FEBRUARY 11, 2018

ORGANIZATIONS

CYO, Jerry Florence stmarycyo.wc@gmail.com 510-504-5954 Charismatic Prayer Group, Jim Crowley 944-0359 Catholic Divorced, Widowed & Separated, Char Buckman 932-5054 Eucharistic Adoration, Mary Johnstone 954-7205 Finance Council, Brian Mulligan 210-1031 Gabriel Project-Hotline 800-910-0191 Homebound Ministry, Helene Vizcarra 891-8936 Hospital Ministry, Angeles Ron 640-8146 Knights of Columbus, Todd Conway 510-908-1316 Respect Life Ministry, Jim Crowley 944-0359 Rosary Makers, Ana Lau 256-4428 St. Vincent de Paul, Brian Kavanagh 937-2817

St. Mary Catholic Church

Walnut Creek, CA

www.stmary-wc.org 925-891-8900

MASS TIMES

Monday through Friday 6:30 a.m. & 12:05 p.m.

Saturday 8:30 a.m.

Saturday Vigil Mass 4:30 p.m.

Sundays 6:30 a.m. * 8:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m. * 11:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Spanish

6:00 p.m.

Sacrament of Penance Saturdays 3:30 to 4:15 p.m.

DEVOTIONS

Eucharistic Adoration Thursdays 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Fridays 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. (First Fridays all night)

Saturdays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Fatima Devotion First Saturday

9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Saturdays 9:00 a.m. (at the end of 8:30 Mass)

PARISH OFFICE

2051 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Walnut Creek, CA 94596

OFFICE HOURS

8:30 A.M. TO 4:30 P.M. Monday through Friday

Dear Friends, This week we begin the Season of Lent, that time of personal “retreat” when we are asked by the Church to look into ourselves, to examine our ways of living our faith, to seek ways of doing penance for our weakness or sin, and preparing ourselves to celebrate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus once again. We begin by being “marked” with ashes. They are a sign of our sinfulness and of our humanness. But they are also a reminder that we are called beyond our human life into the life of Christ. Through our Baptism, Con-firmation and sharing in the Eucharist, we become full members in the Body of Christ. We are called to lives of prayer, sacrifice and service to those in need around us. We are called to grow daily in our relationship with Jesus, our Savior. And we are invited to be true disciples of Christ as we minister to others. May this Lenten season be for each of us an experience of newness. May we offer some sacrifice that will bring us out of our “old ways” and help us to truly be reconciled to God through our change of heart. May the Lord bless us as we enter this Holy Season! Father Fred

Mass Schedule for Ash Wednesday

6:30 am, 8:15 am 12:05 pm, 5:00 pm 7:00 pm Ashes will be distributed during each Mass

THIS WEEK’S CALENDAR February 12-18

FF = Faith Formation Center SE = St. Elizabeth Hall (Conf. Rm.) SJ = St. Joseph Room SM= St. Michael Room ST = St. Therese Room SP = St. Peter Room OS = Our Space

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13 7:00 AM Men of St. Joseph/OS 12:30 PM Walking with Purpose 101/FF 6:30 PM Hispanic Prayer Group/SE 7:00 PM Faith Form. 6th Gr./FF 7:00 PM Faith Form. 7th-8th Gr/Gym 7:00 PM Walking with Purpose/SJ 7:30 PM Choir Practice/Church

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 9:00 AM Scripture Study/FF 7:00 PM Charismatic Prayer/FF-SM 7:00 PM Lay Apostolate/FF-SP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15 7:00 AM Eucharistic Adoration/FF-SP 4:00 PM Faith Formation 4th-5th Gr/SE 7:00 PM Hispanic Prayer Group/Church 7:00 PM Young Adults/OS 7:00 PM Catholic Divorced/FF-SM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16 7:00 AM Eucharistic Adoration/FF-SP 7:00 PM Hisp. Choir Practice/Church

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17 8:00 AM Men’s Prayer Group/OS 9:00 AM Eucharistic Adoration/FF-SP 9:30 AM Rosary Makers/FF-ST

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18 10:30 AM RCIA/FF-SJ 11:15 AM Hispanic Faith Form./FF 4:00 PM Band Practice/Church

