Contact Us !

 

This Week at St. Thomas



Summa for Lent 2009

Bulletins

June 18 THURSDAY
8:00am Liturgy of the Hours, Church
8:30am Mass for the soul of Ernest Wilmott (Wilmott)
9:10am Rosary
9:15am Bible Study, Fireside Room
11:30am Highland Terrace Mass for Fr. Joseph H. Doogan
7 :00pm Choir practice, Church

June 19 FRIDAY
8:00am Liturgy of the Hours, Church
9:00am Church cleaners at work
12:00pm Mass for the intentions of Ilse Batson (Norris)
6:00pm PCA Parents, Hall, Childcare, Fireside

June 20 SATURDAY (Fr. Phelan’s Birthday)
9:00am Fr. Phelan Mass for the intentions of Ed and Jessie Donovan
(Smith)
9:45am Rosary
10:00am Fr. Phelan Confessions
1:00pm Jackson-Pandoliano Wedding
3:30pm Fr. O’Shea Confessions
5:00pm Fr. O’Shea Mass for the soul of Genevieve Firth (Firth)
6:00pm Craft Night, Fireside Room

June 21 SUNDAY—12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Coffee Hour is sponsored by CDA
Liturgy of the Hours—week 4
Old Testament: Job 38: 1, 8-11
New Testament: 2 Corinthians 5:14-17
Gospel: Mark 4:35-41

8:00am Fr. Phelan Mass Pro Populo
9:30am Fr. Phelan Mass for Fathers, living and dead
11:30am Fr. Jose Chavenia Jr. “Fr. Junm” Mass for Fathers, living and
dead

June 22 MONDAY
8:00am Liturgy of the Hours, Church
8:30am Mass for the soul of Wayne Clark Jr. (Clark)
9:10am Rosary
6 :00pm Scouts, Hall

June 23 TUESDAY
8:00am Liturgy of the Hours, Church
8:30am Mass for the soul of Shirley Stuvik-Roller (Stuvik)
9:10am Rosary
4:30pm Prayer and Faith-Sharing, Fireside Room
6:30pm Circle of Love Prayer Group, Fireside Room

June 24 WEDNESDAY
8:00am Liturgy of the Hours, Church
8:30am Mass for the soul of Andrea & Thad Peters (Clark)
9:10am Rosary
7:00pm St. Thomas Schola, Church

June 25 THURSDAY
8:00am Liturgy of the Hours, Church
8:30am Mass for the intentions of Carolyn Rahman (Clark)
9:10am Rosary
9:15am Bible Study, Fireside Room
7:00pm Choir practice, Church
7 :00pm Mystogogia, Fireside Room

June 26 FRIDAY
8:00am Liturgy of the Hours, Church
9:00am Church cleaners at work
12:00pm Mass for Rebe Kaha Cheresnick (Murphy)

June 27 SATURDAY
9:00am Mass for the intentions of David Simms (Simms)
9:45am Rosary
10:00am Confessions
3:30pm Confessions
5:00pm Mass for Helen Fischer (Christianson)

June 28 SUNDAY—13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Coffee Hour is sponsored by Prayer Group
Liturgy of the Hours—week 1
Old Testament: Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24
New Testament: 2 Corinthians 8:7-9, 13-15
Gospel: Mark 5:21-43

8:00am Fr. Phelen Mass for the soul of Deacon Lawrence Sullivan
9:30am Fr. Phelan Mass Pro Populo
11:30am Fr. Iweh Mass for the soul of Caroline Underwood (Heacock)

 


Holy Days of Obligation

Pope's Letter on Sunday Obligation
Keeping Holy the Sabbath
Holy Days Defined

In the United States, there are 58 (57 in the west) Holy Days of Obligation each year:

Every Sunday - Every Sunday is a Holy Day of Obligation. Missing Mass for no sound reason (necessary work, emergencies, caring for an infant) is a grave sin against the Third Commandment and requires our being forgiven through the Sacrament of Confession before we may return to Holy Communion. Learn more about how and why we are to Keep Holy the Sabbath here.

Immaculate Conception—December 8

Christmas Day—December 25

Holy Mary Mother of God—January 1

Ascension Thursday (although in the western region of the U.S. it is celebrated on the following Sunday)—Forty days after Easter

The Assumption—August 15

All Saints' Day—November 1

Return to top

 

Sunday Mass is a Serious Obligation

Pope John Paul II
Angelus, August 9, 1998

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. In the recent Apostolic Letter Dies Domini on keeping Sunday holy, I wrote that the Eucharistic assembly is the heart of the Day of the Lord. Therefore to observe Sunday properly, our first task is to take part in Holy Mass. This is a serious obligation, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church has recalled (n.2181), but, yet more important, it is a deep need which cannot but be felt by Christian souls.

