September 13, 2020 - Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Pope St. Pius X Church A Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise 625 E Haycraft, Coeur d’Alene ID 83815 · [email protected]· www.stpiuscda.org Phone: 208-765-5108 · FAX: 208-664-5325 Prayer Requests: [email protected], or call the parish office MASS SCHEDULE Saturday: 5PM (also livestreamed) Sunday: 8AM*, 9:30AM and 6PM Mass in Spanish: 11AM (1st & 3rd Sundays) Tuesday-Friday: 8:30AM Friday: 12 Noon (Rosary: 30 minutes prior to Weekday Mass) *face masks must be worn throughout this Mass EUCHARISTIC ADORATION Thursday, 9AM-6PM CONFESSIONS (IN CHAPEL) Thursday: 5PM-5:45PM Friday: 11AM-11:45AM Saturday: 3:30PM-4:30PM PARISH OFFICE HOURS Monday-Thursday: 8AM-4PM; Friday: 8AM-12 NOON (with controlled access) “Peter approached Jesus and asked him, ‘Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.’” Matthew 16:24
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September 13, 2020 - Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Pope St. Pius X Church A Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise
625 E Haycraft, Coeur d’Alene ID 83815 · [email protected] · www.stpiuscda.org Phone: 208-765-5108 · FAX: 208-664-5325
“Peter approached Jesus and asked him, ‘Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.’”
Matthew 16:24
From the desk of
Father Flores Two weeks ago, I wrote about the initiative taking place in our parish regarding the way that we engage with the faith. We call this “Purposefully Catholic.” I wish to reiterate that Purposefully Catholic is not only for parents, families with young children or young people preparing for the sacraments. All of us are called to conversion and this is done by engaging with Our Lord Jesus and His Church which is the goal of Purposefully Catholic. In the introduction a couple weeks ago, I mentioned four factors that compromise or challenge our engaging with Jesus and His Church and that they will negatively affect our continuing conversion. Last week, I wrote about the first factor which is the prevalence of poor catechesis over the past several decades. Today I wish to write about the second factor which I call, “Retention of Catholics.” One of the challenges of this factor certainly has to do with retaining Catholics in the Catholic Church. Many Catholics have left the faith and are continuing to do so, and this is something that we must face. I wish I had the solution for how to address this and how to keep people in the pew. Efforts to keep Catholics engaged have in-cluded everything from change of music for Mass, softening the Church’s teachings, more catechesis and faith formation programs and a general casualness in worship; but clearly, none of these have worked. The approach of Purposefully Catholic is to propose the beauty and the truths of the faith as they truly are and move us all to see the faith of the Catholic Church as something worthy of fully investing ourselves. If we do not accept the faith as something worth our full commitment, then it becomes simply a nice thing to do, the remedy for an occasional spiritual shot in the arm, or worse yet, a “mystical” hobby. None of these will keep a person in the faith because they do not demand a response, and they are not what is offered by the faith. The faith requires a response from us because retention in our faith is so much more than simply being present in the pew. Our Lord, through His Church, proposes truths to believe, morals to shape our lives, a mandate to serve the poor. All these lead to the greatest offering of all: Heaven. The authentic response required of faith will not permit a distant or shallow response but one that involves all that we are: body, soul, will and mind. Only this full investment in the faith will permit us to fully engage with Jesus and His Church which in turn will lead to our continuing conversion. For too long we have accepted that the faith can be lived from a distance or in a shallow way characterized by occasional Mass attendance, a rejection of the Sacrament of Penance, and dismissing difficult Catholic teachings; for example, those concerning marriage, human sexuality and social justice. In other words, it has become accepta-ble to consider oneself Catholic all the while being uncommitted to the faith, not being aware of what the Church actually teaches and outright rejection of fundamental and essential truths of the faith. It is no wonder so many have left the faith. Little has been asked, little has been offered and little has been produced to motivate an invested and authentic living of the faith. When non-practicing Catholics are asked why they have left the faith, many have no clear or thoughtful reason—they have simply drifted away. For many, it is not an outright rejection of the Church as much as it is a realization that this is not worth seeking because it has not motivated investing one’s life. In an effort to stay relevant or to seek people’s approval, the proposals of the faith have been so ignored or controverted that claiming to be Catholic doesn’t even cost the effort of making a decision.
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The faith requires a response from us because retention in our faith is so much more than simply being present in the pew.
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† Be Receptive †
EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is weekly, Thurs-days from 9am until 6pm. Please visit the parish website to sign up for a one-hour time slot. For those with no access to the internet, please contact Paul Orozco at 208-784-8251.
