Sad to say, we find ourselves once again feeling overwhelmed by the impact of this long pandemic. I’d like to reflect briefly on an element of Catholic moral teaching that sheds light on how we should respond to this huge challenge to our health and safety.
Consider the analogy of a sports team. Individual players want to be as successful as possible, perhaps by scoring lots of points. The ultimate goal of each player, however, is the success of the team, a goal more than the sum of every player’s statistics. A team does not win because each player tries to score as many points as possible, but conditions do need to be optimal for each individual player to play well in order for a team to win. The good of both the individual and the team are interdependent. In Catholic language, that points to the need to balance individual choice and the common good.
Sometimes the common good is presented as “sacrificing for the good of the whole.” And while, indeed, the good may require sacrifice, as any athlete could tell you, it is the realization that both the individual and the team’s success depend on one another.
Now apply that to our current situation in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. Individuals have the right to make choices but, according to Catholic teaching, freedom of choice is not an absolute right. It always has to be balanced or tempered by the search for the common good.
Concretely, we each need to judge how our individual choices impact the common good. The choice not to be vaccinated or not to wear a mask in a crowded place is not only an exercise of personal freedom. It also has an impact on society’s effort to curb the spread of a deadly virus. Sometimes sacrifices are required for the sake of the common good.
Once again, if you have not been vaccinated (or “boosted”), I urge you to do so. Have your children vaccinated. As Pope Francis has wisely told us: "Being vaccinated with vaccines authorized by the competent authorities is an act of love. And contributing to ensure the majority of people are vaccinated is an act of love…Vaccination is a simple but profound way of promoting the common good and caring for each other, especially the most vulnerable.”
Thank You to all who supported our parish during 2021 through donations to our Sunday collection, ministries, Capital Campaign, Gold Envelope Fund and other collections. The annual tax letters which summarize your 2021 giving will be mailed this week to all parishioners who donated to our church during the last year. Please call the Stewardship Office at 760-729-0717 if you have any questions.
Masses on January 15-16
Once again this weekend, we will celebrate the 11:00 am Mass (English) and 1:00 pm Mass (Spanish) outside on the covered court of the school. The other five Masses will be in the church.
There will be no singing at any of our Masses.
This adjustment to our Mass schedule applies to this weekend and will be evaluated in the coming week. An announcement will be made in next week’s parish e-newsletter.
Face masks are required at all Masses and any indoor gathering at St. Patrick’s until at least February 15, 2022.
If you are feeling ill or believe you may have Covid-like symptoms, please stay at home. We continue to livestream Masses for every day of the week. These Masses are automatically recorded and available on the parish YouTube channel.
Misas del 15 al 16 de enero
Una vez más este fin de semana, celebraremos tanto la Misa de las 11:00 am (inglés) y la Misa de la 1:00 pm (español) en el patio de la escuela. Las otras cinco misas serán en la iglesia.
No habrá canto en ninguna de nuestras Misas.
Este ajuste a nuestro horario de Misas aplica para este fin de semana y será evaluado durante la semana próxima. Se hará un anuncio en el boletín electrónico parroquial de la próxima semana.
Se requieren cubrebocas en todas las Misas y en cualquier reunión bajo techo en St. Patricio hasta al menos el 15 de febrero de 2022.
Si se siente enfermo o cree que puede tener síntomas similares a los de Covid, quédese en casa. Seguimos transmitiendo misas en vivo todos los días de la semana. Estas misas se graban automáticamente y están disponibles en el canal de YouTube de la parroquia.
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an ecumenicalChristian observance in the Christian calendar that is celebrated internationally. It is kept annually between Ascension Day and Pentecost in the Southern Hemisphere and between January 18 and January 25 in the Northern Hemisphere. It is an octave, that is, an observance lasting eight days.
The Catholic Church joins many other Christian Churches (Episcopal, Protestant, Orthodox) in this annual observance. Together we pray that our unity in the Body of Christ might be more evident in our relationship with one another and in our effort to continue the mission of the Lord.
In next week’s newsletter, more will be said about this week of prayer. Consider saying the following prayer every day from January 18-25:
Eternal Father,
we praise you for sending your Son to be one of us and to save us.
Look upon your people with mercy, for we are divided in so many ways, and give us the Spirit of Jesus to make us one in love.
We ask this gift, loving Father,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Canon in D (Pachelbel's Canon) - Cello & Piano
Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel, arranged and performed by Brooklyn Duo.
Three Different Types of Baptism in the Catholic Church
Last Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. It gave us reason to also think about our own Baptism. Most of us have received the Sacrament of Baptism. What about those who have not? This short article summarizes Catholic teaching on the necessity of Baptism.
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Catholic Trivia
"Catholic Trivia”... not because they are trivial but because these might be things that not everyone knows. Test your knowledge by reading the five questions, remember your answers (or jot them down), then click the link below to find the answers.
The Catechism divides the seven sacraments under three headings or categories. What are they?
What does the Church mean by “the age of reason”?
What is a thurible and what is it used for in Catholic worship?
What is the color of the vestments during Ordinary Time?
What does it mean when a pope issues a document motu proprio?
If you have other members of your family or your friends who would like to be on our email list, just let me know or write to Mary McLain at mmclain@stpatrickcarlsbad.com We will be pleased to add them.
