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St. Felicitas Catholic Church

1662 Manor Blvd. San Leandro ● Email: stfelicitaschurch@comcast.net Tel. No. (510) 351-5244 ● Fax (510) 351-5730

St. Felicitas is a vibrant diverse Catholic Faith Community. We celebrate the Living Word of God, and the presence of Christ Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. We nurture the formation of Faith through Education & works of charity. In our various ministries we promote prayer, justice & peace. We welcome all to share in the Love of God.

Parish Staff Rev. Augustine Joseph 286 Parochial Administrator Rev. Joseph Pathiyil, 297 Associate Rev Tran T Dinh , 288 In Residence (Vietnamese Ministry Jose Prado Deacon (Retired) Rosario Rivera, Secretary 281 Sr. Mary Anh Cong, 282 Pastoral Care Mercey Zamora, Pastoral 293 Associate (Spanish Ministry) Sr. Magdalena Duong, 287 Ministry (Vietnamese Community) Ida Valenzuela, RCIA 283 Sister Cecilia Chuong Phan, Altar Servers Clare Zipp, Bulletin 292

Religious Education Office Sandi Walton, DRE 296 Michele Javier-Poma, 285 Youth Minister

Faith Formation Ph. 510- 483 - 4880 Fax: 483 - 2626 stfelicitasccd@comcast.net Convent 351-5577 St Vincent de Paul 706-1972

Mass Schedule: Sunday 7:30am, 9:00am, 10:30am 12:15 (Spanish) 4:30 (Vietnamese) Saturday 8:15am, 4:30pm (Vigil) Daily (Mon-Fri) 7:00am, 8:15am Holy Days 7:00am, 8:15am, 7:00pm 1st Friday Exposition 12:30-4:45pm

Sacrament of Reconciliation Saturdays 3:15-4:00 pm or by appointment Baptism 4th Sunday of every month 2:00pm Contact Parish Office for information. Marriage Arrangement to be made 6 months prior to the wedding Parish Office Hours Mon-Thurs 8:45am-5:00pm Fri 8:45am-12:00 noon Parish School Rodney Pierre Antoine, Principal 1650 Manor Blvd. Ph. 357-2530 Fax: 357-5358

SOUP AND STATIONS

Sunday February 21, 2010

T he great season of Lent is upon us, the springtime of the Church. It is a time for special attention to our spiritual life, a time to do something beyond the routine, the ordinary, in order to be more available to God and God’s grace in our hearts. The great traditional Lenten practices of the ages are: almsgiving, prayer and fast-ing. Each of them needs to be rethought in a somewhat different way for our times and our lifestyle, but all of them open us to the power of God alive in our hearts, pro-mote our true freedom as human beings, not allowing ourselves to be the controlled slaves of money or food or anything else. The most significant thing to do at this time is to make some decisions in each of these three areas for Lent. It may not be the perfect decision. It may not be the ideal. But let it be something. Otherwise, we can dither Lent away, while we are in the process of making up our minds. In each of the three areas of ALMSGIVING, PRAYER AND FASTING, what am I going to do this Lent? Please make up your mind BEFORE Ash Wednesday and then enter upon this blessed season with open heart and mind. This is my favorite season of all the Church year. When I ask myself why this is so, I think it is because we are dealing with something really important, not peripheral in the Christian life. We are really focusing on our spiritual growth as a parish and that is the most important thing to me as your pastor. Have a blessed season of spring growth. We have every reason to expect a bounte-ous harvest at Easter. For the Lord is an excellent gardener! Soup and stations are a wonderful tradition in our Church on Thursdays. We shall continue them this year as well. It helps us to enter into a spirit of communion with each other and participate in almsgiving which so much celebrates the spirit of the season of Lent. Father Augustine

Events of the Week: Feb. 22 thru Feb. 27

MON 2/22

TUE 2/23

3:30 pm 3:30 pm 7:30pm

CCD Classes CCD Parent Faith Share Enviornmental Committee..

