Monday, February 22, 2010

Announcements: 2nd Sunday of Lent

Dear Holy Roary Mission Parishioners, here are a few annoucnements:

Confirmation: After Mass this Sunday will be a meeting for all those who want to be confirmed, i.e. Gwen, Josh, Kara, Jim L., Alaina, Jim I, (and anyone else who is thinking about being confirmed). The topic will be the Creed and the Mass Parts.

Scrutiny: During the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sunday of Lent we ask those to be confirmed to come forward with their sponsors for special prayers called the “Scrutinies.” For those being confirmed, please plan on attending mass with your sponsor on those Sundays.

My Away Schedule: March 8 through March 11 I will be attending the annual convocation for all the Alaskan Priests. April 12 to April 19 I will be in Yakima, WA for a Canon Law Convention. April 27 through May 3 I will be in Mount Angel for continuing Education.

Gospel: The letter from Saint Paul to the Philippians asks us to be Imitators of Christ. By being good examples for others we open ourselves up to the love of God. It is that love, shining on us, that we can become transfigured. The transfiguration to me means that something happens in our lives that make us see God in a brighter light. When my friend Eric invited me to the Catholic Church for the first time I was transfigured.

Thank you (Basement Water): We are still having problems with water in the Church basement. I tried putting up gutters, covering the ground with plastic, shoveling dirt over it, and planting grass two years ago and it worked for one year. But I had to take down the gutters because I put them up wrong and they were leaking. So, thank you to The JD and Dee Dee Bennis and Pat Durbin for mopping up gallons of water!

Fuel Donation: Saint Andrew in Eagle River, Alaska made a generous donation to our fuel fund this month. The total was $6,358.03. Thank you very much to all those generous people at Saint Andrew. Your kindness is greatly appreciated. Nine of the Archdiocese of Anchorage parishes give to our heating fuel fund. The heating fuel, on average, is about $12,000 per year (Church and Rectory). Holy Rosary prays a rosary for these parishes the first Sunday of every month.


Have a great first week of Lent. Fr. Scott

Monday, February 15, 2010

Announcements: 1st Sunday of Lent

Dear Holy Rosary Mission Parishioners, here are a few announcements:

Ashes: There will be NO Ash Wednesday celebration at Holy Rosary. The Ashes will be dispersed on Sunday, February 21st, the first Sunday of Lent. Please invite a friend. One does not have to be Catholic to receive ashes. I hope to have Ash Wednesday in another village.

Easter Baptisms: Easter Vigil will be celebrated Saturday, April 3rd, at 8:00 PM. There will be no Easter Sunday Mass. If you want to have your baby baptized during Easter, please let me know. I already have three children/infants to baptize.

Thank you: Thanx to Pat Durbin for greasing our snow plow and the battery terminals on our Ford Pick-up. Thanx to Bernie Venua for helping replace some lights in the ceiling of the Church.

Fasting and Abstinence

Abstinence

The practice of abstinence: Abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays of Lent. This means that we do not eat meat. It was a part of the Christian practice up to 40 years ago.

Canon 1251 Abstinence from eating meat or some other food according to the prescripts of the conference of bishops is to be observed on every Friday of the year unless a Friday occurs on a day listed as a solemnity. Abstinence and fasting, however, are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Fasting

We are asked to eat fast during Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, that is, one regular meal, and two smaller ones, and no snacking.

We fast for two main reasons: (1) to prepare for a great event, i.e. Easter…you fast before the feast and (2) For penance, there are three reasons to fast for penance:

• As a sign of repentance for sin, one of the major forms of penance is fasting.
• Discipline, only if we are disciplined will God’s grace work within us
• As an offering made for a favor…beg for healing then fast.

There are two ways to Fast, a complete fast or a partial fast.

Complete Fast: For Example, fast for all of Lent or fast every Friday, etc. You can fast from particular foods, i.e., deserts, fats, meat, etc.

Partial Fast: For example, completely starving oneself is not necessary. One can eat one hamburger instead of the normal two. One can drink one cup of coffee per day instead of three.

For Lent, I plan to read a page each day from the "Little Black Book." If you need one of these books to help you prepare during Lent, please let me know. I would love to give up coffee, but I may do just a "partial fast." In the past for Lent I have given up TV, stopped chewing tobacco, and started saying the rosary everyday. Have a great week and see you Sunday…Fr. Scott

Monday, February 8, 2010

Announcements: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Holy Rosary Mission Parishioners, here are a few announcements:

Special Blessing: This Sunday there will be a special blessing for married couples.

Gospel: The beatitudes are a great guide for living our lives. They can also be a key to help strengthening marriages. Many couples are married on Valentine’s Day. The Catholic Church dropped Saint Valentine from the worldwide calendar of feasts. Please so the homily below.

Welcome Back: Welcome back Pat Durbin who has recovering from a stroke. Also, welcome back the Reynolds family who spend time caring for their parents in the lower 48.

