Happy Vietnamese New Year
The annual “Tet” Mass to commemorate the Vietnamese Lunar New Year (“Chúc Mùng Năm Mói”) was celebrated on Sunday, Feb. 10, at Columbus Ss. Augustine & Gabriel Church. Top left photo: Father Joseph Bay, the parish’s pastor, was the celebrant. Assisting were Deacon Jason Nguyen (right) and altar servers (kneeling) in traditional Vietnamese garments. Top right: Linh Doan serves 7-year-old Teresa Easterday while her mother, Nhung Easterday, watches. Bottom right: an elder hands a small traditional gift to a young person after Mass. The community shares food and participates in activities after Mass as part of the celebration.        CT photos by Ken Snow

Local parish and school news roundup

Dr. Hunt to speak at Resurrection
Dr. Allen Hunt, a former Methodist pastor who has become a popular Catholic speaker, will present a seminar titled “Find Your Greatness” from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at the New Albany Church of the Resurrection, 6300 E. Dublin-Granville Road.

This event offers an opportunity to grow in a deeper relationship with God through a journey of inward transformation and conversion of heart. Participants will be able to create a personal plan to strengthen and enrich the four life-giving spiritual habits of a highly engaged Catholic: prayer, study, evangelization and generosity. Focused on growth and faith-filled reflection, it will include Hunt’s presentation, inspirational music by George Lower, an event bag with a Dynamic Catholic book, journal and CD, and a snack. 

Hunt entered the Catholic Church in 2008 after leaving the Mount Pisgah Methodist Church in suburban Atlanta, a congregation of more than 15,000 members, where he was senior pastor. Affected by the prayers of a group of Dominican sisters who had been praying for him since 1992, this transition represented the end of a 15-year journey. 

He is the author of five books, including Confessions of a Megachurch Pastor: How I Discovered the Hidden Treasures of the Catholic Church.

The cost of the seminar is $25. To register on line, go to DynamicCatholic.com/NewAlbany or to the Church of the Resurrection website, www.cotrna.org, and click on the “Find your Greatness” icon, or contact Gayle Kerkman at (614) 429-7308 or gkerkman@gmail.com.

Resurrection to host 33 hours of Adoration
New Albany Church of the Resurrection, 6300 E. Dublin-Granville Road, will host 33 hours of Eucharistic Adoration in front of the exposed Blessed Sacrament each Thursday during Lent to remember the 33 years Jesus lived on earth. The 33 hours will begin after the Thursday 9 a.m. Mass and continue throughout the day and night until Friday at 6:30 p.m., followed by Stations of the Cross at 7.   

Adoration will take place in the parish Reservation Chapel, located just behind the church’s main altar and accessible from outside the building. There will be a minimum of two people in the chapel during each of the 33 hours. The weekly Adoration will begin Thursday and Friday, March 7 and 8, and continue each week until Thursday and Friday, April 11 and 12, the week before Good Friday.

The church also offers Adoration on the third Sunday of the month, following the 11 a.m. Mass and continuing until 4 p.m. There are two possible exceptions to the third Sunday date, and those involve Divine Mercy and Corpus Christi Sundays. For 2019, both those dates are on the fourth Sunday of the month, so Adoration will be moved to those dates – April 28 for Divine Mercy and June 23 for Corpus Christi.

Three Bags Full sale will take place at three sites
The 16th semiannual Three Bags Full consignment event will take place at three central Ohio locations in February, March and April. 

Sale dates and sites are: Tuesday, Feb. 26 to Saturday, March 2, Grove Community Christian Church, 3420 Blacklick Eastern Road N.W., Baltimore; Tuesday, March 12 to Saturday, March 16, Franklin County Fairgrounds, 5035 Northwest Parkway, Hilliard; and Tuesday, April 9 to Saturday, April 14, Hartford Fairgrounds, 14028 Fairgrounds Road, Croton.

Sale times at each site are 6:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday (7 to 9 in Baltimore), 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Tuesday-night shopping is limited to those who have purchased $12 passes online at the event’s website, www.threebagsfull.info. The pass admits two adults, and the proceeds benefit local families in need. Selected items will be available for half-price Friday night and Saturday at all three locations.

Again this year, there will be specific shopping hours for grandparents, foster parents, parents of special-needs children, new mothers, and heroes (teachers, first responders and military personnel). More information is available on the website.  

The sale began in 2004 in Newark with 12 participating families. Today, more than 500 families sell quality children’s items of all types, as well as teen items, adult men’s and women’s clothing, and maternity wear. Thousands of shoppers from a 100-mile radius come to the event, which takes place on spring and fall weekends, with a Christmas event in November. More than 10,000 items are donated for each sale. All items must be current, clean, neat and of good quality.

Sellers earn money on the items they make available. They name the selling price and earn 65 percent. If they volunteer to help with the sale, they can earn as much as 80 percent. They also receive a presale pass for sellers only. Unsold and unclaimed items are picked up by the sellers or are donated to Catholic and pro-life charities such as Joseph’s Coat and the Joint Organization for Inner-City Needs (JOIN) in Columbus and the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Newark, as well as other nonprofit charities.

