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Catholic Daughters of the Americas is one of the oldest and largest organization of Catholic women in the Americas. We share faith and enjoy each other's company at meetings and work hard for our parishes and communities. Our moto is "Unity and Charity". The local CDA Court Oregon #118 embraces that moto in the adoption of many service projects. More about the projects can be found on the Projects page. Click here to go directly to that page.
The local CDA Court Oregon #118 invites all women age 18 and over to visit our monthly afternoon meeting to find out more about our organization. Our potluck meetings are on the third Thursday of the month at 1:00 p.m. in the St. Mary Parish Center, 1062 Charnelton Street, Eugene, OR 97401. We invite you to join us at the 12:15 p.m. Mass at St. Mary's and then come us for a potluck and our meeting.
We look forward to praying and working together with our CDA sisters as we embark upon a new year full of good works.
Blessings,
Julia Kelso, Regent
Julia Kelso, Regent
CDA Court Oregon #118
The St. Mary's Easter Egg Hunt is Saturday, April, 20, 2019. The newsletter has the date as April 16, but it is April 20. CDA will be selling drinks and baked goods at the egg hunt. Please let Julia know if you are able to donate your time or baked goods.
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St. Mary's Easter Egg Hunt
When: Saturday, April 20th
Where: St. Mary's Courtyard
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St Mary's encourages you to join them for a community-wide Easter celebration! Featuring an Egg Hunt, Games, Easter Basket raffles, and Food for purchase! At 10:30 am Fr. Ron will bless Easter baskets so bring your Easter baskets filled with items for your Easter table to have them blessed!
Mission Statement
Catholic Daughters of the Americas strives to embrace the principle of faith working through love in the promotion of justice, equality, and the advancement of human rights and human dignity for all.
Help us raise money to support local charity. Just click on the picture above and our group will receive 40% profit from your order.
Court Chaplain's Message
Dear Catholic Daughters,
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The Lenten season is right around the corner. It is interesting to note that I have encountered several men who are participating in this new program called Exodus 90. It is spiritual exercise of 90 days involving prayer and asceticism supported by fraternity of like minded men that will end on Easter. It is a kind of Bootcamp for Catholic Men. I mention this because we should be much more intentional about our practices for the Lenten season. Lent should be our spiritual bootcamp. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are still penitential practices that are dear to our Christian tradition, and Lent is a time of spiritual training. Lent is a time to prepare for Easter, or better to prepare ourselves to better experience the power of God at Easter. These spiritual practices of selfdenial are an important part of our Christian heritage. Even our Lord, Jesus, fasted to prepare for his mission. The question that might come to our mind is, what good does depriving ourselves of God’s good gifts do for us? Fasting helps us to overcome sin. One of God’s first prohibitions was not to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16-17). True fasting is not so much about giving something up, but about making room to receive what God has to give: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Mt. 4:4). Fasting is used to bridle sin, especially sins of the flesh. Fasting teaches us not to live for ourselves but the one who gave us life. St. Augustine says that it is helps us to avoid sin and increase intimacy for God. And it makes us more empathetic to our brothers and sisters who are hungry. Keep in mind that we can fast from more than food, i.e., you can fast from a warm shower, you can fast from speaking that witty retort … be creative!
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Almsgiving represents a specific way to assist those in need and, at the same time, it is an exercise in self-denial to free us from attachment to worldly attachments. We are not created for ourselves but for God and for our brothers and sisters. We are connected. Our alms also represent, in a sense, ourselves. It is a gift of our selves. You might consider when you fast from a meal that any funds (alms) that you might have spent otherwise, go to a charity that serves the poor; that way you will have an even deeper connection to those who are less fortunate.
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Lastly, we can look at the Lenten practice of prayer, which is enhanced by these other two Lenten practices. If you find that your prayer seems dry or useless, almsgiving and fasting can bring new life to your prayer. Our prayer is not just about me and God, but prayer is for the whole Church – this is most evident in liturgical prayer. I would encourage you to make a resolution to spend some time in the adoration chapel … sign up for an hour during the Lenten season.
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To conclude, these three practices: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, are tried and true parts of our tradition, so I encourage you this Lenten season to make use of these practices. Our ultimate goal is to participate in God’s divine life, just as the branches share in the same life as the vine. These practices can help you more deeply connect with Jesus who is the Divine vine. Stretch your hearts and drink deeply of what the Lord has in store for you.
In Christ,
Rev. Ron Nelson
