February 2, 2020

The Presentation of the Lord

JOIN US AS WE WORSHIP, PROCLAIM AND SERVE THE LORD – IN SACRAMENT, IN PRAYER, AND IN OUR FAMILY OF FAITH

PARISH CLERGY 928-3210 Rev. Jeffrey R. Lewis Pastor ext. 109 Rev. David Kuttner Priest in Residence 928-3210 Deacon Mike Miller 928-3210 Deacon Dan Glatt 928-3210 Emergency Anointing of the Sick: Sun & Mon 720-1460 Tues-Sat. 847-9093

PARISH OFFICE Office Hours Monday -Thursday 8am-4pm Closed for Lunch 12pm-1pm Friday 8am-12pm Closed Saturday & Sunday

Krista Furtney, Parish Secretary 928-3210 Marie Bricher, DRE & Faith Formation ext. 111 Sharon Greany, Business Manager ext. 107 Mark VanDriel, Maintenance ext. 213

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS Greg Hanson, Grand Knight (509) 638-8535 John White, Faithful Navigator (509) 994-1023

CHOIR DIRECTOR Diana Thomas (509) 385-2663

SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL Victor Vera, President (509) 995-5987

ST. MARY SCHOOL 924-4300 Ben Walker, Principal ext. 202 Chelsea Weiler, School Secretary ext. 200 Terri Matsch, Advancement Director ext. 206

MASS SCHEDULE

Saturday Mass: 5:30pm Sunday Masses: 7:30am, 9:00am, 11:15am Daily Mass: 7:30am Monday through Friday Tuesdays during School Mass is at 8:15am

Reconciliation: Wednesdays at 4:30 & Saturday from 4:00 to 5:00pm First Fridays from 8am-9am

First Friday Adoration 8am - 12noon in the church Adoration Friday 6pm- 7pm with Confessions

Blessed Sacrament Chapel hours: 7am-10pm For after-hours access, please call the parish office.

Web page: stmaryspokane.org NEW PARISHIONERS Welcome to St. Mary Parish Community. If you would like to register with the parish please download a form from our website, stop by the Parish Office or call (509) 928-3210.

CARE OF THE SICK Communion is taken to the sick and elderly on a regular basis. Please call Karen Grewe (Homebound Ministry) at (509)927-4941, if someone is in need.

For the convenience of those with hearing difficulties, Masses at St. Mary can be heard on personal FM-band radios. Tune to 90.3 FM.

304 S ADAMS ROAD, SPOKANE VALLEY, WASHINGTON 99216

SACRAMENTS

Baptism: The family should be registered and active in St. Mary Parish. For arrangements call the Parish office, 928-3210.

Marriage: Couples must contact the parish at least six months prior to their desired wedding date.

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) or RCIC (for children over 7) Have you thought about becoming a Catholic? Do you know someone who is thinking about it? Please call Marie Bricher at

928-3210 ext. 111 for more information.

St. Mary Catholic Parish

THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY MONDAY 2/3 Daily Mass 7:30am Prayer Shawl 10am Bible Study 7pm TUESDAY 2/4 School Mass 8:15am Exercise 9am RCIA 6:30pm Knights of Columbus 7pm WEDNESDAY 2/5 Daily Mass 7:30am Women at the Well 10am Confessions 4:30pm Religious Education 6pm Choir Practice 6:30pm THURSDAY 2/6 Daily Mass 7:30am Exercise 9am Quilting Ladies 12:30pm Youth Group 7pm FRIDAY 2/7 Daily Mass 7:30am First Friday Adoration 8am-12noon Adoration 6-7pm Father/Daughter Dance 6:30pm SATURDAY 2/8 Rosary 7:30am Men’s Prayer Group 8-9am Confessions 4pm Vigil Mass 5:30pm

SUNDAY 2/9 Masses 7:30am, 9am. 11:15am

Coffee & Donuts after 9 & 11:15 Mass

PRIESTS MASS INTENTIONS

2/3 MONDAY Eileen Tooney + 2/4 TUESDAY St. Mary School 2/5 WEDNESDAY Harold Schafer +

2/6 THURSDAY Judy Thies +

2/7 FRIDAY Rod, Val Schmaltz & Family

2/8 SATURDAY Harold Schafer +

2/9 SUNDAY 7:30am

9am Pro Populo

11:15am Harold Schafer +

To have a Mass offered by the priest for a deceased person or another intention, please call the parish office at (509) 928-3210.

THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD First Reading Malachi 3:1-4 Responsorial Psalm Psalm 24:7, 8, 9, 10 Who is the king of glory? It is the Lord! Second Reading Hebrews 2:14-18 Gospel Luke 2:22-40 Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple to be consecrat-ed. Simeon, a holy and pious man, took the child in his arms and Anna the prophetess gave thanks to God. FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME First Reading Isaiah 58:7-10 Responsorial Psalm Psalm 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 The just man is a light in darkness to the upright. Second Reading 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Gospel Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus called his disciples the “salt of the earth” and “the light of the world”. He cautioned them not to let the salt lose its flavor and not to put a cover on the light but to let it shine. “Your light must shine before others...and glorify your heavenly Father.”

Prayer Requests Susan Curalli, Monica Mazza

To have a name listed in the bulletin call Krista at the parish office at 928-3210. Names will be listed for 3 weeks,

then removed unless requested again.

If a member of your family is admitted to a local hospital, please call the parish office at 928-3210 if

you would like a priest to visit.

To add someone to the prayer chain or to be part of the prayer chain ministry please join the

Prayer Chain group in Flocknote or call the parish office.

STEWARDSHIP REPORT Amount needed per month $55,975.00 January Total to Date: $65,573.79 Year to Date Total: $403,381.50 Fiscal year (July - June) Year to Date Budget: $382,795.00 Fiscal year (July - June) (we need approximately $12,917.31 each week)

You may make a donation to any of our endowments. Please contact Sharon Greany at the parish office for information.

Phoenix Club: The Seniors Phoenix Club next Potluck lunch on Friday, February 14th at noon.

Bring a favorite dish and encourage friends to join us! Any questions,

contact Karen (509) 927-4941.

First Friday Adoration February 7, 2020, 8am to noon

Confessions will be heard from 8am-9am Adoration every Friday evening 6-7pm

Confessions will also be heard during this time.

Women at the Well

February’s meeting is on Wednesday, February 5th at 10am in the Adult Center. Please join us!

Sister Anne Bosserman will host the Annual Retreat for the Women at the Well on Wednesday, February 19th at 10am in the Adult Center. All are welcome. A lunch will follow the

event.

Place The Society Of St. Vincent de Paul food donations in the white basket in the Gathering Space.

Pantry needs: Mayo, Canned Tomatoes, Canned Peaches & Pears, Mac & Cheese,

Cooking Oil, Cereal, Saltines, Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Shampoo,

Dish Soap www.oursvdp.com

St. Mary will be hosting

Family Promise next week, the week of

February 9th-16th.

Plan accordingly with ministries

scheduled in the

Pastor’s Column St. Mary Catholic Parish February 2, 2020 ~ The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

On Tithing

Well, tax season is upon us, and around this time of year, the parish mails out our parish tax letters, and everyone who contributed financially to St. Mary Catholic Parish in calendar year 2019 should receive that mailing (if you have not received it already), along with my personal message that we had included with that mailing. This Pastor’s Column is an accompaniment to that mailing, and being in the Sunday bulletin, every parishioner now is given a message on tithing.

As can be expected, not many people ask me how much they should be putting in the collection basket each Sunday, but once in a while, I do get asked that question. And as you can imagine, that is a very loaded question for a parish pastor! Because whether I like it or not, I am ultimately the one in charge of and tasked with the important responsibility of making sure that the bills are all paid, that the heat stays on, that the staff gets paid. And so in answer to the question of how much someone should give to the col-lection basket each Sunday, part of me wants to scream out, “As much as possible!” But then another part of me thinks about what I personally am giving, and still another part of me considers the biblical roots of sacrificial giving.

