Buster Madriaga, Jeanne Allen, Sandy Rogers, Bernice Chavez, Lilly Hill, Denia Duncan, Clara Archuleta, Liz Ketring, Jason Pittman, Eileen Tyrrell, Rebeka Talbot, Roxanne Chavez, 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

OFFICE HOURS

Monday, Wednesday, & Friday

9:00 am - 1:00 pm

Closed on Tues., Thurs., Holidays &

Holy Days of Obligation

CHURCH EMAIL:

stpeterspringerville@dioceseofgallup.org

CALENDAR OF WEEKLY EVENTS:

WEEKLY EVENTS

CURRENTLY SUSPENDED

DUE TO COVID

Baptism Preparation Classes

SPANISH CLASSES:

Contact Deacon Jorge @

928-245-5638

ENGLISH CLASSES:

Contact Bob Dyson @

928-333-2809

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 to 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.

WEDNESDAY:

Office hours; open 9:00am to 1:00pm

6:30pm English Choir practice in church

THURSDAY:

Office hours; Closed on Tues., Thurs., Holidays &

Holy Days of Obligation.

FRIDAY:

Baptism Preparation Classes;

Spanish Classes, 2nd Friday of the month,

Contact Deacon Jorge at 928-245-5638.

English Classes;

Contact Bob Dyson at 928-333-2809.

Office hours; open 9:00am to 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

Secretary: Yvonne Schneider (928) 333-4423

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: Deacon Jorge Campos

Music Director: Bob Dyson………….…(928) 333-2809

Prayer Tree: Monica Boehning………(928) 333-5539

RCIA: Deacon Jorge Campos…………(928) 245-5638

Religious Ed.: Jessica Becker & Esmerelda Ontiveros

(928) 751-8575

Sacristans: Elizabeth Ketring..……...(928) 245-6992

St. Vincent De Paul Org………………….(928) 333-4879

Ushers: Jim Morrison……………………..(928) 333-0928

PAGE 2.

MINISTRY SCHEDULES FOR September 5th:

Altar Servers:

9:00am. Brook Becker, Caleb Becker &

Corbin Becker

Lectors:

9:00am. Mary DiFilippo

11:00am. Sandra Flores

Eucharistic Ministers:

9:00am. No Eucharist Ministers

Assigned Due to Covid

Phase One Reopening.

POPE FRANCIS’ UNIVERSAL PRAYER

August / Agosto 2021

The Church / La Iglesia

Let us pray for the Church, that She may receive from the Holy Spirit the grace and strength to reform herself in the light of the Gospel.

Recemos por la Iglesia, para que reciba del Espiritu Santo la gracia y la fuerza para reformarse a la luz del Evangelio.

REVEREND FR. ANSELM CHIGOZIE AMADI.

PLEASE JOIN US IN OUR STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM OF TIME, TREASURE & TALENT,

VISIT OUR WEB www.stpeterchurch-az.com

OUR PARISH:

TIME TREASURE and TALENT:

· RCIA: Classes will begin on Monday September 13, 2021 @ 6pm in the coffee room.

· PARISH FACEBOOK: This page is updated daily with information from the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops. You will also find the Daily Mass Readings, Daily Reflections Verse and Saint of the Day, and daily words of inspiration from The Pope. Visit our Facebook page, StPeters Church. If you have difficulty accessing it please feel free to call Eileen @ (6360 222-8305.

· VIRTUS CERTIFICATION CLASS: There will be a Virtus Certification Class on August 24^th @ 6:00pm in the coffee room. Register online @ www.virtus.org.

· BISHOP’S ANNUAL GOLF CLASSIC TOURNAMENT: Will occur Friday September 10^th at Pinon Hills Golf Course in Farmington, NM. Proceeds from this year’s Tournament will benefit our Catholic schools and the Priest Retirement Fund. The Tournament includes prizes for the winning teams, great golf games and a chance to win $10,000 in our Hole-in-One. Each golfer will receive a special gift from Bishop Wall. To sign up call Amanda @ (505) 726-8295, or register online at www.catholicpeoplesfoundation.com.

· GOOD SHEPHERD PRIESTS’ RETIREMENT COLLECTION: Your priests still need your help! The Catholic Diocese of Gallup is still one of the neediest in the United States. We have no designated home for retired clergy, nor sufficient funds for their retirement. Your most generous contribution to the Priests’ Retirement Fund will bring elder care and a bit of security to these priests in their senior years. Every cent of this collection will go entirely to the support of elderly and retiring priests of the Diocese of Gallup. Throughout the month of September, we will have a Retirement Fund Campaign to raise funds for the Good Shepherd/Priests’ Retirement Fund.

· REMINDER TO PURCHASE RAFFLE TICKETS: Raffle tickets are still available for our annual Vortex Package Raffle. They are $20 each or six for $100. Please contact Craig Shepherd @ (928) 551-7517 or Deacon Jorge @ (928) 245-5638 if you would like to help sell or to purchase tickets. Proceeds will go towards a new computer and desk for the office.

