Dear Parishioners,

Last Saturday I celebrated the funeral Mass for Potenciana Carranza (nicknamed “Naty”) who was 99 years old. She and her husband Ven had 6 children, 19 grandchildren and even greatgreat children. She was “Auntie” to many nieces, nephews & friends. When she prayed for these members of her family, she would mention each of them by name, just as God calls each of us by name, according to Scripture. She ran a family business in the Philippines before coming to the United States in 1978. She was faithful to attending Mass & had a devotion to St. Anthony of Padua. Let us intercede for her that she may join with St. Anthony in the praise of God.

This Saturday, February 3rd, is the feast of St. Blase. As is our custom, we will have the blessing of throats after each of the Masses this weekend. Please come up the center aisle in 2 lines during the closing song if you would like to be blessed. Here is some information about St. Blase which can be found at catholic.org:

Saint Blaise was the bishop of Sebastea and a doctor. The first known record of the saint's life comes from the medical writings of Aëtius Amidenus, where he is recorded as helping with patients suffering from objects stuck in their throat. Many of the miraculous aspects of St. Blaise's life are written of 400 years after his martyrdom in the "Acts of St. Blaise."

Saint Blaise is believed to begin as a healer then, eventually, became a "physician of souls." He then retired to a cave, where he remained in prayer. People often turned to Saint Blaise for healing miracles.

In 316, the governor of Cappadocia and of Lesser Armenia, Agricola, arrested then-bishop Blaise for being a Christian. On their way to the jail, a woman set her only son, who was chocking to death on a fish bone, at his feet.

Blaise cured the child, and though Agricola was amazed, he could not get Blaise to renounce his faith. Therefore, Agricola beat Blaise with a stick and tore at his flesh with iron combs before beheading him.

Congratulations to Lucas Russell who is being baptized this Sunday. We welcome him into the family of God’s Church. May he and his family know the love of God through each other.

I’m currently reading a book I bought when I was at the Evangelization gathering this past summer in West Virginia. It’s called “Friendship and the Fathers” (referring to the early Church Fathers) and speaks about how the Church grew in the first few centuries from the friendships that Christians made with others. But the book begins by pointing out why this is important for us to know today. It says that in 1985, Americans could name 3 people they considered to be close friends and confidants. But by 2005, one in four Americans could not name one close friend with whom they could discuss their thoughts or struggles. In 2018, the British government announced that it was going to treat loneliness as a public health crisis. We are more connected to more people than in any other time in human history, but we don’t feel connected at all. We may have hundreds of friends on Facebook but still feel lonely. Social media has trivialized the very meaning of friendship. When Christianity was an illegal underground movement it spread from friend to friend because that was the only way it could spread. Friendship takes work. Especially friendship with God because it requires prayer and presence. Thank God for the friends in your life today & ask yourself how good of a friend you are to God.

Fr. James P. Schmitz