C O N T R I B U TO R S
M r s . L i s a H i l l - S u t t o n , O. P. w w w. l i s a j u l i a p h o t o g r a p h y. c o m Our Lady of Angels P h o t o g r a p h e r / Wr i t e r / P u bl i s h e r M e l i s s a C h av e s Our Lady of Angels Wr i t e r / C o p y E d i t o r Malissa Coy Our Lady of Angels Copy Editor Jo s e p h S u t t o n Our Lady of Angels Copy Editor
Sophie Wheeler Our Lady of Angels Layout Designer Fr. Ke v i n O ’ Ke e f e Pa s t o r - S t . J u d e Spiritual Direction Fr. T h o m a s C av a n a u g h Pa r r o c h i a l V i c a r S t . Jo h n t h e A p o s t l e Spiritual Direction N a t a l i e S u t t o n a n d K a t e r i Fo o s Our Lady of Angels Te e n C o r n e r C o n t r i b u t o rs
Pe g g y L i u z z o St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Wr i t e r C y n t h i a Vi v i a n St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Copy Editor
C O N TAC T U S
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P R I N C E W I L L I A M C O U N T Y C AT H O L I C I S A L A B O R O F LOV E W I T H T H E I N T E N T I O N O F D R AW I N G C LO S E R TO G E T H E R O U R LO C A L P R I N C E W I L L I A M C AT H O L I C C O M M U N I T Y. W E B E L I E V E T H AT B R I N G I N G AT T E N T I O N TO O U R N E I G H B O R S I N T H E P E W S , W H O M W E M AY N OT Y E T K N OW O N A P E R S O N A L L E V E L , WILL GIVE OUR READERS AN O P P O RT U N I T Y TO S E E T H E G O O D WO R K S T H AT LO C A L C AT H O L I C S A R E D O I N G I N T H E N A M E O F C H R I S T. W E S E E K TO D E E P E N O U R P R AY E R L I F E , A N D G ROW I N T H E LOV E A N D K N OW L E D G E O F O U R C AT H O L I C FA I T H SO IN TURN WE CAN BETTER SHARE T H AT LOV E , K N OW L E D G E A N D S U P P O RT W I T H O U R C O M M U N I T Y AT L A R G E .
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Prince William County Catholic
TA B L E O F CONTENTS 6 16 20 28
F u t u r e f o r O u r Fr i e n d s
Te e n C o r n e r : O u r U n i q u e “ B u d d i e s ” - G o d ’s H o l y A n g e l s .
Pa r i s h i o n e r P r o f i l e : S h e r i S u e s s
Fe a s t o f S t s . A n d r e w K i m Ta e - G o n , Pa u l Chong Ha-San & Companions: Ko r e a n b e e f B u l - Ko - Ke e
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C o l o r i n g Pa g e : I n f a n t M a r y
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Pa r i s h D i r e c t o r y a n d B u l l e t i n s
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future for o
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our friends by Eric and Aina Ramarijaona
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We are the Ramarijaona family. My wife and I are originally from Madagascar. I moved to America in 1998 and my wife joined me in 2000. We now have seven wonderful kids from 5 months to 19-years-old. We have been members of the Our Lady of Angels (OLA) parish since 2001. The priests and parishioners of OLA have played a big role in our spirituality and how we raise our family. Our family has been involved in many ministries, such as Religious Education, Alter Server, Daughters of Veronica in Eucharistic Stewardship (D.O.V.E.S.) and Boy Scouts. These ministries have helped our family to grow in faith. They encouraged us to love and learn more
about our faith, taught us discipline and perseverance, and put in practice the Word of God. Being part of the parish ministries also put us together with other families from whom we have learned so much about our faith and how to live it. OLA is a great gift from God to our family and helped put us on the right path. Back in 2008, things started to turn around in our life when a man approached me after Mass and asked if we wanted to receive the Statute of the Blessed Virgin Mary at our house. We accepted and had her for a week. We prayed the Rosary for the first time and found it to be long, but it reached out
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deep into our souls. While watching EWTN, we began to learn more and became more fascinated by the Rosary. My wife and I used to work for the same organization and would carpool together to get to work. She started to pray the Rosary every morning on the way to work. I was at first intimidated by the length of the prayer but gave it a try after observing my wife praying it. As a result, we started to pray the Rosary as a family every night. From that moment, our spiritual life as a family changed dramatically. We started to go to confession regularly, read the Bible on a daily basis and go to adoration. We started to get in-
volved in the parish. In the same year, my wife became a teacher assistant for the parish’s Religious Education program and became a teacher a year later. She was later joined by my daughter. In 2011, we moved the kids to St. Thomas Aquinas Regional School. My son started to serve as an Altar server. And my daughter joined the D.O.V.E.S. ministry with my wife. This is a great ministry which helped us take our faith to the next level as we got to know some wonderful families of the parish who lived out our Catholic faith beautifully. The kids joined the Got Life Club of Aquinas. It helped us be aware
