Sunday Liturgy: 11:00 a.m., Tuesday Mass: 10:00 a.m.
Rosary: Sunday, 10:00 a.m., Narthex, &
Thursday, 6:00 p.m., Church Nave (with Bible Study)
Confessions: Sunday, 10:40 a.m., Reconciliation Room
The Church & Parish Office are open
Monday & Tuesday: 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Online map and driving directions to Parish
Parish Bulletin for February 5, 2012
Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Pope Benedict XVI’s General Intention:
That all peoples may have access to water and other resources needed for daily life.
—To see all of Pope Benedict’s General Intentions for 2012, go to the Catholic Links page.
Important Dates:
• Worship Committee: February 7, 2:00 p.m. in Parish Center meeting room.
• Parish Council Meeting: February 21, 5:00 p.m. in Parish Center meeting room.
• Altar and Rosary Society Meeting: February 23, 1:00 p.m. in Parish Center meeting room.
• Finance Council Meeting: TBA.
• Lenten Calendar for 2012: Click here. Note: listed parish events are tentative.
Note: on Fr. V's birthday, Friday, February 3, he suffered a serious heart attack.
The 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, February 5, will be celebrated by a visiting priest.
Sunday, February 5, Blessing of the Throats: Saint Blaise's feast day, February 3, is the occasion of the Blessing of the Throats. (In our parish, we will have the Blessing of the Throats after Mass next Sunday).
Two candles are blessed, held slightly open, and placed against the throat as the blessing is said. Saint Blaise's protection of those with throat troubles apparently comes from a legend that a boy was brought to him who had a fishbone stuck in his throat. The boy was about to die when Saint Blaise healed him.
Very few facts are known about Saint Blaise. We believe he was a bishop of Sebastea in Armenia who was martyred under the reign of Licinius in the early fourth century.
St. Blaise is the patron saint of wild animals because of his care for them and of those with throat maladies.
June 24, Bishop Isern to Make Pastoral Visit to Our Lady of the Assumption:
Sorry for the confusion! Bishop Isern was scheduled to visit on January 29 but our high school and middle school youth are scheduled to go to a leadership conference in Pueblo on that same Sunday. We asked the Bishop to reschedule because the youth are an integral part of our parish community, and they are also involved in the liturgy. Therefore, please mark your calendars for Sunday, June 24 for the Bishop to make his Pastoral Visit.
Three Important DMF Questions & Answers for Our Lady of the Assumption Parishioners:
What is DMF?
The Diocesan Ministry Fund is the main source of revenue for the Diocese of Pueblo. Pledges to the DMF are shared in various ways across our diocese, which covers 29 counties – over 50,000 square miles. The majority of the money is used to support and grow our diocese; some moneys are used to reach out to those in need inside and outside of our diocese; and other moneys are used to support the universal church.
Why should we pledge to the DMF?
The Diocesan Ministry Fund campaign helps us realize that God calls us to be sisters and brothers who belong to one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. We are people of many races, many backgrounds and many nationalities. Yet we are one. The DMF provides a bridge across our parish boundaries, across our cultural boundaries and even across our national boundaries. Each parish operating on its own can only do so much. However, when parishes join together, linking all of the people of our diocese, then we will see the generosity of God flowing through us into all of His people.
How much should we give?
We should all make a sincere effort to contribute an amount equal to one percent of our household income this year. This is a good time to reflect gratefully on how generous God has been to all of us and our families. Our giving should be an honest proportion of our resources which adequately reflects our gratitude for God’s generosity. You will receive a Pledge Card in the mail this week. Please return your Pledge Card in the envelope provided, next Sunday. Just drop it in the Offertory Basket during Mass. Your initial check should be made out to OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION. If you have subsequent payments, that check will be made out to the Diocese of Pueblo. Thank you so much for your support of the DMF.
Bishop Isern's DMF letter can be viewed by clicking here.
Valentine’s Day Fundraising Dinner to Send Youth to Creation Festival in Pennsylvania:
Bring your sweetheart for a romantic evening at a special fundraising Valentine's dinner at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 12 at the Sangre de Cristo Mennonite Church. The suggested donation for the entire meal will be $25 per person, but any donation above this amount would be greatly appreciated. Child care will be available upon advanced request. All proceeds will go directly to the participating youth of the community who are planning on attending this year's trip to Creation, the nation's largest Christian Music Festival, which is held in Pennsylvania. Please contact Elaine Sanders (719-404-3708) or Jonna White (719-783-4012) for recommended reservation and entree choice by February 9. Any students interested in helping in order to earn part of proceeds to put towards your cost for Creation, please notify Elaine Sanders.