MASS INTENTIONS
Saturday, Sep. 12 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time 5:00 PM Ralph Burns † Sunday, Sep. 13 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time 8:00 AM Alexandria & Hannah Bircher † 9:30 AM Norma Blessing † 11:00 AM Spanish No Spanish Mass this weekend 6:00 PM For the Parish Weekday Masses Monday NO MASS Tuesday 8:30 AM Mary Sachwitz Wednesday 8:30 AM Richard Fairhurst † Thursday 8:30 AM Pope Francis Friday 12 Noon Justin Bybee Saturday, Sep. 19 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time 5:00 PM Dick & Judy Gardner Sunday, Sep. 20 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time 8:00 AM Rita Friend † 9:30 AM For the Parish 11:00 AM Spanish Ruber Josue Ribera 6:00 PM Michael Ralls †
NEXT WEEK’S READINGS September 20, 2020
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time First Reading: Isaiah 55:6-9 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18 Second Reading: Philippians 1:20C-24, 27A Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16A
PRAYER INTENTIONS We pray for those who are sick and chronically ill, especially: Ignacio Menica and Patricia Castellon.
And, for those who have died, especially: Joseph Dahmen.
Email [email protected] to be included in our prayer chain, or for special intentions.
-from previous page - The time to restore this is now and together we can become Purposefully Catholic and come to know and love the Church in such a way that seeking it, investing in it, and living it will truly become an integral part of our lives. Join us on Tuesday night for the Holy Rosary at 6:00 PM led by parish individuals and families, followed by Purposefully Catholic H@ME at 6:30 PM, livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube and accessible via our parish website. Join us in becoming Purposefully Catholic.
In Jesus and Mary, Fr. Flores
† Be Purposeful †
A message from Wes Miller Director of Faith Formation & Evangelization After my wife, Tausha, and I graduated from college five years ago, we moved to Coeur d’Alene and began to settle in to the community at Pope St. Pius X. Little did we know what we were about to get ourselves into…
Prior to this point we had become accustomed to being the youngest people at church, with a fairly large age gap between us and the average age of the rest of the congregation. If you’ve been paying attention at all to what the Catholic Church has been going through in recent years, you know exactly what I’m talking about. As time passed and our roots in the community began to grow, we quickly became aware that there was something differ-ent about the Catholic culture in the Coeur d’Alene area. We noticed faithful parishioners, and large families with young kids taking their faith seriously, and an active parish. The hope and joy this gave us was indescribable—we might actually
have a shot of raising a family in this community that keeps their faith when they become adults! More time has passed, and we’ve gotten to meet and befriend many of you here within the community. Our amazement with the local Catholic culture has only grown, even to this day—we counted over 40 kids, high school aged and younger, at the 9:30 AM Mass alone! No doubt God has blessed this area, and He is at work in ways beyond our imagination!
The good news doesn’t stop here. Through my work here at the parish, I hear stories of other communities like ours spread all over the country. I truly believe that the Holy Spirit is at work to do something amaz-ing with the Catholic Church right now! Our world and our Church are in desperate need of healing, and if we are willing to take an honest look within ourselves, we find that we too need healing. Despite the news stories floating around, when I look at our community and others like it, I see the Lord subtly bringing about healing. A generation of faithful Catholics is being nurtured. People taking their Catholic faith seriously. Parents making the necessary sacrifices to ensure their kids know the Lord and fall in love with His church. This generation is going to transform the world, and we are all invited by the Lord, no matter our age or state in life, to take an active role.
The Holy Spirit has been preparing our community for something more, something bigger, something to bring about healing. On September 26th and 27th, following each of the Masses, our parish will be taking the next step in our response to the Lord. I would like to invite you to be a part of this initiative. Join us for our Purposefully Catholic Kick-Off weekend and be a part of the healing the Lord is bringing to our world, and to each one of us.
I am confident that the Lord is at work right now bringing about something greater than we could ever hope or dream for. I know He has called each one of us to participate in His amazing plans. Will you accept the role God is offering you?
To Jesus through Mary and St. Joseph, Wes
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PERSISTENCE A few weeks back, the Gospel reading was about the woman asking for help for her daughter. As she was not a Jew, Jesus was reluctant to help her in her plight. Her faith in Jesus and her persistence paid off as Jesus, because of her faith, relented and her daughter was healed. I was reminded of that reading a few days ago when a fel-low (whom we will call Paul) called requesting bus fare to his home state of Tennessee. After explaining to him that due to the pandemic, our policy was not to meet in person, which is necessary to purchase a bus ticket, and that we did not consider bus fare for travel an emergency. Paul, friendly and calmly explained how, as a carnival worker, he has, as in many years’ past, headed out west to start the season of carnivals, rodeos, and state fairs to make what he needs to survive another year. The pandemic laid waste to those venues, and Paul was now in a situation of no money, having to winter in the Pacific Northwest with no prospects for work or a place to live. His calm persistence convinced us to don our masks and meet Paul at the bus station to help get him back home to family and friends.
Pope St. Pius X, St. Teresa of Calcutta and St. Vincent de Paul,
September 13, 2020 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time “For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” – ROMANS 14:8
This is the essence of stewardship – everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God. We aren’t “owners” of anything, we are merely “stewards” of the gifts that God has given us, especially our very own lives. Pray to God, daily, and ask Him how He is calling you to live the life that He intended for you.
DON’T HAVE INTERNET? DON’T WORRY! Call the Parish Office and we will get you registered!
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For ad info. call 1-800-950-9952 • www.4lpi.com St. Pius X Church, Coeur d’Alene, ID A 4C 05-1743