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of the need to actively help protect life from conception to natural death. Since then, we participated in the annual March For Life in Washington, DC, except for the two years we left to live in Zambia. Our family continued to grow as well as our faith and our trust in God’s providence. In 2012, my wife and my daughter did the 33 days preparation and the consecration to Jesus through Mary. They read the Imitation of Christ and Louis de Monfort’s book. She invited me to read the Imitation of Christ and I also did the consecration the following year with my son. Our priest gave me the book Life of Christ, which also helped me draw closer to Christ. By then, we realized the seed that the priest planted in our heart during our marriage preparation. We began to feel the joy of living in the grace of God and seeking God first in our life. We have been tested by life but with God’s grace, our faith continues to grow stronger. Our family finally knows what it is to feel the peace that surpasses all understanding. No matter what life throws at us, nothing shakes our faith but instead makes it stronger. In 2014, we travelled to Malagasy and organized Masses and gathered the Malagasy Catholic Community together. At the time, we had a Malagasy priest. We organized retreats and promoted the importance of the devotion to the Rosary and the Divine Mercy, as well as, seeking first the Kingdom of God. We then moved to Zambia in 2016. We still made sure to continue to attend adoration and regularly take the family to confession. Out of pure coincidence, we found the Missionaries
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of Charities close to our house and met sisters from Madagascar there. We regularly went to visit and helped the orphans there. We also took part in Kids With A Mission, an organization that helps disadvantaged kids. In 2018, we moved back to the United States and were very happy to be able to come back to our dear parish and friends. We still continued to serve as we used to through the ministries of the parish. I joined the men’s group, Defenders of The Faith, and continued to grow deeper in my faith with the fellowship of other Catholic men.
In October 2019, we participated in the Unbound Retreat. We were greatly blessed by this retreat as it was the icing of the cake of our conversion journey. The retreat helped us to free ourselves by removing the bindings that keep us from Christ. It was a very rewarding experience and we encourage others to do it. We did the 33 Days of Morning Glory as a family the following month and renewed the consecration to Jesus through Mary. We decided to take the kids to Madagascar for vacation and as a mission trip; it had been more than a decade since we last visited as a family. The consecration helped
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prepare us spiritually for the trip because we had no idea what to expect. Before we left, we tried to see how we could help. We were looking for ideas that would assist people in the long run and we were reminded of how our life changed. We bought two statues of Our Lady of Fatima, translated the prayers in Malagasy, laminated them and put them in suitcases. We also made about 90 rosaries,and donated them to the St Martin Church of Ambohimangakely. We shared our story with the ladies of the group who will manage the statues of the Virgin, and taught them about the prayers and how to manage the movement of the statues from home to home. In addition, since we were allowed only 11 suitcases, we filled them with gently used clothes, shoes, school supplies and backpacks. We managed to gather enough to fill our bags with the help of our family and friends. Our hearts were warm seeing these people happy and grateful receiving these small gifts. My wife and I have always had a burning desire to help out our fellow countrymen who still live under severe poverty, since we have been blessed with so much. An opportunity arose upon coming back from Madagascar. A Malagasy Catholic woman living in Mauritius contacted us through our Washington, DC Catholic page on Facebook saying that she is looking for donations to help a priest in a town located in the southwest of Madagascar to build a school. Her community already had raised funds for the roof of the school but they were looking for more money for the walls and floor. The priest, Guilaume Norson, grew
* Courtesy Photos
up in Behisatsy. There was no school in the area while he was growing up. One day, a missionary was stranded in Behisatsy and Fr. Norson’s family offered him to stay at their house. The missionary inspired Father to go to school. He grew up taking care of zebus (a type of cattle) and goats. He decided to get an education instead of raising livestock. He sold one of his zebus and looked for someone to teach him. He found a teacher in Antsakoamileka who taught him for two years. In 1989, some sisters got stranded in his hometown as well. After talking to them, they brought him to a school in South Befandriana. His education was paid for from then on, until he became a priest. He would bring treats when he visited his family in the village, but he knew that the kids needed more than candy to survive. He decided to do something to help them with education and give them hope for a better future. After getting in touch with Fr. Norson, our hearts were moved; we decided to send them funds to finish the classroom. Even after that, we felt that having one classroom would not be enough for this town of 320 families. Therefore, we took the plunge and decided that in order to raise more funds to help these people, we had to have a much wider reach. And from that point, we created a non-profit organization called “Future For our Friends,” with the motto: “Faith in action, done with Love, to give Hope to others.” Fr. Norson wanted to help, but he could only do so much. He has run out of funds because of COVID-19 closing down the church, and there is no source of income. Currently, there
