This week we want to focus on the special people in your life! We have some questions we want you to consider as you go through your week:

• Have you told the special people in your life how much they mean to you?
• Have you told those special people in your life that you love them?
• Have you reflected on those important moments spent with those special people in your life?
• Have you showed your kindness to the special people in your life?
• Now, what if those special people in your life were not there – how would you feel; what would you do; would you pray for them; and would you miss them?

Now is the time to tell them and to show them how special they are to you! Don’t wait! This is God’s Way – “The Road to Kindness!”
Blessings to you! Have a wonderful week filled with Kindness!
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This week, we want to reflect on a few important matters. First, it is with a heavy heart that we pray for those impacted from the shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas. Our mission is to bring more kindness and caring to our community and to our world through God’s Way – “The Road to Kindness.” We need your kindness, caring, and prayers for all the people and families in Dayton and El Paso. Spend a few extra minutes in church today and offer up a special prayer.
Second, this week we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary! Our dear Blessed Mother was the model of kindness and caring. She always found time to do a kind act for someone or to spend time with someone in need.
As we leave church today, ask yourself these questions:

Is there someone in your life that you haven’t visited for a while? Maybe a member of your own family or a close friend? Have you been putting it off because you just don’t have the time to go see them? What is really stopping you?
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Please, make time today! It is too late when someone passes away or is impacted by a terrible event. All we have is time! The Blessed Mother will be guiding you and helping you to follow God’s Way – “The Road to Kindness!”
God bless you for your kindness!
 

We hope that everyone is having a nice summer! We have heard that some are having a wonderful summer, but we have also heard that some have had challenges due to family illness or the loss of a job. Let’s keep those members who are having challenges in our thoughts and prayers. If you know someone who is having challenges, reach out to them and show them that you care! With that in mind, we want to share these words with you:

​Always be kind!
If you see someone falling behind, walk beside them.
If someone is being ignored,
find a way to include them.
If someone has been knocked down, lift them up!
Always remind people of their worth.
Be who you needed when
you were going through hard times.
Just one small act of kindness
could mean the world to someone!!

We hope that everyone is having a wonderful summer! This week, we want to share a story about a woman that has been on a road trip documenting acts of kindness! On June 24, The Washington Post published an article documenting Mary Latham’s three-year journey to find people performing acts of kindness. The following are some excerpts from this article.
 
“After Mary’s mom passed away in 2013, she spent several years feeling adrift and it took her some time to find the right way to honor her mom’s legacy. Her mom said to Mary on several occasions ‘there are always going to be tragedies in the world, but there will always be more good – you just have to look for it.’ To honor her mom’s legacy of looking for goodness, she came up with a plan. She would pack a suitcase with several changes of clothes and hit the road in her mom’s blue Subaru Outback to drive cross-country in search of simple acts of kindness. Mary decided to call her road trip ‘More Good.’ On October 29, 2016, Mary set out from her family’s home on Long Island, taking dozens of ‘More Good’ shirts to hand out to people who followed her journey and agreed to host her for two or three nights. Mary has been documenting all her stops on a website, with the goal of publishing a book to donate to hospital waiting rooms. Almost three years later, Mary is still at it, with only seven more states to go on her journey.”
 
This article outlines some wonderful stories of kindness. While Mary is honoring her mom’s legacy, she is also following “God’s Way – The Road to Kindness!” God Bless all of you for your acts of kindness in our church and community.
 

​Summer is here and we hope that you had a    wonderful July 4th holiday! Have you made your summer list of “things to do?” Most of us have so many things we want to accomplish over the   summer months. We have a great suggestion: how about making a summer family kindness list!
 
It would be so nice to focus some of our summer on doing things for other people! On this list, you could include some special fun tasks that your kids could do for their friends, neighbors, and        community. Remember it does not have to be big items – it can be as simple as giving popsicles to friends in the neighborhood! For some great ideas, visit the website Random Acts of Kindness     Summer List – Thirty Handmade Days. Remember this Summer: wherever you go, strive to leave footprints of kindness.
 

​As we travel on our journey through life, we are often challenged to change the way we are so that we fit in. It could be in the workplace, in school, or with our neighbors. We may be challenged to do something or take an action that does not make us feel right. It takes a strong, confident person to stay focused on doing what is right and not change the way they act. God wants us to do the right thing and to be ourselves – to be authentic in our actions and to be kind and caring! This is God’s Way – The Road to Kindness!
 
This week we want to highlight a recent            acceptance speech that Dwayne “The Rock”    Johnson gave as he was awarded the 2019 Motion Picture and TV Generation Award. In his          acceptance speech, he said the most powerful thing that you could be “is to be yourself.” He talked about how he was challenged with changing the way he was so that he could fit in and be the actor that Hollywood wanted him to be. He made a choice to be himself and to be authentic. He went on to say that it is “important to be                 compassionate, caring, inclusive, and KIND –   because that is what matters.” When he was 15 years old, he was told a quote that has remained with him. He shared this quote: “It is nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice!” It is time to be nice and kind to everyone we meet! God Bless you!
 

