St. John Vianney Catholic Church

09/11/2026

09/10/2026

THIS SATURDAY‼‼
Email Eileen to sign up and SHARE YOUR TALENT!‼👨🏿‍🎤🤹🎸🎭

[email protected]

09/09/2026

SAVE THE DATE ~ COLLEGE FAIR COMING TO SJV!

College representatives to be confirmed later in September.

09/08/2026

UPDATE: If your child's grade is not available - don't panic, add them to the waitlist. Adjustments will be made as the enrollment process is fluid for 400 +/- kids.

Our registration is open for CYBL; Please read all of website information, linka at the bottom of webpage.

Catholic Youth Basketball League, Prince Frederick, Maryland

09/06/2026

“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). God has called us to know him and to love him, not in isolation, but within the community of the Church. God’s own Trinitarian nature is a community, a communion of persons.

Growing up, my family was active in our parish, and generally I liked going to church. My mom ran OCIA for years, my sisters and I were altar servers, and such. But for me, the parish was more an anonymous crowd than a community. I was fourteen years old when I first began to experience the Church as a community of people that know me and are involved in my life, and I in theirs. A community of young and old, married and not married, from different backgrounds, languages and ethnicities. It was through a charism in the Church called the Neocatechumenal Way. Listening to that catechesis was the first time I heard the good news in a way that related concretely to my life, and it pierced me.

I am sharing this and I am excited because a team from my parish is coming to offer those catecheses here at St. John Vianney, starting on September 21. The Neocatechumenal Way is a post-baptismal catechumenate. That means it follows the same steps that adults in OCIA go through as they prepare to be baptized, but for those of us who were baptized as infants and never did a catechumenate. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “by its very nature infant Baptism requires a post-baptismal catechumenate” (CCC 1231). It is part of the essential toolkit of a parish.

I hope many of you will come and listen. I also hope to invite people who are far away from the Church, or who have drifted. Maybe it won’t be your cup of tea. Maybe it will change your life. I don’t know. It is both exciting and nerve-wracking for me, because I don’t know how it will go. I don’t know what the fruits will be. Only God knows. I just know I am grateful for what I have received, and I need to share that. And I know that when two or three of us gather, God is there in our midst.

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«Donde dos o tres se reúnen en mi nombre, ahí estoy yo en medio de ellos» (Mt 18, 20). Dios nos ha llamado a conocerle y a amarle, no en aislamiento, sino dentro de la comunidad de la Iglesia. La propia naturaleza trinitaria de Dios es una comunidad, una comunión de personas.

En mi juventud, mi familia participaba en nuestra parroquia y, por lo general, me gustaba ir a la iglesia. Mi madre dirigía la iniciación cristiana para adultos (OCIA), mis hermanas y yo éramos monaguillos. Pero, para mí, la parroquia era más una multitud anónima que una comunidad. Yo tenía catorce años cuando empecé a experimentar la Iglesia como una comunidad de personas que me conocían y se involucraban en mi vida, y yo con ellos. Una comunidad de jóvenes y mayores, casados y solteros, de diferentes idiomas y países. Esto fue en un carisma de la Iglesia llamado el Camino Neocatecumenal. Escuchar esa catequesis fue la primera vez que oí la Buena Nueva de una manera que conectaba concretamente con mi vida, y me tocó el corazón.

Comparto esto porque un equipo de mi parroquia vendrá a ofrecer esas catequesis aquí, en San Juan Vianney, a partir del 21 de septiembre. El Camino Neocatecumenal es un catecumenado postbautismal. Esto significa que sigue los mismos pasos que recorren los adultos en la iniciación cristiana que preparan para el bautismo, pero para nosotros que fuimos bautizados en infancia y nunca hicimos un catecumenado. El Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica afirma que «por su naturaleza misma, el Bautismo de niños exige un catecumenado postbautismal» (n. 1231). Es una de las herramientas esenciales de una parroquia.

Espero que muchos de ustedes vengan a escuchar. También espero invitar a personas que están alejadas de la Iglesia. Quizás no te va a gustar. Quizás te cambia la vida. No lo sé. Para mí, me da alegría y también ansiedad, porque no sé cómo será. Cuáles serán los frutos. Solo Dios lo sabe. Solo sé que estoy agradecido por lo que he recibido y necesito compartirlo. Y sé que cuando dos o tres nos reunimos, Dios está en medio de nosotros.