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are two classrooms made out of sticks and mud--one that we helped to build with stronger walls and cemented floor for 250 students and three teachers that have not been paid since August 2019. We also found out the school has no bathroom and no source of water. Nothing to help sanitary needs. Unfortunately, the students go to school hungry and sometimes have nothing to eat all day. The needs of this town are not just for classrooms but we also discovered there is only one water well which serves these 320 families. They do not even have the basic human needs such as water and food to survive. Our goal is to build water wells. These will provide the village with sanitary and safe water, especially in this time of pandemic. In addition, we also want to build a school with three more classrooms with bathrooms and water that is decent for the children of the village. In the long run, we want to help the families have a stable livelihood and source of income by providing training and resources to start up sustainable agribusiness and other small businesses. We also aspire to create awareness on the importance of sanitation and living healthy lives. There is still more that we need to achieve for them to meet just the basic human needs. Father’s remark really made us get out of our comfort zone and do something. One day, he said, “When I come to
visit these kids, I cry seeing them wandering around like they’re not human children.” As he recounted, these kids love to come to the school and enjoy it so much that it is hard to tell them to go back home. This school brings hope to these children and this village. Father Norson also emphasizes teaching these children the Catechism, and made it his mission to bring the Faith to these children and their families. We would like to invite you to pray for us and this ministry. We feel in our hearts that God wants to achieve so much for this community and many others in a similar situation but He needs us to make it happen. From prayers to volunteering, donations to showing directions to get grants, every bit of help counts and is appreciated. We hope that you can join our family at Future for our Friends. As Jesus once said, “whatsoever you do to the least of your brothers and sisters, you do unto me.”
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Please follow our Facebook page at Future For our Friends” and also our website to find more information and how you can help: https://www.facebook.com/Future-For-ourFriends-100155478467222 https://ramarijaona1.wixsite.com/futureforourfriends?fbclid=IwAR2Hl6j4Y3AqM7AXKr6OIBy0Bsc971aTlnEbtAsyDrZKZi3HuHiOnKFfM5Y
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the pow er of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
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i Fo o s n d Kate r a n o tt u eS by Natali
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Our Unique ‘Buddies’-- God’s Holy Angels There can be times when we feel alone and feel as though no one is there to help us when we may need it the most. If you really think about it, though, you are never alone. God loves us so much that he gave us “buddies,” which we also know as our guardian angels. You may wonder, “What is the true purpose of guardian angels?” The guardian angels, in fact, have many purposes, but the primary purpose is the same: to keep us safe and on the road to Heaven. The two of us can relate to guardian angels keeping us safe, whether it be physically or mentally. Kateri was a “rambunctious” child and tended to sometimes get hurt one way or another. She recalls many times where she had come very close to hitting her
head, yet it almost felt as though someone’s hand kept her head from hitting the surface. I, Natalie, recall a time when I was in the car at a stop light. I was looking at a costume I had just picked up at my dance studio. I got distracted while looking down at my costume, and my foot lifted off the break. A car was in front of me, and right before I hit it, I felt as though my guardian angel pressed my foot back down on the break. Had my foot not pressed back on the break any sooner, I would have hit the car in front of me. Kateri and I know that our guardian angels were there to keep us safe during each of these instances, for who else’s hand could have protected Kateri’s head, or who could have put my foot back on the break? Our guardian angels, of course!
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As noted, the goal that our guardian angels are created to fulfill is to keep each of us on the path to Heaven. This is not always easy and as teenagers, the both of us know the temptations that teenagers experience. The temptations always come from the Devil, but there is one angel in particular who defeats Satan every time: Saint Michael the Archangel. Saint Michael is one of the great archangels that teenagers should pray to so that they may fight off the temptations from the Devil. The book of Revelation in the New Testament says that Saint Michael defeated Satan. (See Revela-
tion 12:7-9) What better angel is there to pray to so that we can be protected from the temptations of the evil one? Both of us want to remind you that your guardian angel is your best friend, sent from God, so that you will never be alone. Whenever you feel alone, your guardian angel is there, beside you. Never be afraid to talk to them because they will always be there to listen to you, protect you, and most of all, lead you on the path to Heaven.
