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ST. PETER’S CATHOLIC CHURCH: FEBRUARY 28, 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGES 1. & 2…BULLETIN; SECOND SUNDAY IN
LENT. PAGE 3…………THEME, THE ESSENCE OF TRUE
SACRIFICE BY REV. FR.
ANSELM CHIGOZIE AMADI. |
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Page 1.
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February
28, 2021 Second
Sunday in Lent |
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MASS INTENTIONS: 2/28/21 thru 3/5/21 SUNDAY: ENGLISH MASS: 9:00am. Lee Aragon (In Hospice) requested
Eva Orona Family. SPANISH MASS: 11:00am. WEEKDAY MASS INTENTIONS: MONDAY: 9:00am. Special Intention
of Eva Orona (req. by Eva Orona). TUESDAY: 9:00am. Special Intention
of Eva Orona (req. by Eva Orona). WEDNESDAY: 9:00am. Special Intention of Niall
Kearney. THURSDAY: 9:00am. Special Intention
of Marina Kearney. FRIDAY: 9:00am. Special Intention
of Margaret Murray. SATURDAY: +Brother David O’Neill. FINANCIAL REPORT FOR WEEK
2/21/21 YOUR GIFTS TO THE LORD: Sunday Offering………………………….$2497.52 Children’s Fund……………….…….….……$00.00 Capital
Fund……………..….……………..….$70.00 Mass Stipends…………………………….…$120.00 EXPENSES: General Fund.……………………..…………$00.00 Capital Fund.…………………….……………$00.00 Children’s Fund.…………………………….$00.00 The Quarterly Financial Report is Available in The Church Office for Review Church Secretary; Yvonne Schneider 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 +Antonio Romero. Sandy Rogers, Bernice Chavez,
Lilly Hill, Nancy
Golightly, Clara Archuleta, Corbin Becker, Denia Duncan, Liz
Ketring, Jason Pittman, Eileen Tyrrell, Rebeka Talbot, Roxanne Chavez, Ricky Barraza,
Susie Apodaca, Richard Pena, Victor Rubalcaba, Maria Morales, , Judy Bragg,
Margie Tapia, Juanito Quevedo, Krystyna Kocol, Confie Lesuer, 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 NEW OFFICE HOURS Monday, Wednesday, & Friday 9:00 am - 1:00 pm Closed on Tues., Thurs., Holidays
& Holy Days of Obligation |
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: Office hours; open 9:00am/1:00pm C.C.D.
Classes 4:00pm. RCIA Classes: 7:00pm. TUESDAY: Office hours; Closed on Tues., Thurs., Holidays & Holy Days of Obligation. Church Cleaning. Spanish
Choir Practice, 7:00pm 8:30pm. WEDNESDAY: Office hours; open 9:00am/1:00pm 6:30pm English Choir practice in church THURSDAY: Office hours; Closed on Tues., Thurs., Holidays & Holy Days
of Obligation. 7:00pm Baptism classes in
Spanish, 2nd Thursday of the month. FRIDAY: Office hours; open 9:00am/1:00pm 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: Vacant 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 |
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PAGE 2. MINISTRY SCHEDULES FOR MARCH 7th. |
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Altar Servers: 9:00am.
No Servers
Assigned
Due to Covid Phase One Reopening. |
Lectors: 9:00am. Mary DiFilippo. 11:00am. To be appt. |
Eucharistic Ministers: 9:00am.
No
Eucharist Ministers
Assigned Due to Covid
Phase One Reopening. |
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PLEASE JOIN US IN OUR STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM OF TIME, TREASURE & TALENT, VISIT OUR WEB AT, www.stpeterchurch-az.com |
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POPE FRANCES UNIVERSAL PRAYER INTENTION: FEBRUARY / FEBRERO We pray for women who are victims of violence, that they may be
protected by society and have their sufferings considered and heeded. Recemos
por las mujeres que son víctimas de la violencia, para
que sean protegidas por la sociedad y para que su sufrimiento sea considerado
y escuchado. |
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TIME,
TREASURE and TALENT
OUR
COMMUNITY ·
PLEASE DONATE A FEW HOURS for PRO-LIFE: Living Hope Center of
Springerville needs your help! Almost 1,600 LHC newsletters must be
folded and stuffed into envelopes on this coming Friday 3/5
& Saturday 3/6,
from 10:00am to 3:00pm,
at Jesus First Baptist Church’s Fellowship Hall (log cabin style building at
138 N. Hwy 180, near the Rodeo Grounds).
Most help is needed on Friday please.
All materials will be provided, and snacks too! Wear a mask &/or plenty space is
available there for social distancing. Come and go as you like, lunch on your
own. Please join us to help as
you can. Many hands make light
work. What an EASY way to GIVE to CHARITY DURING LENT! Questions? - call Monica at 928-333-5539.
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Page 3.
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT:
YEAR B.
(Gen. 22:1-2, 9, 10-13,
15-18; Rom. 8:31-34; Mk. 9:2-10)
THEME: THE ESSENCE OF TRUE
SACRIFICE
BY REV. FR. ANSELM
CHIGOZIE AMADI
INTRODUCTION: God’s covenant with
Abraham came in three stages (Gen. 15, 17 and 22). They do not signify three
covenants but progressive stages of the one covenant, which was finally
ratified and solemnized with an oath on mount Moriah. Since every covenant is
ratified with a sacrifice, the near-sacrifice of Isaac counts as one; hence:
“since you did not withhold from me your only beloved son.” Again, it
anticipates the essence of true sacrifice namely, spiritual sacrifice. The
transfiguration of Christ reveals his glory and foresees the glory of resurrection.