OUR COMMUNITY:

· DIAPER DRIVE: Throughout the month of August, St. Peter’s is collecting boxes of disposable diapers for Living Hope Pro-Life Center of Springerville. There is a playpen set up in the Church narthex to fill with your diaper donations. Please bring sizes 6,5,4 and 3 only. Size 6 is needed most, while sizes 1 & 2 are not needed at this time. God Bless you all!

· AN EASY WAY TO HELP: Living Hope Pro-Life Center of Springerville needs volunteers for the 1-3 hours on Monday August 30^th @ 9:00am for stuffing their newsletter into envelopes. Please come join the party @ 1^st Southern Baptist Church on Main St. (across from Safeway/Forest Services Office). All materials & snacks will be provided. Thank you!

Page 3.

THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: YEAR B

(Deut. 4:1-2, 6-8; Jas. 1:17-18, 21-27; Mk. 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23)

THEME: THE LAW AND NEW COVENANT THEOLOGY

BY REV. FR. ANSELM CHIGOZIE AMADI

Introduction: In the Old Testament, there were three types of laws: the ceremonial law that governed the liturgy, the civil law that regulated interpersonal relationships, and the moral law that was conveyed by the ten commandments. The first two were overtaken by the coming of Jesus Christ, who has offered one single sacrifice that brought to a halt all the other sacrifices of old; and has given a new commandment of love (Jn. 13:34) to take care of civil laws of old. The Ten Commandments, however, remain immutable and universal.

The tradition of washing one’s hands before a meal, for ritual purity rather than hygienic purpose, is not required by the Torah. It is a supplementary code of religious law derived from the mandate that priests must wash themselves before serving in the sanctuary (Ex. 30:17-21). The Pharisees extended this requirement to all as a standard of purity.

The Right Order of Rites: The Old Testament rituals of purification were types of the New Testament sacramental and liturgical signs. Such signs signify a spiritual reality to which participants must strive. In the new dispensation, we transcend the visible to the invisible, move from signs to what is signified, from sacraments to the inward grace they convey. In this process, human disposition and grace of God work together. Without one or the other, the process remains incomplete.

It is in the light of the above reason that Jesus replies the Pharisees with Isaiah’s indictment of disparity between outward and inward acts of religion. They gave priority to acts of religion over the spirit of true devotion. Today, we are still guilty of the same pharisaic syndrome. When we seek in the sacraments only the outward acts without proper disposition for the inward grace, we practice the pharisaic type of religion. This is evident when those washed in baptism are not pure in spirit; the confirmed are not strong in faith; When the Eucharist is without communion, reconciliation without repentance; when wedded couples are separated from God; when holy orders is devoid of holy life; and finally, last rite without being right with God.

True worship is spiritual; as Jesus teaches, “God is spirit and those that worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:24). He condemns the Pharisees and the scribes in the words of Isaiah, because they worship God in outward religious rituals without a corresponding spiritual renewal.

Love of God and neighbor is more important than rigorous code of religious laws. St. Thomas argues that the virtue of religion, which renders to God the worship due to him, is inferior to the theological virtues. Worship is only meritorious by reason of charity that animates it. If we forget this, we would give more attention to liturgical laws than the call to love. The priest and the Levite in the parable of the good Samaritan, who refused to assist a victim, were trying to avoid defilement. They didn’t know that “God desires mercy not sacrifice” (Mt. 9:13). Their idea of religion was a set of rules rather than a way of life.

The Law of Purity and Defilement: In this episode, Jesus reverses the age long Jewish belief that food could be a means defilement: “It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the person; instead, it is what comes out of the mouth that makes one impure.” In this saying, Jesus notes that sinful acts begin in the heart. Purity and defilement are determined by the state of the heart not physical appearance. It pays nothing to wash hands and still have a defiled conscience. The true washing is of the spirit, and so the Lord demands: “wash yourselves, be clean; remove your iniquities from your souls” (Isa. 1:16). In this washing, the command is not to wash hands but to remove iniquities from the soul.

Holiness is not a product of ethical and moral rectitude; it is only a preparation for it. True holiness is participation in the life of God who alone is holy. Holiness is proper to the nature of God, and the nature of God is love: “God is love” (1Jn. 4:8). Hence, to conclude the sermon on the mount, Jesus calls us to boundless love after the pattern of our heavenly Father. Then he charges us: “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48). Since the heart is the seat of love, one who loves draws God into his heart and as it were, participates in the life of God. The perfection the Pharisees sought through rigorous observance of the law, the new covenant theology identifies with love. Christianity, therefore, is not an ethical choice, but an encounter with a person; an encounter that is real and transformative with the person of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion: When reading the scriptures, we must transcend the letters to the spirit. When the letters of the law forbid negative actions, the spirit requires inner positive disposition. This implies that when the law forbids a particular thing, the opposite is recommended. When a sin is forbidden, the opposite virtue is a must. When the law forbids stealing, it is not enough to refrain from stealing but one needs to engage in the act of charity towards the needy. When murder is forbidden, love of neighbor is an obligation. We cannot refrain from adultery and fornication without engaging in positive pursuit of spiritual purity. This is the demand of the new covenant. Without this inner renewal, one may appear right before men but would not be right before God.