RECENT – Page 2 – The Circle of Life

Our Lady of Fatima Celebration!

Hey everyone!

Next Friday, October 13th at 7pm, the Circle of Life Youth will be hosting a simple Holy Hour and Candlelight Rosary Procession with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima around the Treasure Island neighborhood. Meet at St. Luke for the 7pm Holy Hour, followed by the Procession.

This is to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Fatima Apparitions, so please come for this momentous occasion! Here are the other updates for this coming week:

1. NCYC – Remember that the deadline for payment will be at our mandatory meeting. We are asking $175 per person with the hope to fundraise the rest. Go to circleoflifeyouth.com/ncyc for more information.

2. CHWC – Our Mission Trip with Catholic Heart Work Camp (CHWC) is next summer, July 15-21, 2017. We have 12 spots to fill (high school only), and it’s first-come first-serve. Deadline to for first non-refundable deposit of $100 will be December 1.

3. Saints Alive – We are still in need of actors and actresses for our Saints Alive Production! St. Luke’s Fall Festival on Oct 21 and St. Rita’s Fall Festival on Nov 4. If you’re interested, practice will be THIS WEDNESDAY, Oct 4 @ 6:30pm (St. Luke).

4. March for Life – Our trip to D.C. is happening regardless of numbers, but I need your commitment ($50 deposit) no later than Nov 1 so I know if I have enough to justify renting a charter bus. Go to circleoflifeyouth.com/marchforlife for the most up-to-date information for this great pilgrimage!

5. Regular Gatherings – Our regular meetings are changing a bit this fall as we continue to develop the Circle of Life Youth! Instead of twice-monthly hang-out times, we are shifting to special events to invite new friends! Our next big regular gathering will take place AFTER the National Catholic Youth Conference, but our Saints Alive practices and GAP meetings should still go on as planned. Speaking of GAP…

6. GAP – Our small discipleship groups are going through some growing pains as we develop a better approach to establishing commitment. Stay in touch with your mentors and continue your meetings until further notice! More to come on this!

7. Don’t forget to say your Guardian Angel prayers every day, and stay confident in the battles ahead! Oh yes, and smile–God is good, all the time!

In Christ, for Love & Life!

– John Sohl, CYM

The Circle of Life Youth

502.428.6757

Eva’s Regrets

I stood there, alone and trembling, in the fading light, gazing with unseeing eyes at a world I had ruined forever.

It was a simple choice: yes or no. But it put it in such language and so many words that by the end, even I scarcely knew which I picked. It told me first that it was a choice between me and him; my will and his will; my decision versus his command. Then, ever so slightly, I was invited to think, not of an objective decision, but of potential personal changes that could happen within me. Look inside yourself, it said. See the worlds you have yet to discover. There were rooms, halls, and whole chambers within my soul that I had never thought were there before. I could see with my heart names — names such as ecstasy, trauma, elation, terror, passion, frenzy, and yes, even hate — names coupled with very vague sensations which left me tantalized but yet unfulfilled. I wanted — I felt that I needed — to know more. I needed to experience more of what I could be — not who, but what. I needed to discover more.

Then it became an opportunity to look beyond myself at the vast world around me. There was a terrestrial universe yet to discover, and all of it was given to me as my domain. It might take a million years to travel on foot — but who said I only had to travel on foot? All creativity was placed in my hand. I could harness the fire of the sun, I could travel through the wind on wings of my own devision, I could skim along the ground as easily as the angels. I could explore, not only the earth, but the heavens as well. I could push beyond, erupting in among the stars in a device only I could have created. And oh, what a difference I could make. My children down through all the years and generations would look back to me and be eternally grateful.

I felt his presence behind me. “What are you thinking about?”

“Everything.”

“That sounds magnificent. Everything you say sounds magnificent. For everything is magnificent. Eva, in time we will travel this world. We will mark it out as our own. And when our time comes, we will teach our children to do the same. Perhaps in their time, or in their children’s time, our line will stretch to the heavens — maybe the sun, maybe the moon, or maybe the vast lamps in the sky. Every piece will fall into place according to the plan.”

“I see the plan. Yet the plan is so distended — we have time now. We have vigor now. We have passion now. Why wait and waste our time traveling by foot our whole lives when we can create wings like the birds? Why hope that our children’s children will touch the stars when we ourselves may do so tomorrow? We can uncover more of the plan if we hurry it along.”

It looked at me again as I turned away from him. He will never understand. Neither of them will. Not unless you make them. Do you will to see? Do you will that he should see?

“Yes, I will it.”

Then let me enter you. Let me know you in your uttermost depths, where even he has not yet attained. Do you will it?

“I do.”

