Regent’s Message                                                    

 

Dear Members,

 

Thank you for your continuing support of our CDA Outreach projects.  The Caritas dinner on June 28^th was very well received. Thanks to Lisa Rider and Nancy Crosby for organizing the meal and to all members who made time to prepare a dish, deliver food, or clean-up afterward. Thanks to all for their assistance at the dinner.

 

Chris Cook has asked if we can support another dinner in late August / early September. I know this is a very busy time with school starting and late summer vacations.  Another Mechanicsville Church will be hosting families for two weeks.  Please let me know if you are willing to help.   I will provide the specifics as I receive them from Chris.

 

Please read the Fisher House article submitted by Kathy Evans.  Another good example how our organization can assist those in need.  Our CDA Court does make a difference!

 

Thanks to Eileen Dumansky for representing our Court at the National Convention and her article on the Convention Highlights.

 

In closing, a verse from1 Cor 4.1:

 

People should look upon us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

 

Yours in Peace,

Sandy                                     

 

Chaplain Message                                                                                                      Chris

Who We Are as Catholic Daughters

 

            I had a hard time trying to decide what to write about in this article.  I had a number of ideas that kept running through my head.  As I thought and thought about this article two things happened.  First, I received the latest copy of our “Share” magazine.  (Yes, I finally started receiving it and this is my second month in a row getting it.)  The second thing that happened was I started thinking about all the members of our Court and the reason why we are members of this organization.  I think that the answer lies in what we profess to believe and practice through this organization.

            This reminds me of a scene in the movie “The American President” which stars Michael Douglas and Annette Benning.  At one point Michael Douglas, the president, is challenged about Annette’s character, Sidney, being a member of the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU.  This whole discussion is started by the president’s opponent for the up coming election who is trying to dig up something negative about the president.  He finds an old picture of Sidney as a member of the ACLU at a flag burning.  The press wants to question him about it but Michael Douglas in response states that the ACLU was founded to protect the liberties provided for in the Constitution.  He further asks, “Why wouldn’t any American be a member of a group whose sole purpose was to defend the Constitution of the United States?”  This led me to this article. 

            It is my understanding that the purpose of the Catholic Daughters is to promote the Catholic tradition of Christianity within our community, our parish.  As I look through the latest edition of “Share”, I see a number of articles that speak to us about our tradition.  The first article, by the National Chaplain, talks about our Pope as does another article in this edition.  One important thing he talks about is that during his visit to the United States the Pope proclaimed “Christ is our Hope” which is a fundamental truth of our faith.  Pope Benedict also proclaimed “The one who has hope lives differently.” 

            The second article, a letter from the editor, talks about prayer.   She offers us ideas about prayer and how to devote more quiet time in prayer, in conversation with God.  Jesus showed us the value of prayer during his earthly life.  Before he began his ministry and every so often during his ministry he took time for prayer.  Before he began that ministry he spent forty days in prayer.  During our ministry of life, what we are called to do as a vocation in life, spending time in prayer can help us. 

            The rest of the magazine focuses on many other ways we as a national organization promote the Gospel values.  Articles about Habitat for Humanity and faithful citizenship and news items about activities devoted to helping Haitian Babies, supporting seminarians, goodwill for families in need, helping newborn and unborn babies are just some of the items throughout the magazine.  These are all activities that come straight from the Gospel call in our lives to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, care for the poor and visit and take care of the sick. 

            So the question for us is not why are we members of the CDA but rather why wouldn’t any woman in our parish want to be a member of an organization whose sole purpose is to promote the ideals and practices of our Faith.  We may not be able to answer that question completely but one answer to is to ask another question.  Do we as members of the CDA live our faith so as to inspire others?  Do we as a Court inspire the community of Redeemer to live fuller lives of Grace?  I think that we can answer both of these questions affirmatively, we do.  As we enter a new year for the court, I think the challenge that lies ahead is for us to continue as a Court and as individuals to live the life our faith calls us to and to share that faith with others.  If we live out the ideals of our Faith, we can’t help but live out the ideals of the organization to which we belong nationally, in the State, and in our Parish.

 

CDA National Convention July 2008                                                   Eileen Dumansky

The biennial CDA National Convention was held July 16 - 19 in Albuquerque, NM.  Eileen Dumansky  represented Court of Redeemer’s Angels and Jo Ann Bonelli represented Virginia State CDA at the convention.   This convention had the most attendees with over 1,000 CDA members.  The largest delegation was Texas with 269 delegates.

