News and Announcements

"Let My People Come" Dates

Here are some upcoming dates for the “Let My People Come” series. There are none in our immediate area but possibly some of you might be up for driving to Bloomington.

• Thursday, April 22, 7:00 p.m., “Classroom Management,” St. Anne’s Parish Hall, East Moline, Dr. Vincent McClean, presenter.

• Wednesday, May 27, 7:00 p.m., “Mother Mary and the Year of the Rosary,” Church of St.Patrick (Historic), Bloomington, Father William T. Miller, I.C., presenter.

• June 11 - 12, Diocesan Summer Institute, St. Vincent de Paul School. In addition to Fr. Andrew Apostoli, John Michael Talbot will offer two sessions in spirituality at this year’s Institute. We have many other fine speakers for the Institute this year.

• Thursday, July 22, 6:30 p.m., “Parent Meetings,” St. Patrick Parish of Merna, Bloomington, Sharon Priester, presenter.

Preparing for the New Translations of the Roman Missal

This is a message from the Office of Divine Worship:
As we anticipate the approval of the new English translations of the Missal, several national groups (including the USCCB) have announced plans for formation programs. The Offices of Divine Worship, Catholic Education and Catholic Schools are preparing programs to introduce the new translations to our diocese, as well as provide an opportunity for renewed liturgical catechesis. In late fall 2010, we hope to make presentations to the clergy about the new translations, followed by regional presentations to parish leaders in the spring semester 2011. By the Fall of 2011, programs should be in place to prepare our parishes for the coming liturgical renewal. Details are still to be announced, and, of course, may need to be adjusted once a schedule for implementation has been announced by the Vatican. Resources will be made available through the monthly mailing, the diocesan website and the Catholic Post. Further resources are available on www.USCCB.org.

First Communicants Mass

Don’t forget! The First Communicants Mass will be on Saturday, June 5, 2010 at the 4:00 p.m. Cathedral Mass. This will be the culmination of the Year of the Rosary. Each First Communicant will receive a personal letter of invitation from Bishop Jenky. Please reserve this date on your parish calendar.

Notes on the Summer Institute this year

Below are a few of the decisions made recently by the DSI Advisory Board regarding the Summer Institute this year. DSI is still in the planning stages at this point and nothing is final yet, but it’s a pretty good bet it won’t change much from this.

The registration and brochures will be different this year. The brochure being mailed out will contain the program for this year’s Summer Institute with a map on the back. For convenience, the rooms will be color coded. There will be a letter of explanation sent along with the brochure and the registration form. It’s hoped that the registration form will be put on the diocesan website for online registration. The registrants will be notified of the reception of their registration form by either e-mail or telephone.

The participants will pick up their name tags and the agenda on the day of the Institute. There will be several tables where participants can pick up these things as they arrive – all will be in alphabetical order.

The poster contest is in full swing and “save the date” postcards will be sent out to the other dioceses of Illinois. The winning pictures of the poster contest will hang in the entrance to the Diocesan Summer Institute.

Conference attendees will be notified that various vendors will be in the three workshops dedicated to the various grades on methods, materials, and spirituality.

The St. Vincent de Paul men’s club will be manning the “food court.” The lunches will cost no more than $5.00 per day.

The cost of this year’s Summer Institute will be $30.00 per day or $55.00 for both days.

There will be no Sheen endowments this year due to the economic conditions. Letters will be sent to the pastors asking that the parishes pay for their catechists to attend. The letter to pastors will also ask them to promote the Summer Institute in their bulletin announcements.

Finally, on Friday evening, June 11, a film on Archbishop Sheen will be shown at St. Vincent’s in the new gym.

Watch for more information on the Summer Institute in the coming months. I’ll make it available as it comes along.

Info from the February Catechetical Council Meeting

Here are a few items that might be of interest from the Catechetical Council Meeting in Peoria held on February 25. The Catechetical Council is the monthly meeting of RDREs and Diocesan Office of Catechetics staff.

A parishioner of St. Mary Parish in Rock Island is working on putting the “Let My People Come” PowerPoint presentations on the diocesan web page.

There will be no Sheen funds available for scholarships to the Diocesan Summer Institute this year.

Lunch will be open to the participant’s choice this year and not part of the Summer Institute admission fee. Participants will have the option of leaving the St. Vincent de Paul campus for a restaurant in town or paying for lunch on the premises. The St. Vincent de Paul Men’s Club will provide food concessions for a flat fee of $5.00 per lunch, which will include a wide variety of choices. More info to come on food choices.

Sessions will not be recorded by Florian Audio/Visual this year. Instead, three talks, the keynote speaker, Fr. Andrew Apostoli, John Michael Talbot’s session and Fr. Antoine Thomas’ session will be videotaped and these will be made available for sale.

UPDATE: DSI Poster Contest

The Office of Catechetics is sponsoring a poster contest within each region to publicize the 2010 Diocesan Summer Institute. The theme is "Let My People Come," celebrating the life of Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

Students enrolled in CCD programs and Catholic schools are eligible. A prize of $100 will be awarded to one student from each RDRE's regions. So, there will be one winner from the Champaign/Danville region. The DSI Advisory Board will be the judges  and these posters will be used to foster attendance at the Summer Institute.

I don't have firm date on the deadline so I'm going to tentatively say it's March 6, the date of the final Advisory Board meeting. I'll post a followup with more on that when I find out.

UPDATE: I got the official word. The deadline is April 12.