2025_12_24 - TASTE Program

Dear Ladies and Friends of TASTE,

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

THIS WEEK — We wish you a blessed Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year! May God bless you abundantly and may His love fill your home with peace and joy! As we ponder Jesus’ birth, may we be filled with awe and wonder over the Christ Child who humbled Himself to be with us. We pray that the true light of Christ shine brightly through each of us knowing that we have received the greatest gift of all.

IN PREP — The video, reflection questions, and other related material from the last talk can be found HERE.

TASTE EVENTS

JAN 15th DISCUSSION — When we return on January 15th, we will discuss Julie Liotta's talk entitled "Pray, Hope and Proceed... Stories of God's Providence." Julie used whitewater rafting as a metaphor for the spiritual journey through this life, using deeply personal accounts from her own life experiences to guide us in better understanding our own journeys. The audio, video, reflection questions and other related material can be found HERE.

NEXT SEMESTER — Would you like to get a sneak peak at our upcoming speakers and talks for the Spring semester? See LINK.

END OF YEAR DONATIONS — TASTE is free, but If you would like to make an end-of-year donation, it would be greatly appreciated as it helps to offset our costs. See LINK.

OTHER EVENTS AND NEWS

1/16/26-1/18/26 CATHOLIC WOMEN'S RETREAT — Fr. Larry Swink and Fr. Dan Leary are hosting a mid-winter retreat at Loyola Retreat Center in Faulkner, Maryland. Registration opens November 17. While the retreat is very popular and is filled, they are creating a wait list in case of cancellations. See LINK.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please continue to pray for our TASTE program and our speakers. This week, please pray for:

OUR SPEAKERS AND FRIENDS OF TASTE:
- For all of our speakers — especially in thanksgiving for our last speaker and for the Holy Spirit to guide our upcoming speaker.
- For all priests — Stir up in them the grace of their vocation which is in them (Litany of Prayers for Priests)

OUR TASTE MEMBERS AND FAMILIES:
- For Courtnay Kopec to have successful surgery on January 2nd and full recovery and healing.
- For the repose of the soul of Clare Ferguson (Patti Fisher's mother) and for peace and comfort for her family. (Obituary)
- For Paul Coleman (Lynne Collman's husband), who is undergoing cancer treatments.
- For Hope Collins (Granddaughter of Evelyn Collins), who is still recovering from open heart surgery.
- For Fr. John M. Barry (Pastor of Resurrection Church in Burtonsville), who is recovering from prostate cancer surgery.
- For Justine Wimsatt, for continued healing after her brain tumor removal.
- For Mary Wolfe, for continued healing related to her heart issue.
- For Pat Krug, healing for her sciatica causing many painful episodes.
- For the repose of the soul of Nancy Beckfeld, mother-in-law of Joy Parker, and for peace & comfort for her family.
- Thank you for praying for Paula Gentile’s daughter, Bianca. She received a mostly good outcome, but needs to receive standard medical treatment for stage 0 breast cancer. Please pray for her complete healing.

BEYOND OUR TASTE COMMUNITY
- For peace around the world, especially in the Middle East and Ukraine. May God protect the innocent, comfort the grieving, free all hostages, and guide leaders toward justice and lasting peaceful resolution.
- For our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering persecution for their faith around the world, especially in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Sudan.
- We also pray for 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, Helen, and Lisa

Jesus, I trust in You!

ATTACHMENTS:

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

FACEBOOK — Keep 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 — We have a great line-up of talks for our 2025/2026 year! In addition to bringing back some of our past speakers, we have a number of new speakers that we believe you will enjoy. You can preview the current line up HERE or see our entire LIST of 2025/2026 speakers.
PARKING — Please note that the parking lot in front of St. Mary's School has restricted access hours. We can only park there between 8:30 am and Noon. If you plan to stay after the talk for Rosary, Chaplet, Confession, to chat with friends, or any other activity, please park in another location such as the street parking, the Keesler parking lot, or the Boys Club parking lot.

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