School SMC SJC

WED 2/24

1:00 pm 6:00 pm 7:00 pm 7:30 pm

Golden Glow Club Spanish Reconciliation Spanish Ministries RCIA Catechumenate

Hall Church AE Rm SMC

FRI 2//26

9:15 am 7:00 pm 7:00 pm 8:00 pm

Sr. John Paul’s Program Spanish Choir Spanish Prayer Group Vietnamese Choir

Church Hall SMC AE Rm.

SAT 2/27

3:15 pm Confessions Church

THU 2/25

6:00 pm 7:00 pm 7:00 pm 7:00 pm 7:30 pm

Soup & Stations Stations Spanish Parents Formation Spanish Adult Formation Confirmation Prayer Service

Hall Church Hall AERm Gym

COLLECTIONS Feb 14, 2010 Sunday Collection $ 9,723.50 Children $ 10.00 Bishop’s Appeal $ 2,819.50 Thank You for your generous contributions. Please consider remembering us in your will.

STEWARDSHIP Last Sunday, Feb 14, Our Stewardship of $486.18 went to the Alameda County Food Bank. This Sunday, Feb. 21, First Sunday of Lent

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2010

9:00 and 10:30 Mass: Children’s Liturgy of the Word

Ministry Faire and Hospitality in Gym

LENT

LENTEN REGULATIONS All Fridays of Lent are days of Abstinence from meat & meat products. This obliges everyone who is fourteen (14) years of age & older. Ash Wednesday & Good Friday are days of fast & abstinence (one full meal, two lesser meals, no meat, no eating between meals). The law of fasting obliges all persons who are between the ages of eighteen (18) & fifty-nine (59).

SOUP & STATIONS Our regular Soup & Stations has been changed to Thursdays this year. Bring your family & come meet other parishioners to share a simple soup dinner at 6:00 pm in the Gym, Mark your calendar: February 25 March 11 March 25 March 4 March 18 Donations will be given to help those that been affected by the disaster in Haiti. * * * * * *

A special module for Lent: An Interpersonal communication course by

Sr. John Paul Chao smsm. (On Fridays from Feb.19 - March 26th 2010)

9:15 a.m. in Church

TODAY

R emember to come over to the Gym af-ter Mass to the MINISTRY FAIRE. Check out all the Ministries that are going on in our church and sign up to help on one of the Ministries you might be interested in.

READINGS FOR THE WEEK

Monday: 1 Pt 5:1-4; Mt 16:13-19 Tuesday: Is 55:10-11; Mt 6:7-15 Wednesday: Jon 3:1-10; Lk 11:29-32 Thursday: Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25; Mt 7:7-12 Friday: Ez 18:21-28; Mt 5:20-26 Saturday: Dt 26:16-19; Mt 5:43-48 Sunday: Gn 15:5-12, 17-18; Ps 27; Phil 3:17 — 4:1 [3:20 — 4:1]; Lk 9:28b-36

The Sick & Homebound: For all who are ill that through the

touch of Jesus, they may be restored to the full-ness of life, especially for our Parishioners at this time: Fr. Joseph Fiedorowitcz , Edward Oliver, Gregory Caruso, Edna Castro Dizon, Diane Griffin, , Earl Granahan, Nick Botelho, Juan Gobel, Barbara Holt, Rose Rachel Bonglornol , Brendan Nelson, Antonina Stengel, John Silva, Claiborne Whitworth, Stana Oven, Mary Mosser, Bob Richard Attow, Julie Chin, Jesus Aguayo, Virginia Brown, Marie Choury, Albert Pontes, Cheryl Evelyn Lake, Doug Mendoza, Mercedes Corral, Rod Ruelo, Joe Monsor, Nina Ascuncion, Mary Miller, Tony Pontes,

Mass Intentions Feb.21 thru Feb. 28 Sun. 2/21 7:30 am Tomasa Sanchez † 9:00 am Richard Palo †

