Father Richard J. Rego, Chaplain
Fr. Isaac Fynn Weekend Clergy

“Put on then, as God’s holy and beloved people, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience.  Forgive one another; and if one has a complaint against another, as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also forgive.  And above all these things put on charity, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.  And always be thankful - - - And whatever you do in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3: 12-15,17).





Saints of the Week
Mon, Mar 12 - - - -  Feria of Lent
Tues, Mar 13- - - - Feria of Lent
Wed, Mar 14 - - - - -Feria of Lent
Thurs, Mar 15 - - - -Feria of Lent
Fri, Mar 16 - - - - -  Feria of Lent
Sat, Mar 17 - - - -  Feria of Lent

Gospel Words of Jesus Christ Our Divine Savior
6 But he answering, said to them: Well did Isaias prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 And in vain to they worship me, teaching doctrines and precepts of men. 8 For leaving the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pots and of cups: and many other things you do like to these. 9 And he said to them: Well do you make void the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition. 10 For Moses said: Honour thy father and thy mother; and He that shall curse father or mother, dying let him die.  11 But you say: If a man shall say to his father or mother, Corban, (which is a gift,) whatsoever is from me, shall profit thee. 12 And further you suffer him not to do any thing for his father or mother, 13 Making void the word of God by your own tradition, which you have given forth. And many other such like things you do. 14 And calling again the multitude unto him, he said to them: Hear ye me all, and understand. 15 There is nothing from without a man that entering into him, can defile him. But the things which come from a man, those are they that defile a man. (Mark 7: 6-15)

From the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans
1 Know you not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) that the law hath dominion over a man, as long as it liveth? 2 For the woman that hath a husband, whilst her husband liveth is bound to the law. But if her husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 3 Therefore, whilst her husband liveth, she shall be called an adulteress, if she be with another man: but if her husband be dead, she is delivered from the law of her husband; so that she is not an adulteress, if she be with another man. 4 Therefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the law, by the body of Christ; that you may belong to another, who is risen again from the dead, that we may bring forth fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members, to bring forth fruit unto death. (Rom 7: 1-5)

Spiritual Thought Of The Week
From the Introduction to the Devout Life, by Saint Francis De Sales Part One, CHAPTER XXII. The Necessity of Purging away all tendency to Venial Sins.  AS daylight waxes, we, gazing into a mirror, see more plainly the soils and stains upon our face; and even so as the interior light of the Holy Spirit enlightens our conscience, we see more distinctly the sins, inclinations and imperfections which hinder our progress towards real devotion. And the selfsame light, which shows us these blots and stains, kindles in us the desire to be cleansed and purged there from.

You will find then, my child, that besides the mortal sins and their affections from which your soul has already been purged, you are beset by sundry inclinations and tendencies to venial sin; mind, I do not say you will find venial sins, but the inclination and tendency to them. Now, one is quite different from the other. We can never be altogether free from venial sin,—at least not until after a very long persistence in this purity; but we can be without any affection for venial sin. It is altogether one thing to have said something unimportant not strictly true, out of carelessness or liveliness, and quite a different matter to take pleasure in lying, and in the habitual practice thereof. But I tell you that you must purify your soul from all inclination to venial sin;—that is to say, you must not voluntarily retain any deliberate intention of permitting yourself to commit any venial sin whatever. It would be most unworthy consciously to admit anything so displeasing to God, as the will to offend Him in anywise. Venial sin, however small, is displeasing to God, although it be not so displeasing as the greater sins which involve eternal condemnation; and if venial sin is displeasing to Him, any clinging which we tolerate to mortal sin is nothing less than a resolution to offend His Divine Majesty. Is it really possible that a rightly disposed soul can not only offend God, but take pleasure therein?

From The Imitation Of Christ By Thomas A Kempis
Book Three The Twenty-Seventh: Give me, Lord, heavenly wisdom to learn above all else to seek and find You, to enjoy and love You more than anything, and to consider other things as they are, as Your wisdom has ordered them. Grant me prudence to avoid the flatterer and to bear patiently with him who disagrees with me. For it is great wisdom not to be moved by the sound of words, nor to give ear to the wicked, flattering siren. Then, I shall walk safely in the way I have begun.

From The Teachings Of The Second Vatican Council  
Dei Verbum (On the Word of God): #12 “But, since Holy Scripture must be read and interpreted in the sacred spirit in which it was written,  no less serious attention must be given to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture if the meaning of the sacred texts is to be correctly worked out. The living tradition of the whole Church must be taken into account along with the harmony which exists between elements of the faith. It is the task of exegetes to work according to these rules toward a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture, so that through preparatory study the judgment of the Church may mature. For all of what has been said about the way of interpreting Scripture is subject finally to the judgment of the Church, which carries out the divine commission and ministry of guarding and interpreting the word of God.”

