THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD
JANUARY 12th, 2025
In the liturgical calendar, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord signifies the end of the Christmas season. It marks the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and confirms his identity as the Son of God.
The Gospel of Mark describes the event: It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water He saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him. And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with You I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:9-11)
Christ’s baptism remarkably shows all three Persons of the Trinity at the same time: the Son being baptized, the Holy Spirit descending, and the Father speaking from the heavens. In this event, the Father and the Holy Spirit confirm the deity of Christ, and Jesus submits to his Father’s will. When Jesus comes to John, John hesitates to baptize him. John’s is a baptism of repentance, and Jesus has nothing for which He needs to repent. Why then does Jesus insist on being baptized? By choosing to be baptized, Jesus fulfills all righteousness – preparing Himself to be a perfect sacrifice for us.
https://www.nationalshrine.org/blog/the-significance-of-the-baptism-of-the-lord/
SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
JANUARY 19th, 2025
Welcome to St. Eugene’s
St. Eugene’s is the cathedral church for the Diocese of Santa Rosa, located in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California. Our parish community includes more than 1700 registered parishioner households and a school for preschool through eighth grade students. Our parish was founded in 1950 and became the cathedral when the Diocese of Santa Rosa was established in 1962.
Announcements
Please check this week’s bulletin for all current announcements. Only special announcements or ones that didn’t make it into the bulletin are listed here.
January 19, 2025 Second Sunday of Ordinary Time - Gospel of Luke - St. Patrick’s Gala?
Dear People of God,
As we get back into the Ordinary Time season, we return back to the regular Sunday reading cycle for a little over a month. Ash Wednesday is March 8th this year and Easter is celebrated on April 20th. This is a great time to read through the Gospel of Luke which will be our focus for the year. Luke contains many memorable and great stories. Of particular note, we find the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, the Parable of the Lost Son in Luke 15, Lazarus and Dives in Luke 16, and the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Luke presents us with much rich imagery and great narratives on the events of Jesus' life. The Gospel is classically divided in two by the "hinge" of the storyline in Luke 9:53 in which Jesus "sets His face towards Jerusalem." Everything after that moment is related to Jesus' journey to Jerusalem where He ultimately dies, only to rise again. Also, of special interest, in Luke's account of the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah speak with Jesus specifically about His "exodus" linking the future events that Jesus will accomplish with the Exodus of the Old Testament. See Luke 9:28-36 for the details.
In different news, regarding the Jubilee, we are planning different events, however, there is a desire to have the St. Patrick's Day gala again. We can have this event, but we need many volunteers to make it happen. If you could volunteer, please call the office with your contact information and what you could do. Otherwise, we may have to postpone the event to a later date. Also, many people have asked me about the holy door. The Vatican sent out a memo to all dioceses asking that the holy doors in local cathedrals not be opened this year. It seems that they would like to save the opening of those doors for some future time.
May God bless you all,
Fr. Samuel Moses Brown
January 12, 2025 The Baptism of the Lord bulletin - New Year’s Resolutions?
Dear Father: Should we make New Year's resolutions? It seems like a good idea, but it's also very secular and maybe not the best use of my energy.
Dear Reader: The answer is yes and no, let me explain. The idea of doing a New Year's resolution isn't a bad idea per se. It's a form of goal setting and something that can be beneficial, just like going on a diet or doing more crossword puzzles can help someone any time of the year. Some people say that the tradition of New Year's resolutions has some religious overtones, but I do not think that there is any solid research on the subject. I would say that the best thing to do is to figure out a physical and a spiritual resolution. For instance, perhaps someone wants to lose weight and be better about attending Mass every Sunday. January is a good time to start and it can be a good way to start the year. Whatever goals someone wants to achieve, it is best practice to outline exactly what steps that person will take. I've been reading the book Atomic Habits by James Clear and he points out that if people start small and have something very defined, they have the best chance for success. For the person who wants to attend Mass on Sunday, like we all should, this might mean agreeing to set an alarm for 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, then get ready, and then actually go to Mass at 9 a.m. The plan has to have definition and be solid. It should be a resolution to a specific act, not a vague goal that may or may not be achievable in the current context.
Sometimes, this can remind us of Lent, but a key difference is that in Lent whatever someone gives up or sacrifices something, it must be something that is morally permissible in the first place. In other words, a Catholic shouldn't say that for Lent he is going to start attending Mass when all along he has had that obligation. He should attend Mass and still find some other penance.
God bless,
Fr. Samuel Moses Brown
January 5, 2025 The Epiphany of the Lord bulletin - Christmas season end? - Jubilee
People often wonder about when Christmas technically ends. It used to end with Epiphany on January 6th, thus giving us 12 days of Christmas. However, in the post-conciliar world, someone had the idea to move Epiphany to the Sunday after January 1st. Many countries do this practice, including nearly all of the United States. At the same time, the Christmas Season was extended through the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord making it the last day of the Christmas Season. In most years, the Baptism of the Lord is on the Sunday after Epiphany, but in some years, when Epiphany is on January 7 or 8, the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on the Monday after Epiphany. I do not know why they decided to do it that way, but that is what they decided.
On another note, 2025 is finally here and it's our Jubilee year in two ways. First, our congregation was founded in 1950, though the church building itself wasn't finished until 1951. We are celebrating our 75th anniversary of being a parish. I am looking for any "charter members" meaning people who have been here since the beginning or close to it. We would like them to say something about the gift and beauty of this parish community to share with the rest of us who came later. The other Jubilee that we are celebrating in 2025 is the worldwide jubilee year that the Catholic Church has every 25 years. The last ordinary (meaning scheduled) jubilee was 2000, back when St. John Paul II was the Pope and our Diocese was in crisis. We have come a long way since then and have made much progress. Our faith has grown and we have become more mature over the years. Over the course of this year, we will have various things related to the jubilee.
