Second Sunday

of Ordinary Time

17 January 2021

Sacred Heart, Ronan Immaculate Conception, Polson

St. Joseph Mission, Charlo

Parish Office PO Box 1477 Polson, MT 59860

Phone: 406-883-2506 Cell: 406-594-0474

Email: lakecountyromancatholic@gmail.com Website: www.lakecountyromancatholic.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lakecountyromancatholic

MASS SCHEDULE

Saturday Immaculate Conception at 6:00 pm

Confessions are available at 5:00 pm

Sunday Sacred Heart at 8:30 am

Immaculate Conception at 10:30 am

There are no Masses scheduled for this week. Fr. Kevin will be on retreat with his brother priests.

A NOTE FROM THE PASTOR For the time being I am going to leave the text of the statement made by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the bulletin so that I can provide a reference that is ready at hand as we continue to look at the issue of vaccines created using fetal tissue cells taken from aborted children. I will also make available more copies of the statement published by the USCCB; which I also sent you by email with last Sunday’s bulletin. As you have already seen in the statement from the CDF and the “considerations” statement given by the USCCB, the discussion about the permissibility of using vaccines that made use of tissue from aborted children in their development and testing is going to revolve around the principle of coopera-tion. The principle of cooperation is going to examine a per-son’s nearness to an evil committed, nearness as in shared in-tention (“I concur, implicitly or explicitly with the evil done”), or participation in the evil act itself. This nearness with regards to a person's action or intention is what is called formal cooper-ation with some evil act; in this case the crime of abortion and the harvesting of tissue from those children to be used in medi-cal experiments. The principle of cooperation then extends itself to those who benefit in some shape or form from the evil commit-ted. The evil committed was the abortion, and a further crime was committed when tissue from that child was harvested and used to develop a vaccine, or the tissue was used for testing purposes; and now the vaccine is on the market. Those who receive such vaccines are said to benefit from a previously com-mitted evil act, and are said to be involved in a passive material way. What this means is that the one who benefits from an evil act may indeed benefit in some way, but they had no voice in the matter and now find themselves on the receiving end of a decision they had no voice in. This is why the distinction is made, between formal and passive material cooperation with evil. As we continue this study we will look at the condi-tions that must be met in order to benefit from some evil in a way that is morally permissible and authentically passive. The

Tax Preparation This past week you should have received an email regarding your contributions to the parish during 2020. If you would like a copy of the parish record for income tax preparation purposes, please respond to the email via Flocknote or slip a note in your offertory envelope. These will be processed as the requests are made and every attempt will be made to be prompt.

reason why there are conditions that must be met is precisely because we are morally obliged to avoid passive material coopera-tion with evil, and in this case we are talking about the evil of abortion and the harvesting and sale of fetal tissue for medical research. One of those conditions is that we must protest the use of such research and experimentation, and we must demand clean vaccines so that nobody has to be put into a morally compromised situation. To that end, and as we look toward January 22nd, the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn, I am includ-ing a list of names and address of people and institutions that ought to be contacted so that the voice of our objection is heard by those who need to hear it. Contacting or writing these folks is a good way to commemorate this day and be a voice for those who have no voice. We don’t do medical experiments on babies! God bless, Fr. Kevin Christofferson

Behold, The Lamb of God Ottavio Vannini (1585-1643)

Humbly asking for your prayers Marcy Bishop, Mary Oullette, Maryalice Rouselle, The Clay Family, Virginia Rubel, Lou Marchello, Liz Hipp, Michael Conrad, Neil

Miskimins, Ellen Holland, Kevin Normandeau, Kaylee Martin, Dave Evertz, Steve Ducharme, Leonard & Gail Piedalue, Kate Shrider Ol-sen, Don Herbst, Bill Nash, Donna Jacobs, Derrie Edge, Madge Vert, Bob Mahon, Joe Wolfekuhle.

Please help to keep the list current by contacting the Parish Office. Also, out of respect for a person's privacy, please make sure that all

individuals wish to be publicly identified.

Grace be to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for you all; Making a remembrance of you in our prayers without ceas-ing. 1 Thessalonians 1:2

The Holy Father’s prayer intention for January

Human fraternity: May the Lord give us the grace to live in full fellowship with our brothers and sisters of other religions, praying for

one another, open to all.

Please pray for our seminarians! Dillon Armstrong, Tyler Frohlich, Matthew Christians, Kyle Tannehill and

Kaleb Michell, Riley Helgoe, Brett Rotz, John Cooney

That Man Is You! Thursdays at 6:00 am. Meet-ings start with hot premium roast coffee and breakfast.

Liturgy Calendar & Mass Intentions

Saturday, January 16th

Vigil Mass; Second Sunday in Ordinary Time The Repose of Neil Miskimins Sunday, January 17th

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time The Repose of Glen Rogers rb the Walchuk’s/Intentions of the Parish Faithful Tuesday, January 19th

Votive Mass in Honor of the Holy Angels No Mass scheduled Wednesday, January 20th

Memorial of St. Sebastian No Mass scheduled Thursday, January 21st

Memorial of St. Agnes No Mass scheduled Friday, January 22nd

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn No Mass scheduled

Endow study group for wom-en on Thursdays at 10:30 am. Please call Sheila LeBrun for more information at 406-208-5788.

Food Pantry Necessities Peanut butter and cereal are a constant need; as well as oats, flour and rice. As the holidays approach please consid-er contributing canned pumpkin, cranberries, gravy and desert mixes. And don’t forget the stuffing mix ! Items may be left in a bin at the entrance of the church.