10:30 am Virginia Montesano † 12:15 pm Fortino Garcia † Mon 2/22 7:00 am Helen Silveira † 8:15 am Richard Fife (Living) Tue.2/23 7:00 am Sr. Elisabel † 8:15 am Sid Acton † Wed.2/24 7:00 am Geraldine Lewis † 8:15 am John Kriletich † Thurs2/25 7:00 am Vu Family (Living) 8:15 am Fr. Augustine’s Intention Fri. 2/26 7:00 am 8:15 am Geronimo & Pelagia Ramirez † Sat. 2/27 8:15 am 4:30 pm Luis Romero (Living) Sun. 2/28 7:30 am St. Felicitas Parishioners 9:00 am Ricardo Tablante Birthday 10:30 am Hazel Monzon † 12:15 pm Nesrie & Chrismer Zamcort (Living)

RETROUVAILLE A Lifeline for Marriage - Retrouvaille helps cou-ples through difficult times in their marriages. It is designed to provide the tools to help get your mar-riage back on track. It will give you the opportu-nity to rediscover each other and examine your lives together in a new and positive way. This program has helped 10’s of 1000’s of couples ex-periencing marital difficulty at all levels, including disillusionment and deep misery. For confidential information about, or to register for the February program beginning with a weekend on February 26-28, 2010, call 510-648-6874 or email: Oakland@RetroCA.com or visit the web site at www.HelpOurMarriage.com.

Saint Felicitas Youth Ministry All high school youth are invited to “Man In The Mirror – An Evening of Reflection” on Sunday, February 28, at 6:00pm, in the parish hall. As we enter the season of Lent, this is a prayerful oppor-tunity for young people to look at themselves and to “make that change!” For more information, please call Michele Javier-Poma at 510-483-4880.

Thank you ! A letter from Dominican Sisters of Mary, mother of the Eucha-rist Dear Fr. Augustine, Thank you for your gracious financial support of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist during 2009, We are most grateful for your generosity, and pray that the Lord may bless you for your kindness in giving our community $499.42. Please accept our deepest gratitude & prayers for your goodness to us. May God pour out a multitude of graces upon you and your family. Sincerely, Sr. John Dominic Rasmussen, O.P. Bursar General

SAN DAMIANO RETREATS

Weekend Retreat - March 12-14, 2010 “My Truth Will Set You Free”

On this Lenten Weekend, we will discover the power of the word of God to awaken & renew us. Given by Paula Jenkins and Fr. Rusty Shaugh-nessy. Registration: 4:00 pm - 6:30 pm Social: 6:00 pm - Dinner: 7:00 pm First Session: 8:00 pm Concludes with lunch on Sunday. Register on line www.sandamiano.org Room Preference: Private ($210) Double: ($180)

A Simple judge of my character is how I treat a person who can do ab-solutely nothing for me.

CONGRATULATIONS

ST. FELICITAS SCHOOL Our school community began our Lenten Journey on Ash Wednesday celebrating mass alongside our parish community. The desert ex-perience will be shared by one and all as we fast, abstain, and look for ways to grow closer to our loving Christ. Throughout the Lenten season our stu-dents will learn about why Jesus died on the cross as we stay in constant preparation for His rising after death. All are invite to join our parish and school com-munity for Soup and Stations. Our school community will be responsible for making and servicing the soup this coming Thursday, February 25th. We all look forward to sharing in this simple Lenten meal and prayer with all of you. May we all follow Jesus’ example of loving sacri-fice throughout the weeks of Lent.

Please join our parish community on Thurs-day evenings during Lent and share in this tradi-tional Lenten practice. Prayer, fasting and almsgiv-ing and making sacrifices of little things will help us to strengthen our relationship with God. This is also a wonderful way to meet with other young families within our parish.

The Stations of the Cross are one of the oldest devotions in the Church. Jerusalem has been one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Christians. Pilgrims go to trace the via dolorosa (the way of sorrows). This is the route Jesus fol-lowed from Pilate’s house to Golgatha—the hill on which he was crucified—and finally to his tomb. It was said that after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, Our Lady walked the via dolorosa often.

