1

President’s Message

Are you a Martha or a Mary? Here are

some thoughts on how special each one of us to

God.

God created each of us unique, with differ-

ent personalities, gifts and talents. Each of our

situations is unique, and our relationship with

God is unique. Our friendship with God is very

personal. Christ loved both Martha and Mary,

and they both loved Him. But each one’s

friendship with Him was unique, personal, inti-

mate and customized.

Their personalities were different and so

was their friendship with Christ. I personally

am more of a Martha. She was practical, or-

ganized, paid attention to details and other’s

needs. She brought Mary to our Lord when He

came to them after Lazarus had died, and as a

result, others followed Mary to Christ.

Mary, on the other hand, was more con-

templative, intense, and emotional. She had her

heart set on the one thing that mattered, Christ.

The others followed her out to meet Christ. But

it was Martha who ran to meet Him first and

brought Mary to Christ. It was the combination

of both their personalities that led the other to

witness Christ raising Lazarus.

Our relationship with Christ is personal.

Often we try to be like others instead of being

true to what God has given us. We try to model

our relationship with Christ after someone

else’s instead of being the unique creature God

has created us to be. Let us thank God for cre-

ating each of as unique Martha’s, Mary’s or

some combination of them and rest in the

knowledge that Christ loves us all and wants

each of us to have our own personal relation-

ship with Him.

I thank God for creating all of you

uniquely lovely ladies with your different per-

sonalities, gifts, and talents.

Marie

A Blessed New Year to All!

Inside this issue:

History of the Ladies of Hope 2

Parish Outreach 2

Stay in Touch 2

Spiritual Life Opportunities 3

Ladies of Hope Calendar 4

Our Lady of Hope Parish Women’s Group, Potomac Falls, Virginia

Ladies of Hope

LOH Board:

President:

Marie Kennedy

Vice President:

Marsha Slick

Treasurer:

Pat Garman

Secretary:

Christine Payne

Ex Officio:

Donna Bongiovanni

Viv Castaneda

Angelina Crew

Trish Daquano

Cheryl Forbes

Sherry Grasson

Peggy Kearney

Barbara Principe

Nicole Sutter

Contact the Board at

olohladiesof-

hope@gmail.com

JANUARY 2014 VOL. 1 NO. 3

Links of interest:

Our Lady of Hope Parish: http://ourladyofhope.net/

Arlington Diocesan Council of Catholic Women:

http://home.catholicweb.com/ADCCW/

Pie fundraiser a success!

The results are in—our Thanks-giving Pie Fundraiser was another successful event for the LOH! We sold 170 pies of which 105 were donated to local charitable organizations including House of Mercy in Manassas, Missionaries of Charity in DC, Christ House in Alexandria, and Catholic Charities in Leesburg. The LOH earned more than $800 from this fund-raiser, and the money will be used for our many charitable causes. This number of donated pies is due largely to the efforts of Lily Santiago who secured a generous donation from Robert O’Braitis on behalf of the O’Braitis Family Foundation. Our sincere appre-ciation goes to Lily and all the members who helped make this fundraiser a “delicious” success. It could not have “tasted so good” without the efforts of all the volunteers who gave their time to sell and deliver pies, to count money, and to oversee the personal pie pickup. Thank you!

Our

Lady of

Hope,

pray

for us!

Just a thought… If you worry, you didn’t pray.

If you pray, don’t worry. -Anonymous

2

If you know of a member who has not received a copy of our newsletter, please send a note to the LOH at olohladiesof-hope@gmail.com Please put “Add a name” in the subject line. Also, the LOH Board and ac-tivities’ chairs will be using an online program to contact you when we need volunteers and/or donations for projects. It is called SignUpGenius. This will

Faith is to believe

what you do not see;

the reward of this faith is

to see what you believe.

-St. Augustine

save time m a k i n g phone calls and make it easier for you to re-spond to requests. Best of all, SignUpGenius will remind you with an email when you volun-teer. Thank you, in advance, for your generous gift of time, treasure, and talent!

