ST. PIUS X CATHOLIC COMMUNITY 16 Smithville Crescent, St. John’s, NL A1B 2V2 Tel.# 754-0170 Finding God in All Things 4 TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME January 31, 2021 SUNDAY FLOCK Fr. Earl Smith, SJ (Pastor and Superior of St. John’s Jesuits) ([email protected]) Fr. Wayne Bolton, SJ (Associate Pastor) ([email protected]) Maria R. Kelsey (Pastoral Assistant and Religious Education Coordinator) ([email protected]) Parish E-mail: [email protected]Webpage: www.spx.ca Archdiocesan Webpage: www.rcsj.org www.spx.ca
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ST. PIUS X CATHOLIC COMMUNITY
16 Smithville Crescent, St. John’s, NL A1B 2V2Tel.# 754-0170
Finding God in All Things
4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIMEJanuary 31, 2021
SUNDAY FLOCK
Fr. Earl Smith, SJ (Pastor and Superior of St. John’s Jesuits) ([email protected])
Lent begins in three weeks on February 17th. It is usual for our parish to consider a LentenMission or something in Easter Season. This year the following proposal is offered to ouryou, our parishioners, and others. Please give to it your consideration. I believe it has greatpotential to be a great blessing for our parish through its participant parishioners. Don’thesitate to phone me at 754-0170 if you’d like to learn more about it. It will be promotedover the next few weeks.
Fr. Earl Smith, SJ
These weekly Lenten sessions are designed to help participants move closer to Jesus bypraying with scriptures. Fr. Earl Smith, SJ and Fr. Charlie Pottie, SJ, both seasoned Jesuitsand Ignatian spiritual guides, will lead the sessions and help participants to encounter Jesusthrough prayer forms such as reading of scriptures, reflection, Ignatian imaginative prayer,contemplations, and sharing. Each session will include a short instruction on prayer, readingand pondering scripture, guides imagination, and spiritual conversations. The sessions willfocus on the following familiar scripture passages (Shared Common Lectionary for Lent, YearA):
1. Matthew 4:1-11 The Temptations
2. Matthew 17:1-9 Transfigurations
3. John 4:5-42 The Samaritan Woman at the Well
4. John 9:1-41 The Man Born Blind
5. John 11:1-45 The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead
6. Matthew 21:1-11 Jesus Entry to Jerusalem
The online-sessions will be on Thursdays in LentFebruary 18 and 25 and March 4, 11, 18, and 25
from 7:00 - 8:30 pm NST
If you are interested, send a note to our dedicated e-mail [email protected] .Also, please pass along this information and invitation to others who might be interested inthis opportunity and spiritual Lenten journey.
There is no charge for the series. It is offered as a collaboration between Queen’s Collegeand the Jesuit Community, St. John’s, NL.
You could read/discuss/pray with your family,with friends or by yourself.’First Reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:32-35
95Psalm: Gospel: Mark 1:21-28
OUR ‘PIUS’ SMILE QUARANTINE JOKES
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because thechicken behind it didn’t know how to sociallydistance properly.
Two grandmothers were bragging about theirprecious darlings. One of them says to the other,“Mine are so good at social distancing, theywon’t even call me.”
Who’s idea was it to sing “Happy Birthday”while washing your hands? Now every time I goto the bathroom, my kids expect me to walk outwith a cake.
My husband purchased a world map and thengave me a dart and said, “Throw this andwherever it lands—that’s where I’m taking youwhen this pandemic ends.” Turns out, we’respending two weeks behind the fridge.
LECTIO DIVINA
Pope Francis encourages people to practice a meditative reading of the Bible, especially the Gospels or Psalms. Salt and Light Catholic Television (Rogers #240) broadcasts how this can be done with Cardinal Tagle (Manila) and Cardinal Collins (Toronto). Take the Gospel for Sunday, read aloud a few words, pause for a moment, re-read those words. Apply to our life today. Read the next few words. It works like that. Try it. Experiment by yourself and with others.
Members are invited to renew theirmembership in the Catholic Women’s
League for 2021. You can place your fee ($20.00) in an envelope clearly marked Catholic Women’s League, ATTN: Mabel Ryan, and drop off at the Parish Office or place in the collection box at the weekend Masses. Please include your name, mailing address, phone number, email address, and any other comments. Thank you.
St. Pius X Catholic Women’s League invites women of the Parish to join our Council.
LIVE STREAMUPDATE
We continue to suffer through some technicaldifficulties with our sound system but with thepromise of professional assistance are hopeful tosoon upgrade. In the meantime, a decision has beenmade to continue our 10:00 am Sunday Mass, LiveStream. The audio, while not the best, ‘works formany persons’. Of course there is always the optionof giving it a break for now. We don’t wish to looseany of our Live Stream audience, rather, we hope itgrows! Thanks for understanding...
Fr. Earl Smith, SJ
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT...“One kind word can warm three wintermonths.” A Japanese Proverb
OFFERTORYCOLLECTION
January 23 and 24: $2,831.00Envelopes: $2,718.00 Loose: $113.00
trouble, just like you would rescue your pet if it
was in danger. All you need to do is trust God.
God, you promise to come to my rescue.
When I’m in trouble, I just need to trust you.
CALLING OUR PARENTS
AND GRANDPARENTS
UPDATEON SACRAMENTS
We have begun our Reconciliation Preparation Program. Due to COVID 19 protocols we will not be having group in-person gatherings as we have had in the past but will be working with each family individually. If you would like to have your child participate in this program or have some questions about it, please contact Maria Kelsey at [email protected] .
