble and fall hard enough to lose their faith, if not grounded or taught thoroughly. Not putting anyone down here, but I was a statistic like that back in the 70's. It was a "sloppy theology" back then, and I was "ripe for the pickin'" by some articulate anti-Catholic tracts by Last Days Ministries. They weren't like Jack Chick tracts, but they sure misled me, because I was hungry for Truth, and the "sloppy" quasi-protestant Catholicism I was being immersed in via the Charismatic Renewal and some misguided Catholics and priests, well, it didn't exactly appeal to me, or draw me closer to the Church when the Church seemed to just want to "not be so Catholic" and appeal to the masses (no pun intended.) The charismatic renewal wasn't "wrong" but where we were, the Church wanted to be more "open and free" so much so, that quite frankly, it was easy to 'slip out the door.' They threw out the baby with the bath water and without the books and plethora of wonderful t.v., radio, as we have today, my 'head' conversion didn't keep me in the Church because my heart longed for the "spirit and heart" I'd witnessed and received at another fellowship of Pentecostals. That took us out and away from the Catholic Church for 26 years and brought about so much confusion at times, I almost lost my faith and my soul.
So, here it is, 2007 and we've been back in the Catholic Church for 2.5 years. Last year, with MUCH enthusiasm, we formed RECON under the auspices of the Church and the blessing of our Chancellor in the Archdiocese of Omaha. We have about 8 people who've been to a meeting or have come to a few meetings and the potential is there for us to take off and grow as time goes on, with air time on KVSS, and our blurb in the Catholic Voice newspaper, it's sure to happen. We are also going to be at the Luis Palau Heartland Festival in Omaha in July, at the KVSS tent to spread the news about Catholic Radio and RECON.
We hope to meet many fallen away Catholics and those who might be seriously thinking of returning, as was my husband before me, and now will find a place that offers safety, and support, understanding of the struggles with friendship and fellowship and prayer. We aren't theologians and we aren't even college grads...no degrees behind either my name or my husbands. What we do possess is a true zeal and love for the Church, Sacred Tradition and orthodoxy. We have a strong desire to share the faith that we're coming to actually LEARN ourselves, through the many books, radio, and EWTN programing. We want to be that support group for others just where we were a few years ago. Seekers of truth, longing for "home" and realizing the weaknesses of Evangelicalism were just too numerous to hold us in the church we were part of for 13 years.
RECON is 'life after RCIA' as someone other than myself or my husband has expressed to us, and I do think it's an apt description of the vision for this endeavor. We're not a "formal" class setting, we're not teaching per se, but simply offering a place to gather to share our love, fears, joys, sorrows, frustrations, etc.
I wanted to post this here to welcome those on this thread or visiting this forum who are from Omaha or the surrounding area, to come to the Holy Family Shrine. Every first Sunday of each month, 5:30 p.m. until 7:30ish...(sometimes we hang out there longer) and find a friendly, small group of people who've got a love and burning passion for the Roman Catholic Church/Faith! Our hope is to be a place where people can meet others from different parishes and find common ground, i.e. a love for bible study, prayer, rosary making, cenacle of Divine Mercy, book club, other interests and "go forth" in "twos" or more, out into the community and help our priests/parishes building up each parish and spread that same fire within those church families to help 'keep the RCIAers' IN the flock and ACTIVE. To radiate Christ and bring home the lost and confused back into the fold with love and vibrantly expressed faith.
Exit 432 on I-80, (Gretna Interchange) Left (S) on Hwy 31 and Right (W) on Pflug Road. The State of NE did finally erect some signs so follow those. It took 3 years to determine that enough people are visiting the Shrine to acquire the signs, so it's easier to find now.
We'd love to see you, meet with you, talk and pray with you. Learn more about RECON here on the webpage.
http://www.tconl.com/~richmelk/recon.htm
PAX,
susie
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God gave us memory so we could have roses in winter.
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Darlene
Member
| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania USA |
| Posts: | 868 |
| First Name: | Darlene | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Christian, trusting His love and forgiveness |
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Posted: Tue Jun 19th, 2007 11:32 pm |
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God Bless You, Prayererie Pal!
May your endeavors to please Jesus Christ be as a light set upon a hill. If I lived in Nebraska, I would definitely meet with all of you.
Darlene
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. II Corinthians 13:14
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Lyell
Member
| Joined: | Wed Mar 21st, 2007 |
| Location: | Livermore, California USA |
| Posts: | 23 |
| First Name: | Dave | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Independant Charismatic, Generic Baptist, Roman Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Jun 20th, 2007 05:00 pm |
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| WOW! Can I join! I really relate to what you are saying. If it weren't for all good books, CDs, DVDs, and sites like this that have supported me since I was confirmed in 1990 ... well, it would have been much harder. I came into the Church via the Charismatic renewal in the 1980s...but I need some "industrial strength" fellowship with other converts now.... just like what you are doing!
