2023_10_30 - TASTE Program

Dear Ladies and Friends of TASTE,

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
- TASTE continues this Thursday with a talk by Felicitas Brugo Onetti. Invite a friend!
- The video, reflection questions, and other material from last week's talk can be found HERE.
- Sign-up for our Pray for Priests Spiritual Adoption Program. Our formal ceremony will be this week.
- For our latest information, follow us now on FACEBOOK

ALL SAINTS / ALL SOULS — The Church is composed of the faithful living upon the earth and those who have gone before us. The latter includes the Saints in Heaven and the faithful Souls being purified in Purgatory. Just as on November 1st we honor those who are with God, on November 2nd we celebrate a Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. Also known as All Souls Day, on this day we honor them for their fidelity in life, as well as pray for them, since they are being purified before entering the All Holy Presence of God. As Revelation 21:27 says of the Heavenly Jerusalem, “… nothing unclean shall enter in.”

PRAY FOR PRIESTS — One of our three TASTE missions is to encourage priests in their ministry. Our "Pray for Priests Program" enables this by assigning a specific priest and/or Servant of the Lord Sister to each woman who has signed up to spiritually adopt and pray for during the year. To sign-up to pray for a Priest and/or Sister, click on this LINK. The date of our formal ceremony where we take a picture of all women holding their prayer card will be this Thursday, November 2, 2023.

LAST WEEK — Last week we welcomed back Fr. Larry Young as he gave a talk entitled "The Eucharist as the Face of God." We tend to focus on the Eucharist as a sacrifice, but Fr. Larry took us to a richer and deeper understanding through Biblical types in the Old Testament. The Passover sacrifice, the Bread of the Presence, the manna in the wilderness, and the Messianic Banquet to come are all Eucharistic themes and images throughout the sacred scriptures. Fr. Larry chose to focus on the Passover and the Bread of the Presence by examining eight themes - affliction, haste/speed, remembrance, communion, the love of God, healing, sincerity and truth, and finally, thanksgiving. MORE

NEW TALK — This week, we welcome Felicitas Brugo Onetti as she gives a talk entitled "Human Trafficking: What to Know and How to Help."

THIS WEEK'S DISCUSSION — We will discuss Fr. Larry Young's talk entitled "The Eucharist as the Face of God." The video, reflection questions and other related material can be found HERE. The Zoom small group meets on Tuesday mornings. Details on how to join can be found in a link at the bottom of this message.

WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN — Do you ever doubt the promises of God? Do you long for greater peace & joy? "Made for More" is a workshop for women on the journey of the Beloved. It will be held on Nov 18th, 2023 from 9:00-12:30 at St. Theresa Church in Ashburn, VA. The cost of $25 includes materials and a light breakfast. Visit HERE to register. MORE

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) Fr. Larry Swink as he has left his two parishes in southern Maryland and returned to Washington, DC for medical reasons, 3) Susan Conroy as she continues to have medical issues, 4) Kate Christianson for eradication of her cancer and overall health improvement, 5) God's complete physical and spiritual healing for Helen Griffith's brother-in-law Rod, 6) Kara Helfenbein's daughter Ellie Carter for healing from complications of a bone marrow treatment for AML, 7) Michele Cardamone's mother (Dorothy Cardamone) who is suffering from congestive heart failure, 8) Nicola's son Javon for God to break through and heal him, and 9) 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

FACEBOOK — We just re-launched our FACEBOOK presence and intend to keep it up-to-date with useful information about our TASTE Program as well as other interesting Catholic information and events. Follow us on FACEBOOK.

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.

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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