The Polson and Ronan Councils of the Knights of Columbus will be resuming their monthly meetings. The next meet-ing of the Polson Council will be Thurs-day, February 18th at 7:00 pm. The Ronan Council will meet on January 17th after the 8:30 am Mass at Sacred Heart.

Please bear in mind that people eat year round and not just on Thanksgiving. Help keep this project going. Thank you!

St. Sebastian Memorial on January 20th

Very little is known of this Roman martyr. He was a ranking official of the Praetorian Guard, those in charge of the Emperor Diocletian’s personal security. St. Sebastian used his posi-tion to evangelize those who were imprisoned by the emperor and he made many converts. Once discovered, the emperor had him taken out and shot with arrows, but he survived this attempt on his life, and returning to Diocletian after his recovery to denounce him, the em-peror had him clubbed to death. St. Sebastian was very popular as an intercessor during the

plagues of the middle ages because the wounds left by arrows look like boils upon the skin. He died in 288.

St. Agnes Memorial on January 21st

St. Agnes is another Roman martyr about whom we know very little. The tradition indicates that she was a vowed virgin and extraordi-narily beautiful, which drew the attraction of numerous men who did not share her Catholic faith. When she refused the advances of certain men, St. Agnes was turned over to the authorities and denounced as a Christian upon which she was ordered to be put to death. It is said that her beauty was such that even the pagans could not bear to see such a creature put to death and urged her to save herself. Her only known quote was the response to those who mourned her death; "I would offend my Spouse if I were to try to please you. He chose me first and He shall have me!" Then she prayed and bowed her head for the death-stroke of the sword. St. Agnes died in 304.

Sacred Heart/St. Joseph $8,870 of $11,200 (79%) Immaculate Conception $22,180 of $29,900 (74%)

Parish Offertory Progress Report Fiscal Year beginning July 1st

Immaculate Conception $78,383 of $170,000 (46%) Sacred Heart/St. Joseph $26,021 of $44,500 (58%)

Thank you for your generosity!

DIVINE MERCY RADIO 90.7 FM

DMR is a locally owned, listener supported non-

profit 501(c)3 PO Box 568

Polson, MT 59860

ROSARY GROUP

St. Joseph Hospital Chapel

Monday at 6:00 pm Friday at 9:00 am

All Sunday homi-les are available on YouTube and can be found by searching the full name Fr. Kevin Christofferson.

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

Note on the morality of using some anti-Covid-19 vaccines

1. As the Instruction Dignitas Personae states, in cases where cells from aborted fetuses are employed to create cell lines for use in scientific research, “there exist differing degrees of re-sponsibility” of cooperation in evil. For example, "in organiza-tions where cell lines of illicit origin are being utilized, the responsibility of those who make the decision to use them is not the same as that of those who have no voice in such a deci-sion”. 2. In this sense, (regarding the note above, ed.) when ethically irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available (e.g. in coun-tries where vaccines without ethical problems are not made available to physicians and patients, or where their distribution is more difficult due to special storage and transport conditions, or when various types of vaccines are distributed in the same country but health authorities do not allow citizens to choose the vaccine with which to be inoculated) it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process. 3. The fundamental reason for considering the use of these vac-cines morally licit is that the kind of cooperation in evil (passive material cooperation) in the procured abortion from which these cell lines originate is, on the part of those making use of the re-sulting vaccines, remote. The moral duty to avoid such passive material cooperation is not obligatory if there is a grave dan-ger, such as the otherwise uncontainable spread of a serious pathological agent--in this case, the pandemic spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. It must therefore be consid-ered that, in such a case, all vaccinations recognized as clini-cally safe and effective can be used in good conscience with the certain knowledge that the use of such vaccines does not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines derive. It should be emphasized, however, that the morally licit use of these types of vaccines, in the particular conditions that make it so, does not in itself constitute a legitimation, even indirect, of the practice of abortion, and necessarily assumes the opposition to this practice by those who make use of these vaccines. 4. In fact, the licit use of such vaccines does not and should not in any way imply that there is a moral endorsement of the use of cell lines proceeding from aborted fetuses. Both pharmaceu-tical companies and governmental health agencies are therefore encouraged to produce, approve, distribute and offer ethically acceptable vaccines that do not create problems of conscience for either health care providers or the people to be vaccinated.

5. At the same time, practical reason makes evident that vac-cination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, there-fore, it must be voluntary. In any case, from the ethical point of view, the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one's own health, but also on the duty to pursue the common good. In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to protect the weakest and most ex-posed. Those who, however, for reasons of conscience, refuse vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses, must do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and appro-priate behavior, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent. In particular, they must avoid any risk to the health of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons, and who are the most vulnerable. 6. Finally, there is also a moral imperative for the pharmaceu-tical industry, governments and international organizations to ensure that vaccines, which are effective and safe from a medi-cal point of view, as well as ethically acceptable, are also acces-sible to the poorest countries in a manner that is not costly for them. The lack of access to vaccines, otherwise, would become another sign of discrimination and injustice that condemns poor countries to continue living in health, economic and social pov-erty. The Sovereign Pontiff Francis, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on 17 December 2020, examined the present Note and or-dered its publication.

NEW GROUP! Knitters and Crocheters meet in the parish hall of Immacu-late Conception on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. Please contact Julie Hille at 715-882-2716 for more information. All are welcome!