In Sacred Scripture, the tradition has always been that people tithe (that is, that people give sacrificially 10% of their income). We find this all the way back in the story of Abraham when he offered 10% of his wealth to the King of Salem, Melchizedek (see Gene-sis 14). Tithing as a practice is even more ancient than Abraham; it stems from the cultural customs of the Ancient Near East where people from agrarian societies would bring forward the best portions of their first fruits to be sacrificed to the gods. The idea was that we give the best of what we have to those who ultimately supply us with all that we have in the hope that they will continue to give their blessings to us.

Over time, however, unto the present day, this literal tithe has fallen out of the common mindset (though some of our Protestant brethren still expect it of their congregations).

Here at St. Mary, fewer than 50% of our people are contributing anything for the financial support of the parish; that means that fewer than 50% of us are carrying the financial weight of the whole parish and all of our costs and expenses. But hopefully all of us would agree that our parish definitely is worth investing in financially, even if our own personal investment is just $1.

Perhaps that sounds a bit harsh, maybe even insulting. We know that times can be tough, and life gets expensive, and people can contribute to the life of the parish in all kinds of ways, not just financially. Nobody is disputing any of that.

Let us consider, for a moment, what can be accomplished, the opportunities that we have before us. If every member of St. Mary were to tithe even just 5% (which is only half of what God commands in Sacred Scripture, mind you), we could offer St. Mary Catholic School education free of charge – no tuition for anyone! We could start our own food bank, and much of our parish terri-tory includes neighborhoods of lower-class economic levels that could benefit from this. We could cease doing any special collec-tions for the parish (even cease doing the Annual Catholic Appeal!), because the parish would have an income more than sufficient to just write a check for whatever ACA goal the diocese assigns to us.

This all begs the question: why would anyone not be on board with any of that?

And all of this, of course, in addition to our need to give – for God loves a cheerful giver, as St. Paul

teaches us; and God does issue a divine command to tithe. Sacrificial giving simply is part of what it means to be a good Catholic Christian. And so, in answer to that original question, “How much should I give to the collection basket each Sunday,” my answer would be to give something just on the far side of your comfort level. Stretch ourselves a bit. Difficult…but doable.

And always we must remember: God cannot and will not be outdone in generosity. ~ Fr. Lewis

Parents of Small Children In the Gathering Space, you will see a Children’s Coat Tree with burgundy bags. Each bag contains a reading book, coloring pages

and a small bag of crayons. These are to help your children wiggle a little less in pews. If your child uses a bag, please remind them to put everything back in the bag and return to the tree for the next Mass.

Your child may keep the pages they color.

Religious Education

Weekday Morning Rosary Please join parishioners in praying the Rosary

weekdays at 7am in the church before daily Mass. Everyone is welcome.

Religious Education for Grades 1-5 Regular meetings continue on Wednesdays, 6:00-7:30pm, drop-off in the church, pick up in classrooms. It is never too late to start attending, so if your child wishes to begin coming to Religious Education, get the forms and schedule from our website or stop by the parish office or pick-up materials in the back of church. Youth Group - Middle School & High School Youth Group is a vibrant, faith-filled and welcoming place to learn the truths about yourself, about God and about our Catholic faith. All youth grades 6-12 are invited to Youth Group - it’s never too late to join! Just visit our website or contact Marie Bricher 509-928-3210 ext. 111, mbricher@dioceseofspokane.org. We gather for games and visiting at 6:30pm in the youth room then we start off with our opening large-group time at 7pm. After that, we snack and split for middle school and high school activities. Pick-up is at 8:30pm. Last chance to sign up for the Laser Quest event on February 16 - check in with Marie if you have not yet gotten the regis-tration link through an email. Sacramental Prep for Confirmation/First Holy Eucharist Our next meetings will be on February 9 and 23 from 10-11am in the Mary/Martha room (for the kids) and the Youth Room (for the adults). We’ll be covering sessions 5 and 6 in the Signs of Grace First Eucharist Book. Sacramental Prep for First Reconciliation Our next meeting will be on February 2 from 10-11am in the Mary/Martha room (for children) and the Youth Room (for parents). Our next meeting will be March 1. If you have questions, please contact Marie at mbricher@dioceseofspokane.org, or 928-3210 ext. 111. Thank you to generous donors A huge thank you to all who donated money to help us purchase new books for our “Mass Bags” - we have 5 copies each of 3 won-derful books to help our younger Catholics learn about the Mass. We have also purchased 20 copies of the Children’s Missal for Young Catholics. These beautifully illustrated Missals are available on the shelf above the Mass bags for those kids who are “too old” for a Mass Bag, but could use a little help to follow along with the readings. Thank you so much for making possible to provide these great resources to our young Catholics.