At that instant, it came into me. It flooded my senses so that every single chamber was illuminated with the most brilliant light of self-knowledge. I felt ecstasy, trauma, elation, terror, passion, frenzy, an yes, even hate. I understood them all in an instant. Everything was clear. Everything was. . . unexplainable.

And then I turned to him. I uttered it to him. I motioned it to him. Yet it did not leave me; it merely replicated itself and entered him. It was now they.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked him.

“You.”

And then we felt his presence. A terror such as the universe had never known flooded us at that moment. They trembled inside of us and threw us to the ground. All in an instant, I knew who it was that had made me, and I knew how inadequate I was to face him.

You know what happened next. Every easily attainable joy flew an eternity beyond my reach. My ability to hold back tears vanished and the despondency fell unchecked over my flushed cheeks. My heart beat erratically and stabbing pains afflicted me. Animal skin covered my body and scratched at my flesh. I heard the voice of the almighty, “Eva. . . Eva. . . Eva. . .” Those words burned in my soul. And all of the crystal clarity was consumed by the it that had become they. Instead, the only thing that remained clear to me was the stinging, prophetic shame that told me it would multiply itself, just as it had when I first spread it to him, unto every child my line would ever see. It had become they. They would now become legion, for they would be many.

Outside the gates of Eden, I stood there, alone and trembling, in the fading light, gazing with unseeing eyes at a world I had ruined forever.

They whispered across the desolation, I will never leave you.

Adam touched my hand and whispered, I still will never leave you.

And a tiny whisper of peace promised, I will return.

NCYC Payments due November 1, 2017!

THE DEADLINE FOR FINAL PAYMENTS WILL BE NOVEMBER 1, 2017.

Click HERE for the NCYC page!

Make checks to St. Athanasius with “Circle of Life – NCYC” in the memo. Mail to St. Athanasius, c/o John Sohl, 5915 Outer Loop, Louisville 40219.

COST of NCYC – $175 per person, and we are fundraising the rest. Because of the success of our Talent Show, we were able to raise almost $900 toward our expenses, praise God! We are still in need of almost $3,000 so please pray for the success of these endeavors as we look for ways to pay back the parish for their generosity!
MANDATORY Parent Meeting – Wednesday, November 1 @ 7pm, St. Luke (4211 Jim Hawkins Dr.). Final payments for NCYC will be due at this time, but please make sure to come for this very important meeting. Primarily this is about coming together in prayerful preparation for the encounter these young people are about to experience. We will also be discussing food, transportation, drop-off and pick-up locations, policies, etc. There MUST be one representative from your family in attendance of this meeting.
SAINTS ALIVE – Practices are in full swing! We have 20-30 spots to fill in our shorts plays. If you’d like to be part of SAP, contact Tina Sohl @ 502-457-1074 or Mary Whitfill at 502-383-3295. Come every Wednesday or every Friday all fall (Sept-Oct) between 6:30-9pm at St. Luke to get involved in the Circle of Life!
MISSION TRIP – We are officially going to Wichita, KS on July 15-21, 2017! Cost is $370 per person, and this will be a major fundraiser for EVERYONE. However, we are only able to reserve 12 spots for youth with 2 adults. Youth who would like to attend the mission trip must commit with a non-refundable $100 deposit no later than December 1, 2017. This will be first-come, first-serve. Those who sign up early will get a chance to fundraise the rest to offset their cost.
1. IF THERE ARE STILL SPOTS OPEN through CHWC’s website later in the spring, we can add spots but those youth must pay the full $370 (plus late fees).
2. A link to the Mission Trip details will be sent out before mid-October.

With that, we will have more to come soon enough!

In Christ, for Love & Life!

John Sohl, CYM

The Circle of Life Youth

502.428.6757

COOKOUT MOVED TO ST. LUKE!

Hey Again Everyone,

Sorry you haven’t heard much about this, but to avoid confusion I wanted to wait until we knew for sure what we were going to do. Because of Fr. Riccardo’s presence from the Fathers of Mercy, our annual Labor Day Mass & Cookout is STILL ON! However, because of the inclement weather, we’ve decided to move it to St. Luke Church (4211 Jim Hawkins Dr. 40229) so we can still hose the event indoors and allow Fr. Riccardo to give his talk to the Ambassadors for Life and anyone else interested in coming.

Because of the rush hour traffic and bad weather, we’re moving everything back an hour. Please try to arrive between 6 and 6:15 to set up for Mass and the festivities afterward. Mass will begin promptly at 7pm with barbeque and other food (plus banana pudding!) afterwards. PLEASE BRING A 2 LITER and/or Chips!

After Mass, we’ll have our cookout and conclude with prayer around 9:30pm.

