Catholic Ministries Appeal CMA
Next Sunday February 4 is Catholic Ministries Appeal Commitment Sunday. Before then, anyone who has participated in the CMA in the past will have received a letter from the Archbishop including a pledge card and envelope for this year’s CMA. You may choose to fill out the pledge card and return it directly to the Archdiocese through the US Mail. On the other hand, you may wish to fill out the pledge card, insert it in the envelope, and then bring it with you to church on Commitment Sunday. Parishioners in the pews who do not have a pledge card with them will be asked to fill out another, but if you have your envelope and card with you, you can smile and lean back while everyone else is filling out cards because you will have your completed pledge card in your envelope in your hand and you can place it in the collection basket at the offertory.
Please prayerfully consider your gift to the CMA. St. Ann Parish target is $ . If we all pull together, we can achieve our parish target and retain a respected position in the Archdiocese.
In my college days, my class decided to have a “car bash for charity.” We secured a car from a junk yard for free and had it hauled to our campus. When the tow truck went to move the car, the rear axles were frozen. The car had to be placed on trailer dollies (extra cost). About ten of my classmates simply lifted the car on the dollies. The tow truck operator was so impressed that he towed it for free. We made a bundle for the charity.
If we all do our part, there is virtually nothing we cannot accomplish. Please join me in supporting the good work of the CMA.
St. Blaisé Blessing of Throats
The blessing for the Feast of St. Blaise (February 3) will be offered over the congregation and given individually to anyone wishing it at Sacred Heart on Saturday, February 3, after the 8:00 a.m. Mass before confessions. I will also offer the blessing after the 5:15 Mass at St. Ann and after both Sunday Masses.
Ash Wednesday is February 14
Just a reminder, Ash Wednesday is February 14. This is the beginning of the forty days of Lent. You count the forty days by taking the four days (Ash Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) and adding them to the six weeks of six day (36 days) weeks. Sundays are not counted in the forty days of Lent.
St. Ann Future Committee
Parish Council has been discussing a “Phased Project” which would include new electrical and HVAC in the School, the razing of the old rectory, and site restoration, the retooling of the church boiler, and then the construction of a gymnasium without other amenities other than restrooms. We are receiving numbers from HVAC installers of Mitsubishi type units for school as well as electrical upgrading for the parish facility.
We will soon be at a stage in the Archdiocesan One Faith One Hope One Love fundraising effort when we are permitted to request the conducting of a financial feasibility study. Before we pay for this study, we have to refine and determine exactly the individual stages of the envisioned project before we ask the parish to vote on expending the money for the feasibility study. I am therefore asking for a volunteer general contractor, trade contractor, finance person, etc. to serve on a Futures Committee that will help me move the project to the point of a parish vote on paying for a feasibility study. In other words, I am looking for volunteers who will have the free time to help me get all the ducks in a row.
If interested, please email me at frtharp@sacredheart-fairfield.org. I would like to have a committee of about ten people, representative of the various trades and financial issues.
Reflection on Scripture
The old joke, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Answer: Practice!” may be applicable here. In Deuteronomy, Moses explains how you get to be a prophet. Answer You allow the Holy Spirit to speak through you. You may not speak your own mind. You may not nuance the message to suite your perspective. To be a true prophet, you hear the Word of God and act on it. There is no mixture formula. We add nothing. All truth comes exclusively from the Holy Spirit.
The word prophet comes from two Greek words and means to bring forth the truth. A prophet is not a clairvoyant. A prophet sows forth the truth by living and breathing it. By our Baptism and Confirmation, we are called to be prophets of Jesus Christ. We are commissioned every time we receive the Eucharist. Jesus Christ is the truth! If we are part of the Mystical Body of Christ, we carry Christ forth in us as we leave church, and we model his presence in us to the world.
Readings for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jb 7:1-4, 6-7
1Cor 9:16-19, 22-23
Mk 1:29-39
Theme: The healing of Jesus calls us to action!