Notes from the Dec. 15 council meeting

The council at the Dec. 15 meeting reflected on: 

• ...the wonderful Christmas gathering we had at Vaughn McCoy's clubhouse Sunday, Dec. 6. Thank you to everyone for their delicious contributions to the event. 
• ...the generosity of everyone in exceeding our $1,000 Christmas project goal! A check was presented to St. Jude Parish for its Lord's Pantry this holiday season. The project was a wonderful way to begin the Year of Mercy with a Corporal Work of Mercy, feeding the hungry. 
• ...checking with the St. Anthony Parish Council about possibly revisiting the idea of installing a chair lift at one of the entrances to the Sunshine Room. 
• ...using Peter Kreef's "Prayer for Beginners" for ongoing formation. 

Larry Menestrina has prepared the SFO calendar for the first six months of 2016. It will be distributed at the Jan. 10 regular meeting. We will also have a wake service for Brother Robert at that meeting.

The council was saddened by Vaughn's email regarding her health, and her daughter's health that will limit her interaction with the fraternity. Please prayer for her and her daughter.

Please make preliminary plans for a SFO mini-retreat Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Spiritual Life Center. The Marian Room is reserved for us. The times will be verified later, depending on whether a late morning Mass will be scheduled that day at the SLC. If not, we will gather for Mass at 9:30 am in St. Elizabeth Chapel at the Catholic Care Center and begin our retreat afterward at the Spiritual Life Center. We would then end the retreat with lunch at noon. Our topic will possibly be "The Face of Mercy," the Bull of Indiction for the Year of Mercy.

Initial formation will be chapter 2. Ongoing formation may be chapter 1 of "Prayer for Beginners" and/or a reading about Padre Pio.