St. Stephen ParishSaintStephenSF.org | 451 Eucalyptus Dr., San Francisco CA 94132 | Church 415 681-2444 StStephenSchoolSF.org | 401 Eucalyptus Dr., San Francisco 94132 | School 415 664-8331

Weekday Mass: 8:00 a.m. Reconciliation: Saturday 3:30 p.m. or by appt. Vigil Mass Saturday 4:30 p.m. Sunday Mass 8:00, 9:30 & 11:30 a.m.

February 7, 2021 - Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 4, 2020

Our Mission Statement We are a Catholic Community that is called by God to follow Jesus Christ. We believe that we are called to worship God together, to lead God's people along the path of hope laid down by Jesus, to share his mes-sage through preaching, through the educa on and forma on of our people, young and old, and through caring service and sensi ve outreach to those in need. Rev. Tony P. LaTorre, Pastor

The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time It is not a very uplifting way to start our Liturgy of the Word this Sun-day, is it, to hear Job’s expressions of despair? Life has become un-bearable to Job. He describes life as drudgery and misery, without hope or happiness. He has lost his children, his wealth, and is stricken with boils from head to foot. Have we ever felt that we just can’t han-dle one more hardship in our life? Our circumstances may be differ-ent, but the feelings are the same. Job gives expression to a universal human experience of grief and despair.

The despair of the first reading is contrasted with the hope of the Gospel. Simon’s mother-in-law is lying sick at home, unable to get up. Jesus grasps the hand of Simon’s mother-in-law, helps her up, and her fever leaves her. Outside her door, there is a whole town’s worth of people with various diseases, or who are possessed by demons, whom Jesus also cures. Jesus brings hope to this despairing community. Then he goes on to preach and cure in other villages. As he pro-claimed: For this purpose have I come. This is our hope: the hope of God’s people for the coming of the Kingdom. It is hope for the fulfillment of God’s prom-ise to heal the broken-hearted and bind up their wounds. In Jesus we experience this fulfillment. Like Simon’s mother-in-law, we are able to get up and live again. She was able to get up and serve Jesus. So, too, others touched and cured by Jesus are able to get up and live again. Living in hope saves us from the misery, if not necessarily the tragedies, experienced by Job. Living in hope – having met Christ and received the Good News of the kingdom of God – allows us to live for the sake of the Gospel as we await Christ’s return, as Paul did. Like Job, we know despair; like Paul, we know hope. Knowing both is a part of the human condition. Our call is to live by hope, to be a people of hope, and to – like Paul –share our hope freely with others. So, as we continue our journey during this usual days always remember that it is in Christ that we experience hope and healing. Thanks for praying with us today – I pray for you, please pray for me. God blessings be always with each of you. Father Tony LaTorre

Liturgy and Life • How did relying on God during a time of tremendous loss help

you gain perspective and hope? • What can you do to gain more confidence in speaking about the

Gospel and God’s work in your life? • In response to being healed, Simon’s mother-in-law waited upon

Jesus. How is service a part of your response to God’s love?

Living Stewardship Now “Speak Life?”

A group of frogs was traveling through the woods looking for a bigger pond when two of them fell into a very deep hole. The other frogs crowded around, and when they saw just how deep the hole was they shook their heads and started calling to the two frogs at the bottom that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the shouting and with all their might kept trying to jump up out of the hole. The other frogs jeered at them and told them to give up as their efforts were useless. Finally, one of the frogs stopped jumping and, panting heavily, fell on his side. He lay still and soon died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. The crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just give up and die. He jumped even harder, and finally made it out of the top of the hole. When he got out, the other frogs were astonished and asked him, “Didn’t you hear us?” The frog look puzzled and asked them to repeat what they had just said

because he was a bit deaf. He thought they had been shouting encouragement to him! There is power in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone in difficult circumstances can lift them up and help them to make it through another day. Destructive words, on the other hand, can be all it takes to deprive them of hope and life. The power of words is much greater than we may think. Be careful what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The person who makes the effort to encourage another is special indeed.