History of the Ladies of Hope

Stay in Touch

ers to the parish and the

neighborhood. We hope to pro-

vide rides to church or doctor

appointments for those who can-

not drive and visits with home-

bound parishioners. We hope to

provide meals to those families

who are welcoming our tiniest

parishioners home, facing unex-

pected emergencies such as hos-

pital stays, difficult recoveries, or

dealing with bereavement. If you

know of a parishioner who could

use assistance, is new to our

church, or if you would like par-

ticipate in any aspect of this re-

warding ministry, please contact

Tess Torres at (571) 278-5736

or psp@ourladyofhope.net.

Parish Service Partnership

Our Lady of Hope Parish Service

Partnership seeks to assist parish-

ioners by providing services, lend-

ing a helping hand or a listening

ear, and encouraging participation

in ministries and activities. Ser-

vices we hope to provide include

warmly welcoming our newcom-

By Mary Meli

Editor’s note: While enjoying breakfast at the Corner Bakery after First Friday Mass in December, Cheryl Forbes, Mary Meli, and

Christine Payne chatted about many things including how the Ladies of Hope began. Mary, a founding parishioner at OLOH,

offered to write a history of our group for this newsletter. The following is her first installment.

My first memories of Our Lady of Hope Church started with a presentation at Christ the Redeemer Church

in Sterling by Father William Saunders. During this mass he announced that he was chosen by Bishop

Loverde to pastor a new parish, Our Lady of Hope. I decided to join the new parish and attended the first

mass which was held on August 6, 2000 at Potomac Falls High School.

According to Cheryl Forbes, Father Saunders assigned her the role of the first president of the Women's

Group of our Lady of Hope Catholic Church shortly after the parish was established in 2000. The Women's

Group was one of the first parish organizations sponsored by Father Saunders with the invitation, seen in the

box on the left, to all the ladies of the parish. Father Saunders was very welcoming to the new parishioners.

On November 29, 2000, Our Lady of Hope Women’s Group held their first board meeting at the Cascades

Senior Center. This inaugural board consisted of Cheryl Forbes, President, Michelle Bogart, Vice President,

and Dorothy Germain, Treasurer. They were charged with forming by-laws and planning committee activi-

ties to present to members at the first membership meeting on December 6, 2000.

I have fond memories of these first meetings; the programs were always started with a prayer, and then

announcements were made concerning the group's activities. One of our initial activities was to host the first

Lenten Soup Supper in March, 2001, at the Community Lutheran Church. As Father Saunders lead the group

in the blessing of the food, it became a wonderful success, with parishioners and their families in attendance.

Maybe it was just the timing of the new church and Father Saunders; whatever the reason, the spirit of the

new parish was strong!

Next month: The Ladies of Hope and the new church

VOL. 1 NO. 3 LADIES OF HOPE

““All women of the

parish are invited to

join the Women's

Group, which provides

opportunities for

spiritual growth and

social interaction.”

-2002 excerpt from Fr.

Saunders’ initial

invitation to OLOH

parishioners to form the

Ladies of Hope

Words of Wisdom

3

Pictured at left are American Heritage Girls, Girl Scouts, and Ladies of Hope who participated in the January 11 Birthright Mom’s Project. At least 75 bags of per-sonal care items were assembled for mothers-to-be and new moms for Birthright in Lees-burg.

Opportunities to Enrich Your Spiritual Life

Birthright of Leesburg, Virginia

Recently, the Ladies of Hope sponsored a Birthright Mom’s Project. On Saturday, January 11, American Heritage Girls,

Girl Scouts, and LOH met in the parish hall and assembled 75 gift bags for mothers-to-be and new moms. These bags were

filled with donated items from OLOH parishioners. It was a wonderful morning of performing a corporal work of mercy, and

the LOH thanks all who participated!

Would you like to donate more time to Birthright? If so, here is information from their website: “Birthright welcomes vol-

unteers of any age, race, gender, or religion who believe firmly in the Birthright philosophy and have a sincere desire to help

pregnant women. If you feel you could be a Birthright volunteer, please call 1-800-550-4900 or e-mail us at

info@birthright.org . Training for new Birthright volunteers starts with a full understanding of the philosophy of Birthright as

outlined in its Charter and Policy Directives. New volunteers typically start by partnering with an experienced volunteer who

is able to answer questions and explain the office operations. Volunteers are able to grow into their role in Birthright at their

own pace and develop their knowledge and skills on an ongoing basis through continuous role-modeling with Birthright peers,

reading and discussion, and the annual Birthright International conventions.” In fact, five of our LOH—Marsha Slick, Pat

Garman, Cheryl Forbes, Donna Bongiovanni, and Mary Lynn Linzmeyer—are regular Birthright volunteers. If you

would like more information about volunteering, contact Marsha at 703-433-0034 or at chsmss2@live.com .

