To Know Christ
And Make
Him Known
Pastor's Message
From the Pastor's Desk
Rev. Ed Dura
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Parishioners, Friends and Visitors,
One of the touching stories in the Gospel of Mark is the one we discover in the reading this weekend. Four men arrive on the scene at Capernaum carrying their paralytic friend, but the crowd is no mood to give way to their entrance. The new arrivals, however, are ones with creative resources who are determined not to be diverted from their task. Since they were not able to gain entrance through the door, the companions lower the mat on which their paralytic friend is lying in order to reach Jesus. When Jesus sees the enactment of their faith, he responds with a blending of authority and compassion: “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat and go home.” Amazing indeed!!! Jesus is delighted with the persistent faith of the four friends. Most of the people who are undergoing conversion or who are in the process of coming back to the Church are usually encouraged by friends through their examples and under- standing. Do you remember a moment in your life wherein you helped someone enliven his/her faith through your encouragement? Or were you engaging him/her with your spiritual resources which, in turn, animated him to renew his life as a Christian?
We will launch the 2012 Archbishop Annual Appeal on the two Sundays following Ash Wednesday. This year the assessment of St. Patrick Church is $46,600. We have a slight increase of $500 in comparison to the prior year. The AAA is part of our stewardship in participating in the ministry beyond our local church ... helping to fund expenditures for ministries, programs and services benefiting all parishes and people within the Archdiocese of San Francisco. i.e., Archdiocesan direct ministry, Clergy support, centralized and Universal support (California Conference of Bishops, Vatican). The total contribution from parishes to the 2012 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal is approximately $5.5million, representing over half of the total budget of the Archdiocese. Last year, St. Patrick was only able to raise one third of the $46,100; the remaining two-thirds of the deficit was assumed from our General Fund.
On Sunday February 19, 2012, we will have a 1.5 hour workshop beginning at 3:30 P.M. on the topic “Freedom of Conscience”. We organized this workshop to heighten our knowledge and reflection on the sacredness of conscience of every person, in view of the recent proposal of the Obama administration to mandate Catholic Institutions in providing contraceptives. For now, although the President has reversed the mandate, there is a possibility that this or similar issues will return for more dialogue and discussion. In the meantime, let us try to maintain a clear understanding of why the Catholic Church and other religious groups oppose the mandate. The issue is not about contraceptives, rather, it is one of conscience.
