August  2008

The Magnetic Church

Linda Morris, Newcomers Committee

On May 16-17, eight people from St. Jude`s attended a diocesan conference entitled, The Magnetic Church, along with 250 others, and they are eager to share what they learned with the rest of the Parish. Come to hear about things we are doing `right` at St. Jude`s, how we can become a more magnetic church and how you can help.
August 3, 2008 

Pastor Karen`s Sabbatical

Pastor Karen Siegfreidt

Pastor Karen returns from her sabbatical. Come hear what she learned about becoming a `Blessed Leader.`
August 10, 2008 

September  2008

Friends of African Village Libraries

Prof. Michael Kevane, Chair, Department of Economics, Santa Clara University

Social Outreach/Justice invites you to hear about one of the groups your pledge dollars are helping in a big way. Prof. Michael Kevane, Professor of Economics at Santa Clara University, speaks about the program he and his wife started in the small African country of Burkina Faso. Friends of African Village Libraries (FAVL) is dedicated to increasing access to reading material and other information in rural villages in sub-Saharan Africa. FAVL-supported libraries serve all members of the village community. One core public is the local community of readers: schoolchildren, adult learners, and other persons committed to reading. FAVL does amazing work in support of the Millennium Development Goals on a very limited budget. Prof. Kevane`s presentation will inspire you.
September 21, 2008 

Spirituality in Organizations

Professor Andre Delbecq, Santa Clara University

Prof. Andre Delbecq, Director of the Institute for Spirituality of Organizational Leadership at Santa Clara University, discusses research he completed during the summer of 2008. Where the discussion of workplace spirituality frequently focuses on the inner life of the organizational leader, Prof. Delbecq`s latest work looks at how executives in one contemporary organization describe public behaviors congrueent wiht their corporate spiritual culture, with the intent of understanding the actions, organizational resources and organizational difficulties associated with enacting the espoused corporate spiritual culture.

Prof. Delbecq will also include the results from a focus group composed of scholars asked to identify behaviors they look for within the culture of a spiritually based organization.

Prof. Delbecq is a well-known teacher, scholar and author focusing on executive decision-making processes, organization design, managing innovation in rapid-change environments, and leadership spirituality.
September 28, 2008 

October  2008

St. Francis Day - Blessing of the Animals

October 5, 2008 

Bill Wilson Center

Judy Whittier, Director of Community Resources

See and hear about your pledge dollars working here in the South Bay. Judy Whittier of Bill Wilson Center will be speaking about the wonderful work the center is doing for disadvantaged youth. This is a presentation not to be missed.

Bill Wilson Center is committed to working with the community to ensure that every youth has access to the variety of services needed to grow to be healthy and self-sufficient adults. Through the years, Bill Wilson Center has helped youth make positive changes in their lives.

With an emphasis on youth development, Bill Wilson Center programs focus on building self-confidence and developing personal assets. With these tools, youth can permanently change the direction of their lives.


October 12, 2008 

November  2008

Finding God in All Things: an Ignatian Environmental Ethic

Fr. Paul J. Fitzgerald, S.J., Associate Professor, Santa Clara University

Environmental degradation, unsustainable industrial and farming practices, and vanishing biodiversity are the signs of our times, yet these are met mostly with political lethargy and spiritual sloth. There is an underlying illness of the soul in the West, a wrong view of nature that is also being adopted by the East and the South as they seek to imitate our `success` by copying our faults. In Biblical terms, what is our God-given `dominion` over all the other creatures - ownership or stewardship?

For Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, the answer to the above-stated question was clear. God made the heavens and the earth, and God remains the active and engaged Lord of all creatures and all creation. Human beings are created to praise, reverence and serve God, and integral to this ultimate purpose is a wise relationship with all other creatures, treating them as gifts and graces that are to be engaged with discernment, always with a view to our ultimate end: a redeemed and renewed creation come fully into the presence of God.

Author and professor Fr. Paul J. Fitzgerald, S.J. leads a conversation exploring the human relationship with non-human creation in the light of our proper relationship with God.
November 2, 2008