Make a conscious effort to stop negative comments and verbal “put-downs.” Refuse to join in conversations that scorn or belittle other people.

Ways and Means to Help and Support Our Church

As we go our daily life within the state and city-wide mandate of “Stay-at-Home” for the next few weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, please remember that we continue to look forward to your regular weekly dona-tions to sustain our church’s basic operation needs. You may continue to do so through the following: 1) via your weekly envelope which can either be:

a. Mailed to the Parish Office; b. Dropped off at our parish office/mailbox slot.

2) If at this time, you are strictly confined in your home, please consider setting up an online account through the parish website: www.saintstephensf.org by: a. Click the $ Giving button b. Click on Donation link c. Follow instructions to set up your account online

3) If neither of the above works for you, please give us a call at the office, and we will gladly pick up your dona-tion envelope for the parish or help you set up your online donation. For more information, please give us a call at 415-681-2444. between 9am to 3pm Mondays thru Fridays or check our website www.saintstephensf.org

St Stephen Church provides Online Giving -- a convenient and safe way to make a one-time or recurring donation. Getting started is easy. Visit www.s aintstephensf.org, click on Do-nation link. . When you participate, your gift will be securely transferred directly into the parish.

DAILY MASS ON LIVESTREAM !!!

at 8:00 a.m. on Facebook , YouTube & Instagram!

Or go to ww.SaintStephenSF.org to attend our daily Mass!

Fr. Tony‘s Sunday Celebration of the Eucharist

Every Sunday, at 9:30 am, we continue to go live from our St. Stephen Parish website, www.saintstephensf.org. Click on the Facebook link on the top of the page and it will directly connect you to our livestream mass. Here you can participate in the live community chat stream during the mass. If you do not have a Facebook account, no need to

worry! Go to our website, www.saintstephensf.org, scroll down and you will also be able to join the livestream mass right on our website. You can also watch our livestream mass every Sunday at 9:30am via YouTube and Instagram!

CRABFEED 2021

For Reflection: If Jesus were coming today, would he look at our actions and say, “Well done”? What have we done for the least of our broth-ers and sisters, and thus for him?

Dear St. Stephen Community and Supporters,

We wanted to let you know that the St. Stephen Crab Feed will not take place in person but will be a Drive-Thru Event this year Your safety is of utmost importance. As much as we would love to come together for another amazing Crab Feed, it has become clear that there is no way we can re-sponsibly conduct an event of that magnitude during our current COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions that remain in place within our county.

As you know, St. Stephen’s Crab Feed has be-come an annual celebration when the St. Ste-phen community comes together for an evening spent in our beautiful parish facility, Donworth Hall. It’s a party with a purpose! Each year, your ticket purchase supports St. Stephen Parish and helps to keep our doors open. I’d like to invite you to continue to support St. Stephen Parish by joining us for

St. Stephen’s Crab Feed Drive-Thru on

February 20 (moved due to a delay in crab season) or by donating what you would have previously spent on tickets and pur-chases at the St. Stephen Parish Crab Feed.

You can place your order online at saintste-phensf.org/crabfeed or call the parish office at (415) 681-2444 to request and submit a form. (Order forms can also be found in the church ves-tibule, parish office or at the back of this bulletin)

We look forward to the day when we can all gath-er again for St. Stephen’s Annual Crab Feed cele-bration. We hope you will be there with us!!

Until then, thank you for being a part of our community and thank you for your generous sup-port. We would also like to thank the Men’s Guild, St. Stephen Parish Council, and the Wom-en’s Guild, for their continued support.

For any questions, please contact Carol or Shay at info@saintstpehensf.org.

