2023_09_25 - TASTE Program

Dear Ladies and Friends of TASTE,

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
- TASTE continues with our 17th season this Thursday with a talk by Monsignor Charles Pope. Invite a friend!
- The video, reflection questions, and other related material from last week's talk can be found HERE.

OPENING — What a joy to be together once again to launch TASTE's 17th season! What a joy to see so many familiar faces, and to welcome so many new faces. What a joy to once again offer child care with the joyous Sisters of the Servants of the Lord. What a joy to begin our season with our Spiritual Director and beloved priest Fr. Larry Swink!

LAST WEEK — TASTE opened its 17th season as our Spiritual Director Fr. Larry Swink gave a talk entitled "Mysterium Fidei: Abide in My Eucharistic Heart." Once again, Fr. Swink opened our hearts and our minds to the beauty of our Catholic Faith, this time through Pope St. Paul VI's encyclical Mysterium Fidei on the Holy Eucharist. The talk was a wonderful introduction to our theme this year. "Mysterium Fidei" or "The Mystery of Faith" are the words of the priest right after consecration. These words point to the source and summit of our Catholic Faith. Sadly, many Catholics have lost their faith in the Eucharist, and as Father pointed out, if we don't believe in the Eucharist, everything else falls apart. MORE

NEW TALK — This week, we welcome back Msgr Charles Pope as he gives a talk entitled "Take Courage in the Storm."

THIS WEEK'S DISCUSSION — We will discuss Fr. Larry Swink's talk entitled "Mysterium Fidei: Abide in My Eucharistic Heart." The audio, video, reflection questions and other related material can be found HERE. The Zoom small group meets on the following Tuesday morning. Details on how to join can be found in a link at the bottom of this message.

SPEAKER LINE-UP — As usual, our speaker line-up looks amazing with quite a diverse set of priests, deacons, religious sisters, educators, and authors. If you would like to read about our upcoming speakers, click HERE. If you would like to learn about the titles of our upcoming talks, click HERE.

PRAYER REQUESTS — Please continue to pray for our TASTE program, our speakers, and the logistics of offering childcare this coming year. This week, please pray for: 1) Cynthia Bandong, one of our TASTE sisters, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer for the 2nd time. Please pray for God's grace and strength to sustain her during her cancer treatments, 2) The repose of the soul of Katylee McInerney, 3) Fr. Larry Swink as he has left his two parishes in southern Maryland Monday and has returned to Washington, DC for medical reasons, 4) Susan Conroy as she continues to have medical issues, 5) Mayra Wilson (TASTE member) to successfully navigate the program to become a police officer and that her actions as a future police officer always bring honor to God, 6) Kate Christianson for eradication of her cancer and overall health improvement, 7) God's complete physical and spiritual healing for Helen Griffith's brother-in-law Rod, 8) Kara Helfenbein's daughter Ellie Carter for healing from complications of a bone marrow treatment for AML, 9) Joy Parker's Mother-in-Law Nancy who was just diagnosed with a brain tumor, 10) Michele Cardamone's mother (Dorothy Cardamone) who is suffering from congestive heart failure, and 11) peace and comfort to the families of each of the people mentioned above. New prayer requests can be sent to Joy Parker at joyparker73@gmail.com.

Blessings,

Joy, Michele, Karen, and Helen

Jesus, I trust in You!

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CARRY-OVERS - The below information is carried over from the last email.

NEW THEME — In the spirit of continuing our theme on the Eucharist, our 2023/2024 theme will be "Abide in My Eucharistic Heart." Additionally, each year we attach a scripture verse or Saint quote to our theme. This year, our quote is from St. Teresa of Calcutta: "When you look at the Crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host, you understand how much Jesus loves you now. It was selected to highlight: 1) Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist, 2) His unfathomable love for us, (His Bride, the Church), and 3) how it increases our unity with Him and the Body of Christ.

THEME INFLUENCES — In preparation for selecting our new theme and quote, the following inputs were amongst those that helped to guide us. First, Fr. Mike Schmitz’ Corpus Christi homily was centered on that theme (VIDEO). Second, an article entitled "Msgr. James Shea on Evangelizing in a Post-Christian Society, Belief in the Invisible World, and Utopias" addressed our theme and our role in evangelization (ARTICLE). Third, Fr. Mattia from St. Mary of the Mills presented 4 talks on the Eucharist. TALK1 TALK2 TALK3 TALK4

INVITE A FRIEND - It is We encourage you to invite a friend regardless of where they are on their faith journey. If they are interested, please also encourage them to register. Attached is a POSTCARD that you can text, email, or print as an invitation to others.

REGISTRATION — Many of you have registered already, so thank you. If you have not yet, please help us plan for this upcoming semester by registering using this LINK. Even if you attended last year, please register for this upcoming 2023-2024 year. If you can't remember whether you have registered or if you need to edit any of your responses, see your email receipt with subject line: TASTE REGISTRATION -- 2023-2024. If you have deleted or lost your email receipt, simply respond to this email and Joy can help you.

CHILD CARE — We are so excited to have the Sisters of the Servants of the Lord back with us providing TASTE for Tots, our Virtus certified child care program. Given that this will allow young mothers to come to TASTE who may not have been able to attend in the past couple of years, please help us share the word. This is a beautiful opportunity for moms to have a mini-retreat each week! Please also spread the word that moms may bring their non-walking infants to the Chapel with them for small group discussions and our talks. We love babies and children!

PARKING — For the 2023-2024 season, parking will be available at the St Mary of the Mills School/Church parking lot, Keesler Center parking lot, Phelps Center parking lot, and street parking.

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