Crisis in Haiti, Fr John Corapi (Video)

“In so far as you did it for the least of my brethren, you did it for Me…” 

 

END OF POST /BEGINNING OF PRAYERS

Fr. Bill Holtzinger: ‘Return to normal liturgical actions this weekend Jan. 23/24, 2010’

Hello All,

After consultation with the Pastoral Council, recognizing that Three Rivers Hospital has ended their flu alert, and that Josephine County has ended their state of emergency regarding the flu, I am ending our own alert for St. Anne’s, St. Patrick of the Forest, and Our Lady of the River.

Starting this weekend, Jan. 23/24, 2010, we will return to our normal liturgical actions which includes the return of offering the Precious Blood at Mass, shaking hands at the Sign of Peace, and relaxing the request about the form of receiving communion.

If, as common sense would dictate, a person feels sick or exhibits symptoms of illness which could be deemed as contagious, they should consider not coming to Mass. If someone is no longer contagious, but has the remnant symptoms of illness, say a cough or serious runny nose, I ask that they consider the sensibility of the community and refrain from receiving the cup or shaking hands with others. Again, common sense is the norm.

Thank you all for your patience with these Emergency Flu regulations that have effected our Liturgy these past several months.

May God bless you in this new year!

Blessings,

Fr. Bill

Pastor

St. Anne Catholic Church

1131 NE 10th St.

Grants Pass, OR 97526

http://www.stannechurch.com

SPF Confirmation Class Recap 01.20.10

Welcome!  

 

“Now you know why Jesus wants to make us fisher’s of men…”

    

Overview:  

Despite our class schedule conflicting with the Bible Study folks and time spent at choir practice, we did manage to carry out some of our planned studies and activities, even with the loss of class time.    

Believer, Unbeliever Exercise:   

Who is Jesus? / How can I come to know Jesus?   

Sorry to put you all to the test on your faith right from the start! But, my purpose was twofold…    

First, I wanted an idea of your knowledge and comfort level when faced with the question(s) of who Jesus is and how would one come to know Him if asked by an unbeliever. And honestly, I am impressed by many of the answers I heard in response, along with your willingness to do so!    

 If you chose in class to pass on the questions, don’t worry about it. This exercise was geared toward letting each of us know that we all continually need to grow in knowledge of Our Lord. Which, brings me to my second purpose for the exercise:    

 To develop within your hearts a true thirst to both love and be loved by God, and then, direct you toward the only way anyone ever comes to concretely know Jesus Christ and become His true witnesses in the world—the Spirit of Love, the Holy Spirit…    

Major Class Note:   

Remember to write the following within your journals:   

We come to know the Holy Spirit through the Church in:    

 – in the Scriptures he inspired;    

 – in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses;    

 – in the Church’s Magisterium, which he assists;    

 – in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ;    

 – in prayer, wherein he intercedes for us;    

 – in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up;    

 – in the signs of apostolic and missionary life;    

 – in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation. 

Odds and Ends: 

Looks like we’ll move class to Monday night from now on, but will confirm with you all…  

Finally, below is an example of  the Holy Spirit found in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation…

“Amid dangers, difficulties, and doubts, think of Mary, invoke Mary’s aid…. If you follow her, you will not stray; if you entreat her, you will not lose hope; if you reflect upon her, you will not err; if she supports you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you will not fear; if she leads you, you will not grow weary; if she is propitious, you will reach your goal….”  

St. Bernard, Second Homily on the Missus est: PL CLXXXIII, 70-71.

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2010 March For Life — Grants Pass, Oregon (Pics)

I stood in for the regular video guy at the march this year (he was up in Portland). UTUBE of the event should be up soon. Until then, check out these pics starting with the Pro life dogs walking pro bono publico… “for the public good”

Note: “Pro bono” doesn’t translate over quite the same in dog language, it’s something closer to saying, “I’m for bones.”

Thumbnails…

END OF POST

Confirmation: in the Spirit…

Baptism is “the doorway to the spiritual life; it makes us members of Christ and draws us into the body of the Church.”

Ecumenical Council of Florence -1439

“In confirmation the baptized “are joined more completely to the Church; they are enriched with special strength by the Holy Spirit and thus are more solemnly obliged to spread and defend the faith in word and deed as true witnesses of Christ.”

Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium — 1964

But, how do we come to know the Spirit?

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

687 “No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”7 Now God’s Spirit, who reveals God, makes known to us Christ, his Word, his living Utterance, but the Spirit does not speak of himself. The Spirit who “has spoken through the prophets” makes us hear the Father’s Word, but we do not hear the Spirit himself. We know him only in the movement by which he reveals the Word to us and disposes us to welcome him in faith. The Spirit of truth who “unveils” Christ to us “will not speak on his own.”8 Such properly divine self-effacement explains why “the world cannot receive [him], because it neither sees him nor knows him,” while those who believe in Christ know the Spirit because he dwells with them.9

688 The Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy Spirit:

– in the Scriptures he inspired;

– in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses;

– in the Church’s Magisterium, which he assists;

– in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ;

– in prayer, wherein he intercedes for us;

– in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up;

– in the signs of apostolic and missionary life;

– in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation.

Prayers and Holy Mass this day for all Christian youth preparing for confirmation in the Spirit, and their teachers.

Help Victims of Haiti Earthquake

Dear Parishioners,

The world is still coming to realize the inexpressible loss of life and devastation that has resulted by the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti. The quake may have completely collapsed the entire infrastructure of the country. Many countrieshave mobilized aid and are trying to analyze the extent of the damage. Time will tell how bad it is.

Offering Help

How can you help? First pray. Pray for the dead and the survivors. God is at work through each of us and our prayers. We need to pray for calm and an increase of faith.

Another good way is by offering temporal help. Some people may be tempted to send things that they think may help the Haitian people such as shoes or food. But, what is needed right now is monetary assistance. Personally, I recommend Catholic Relief Services as an excellent organization that will use your donation well. You can donate by going to their donation site.  Here’s an exerpt from the CRS blog:

CRS is moving in supplies as fast as possible. 1500 metric tons of vegetable oil and grains from USAID Food for Peace will arrive today at the northern Haiti Port of Cap Haitiene. Five trucks full of food, hygiene kits, and tarps are also on their way today from Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince.

Access is very difficult. Debris blocks many roads. But we have begun distributing food, hygiene kits, water, and medical supplies to households in informal camps around Port-au-Prince. We’re now working with our local and international Caritas partners to identify primary sites for next distributions.

We’re hearing reports of extensive damage in other towns west of Port-au-Prince. CRS and Caritas will assess some of these areas in the coming days.

CRS is mobilizing aid and planning a $25 million response. To date, donors have contributed more than $11.9 million in cash and commitments; $7.3 million of this amount has been received via web donation

Another way you can donate to CRS by texting on your cell phone RELIEF to 30644 and follow the instructions. According to the CRS Blog site, “After texting, you’ll get a text

Damaged Church

message reply asking you to call a number where you’ll will hear a brief message from Ken Hackett. Then you will be automatically connected to our call center where you can make a credit card donation.”

In the weekend of January 23/24, all the parishes of the Archdiocese of Portland will be conducting a second collection at Mass. These funds will all go to CRS.

Avoid Scams

In a time like this, it is hard to believe, but some people will use this crisis as an opportunity to scam unwitting people who wish to do good. To learn more, click here to read cnet’s article on this issue.

Sincerely,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Catholic Sentinel: ‘Geek priest’ mixes faith, technology

For those who missed it…

He’s known as a geeky clergyman and that’s just fine with him.

Father Bill Holtzinger, 43, is pastor of St. Anne Parish in Grants Pass. It’s hard to map out a typical day for this lanky and energetic man, but he usually starts with Mass and prayer before heading to the office.

There, he meets with people who have asked for an appointment, giving advice and comfort. He may make a pastoral visit at the hospital, retirement home or a private house. He tries to meet individually for an hour once a week with each pastoral minister. Evenings consist of gatherings — RCIA, councils and committees. He prepares homilies and talks.

Father Holtzinger manages to eat now and then. But he spends more time — often in the wee hours — feeding others spiritually through digital media.

Type “Fr. Bill” into Google and he’s on top of the page. That’s because of his St. Paul-like prolificacy.

He tends a blog — http://www.frbill.org — subtitled “Ruminations of a Geek Priest,” offering links to spiritual sites and practical reflections.

