Adoration of the Magi, by Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1488

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

Mater Misericordiæ (Mother of Mercy) Mission glorifies God, uniting its members in faith, hope and charity through confession of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Faith and through participation in the Sacraments and Traditional Rites of the Missale Romanum of 1962, under the governance of the

Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix and the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.

Pastor: Rev. Fr. Joseph Terra, FSSP Assistant: Rev. Fr. John Shannon, FSSP

Updated Office: 602-253-6090 Cell: 480-231-0573 (for urgent messages) Updated Fax: 602-253-8013

Church: 1537 W. Monroe St. Phoenix, AZ 85007 Updated Mail: same as church address

Email: contact@phoenixlatinmass.org Website: www.phoenixlatinmass.org

Notitiæ January 2, 2011

Sunday Masses

Propers: Readings:

Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, Class II, White Acts of the Apostles 4: 8-12; St. Luke 2: 21

Intentions:

9:00 am Low Mass; 11:00 am High Mass at Mater Misericordiae Mission, Monroe St. Church 9:00 am: Pro Populo; 11:00 am: Virginia P. Guenther +

Intentions:

6:30 am Low Mass at All Saints, Mesa; 10:00 am Low Mass at St. Cecilia’s, Clarkdale 6:30 am: Pro Populo; 10:00 am: Pro Populo

Weekday Masses

At Mater Misericordiae Mission, Monroe St. Church

Monday - Friday: 6:30 am and 6:30 pm, Saturday: 6:30 am and 8:00 am

Monday, January 3 Thursday, January 6

Propers: Readings:

Intentions:

Feria Day of Christmastide Class IV, White

Titus 2: 11-15

St. Luke 2: 21 6:30am: Virginia P. Guenther +

6:30pm: Virginia P. Guenther +

Propers: Readings:

Intentions:

The Epiphany of Our Lord Class I, White

Isaias 60: 1-6

St. Matthew 2: 1-12 6:30am: David Campbell

6:30pm: Sarah Campbell

Tuesday, January 4 Friday, January 7

Propers: Readings:

Intentions:

St. Elizabeth Seton Widow, Class III, White

Proverbs 31: 10-30

St. Matthew 13: 44-52

6:30am: Virginia P. Guenther +

6:30pm: In Honor of Little Jesus

Propers: Readings:

Intentions:

Feria Day of Epiphany Class IV, White

Isaias 60: 1-6

St. Matthew 2: 1-12

6:30am: Steve and Mary Compyon

6:30pm: Robert Joseph Chaney +

Wednesday, January 5 Saturday, January 8

Propers: Readings:

Intentions:

St. John Neumann

Bishop and Confessor, Class III, White Ecclesiasticus 44: 16-27; 45: 3-20

St. Matthew 25: 14-23

6:30am: Albert Kottler 6:30pm: Confraternity of St. Peter

Propers: Readings:

Intentions:

Saturday of Our Lady Class IV, White

Titus 3: 4-7

St. Luke 2: 15-20 6:30am: Catie and Bobbie Doris

8:00am: Thanksgiving

Confessions At MMM Monroe St. Church: Mon-Sat: 15 minutes before each Mass. Saturdays: 3:30-4:30 pm.

Sundays: 8am, before the 9am Mass, between the 9am and 11am Masses, and after the 11am Mass.

At St. Cecilia’s: Saturdays: 3-4 pm. Sundays: Before the 10am Mass. Other times by arrangement.

PARISH ANNOUNCEMENTS

Updated Mater Misericordiae

Mission Contact Information: Office Phone: 602-253-6090 Office Fax: 602-253-8013 Mailing Address: 1537 West Monroe Street, Phoenix, AZ 85007 The cell number remains the same.

A marathon, which begins at Wesley

Bolin Plaza, will be taking place the morn-ing of Sunday January 16. Information regarding Sunday Mass times for that day will be forthcoming.

Mission Website: Please visit the home page of

phoenixlatinmass.org and click on the underlined link to see a video of highlights of the Dedication Mass of December 21st with Bishop Olmsted.