Warm regards,

Father Tony

Monday, Feb 8

8:00 a.m. † Ger O’Donoyan (By: Imelda & James Daly)

Tuesday, Feb 9

8:00 a.m. † Francisco Culaba (By: Adelle Caunan) Wednesday, Feb 10

8:00 a.m. † Nellie McCarthy (By: Imelda & James Daly)

Thursday, Feb 11

8:00 a.m. Rev. Dave Pettingill Sp. Int. (By: Alaia & Azaian)

Friday, Feb 12

8:00 a.m. Shay Ingelfinger Sp Int (By: Parish Staff) Saturday, Feb 13 8:00 a.m. Mr. Cassidy Sp. Int. (By: Maureen Dpwling)

4:30 p.m. † Christy McGuire (By: Liam Frost) Sunday, Feb 14 8:00 a.m. † Amir Alkhraisat (By: Juliana Morgan)

9:30 a.m. † Maggie McDonald (By: Fely Boquiren)

Note: Due to City & Health Guidelines affecting our daily and weekend Mass schedule, Mass intentions for affected Mass times may have been rescheduled to another date.

lease pray for the sick and homebound of our com-munity and for all those written in our book of the

sick. May they know the healing touch of Jesus.

Franz Tittiger, Boboy Balce, Caroline Zidek, Gabriel Agudo, Isabela Vicente, Marino Tulao,

Robert Liam, Zaida Ysip, Leanna Mossi, Elena Amaya, Eden Finn,

Edileide Jose Barbosa, Kenneth Fambrini, Larry Barbiere, Carol Dominguez, Marc Gutierres,

Kevin King, Marla Moso, Joel Rivera, Gwendolyn Walsh, Jovita & Richard Thompson.

TODAY’S READINGS

First Reading — Job finds life on earth to be drudgery; he is filled with restlessness (Job 7:1-4, 6-7). Psalm — Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted (Psalm 147). Second Reading — Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. I have become all things to all, to save at least some (1 Corinthi-ans 9:16-19, 22-23). Gospel — Jesus cured many who were sick with various dis-eases (Mark 1:29-39).

Sunday: World Day for Consecrated Life; Scout Sunday Monday: St. Jerome Emiliani; St. Josephine Bakhita; International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking Wednesday: St. Scholastica Thursday: Our Lady of Lourdes; World Day of the Sick Friday: Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday; Lunar New Year 4719 Saturday: Blessed Virgin Mary

Lord Jesus, our Divine Physician, we ask you to guard and protect us

from Coronavirus COVID-19 and all serious illness. For all that have died from it, have mercy,

for those that are ill now, bring healing. For those searching for a remedy, enlighten them;

for medical caregivers helping the sick, strengthen and shield them.

For those working to contain the spread, grant them success; for those afraid, grant peace.

May your precious blood be our defense and salvation. By your grace, may you turn the evil of disease

into moments of consolation and hope. May we always fear the contagion of sin more than any illness.

We abandon ourselves to your infinite mercy. Amen.

SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES

NEED A PRIESTLY VISIT? Please know that if you are homebound, sick, aging, preparing for a surgical procedure, recovering from a surgical procedure. Or find yourself in the hospital unexpectedly – your pastor is most happy to visit you with Holy Communion and Anointing of the Sick. One does NOT have to be in a state of “end-of-life” for the anointing. It can be administered to any one, at any time one feels physically or emotionally “low” in life. Please call the office if we can help. We have been finding out about “sick” parishioners “when it is too late.” Please give us a call – we are here for you!

February 7, 2021 [The LORD] tells the number of the stars and calls them by name. — Psalm 147:4

Archdiocese of San Francisco Respect Life Event Series

Human Trafficking Series: Feb. 8 & 25, March 9 ( Zoom) at 6:30 PM. Sign up at sfarch.org/seminars, For questions: prolife@sfarch.org

Prayer Against Coronavirus

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

.This month the St. Stephen’s Book Club is reading “Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self” By Rohr, Richard