Call me at 502-428-6757 with questions!

John Sohl, CYM

The Circle of Life Youth

Pool Party, Crescendo, & NCYC!

NCYC – Archdiocese of Louisville Permission Form

NCYC – Adult Chaperone Paperwork

NCYC – Youth Release Form

Hey Everybody! We have three things to discuss this week…

NCYC — Above are the NCYC forms that must be filled out and turned into the St. Athanasius Parish Office no later than Friday, August 11, 2017. That gives you THREE solid weeks to get everything in order so please don’t forget! NCYC is Thursday-Saturday, November 16-18 this year and cost will be $175/person.
POOL PARTY — Saturday, July 29 @ 3pm-10pm. Bring a snack or 2 liter to share! Also bring a towel and swim trunks since this is a pool party after all! Address is 1229 Zoneton Rd. Shepherdsville, KY. (Turn right to Ridgeway Farm Rd after the bridge before the curve around the cliff, it’s the first driveway on your left going straight up)
CRESCENDO — Our Talent Show is coming up Sunday, August 13, 2017 @ 2:30-4:30pm in the St. Rita Casper Center. Please take an order form from any of the churches and give form WITH PAYMENT to Kristin Ballard (502-296-5916 or circleoflifeyouth@gmail.com) no later than Sunday, August 6 for the RSVP. Tickets are only $5/person for a show you won’t forget! Click HERE for more details!

Continue reading “Pool Party, Crescendo, & NCYC!”

Pool Party, Crescendo, and NCYC!

NCYC – Archdiocese of Louisville Permission Form

NCYC – Adult Chaperone Paperwork

NCYC – Youth Release Form

Hey Everybody! We have three things to discuss…

NCYC — Above are the NCYC forms that must be filled out and turned into the St. Athanasius Parish Office no later than Friday, August 11, 2017. That gives you THREE solid weeks to get everything in order so please don’t forget! NCYC is Thursday-Saturday, November 16-18 this year and cost will be $175/person.
POOL PARTY — Saturday, July 29 @ 3pm-10pm. Bring a snack or 2 liter to share! Also bring a towel and swim trunks since this is a pool party after all! Address is 1229 Zoneton Rd. Shepherdsville, KY. (Turn right to Ridgeway Farm Rd after the bridge before the curve around the cliff, it’s the first driveway on your left going straight up)
CRESCENDO — Our Talent Show is coming up Sunday, August 13, 2017 @ 2:30-4:30pm in the St. Rita Casper Center. Please take an order form from any of the churches and give form WITH PAYMENT to Kristin Ballard (502-296-5916 or circleoflifeyouth@gmail.com) no later than Sunday, August 6 for the RSVP. Tickets are only $5/person for a show you won’t forget! Click HERE for more details!

Dinner @ St. Vincent DePaul TOMORROW

If you would like to come with us tomorrow evening for dinner at St. Vincent DePaul, make sure you bring your signed permission slip! Meet in the St. Luke parking lot at 4:30pm tomorrow, June 28. We will be back in time for 7pm Adoration and will conclude at 8pm for the evening. Remember, this is about getting outside our comfort zones and meeting new people, so come prepared to have a good conversation with at least one person!

Hoping to see you tomorrow! Call me 502-428-6757 with questions.

Summer 2017 is HERE!!!

Hey Everyone! The Summer 2017 Calendar is finally HERE!

Thank you for your patience despite some of the delays. Please note our next upcoming event for incoming 8th graders and up is next Wednesday evening from 4:30-8:30pm. We will be attending our first “Dinner @ St. Vincent DePaul” to spend time together and meet some amazing people who are going through some difficult times. We will meet at St. Luke at 4:30pm to carpool together so please fill out a permission slip if you wish to attend. RSVP is required no later than Monday, May 15 so I can find enough drivers. I will have extra permission slips on hand the day of the event, but you cannot come with us without this permission slip! We will be traveling back to St. Luke in time to finish with 7pm Adoration so please do not be late.

All other events are listed below. Click HERE for a printable version!

