The Feast of the Holy Family

Yesterday was a great feast for families! The Feast of the Holy Family. I think this is my favorite feast of all. Nestled in the week between Christmas and New Year's, when my home life seems so peaceful and the pace allows for quiet reflection and thanksgiving for our many blessings, the Church calls us in her liturgy to look upon the Holy Family.

The Feast of the Holy Family is both a celebration of marriage and children and a reminder of our call as Christian families. It is an occasion to remember those beautiful words of our dear John Paul II, “Family, Become what you are!”

May God bless your family and your home in this new year.

Family Ministry gathered for an evening of Christmas cheer. The Payan Family opened up their home for a chili dinner and treats. After we filled up on yummy food and hot cocoa, we walked and toured the Christmas Lights in Rocklin. It was such a fun evening of fellowship. Fr. Glenn and Fr. Stanley joined our crazy group as we checked out all the beautiful light displays. We did find a favorite too...

Here are a few other photos from our evening.

The True Meaning of Christmas

"J" is for Jesus!

We had a great deal of fun at our last gathering. The children made up skits about the true meaning of Christmas using some random props. They definitely learned that Christmas has nothing to do with Santa wearing a tutu and grass skirt on his head! We shared who the real St. Nicholas was and how each of our families prepares for the birth of Christ.

Mr. Payan read the children The Legend of the Candy Cane and we shared a blessing of the candy canes. We enjoyed some snacks together and especially loved our time "catching up" since the last gathering.

Thank you to everyone who attended! See you on December 20th for dinner and Christmas lights!

Keeping Christ in the Christmas Season

This Sunday, December 6th our Family Ministry group will be meeting in the Multi-Purpose Room at the church for our monthly family gathering. The theme of out gathering will be "Keeping the Christ in the Christmas Season". Our time together will be spent in fun, family, food and fabulous activities for your family. We have activities planned that will engage your family in "the reason for the season"! We do hope you can join us!

We do ask each family that can attend to bring a snack to share with the group.

So....please join us...next Sunday...December 6th from 3-5pm in the Multi-Purpose Room at SSPP.

Please RSVP via e-mail if your family is able to attend.

gordonfamily5@comcast.net

It has been a little while since we have been able to gather. Please consider taking this time to enhance your Advent Season and gather with other like-minded families. Even if you have not ever been able to join us or it has been a while, please feel free to attend! Everyone is welcome at any time!!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year (Liturgical Year that is)! Did you know that the first week of Advent marks our church's new year? So like our new year in January, maybe this would be a good time for resolutions about how our Christmas is going to be this year. Maybe we should try to simplify or refocus the kids. It is something to think about now before you are caught up in the craziness of the season. Remember we are really supposed to be preparing for Jesus to come. So pray, enjoy family time, and don't forget the "Christ" in Christmas!

Tailgate Trick-or-Treating

TAILGATE TRICK--OR--TREATING
When: Friday, October 30th from 6:30 - 8:15 p.m.
Where: SS. Peter & Paul Church, 4450 Granite Drive, Rocklin
Parking Lot
Who: Pre-School through 6th grade students and their parents.
Entrance Fee: One canned food item per person and/or a grocery gift card per family
benefiting St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Family Ministry will be meeting the the Safeway parking lot (on Granite Drive) at 6pm in order to caravan over to the church and park our vehicles next to each other. Please RSVP to Jen Gordon @ gordonfamily5@comast.net if you will be meeting up with us. It is promised to be a very fun and festive family event. Hope you can join in the fun!

For more information and specific details about the event, visit www.sspeter-paul.net and click on the link for a detailed flyer.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to you and yours!

Thank you for coming to our picnic!

The picnic at Sierra Meadows Park was great. We enjoyed the warm fall weather together playing games such as partner tag and family kickball. Even the littlest ones enjoyed running the bases with their families cheering them on! The children played in the park while the adults got to visit and know our new families better. It was a fun afternoon.

FAMILY MINISTRY PICNIC AND PARK DAY
Sunday, October 11th
12pm - 3pm
Sierra Meadows Park
Rocklin
Bring a picnic lunch for your family.
Come out and enjoy this BEAUTIFUL Fall weather
and great fun with our Saints Peter and Paul Families and Friends!

Please rsvp to Jen Gordon

gordonfamily5@comcast.net

Hope you will join us!

Thank you for stopping by!

We loved getting to see everyone at the Ministry Fair. We had many new families who are interested in joining our group. We will be emailing all of you with our next event and  look forward to getting to know you better. 

Jen and I were next door to the parish's wonderful spiritual director, Tanda Ainsworth. She had this beautifully decorated table with a peaceful scented candle burning and faux fall leaves placed throughout that made the eyes flow over the prayer labyrinth and brochures. Then there was our table, overstimulating to say the least. Pictures, crayons, and random grapes and half-eaten cheese cubes that our kids had ditched there so they could get balloons. We joked that her "peaceful table" had the "party table" next door since our kids were running around in front of ours and crawling under it while visitors' babies were tearing our signs down. 

So there is just a little example of what goes on in our ministry - sometimes chaotic but always fun! So never hesitate to come to an event if you have busy or noisy kids. We are all in the same boat. Welcome to Family Ministry!

Mass and kids...

Check out this great article about kids and Mass at Catholic Exchange! Hope you find it helpful.

http://woman.catholicexchange.com/2009/07/14/1683/

Jen G.

Let's get this site rolling!

Hi Families!

The "Jens" will be at the Ministry Fair this weekend after all of the masses so come by and see us. 

We are in the process of starting this blog and we need your help. First of all you can become a "follower" by joining up. Secondly, you can check the site for what event is coming next to get the time, place, and location and then RSVP. 

Don't worry though, we will still be distributing info the old fashioned way - email and you will be able to RSVP via reply or the really old fashioned way - the telephone!

Family Ministry has hit the 'net! We want to be able to share what is going on in our group, whether it is what fun things we have done or what we have in store for the next get together. Enjoy!