Synopsis: Dissolve the distractions of ego to find our authentic selves in God In his bestselling book Falling Upward, Richard Rohr talked about ego (or the False Self) and how it gets in the way of spiritual maturity. But

if there's a False Self, is there also a True Self? What is it? How is it found? Why does it matter? And what does it have to do with the spiritual journey? This book likens True Self to a diamond, buried deep within us, formed under the intense pressure of our lives, that must be searched for, uncovered, separated from all the debris of ego that surrounds it. In a sense True Self must, like Jesus, be resurrected, and that pro-cess is not resuscitation but transformation. • Shows how to navigate spiritually difficult terrain with clear vision and tools to uncover our True Selves • Written by Father Richard Rohr, the bestselling author of Falling Upward • Examines the fundamental issues of who we are and helps us on our path of spiritual maturity. Immortal Diamond (whose title is taken from a line in a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem) explores the deepest questions of identity, spirituality, and meaning in Richard Rohr's inimita-ble style.

Additional “Thoughts”/ Ideas for Today

We need to be instruments for the exer-cise of Jesus’ healing power. Bringing healing and wholeness is Jesus’ ministry even today, He continues it through the Church and through the Christians. In the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, the Church prays for spiritual and physical healing, forgiveness of sins, and comfort for those who are suffering from illness. We all

need the healing of our minds, our memories and our broken relationships. Jesus now uses counselors, doctors, friends or even strangers in His healing ministry. Let us look at today's Gospel and identify with the mother-in-law of Peter. Let us ask for the ordinary healing we need in our own lives. When we are healed, let us not forget to thank Jesus for his goodness, mercy, and compassion toward us by our own turning to serve others. Our own healing process is completed only when we are ready to help others in their needs and to focus on things outside ourselves. Let us also be instruments for the exercise of Jesus’ healing power by visiting the sick and praying for their healing. But let us remember that we need the Lord’s strength, not only to make ourselves and others well, but to make ourselves and others whole. We need to live for others as Jesus did: Jesus was a man for others, sharing what he had with others. In his life there was

time for prayer, time for healing and time for reconciliation. Let us take up this challenge by sharing love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness with oth-ers. Instead of considering life as dull and boring let us live our lives as Jesus did, full of dynamism and zeal for the glory of God.

Happy Anniversary! Dan and Joan Leehane

We send our deepest congratulations and best wishes to Dan and Joan who celebrated their 50th anniver-sary on January 30th. Dan and Joan were married at Saint Cecilia Church on January 30, 1971, moved to their current residence and became St. Stephen parishioners, where they raised their two children who attended the parish school. Tim graduated in 1986, Kathleen in 1988. Both Dan and Joan became very active in a number of parish and school organizations: Eucharistic Ministers, School Board, money counters, Men's Club, Women's Guild, Liturgy Committee and Sacristy work - just to name a few. Best wishes Dan and Joan and May God Bless you both as you begin the second phase of your beautiful marriage.

St. Stephen Book Club March 20, 2021 @ 10:00 a.m.

Morning Reflection with St. Joseph Pope Francis has called this the Year of St. Jo-seph. Join us as we learn a little about the earthly father of Jesus and learn to use Lectio Divina to pray with St. Joseph and scripture. We will meet online via Zoom. More info to come.

Save the Date

May we who are merely inconvenienced remember those whose lives are at stake.

May we who have no risk factors remember those most vulnerable.

May we who have the luxury of working from home remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent.

May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close remember those who have no options.

May we who have to cancel our trips remember those that have no place to go.

May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market remember those who have no margin at all.

May we who settle in for a quarantine at home remember those who have no home.

During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other, let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors.

Amen.

A Prayer of Solidarity

"All that is required for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

Stop Blaming Others and Start Doing Good “I Can't Handle It Anymore!"

There is a story about a couple who had been married for more than thirty years. One evening, when the husband returned from work, he found his wife packing. "What in the world are you doing?" he asked. "I can't han-dle it any more," she replied. "I'm tired of all the bickering and arguing and complaining that's been going on be-tween us all these years, I'm leaving." Whereupon, the startled husband suddenly dashed to the bed-room, pulled a suitcase out of the closet, filled it with his be-longings and ran after his wife, saying, "I can't handle it any more either. I'm going with you!" Today’s first reading tells the story of a man named Job who is at a point in his life where he can't handle it anymore. He expresses himself as a man without hope. In Chapter Seven he complains that life is a "drudgery" ... that his eyes "will never see joy again" ... he can but "lament the bitterness of his soul" (Jb. 7:1, 7, 11).