Wednesday morning started with seminars on topics from Spirituality to Youth/JCDA. .  I attended the Project Handclasp and Youth/JCDA sessions.  Project Handclasp is with the Navy and is based in San Diego. It accepts and transports educational, humanitarian and goodwill material overseas on a space-available basis in U.S. Navy ships. Materials are distributed directly to needy recipients by U.S. service personnel stationed in overseas areas or embarked in U.S. Navy ships which visit these areas. The Navy Commanders are appreciative of what Project Handclasp does and the support that Catholic Daughters give the project.  CDA has donated toys, medical supplies, hygiene items, and money.  

Letty Celvetti, National Director for Education, Theresa Kocer, National Director for Youth/JCDA, and Bea Munzel, Maryland Chair for Youth/JCDA conducted the Youth/JCDA seminar.   Letty spoke about the Education contests and changes for next year’s contest.  Theresa spoke about JCDA.  Bea asked us to tell of a project which our JCDA Court was involved.  I told of how our JCDA Court makes a cornbread mix to sell with the Brunswick Stew.  It was great to hear about the wonderful activities of the Junior Courts! 

Specific by-laws were presented by Anne Nelson, National Second Vice Regent.  Some were adopted, some defeated and others tabled indefinitely. Specific Resolutions were presented by Margaret Brigham National Director. Some were carried, some revised and carried, and one was defeated.

Shirley Seyfried, National Secretary-Treasurer, gave a power point presentation on the Habitat for Humanity builds.  She told about the hurricane clips required for the house built in Williamsburg and showed Anne Nelson nailing a hurricane clip. 

The Patriotic Mass held on Friday morning brought out enthusiasm for America among the Catholic Daughters.  It was a phenomenal sight with members dressed in red, white, and blue! Members of the Albuquerque Fire Department joined us for the Patriotic Mass.

Many of you have met Joanne Tomassi at our State Meetings.  She is our National Regent Elect. 

Jo Ann Bonelli served on the Nominations and Elections Committee as a vote counter.  I ran for the National Nominations and Elections Committee.  There are seven on the Committee with two alternates. Twenty-six people were nominated by their State Regent. I did not win but was not the lowest! 

The New York State delegation presented a program about the National Convention which will be in Buffalo, New York in 2010.  Buffalo is twenty miles from Niagara Falls!

I have copies of the number of members in CDA Courts and Campus Courts as well as the amounts contributed to the different charities by State and Territory.

Visit the National CDA website, www.catholicdaughters.org to read about the National Convention and see pictures. 

 

                      FISHER HOUSE UPDATE                                Kathy Evans

I visited Fisher House Monday, August 11, after using the $100 gift card CDA donated and the $55 Wal-Mart card donated by Kim Kramer and JoAnn Draper. The following items, chosen from their Wish List, were donated:

·        1 steam-smart iron ($19.96)

·        1 wide-top ironing board ($39.97), a cover and pad

·        1 hand mixer ($29.84)

·        2 6-quart slow cookers ($29.88 each)

 

Ahvay (not spelled correctly, I'm sure, but pronounced that way), one of the assistant directors, told me that she had just been asked by one of the residents when they were going to be able to get a crock pot because she (the resident) preferred to prepare her meals that way. The resident said it would be a help to be able to prepare the meal before she went over to the hospital and have the meal ready when she returned. Ahvay also mentioned that the hand mixer I delivered was the only one they had. Of course, they were delighted with everything.

 

Ahvay told me that they have a meals calendar for anyone wanting to fix a meal for a family or two. I told her we had helped out with Caritas last month and would be helping again either late this month or early next month so I wasn't sure when CDA could help out in this way. Wayne, the director, told me that they are nearly at capacity--only two rooms are not occupied and that's because one room has a cable problem and the other has a problem with the door lock. As soon as those as remedied they expect the rooms to be occupied as well. Ahvay also explained that the only gently-used items they were able to accept were books, CDs, and DVDs.

 

 

Dear Friends,

Our family members are truly thankful for all of your prayers, calls, cards, and visits during my mother in law's illness and passing.   We felt your concern and support.

Bless all of you,       

Dan, Sandy and Katie Baird

YANKEE CANDLE FUND RAISER                           Nancy Crosby

 

 The new fall catalogs for the Yankee Candle fund raiser are here!  Please contact Nancy Crosby to get a catalog and share it with your friends, family and co-workers.  Nancy will need the orders by October 15th which means that we will have the items back to you by Thanksgiving.  This is a wonderful opportunity for the CDA.  Yankee Candle gives 40% on everything we order!   There is no tax on these items; all we are asking is that for each person's order they will need to include $1 for shipping.  I can leave a catalog on the table outside the church office door for your convenience or you can stop by the church any time during 9AM-4:30PM.

Let's make this a great fund raiser!