The Feast of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael is:
September 29th, and the Feast of the Guardian Angels is:
October 2ND.
To foster devotion to the Holy Angels and explore more resources and prayers, visit https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/litany-to-the-holy-angels-264 https://www.english.op.org/godzdogz/sts-michael-gabriel-and-raphael
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Prince William County Catholic
PARISHIONER PROFILE:
SHERI SUESS, HEAD OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION, SETON LAKE RIDGE
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My name is Sheri Suess and I am the Director of Religious Education at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. I am just beginning my second year after stepping into a pre-existing program, but this year I get to create an entirely new program. Let me start first by telling you about myself and how I became involved.
to, but felt God wanted me to do this.
I decided I wanted to be a teacher when I was 5 years old. My confirmation saint is Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. I’ve been a member of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church for more than 20 years. I never thought I would belong to or work at a parish named for my patron saint!
I knew after a few months on the job that I wanted to have the RE program begin classes in the church with some time with our Lord. We started this new practice in January. By March we were starting to say the rosary at the beginning of our clases. And then COVID forced us to stop meeting on-site. We finished our year with our online program My Catholic Faith Delivered. We postponed our sacraments. But as soon as we reopened we rescheduled the sacraments and held our annual vacation Bible school (VBS) in person. It was a huge success.We had our First Communion Mass in July and our Confirmation Mass in early August. Now we are preparing to hold our family faith religious education classes and 7th through 12th grade classes in person as well as offering the live stream option.
I was a classroom teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools for 8 years, a private preschool teacher for 4 years, and a homeschool teacher for 11 years. When my youngest child graduated from high school early, at age 16, I prayed about what God wanted me to do next. The Director of Religious Education (DRE) at St Elizabeth Ann Seton retired after 30 years. The newest DRE got married and had a baby in the spring after taking the position. She decided to stay home and be a full-time mom. Father Bashista asked me to take the position as interim DRE until he could find someone to fill the position. I had no idea what I was saying “Yes”
I agreed to stay on full-time after only a few short weeks. I really thought I could only do it for a year, but here I am a little over a year later, and I’m so excited about the direction our parish is heading. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.
My mind is always humming. I am constantly thinking of new ideas and ways to improve the program. I picture families sitting in front of the Tabernacle in
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our church hearing messages of hope and love and I get more ideas! Our religious education program for Grades K-6 will be held in the main church this year while classes for Grades 7-12 will meet across the parking lot in Seton Hall, our next-largest space. Parents accompanying their children, learning together, and sitting with our Lord. They will learn about Him while sitting with Him. This pandemic has changed our program’s dynamics and I’m really excited with possibilities. I feel like COVID has given us a unique opportunity to evangelize the family. In addition to on-site participation, we will be live-streaming all K-8 classes and offering Zoom for high school families.
K-6 Family Faith materials include: Hardback Catholic Children’s Bible Colorful Bible tabs YouCat Youth catechism Holy Water bottle - Father will bless small sealed water bottles so they can be filled with holy water Beautiful Rosary Guide with scripture reading, virtues, and lectio divina R o s a r y Celebrating Catholic Families book “Hope” tote bag to hold materials Our intent is that the materials will be
placed in a “sacred space” in the home where participants in the program can add their own items like a crucifix, statues, prayer intentions, more rosaries, etc. Attendance and accountability will be an assignment for families to work on together, but will be grade- level appropriate. They need to be turned in weekly. I am in the process of figuring out an email option and adding a separate email address just for these assignments. I will have 3 presenters at each K-6 session each week to incorporate different voices, personalities, and to keep it lively. The lessons will be cohesive and include a monthly virtue and a weekly saint. Our entire program will be centered around Liturgical Living. Our Youth Ministry and Adult Faith Formation will be fol-