09/05/2026

CATHOLIC TRIVIA!
Despite opposition from church and municipal authorities, Saint Peter Claver spent his life ministering to the spiritual, physical, and mental needs of enslaved Africans in Cartagena. Approximately how many captive people did he personally instruct and baptize?

09/02/2026

Christmas in April Calvert County, Inc. is a volunteer non-profit organization that repairs and improves houses and other physical structures to ensure that low-income homeowners, especially the elderly, disabled, families with children, and military veterans live in warmth, safety, and independence.

Applications are due September 30, 2026 for the Christmas in April 2027 program. All homeowners must live in the home and consent to the referral.

Applications may be obtained and submitted online. For more information, call 410-535-9044.

Christmas in April Calvert County, Inc. is a non-profit organization that repairs and improves the homes of low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly, disabled, and families with children.

09/01/2026

If you missed Father John's Sunday bulletin message this past Sunday (30th), well that is partially on me. You can always find our printed bulletin on our main webpage, the Thursday 3pm email via Flocknote, and generally at noon on Sundays on Facebook. Happy Reading 🙂

Last Sunday we had a wonderful parish picnic. I am so grateful to all the people who worked really hard to make it happen. This week kids are back in school, and so are the teachers, admins, counselors, bus drivers, all the staff. It is a good opportunity to say a prayer for them all, and express our appreciation and gratitude for their vocation. I often think of a quote from Sam in the West Wing: “Schools should be palaces. The competition for the best teachers should be fierce. They should be making six-figure salaries.”

This time of year, lots of us are ‘getting back into the routine’. I admit, I have sometimes disparaged routine, the dull humdrum in contrast to the bright spark of adventure. I have teased my dad about eating the same applesauce and peanut butter crackers day after day, and joked about parishioners always sitting in the same pew. But routine can be good. Routine saves lives. Routine is how we look both ways before crossing the street, or signal before we turn. Routine lets us accomplish vital tasks every day without having to commit much brain processing power to them. Good routine is virtue. Pitchers go through an exact routine before attempting a feat of incredible precision. Gymnasts do the same. Basketball players before shooting a free-throw. Routine is the foundation of excellence.

In the spiritual life, too, routine is the foundation of excellence. A routine of prayer in the morning, when I wake up. Prayer before meals. Prayer before bed. Going to Mass. Going to confession. Reading the Bible. Praying the Rosary. Sometimes routine might seem boring. We want excitement, adventure in our spiritual life. We want to fly. And so we should. But first, we need to buckle up and go through the pre-flight routine.

El domingo pasado celebramos un maravilloso picnic parroquial. Estoy muy agradecido con todas las personas que trabajaron tanto para realizarlo. Esta semana, los niños regresan a la escuela, y también los maestros, administradores, consejeros, conductores de autobús y todo el personal. Es una buena oportunidad para rezar por todos ellos y expresar nuestro aprecio y gratitud por su vocación. A menudo recuerdo una frase de la serie *The West Wing*: «Las escuelas deberían ser palacios. La competencia por los mejores maestros debería ser feroz. Deberían ganar salarios de seis cifras».

Empezando la escuela, muchos de nosotros estamos «retomando la rutina». A veces he menospreciado la rutina, la monotonía gris en comparación con la chispa brillante de la diversión. He bromeado con mi padre por comer la misma comida día tras día, y los feligreses que siempre se sientan en el mismo banco. Pero la rutina puede ser buena. La rutina salva vidas. Gracias a la rutina miramos a ambos lados antes de cruzar la calle, o señalizamos antes de girar. La rutina nos permite realizar tareas vitales cada día sin tener que dedicarles mucha energía mental. Una buena rutina es una virtud. Los lanzadores de béisbol siguen una rutina exacta
antes de intentar una hazaña de increíble precisión.
Los gimnastas hacen lo mismo. También los jugadores de baloncesto antes de lanzar un tiro libre. La rutina es el fundamento de la excelencia.

En la vida espiritual, también, la rutina es el fundamento de la excelencia. Una rutina de oración por la mañana, al despertar. Oración antes de comer. Oración antes de dormir. Asistir a Misa. Confesarse. Leer la Biblia. Rezar el Rosario. A veces, la rutina puede parecer aburrida. Queremos emoción, divertimiento en nuestra vida espiritual. Queremos volar. Y así debería ser. Pero primero, debemos abrocharnos el cinturón y seguir la rutina previa al vuelo.