Advent Reconciliation Service
We Don't "Do" The Box Anymore!

Sacrament of Communal Reconciliation
December 10,2000
4:00 P.M.

The Sacrament of Communal Reconciliation was celebrated in the St. Joan of Arc gym Sunday, December 10, 2000 at 4:00 PM with approximately 400 people in attendance. (This is in spite of the fact that the Vikings were on at the same time.)

Many of us might recall those times when we entered "the box" (otherwise known as the confessional) to have our sins "heard" in order to receive the Sacrament of Penance. Here at St. Joan's, we prefer to celebrate a loving and forgiving God in a communal setting with joy, prayer, music and reflection. This year's Advent Reconciliation's theme is "Repair-Reconnect-Return".

George Wertin along with the Prayer Partners of St. Joan of Arc planned a wonderful and uplifting hour to help us to explore reconnecting our relationship to God, to others, to the earth and to ourselves. Included were creative prayers, reading, and a thought provoking ritual whereby all who wished to could write out a sentence on a strip of paper as to how they could affirm that spiritual connectivity. All then, in turn, intertwined their strip of paper to make a paper chain. The completed paper chain was then added to the gym Christmas tree decorations.

Joann Potts is a retired music and English teacher and 30 year member of St. Joans. She enjoys working with Anna Vagle each week. She is "in charge" of doing those slides you see at church each Sunday and for preparing the music sheets for the musicians. JoAnn and her husband Jim will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in 2001 and are proud of their family of five children and eight grandchildren. Her hobbies include singing, playing her digital piano, writing her memoirs, reading, writing poetry, entertaining friends, visiting the North Shore and ballroom dancing with Jim.

Perfectly chosen music presented by our St. Joan of Arc musicians enhanced the prayerful mood and joy-filled yet thoughtful setting for this service. If you haven't attend this service in the past, you will have a second chance during Lent when the Prayer Partner Group will offer another Reconciliation service. Until then, you'll have to look for "the box" in another church.

Peg LaSota is interested in the biographies of parishioners... any suggestions?? She also loves studying piano, recorder, Spanish, and of course...singing in the choir!

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