FSSP PRAYER REQUESTS

Jan. 2: Pope Benedict XVI Jan. 3: Fr. Joseph Hearty

Jan. 4: Fr. Peter Bauknecht Jan. 5: Fr. James Fryar Jan. 6: Fr. Carlos Casavantes Jan. 7: Fr. Howard Remski Jan. 8: Fr. Eric Flood

St. Bernard of Clairvaux On the Holy Name of Jesus

The sweet Name of Jesus produces in us holy thoughts, fills the soul with noble sentiments, strengthens virtue, begets good works, and nourishes pure affections. All spiritual food leaves the soul dry, if it contain not that penetrating oil, the Name Jesus. When you take your pen, write the Name Jesus: if you write books, let the Name of Jesus be contained in them, else they will possess no charm or attraction for me; you may speak, or you may reply, but if the Name of Jesus sounds not from your lips, you are without unction and with-out charm. Jesus is honey in our mouth, light in our eyes, a flame in our heart. This name is the cure for all diseases of the soul. Are you troubled? think but of Jesus, speak but the Name of Jesus, the clouds disperse, and peace descends anew from heaven. Have you fallen into sin? so that you fear death? invoke the Name of Jesus, and you will soon feel life return-ing. No obduracy of the soul, no weakness, no coldness of heart can resist this holy Name; there is no heart which will not soften and open in tears at this holy name. Are you sur-rounded by sorrow and danger? invoke the Name of Jesus, and your fears will vanish. Never yet was human being in urgent need, and on the point of perishing, who invoked this help-giving Name, and was not powerfully sustained. It was given us for the cure of all our ills; to soften the impetuosity of anger, to quench the fire of concupiscence, to conquer pride, to mitigate the pain of our wounds, to overcome the thirst of avarice, to quiet sensual passions, and the desires of low pleasures. If we call to our minds the Name of Jesus, it brings before us His most meek and humble heart, and gives us a new knowledge of His most loving and tender compassion. The Name of Jesus is the pur-est, and holiest, the noblest and most indulgent of names, the Name of all blessings and of all virtues; it is the Name of the God-Man, of sanctity itself. To think of Jesus is to think of the great, infinite God Who, having given us His life as an exam-ple, has also bestowed the necessary understanding, energy and assistance to enable us to follow and imitate Him, in our thoughts, inclinations, words and actions. If the Name of Je-sus reaches the depths of our heart, it leaves heavenly virtue

there. We say, therefore, with our great master, St. Paul the Apostle: If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema.

SUNDAY COLLECT. O God, who didst appoint Thine only-begotten Son to be the Saviour of mankind, and didst bid that He should be

called Jesus; mercifully grant that we, who vener- ate His holy Name on earth, may also enjoy the vision

of Him in heaven. Through the same Lord. .

SUNDAY EPISTLE: Acts of the Apostles 4: 8-12 In those days Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said to

them: Ye Princes of the people and ancients, hear: if we this day are examined concerning the good deed done to the infirm man, by what means he hath been made whole, be it known to you all, and to all the peo-ple of Israel: that by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God hath

raised from the dead, even by Him this man standeth here before you whole. This is the stone which was re-jected by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner: neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men,

whereby we must be saved. .

SUNDAY GOSPEL: St. Luke 2: 21

At that time, after eight days were accomplished, that the Child should be circumcised: His Name was called

Jesus, which was called by the angel before He was

conceived in the womb.

In the Name of Jesus, let every knee bow, of those that are in heaven (angels), on earth (men),

and under the earth (devils).

Epiphany, January 6

St. Joseph’s Hospital no longer Catholic

Statement of Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted

December 21, 2010

Jesus says (Cf. Mt 25:40), “Whatever you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me.”

Caring for the sick is an essential part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Throughout our history, the Church has provided great care and love to those in need. With the advent of Catholic hospitals, the faithful could also be confident that they were able to receive quality health care according to the teachings of the Church.

Authentic Catholic care in the institutions of Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) in the Diocese of Phoenix has been a

topic of discussion between CHW and me from the time of our initial meeting nearly seven years ago.

