Next Sunday: Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Celebrant : Fr. Williams
When does Lent begin?
Ash Wednesday is March 2, 2022. Ash Wednesday is determined by counting back forty (40) days (not counting Sundays) from Easter. Easter is determined for the Western Church (Roman Rite of the Catholic Church) as the first Sunday, following the first full moon, after the spring equinox. This year the spring equinox (in the northern hemisphere) is Sunday, March 20. There had been a full moon on March 18, so that is too early and before the equinox. We have to wait for the first full moon AFTER the spring equinox. The first full moon after the spring equinox is Saturday, April 16. Therefore Easter is Sunday, April 17, 2022. This is based on the Gregorian calendar set in place in 1582 A.D.
Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter based on the more ancient Julian calendar and presuming that Good Friday must come after the lunar calendar celebration of Jewish Passover (Jesus celebrated Passover Seder on Holy Thursday, the night before he died) Easter is celebrated by the Orthodox Christians one week later this year on April 24, 2022.
CMA
Today is called Commitment Weekend for the Catholic Ministries Appeal. Today and hereafter, we will have envelopes with pledge cards available at the doors of church. If you have not received yours in the mail, please consider taking one today and filling it out with a pledge or gift. You can put a stamp on the envelope and mail it if you wish, but I recommend simply bringing your completed envelope to Mass and dropping it in the collection basket.
If you are filling out the informational part of the card, please be certain to include on the last line titled “parish” either St. Ann Parish Hamilton # 906 or Sacred Heart Parish Fairfield # 746. Including the number assures us that any rebate from donation will be directed to our parishes and not to some other parish of the same name. There are multiple parishes in our Archdiocese named Sacred Heart as well as St. Ann.
Please make your donation this Sunday or as soon as possible thereafter. In anticipation of the new “Family of St. Ann and Sacred Heart” which will be inaugurated on July 1, 2022; let’s distinguish ourselves before the Archdiocese, so that all will respect our Family (formed from two very generous congregations) as a leader Family among the newly formed families.
Beacons of Light
We are told to expect the formal public announcement of “assignment of priests to newly formed Families” around the middle of February. If someone tells you they have special knowledge and know for sure, remind them that anything and everything can change right up to the moment that the official announcement is made.
DO NOT FALL FOR SCAMS!!!!
(You may be wondering why I keep running this same warning week after week? The reason is that I continue to get calls from parishioners concerned that I may have been arrested in a foreign country without money, or need you to buy cash cards for someone who is dying, or some other deception or fabrication. The scammers have even found a way to harvest my voice from the YOUTUBE Masses, and mimic me over the telephone. The “scammers” are indeed immoral and destined for the fires of Hell; but they always seem to exhibit sinister creativity. Please remember the following:)
Remember I NEVER solicit funds, donations, favors, or any request of any kind over the telephone, text, email, carrier pigeon, drone, etc. NEVER! Do not allow yourself to be taken in by scammers. Even if they have my recorded voice, it is computer generated! It is not me!!!
Considering a “Men’s Retreat Program?”
Over the next month, we will be posting information about a rather challenging ascetic retreat option for adult men from St. Ann and Sacred Heart Pastoral Region, soon to be a Family of Parishes. The program is called Exodus 90. Here are the personal comments of one of our parishioners who has some experience with the program:
The goal of Exodus 90 is spiritual freedom. We are all attached and/or addicted to sins or material things that are holding us back from being the men God created us to be. Going back to the roots of the Christian Faith through the ancient traditions of the Church of prayer, penance, and community helps us to free ourselves so that we can be the husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, and leaders that we are meant to be.
The outline of the program is simple and built on 3 pillars: prayer, fraternity,and asceticism. In short it requires commitment to one hour of prayer a day. Weekly meetings with a small group and fasting from foods on certain days, and giving up certain luxuries like sweets, a sedentary life, warm showers and a commitment to exercise. It’s difficult. But today in our culture maybe we need something a little difficult.
Please keep an eye out for more information and feel free to email any questions in anticipation of an informative meeting which we plan on having a few weeks before Lent. You know how the TV stations post a teaser announcement to gage interest. Well, that is what this is!
Synod 2021-2023
Although the meeting at Queen of Peace in Millville has already taken place, you are invited to attend any of the meetings held in other deaneries throughout the Archdiocese. Information about these meetings is available at “catholicaoc.org.”
Reminder for volunteers who work with or around children
If you are a volunteer classroom parent in the school, a coach, drama club volunteer, scout volunteer, etc. please note that you should have been moved to the Safe Parish program. Fulfillment of this requirement is mandatory for anyone working with children. Please contact your parish safe environment coordination if you are uncertain whether you are registered or approved.
Please be aware that failure to register with and complete the requirements of Safe Parish will result in your inability to continue to work with or around children in any parish and/or school setting. We have been informed by the Archdiocese that there can be NO EXCEPTIONS.
Live Streaming a precept Mass from St. Ann and Sacred Heart each week
Since I live stream both the 4:00 p.m. at Sacred Heart and the 5:15 p.m. at St. Ann; I usually manage to live stream both, but on rare occasions the internet is out at one or the other location. If this happens, be assured that I will make every effort to correct the malfunction before the next weekend.
Please remember to access the Sacred Heart / St. Ann Pastoral Region You Tube site by clicking on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVLLqbEY5hKWinwz069MVcg
Reflection on Scripture:
“From now on, you will be fishers of men.” Jesus uses the metaphor to convey that henceforth, the disciples will be engaging in evangelization. To make another play on words, one could say they won’t be fishing for “sole” (flounder) but for “human souls.” Jesus challenges his disciples to actively preach and teach so as to bring others to him. Jesus issues a similar challenge to each of us at our baptism, confirmation, and every time we receive the Eucharist. As we are one with Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist, we bring others to him to join us in the mystical body of Christ.
Catching fish is an occupation where you never know what is going to happen. Jesus is challenging his disciples to make the transition from the physical to the mystical; the tangible to the spiritual. One engages in fishing to secure food necessary to sustain life. Jesus calls the disciples to the feed the Word of God to hungry hearts so they may be fed so as to live forever. The concept requires one to use the tangible to explain the spiritual. It is a challenging transition from fishing to evangelizing, but that is precisely what today’s scriptures challenge us to do. Today’s scriptures may be summed up like this: Think as a human being but dream as an immortal soul who belongs to God. Transition from a focus on this life, to life eternal in Jesus Christ.
NEXT WEEK (The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Jer 17:5-8
1 Cor 15:15:12, 16-20
Lk 6:17 20-26
Theme: The Beatitudes as recounted in Luke’s Gosepl