FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK

Dear St. Mary’s Parishioners:

Wednesday, February 17th, marks the beginning of Lent. Please see our schedule of Ash Wednesday Masses elsewhere in the bulletin. While Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation, participating in Mass (in-person or otherwise) is certainly worthy of praise and an excellent way to begin Lent. This year, on account of the pandemic, for the distribution of the ashes, we are being asked to pray the formula one time over everyone (“Remember man you are dust and unto dust you shall return”) and then we priests and other ministers will sprinkle the ashes on the crowns of your heads as you come forward. While receiving ashes on our heads seems foreign to us in the United States, it is more usual in Europe. If you look at photos of the recent popes receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday you will notice that they receive the ashes on the crowns of their heads. During Lent, we will have Stations of the Cross in English at 6p and in Spanish at 7p on Fridays. Also, the Sacrament of Penance will be available on Thursday evenings between 5p and 6:15p, in addition to the usual other times that confessions are heard: Tuesdays between 5:30p and 6:30p and Saturdays from 3:30p to 4:45p. You will find the “Lenten Regulations” in English and Spanish here:

https://www.scd.org/news/lenten-regulations-2021

The weekend of February 20th and 21st, along with all the parishes in the Diocese of Sacramento, we will make the Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA) at all the Masses.

In 2020, 289 St. Mary’s individuals and families contributed $64,571 to help thousands of people and families struggling due the effects of the pandemic, wildfires and other challenges. A quarter of the $64K that you gave ($16K), supported St. Mary’s outreach efforts such as the St. Vincent de Paul and the Gabriel Project. Please take a few minutes to watch the ACA videos, which can be found here in English and Spanish:

https://www.scd.org/annual-catholic-appeal

Finally, I know that some of you have asked about what the Church teaches about the COVID vaccines. It is important to inform yourselves well about Church teaching and to prayerfully discern what path you should take. Bishop Jaime Soto has provided the Sacramento Diocese faithful with a list of responses to “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQs) about the vaccines, which can be found here: https://www.scd.org/news/covid-faq Also, I recommend these articles by Fr. Tad Pacholcyk: “Must Catholics Refuse a COVID-19 Vaccine Made from a Cell Line….?” https://www.saintv.org/media/1/42/Covid%20Vaccine%20Abortion.pdf and

https://www.saintv.org/media/1/42/2021%20Should%20I%20Get%20Vaccinated.pdf (“Should I Get Vaccinated?”) Fr. Tad Pacholcyk is the Director of Education for the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

May you have a blessed week!

In Christ,

Fr. Berg