Those of us who cannot go to Jerusalem have the opportunity to make this pilgrimage jour-ney in our own church. This is in the popular Lenten devotion. At each station, we pause to re-member the event that took place there. Join to-gether with the parish community to participate in this devotion on the Thursdays in Lent. These are the stations

Jesus is condemned to death Jesus carries his cross Jesus falls the first time Jesus meets his mother Simon and Cyrene helps Jesus carry his cross Veronica wipes the face of Jesus Jesus falls the second time Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem Jesus falls the third time Jesus is stripped of his garments Jesus is nailed to the cross Jesus dies on the cross Jesus is taken down from the cross Jesus is place in the tomb

Family Activity Periodically during Lent, take your child to the church and pray the stations. You could have your child draw a picture of each station (or choose one each week) or have them create one from model-ing clay. If you would like a copy of the stations with reflec-tions please stop by the Religious Education office and we will provide you with one. Sandi Walton

A letter from Divine Mercy Eucharistic Society Dear Fr. Augustine, We are most grateful for your 2009 contribution of $1029 to the Divine Mercy Eucharistic Society for our ministry on behalf of Mary’s House of Mercy. More than just the dollars, we are extremely grateful for your support of our efforts to help mothers in cri-sis. Mary’s House, a 13-bedrom home & the only home for pregnant women in crisis in West Contra Costa, opened in 2002 and has served more than 125 women & their infants; 11 women during 2009. Please keep us in your prayers & may God bless you abundantly for your continued generosity. In His merciful hands and with trust in His Providence, Thelma Orias President & Founder

A letter from SPRED (Special Religious Education Dept.) Dear Fr. Augustine, Your contribution to help persons with developmental disabilities become part of small communities of faith is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your generosity in the contribution of $955.42 for the 2009 period. Sr. Aurora Perez, SHF Director of SPRED

LENT 2010 . La gran temporada de Cuaresma, que es la primavera de la Iglesia, ya esta con nosotros. Es un tiempo de especial atención a nuestra vida

espiritual, un tiempo para hacer algo mas fuera de la rutina, de lo ordinario, a fin de estar mas disponible para Dios y su gracia en nuestros corazones. Las grandes practicas tradicionales de Cuaresma son: la ofrenda, la oración y el ayuno. En cada una de ellas hay que replantearse de una manera algo diferente para nuestra época y nuestro estilo de vida, pero todos ellos abiertos al poder vivo de Dios en nuestros corazones, que promueve nuestra verdadera libertad como seres humanos; no permitiéndonos ser con-trolados o esclavizados por el dinero, la comida o por algo mas. La cosa mas importante para hacer en este momento de la Cuaresma, es tomar decisiones en cada una de estas tres areas. Puede ser que nuestra decision no sea la mas perfecta, tal vez no es la mas ideal, pero algo hay que hacer de lo contrario en el indeciso proceso de nuestras ideas, se nos va la Cuaresma sin haber tomado una resolución. En cada una de estas tres areas de la OFRENDA, la ORACION, y el AYUNO, ¿Que voy a hacer para la Cuaresma? Por favor decide para el Miercoles de Ceniza y entonces entrar en esta temporada bendita con una aper-tura de mente y corazón. Esta es mi estación favorita de todo el año de la Iglesia. Cuando me pregunto el por que de esto, creo que es porque estamos tratando de algo realmente importante y no el periférico de la vida cristiana. Como parroquia, estamos realmente enfocándonos en nuestro crecimiento espiritual y como pastor, para mi eso es lo mas importante. Tengan una bendita temporada de crecimiento espiritual. Tenemos todos los motivos para espe-rar una cosecha abundante en esta Pascua de Resurreccion porque el Señor es un excelente Jardinero. La sopa y las estaciones de los Jueves, son una maravillosa tradición en nuestra parroquia. Este año también vamos a continuar con ellas. Nos ayuda a entrar en un espíritu de comunion con los demas y a participar en la la limosna que tanto celebra el espíritu del Tiempo de Cuaresma. Father Augustine Joseph. Traduccion, `xÜvxç mtÅÉÜt