Everyday Stewardship If you witnessed a miracle, wouldn’t you want to tell every-one? If you saw the sun dance in the sky, a crippled man walk, or the Virgin Mary appear in front of you, wouldn’t you just want to shout about it from a rooftop so all could hear? Maybe you would be afraid others would not believe you. You might choose instead to keep it to yourself to avoid criticism and ridicule. At least, if you saw a miracle, you would have a choice: to tell or not to tell. Yet, at every Mass we witness a miracle. We witness bread and wine as it be-comes the true presence of Jesus Christ. It isn’t a saint or Mary appearing before us; it is actually Jesus! When was the last time you told anybody about that miracle? It might not be easy for us to always talk about our faith, but we can show them. When we receive the Eucharist into our bodies, we become one with Christ. We go forth from the Mass as a living testimony of the miracle that occurred at Mass. People will not be able to simply look at us and see the evidence. We need to demonstrate to them the reality of this miracle by our good deeds and profound acts of charity. That is stewardship. That is bearing witness to the truth of our God being truly present to us. It is something we should want to share with everyone. —Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Give God the Glory A curious feature of the first half of Mark’s Gospel is the pattern of Jesus working a miracle, then telling the recipient of the miracle to keep still about it. Many theories have been offered: Mark is setting the stage for the great “secret” revealed when Peter will proclaim Jesus the Messiah at Caesarea Philippi; more skeptical commentators offer that Jesus, fully aware of human nature, knew that the way to spread the news was to tell people to keep it secret. The insight into this secret-keeping that serves us well, however, is that Jesus was initiating his public ministry according to the pattern that Paul describes. He was doing it for the glory of God—not for his own benefit, but for that of all. Paul would later write in Philippi-ans that Jesus “humbled” himself to become like us. And we see this humility at work in today’s healing of the leper. Jesus is trying to reveal the presence of God’s reign among the people, not so that he himself might receive the glory, but so that God would be glorified through him. Imitating this pattern, which Paul en-courages the Jewish and Greek Christian factions in Corinth to do, still serves us well today. Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence. In addition, Fridays dur-ing Lent are obligatory days of ab-stinence. The norms of fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal. Two smaller meals may also be taken, but not to equal a full meal. The norms concern-ing abstinence from meat are binding on Catholics from age 14 onwards.

There will be NO Eucharistic Adora-tion the weekend of February 15-17

DATE TIME MASS INTENTION

02/10 4:30 pm Maureen Braun

02/11 6:30 am The People of St. Mary Parish

8:00 am William Hall

9:30 am Brother Miguel Lozano

11:00 am Rodman Verrips

1:00 pm Francisca

6:00 pm Patricia Moore

02/12 6:30 am Mariano Tellei (L)

12:05 pm Nick Cancio

02/13 6:30 am Jack Meinbress

12:05 pm Henry Bodurka

02/14 6:30 am Katherine & Jacob Pollnow (L)

12:05 pm The People of St. Mary Parish

02/15 6:30 am Fastino Torres

12:05 pm John Finbarr

02/16 6:30 am Manuel Corpuz

8:15 am St. Mary School Community

12:05 pm Marisse de la Costa-Silang Cruz

02/17 8:30 am Rosalie Turfurici

8:15 am Isabelita Garcelon

5:00 pm Alfred & Anne Marks

7:00 pm Dario Isea

MASS SCHEDULE Staff and Administration

Parish Office 891-8900 Fax 934-1358 Fr. Fred Riccio, fr.fred.stmary@gmail.com Pastor 891-8900 Fr. Dante Tamayo , fr.dante.stmary@gmail.com Parochial Vicar 891-8900 Fr. John Blaker, 891-8900 In residence Ana Lau, alau@stmary-wc.org Office Manager 891-8908 Aileen Baker, aileen.stmary@gmail.com Bookkeeper 891-8911

Faith Formation

Mary Kerfs, lifeteen.stmarywc@gmail.com Administrative Assistant 891-8939 Tim Mannix, RCIA & tim.stmarywc@gmail.com Liturgy Coordinator 891-8921 Austin Pisciotto austinp.stmary@gmail.com Grades 4-6 891-8944 Maureen Tiffany maureen.stmary@gmail.com Grades K-3 891-8942 Heather Abraham, heather.stmary@gmail.com Grades 7-8, Confirmation 891-8934

