Next Sunday: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Fr. Tharp
St. Ann Pleasant Avenue Front Doors
Since before Christmas we have had problems with someone propping the left (as you go out) door open and leaving it until I am done greeting the people. I have closed it before I greeted the people leaving on a couple occasions. As long as it is below fifty degrees Fahrenheit outside, I suggest that we do NOT prop the doors open!
CMA 2021
This Sunday we begin announcements for the 2021 Catholic Ministries Appeal. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati asks every parish to do its part to fund essential programs and services in the Archdiocese that are beyond the capacity of any individual parish or pastoral region, but can be funded if all the parishes pool their resources and provide the services on a diocesan-wide basis. The “fair share” target that has been set by the Archdiocese for St. Ann is $21,210. We will hear the Archbishop’s annual homily message to the people of all the parishes of the Archdiocese at the end of this month.
Moral implications of COVID-19 Vaccines
Some have accused the Catholic Church of moral duplicity in its teaching regarding abortion and the use of fetal cells harvested from aborted babies in the development and testing of vaccines like the COVID-19 vaccine. The USCCB website cited below reports the following: One of the three pharmaceutical companies making the vaccine apparently did use a compromised cell line in design, development or production, but it would seem that the other two did not. Later confirmatory tests applied to this vaccine manufactured by the three companies may have used the compromised HEK293 cell line.
The entire document is available on the USCCB.org website at: https://www.usccb.org/moral-considerations-covid-vaccines.
The following statement from page 5 of the referenced document seems to sum up the advice of the USCCB regarding the moral issue associated with the vaccines. It reads, “In view of the gravity of the current pandemic and the lack of availability of alternative vaccines, the reasons to accept the new COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are sufficiently serious to justify their use, despite their remote connection to morally compromised cell lines.”
Communion on the Tongue
Please remember as I stated in recent articles, until the threat of COVID is over; if you wish to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, you must come to me (Fr. Tharp) ONLY and you must be sure you are at the end of my line. Please do not present yourselves to Fr. Schmitz or any of the Lay Eucharistic Ministers for communion on the tongue! If on Sundays, you see that I am going to be at St. Ann, then you must come to St. Ann that Sunday if you want to receive ONLY on the tongue. I am not willing to ask Fr. Schmitz or any of the Lay Eucharistic Ministers to take a risk with which they are uncomfortable. Be assured, I will follow all the protocols necessary to administer on the tongue safely.
Live Streaming a precept Mass from St. Ann and Sacred Heart each week
Please remember to access the Sacred Heart / St. Ann Pastoral Region youtube site by clicking on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVLLqbEY5hKWinwz069MVcg
Reflection on Scripture: Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s prescribed readings from Sacred Scripture are all about “vocation.” In the first reading, God is calling young Samuel, but he cannot recognize who is calling him. In the gospel, Jesus invites some of John the Baptist’s disciples to come and see where he and his disciples are staying. Jesus even gives Simon the fisherman a nickname. In the reading from First Corinthians, Paul reminds us that we are saved “body and soul” by Christ. Therefore we cannot abuse our bodies in immoral behavior and then say we are spiritually united with Christ.
How do we hear God’s call? Do we listen and then rationalize like the Corinthians? Do we listen and then philosophically analyze how we can make the message comfortable (no challenging)? Do we not listen at all and say it was a wrong number? Remember that the Holy Spirit is constantly trying to communicate with us. Are we listening or are we otherwise engaged? Do you really want to tell God that you think he has the wrong number?
Next Week: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jon 3:1-5, 10
1 Cor 7:29-31
Mk 1:14-20
Theme: Calling of the Apostles