Events listed in chronological order are subject to change and additions

Website links listed below with “ /xyz ” refer to http://www.circleoflifeyouth.com/xyz

Dinner at St. Vincent DePaul

Wednesday, May 17 @ 5pm-8:30pm

Meet at 4:30pm St. Luke to carpool (RSVP & Permission Slips Required)

Come for 7pm Adoration at St. Luke afterward

DONUT SALES @ ALL THREE PARISHES

Sundays, May 21 & June 4

(Arrive 15 minutes before Mass ends)

SUNDAY MORNING MASS TIMES:

St. Athanasius – 7:30am, 9am, 11:30am

St. Rita – 9am, 11am, 1:30pm, 6pm

St. Luke – 10am

Regular High School Gathering

Friday, June 2 @ 7-9pm, St. Athanasius

In the Parish Hall (the “Upper Room”)

St. Athanasius PICNIC

Friday & Saturday, June 9 & 10

Shifts from 6-11pm Friday, 4-11pm Saturday

MANDATORY IYT PARENT MEETING

Ignite Your Torch Youth Conference “/ignite”

Thursday, June 15 @ 6:30pm

* Final payments are DUE at this time *

St. Athanasius Parish Center

St. Luke PICNIC

Friday & Saturday, June 16 & 17

Shifts from 6-11pm Friday, 4-11pm Saturday

* Regular High School Gathering moved to next Friday! *

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

June 19-23, 2017 (Need Volunteers!)

St. Athanasius Cafeteria

IYT FUNDRAISER – CARWASH

Saturday, June 24 @ 8am-2pm

(Held in Front of Casper Center @ St. Rita)

Rosary Walk @ Walking Bridge

Friday, June 23 @ 6:30-8pm

Regular High School Gathering (Meet at the Bridge!)

Dinner at St. Vincent DePaul

Wednesday, June 28 @ 5pm-8:30pm

Meet at 4:30pm St. Luke to carpool (RSVP & Permission Slips Required)

Come for 7pm Adoration at St. Luke afterward

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

IGNITE YOUR TORCH CYC

July 6-9, 2017 @ Bellarmine University

3^rd Annual FIAT FLOAT Canoe Trip

Friday, July 14 @ ALL DAY

Cave Country Canoes @ Blue River

St. Rita PICNIC

Friday & Saturday, July 20 & 21

Shifts from 6-11pm Friday, 4-11pm Saturday

Saturday, July 29 @ 1-8pm

Circle of Life Birthday

POOL PARTY / BONFIRE!

Sunday, August 13, 2017 @ 2:30-4:30pm

CRESCENDO: A Talent Show

Held in St. Rita’s Casper Center (Tentative)

Dinner & Family Fundraiser!

MIDDLE SCHOOL PARENT MEETINGS

Wednesday, August 16^th @ St. Rita, 2:45-3:30pm

Wednesday, August 30^th @ St. Athanasius, 2:45-3:30pm

(Permission Slips for After School Gatherings are due at this time)

Fall, 2017 & Beyond – Save the Dates!

Friday, September 1 @ 5pm-10pm

3^rd Annual Labor Day Mass & Cookout @ the Rays’

Back to School Gathering (Tentative)

Friday, September 8^th @ 7-9pm

SAINT’S ALIVE PLAYERS AUDITIONS

All Auditions, Practices, & Rehearsals @ St. Luke

+ Saints Alive Performances (October)

Circle of Life Adult / Young Adult Retreat

ALL DAY: Saturday, September 9^th

Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp & Retreat Center

Regular High School Gathering

Friday, September 15 @ 7-9pm

Topic: Into the Deep @ St. Rita’s “Dungeon”

Regular High School Gathering

Friday, September 29 @ 7-9pm

Topic: To the Heights @ St. Athanasius’ “Upper Room”

Other Upcoming Events

Light of Faith Youth Rally (Oct 13-14)

Haunted House & Fall Festivals (TBA)

NCYC 2017 @ Indianapolis, IN

November 16-19, 2017

($100 Deposit due by Aug 15, 2017)

Angel Tree & Santa Shop (December)

A Christmas Carol (December)

CHWC MISSION TRIP

Summer 2018 in Wichita, KS (Tentative)

Catholic Heart Work Camp

($100 Deposit due by Dec 1, 2017)

World Youth Day 2019 (18+) @ PANAMA

(First $500 Deposit due by May 1, 2018)

Congratulations Emily McCarty

Congratulations Emily McCarty, our 8th grade teacher at St Athanasius for winning the Religious Educational Excellence Award during Catholic Schools Week, celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes!

“Service to Others is the greatest definition of who we are.”

“The Eucharist is the greatest gift of Catholic Education.”

Bambi Ray’s Legacy

Here is the link to Bambi’s obituary, with her funeral arrangements. Visitation will be at Arch L Heady on Bardstown Rd today 5-8pm and Monday 1-8pm. The funeral is on Tuesday, January 17 @ 10am at St. Gabriel.

Please wear bright colors to celebrate Bambi Ray’s legacy and to support her beautiful family during this time! She was an incredible person and brought so much joy to so many. We’re asking EVERYONE from the Circle of Life to pray for the Ray family and show your support to them as we grieve the loss of life in our dear friend, mentor, mother, and disciple. God is good–so hold onto one another during these difficult times…