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This week, we are saying thank you to the caregivers: the doctors, nurses, and people that care for our sick and ill, our elderly, and those with special needs. We know the commitment that you make each day to bring your caring and kindness to those in need. We want to share a wonderful story about how a special caregiver showed so much patience, love, and kindness!
This caregiver works at an elderly home and works closely with patients that have dementia. One Sunday morning, Emily got a call to come into work, as one of her patients was very agitated and was saying that she wanted to go home. Emily rushed over to the elderly home to find her patient, Martha, extremely nervous, agitated, and pacing the floor. Emily tried calling Martha’s son; however, he was traveling and could not be reached. Emily convinced Martha to come to the cafeteria where they could have a cup of tea. Emily sat patiently with Martha talking to her for about an hour. Emily then started walking Martha back to her room. Martha again said that she wanted to go home; Emily tried to explain to Martha that this was her home now. Once Martha got to her room, she saw her family pictures and a special picture of Jesus that was by her bed. She sat calmly and cried. Emily held her hand and said that Jesus is always watching over you! Martha hugged Emily! Just then, the phone rang, and it was Martha’s son. He thanked Emily for caring for his mom while he was away. Emily was Martha’s guardian angel! God sees our kind acts and He never forgets the kindness we show to those in need!
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This week’s focus is our family and friends! Let’s all be kind to our family and friends by showing and telling them how much we care about them. Time goes by so quickly. We get tied up in our work or school and we do not tell a family member that we love them or we miss an opportunity to give that special someone a hug.
This week:
Spread your love! Never wait until tomorrow to hug someone you could hug today! We wish you a wonderful week filled with kindness and love! Please share your kindness acts with us. This week we wanted to share with you some pictures of the Advent Christmas Kindness Trees. They are really special and truly demonstrate the impact of being kind! We have posted several pictures and examples of the kindness acts that our students did during the Advent Season on the parish website in the Road to Kindness section. Please take some time to look at these pictures and be touched! We want to thank all of our wonderful students in our school, REP, Edge, and Life Teen programs! We also want to thank Sister Eileen and all the teachers, as well as the leaders and teachers of the REP, Edge, and Life Teen programs for their continued support of our kindness program! As the new year kicked off, we heard so many wonderful stories of kindness during this past week. Many of our parish members told us stories about their specific kindness acts and those that they observed. Thank you for sharing your kindness!
This week, we want to share some ideas for weaving kindness into 2019, excerpts taken from The Chopra Center.
As the New Year begins, many of us will be thinking about our resolutions. Let’s make one of our resolutions for 2019 to spread our kindness!
When we started our kindness journey, we said kindness starts with you; you have the ability to impact someone’s life today! Thank you for your wonderful support of our kindness program! As we look to 2019, we want to share with you the words from Ralph Marston’s, “A Bit of Kindness.” Offer a bit of kindness to life today! Offer a bit of kindness and discover how much it grows. You’ll find plenty of opportunities to give kindness away, yet that kindness never goes away. The more you give kindness, the more there is. Looking for a quick and accessible way to get yourself positively focused? Give a bit of kindness, and elevate your perspective to a more favorable, effective place. There is no limit to the goodness that will result when you give a bit of kindness. Each kindness takes on a life of its own and can keep building upon itself long after you’ve forgotten about it. Eventually, all those bits of kindness you give will come back to you. Though you won’t know exactly how, your world will be warmed by every kindness you offer. Give a little bit of kindness every chance you get! It’s a gift that never stops making life better! Thank you for embracing our Advent Kindness Program! We have four more kindness acts to do on our Advent kindness journey:
We want to thank the students in our school, REP, Edge, and Life Teen programs! They have put their kindness acts on Christmas trees in the school hallway toward the gymnasium. This is a beautiful sight to see! We will be posting pictures to our blog. We also want to thank those in our parish who participated in our Christmas Tree Giving Program! Through our acts of kindness, we have made an impact in our community. We are blessed to have such caring people in our parish! “Kindness is like snow, it beautifies everything it touches!” Thank you for embracing our Advent Kindness Program! There are some wonderful kindness acts included in this week’s Advent kindness calendar. This week we want to share a wonderful story of kindness from one of our parish members:
“A family was having breakfast at a local diner. The waitress came over to their table and informed them that their breakfast was already paid for by another customer in the diner. The family asked them to point out the person that was so kind to pay for their family’s breakfast. As the waitress went to identify the customer that had paid for their breakfast, the person was no longer in the restaurant. It became clear to the family that the person did not want them to know who had paid for their breakfast. This family then decided to pay for the breakfast of the next customer who came into the diner. This family then left the diner before they could be identified as having paid for the customer’s breakfast! This is a special way to pass on the kindness shown to us!” We have heard many stories of kindness during this Advent season! We are blessed to have such caring people in our church parish and our community! Continue to reach out - become inspired and make someone smile! Remember this phrase as you go about your week: “Kindness: impossible to wrap, but so easy to give!” Thank you for following God’s Way - “The Road to Kindness” and for making a difference this Advent season! Blessings to you! Enjoy this wonderful Advent season and have a week filled with kindness! I wanted to again share some of Father Al’s inspiring words included in last week’s bulletin – they truly bring out the spirit of our beautiful Advent season.