2011 Tax Statements: You should have received your End of Year tax statements from the parish office in the mail. The Diocese will mail out your DMF statements for 2011 by January 23. Should you have any questions, feel free to call the parish office.
January Debt Reduction Update: Paying extra on the principal of our mortgage makes a difference. The collection for the first four weeks of the month of January for the Building Fund was $4,603.66. The normal monthly loan payment is $$1,200.93. By making this extra lump sum payment we shorten the loan by 0.59 years and save $4,433.45 in interest payments. The loan was just refinanced at a lower interest rate.
Between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011 we paid a total of $36,086.00 towards our mortgage, $9,533.35 was interest and $26,552.65 was paid on the principal. This shortened the loan by 5 years and 5 months and saved a total of $51,046.55 in interest.
Newly elected officers of the OLA Altar and Rosary: Anne Luman, President; Marni Tschumper, Vice President; Sandy Dunlap, Secretary; and Jean Brook, Treasurer.
Appeal for Parish Funding of Final Icon, Pierre Toussaint: Fr. Vicente is asking the parish contribute the $6,500 needed to commission the icon for Pierre Toussanit (click name for more information), the sixth icon by Father Bill McNichols. Thank you so much to those who have already contributed. $1,465 has been collected so far.
Pierre Toussaint, the former slave and hairdresser from Haiti, who is expected to be proclaimed a saint by the Church. Toussaint’s life was a miracle of charity and kindness. Born a slave in 1766, he did not allow that fact to prevent him from helping his fellow man, whatever their race. He overcame every adversity in his life through his complete embrace of the commandment of Christ, “Love one another”.
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From the Pastor: Treasures From Our Tradition — The Good News— Today's readings begin with a few verses from the book of Job (Job 7:6). First, Job complains that his nights drag on endlessly. Then, worse yet, "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle; / they come to an end without hope". Not exactly encouraging, these lamentations, not when taken alone. Ordinary Time— We are now in “Ordinary Time.” The term does not mean these days are dull, boring, pedestrian, or uninteresting. In fact, it means “ordinal,” or “numbered” Sundays, a season of the year when we follow the story of Jesus' life and ministry in an ordered way, with each Sunday assigned an ordinal number.
—Peter Scagnelli, (c) Copyright, J. S. Paluch Co |
New Email Addresses: The office at St. Benedict’s and Fr. Vicente have new email addresses.
Fr. Vicente is: <fr.vicente_stb @ yahoo.com>
St Benedict’s parish office is: <stbenedicts_81226 @ yahoo.com>
Parish Directory Photos: If you did not purchase extra photos from the Lifetouch photographers, your free 8 X 10 is in the office. Please come pick it up on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. All of the materials to complete the Parish Directory were sent off in the mail on Wednesday of this week. We should receive a proof in the office sometime in early January and then we can expect to have our Parish Directories here by the end of January. Thank you all so much for your cooperation with the photography. If you submitted your own photograph and it was a hard copy, please stop by the office to retrieve your photo. We scanned them and sent them all in digitally.
Lifetouch has fulfilled its promise to support a charity of our choice and has sent us a check for $127 for Catholic Charities of Custer County. An anonymous parishioner has also donated to the cause and has matched that donation. Thank you so much for supporting the work of Catholic Charities.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Tuesdays: Please sign up if you are interested in continuing the perpetual adoration that began while our teens were in Madrid. We are looking for people to sign up for Tuesday afternoons beginning at 2:00 p.m. and ending at 9:00 p.m. Come and “Be Still” with the Lord for an hour a week.
Call Patti Schultz at 783-9146 to put your name on the list.
Everybody loves a coffee break: Thank you so much to Mrs. Anne Luman who has graciously volunteered to be the coordinator to expedite the coffee time after Sunday Mass. We need volunteers to help in the set up before Mass and the clean up afterwards. We also need people to bring cookies, cakes, donuts or any other type of goodies to share. Please fill out the form attached to the printed bulletin.
Lighthouse Pregnancy Center Needs Seeks Volunteers: The Lighthouse Pregnancy Center here in Custer County is in need of volunteers who have a heart and a calling to the ministry of helping pregnant women and single mothers with supplies and counseling. There are volunteer brochures on the table in the narthex. If you are called to help, fill one out today.
