Bulletin: 5th Sunday of Lent, 3/22/26
ST. CHRISTOPHER’S CATHOLIC CHURCH
39 West 200 South, Kanab UT 84741
Office: (435) 644-3414 [Please leave a message and we will respond as quickly as possible]
parishinfo@kanabcatholicchurch.org
WEBSITE: kanabcatholicchurch.org
Sacramental Minister: Rev. Richard T. Sherman, Kanab, UT
SUNDAY MASS: 9:00 AM
Weekday Masses this week: March 23-28 – Saturday only, 8:00 AM
Morning Prayer (Lauds) 8:00 AM Mon., Tue., Wed.,
CONFESSIONS BY APPOINTMENT
NOTE: If you have a sacramental emergency after parish office hours, please call 435-673-2604 for assistance.
Our next OPEN-DOOR SATURDAY is April 18, 2026 from 10:00 AM-Noon. If you have friends or relatives that are interested in the Catholic faith, or are thinking of returning to the Church, please tell them about us and have them stop by. We would love to meet with them! OPEN DOOR is scheduled every first and third Saturday of the month.
FINANCIAL REPORT: March 15, 2026. Offertory: $1156; Catholic Relief Services: $1208; Altered Attitudes: $540. Thank you! YOU’RE FABULOUS!
You can also donate on-line at kanabcatholicchurch.org
Diocesan Development Drive Our new goal for 2026 is $11,500. As of 3/6/26, seven households have pledged $3600 with $1010 paid in. It would be great to have a fuller participation than the 17 parishioners we had last year. More info about the purpose and use of these funds are in your mailer and the Intermountain Catholic.
PRAY FOR HEALING: Michael Brydon, George Reese, Mar Smothers, the homebound, Our Wounded Veterans. If you have specific prayer requests, please leave us a phone message or send us an email. We will get your intentions on the list. We also remember all the sick and infirm at our daily Masses.
Community Rosary: After the Monday morning Mass (When Mass is celebrated).
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Thursday 4 to 5:00 PM.
Stations of the Cross: Fridays during Lent at 5:30 PM followed by a Simple Soup Supper. Everyone is invited.
Social Hour after Sunday Mass – Coffee, juice and bagels or muffins are served up along with some fabulous conversation. .
Foundations of Our Faith. The study is officially completed with a consistently strong attendance through the 20 sessions. Encore session to come this Thursday with a closer look at Session 19: THE CHRISTIAN LIFE OF PRAYER. All invited even if you have not attended previous sessions.
Lent Observance: FAST AND ABSTINENCE
1. All Catholics 14 years and older are to abstain from all meat on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays of Lent, unless a particular Friday is a solemnity.
2. All Catholics who are between the ages of 18-59 are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. (Canon #1252)
3. Fasting permits one full meal and two lesser meals, which combined are not greater than the full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted.
4. A spirit of fasting is recommended during all of Lent in anticipation of the great feast of Easter. In this way, Christians express their hunger for God, their responsibility to the poor and their recognition of the kingdom of God as the answer to all human hungers.
5. “Pastors and parents are to see to it that minors who are not bound by the law of fast and abstinence are educated in an authentic sense of penance.” (Canon #1252)
We Hold These Truths – Celebrating Catholic Contributions to the United States of America on the Semiquincentennial Anniversary. From the US Council of Catholic Bishops https://www.usccb.org/weholdthesetruths (One click away or our website bulletin).
The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace A 1993 Reflection from the US Bishops https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/war-and-peace/excerpts-from-the-harvest-of-justice-is-sown-in-peace-centrality-of-conscience-1993-11 (One click away our website bulletin).
Reporting Abuse:
If you observe or have reason to believe that a child, young person or vulnerable adult has been subjected to abuse by a priest, deacon, employee or volunteer of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, you must report the alleged abuse to local law enforcement and state agencies, and you must notify the Diocesan Office of Safe Environment at safeenv@dioslc.org or call 801-328-8641, x344. https://www.dioslc.org/safe-environment
Homily Reflection:
In the gospel today we have a seemingly peculiar sequence of events. Jesus the great healer and miracle worker is requested by some close friends to come quickly to heal their brother. Jesus says, ‘Got it” and then waits two more days before setting out to the friends’ home. When Jesus arrives, his close friend, Lazarus, is already dead. Jesus explains that this delay and subsequent death of His friend was necessary in order to show that Jesus as Son of God has power over death. Without this death, four days in the tomb, the power of God is not demonstrated in a way that will be compelling to the witnesses and onlookers. Death must come before Resurrection. “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”
Another interesting point: Lazarus comes out of the tomb still bound in his burial cloths. He is back for some more earthly living; but, to live in a more transcended way he must be rid of that which has him bound up. His hands and feet tied and a cloth over his face. So, Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” He will need the assistance of those who love him to live unbound.
Flashing forward 2000 years we know that this same sequence is essential. We must die to our shallow, myopic, constricted ways of living in the world. We also know that since Jesus has sent us the Holy Spirit, we can experience much of the resurrection even while still on earth. Did Jesus not tell us, “if we believe that we will see the gloria of God.” That proof is all around us, isn’t it?
Just turn on the news or your favorite podcasts, and we are flooded with THE GOOD NEWS, joy, peace…in a phrase “the glory of God.” Each generation is getting better and will experience even more of God’s glory even while still on earth…BEFORE the second coming. And that’s all because we have chosen to be unbound by earthly, human made distractions and allurements. We have raised generations of inspired leaders, well-schooled in the art of diplomacy and serving with the very heart of Jesus Christ Himself.
- When did you hear most clearly Jesus calling you to come out of your earthly life? What were the nature of your bindings? Who helped you unbind?
- How did this experience help you to unbind your family, close friends, civic community, Church, even nation?
- Rejoice in the Glory of God all around us!!
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“It is not a sin to have riches, but to fix our hearts upon them.” St. Jean Baptiste De la Salle