“I love the Season of Advent. I really think it is my favorite season in the Church year. I am inspired by the readings at Mass; I like the purple vestments; I especially am enamored by Advent hymns: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”, “O Come, Divine Messiah”, and “The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns.” Perhaps it is the time of year that we celebrate Advent in the Northern Hemisphere. The dark days can seem like they go on forever but there is something cozy about settling down at night with a good book, a movie, or just being with family and friends.” Let’s all become inspired - the Advent Season is a beautiful time of the year to share your kindness! We thank everyone for embracing our Advent kindness program! There are some wonderful kindness acts included in this week’s Advent kindness calendar. We have heard from several families that they are completing each daily kindness act in our church’s kindness calendar! Many of the kindness acts they are doing as a family - how exciting! You are an inspiration to all of us! Thank you to every family that is following God’s Way - “The Road to Kindness” for this Advent season! Blessings to you! Enjoy this wonderful Advent season and have a week filled with kindness! Advent is such a special time to share our kindness with each other and with our community! The Advent season is a time of preparation: we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
We are so excited about our second annual Advent Kindness Program! This Advent season we invite you to prepare your hearts and go on a kindness journey. We have prepared everything you need for your kindness journey: our church’s Advent Kindness Calendar with 25 Acts of Kindness and the Advent Kindness Cards for you to spread your kindness with others. Reach out, become inspired, and make someone smile! Kindness = Being friendly, generous, and considerate! We want to share a wonderful story of a young girl that helped to bring a smile to someone that needed one. This story is taken from the website entitled “Raising Lifelong Learners.” “Molly had a candy cane that she was going to hand out to someone she thought needed a smile. Molly was in the checkout line with her family and she noticed that the woman at the checkout seemed sad. As she approached the woman, she handed her the candy cane and said ‘Merry Christmas.’ Attached to the candy cane was a card that said ‘you are a blessing to us during this season and always. Please enjoy this act of Christmas kindness and know that you matter.’ As the woman read the card, her face softened and a smile lit her eyes. She came around from the register and hugged Molly, and with tears in her eyes, she thanked her.” We are at the start of our beautiful Advent Season! This is such a special time in our church year and one that connects perfectly into our Kindness Program. We are excited to commence our second annual Advent Kindness Program. Included in this week’s bulletin is an Advent Kindness Calendar that highlights 25 Acts of Kindness for you to consider during this special season. There are extra calendars in the back of the church and the calendar can be accessed on the St. Joan of Arc website. The Kindness Acts can be done individually or as a family. As you participate, the beauty of Advent Season will brighten your hearts and the hearts of those who are the receiving your kindness! Kindness calendars, special kindness activities, and gifts are also being coordinated at our school as well as our REP, Life Teen, and Edge programs. Our students will be handing out Advent kindness cards after each mass this weekend. These cards are a kindness gift on behalf of the Anthony R. Bellezza Memorial. Please take a few and spread kindness throughout our community! As you listen to the sermons this weekend, become inspired and show someone that you care: this is God’s Way! The Road to Kindness starts with you this Advent Season! Embrace kindness this season and it will become contagious! Blessings to you! Enjoy this wonderful Advent Season and have a week filled with kindness! Please share your kindness acts or those you observe here. Also, download our kindness calendar below. 
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