The 2021 Mass Book is now open, for your Mass Intention requests (living or deceased). The Parish Office is open Monday to Friday from 9am till 4pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 9am till 3pm.
Please note, we have limited the amount of names that can be listed as the intention and if there is a middle name, only the middle initial will be used.
As I write this it is just a few days after the terrible events which happened in our nations capitol on Wednesday, January 6th. I would never have expected to witness such a terrible act of destruction and terrorism in the Capitol building. No matter how we might disagree over politics or even about the most important issues of our day and time, the way that day unfolded was a national disgrace. How can we ever hope to change peoples minds about what is morally right and wrong if we turn to violence and destruction.
This coming Friday, January 22nd is a “Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children”. I always wonder to myself why do people sometimes use violence to protect the sanctity of human life, the recognition that the unborn child in the womb is a human being. If we use violence than we defeat ourselves. We have lowered ourselves to the level of the perpetrators of the procedures which cancel the human life that God wants to bring into the world.
How do we convince people who think and act incorrectly about the most important issue of our time, of the wrongness of their thoughts and actions? First and foremost, by prayer. Why do so many people, who believe in God, forget the most obvious answer. Then there is the other side of the coin. Believers say they pray, about the respect and the legal protection for the unborn but, at the same time they don’t give the proper respect and worship towards God, which is His due.
Prayer must be matched by the proper respect and worship of God, these go hand in hand. Secondly, we must be able to converse with those who don’t hold the same attitudes and thoughts, as those whose consciences have been formed properly, in a rational way.
When we speak or act emotionally, rather than rationally, we lose the argument right away. The other person shuts down, They don’t want to listen to what we have to say. Third, we must use science as the launching pad of our defense of life in the womb. People want to protect the tadpole, the endangered bird species, or whatever it is that they feel needs protection. Why? Because science proves that what they want protected is life. We must use science to prove that life in the womb is life and not a blob of inert matter.
Fourth, we must use history to show that there have been various times when peoples and races have been subjected to the whims of others who declared they weren't human or they were not worthy of life. In our own country, as we well know, black people were considered property by law and could be executed at the whim of their owners. It is a disgrace that this was allowed to happen. Many people knew it was wrong but they allowed it to happen so as not to disturb the status quo. In addition, in our own country, Margaret Sanger, whose work led to “Planned Parenthood” (whatever that means), advocated for the practice of “eugenics”. This led to discrimination on so many levels in society towards others. Also, in our own time, but in Germany (1930’s and 1940’s), the Jews were considered “life unworthy of life”. That was the principle inscribed into law and which led to the deaths of not only six million Jews but millions of others.
Where does it all end? When we see what happened on Wednesday, January 6th, is it any wonder that there is such a profound disrespect for life in this country?
The Santo Nino Mass
This devotion, to Santo Nino of Cebu, popular in the Philippines and around the world, has its origins in the Philippines.
In the early 16th century, Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain to look for the Spice Islands. He landed on the island of Cebu, one of the 7,100 islands that make up the Philippines archipelago. The King and Queen of Cebu embraced the Roman Catholic Faith and as a gift Father Pedro Valderama (who baptized the Queen) gave her a gift, of a statue, that is today called “Santo Nino”. The Statue of Santo Nino has survived fires, which destroyed the Church were it was kept, and bombings (during World War II). Many miracles and powers have been attributed to the Holy Image. Today, the statue of Santo Nino is kept in the Basilica of Santo Nino which is located in Cebu City. The Feast of Santo Nino is celebrated on the third Sunday of January.
January 17th (Sunday) at 4:00pm - Mass In Honor of Santo Nino
All are invited to attend the Mass in Honor of Santo Nino.