Repentance and Penance
January 26, 2021
Sts. Timothy and Titus Pray for Us
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This past Sunday, I began my homily with, “Repent of your sins or Santa Rosa will be destroyed!” Talk about an attention getter! This hopefully put you in the shoes of the Ninevites who were told by Jonah in our First Reading, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed!” What did they do? Ignore him? Mock him?” ‘Cancel’ him? No. They listened, repented and did penance. What a lesson for modern day man. It takes much humility to take criticism or correction to heart and then change accordingly, yet, this is what a sinful city and its sinful inhabitants did upon hearing the words of a prophet. Let’s fast forward 2,800 years and ask ourselves: what would Santa Rosa do? Would we close down the Planned Parenthoods, stop the sale of contraceptives in grocery stores, close down movie theaters that showed lewd, blasphemous or profane movies? Would our parishes fill up with people clamoring for Confession? “But,” we might say, “those are all moot points, because there are no prophets in our day and age. Stuff like that only happened in Old Testament times.” I beg to differ. In my homily, I brought up the fact that we not only have prophets (Venerable Fulton Sheen comes to mind) but, more impressively, we have the Mother of God warning us to change our hearts, repent and do penance. I then went on to speak about three apparitions, all approved by their local bishops: Our Lady of Good Success, Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of Akita. All three of these visits from the Blessed Mother concerned dire warnings for the time in which we are all now living.
Good Success (400 Years Ago) : ”As for the Sacrament of Matrimony, which symbolizes the union of Christ with His Church, [in the twentieth century] it will be attacked and deeply profaned.”
Fatima (100 Years Ago) : “I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not continue to offend Our Lord, Who is already too much offended.”
The Guardian Angel of Portugal (Fatima): “Make of everything you can a sacrifice and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners.”
Akita (50 years ago) : “As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves,[God] the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity.”
As Jonah warned the Ninevites, so Our Lady warns the world. You might ask, but why is God angry with us? What have we done that is so terrible? Well, first and foremost, the heinous crime of abortion cries to God for vengeance. Country after country falls to the devil by legalizing this modern-day sacrifice to Moloch. More than 1.5 BILLION babies have been aborted worldwide in the past 50 years. Let that sink in for a minute. Such a huge multitude of innocent, defenseless victims, all uniquely crafted in the image of God, legally murdered. (Remember, just because something is legal, does not mean it is moral.) That and that alone is enough for God’s wrath. Of course, there are many more things done today that offend God, that are so common now, so normalized, that we don’t even think about them. For example, the fashions that many of us commonly wear now would cause our ancestors not only to blush but to wonder if their descendants are in their right minds! Let us give heed, therefore, to what Jonah and the Ninevites did and realize that times may change but people essentially stay the same. We all fall from the path established by God from time to time and need to be brought back to Him by listening to His prophets and especially, His Mother. The message is always the same: Repentance and Penance. Amen.
Announcements
As you know, Fr. Wolfgang Seitz will be returning on February 16th, to perform the Consecration to our Holy Guardian Angels. He will offer the 5:30 pm Latin Mass and then perform the Consecration ceremony at 6:30 p.m. This ceremony will take about 30 - 40 minutes. Immediately following the Consecration, at 7:30 pm, our 40 Days for Life Kick-Off (no pot-luck) will take place outside where we have Mass. Please join us for prayers and updates!
Lenten Fish Fry: The Knights of Columbus will hold their annual Lenten Fish Fry at the Becker Center for “Drive Through” service on Feb. 19, from 5:00 - 7:00 pm.It will be Take-Out Only. For$16.00 enjoy fish, french fries, coleslaw & ice cream! Tickets are available in the Parish Office, M-F, 9-4 and at the Bookstore/Gift Shop.
Candlemas: Candles will be blessed at the 5:30 p.m. Mass on Tuesday, 2 February. You may bring candles from home to be blessed.
2021 CHURCH CALENDARS have arrived and will be available after the Masses on Sunday. This year, there are two versions of the calendar, English and Spanish.
Parish Finances in the Age of Covid
As you all know, these are hard times for all parishes in terms of finances. Even though we are “shut down,” the bills keep coming in and salaries have to be paid. For those of you who have been giving a little extra each week/month, I really appreciate your generosity. For those of you who are unable to come to Mass, please consider giving on-line or the good old-fashioned way, by mail. Thank you and God bless you. Learn more »
Fiscal Year to Date:
Income: $410.55.00
In the black: $38,721
Thank you for your generosity!!
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