God delights in Israel and will rejoice as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 96:1-2,2-3,7-8,9-10
A song in praise of God's marvelous deeds
Second Reading
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
All spiritual gifts originate from the same Spirit.
Gospel Reading
John 2:1-11
Jesus performs his first sign at a wedding feast in Cana.
Background on the Gospel Reading
This Sunday we begin the liturgical season of Ordinary Time. For many Sundays in this lectionary cycle (Cycle C), our readings will be taken from the Gospel of Luke. Occasionally, however, we will read from John's Gospel. This is true of today's Gospel reading, which describes the beginning of Jesus' ministry and his first miracle.
To situate today's reading within the context of John's Gospel, we note that John's report of this event follows Jesus' call of his first disciples. John tells us that Jesus and his disciples were invited to this wedding at Cana, as was Jesus' mother, Mary. There is no parallel report of this miracle at Cana in the Synoptic Gospels.
In the Church's liturgical history, the wedding feast of Cana is closely associated with the baptism of the Lord and the adoration of the infant Jesus by the Wise Men. In this context, the sign Jesus performs at the wedding feast is celebrated as an epiphany or a manifestation of Jesus' divinity.
Yet awareness of Jesus' impending passion and death is ever present in John's Gospel. Even in this report of Jesus' first sign, the language used anticipates Jesus' passion. When Jesus says to his mother that his hour has not yet come, he protests against her wishes in language that John will use again when reporting Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples. When introducing the story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet, John writes that Jesus knew that his hour had come. In John's Gospel, Jesus is very much in command and aware of all that is to happen to him.
Here, as elsewhere in John's Gospel, Mary is not mentioned by name, but is referred to instead as the mother of Jesus. Mary is influential in Jesus' first sign. She will also be present at his Crucifixion, a witness to the final manifestation of his divinity.
John's Gospel describes seven signs that indicate Jesus' identity to his disciples. John never speaks of these signs as miracles because their importance is not in the deed that Jesus performs but in what these deeds indicate about Jesus' identity. Here, as when John describes the other signs, the disciples are said to begin to believe, but no mention is made as to whether the other wedding guests are even aware of what has happened.
Marriage and wedding feasts are metaphors used in Scripture to describe God's salvation and the Kingdom of God. Here at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, John's Gospel seeks to establish that Jesus is going to re-interpret and fulfill Yahweh's promise to Israel. Jesus establishes the New Covenant. A hint about what this New Covenant will be like is made evident in the deed that Jesus performs. Asked to do something to address the awkward situation that the absence of wine at a wedding feast would create, Jesus' miracle produces vast quantities of wine—six jars holding thirty gallons each are filled to overflowing with choice wine.
This lavish response to a simple human need is a vision for us of the abundance of God's kingdom. It challenges us to respond generously when confronted with human need today. We respond as best we can, fully confident that God can transform our efforts, bringing the Kingdom of God to fulfillment among us.
Bishop Barron Comments on the Sacrament of Marriage
A Theologian Shares A Reflection on His Marriage
When Catholics hear about the story of the wedding at Cana, it sparks thoughts about the meaning of marriage. In this article, a leading Catholic theologian who is also a married man reflects on how his marriage is the place in which he is called to work out his salvation.
Dr. Richard R. Gaillardetz is the Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology at Boston College and the current chair of the BC Theology department.
Como llegara a faltar vino, Maria le dijo a Jesús, “Ya no tienen vino”. Estoy seguro de que todos hemos estado en celebraciones en que de repente se dan cuenta de que se ha acabado el vino (la bebida), y los patrocinadores de la celebración demuestran cierta ansiedad y se organizan para que se vaya al mercada a comprar más vino (bebida) para los invitados. Miramos en el Evangelio de este 2º domingo del Tiempo Ordinario, que se ha terminado el vino y María va a decirle a su hijo que ya no tienen vino y se separa de él sin decirle otra cosa. Luego, ella va con los que están sirviendo y les dice, “Hagan lo que él les diga”. Y aquí tenemos el primer milagrode Jesús. El usa el agua ordinaria que llenaban las seis tinajas de piedra, y convierte esa agua en vino, pero no cualquier tipo de vino ordinario, pero un vino exquisito, que hasta el mayordomo se sorprende y dice, “Todo el mundo sirve primero el vino mejor, y cuando los invitados ya han bebido bastante, se sirve el corriente. Tú, en cambio, has guardado el vino mejor hasta ahora”. Y eso es lo que Jesús quiere hacer con nosotros, Jesús quiere transformarnos en nuevo vino. A veces nos dejamos llevar por la negatividad que existe en nuestras vidas. Fácil recordamos las experiencias negativas que hemos vivido y pensamos que Jesús no quiere nada con nosotros. Pero, todo lo contrario, Jesús, espera a que abramos nuestro corazón y le gritemos, “Señor, aquí estoy, toma mi vida, hazme una persona nueva, haz en mi un vino nuevo”.
Por favor escuchen a los enlaces proveídos, espero que les ayude en su meditación.
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![Canon in D (Pachelbel's Canon) - Cello & Piano [BEST WEDDING VERSION]](https://web-extract.constantcontact.com/v1/thumbnail?url=https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ptk_1Dc2iPY/hqdefault.jpg)
