Bulletin: 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2/23/25
SAINT CHRISTOPHER 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
SATURDAY VIGIL MASS: 5:30 PM (Suspended Indefinitely)
SUNDAY MASS: 9:00 AM
MASS DURING THE WEEK: MONDAY – SATURDAY: 8:00 AM
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 March 1, 2025 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: February 16, 2025: Offertory: $2023; R&I: $525; Thank you!
You can also donate on-line at kanabcatholicchurch.org
Diocesan Development Drive (DDD) This year (2025) our goal was raised slightly from $8800 to $9000. It seems most goals were raised and we will surely meet the challenge. Everyone will soon get their 2025 invitations to chip in once again. THIS IS EXCITING!
PRAY FOR HEALING: Eva Montelongo, Dusty Reese, Sergio Olvera, Jenni Bistline, Ted Kaly, Greg Lowenberg. 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.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Thursday from 4 to 5:00 PM.
Community Rosary: After the Monday morning Mass
Social Hour after Sunday Mass – Coffee, juice and bagels or muffins are served up along with some fabulous conversation. Everyone is invited.
Religious Items: While enjoying the fabulous conversation and refreshments during our social hour, take some time and browse our extensive selection of religious gifts including some amazing sale items.
MANGIA, MANGIA!! Thank you, Knights, for organizing a wonderful chili brunch last Sunday. It was well attended and much enjoyed. Thank you to all the others who assisted in the cooking, serving and cleaning up.
RIP Eddie Fisher: All Star Reliever and World Series Champ.
Ash Wednesday is coming up on March 5. Mass with ashes will be celebrated at 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM.
SEEK Conference Replay: The recent National Seek Conference held in Salt Lake City has offered, for free, the video recordings of the Keynote
Addresses and more. See the links below. I would recommend especially #244 also featured below and I will likely make more suggestions in the coming weeks.
https://seekreplay.com/video/244 Beth Sri: ‘The Inner Lives of Adult Children of Divorce’.
Honoring the ‘Anointed Ones’: It’s sometimes very tempting to throw up our hands and just give up on trying to impact the society that is constantly unfolding around us. But then we remember that our grandchildren are inheriting the world we have become overwhelmed by. Often, we are just not considering the many issues on a deep enough level to really bring sanity and justice to bear. We can start with voicing (OUT LOUD) that maybe there are people who are better informed or better at maintaining a respectful conversation than us. Maybe we should consider the issues of our day in the context of God’s plan and that we have a specific role and are suitably gifted for the role we are to play. Consider the below resources for some methods on how to argue and debate fruitfully. AND remember that God is still on the throne and that He is still with us, minute by minute. He is calling us to take His Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel and Strength into the social arena.
Catholic Social Teaching: Just click.
Also see: This upcoming conversation from Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life: ‘Is Partisanship a Threat to Faithful Citizenship or a Way to Live it Out?’ (One click away).
Homily Reflection:
1 Sam 26:9-10 David said to Abishai, “Do not harm him, for who can lay hands on the LORD’s anointed and remain unpunished?”
As the LORD lives,” David declared, “only the LORD can strike him: either when the time comes for him to die, or when he goes out and perishes in battle. “
I spent some time recollecting and researching this past week about what would be the consequences for harming (touching) the anointed one. Like many things religious, it’s complicated. Would harming just refer to physical harm? Would it include character assassination? How about mindless gossip that led others to imagine or infer a negative scenario about an anointed one? There are countless ways to destroy reputations with many forms of electronic and digital media. But regardless of the method, what would be the consequences? In the context of the first reading today from 1 Samuel, Saul was hunting down David with the intention of killing him and STILL David could not justify harming the anointed one.
David let Saul know that he could have killed him in self-defense, but held the office of Israels’ King in such high regard that it would have been unthinkable. David actually believed that Saul was God’s chosen and anointed one and that his reign was a critical part of God’s plan of salvation. What faith! What courage! David seems to have been less concerned about his own well-being than the ultimate success of God’s plan.
Think of the times when you were most critical of religious leaders? What did you say? What was the intended result of your criticism? What was the likely result of your conversation? Positive or negative? Remedy or vitriol?
Consider your opinions about legitimately elected civil authority. How should those criticisms be expressed? What outcome was intended or expect?
Consider these citations from today’s gospel in your answers to the above questions. Lk. 6:35,38: Straight from the mouth and heart of Jesus. “But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
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“Luck is when an opportunity comes along and you have prepared for it.” St. Patrick