Respect Life: How can YOU become Active toward Respect for Life from Conception to Natural Death?

• We will be praying at Planned Parenthood on Thursdays at 12:30pm. The address is 12104 E Main St., Spokane Valley. We would appreciate you joining us. Contact Rose Hays at 509 990 5708 if you have questions or want to join our group. You can

also go to St. Mary Flocknote and join our group. We look forward to meeting you!

We would like to remind folks of our new website-there has been some confusion.

Our new/current website is: stmaryspokane.org

2020 Catholic Youth Conference REMAIN

March 6-8, 2020 This year’s theme, “REMAIN”, drawn from Jesus’ own words, “remain in me, as I remain in you...as the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.” These words from the Gospel of John exude all to experience the love of

the Father, and to do whatever it takes to remain in that love. All young people desire to experience this love.

Please have your teen register - they’ll have a great time, be inspired in their faith and meet hundreds of other Catholic youth in our Diocese. Registration packets are available in the parish office, at youth group and in the back of the

church. Registration deadline is February 16! Contact Marie with any questions.

Saturday Morning Rosary All are welcome to come and participate in saying the

Rosary on Saturday mornings at St. Mary from 7:30 am to 8:00 am in the Church. We meet every Saturday, no matter weather or liturgical time of the year. Please join us!

Saturday Morning Men's Prayer Group Bible Study and Fellowship for Catholic men of our parish. With a goal of helping men grow in their faith, allowing them to be better

husbands and fathers. Also, to increase their participation in the spiritual and social activities of the parish. Meet Saturdays from 8-9 am in the Adult Center. Please contact Jim Diehl at fivediehls@comcast.net or

(509) 993-2954 for more information.

Women’s Faith Sharing Group Are you seeking connection with other women who want to grow stronger in their faith and closer to other sisters in the Lord? Please consider joining us! We will gather in the Youth Room which is in the lower level of the parish office one Saturday morning each

month from 8-9am. We will share our faith journeys through reflection on the upcoming Sunday Gospel, con-versation and prayer. Light snack and coffee will be available. Please contact Sue Harrell (991-2514) or Marie Bricher (928-3210 ext. 111 or mbricher@dioceseofspokane.org) with questions. Our next meeting is Saturday, February 22nd.

SCRIP/GIFT CARD PROGRAM Goal: $17,000

FRED MEYER SCRIP IS BACK! You can now purchase Fred Meyer Scrip again. Stop by the office to purchase yours! Standing orders with Fred Meyer will resume on Dec. 15th. Currently, we are at $9,000+ of our $17,000 goal. Keep

buying gift cards, especially high profit cards and help us

reach our goal!