We are now ready to begin our First Communion/Confirmation Preparation Program. If your child was registered in this program last year or you would like to begin this year, you are invited to participate in this program. You can contact Maria Kelsey at [email protected] who looks forward to hearing from you.
Please check with the bulletin or our parish web page, www.spx.ca for upcoming news on this. The target date to begin this program will be February 10, 2021.
SAINTS SPEAK
Of God himself no man can think. He may well be loved, but not thought. By love he may be grasped and held; by thought never. Although it is good at times to think especially of the kindness and goodness of God, and although this may enlighten you and play a part in contemplation, nevertheless in this work such thoughts shall be put down and covered with a cloud of forgetting. You are to step above them boldly and eagerly, and with a devout and lively impulse of love you are to try and pierce the darkness above you. Smite upon that thick cloud of unknowing with a sharp dart of longing love.
We are living "between the times" - the time of Christ's resurrection and the new age of the Spirit, and the time of fulfillment in Christ. Life in the Spirit is a pledge, a "down-payment", on the final kingdom of shalom. In the meantime, we are to be signs of the kingdom which is, andwhich is coming....Fr. David Kirk (1935-2007)American civil rights and anti-poverty activist
As prayer becomes more intimate, grace reaches down into the depths of our psyche, empowering it to unload the emotional damage and debris of a lifetime. In time we will make the transition from going to God through reason and particular acts of the will to going to him more directly through the intuitive faculties. Then God will relate to us through them instead of through the external senses, memory, imagination, reasoning, and acts of the will.Fr. Thomas Keating, Invitation to Love
You may be a senior now, related to a senior, know a senior or will become a senior sometime in the future, but this topic as of relevance for everyone.
Seniors NL invites you to a Zoom meeting featuring Constable April Gavel, RCMP, and Renee Byrne, Victim Services, who will talk about the different forms of abuse, their indicators, how to report abuse, and the supports available to seniors who experience abuseWhen: February 2, 2021
9:30 -11:30 am (NST). Register in advance for this meeting:https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMpcO2qrD MjHt1EXkf4ZToM7M3vIIdkk-X6
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Walking with the Marginalized is one of the four Universal Apostolic Preferences to guide Jesuit ministry in the years to come. Becoming more aware of elder abuse, its different forms, how to report it and how to find various supports is one way we can all walk with the marginalized.
LOOKING FOR HELP
NL Mental Health 24 Hour Crisis Line 1-888-737-4668
Kids Help Phone 24 Hour1-800-668-6868Text TALK to 686868Adults text WELLNESS to 741741
Domestic Violence 24 Hour Help Line 1-888-709-7090
BLESSING OF THE THROATS
Saint Blaise was the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia during the fourth century. Very little is known about his life. According to various accounts he was a physician before becoming a bishop. His cult spread throughout the entire Church in the Middle Ages because he was reputed to have miraculously cured a little boy who nearly died because of a fishbone in his throat. From the eighth century he has been invoked on behalf of the sick, especially those afflicted with illnesses of the throat. The use of candles for the blessing of throats stems from the candles that Blaise used while in prison. February 3 is his Feast Day.
This year we will have a Blessing of the Throats at the end of Mass this weekend, January 30 and 31 and at the Thursday, February 5, 9:30 am Mass. Those who wish to have their throats blessed will be asked to stand in their place, while the priest gives the following blessing to all at the same time.
Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr,
may God deliver you from every disease of thethroat and from every other illness.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Gonzaga High School will be holding its annual Ocean Ranger Memorial Prayer Service to remember those who lost their lives in the tragedy 39 years ago. The service will be held on Monday, February 15, 2021 at 1:00 pm at St. Pius X Church. Due to public health guidelines, this event has limited seating and pre-registration is required. Family members affected by this tragedy are encouraged to register early.
To register for this event, please email [email protected] on or before February 10th at 12:00 pm. MASKS ARE MANDATORY.
NATIONALYOUTH
ASSEMBLY
The Development and Peace National Youth Assembly is happening virtually this year, on Saturday, February 6th, 2021. It is open to all youth who are interested to learn more about International Development. Meet youth from across Canada involved in the Social Justice Movement. Hear about the work of our partners in the global south and how you can become involved and gain valuable experience.
If you would like to join any part of the program, please register here:https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvce-tqzsuGdYquIA-GDiekvldOFFymK4F or contact [email protected] or [email protected] .
LENTENRECONCILIATION
SERVICE
A Service will be held Tuesday, March 16, 2021 7:00 pm at St. Paul’s Church.
VOCATIONS 4TO THE
PRIESTHOOD
Could God be calling you to become a priest?Come and see. Single Catholic men of high school age and over are invited to an evening of prayer, dinner, and reflection to learn about discerning a call to the priesthood.
This will be held Sunday, January, 31ST, 2021 from 6:30 – 8:00 pm at The Basilica of St. John the Baptist. To register or find out more, please contact Fr. James Fleming at (709) 754-1195 or [email protected]. Men under 18 are requested to attend with an adult chaperone.
SPEAKING WITH
AUTHORITY
Ideally words should always be preceded by deeds.
When people who have done somethingbegin to speak, people listen.
Their words carry enormous weight.They have real authority.
The weakness of a lot of wordsarises from the fact
that they are not preceded, or accompanied,or even followed by words.
At the root of innumerable wrongs in our world
is the discrepancy between word and deed.It is the weakness of Churches, parties,
and individuals.It gives people and institutions
split personalities.Lord, grant that what we have said
with our lips,we may believe with our hearts,
and practice with our lives.
SOURCE: New Sunday and Holy DayLiturgies, Flor McCarthy, SDB, page182