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Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ - St Jerome
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Prayerie Pal
Member
| Joined: | Sat Mar 24th, 2007 |
| Location: | Omaha, Nebraska USA |
| Posts: | 245 |
| First Name: | susie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Presbyterian,Methodist, Charismatic Catholic, Pentecostal, Evangelical, and now Truly Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Jun 20th, 2007 09:09 pm |
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I wish you could join us, too! We'd love to have you! Darlene and Lyell, you're most welcome if you're ever near or in the Omaha area.  I'm wondering if there's anyone else on this forum from Omaha??? Drop a line if you are and let's chat. We belong to St. Robert Bellarmine parish. http://www.stroberts.com Please take a peek at our newly renovated, remodeled parish. Our Crucifix is like no other, and we're the only Catholic Church in town that has ours on the outside rooftop and inside, too. I was wondering if any atheists would write to the Omaha World Herald about it, but so far, no one's had any negative comments in the paper. It was crafted in Italy and the Corpus is patterned after the Shroud of Turin and is 5'11'' 180 lbs Bronze.
PAX,
susie
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God gave us memory so we could have roses in winter.
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Credo Catholic
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| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1268 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Thu Jun 21st, 2007 12:02 am |
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| Susie, I enjoyed touring your church! That crucifix on the roof is amazing. I've never seen one like that outside before, it sure makes a statement. Do you have any information on the sculpture hanging over the altar? I was thinking at first that it looks a little like a crown of thorns, when you first look at it. Thanks for sharing with us!
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Prayerie Pal
Member
| Joined: | Sat Mar 24th, 2007 |
| Location: | Omaha, Nebraska USA |
| Posts: | 245 |
| First Name: | susie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Presbyterian,Methodist, Charismatic Catholic, Pentecostal, Evangelical, and now Truly Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Jun 22nd, 2007 08:37 am |
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Do you have any information on the sculpture hanging over the altar? I was thinking at first that it looks a little like a crown of thorns, when you first look at it
This is some info I received when I wrote our secretary. I hope to find out more and will post it.
PAX,
susie
It was designed by Bro William I believe and is simply the descent of the Holy Spirit. Fr Don wanted there to be a connection between Mary's yes, the crucifixion, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, specifically in empowering the priest to consecrate the bread and wine and thus provide for us Jesus present in Eucharist. He also has the ambo in front of the cross, because he wanted to stand under it and preach Christ Crucified. There is a lot to the symbolism of how the Sanctuary is arranged. I don't know if there is anything written or not though. Fr Damien might know since he has done slide shows. Don't quote me on this stuff, but this is the general idea. I do know for sure about Bro William and the Holy Spirit.
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God gave us memory so we could have roses in winter.
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Annie
Banned
| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 734 |
| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Jun 22nd, 2007 02:43 pm |
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Where is the tabernacle in your church, is it the gold thing to the left of the sanctuary?
I also notice the website refers to the nave as the "sanctuary." In a Catholic church the sanctuary only refers to the raised area where the altar is. Other parts of the "big church room where worship takes place are the "nave" and "apse."
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Annie
Ora et labora
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Prayerie Pal
Member
| Joined: | Sat Mar 24th, 2007 |
| Location: | Omaha, Nebraska USA |
| Posts: | 245 |
| First Name: | susie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Presbyterian,Methodist, Charismatic Catholic, Pentecostal, Evangelical, and now Truly Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Jun 22nd, 2007 03:46 pm |
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The tabernacle in our church is directly centered behind the altar. It's silver with 3 small silver raised circles on each door. The Adoration chapel is directly behind the tabernacle so the exposed Host can be seen on the other side. It's a very nice arrangement. I'm not sure about all the other stuff you describe...I'm pretty much a 'newbie' Catholic...  I sent the info as our secretary wrote it.
PAX,
susie
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God gave us memory so we could have roses in winter.
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Annie
Banned
| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 734 |
| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Jun 25th, 2007 09:12 am |
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| Oh, I see, beautiful. That is a good setup for perpetual Eucharistic Adoration too. Especially if the chapel is accessible from outside the building.
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Annie
Ora et labora
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Prayerie Pal
Member
| Joined: | Sat Mar 24th, 2007 |
| Location: | Omaha, Nebraska USA |
| Posts: | 245 |
| First Name: | susie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Presbyterian,Methodist, Charismatic Catholic, Pentecostal, Evangelical, and now Truly Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Jun 25th, 2007 02:56 pm |
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Yes, it is accessible from outside. We have a keypad, so it is very safe. I need to very much get a hour blocked off to go and go as faithfully as my husband has for 1.5 years now. He goes at 3:00 a.m. Wed mornings. I doubt I'll do that...but ya never know!
PAX,
pp
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God gave us memory so we could have roses in winter.
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susiedear
Member
| Joined: | Thu Oct 12th, 2006 |
| Location: | Twin Cities, Minnesota USA |
| Posts: | 186 |
| First Name: | Elizabeth | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Pentecostal / Evangelical / Catholic! |
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Posted: Thu Jun 28th, 2007 05:48 pm |
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Susie, what a treat to see your parish -- it's spectacular. How I wish I could join your group at the Holy Family Shrine. A few weeks ago I wrote about how God ministered to me in that special, holy place, when I was in your area for a job interview gone bad. How blest you are to have such a sanctuary close to home.
God bless your apostolate! May you grow and multiply.
Elizabeth
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But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life. St. Augustine
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