The sacrifice made once and for all on Golgotha is renewed in every Eucharist, and the Church, uniting her sacrifice to that of the Lord, announces his death and proclaims his Resurrection as she awaits his coming. If this is true for Holy Mass celebrated on any day, it is especially true with regard to Sunday, since Sunday is particularly associated with the commemoration of Christ's Resurrection.

2. Sunday is the day when the whole community is called together; this is why it is also called dies Ecclesiae, the day of the Church.

On this day, the Christian assembly listens to the Word of God, proclaimed in abundance and with solemnity; thus in the first part of Mass there is a true dialogue of the Lord with his people.

Then, through participation in one banquet, communion is deepened among those who are united in the Spirit of Christ. The Sunday Eucharist is thus the privileged place in which the Church manifests herself as a sacrament of unity, "sign and instrument of communion with God and of unity among all men" (Lumen gentium, n. 1).

There is an urgent need for the Lord's disciples to offer this witness of fraternal unity in a world that is frequently fragmented, torn and scarred by outbreaks of division, violence and war.

3. May Mary most holy who was with the Apostles in prayer on the day of Pentecost, obtain for our Eucharistic assemblies the gift of effectively showing the presence of the risen Christ and of his Spirit. May her constant intercession ensure that the faithful live as "one heart and soul" (cf. Acts 4:32), eve ready to respond to anyone who asks them to account for the hope that is in them (cf. 1 Pt 3:15).

Return to top

 

Keeping Holy the Sabbath

The following is from Through the Catechism with Father Champlin—A Question-and-Answer Guide. You can purchase this book at Queen of Peace Catholic Bookstore in Vancouver.

Q: What is the meaning of the word sabbath in the third commandment?

A: “Remember to keep holy the sabbath day” means, literally, to keep holy Saturday, the seventh day of the week. Faithful Jewish people today observe the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

The Sabbath has rich connections with events in the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures. It recalls the creation of the world. It recalls the deliverance of the Chosen People from pagan slavery in Egypt and the obligation of the liberated covenant that God made with us as we observe a day of praise and gratitude for the Lord’s saving actions. It recalls the fact that God rested on the seventh day as a model for us to imitate.


Q: Why, then, do most Christians keep the sabbath on Sunday?

A: At the very beginning of the Christian era, the Church shifted this observance from Saturday to Sunday, basically for two reasons: Jesus rose on Easter Sunday, and the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles fifty days later, also a Sunday. It also sees in the celebration an understanding that Christ ushered in the new creation and fulfills the sabbath.


Q: Is Mass central to keeping Sunday holy?

A: Yes. There is a double dimension to the Sunday obligation—praising our God and resting from work. The Church, also from ancient times, has stated that the “Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Day and His Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s life (CCC-2177). Sunday is the feast day, the foremost holy day of obligation, and was for years the only celebration of the Church year. Every Sunday, therefore, is a little Easter.


Q: Do Catholics have an obligation to be present for Mass every Sunday?

A: Yes, or at an anticipated Mass on Saturday evening. Over the past thirty years, there has been some unclear teaching about the serious responsibility of Catholics to attend Sunday Mass each week and a generally lax approach among many Catholics in that regard. The Catechism gives clear teaching on this topic.

The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin (CCC-2181).


Q: How do we observe Sunday as a day of rest?

A: By avoiding unnecessary work and engaging in activities that will “recreate” us and all those with whom we are connected.

Return to top

from Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Dictionary

Holy Days: Also called days of precept, holy days are feasts of such importance in the liturgical calendar that attendance at Mass is required. The Code of Canon Law (cc. 1246-1248) discusses these, rightly beginning with Sunday, describing it as "the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost day of obligation in the universal Church" (Can. 1246). It then lists the following to be observed: Christmas, Epiphany, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Mary Mother of God, Immaculate Conception, Assumption, St. Joseph, Sts. Peter and Paul, and All Saints. This list is the same as that given in the 1917 code, with the feast of the Circumcision eliminated in favor of the restored title for Jan. 1, Mary, Mother of God. The present code then states that "the conference of bishops can abolish certain holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday with the prior approval of the Holy See" (Can. 1246). The United States bishops decided not to make the feasts of St. Joseph and SS. Peter and Paul days of precept and transferred the Solemnities of the Epiphany and Corpus Christi to a Sunday.

Return to top

Return Home

 

 All Rights Reserved © 2004-07 by St. Thomas Aquinas Church
St. Thomas Aquinas Church   324 N.E. Oak Street   Camas, WA 98607   360.834.2126

St. Thomas on

Webmaster