The sacrifice of Calvary is a necessary prelude to this glory. So, the
transfiguration prepared the apostles to face the scandal of the Cross.
ABRAHAMIC
SACRIFICE:
It is evident from the event at Moriah that God does not thirst for the blood
of Isaac but demands a supreme sacrifice (which is of the will) to seal his
covenant with Abraham forever. Animal sacrifices are not supreme because,
though they cost a token, the 'offerer' does not give himself but something
else. When God demanded that Abraham should offer his only beloved son, it was
about everything Abraham lived for. It took total submission of the will to
obey God in this regard. Hence, the sacrifice had already taken place in the
will before Isaac was spared by divine intervention. True sacrifice, therefore,
is that of the will manifested in total obedience to God: “Obedience is better
than sacrifice” (1Sam. 15:22).
It is also
probable that Isaac willingly submitted to God’s command revealed to his
father. He is a type of Jesus Christ who submitted to his Father’s will saying:
“Not as I will but as you will” (Matt. 26:39). This is the essence of sacrifice
in the new covenant: “holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in. Then
I said, ‘as written of me in the scroll, Behold, I have come to do your will, O
God’“(Heb.10:6-7). When we offer sacrifice of the will in total obedience to
God, there will be no need for sin offering. Obedience eradicates sin which
made sin offering necessary. Without sin, there is no sin offering.
Another reason
why God demanded the sacrifice of Isaac is to establish the supreme love of God
in Abraham’s heart. As a jealous God, he does not want anything or person to
compete with him in priority. It is consonant with reason that Abraham should
love the only son of his old age with great affection. His love for Isaac could
rival with that for God. To dethrone Isaac and enthrone divine love, the demand
was made. Likewise, God demands from us such a radical demonstration of love
for him by sacrificing every other confliction affection (of persons or
things).
KINSHIP BY
COVENANT:
God ratified the covenant with Abraham with a solemn and everlasting oath of
blessing, based on the foundation of spiritual sacrifice. There is only one,
though renewable covenant. In the New Covenant, Jesus ‘renews’ this one
covenant, so that the “blessings of Abraham may come to the gentiles who
believe” (Gal. 3:14). That is the promise made to Abraham and his children
forever (Luke 1:55).
Worthy of note
is the spiritual dimension of Abrahamic kinship. It is kinship by spiritual
generation through faith; not by natural descent. Isaac symbolizes the
spiritual sons of Abraham since he was begotten when the natural conditions for
childbirth had expired. His unnatural birth makes him the prototype of those
“who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice, nor by a man’s
decision but of God” (Jn. 1:13). Abraham’s seed refers to Isaac and spiritual
children of Abraham. Ishmael is disqualified and excluded from both son and
seed despite his acceptance of circumcision as a young adult. This is why Paul,
in Galatian 3-4, argues that circumcision (which stands for exterior sacrifice)
is not sufficient to qualify an adult gentile convert as an heir to the
divinely sworn blessings given to Abraham and his seed – (cf. Scott Hahn:
Kinship by Covenant p. 125) We perpetuate the blessings of Abraham in our lives
by keeping the spiritual sacrifice alive through obedience. The offering of
material things should be a sacramental expression of our inner disposition;
lest they lose their meaning and relevance.
THE
TRANSFIGURATION: In his transfiguration, Jesus gives vent to the glory of his divinity
only hitherto veiled by the flesh of his human nature. The man Jesus is also
the second person of the Trinity. The glory of his divinity dwelt as in a tent
in his human body. Hence John says: “The Word took flesh and dwelt among us”
(Jn. 1:14). As he instructed his apostles not to tell anyone about this until
after the resurrection, Jesus means the glory will be made manifest after the
consummation of the cross. The apostles having seen the glory of the
resurrection to come would not fear the shame of the cross
Like Jesus, we
have in us the seed of glory. We carry this treasure in the earthen jar of our
mortal bodies. We could be likened to the jar of Gideon with a bright torch
within it (Judges 7:16). The light shines bright but enclosed within the jar.
Eventually, when the jar is broken the light shines out. The breaking of the
jar could imply the sacrifice that subdues the operation of the flesh and
eventually make the glory of the children of God manifest. As Jesus radiates
the glory of his divine nature through his human flesh, the weakness of the
body should not be allowed to bury the seed of glory in us. Instead, through
the sacrifice of lent, we subdue the flesh and make it a medium of God’s glory
in the world.
CONCLUSION: The chronicler
identifies Mount Moriah as the site of Solomon’s temple (see 2Chr. 3:1). This
identification is very significant. The very spot Abraham sacrificed a ram
became a place for daily sacrifices of lamb in the temple. Today, the temple of
Jerusalem is no more alluding to the prophecy: “the hour is coming, and is now
here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth” (Jn.
4:23). We are the temple of God in the spirit where true sacrifice is offered
to the Father. By doing the will of God we offer him the true sacrifice of the
spirit.