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lowing the same concept and be unified in feeding our parishioners from school age all throughout adulthood. We aim to make faith formation seamless so parishioners can go from one stage of life to the next without gaps. Each week we will have our “Directors of Communication” call parishioners to check on them, making sure they turn in the assignments, checking to see how they are doing, see if they need clarification about the lessons, and if the family has any prayer requests or needs any assistance in general. This program isn’t just an educational program; it is an opportunity to be part of a family, a community. I also am training catechists in various areas. Currently, we have “Curriculum Specialists,” who will present the materials each week; “Door Greeters” to welcome families into the Church each session; “Directors of Communication” to make the community-outreach phone calls, and a “Director of Curriculum.” In addition to our weekly Religious Education classes we will have sacrament preparation classes. Those will meet in Seton Hall throughout the year leading up to each sacrament. These classes will prepare both the student and the parent for the upcoming sacrament. It’s a wonderful time for parents to renew their love for our Lord as they journey with their child during these meetings. I shared this quote from Saint Thomas Aquinas with the catechists who are
embarking on this journey with me: “We can’t have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence ourselves.” We don’t know how things will go this year, but we truly believe in what we are doing and trusting our Lord to guide us as we share our faith with all of the families. We have an incredible staff that meets every week to discuss the plans for our parish and how to best serve the parishioners. I pray that this program continues to draw families closer to Christ. I want them to know Him, not just know about Him. My vision is to see families growing in their faith together while spending time with our Lord. We have an incredible community at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. We truly are all about making disciples. Our three ministries are working together to share the faith using virtue, saints, the Bible, the rosary, and the Catechism. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the support of my family. My children have all assisted in one way or another. This year my youngest will help with one of our Family Faith sessions. I have enlisted the help of my husband as one of our 8th grade catechists for the second year. He is my IT guy, problem solver, inspiration, and my best friend. We have the honor of mentoring couples in the Witness to Love program. This keeps our marriage a priority as we share our stories and life
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lessons with those just entering their marriage. I am also blessed with an amazing assistant. Mylene is not only my co-worker, but a dear friend that I have known for 6 years. We work well together and truly enjoy each other’s company. I also knew the majority of the people in the office, so taking this job has allowed me to be with friends everyday. What a gift! I have learned a lot this last year. The catechists, staff, and families have taught me so much. I wake up everyday and offer my day to the Lord. I ask Him what He wants from me each day and let Him lead me. He has guided me every step of the
way and I have grown closer to Him than I ever thought possible. I start each day with daily Mass and pray for all of the Religious Education families, catechists and their families, and our staff. I am so thankful to Father Bashista for trusting me with this ministry. Father Dort and Deacon Rob have helped guide me. I am truly blessed.
For more information about Seton Lake Ridge and the Religious Ed Program, contact Sheri Suess (703)494-4008, ext. 130, or at s.suess@setonlakeridge.org
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KOREAN BEEF
BUL-KO-KEE
STS. ANDREW KIM TAE-GON & PAUL CHONG HA-SANG, AND COMPANIONS by Colleen Rooney
www.celebratecatholiclife.
DIRECTIONS (SERVES 4) INGREDIENTS 1 pound beef boneless top loin or sirloin steak ¼ cup soy sauce 3 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons sesame oil ¼ teaspoon pepper 3 green onions, chopped finely 2 cloves garlic, chopped Garnish: sesame seeds
EQUIPMENT Glass mixing bowl Sharp knife for cutting meat Paring knife Cutting board Measuring cup Measuring spoons 1 0-inch skillet or wok
(For ease in cutting beef, partially freeze it for 1 ½ hours) 1. Trim fat from beef. Cut beef on the diagonal into 1/8 inch slices. 2. In bowl, add remaining ingredients and mix well. 3. Stir in beef until well-coated. Cover and marinade for 30 minutes or overnight. 4. Remove beef from marinade. 5. On medium heat, stir fry beef 2 or 3 minutes until light brown. 6. Remove from pan. Serve over hot rice and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
ENJOY!
I N F A N T
M A R Y
COUNTY PARISH DIRECTORY
OUR LADY OF ANGELS 13752 Marys Way, Woodbridge, VA 22191 (703) 494-2444 Online Bulletin Here
ST. FRANCIS 18825 Fuller Heights Rd, Triangle, VA 22172 (703) 221-4044 Online Bulletin Here
SACRED HEART 12975 Purcell Rd, Manassas, VA 20112 (703) 590-0030 Online Bulletin Here
HOLY FAMILY 14160 Ferndale Rd, Woodbridge, VA 22193 (703) 670-8161 Online Bulletin Here
ST. ELIZABETH ANN SETON 12805 Valleywood Dr, Lake Ridge, VA 22192 (703) 494-4008 Online Bulletin Here
HOLY TRINITY 8213 Linton Hall Rd, Gainesville, VA 20155 (703) 753-6700 Online Here Bulletin
ALL SAINTS 9300 Stonewall Rd, Manassas, VA 20110 (703) 368-4500 Online Bulletin Here
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