TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page 1. ST. PETER’S SUNDAY BULLETIN: JANUARY 17, 2021

Page 2. SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: THEME: ABIDING IN HIS PRESENCE

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Page 1.

January 17, 2021 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
MASS INTENTIONS: 1/17/21 thru 1/22/21 SUNDAY: ENGLISH MASS: 9:00am. +Peter Difillipo, req. by Mary Difillipo. SPANISH MASS: 11:00am. +Carmen Sue Garigan, req by Tina Sodeberg. WEEKDAY MASS INTENTIONS: MONDAY: 9:00am. Intention of Mike Belmont. TUESDAY: 9:00am. Good health for Mike Belmont. WEDNESDAY: 9:00am. The Luther Family. THURSDAY: 9:00am. Wedding Anniversary of Mr. & Mrs. Bob Crimmins. FRIDAY: 9:00am. +Fr. Ed Litavec. SATURDAY: 9:00am. Friday Jan. 22 is the Day of Prayer for Legal Protection of Unborn Children FINANCIAL REPORT FOR WEEK 1/10/21 YOUR GIFTS TO THE LORD: Sunday Offering………………………….$1469.00 Children’s Fund……………….…….….…N/A Capital (Building Rectory)….………$00.00 Other, Latin America…….…………….$280.00 Gift Shop……..………………………………$17.00 EXPENSES General Fund:…………….………..…….$835.30 Capital Fund:………………………………$00.00 Children’s Fund:…………………….…..$00.00 The Quarterly Financial Report is Available in The Church Office for Review Church Secretary; Vacant Office Telephone: 928-333-4423 PRAYER TREE: Please contact Monica Boehning at 333-5539 for prayer requests. Leave a message if no answer, include your name and phone number, with info. THIS WEEK PLEASE PRAY FOR: Family of +Irene Moya, Family of +Antonio Ibarra. Nancy Golightly, Corbin Becker, Denia Duncan, Clara Archuleta, Liz Ketring, Jason Pittman, Eileen Tyrrell, Rebeka Talbot, Roxanne Chavez, Ricky Barraza, Lilly Hill, Susie Apodaca, Richard Pena, Victor Rubalcaba, Maria Morales, Bernice Chavez, Judy Bragg, Margie Tapia, Juanito Quevedo, Krystyna Kocol, Confie Lesuer, Irene Moya, Lydia Gonzalez, Eva Orona, Sophie Montoya, Joe Tapia. GIFT SHOP: Gift Shop is open every Sunday after the 9:00 am Mass or Contact; Dean Smith at 928-853-6307 Office Hours; Weekdays from 8:00am-12:00 noon. Closed, Tuesday.		CALENDAR OF WEEKLY EVENTS: WEEKLY EVENTS: Weekly Events Currently Suspended Due to COVID Baptism Preparation Classes to be Determined. SUNDAY: Rosary before 9:00am mass. Sacrament of Reconciliation, 8:00am – 8:50am. Rosary before Mass. CCD classes after 9:00am Mass. MONDAY: C.C.D. Classes 4:00pm. RCIA Classes: 7:00pm. TUESDAY: Church Cleaning. Spanish Choir Practice, 7:00pm 8:30pm. WEDNESDAY: 6:30pm English Choir practice in church THURSDAY: 7:00pm Baptism classes in Spanish, 2nd Thursday of the month. FRIDAY: Eucharistic Adoration; First Friday of the Month. ST. HELENA PARISH, ALPINE, AZ. SATURDAY: Confessions, 3:30pm Mass 4:00 pm ---------------------------------------------- PASTORAL STAFF Pastoral Administrator Rev. Fr. Anselm Amadi Rectory Telephone: 928-333-4707 Emergencies Only; 505-906-8421 Deacon: Rev. Mr. Jorge Campos 928-245-5638 Pastoral Council: Chairperson: Lora Harrison - (928) 333-0148 Secretary: Esmerelda Ontiveros - (928) 812-0049 Building Committee: Chairperson: Jackielyn Harrington Finance Council: Chairperson: Jackielyn Harrington Finance Secretary: Ed Fritz - (928) 333-5919 PARISH MINISTRIES: Altar Servers: Tasheena James……. Eucharistic Ministers: Charles Rand………………………….