“The sign of any good relationship is a two-way communication,” he writes in his most recent post to the world. “So, let your prayer also include some time for listening to what God has to say. If you really want to go for it, find an entire hour each day for this kind of prayer. Personally, I have found it to be the most important personal prayer I do. Try it. I guarantee that after a year of serious listening, you will not be the same.”

Father Holtzinger is on Twitter, with more than 400 followers so far who read his snappy observations on everything from watching football to anointing a dying parishioner.

His dog, Gracie, has her own Twitter account, on which the priest assists. “Fr. Bill gave me my third bath in three weeks. This is almost unbearable,” Gracie wrote before Christmas to her 80 readers.

Father Holtzinger records seven different podcasts — digital radio shows on demand. They include his homilies, reflections on the Mass and liturgy, and refutations of claims in the book and film The DaVinci Code. Some of his podcasts are devoted to answering inquiries from listeners. He even issues “Fr. Geek’s Video Podcast,” a collection of videos related to technology and faith. Go to iTunes and search for “Holtzinger” and six of his podcasts pop up.

He gets notes of thanks from readers and listeners all over the globe.

“It’s part hobby, part evangelization,” says the priest. “We need to use our modern media to reach out in positive ways to proclaim the Gospel.”

Born in Medford, he studied math and science at Oregon State. During his college years, he stayed in close contact with St. Mary Parish in Corvallis, which he says provided an illuminating contrast to the excesses of college life.

“I did have to wonder,” he told the Sentinel five years ago, “how can I be happy as a celibate when the world is telling me to get drunk and have sex all the time?”

Faced with the two paths, he chose the holier one.

At church, he served in youth ministry and prayed the liturgy of the hours. At school, he defended his Catholic faith in the face of Protestant friends and secularist zealots.

After graduation, he taught high school, including two years at Central Catholic in Portland. He was engaged to be married, but entered Mount Angel Seminary in 1993.

While considering going to seminary, he wondered if he’d have to give up his technological pursuits. But as his discernment continued, he saw that his geeky gifts could be put to the service of the gospel.

Father Holtzinger was pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Forest Grove before heading to southern Oregon last year. He is a frequent presenter to youth groups and young adults, speaking on everything from relationships to the relationship of faith and science.

Regularly, Father Holtzinger leaves his electronics behind and goes on silent retreats. “Balance in everything,” he explains.

That said, he’s surprised at how many clergy and lay people avoid blogging, podcasting or tweeting for fear of being misunderstood or misquoted. Others think the new inventions somehow interfere with being human.

“Sure, there are people who have become hermits to the world or have become addicted to Twitter, Facebook or their Smartphone,” he says. “But, these mediums of social communication have brought countless friends back into contact with one another, reunited or healed old friendships, expanded one’s experience of the world. I believe this is good.”

He reports that he has seen people return to the church or convert to Catholicism because of what they have found on his parish Web sites.

Even with his passion for electronic evangelization, Father Holtzinger says the best part of being a priest is celebrating the sacraments, especially Mass and reconciliation.

He sees his life as a journey with others. And while some priests dislike the administrative side of being a pastor, Father Holtzinger seems energized by solving problems and designing the parish so it can be more effective in its mission. The strategy includes digital media.

“I am excited about the future and how newer technologies can bring us together,” he says. “I am excited how the good news of Jesus Christ can be brought to more people because of new technologies and media.”

On his days off, Father Holtzinger sees friends and relaxes. But he also works on his podcasts and Web site and teaches himself something new in the world of electronic gizmos.

“Now that is a geek,” he says, “and that is me.”

SOURCE: Catholic Sentinel

A New Presence for the New Year

Frs. Harry Holwell, Paschal Ezurike, & William Holtzinger

Blessings everyone!  I hope this new web presence for our Mission Church will allow parishioners to stay connected and up-to-date with the goings on of St. Patrick of the Forest.  It is intended to share information and increase our sense of communion.  It is not a place for controversial conversations, but a place to share our faith.  As our web presence becomes more mature, I hope you will find it helpful and encouraging.

On behalf of myself and Frs. Paschal and Harry, blessings to you and your families. May this new year bring you prosperity and peace!

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor