Upcoming Events!

Throughout the Summer: Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH, hosts several youth retreats on different weekends and in different areas of the country throughout the Summer. Click here for more info. If you go to Steubenville St. Louis/Mid-America (which isn’t really in St. Louis…go figure), you might just see us there, because we’re going to be there too (I’ve been twice, and Noelle has been several times). I definitely recommend this to anyone who’s never been on a religious retreat and also to everyone who thinks they’ve seen it all…it’s an awesome experience.

February 20^th-22^nd, March 26^th-28^th: SEARCH retreat for 11^th-12^th graders. Click here for more info. It’s good stuff

February 13^th-15^th: QUEST retreat for 9^th-10^th graders. Click here for more info. It’s good stuff too

Coming soon: the release of Therese, the true story of St. Therese of Lisieux! Check out its website for more information. I’m definitely going to go see it.

One Wednesday a month: The Event at St. Ann’s is held on one Wednesday a month during the school year, in the Church. The opening band (different each time) starts playing at 7. Then at 7:30, John Angotti, Kevin and Bethany Paige, and an assortment of other talented musicians perform several religious-themed songs. About midway through the concert, Father Bruce (our pastor) begins delivering a homily, or other members of the parish present a program, and the program is usually interspersed with music which matches the theme of the presentation. I don’t know the exact dates for the rest of the Events for this school year, nor do I know about the Events for next year, but as soon as I can find that information, it’ll be posted here. I went to all of the Events for the 2001-2002 school year, and I was never disappointed by either the music or the program.

The Diocese of Memphis Natural Family Planning Center holds several Mother/Daughter and Father/Son seminars throughout the year. Parents, this is a really good way to help educate your children about sexuality in a safe environment.

For any Catholic college students in the Norman, OK, area, St. Thomas More University Parish hosts College Night every Wednesday night beginning at 7. There’s usually a social hour from 7-8, and then one of several things can happen, all of which are entertaining. For other fun stuff happening at St. Thomas More, check them out online.

NCYC: the National Catholic Youth Conference is held in November/December of odd years. In 1999 it was in St. Louis, MO (almost went on that one…had a schedule conflict at the last minute). In 2001 it was in Indianapolis, IN. I got to go to that one, and it was AWESOME! 4 days full of Catholic workshops, speakers, bands (St. Ann’s’ very own John Angotti performed with the house band), over 20,000 Catholics from across the country, the wonderful city of Indianapolis, and a huge convention center full of Catholic merchandise and exhibits galore. On Sunday morning we had a Mass inside the RCA dome, which was probably the neatest Mass I’ve ever been to, due to the sheer logistics of distributing Communion to all of us. But I digress. It’s just good stuff. This year’s NCYC was held in Houston, TX. It was no disappointment as well, and I was actually able to be there for about half of the trip, thanks to NWA employee benefits. This year’s closing Mass was equally impressive, being held inside the Reliant Center next to the Astrodome NCYC 2005 will be held in Atlanta Georgia on October 27^th-30^th. The Diocese of Memphis takes several busses to each conference, and I’m sure that many other Dioceses take busses as well. It’s worth checking out.

Sunday nights: For any high school students in the Memphis area: every Sunday night from 6-8:30, the St. Ann’s Senior High Youth Group meets, usually in the St. Ann’s cafeteria. There is a social hour until 6:45ish, then the announcements for that week are read, and then there is a different program each week. Either a speaker such as Max Maxwell or Mary Pat Van Epps comes to talk about safe driving or natural family planning (respectively), or they have a free night, or they have a night of games, usually in the gym. Other programs include line dancing night (learn several different line dances…fun stuff), topical discussion night (pretty self-explanatory), and different prayer programs. Every June they go to Laguna Beach, FL, for an awesome retreat. In December of even years, they go to Winter Park, CO, for skiing, prayer, and fellowship. In November/December of odd years, they go to the National Catholic Youth Conference, which is a lot of fun as well. It’s fun stuff, and the youth advisors are great people, so if you’re in need of something to do on Sunday night, check it out.