Arlington Diocesan Council of Catholic Women

Mark your calendars for the annual Diocesan Women’s Conference on March 15, 2014, at St.

Joseph’s in Herndon. Fran Black, one of our LOH, will be reserving several tables so we can sit

together. The title of this year’s event is “Angels and Demons: Who They Are and How They

Influence Us”. Featured speakers include Dr. Peter Kreeft and Mary Ann Hayes, MSW. The

day will begin with Confessions from 7-9 AM. Check-in and Continental Breakfast are from

7:45-9:00. Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Loverde at 9:15 followed by the main program

until 2:15. The cost is $40 on or before February 14 and rises to $50 after that date. Go to

wwww.arlingtondiocese.org/women to register. Contact Fran at fmblack3@verizon.net to let her

know that you are going. Don’t delay! This conference always sells out!

VOL. 1 NO. 3 LADIES OF HOPE

“In the theologically

grounded tradition,

the priesthood passes

through man. The

woman has another

function in

Christianity,

reflected in the

figure of Mary. It is

the figure that

embraces society, the

figure that contains

it, the mother of the

community.”

-Pope Francis from

the book On Heaven

and Earth: Pope

Francis on Faith,

Family, and the

Church in the Twenty-

First Century

Catholic Apps for Your Phone

Remember Hugh Downs’ tagline as he ended his nightly news show? “We’re in touch, so you

be in touch.” Why not stay in touch with your Catholic Faith each day with these free apps:

The Pope App—You’ll get live, up-to-date information about Pope Francis with this app.

Laudate—This connects you to daily Mass readings, Bible, Vatican documents, and more!

Divine Mercy—Here you’ll find devotions of St. Faustina from the Marian Fathers.

4

February:

Sunday, February 2—LOH Donut Sunday

Friday, February 7—First Friday Breakfast. We meet at the Corner Bakery in Cascades after 8:30 Mass.

Sunday, February 16—Knights of Columbus Pancake Breakfast

Tuesday, February 25—LOH meeting 7:30 PM

March:

Sunday, March 2—LOH Donut Sunday

Tuesday, March 4—Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner. Knights of Columbus and LOH will co-sponsor this event.

Wednesday, March 5—Ash Wednesday

Friday, March 7—First Friday Breakfast. We meet at the Corner Bakery in Cascades after 8:30 Mass.

Saturday, March 8—LOH Lenten Retreat (morning) and Knights of Columbus St. Patrick’s Day Party (evening)

Wednesday, March 19—St. Joseph’s Day celebration in the Parish Hall following Vespers in the Church.

Friday, March 28—Fish Fry. Knights of Columbus and LOH will co-sponsor this event.

April:

Friday, April 4—First Friday Breakfast. We meet at the Corner Bakery in Cascades after 8:30 Mass.

Sunday, April 6—Knights of Columbus Pancake Breakfast

Friday, April 11—Fish Fry—LOH and Knights of Columbus

Sunday, April 20—Easter

Tuesday, April 29—LOH meeting featuring a speaker from Catholic Radio 7:30 PM

May:

Friday, May 2—First Friday Breakfast. We meet at the Corner Bakery in Cascades after 8:30 Mass.

Sunday, May 5—Donut Sunday

Saturday, May 10—First Communion

Saturday, May 17—Marian Tea

Wednesday, May 28—LOH Business Meeting 7:30 PM

June:

Friday, June 6—First Friday Breakfast. We meet at the Corner Bakery in Cascades after 8:30 Mass.

Sunday, June 8—Parish Picnic—Knights of Columbus and LOH

Ladies of Hope End of Year Dinner—Details will be in a future newsletter.

Ladies of Hope Calendar 2014

VOL. 1 NO. 3

Ladies of Hope celebrating the success of our annual Thanksgiving Pie fundraiser in November, 2013