From The Code Of Canon Law  Canon 277 §1. Clerics are obliged to observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and therefore are bound to celibacy which is a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can adhere more easily to Christ with an undivided heart and are able to dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and humanity.  §2. Clerics are to behave with due prudence towards persons whose company can endanger their obligation to observe continence or give rise to scandal among the faithful.  §3. The diocesan bishop is competent to establish more specific norms concerning this matter and to pass judgment in particular cases concerning the observance of this obligation.

Catechism Of The Catholic Church
2324 Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator.

SPECIAL NOTICE
Please be advised that donations to Saint Gianna’s can be made through our website: www.saintgianna.net.  By so doing, one can contribute using their credit card.  We appreciate your financial support and also ask your prayers for our continued success.  Also, please note that we are now set up with PaPal so that our parishioners and friends can automatically contribute a designated amount each month toward your support of Saint Gianna’s.  Check our website for details: www.saintgianna.net.

Classes
We will be conducting classes on the Documents of Vatican II at the Desert Springs Academy, 3833 E 2nd St., Tucson.  The phone number is 321-1709.  The next class is Wednesday, March 21th at 3:00 PM.

Schedule Change  In correction of last week’s pulpit announcement, Sunday, March 11th will be our last 5:00 PM Mass.  Effective Sunday, March 18th there will be only two Sunday Masses, 6:30 AM & 1:45 PM.  If needed, we will return to the 5:00 PM in the fall.

Pope Benedict XVI Prayer Intention For March
General - - - - That the Word of God be more and more listened to, contemplated and lived.
Mission - - - - That the concern of those young Churches who train catechists, organizers and lay people at the service of the Gospel be constant.


It's hard to believe that Ash Wednesday has snuck up on us like a thief in the night, but here we are ready to turn over a new spiritual leaf again. Lenten conversion is not a superficial renewal like cleaning an old painting or varnishing an antique chair. These are renovations but are not conversions! What the Lord wants is not just the change of bad habits and worldly vices; He wants a clean soul and no half-measures will do. And for that, we are given a forty-day discipline to train us to cleanse the inside of our souls and make them ready for the Lord. Lenten house cleaning proceeds according to an age-old spiritual discipline of the Church: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Not ironically, the reason for a three-fold spiritual discipline is that we have a three-fold soul. The "faculties" of the soul are mind, imagination (i.e., emotions) and will, what St. Augustine called the "internal trinity" sixteen centuries ago. As such, the disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving are directed toward converting and renewing our inner powers: prayer enlightens the mind, fasting matures the emotions, and charity strengthens the will
Prayer First and foremost, take time each of the forty days of Lent to pray and don't miss a day. Whatever way you pray best, do more of it. Prayer purifies the mind and opens the intellect to the Truth. This does not mean that we have to enter a PhD program to be Christians. Prayer is a universal discipline and anyone can exercise his mind with it to great effect. Years ago when I was in a rural migrant parish, the little Guatemalan ladies who walked sometimes miles every day to the church to pray before the statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe would put me to shame by their intensity of prayer - their prayer was pure and devotional and, as a consequence, their minds were much more attuned to the Mind of God than their busy pastor!
Fasting Don't neglect this practice during Lent - in fact, do more than the minimum because it's good for the soul! The discipline of fasting aims to reorder the disordered emotions and appetites of our inner life. Eating less or missing a meal never hurt anyone - especially in food-abundant America. However, the benefits are enormous in chastened desires and a tangible sense of dependency upon God.
Almsgiving The human will becomes mature by learning to make sacrifices for higher goods and purposes, but the spirit of sacrifice is by no means a natural inclination to most humans. However, choosing to put the good of others first can be learned through training in selflessness which is what the discipline of "almsgiving" is about. Almsgiving trains us to think and act generously as our way of life. It is the training of the will to renounce self for the good of another, and Lent gives us forty days to practice it more intensely. The truly magnanimous souls of our Church's history were those saints who knew the need for discipline in all these areas and practiced them heroically. Such a soul is not given at birth; it is cultivated through a deliberate striving for that inner integrity that we all desire. The Church has the formula to achieve it: prayer, fasting and almsgiving - nothing is more salutary - or more challenging - for that program of inner conversion, but it is the formula that makes us whole.
Sincerely Yours in Christ, 


Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer
President, Human Life International