So what are you doing Friday nights? Beginning Friday November 9, 2007, the St. Raymond Church Marriage Enrichment committee is sponsoring 7 Great Dates to Energize Your Marriage. This insightful presentation and date discussion format helps spark romance with memory-making evenings built on key, marriage-enriching themes such as: communication, conflict, encouragement, creative love life, balancing roles of parent and partner. After a short presentation that sets the stage for discussion, couples are sent out for their own private dates. The full program will run one Friday night per month. The time commitment will be from 7 to roughly 10:00 PM. Our Date Nights began in October and will end in July 2008. Whether newly wed or newly retired, quiver full or empty nest, parents of toddlers or parents of teens, all types of marriages benefit from the investment in great dates. Child care will be offered on a first come first serve basis. Sponsored by the Adult Formation Commission.

One of the hallmarks of the Catholic Church is that we are a people-on-mission. The Good News (of God’s active, loving presence in our lives) is not ours to hoard. Rather, the Spirit of God compels us to share it! Therefore, we ask you, the Church of St. Raymond, to think of people you know (a neighbor, a co-worker, a friend) who might be at a place in their lives where they are searching for something “more.” We encourage you to reach out and invite these people to consider exploring the Catholic faith here at St. Raymond’s. We have a wonderful group of parishioners who will accompany these women and men on a journey of exploring God’s call in their lives. For further information about the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults), please call or e-mail any one of these people: Dee Peppard, BVM. (847-253-8600, x151, Sr.Dee@St-Raymond.org ). or Traci Harrington (630-307-8221, sundaesweetie@comcast.net). Our regular meetings began on Monday, September 17, 2007. Sponsored by the Adult Formation Commission.

Last year during the Lenten Season, close to seventy men became a part of a small reflection and dialogue group that met faithfully during the season of Lent until the Feast of Pentecost. Using the Lectionary based, pocket sized booklet written for men by Father Mark Link, each man committed to spending 10 minutes a day in reflection and then meeting either every week or every two weeks with five to seven other men to talk about the fruit of their daily reflection time.

MAC is a small group approach  for  the  men  of  our  parish community  to   continue   their  own  personal spiritual formation and growth in understanding of Scripture  –  while meeting with other men to dialogue, support and encourage each other.

MAC is for any man, 21 and over, who is interested in learning how to meditate on the Scriptures, support each other in that commitment and to meet twice a month for an hour, in a small group of six or seven others, to share the insights and thoughts of their meditation. The purpose of MAC is not to discuss theology, learn about Scripture or to solve the problems of the world.

MAC is about sharing faith – talking with other men about the thoughts, observations or reflections that came to you during the fifteen minutes each day that you gave to the scripture guided meditation found in the Action Meditation Booklet.

 Rick Russo     Johnny Burnett    
Father Rodolfo Ramirez     Father Bernie Pietrzak

We will once again begin our Tuesday morning Scripture group. We will be reading the “Gospel of John.” This Gospel is very different than that of Matthew, Mark or Luke--and consequently it has been called a "maverick gospel." It has also been called a "spiritual gospel." Because it has such a unique "take" onthe Jesus tradition, you and I are invited to encounter the text in a very different way. John is quite clear in telling us the purpose of this gospel: it is written "that you may believe...and that believing you may have life in (Jesus') name." We gather together each week to read and pray the scriptures, and as we do so, we pay attention to the many ways it affirms and challenges us today. The message of scripture is enduring and forever new. Please consider joining us. We welcome new members -- both women and men! If you have any questions, please call S. Dee Peppard at 847 / 253-8600 (x151). Sponsored by the Adult Formation Commission.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus has a conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well. Through their mutual sharing, she comes to recognize the life-giving presence of Jesus in her own life. She experiences Jesus as "living water." As women, we too know the life-giving power of mutual sharing, support and dialogue. We too reflect on our lives, and recognize our own God-quest. In the very "stuff" of our lives we experience both the nurturing presence and the challenge of God’s Spirit. Last spring we began a new ministry for women—women’s spirituality circles. It involves small groups of women, meeting once a month to explore and enhance our spirituality. Each small group has its facilitator. A meeting is 2 hours in length. Some of these groups began to meet this spring/summer—and they seem to be enjoying the experience. And so we wish to extend this invitation to each of you. We invite you to join one of these small spirituality groups of women. We hope to offer a variety of meeting times: days, evenings, weekdays, weekends. Some of you may wish to form your own group. Others may prefer to join with women whom you may not know (or know well). Either way is possible. For further information please contact Kathy Hemler at either 847-427-1472 or chuck.kathy.hemler@comcast.net or contact Dee Peppard, BVM at either 847-253-8600 (x151) or Sr.Dee@St-Raymond.org . Please consider being a part of this new ministry. We have a wonderful opportunity for growth, nourishment and support of one another. Sponsored by the Adult Formation Commission.