St. Rita Parish - Junior High Youth Ministry

Junior High Youth Ministry

RUSH Winter Retreat

Dear Junior High Students and Parents,

My name is Chrissie Cola and I am the Junior High Faith Formation Coordinator for St. Rita. I would like to welcome you to our Junior High Youth Ministry and Faith Formation Program. We have a great year planned for all our students! I am excited and blessed to get to know all of you and your families.

The purpose of this program is to create a setting where Catholic Junior High Teens can come to learn more about our wonderful Catholic faith, grow closer to our Lord, serve others, make great friends, and have fun! We will be meeting on Sunday evenings for our PSR/Faith Formation program. We invite you to join us on Sunday evenings for an engaging time learning about our faith. Click here to register.

We will provide many opportunities for your teens to be involved in service and social programs, as well as faith building experiences. I truly believe in incorporating our faith into every aspect of our lives, so we will intertwine learning about our faith into our social and service projects. We encourage all Junior High Teens of the parish, whether they attend the day school or public school, to participate in our Youth Ministry Activities. We have an exciting year planned, so please watch your emails and check back to our website for all the details on our upcoming events. I hope all of the Junior High teens will want to participate and I look forward to getting to know each of them. If you are interested in having your teen be a part of this, helping out with the program, or have any other questions, please feel free to contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , office: 440-248-1350, ext. 140.

In Christ,
Chrissie Cola
Junior High Faith Formation Coordinator

Teen Newsletter

Welcome to our teen newsletter! We will be sending this newsletter out at the beginning of each week to help us all stay connected and grow in our relationship with Jesus. We will learn about the liturgical calendar of our Church and what the upcoming week holds liturgically. Know that you are in Corey and Chrissie's prayers and we are here if you need anything!

Saint of the Week: Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto

Our Lady of Fatima (Celebrated May 13)

The Story of Our Lady of Fatima

In 1917, three Portuguese children, Francisco and Jacinta Marto and their cousin Lucia dos Santos, received apparitions of Our Lady. Our Lady appeared to them six times between May 13 and October 13, near Fatima. Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, for the end of World War I, for sinners, and for the conversion of Russia.

Mary gave the children three secrets. Following the deaths of Francisco and Jacinta in 1919 and 1920 respectively, Lucia revealed the first secret in 1927. It concerned devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The second secret was a vision of hell. When Lucia grew up she became a Carmelite nun and died in 2005 at 97 years old.

Pope John Paul II directed the Holy See’s Secretary of State to reveal the third secret in 2000; it spoke of a “bishop in white” who was shot by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows into him. Many people linked this vision to the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981.

The feast of Our Lady of Fatima was approved by the local bishop in 1930; it was added to the Church’s worldwide calendar in 2002.

To learn more about Our Lady of Fatima, click here!

For a Movie about Our Lady of Fatima, click here!

Gospel Reflection

Sunday's Gospel John 14:1-12

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.

You have faith in God; have faith also in me.

In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.

If there were not,

would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come back again and take you to myself,

so that where I am you also may be.

Where I am going you know the way.”

Thomas said to him,

“Master, we do not know where you are going;

how can we know the way?”

Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

If you know me, then you will also know my Father.

From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to him,

“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time

and you still do not know me, Philip?

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?

The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.

The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.

Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,

or else, believe because of the works themselves.

Amen, amen, I say to you,

whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,

and will do greater ones than these,

because I am going to the Father.”

Reflection Questions:

What is Jesus trying to tell his disciples?

Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
What does Jesus mean when He says He is the Way?
What does Jesus mean when He says He is the Truth?
What does Jesus mean when He says He is the Life?

What evidence is in this passage for the mystery of the Trinity?

Catholic Did You Know?

The Catholic Church is entirely responsible for the composition of the Bible, which books are included, as well as the breakup of the chapters and verses. Protestants have removed some books of the Bible because some of the verses were inconsistent with their theology. Martin Luther was a prime offender in this regard, removing Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach and Baruch. He also made an effort to remove James and Revelations, but this was rejected by his followers and those two books were kept. Catholics are often accused of "adding" the books, but despite this common belief, it is false. Older, pre-Protestant, Catholic translations of the Bible include them.