May the New Year contain many blessings,
Fr. Samuel Moses Brown
December 29, 2024 Feast of the Holy Family bulletin - Purple: Royalty + Penance
Dear Father: Why do we use violet for the church in the season of Advent?
Dear Reader: The Church developed a color guide over centuries to standardize how churches are decorated. Violet, also known as purple, became associated with the royalty because it was so expensive to make. Only the very wealthy could afford to have something dyed purple.
As Christians reflected on Jesus as our King Who comes at the time of Christmas in a liturgical sense, we decided that using violet made sense as a way to prepare for the birth of Our Lord. Additionally, we associate the color with penance in that we should do penance before we encounter our God. This same color is used in Lent for the same sort of reasons.
December 22, 2024 Fourth Sunday of Advent bulletin - Christian Peace
December 15, 2024 Third Sunday of Advent bulletin - Advent Joy + Preparation
December 8, 2024 Second Sunday of Advent bulletin - Advent - Loving Rescue
December 1, 2024 First Sunday of Advent bulletin - New Liturgical Year C - Advent Practices
November 24, 2024 Christ the King bulletin - Give Thanks to God
November 17, 2024 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Prayer + Sacrifice
November 10, 2024 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Penitential Rite
November 3, 2024 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Eucharistic Prayers (cont.)
October 27, 2024 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Eucharistic Prayers
October 20, 2024 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Do you believe? & Eucharistic Prayers
October 13, 2024 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - All Saints’ Day & All Souls’ Day coming
October 6, 2024 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Prepare!
September 29, 2024 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Receiving Holy Communion
September 22, 2024 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Humility & Helping Hand
September 15, 2024 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Penitential Rite
September 8, 2024 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Renew our faith
September 1, 2024 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Kneeling during Mass
Special Feature in the bulletin for August 25, 2024 - Why Do We Venerate Relics?
August 18, 2024 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time Bulletin - Sunday is special
August 11, 2024 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time Bulletin - Holy Eucharist => Eternal Life
August 4, 2024 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Signs and Miracles
July 21, 2024 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Bulletin - Ordinary Time
July 14, 2024 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Bulletin - Seek God’s presence
July 7, 2024 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Bulletin - Embrace Jesus
June 30, 2024 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time Bulletin - Jesus heals
June 23, 2024 Bulletin 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time Bulletin - Stewardship
June16, 2024 Bulletin - Father’s Day - Special Message: The Head of the Family
May 26, 2024 Trinity Sunday Bulletin - The Mystery of the Trinity
May 19, 2024 Pentecost Bulletin - Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful
Del Pastor: Domingo de Pentecostés
May 12, 2024 Seventh Sunday of Easter - Ascension Bulletin - Follow Him to Eternity
May 5, 2024 Sixth Sunday of Easter Bulletin - Our Relationship with God
April 28, 2024 Fifth Sunday of Easter Bulletin - We are the branches
April 21, 2024 Fourth Sunday of Easter Bulletin - Jesus is Our Shepherd
April 14, 2024 Third Sunday of Easter Bulletin - Resurrection: nice idea or truth?
April 7, 2024 Second Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday - Bulletin - Several titles - 2nd Sunday of Easter
March 31, 2024 Easter Sunday Bulletin - Christ the Lord is Risen!
March 24, 2024 Bulletin - Welcome the Lord… at all times
March 17, 2024 Bulletin - Countdown to the Passion
March 10, 2024 Bulletin - The Light of God
March 3, 2024 Bulletin - Spiritual & Physical maintenance
February 25, 2024 Bulletin - Transfiguration - God’s Ways
February 18, 2024 Bulletin - All About Lent
February 11, 2024 Bulletin - Jesus Heals a leper - Thanking God
February 4, 2024 Bulletin - Jesus is the Messiah - the Healer
January 28, 2024 Bulletin - The Word of God
January 21, 2024 Bulletin — Time of Fulfillment in the Gospel of Mark
January 14, 2024 Bulletin - Ordinary Time/Gospel of Mark
January 7, 2024 Bulletin — Epiphany
Pastor’s Desk
Mass, Confession, & Adoration Schedule
Weekly Mass Schedule
Weekday Mass
Mon-Fri — 6:45 a.m. & 8 a.m.
Tues — 5:30 p.m.
Saturday — 8 a.m.
Saturday Evening Vigil:
4:30 p.m. (English)
6:30 p.m. (Spanish)
Sunday Mass:
7:30 a.m.
9 a.m.
10:30 a.m. *
12 noon
5:30 p.m.
Only the Sunday, 10:30 a.m. Mass (*) will continue to be live-streamed on St. Eugene Cathedral YouTube Channel. An outdoor speaker and/or monitor will only be placed outside for special Masses/events that would require outside overflow seating.
Holy Day Mass Schedule
The usual schedule for Holy Days follows. Please check current bulletin for any changes.
6:45 a.m., 8 a.m., 5:30 p.m. and
7 p.m. (Spanish)9:20 a.m. school Mass during the school year
Adoration Times
24 hours a day. Passcode required.º
º The Adoration Chapel is open for Perpetual Adoration. See the announcement above, the latest bulletin, or the Adoration web page for more information.
Confession
Saturday 3:00-4:30 p.m. or by appointment
First Saturday of every month prior to and during the 8 a.m. Mass
Sunday Masses Confession:
No regular schedule - dependent on priests’ availability.