Ashes: I may be traveling to another village for Ash Wednesday, depending on when our community at Holy Rosary would like to receive ashes. We will decide next week. Ashes will either be received on Ash Wednesday or the first Sunday of Lent.

Maintenance: This last week everything seemed to break down at once, the airplane had a flat tire, our air compressor broke, the car I use in King Salmon would not start, our truck here in Dillingham would not start. I bought a new battery and alternator to get our Truck/snow plow back in operation.

Convocation: Every Lent all of the priests from the Anchorage archdiocese get together. It is usually in Talkeetna. This year it will be in Anchorage. I will be in Anchorage March 8-12 to learn about the new revised Sacramentary.

Information on Saint Valentine is below. Have a fantastic week and see you Sunday…Fr. Scott

Homily for this Sunday

The origin of St. Valentine, and how many St. Valentines there were, remains a mystery.

Some historians hold that St. Valentine was a Roman priest martyred under Roman Emperor Claudius (c. AD 269).

Other opinions reveal that Valentine was a Roman martyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith.

One scholar believes a man named Valentine was a bishop of Terni born around 175 AD, who was taken to Rome and martyred.

Around that same time, another scholar says that Valentine was martyred in the Roman province of Africa.

Whoever he was, Valentine really existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. Today most of his relics are in the church of St. Praxedes.

The first representation of one of the Saint Valentines appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, a great illustrated book printed in 1493. Alongside a woodcut portrait of him, text states that Valentinus was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius the Goth.

This Valentine was caught marrying Christian couples and aiding any Christians who were being persecuted under Emperor Claudius in Rome. At that time helping Christians was considered a crime. Valentinus was arrested and imprisoned.

Emperor Claudius took a liking to this prisoner at first. But then Valentinus made a strategic error: he tried to convert the Emperor to Christianity -- whereupon he was condemned to death.

This is how he died. He was first beaten with clubs and then beheaded.

In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.

One legend says, while awaiting his execution, Valentinus restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter. Another legend says, on the eve of his death, he penned a farewell note to the jailer's daughter, signing it, "From your Valentine."

St. Valentine is the Patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travelers, young people. He is represented in pictures with birds and roses.

Why don’t Catholics Celebrate Valentine’s day?

There were several people named Valentine in the early years of Christianity. The Catholic Church did not know which Valentine they were celebrating. As a result, Saint Valentine was dropped from the Roman Catholic official calendar of worldwide feasts in 1969.

One scholar says, “The reason the Catholic Church dropped Saint Valentine has a lot to do with the fact that nobody is really certain about who is being celebrated - a total of seven possible candidates exist.

Valentinus, derived from the Latin word Valens, means “worthy.” For this reason Valentine was a popular name in the early Christian church.

Since this feast day celebration was dropped then, officially, no Saint Valentines feast day can be celebrated in the Church. If it were celebrated, I would be wearing red during mass this Sunday, not for sweethearts, but for the fact that one of those Saint Valentines was probably martyred for his faith (492 Words).

Readings for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 17:5-8
Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season, But stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit.

1 Corinthians 15:12&16-20
But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Luke 6:17&20-26
And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:

"Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Announcements: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Holy Rosary Mission Parishioners, here are a few announcements:

Rosary: We will be praying the Rosary after Mass this Sunday. We will dedicate the Rosary to all those who have donated to our heating fuel fund. Please join us, all are welcome.

Prayers: Matteo Guarino’s Mother died. Please keep Matteo in your prayers. Here is a message Matteo wrote to me.

Dear F. Scott

Two days ago we buried here in Pisa our dear mother Maria Lucia Guarino-Hasenkamp, who became ill very suddenly with pneumonia and septic shock, from which she could not recover because of her chronic cardiac condition.

I thank the Lord that she fell asleep very quietly, with a hint of a smile in her lips and a trace of the great beauty she once had, something age and intensive care medicine could not take away.

The funeral mass was held in the ancient church of Santa Cristina, where St. Catherine of Siena had received the stigmata of Christ.

The service and the street outside were overwhelmed by a crowd of people, from the richest to the poorest. I was approached tearfully by countless friends of hers I had never known.

I feel struck down by grief and pain.

Please remember us in your prayers

Thank you so very much, Matteo Guarino

Thank You: Thank you JD Bennis for coming to my rescue. For some reason I could not get the snow plow on the truck. It is normally a five minute process. The actuator contracted and locked. Snow plowing is a big and expensive operation. Our plow has saved us hundreds of dollars.

Gospel: Vocations are the topic for the homily this week. There are three possible vocations (or life choices) God is calling us to do, Single, Married, or Religious life. Once we have committed to one of these three vocations we will find more peace and happiness in our lives.

Pat Durbin: Hopefully Pat will be returning to Mass this Sunday. We are looking forward to his return after his stroke. His therapy is over and he is just taking care of a few doctor/dentist appointments before returning to Dillingham.

Have a fantastic week and see you Sunday, Fr. Scott