St. Mary’s Catholic School ANNUAL DRIVE: The official Annual Drive Campaign kicked off in November. Our goal this year is $37,000 and we are currently at $14,000+. Thank you to everyone who has donated thus far. We are accepting donations for our Annual Drive throughout the school year. Our incentive we are offering to those school families who donate is ongoing until 6/30/20:

Donate $50.00/family, get 1 free dress pass per child

Donate $100.00/family, get 3 free dress passes per child

Donate $200.00/family, get 5 free dress passes per child So, get those checkbooks out and #LEAVE YOUR MARK! today. Your kids will thank you and the school will thank you! Thank you in advance for your support of St Mary Catholic School. 2020-21 SCHOOL REGISTRATION: School registration for current families will begin on Wed, Feb 19. Please be looking for more information regarding this in the school bulletin. Open registra-tion for all other families interested in attending St. Mary will begin on Fri, Mar 20. Contact the school office for more information. Classes do fill up quickly, so please keep these dates in mind. SCHOOL DATES TO REMEMBER:

(All are welcome to attend) Sat, 3/7—AUCTION

AUCTION NEWS: Mark your calendars, Sat, March 7th! We miss some of you whom we have not seen at this event in years. Please consid-er attending this year! We will be at Centerplace at Mirabeau Park again this year! This year we will be communicating as much as we can through the school website (see below). You will find lots of information regarding the auction on this page.

Needs/Wish List—Please help with donations

Items Received

Auction Registration Online Invitations went out last week. If you haven’t gotten yours, please contact the school office for one. Seating is limited. Must be 21 yrs and older to attend. The cost is $65.00 per person. You can register online to attend the auction at: https://smcsspkn.ejoinme.org/2020Auction We are looking for “Bakers” to help with our “Dessert Dash”. If you are an awesome baker, then we need your item! Please contact Terri in the Adv. Office for more information on the fun opportunity. For more information regarding the Auction, go to: http://school.stmarysspokane.org Go to “Parents”, “Major 4 Fundraising Events”, then click on ”Auction” in the blue box to the right. If you cannot find some-thing, please contact Terri Matsch in the Advancement office at ext 206. . Thank you!

Marriage Saving - Weekend Phase– During the weekend phase of Retrouvaille a series of presentations are given by a team of three couples and a priest. The team presents a technique of communication that enables you to take a good look at most areas of

your relationship. After each presentation you have time in the privacy of your room to discuss the previous presentation. Retrouvaille is for any couple who would like to rediscover their marriage and improve communication. Visit www.Retrouvaille.org for emotional testimonials. For confidential information or to register for the February 14-16, 2020 Spokane weekend call (509) 520-4118 or (800)

470-2230 or visit the website at www. Retrouvaille.org.

Immaculate Heart Retreat Center

Day of Reflection on Mary Miriam of Nazareth: Homemaker, Disciple, Apostle Fr. Mike Savelesky

Wednesday, February 5 - 9am-3pm - $40 per person or $50 with use of a room Days of Prayer are Silent

Register in advance: (509) 448-1224 or visit www.ihrc.net

St Mary Knights of Columbus 4196

2020 Scholarship Application Packets are now available for

St. Mary High School Seniors on the new

St. Mary Parish Web Site:

https://stmaryspokane.org

St Mary Parish Knights of Columbus

Council # 4196

2020 Knights of Columbus Scholarship Applications

Applications are now available for the 2020 Knights of Columbus scholarships to be awarded to St. Mary high school seniors. The 1st place winner will be awarded $3,000, 2nd place will receive $2,000 and 3rd place $1,000. Please visit the St. Mary parish web site at https://stmaryspokane.org and under the “Serve” tab click on “Knights of Columbus” to locate and download the application. Completed applications must be received or postmarked no later than February 28.

Join St. Mary’s Community in Fellowship

Community Family Breakfast

Menu Pancakes - French Toast - Fruit Scrambled Eggs - Ham, Sausage Potato Patties - Biscuits & Gravy

Juice, Milk, Coffee & Tea

Sunday - February 2, 2020 Serving from 8:30-11:00 am, Parish Hall

Suggested Donation of $7/person

Children 10 and Under - Free Cash, Debit and Credit Cards Accepted

Sponsored by St Mary’s Knights of Columbus

Get ready for the big game with a

wonderful breakfast!