It’s easy to become a seller. Complete details and registration information may be found at the website. An automated, online bar-coded tagging system is used. 

Each seller, upon registering, receives a consignor number which identifies the family and is built into the bar code.  Families price their own items, determining the selling price of each.  Bar codes are scanned at checkout so families can log into their online account to see a listing of what sold each day.

For more information, go to the website or call Joyce Black at (614) 561-5300.

Hope Task Force sponsors day of self-care
Are you a caregiver, first responder, crisis counselor or other helper who has felt discouraged, isolated or ashamed? Is your passion to serve others at risk of being darkened by burnout, negativity or compassion fatigue?

Whether this description applies to you or not, you are invited to a day of self-care and healing with the title “Lighten Your Load, Brighten Your Light,” sponsored by the diocesan Hope Task Force, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 9 at the Martin de Porres Center, 2330 Airport Drive, Columbus.

Presentations during the program will be dedicated to renewal, healing and community building.

There is no charge, Lunch will be provided. Space is limited, so register at tinyurl.com/DHTF-register or contact Andrea Pannell at (614) 241-2550 or apannell@columbuscatholic.org.

Dittoe to speak to men’s luncheon club
Mike Dittoe of Columbus St. Andrew Church will speak at the March meeting of the Catholic Men’s Luncheon Club on the origins of Catholic life in central Ohio. The club will meet Friday, March 1 at Columbus St. Patrick Church, 280 N. Grant Ave. Lunch will be served after the church’s 11:45 a.m. Mass, and the meeting will end by 1 p.m. No reservations are necessary. A $10 donation is requested to cover the cost of the lunch. 

The meeting will be sponsored by the Egan-Ryan Funeral Service. Contact Jim Gernetske at jimgernetske@gmail.com if you are interested in sponsoring a club luncheon.

For information on the club, visit www.catholicmensministry.com/cmlc or contact club president Craig Heppner at craigkofc@gmail.com.

St. Mary German Village to change Mass times
Beginning on March 10, the First Sunday of Lent, the Sunday Mass currently celebrated at 11:30 a.m. for Columbus St. Mary, Mother of God Church will be at 11 a.m. The church’s other Sunday Mass still will be at 9 a.m. The 4 p.m. Saturday Mass will be moved temporarily to Columbus St. Leo Church, 221 Hanford St.

Both Sunday Masses will continue to be celebrated in the gymnasium of the parish school, 700 S. 3rd St., while renovation is being completed at the church, which has been closed since being struck by lightning in 2016.

Father Kevin Lutz, pastor, says he anticipates that the church will reopen for Masses on Palm Sunday, April 14.

St. Charles presents 'The 100 Dresses'
The drama department of Columbus St. Charles Preparatory School, 2010 E. Broad St., will present its winter production, the central Ohio premiere of The Hundred Dresses, at 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, Feb. 21 to 23 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Reservations may be placed by calling the St. Charles main office at (614) 252-6714 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Hundred Dresses is a musical by Ralph Covert and G. Riley Mills, based on the Newbery honor book by Eleanor Estes. This timeless tale is filled with colorful characters, but  deals with topics such as bullying, friendship and forgiveness. 

Cast members include Claire Ferguson, Samantha Fox, Anna Turek, Jack Margiotta, Alexa Kreuzer, Donald Search, Mariel Trinidad and Noah Kuhr.

Run the Race Club to present ‘The Wizard of Oz’
The Run the Race Club, which provides after-school and summer programs for young people in Columbus. inner city, will be presenting its first theatrical production, The Wizard of Oz, featuring young people from the city’s Hilltop area and directed by 15-year-old Charles Easley, next month.

Dates for the show are Friday to Sunday, March 22 and 24 and March 29 to 31 in the Run the Race center at 880 S. Wayne Ave. Times are 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. 

Tickets will be $5. There will be a concession stand and raffle tickets will be sold. Dinner will be served for an additional $5 after the hourlong play on Sundays.

Easley, who will be making his debut as a director, is a lifelong resident of the Hilltop. He attended Columbus public schools through eighth grade and is a freshman at Columbus Bishop Ready High School.

Since 2005, the Run the Race Club has provided activities that promote personal and educational achievement for young people.

Its founder, Rachel Muha, began the organization as a positive response to the slaying of her son Brian, one of two Franciscan University of Steubenville students murdered by people who assaulted them in their off-campus home on May 31, 1999, took them to a nearby area of Pennsylvania and killed them.

Muha forgave the assailants and set up the club and a foundation named for Brian to help children growing up in circumstances similar to Brian’s killers. It began at Columbus Holy Family Church and outgrew that location and one another site before moving to its current location. It also offers seasonal activities at a farm in Galloway. More than 400 children attend its programs year-round.   

St. Michael pre-K accepting registration
The pre-kindergarten program for Worthington St. Michael School is accepting registration for full- and part-time classes for the 2019-2020 school year. 

The program uses the Disciple of Christ, Education in Virtue model and also offers the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, which is a Montessori-based, hands-on Catholic education program.

For more information, go to https://www.stmichaelworthington.org/admissions/preschool or contact Laura Wells at (614) 885-3149 or lwells@cdeducation.org.