…..….(928) 333-3541 Church Cleaning: Susan Ely…………. Funeral Director: Diane Fritz…………(928) 333-5919 Lectors: Mary DiFilippo……….…………(928) 333-3338 Maintenance: Vacant. Music Director: Bob Dyson………….…(928) 333-2809 Prayer Tree: Monica Boehning………(928) 333-5539 RCIA: Deacon Jorge Campos…………(928) 245-5638 Religious Ed. Devon Ditmore…………(928) 245-5382 Sacristans: Elizabeth Ketring..……...(928) 245-6992 St. Vincent De Paul Org………………….(928) 333-4879 Ushers: Jim Morrison……………………..(928) 333-0928
MINISTRY SCHEDULES FOR JANUARY 24th.
Altar Servers: 9:00am. No Servers Assigned Due to Covid Phase One Reopening.	Lectors: 9:00am. Kay Buck. 11:00am. To be appt.		Eucharistic Ministers: 9:00am. No Eucharist Ministers Assigned Due to Covid Phase One Reopening.
PLEASE JOIN US IN OUR STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM OF TIME, TREASURE & TALENT, VISIT OUR WEB AT www.stpeterchurch-az.com JANUARY / ENERO HUMAN FRATERNITY / La Fraternidad Humana : May the Lord give us the grace to live in full fellowship with our brothers and sisters of other religions, praying for one another, open to all. Para la evangelización: Que el Señor nos de la gracia de vivir en plena fraternidad con hermanos y hermanas de otras religiones, rezando unos por otros, abriéndonos a todos.
TIME, TREASURE & TALENT § THANK YOU! To everyone who helped remove the Nativity & Christmas decorations back into storage. · BISHOP’S MARDI GRAS – Saturday, February 13: We will celebrate the 2021 Bishop’s Mardi Gras virtually on Sat. Feb. 13. Due to current health concerns, this year’s event will include a televised auction, gourmet take-out dinner and some special entertainment. We are asking you for items the Diocese can put in the auction, such as gift baskets, jewelry, donated timeshares or vacation homes, electronics, art works, etc. All proceeds benefit Catholic schools in the Diocese of Gallup. Please contact Amanda at the Catholic Peoples Foundation: 505-726-8295, or amanda@catholicpeoplesfoundation.com · PARISH SECRETARY: St. Peter’s is in dire need of a Church Office Secretary to work 4 mornings per week. If interested, please call Fr. Amadi or Deacon Campos, their numbers are on the front of the bulletin. This is a paid, part-time position. Please pray to consider if this is a way you can serve your parish! · FRIDAY JAN. 22: Please join all Catholics and Christians in prayer this day for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. OUR COMMUNITY: · PLEASE PRAY for SNOW, RAIN: Our region is suffering a serious drought, so please pray for badly needed moisture! · SAVING BABIES: Join Living Hope Centers “Defenders of Life Club”. Just $20 per month can help save a life here in our community! Please contact Emily Kortan at 928-551-2206, or visit their website at livinghopecenters.org/defend · ROUND VALLEY WALKING GROUP: Apache County Public Health Services has resumed the “Flab-U-Less” walking group in the RV High School Dome. All are welcome to come for FREE every Tues. & Thurs. from 11:30 am-12:30 pm. Walk with us at your own pace in a safe, warm location for better health! Sign up with Irene at 928-333-6429 or Sarah at 928-333-6525.