There is an old and funny little anec-dote that goes something like this. An elderly man who was quite ill said to his wife, "You know, Sarah, you’ve always been with me – through the good and the bad. Like the time I lost my job – you were right there by my side. And when the war came and I enlisted – you became a nurse so that you could be with me. Then I was wounded and you were there, Sarah,

right by my side. Then the Depression hit and we had nothing – but you were there with me. And now here I am, sick as a dog, and, as always, you’re right beside me. You know some-thing, Sarah -- you’re bad luck!" There is a part of us that is tempted to look for somebody to blame for all the things that go wrong in our lives. More often than not, we blame the very people we once looked up to for an answer. Today’s first reading from the book of Job is a futile attempt to answer the perennial question, “Why do bad things happen to good peo-ple?” The Gospel shows us how Jesus spent himself in allevi-ating the pain and suffering around Galilee by his preaching and healing ministry rather than by pondering on universal solutions for the problem of worldwide evil.

Joke of the Week Humor in the preaching ministry: After the Sunday Mass a little boy told the pastor, "When I grow up, I'm going to give you some money." "Well, thank you," the pastor replied,

"but why?" "Because my daddy says you're one of the poorest preachers we've ever had." Humor at the liturgy: A very innovative liturgy director, a young lady, danced the offertory procession in 'attractive' cos-tumes and playing the banjo. The bishop was presiding on this occasion of the pastor's golden jubilee Mass. As the "dancer" approached the altar the bishop whispered to the pastor: "If she asked for your head on a platter, she'd have it!" Humor at Home: A teenage boy had just passed his driving test and inquired of his father as to when they could discuss his use of the car. His father said he'd make a deal with his son, "You bring your grades up from a C to a B average, study your Bible a little, and get your haircut. Then we'll talk about the car." The boy thought about that for a moment, decided he'd settle for the offer, and they agreed on it. After about six weeks his father said, "Son, you've brought your grades up and I've observed that you have been studying your Bible, but I'm disappointed you haven't had your hair cut. "The boy said, "You know, Dad, I've been thinking about that, and I've noticed in my studies of the Bible that Samson had long hair, John the Baptist had long hair, Moses had long hair, and there's even strong evidence that Jesus had long hair." (You're going to love the Dad's reply below!) "Did you also notice they all walked everywhere they went?"

“It must be Peter’s mother in law!” There is the funny story about a

woman listening to her pastor preach a Sunday morning sermon about Simon Peter's wife's mother, ill with a fever. Since it was a boring sermon the wom-an left the Church after the Mass, feel-ing somewhat unfulfilled. Consequent-ly, she decided to go to Church again that day, out in the country where she had grown up. When she arrived, she discovered to her dismay that her pas-tor had been invited to be the substitute priest and again, dur-ing the Mass he preached on the Gospel of the day about Pe-ter's mother-in-law being ill with a fever. Believing that there was still time to redeem the day, the woman decided to go to the hospital chapel in the evening. As you may have guessed, her pastor was assigned to say the evening Mass there and he preached the same sermon on Peter's wife's mother and her fever. Next morning, the woman was on a bus riding down-town and, wonder of wonders, her pastor boarded that bus and sat down beside her. An ambulance raced by with sirens roar-ing. In order to make conversation, the pastor said, "Well, I wonder who it is?" "It must certainly be Peter's mother-in-law," she replied. "She was sick all day yesterday."

If you, or someone you know, may be interest-ed in the Catholic Faith, or have been Baptized but never finished receiving the Sacraments of First Communion or Confirmation, you are encouraged to contact Mary Molly in the par-ish office to learn more about what our parish has to offer. Please call or email Mary Molly Mullaney, office phone: (415) 681-244 ext. 4 or email:

FaithFormation@SaintStephenSF.org

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