At that first meeting, I learned that CHW already did not comply with the ethical teachings of the Church at Chandler Regional Hospital. The moral guide for Hospitals and Healthcare Institutions is spelled out in what are called the Ethi-cal and Religious Directives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. I objected strongly to CHW’s lack of compliance with these directives, and told CHW leaders that this constituted cooperation in evil that must be cor-rected; because if a healthcare entity wishes to call itself Catholic (as in “Catholic” Healthcare West), it needs to ad-here to the teachings of the Church in all of its institutions. In all my seven years as Bishop of Phoenix, I have con-

tinued to insist that this scandalous situation needed to change; sadly, over the course of these years, CHW has cho-sen not to comply.

Then, earlier this year, it was brought to my attention that an abortion had taken place at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix. When I met with officials of the hospital to learn more of the details of what had occurred, it became clear

that, in the decision to abort, the equal dignity of mother and her baby were not both upheld; but that the baby was directly killed, which is a clear violation of ERD #45. It also was clear that the exceptional cases, mentioned in ERD

#47, were not met, that is, that there was not a cancerous uterus or other grave malady that might justify an indi-rect and unintended termination of the life of the baby to treat the grave illness. In this case, the baby was healthy and there were no problems with the pregnancy; rather, the mother had a disease that needed to be treated. But instead of treating the disease, St. Joseph’s medical staff and ethics committee decided that the healthy, 11-week-old baby should be directly killed. This is contrary to the teaching of the Church (Cf. Evangelium Vitae, #62).

It was thus my duty to declare to the person responsible for this tragic decision that allowed an abortion at St. Jo-seph’s, Sister Margaret McBride, R.S.M., that she had incurred an excommunication by her formal consent to the

direct taking of the life of this baby. I did this in a confidential manner, hoping to spare her public embarrassment.

Unfortunately, subsequent communications with leadership at St. Joseph’s Hospital and CHW have only eroded my confidence about their commitment to the Church’s Ethical and Religious Directives for Healthcare. They have not addressed in an adequate manner the scandal caused by the abortion. Moreover, I have recently learned that many other violations of the ERDs have been taking place at CHW facilities in Arizona throughout my seven years as Bishop of Phoenix and far longer.

Let me explain.

CHW and St. Joseph’s Hospital, as part of what is called “Mercy Care Plan”, have been formally cooperating with a number of medical procedures that are contrary to the ERDs, for many years. I was never made aware of this fact until the last few weeks. Here are some of the things which CHW has been formally responsible for throughout these years:

• Contraceptive counseling, medications, supplies and associated medical and laboratory examinations, including, but not limited to, oral and injectable contraceptives, intrauterine devices, diaphragms, condoms, foams and sup-

positories;

• Voluntary sterilization (male and female); and

• Abortions due to the mental or physical health of the mother or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

This information was given to me in a meeting which included an administrator of St. Joseph’s Hospital who admitted that St. Joseph’s and CHW are aware that this plan consists in formal cooperation in evil actions which are contrary to Church teaching. The Mercy Care Plan has been in existence for 26 years, includes some 368,000 members, and its 2010 revenues will reach nearly $2 billion. CHW and St. Joseph’s Hospital have made more than a hundred million

dollars every year from this partnership with the government.

In light of all these failures to comply with the Ethical and Religious Directives of the Church, it is my duty to decree that, in the Diocese of Phoenix, at St. Joseph’s Hospital, CHW is not committed to following the teaching of the Catholic Church and therefore this hospital cannot be considered Catholic.

The Catholic faithful are free to seek care or to offer care at St. Joseph’s Hospital but I cannot guarantee that the care provided will be in full accord with the teachings of the Church. In addition, other measures will be taken to avoid the impression that the hospital is authentically Catholic, such as the prohibition of celebrating Mass at the

hospital and the prohibition of reserving the Blessed Sacrament in the Chapel.

For seven years now, I have tried to work with CHW and St. Joseph’s, and I have hoped and prayed that this day would not come, that this decree would not be needed; however, the faithful of the Diocese have a right to know whether institutions of this importance are indeed Catholic in identity and practice.

For more information, please contact Rob DeFrancesco, Director of Communications • (602) 354-2130 •

rdefrancesco@diocesephoenix.org