School

Office 935-5054 stmary@st-mary.net Website: www.st-mary.net Alumni: stmaryalumni@st-mary.net Tracey Schmidt, Principal 935-5054 Advisory Council Karen Redwood, President 408-332-6879 Parents Club Jennifer Millette, Co-President 296-0117 Lynne Kenny, Co-President 954-7865 Kids Club Vicki Schwartz 938-5114

PRAY FOR THE SICK

Mayah Pisciotto Harry Prudhomme Jacob & Katherine Pollnow Colin Worster Carmel Roubal Carol Erikson Rosalie Jacoby Lindsay Davis Sheila Deignan Pam Brady David Holmes Derek Lyn Candy Udell Norma Bolla Fellner Duke Sella Cathy Stuemph Sally O’Connor Del Davenport Louise & John Repetto

Josefina Zabat Maureen Burnash

Mina Leon Marisa Magno

Angela Crain Pat Cantrell

Mary McLoughlin Nancie Campi

Rose Marie Asaro Witold Pokorski

Aimee Kwiatowski Natalia Cerda-Boye

Sue Ann Baumgartel Mariano Tellei

Marina de Castilla Claudia Black

Doris Black Joan Cresci

SPRING KICK-OFF Sunday, February 11 St. Mary Parish Hall

1:00 pm: Appetizers Tour the Options Ultra- sound Bus 1:30 pm: Be inspired by our fabulous speaker, Dr. Haywood Robinson, former abortionist, who will speak on the value of life and tell about his conversion.

Vigil location: Outside Planned Parenthood, 1357 Oakland Blvd., WC

Vigil hours: 7 am to 7 pm daily, except Sundays

Contact: Friendsforlifetrivalley @gmail.com For information and to sign up for hours, go to: 40daysforlife.com/walnutcreek

HELP SAVE LIVES IN Walnut Creek!

February 14 - March 25

Join a group of “regular Joes” to review the upcoming Sunday readings and discuss. Some things men just have to hear from other men “Iron sharpens Iron.” (Proverbs 27:17). Tuesdays 7-8am at Our Space at St Mary’s. Questions? michaelgallagher1025@outlook.com

Join us for Stations of the Cross every Friday during Lent at 6pm in English or 7:30pm in Spanish. The Knights of Columbus will be hosting a Lenten

Supper at 6:30 pm in the parish gym after the Stations of the Cross, be-ginning on Feb. 16. Dinner tickets are available after Sunday Masses and at the Parish Office.

Menu for Feb. 16: Potato and leak soup, salad, bread

World Renowned Harpist Anna Maria Mendieta

in Concert Sunday, February 18, 2:00 pm

Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose 43326 Mission Cr., Fremont

Tickets are $25 and are available at bit.ly/2018Anna_Harp or call 510-933-6360.

Reception to follow

This past week St. Mary School cele-brated Catholic Schools Week. Each day we focused on various aspects of our Catholic school, including com-munity, scholarship, service, grati-tude, and love. The second-graders celebrated their First Reconciliation this week as they continue on their faith journey. They are deepening their love of Christ with an under-standing of forgiveness. The second grade and school community are growing in love and friendship by learning new things and practicing Christ-like behavior.

Treasures from our Tradition Today’s Gospel cen-ters on the plight of a leper and Jesus’ response of healing. In Hawaii, the bacte-rium that causes lep-rosy probably en-tered from China in the mid-1800s, and the native islanders