Page 2.

SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: YEAR B.

(1Sam. 3:3-10, 19; 1Cor. 6:13-15, 17-20; Jn. 1:35-42)

THEME: ABIDING IN HIS PRESENCE

BY REV. FR. ANSELM CHIGOZIE AMADI

INTRODUCTION: The young lad, Samuel, because he was presented to the Lord to serve at the temple, was always in the presence of God. To dwell in God’s presence does not only imply being physically present in the temple, but to live in habitual awareness of his presence. Samuel’s constant presence in the temple signifies the state of the soul that communes with God. When, in the Gospel, John pointed out the Lamb of God, his (John’s) disciples followed him (Christ) with one simple request: “Lord, where do you live.” This corresponds with the one and only desire of the soul thus: “One thing I ask of the Lord, for this I long, to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life” (Ps. 27:4).

SAMUEL, ASLEEP IN THE TEMPLE: The boy Samuel was said to be sleeping in the temple of God where the Ark of the Covenant was. “To sleep” in this case means, to reside, as in one’s abode. Certainly, the Ark was located at the holy of holies, which is the innermost and most sacred part of the temple. The temple of Jerusalem has three main departments: The outer court, the inner court and the holy of holies. Likewise, the human person, (the temple of God 1Cor. 3:16), is structured in three departments: The body, the Soul and the Spirit. As the three departments of the Jerusalem temple are occupied by designated different groups, so is it in the temple of God which we are. Different people dwell at different levels or departments of life. As some live the Spiritual life, others live the life of the flesh. Yet still, some live a disciplined, gentleman’s life but without God. As Samuel takes his position at the holy of holies, he represents those living a deeper life of the spirit as against those living in the flesh, the outer court of the temple.

Those who live by the Spirit, says St. Paul, do not gratify the desire of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). The little boy, Samuel, challenges us to seek the deeper life of the Spirit. Life in the Spirit is where encounter with God takes place. To get closer to God so as to be able to commune with him, we need to enter into ourselves; to the depth of the Spirit. God is Spirit and true worshippers will worship him in spirit and truth (Jn. 4:23). It is at the innermost chamber of the spirit that God encounters the human person, just as Samuel encountered him in the holy of holies. But when man walks away from the spiritual life and to the outer court in pursuit of his misguided appetite he, as it were, dwells in the domain of sensitive appetites of his lower nature to the detriment of the spirit. In the second reading, St. Paul warns us against sexual immorality which is the epitome of life of the flesh. To gratify the desire of the flesh is to dwell outside the temple.

The whole exercise of the pilgrimage of faith can be likened to the journey of Adam or the prodigal son who were originally in intimate relationship with the Father. However, when drawn by desire for what exists on the exterior realm, they departed the interior life of divine intimacy respectively. In the case of Adam and Eve, close union with God was sufficient to the extent that external concerns were almost non-existent. Hence, though they were naked, they did not recognize it. This shows the state of a soul dwelling in the interior life. All that matters for the soul is divine intimacy and the joy of beatific vision. This is enough for the soul.

The Prodigal son is another example of souls on pilgrimage. He was first privileged with the grace of intimacy with the father before the pull of attraction from the external realities took him away. The loss of union with the Father and the consequent experiences that ensued depict the pain of alienation and tragedy of sinful life. It shows how our journey away from the interior life to the wild world of sinful pleasure brings torments to the soul. Like those under the yoke of slavery, the soul in this state longs for freedom. Like the prodigal son, they long to reverse the self-destructive journey and trace their way back to the father’s house.

LORD, WHERE DO YOU LIVE? In the gospel, John the Baptist pointed out the Lamb of God and by so doing showed his disciples whom they should follow. To follow Jesus, a fundamental question is necessary. Thus: “What are you looking for?” Expressing their quest for God’s house, these disciples answered: “Lord, where do you live.” John’s disciples represent pilgrim souls searching for the way back to the house of God. Their desire is only to be in the house of God. Hence: “One thing I ask of the Lord, for this I long, to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life” (Ps. 27:4). Samuel enjoyed this privilege and cherished it more than gold. The Magi could not consider the beauty of Jerusalem nor the splendor of Herod’s palace as they sought the dwelling place of the little babe in a manger. The dwelling place of God is the desire of all souls.

CONCLUSION: Samuel who remained in the temple to which he was dedicated is a type of humanity restored to its original position. The Garden of Eden was the primordial temple where God-man encounters took place. In this divine intimacy lies our peace. As long as the soul wanders away from God, it can never find peace elsewhere except in God. There is nothing that can satisfy the soul other than God. To locate our way back to God, we need to follow Jesus who is the way, as the disciples of John did. If we want to follow him, we must consider the way he showed us during his life on earth. Christianity is an imitation of the life of Christ. His holy life is the best instruction and the roadmap to our destination in this pilgrimage of faith.