Religious Articles for Missions Needed: Do you have missals, prayer books, medals, scapulars, crucifixes, statues and/or rosaries that are not being utilized? The "Rosary Beggar," (Peter Gaidos of Garland, Texas) fills mission boxes with your donations and sends the boxes to missions in 32 countries, including South America, Africa and parts of Russia, and to poor parishes throughout the USA.
We have a basket on the table in the narthex labeled "Religious Articles for the Missions" to collect your donations.
Altar and Rosary will send all donations to the Rosary Beggar.
Icon of St. Damien of Moloka'i Installed: The fifth of six icons has recently been installed to the
far left of the altar. For more information on St. Damien, click here.
Living and working in Taos, N.M., Father Bill is described by Time Magazine as “among the most famous creators of Christian iconic images in the world.” In an interview in America Magazine, he said: “I've thought a lot about this connection between our lives and the lives of the heavenly images icons place before us, and it's something I really must mention: What you gaze at you become. Not only what you hear and listen to, but what you see. Ignatius was really brilliant in this way. We always say, you are what you eat.
But you are what you see too, what you gaze at. We Americans will spend hours in front of the television, kind of the new icon that we gaze at, and it glares back at us. And yet, we don't make any connection with what it would be like to gaze at something that truly loves us, and wants to bring us close to God. We need to gaze at truly conversational, truly loving images... images that will return our love.”
Father Bill collaborated with Taos author Mirabai Starron Mother of God, Similar to Fire (Orbis Books) last year. The book features Father Bill's icons of Mary (embracing such diverse expressions as the Black Madonna, Latina, Bosnian, Greek, Italian, and native depictions of Mother Mary) accompanied by Starr's lyrical prose-poems.
Parish Council Minutes Published on Website: Minutes through September, 2011, have been added to the parish website recently. To access them, visit the homepage and click on the Parish Council button on the left or click here.
This photo of Parish Council taken back in 2002 shows D.D. Cazedessus, Gene Bidon,
Gerry Dearborn, Jim Christoff, Debbie Bayer, Tony DiDomenico, and Richard Hrpcha.
Rosary on Tuesday Mornings: The Rosary will be prayed every Tuesday morning in the nave of the church at 9:25 a.m. before the Tuesday Mass at 10 a.m. All are welcome to join in prayer.
Homebound Ministry: If you know anyone who is ill or handicapped or for whatever reason cannot come to Mass on Sundays, please call the parish office and let us know. We have a team of wonderful people here in our parish that travel every Sunday to bring Communion to the homebound. This is a very important ministry and we cannot help people unless we know about them.
Icon Paintings: five icon paintings by Father William Hart McNichols have been added to the church nave so far. For their stories click here. At the first of March, 2010, he began his artwork on the icon of San Isidro or Saint Isidore, and it was hung in the church nave in the second week of April.
The Montanos have generously donated for St. Isidore, the patron of ranchers and farmers, and St. Frances Cabrini. They wish to consider their donation a challenge to the parish so that the final icon, Pierre Toussaint, might be purchased.
Stained Glass Windows: Our artist in residence, Doug Bayer, has designed a series of stained glass windows which he based on the Book of Revelation, chapters 21 and 22. The three windows behind the altar will represent the new Jerusalem where God and the Lamb of God are worshipped in eternity.
The main altar window was installed on January 20, 2010. On Friday, August 4, 2011, the windows depicting the Archangel Raphael and the Archangel Michael were installed. The twelve windows on each side of the church nave will represent the twelve healing trees fed by the river of Life in Revelation 22. We who gather in the church will represent, of course, the servants of the Lamb.
Our wonderful friends from Texas have donated $32,000 for the three sanctuary windows. Each window in the nave of the church will cost $9,000. The round window, which will have a Eucharistic theme, will cost $11,000. They
consider their gift of the three windows to be in the nature of a challenge to other parish members to complete the whole design of the windows.
Past Parish Events: to view photos of noteworthy occasions from the current year to the Dedication Mass in 2007, click here.
Explanation of the Liturgical Calendar: click here
For a list of Catholic-related links, click here.
To see all the homepage banner graphics used through out the church year, click here.
Announcements for the Church Bulletin need to be written and turned in by noon on Tuesday of each week to the parish office. Thank you for your cooperation!
Traveling? If you need to know where to go to get the Mass times of the local church, checkout www.masstimes.org or call 1-305-598-2867. Hint: much more accurate if you select the ZIP code of the parish or the city in the Lookups by Option box rather than entering the city name in the Enter Here search box. If you don't know the ZIP code, try going to google.com and entering the city & state. Usually in the list of the first 10 results will be a hotel, Chamber of Commerce, or other business site with an address with the ZIP code.