were susceptible to the dreaded dis-ease. In 1866, the government literally dumped the sufferers on a remote and virtually inaccessible island peninsula with towering cliffs. Thrown off ships into the sea, the sick people were told to swim for the beach and head for caves, and for seven years the only supplies were similarly cast into the sea to drift ashore. It was then, 1873, that a thirty-three-year-old Belgian priest, Damien de Veuster, went voluntarily to Kalaupapa. Before long, he cajoled the government into funding his mission and its hospital, built a village with proper homes and sanitation, and re-cruited Mother Marianne Cope to bring sisters from Syracuse, New York, to nurse the sick. Damien, who eventu-ally died of leprosy, has been canon-ized, and Mother Marianne as well. Although leprosy has been cura-ble since the 1940s, today a few pa-tients remain in their lifelong home, now a national historic site. The penin-sula is still utterly isolated from the outside world, and the speed limit for the few cars there is 5 mph since there’s nowhere to go! The hospital is still well-staffed and equipped, but access is regulated and visitors must take an official tour, often involving a descent down the cliffs by “Molakai mule.” There are few places on earth that evoke the healing power of Jesus, or our call to follow the Healer, more than Damien’s beloved island mission. —Rev. James Field, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.

LIVE THE LITURGY - INSPIRATION FOR THE WEEK

We never marginalize or turn our backs on those who suffer violence, oppression from unjust systems, pov-erty, illness, or disease. Jesus never turned anyone away, but always ex-tended a hand of healing and compas-sion. He would insist on extending God’s merciful and unconditional love to all, even if it meant breaking the Sabbath or civil law. Does the way we treat others, especially those who are different than us, reflect the freedom, joy, love, and good news of the Gospel?

Oh ever immaculate Virgin, Mother of Mercy, Health of the Sick, Refuge of Sinners, Com-

forter of the Afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings. Look upon me

with mercy. When you ap-peared in the grotto of Lourdes, you made it a privileged sanc-tuary where you dispense your favors, and where many suf-ferers have obtained the cure

of their infirmities, both spiritu-al and corporal. I come, there-fore, with unbounded confi-dence to implore your mater-nal intercession. My loving Mother, obtain my request.

I will try to imitate your virtues so that I may one day share your company and bless you

in eternity. Amen.

St Mary te invita Más allá del Desierto

Retiro de Cuaresma Febrero 23 -25, 2018

YOUTH RETREAT CENTER LAFAYETTE, CA

¿Qué Te Ofrece Este Retiro? Para ir más allá tenemos que caminar en el desier-to…y es cuando sentimos que no tenemos ninguna salida. Entonces… Jesús te invita a que camines con Él.

Para más informes, favor comunicarse con Ángeles (925)640-8146 o Janet (925)876-0887

THE VINEYARD St. Mary Church

YOUTH MINISTRY (K-12)

Faith

Formation &

Youth Ministry

Office

925-891-8939

Lifeteen.stmarywc@gmail.com

Sunday– Thursday

8:30—5:30pm

Sunday, February 11, 2018

K-3rd Grade Little Saints Family Gathering

THIS MORNING 9:15am-10:45am In the SMC GYM!

Let’s come together for some food, family and fun!

IT’S STEUBENVILLE TIME AGAIN!! For more information on this ulti-

mate retreat experience, Contact the Faith Formation Office

at: 925-891-8939 OR email us at: Lifeteen.stmarywc@gmail.com

And we will send you our SMC registration link

June 18-21, 2018! Contact us if you would like to be part of the VBS Crew!!

925-891-8939

Catequesis

FECHAS IMPORTANTESFebrero11Clase11:15amFebrero18Clase11:15am

REUNIONDEPADRES

Janet (925)357-3048 janet.stmary@gmail.com

Name ______________________________________________________________

Phone ________________________ E-mail ___________________________

I would like to buy_____ tickets @ $25 per person $ __________

I would like to reserve a table for 8 @ $200 per table $ __________

Name for table reservation ___________________________________

I would like to buy ____t-shirts (Circle size) S M L XL @$15 ea. $ __________

____t-shirts (Circle size) 2XL 3XL @$17 ea. $ __________

Make checks payable to Knights of Columbus - Total Enclosed $ __________

All seating is first-come, first-served, unless a table of 8 is reserved

Drop off this form with payment at the Parish Office, or mail to:

St. Mary Church, 2051 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Additional information: Todd Conway 510-908-1316

Dinner and Entertainment

SATURDAY MARCH 17 5:00 to 9:00 PM

TICKETS: IN ADVANCE $25 AT THE DOOR $30

CELEBRATION

HOSTED BY KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

COMMEMORATIVE T-SHIRTS PRE-ORDER $15/$17

$20/$22 AT THE DOOR