​This week we want to share with you a wonderful inspirational video prepared by Above Inspiration entitled “Be Kind!” Please watch the video and listen to the touching stories of how being kind can impact a person’s life! Here is an excerpt:
 
This story is told by a cab driver. It was 2:30am and he was asked to pick up a customer. He went up to the door and knocked on it and an elderly woman in her 80’s came to the door. She had small suitcase and the cab driver said he would put it in the cab. He came back and the elderly woman took his arm as he helped her to the cab. The elderly woman continued to thank the cab driver for his kindness and the cab driver said I treat all my customers as if they were my mother. The elderly woman asked the cab driver if he could take her through the town first – she said that she is going to hospice. The cab driver looked in his rear-view mirror and saw the elderly woman’s eyes glisten with sadness. She said that she does not have any family and the doctor told her that she does not have long to live. At hearing this, the cab driver shut the meter off. For the next few hours, the cab driver took her all over the city to see the places she remembered. As the sun started to come up, the elderly woman said she was ready to go the hospice location. When the cab driver arrived at the hospice location, the elder woman was greeted at the door and they had a wheelchair ready for her. The cab driver got her suitcase and took it to her. The elderly woman said, how much do I owe you? The cab driver said you owe me nothing. He bent over and gave her hug – she held on to him tightly and said thank you! You have given an old woman some life today!
 
There are no coincidences as we travel through life. This cab driver was supposed to be there for this elderly woman. God puts people in our life and we should always show our kindness.
 

Happy Mother’s Day to all our moms!
Let’s make today special for our Mothers! Give your mom an especially long HUG today and tell her “THANK YOU” for all that she does to make your life special!
Let’s remember those moms that have passed away and those dear moms that have lost a child. Our hearts and our prayers surround you today and always! We also thank those special women that have stepped in and been “like a mom” – your caring means so much to our children.

A Mother’s Day Prayer and blessing:
Loving God,
You wrap your arms around your people and show your everlasting love
In the same way a mother loves her children.
We are grateful for the love you have taught us through the mothers in our lives:
Our own mother who brought us into this world; the mothers of friends who have
Welcomed us into their homes and families, our grandmothers, who took time
for us; and the mothers who have helped us even though we were not their children.
Bless all the mothers of this world today. May they know the fullness of love
They have shared and be blessed every day of their lives.
AMEN!
 
Be inspired to Be Kind and show that you care by following “God’s Way – “The Road to Kindness!”
Have a wonderful week! May God’s loving care always be with you!
 
 

Our Lenten Kindness Program is fully underway. Many parish members shared with us that they can feel the kindness coming through this Lenten Season! We also heard from many of our students that they have already completed their kindness act! We could feel their excitement and see how happy it made them to share their Red Heart of Kindness! We thank those in our parish that are sharing their kindness this Lenten Season.
The Lenten season is one of love and on this weekend, we wanted to share with you excerpts from an article by Ralph Marston on “Respond with love!” We shared some of these words in other bulletins.

Let love be your first response, for your sake, and for everyone’s sake!
Advance goodness in the world, not pain or outrage!
love always has a place!
love frees you from the burdens of judgment, retribution
and the downward spiral they engender!
When love is your first response, you won’t waste energy or anger, blame or conflict!
love can soothe the stress of the situation and melt away anxiety!
No matter where others are coming from, you can operate from a perspective of love!
Seek to act from genuine love and you’ll uncover the most beneficial options!
love will not magically solve all the problems!
love will challenge you to work on truly making the situation better!

In the remaining weeks of this Lenten Season, let’s all follow God’s Way – “The Road to Kindness” and “Respond with love!”
Continue to get inspired and share you RED HEART of Kindness with someone!!
 
 
 
 
 

Our Lenten Kindness Program is fully underway. Many parish members commented on how beautiful the cross was with all the red hearts of kindness. We also saw the excitement on our children and teens as they removed their red heart of kindness from the cross. Enjoy doing your act of kindness listed on the red heart!

There are so many beautiful stories that we found about how churches and communities are pulling together during the Lenten Season. Just as our mission is to inspire kindness, many other Catholic churches and schools are also following God’s Way – “The Road to kindness” this Lenten Season.

One that we want to highlight is in Binghamton and Broome County. WBNG News prepared a story on Ash Wednesday about the Catholic Schools in Broome County.  

“The Catholic school is encouraging all of its students, faculty and staff members to complete one act of kindness everyday of Lent, starting on Ash Wednesday. The Catholic Schools of Broome County president says if they do that, they will complete more than 40,000 acts of kindness. She calls it the Acts of kindness Campaign, and says it is her mission to do some good in a society where there seems to be so much bad. It is not only about our schools but it involves the entire community. Students at Seton Catholic Central High School said the acts of kindness have already had a noticeable and positive impact on the school.”

How exciting! This sounds a lot like our Lenten Season’s kindness Program. We can make an impact and our mission is to inspire every member of our parish and those in our communities to BE KIND and to follow God’s Way – “The Road to kindness!” Thank you for sharing your red heart of kindness with someone this Lenten Season! Have a wonderful week filled with kindness.