Note to Parishioners

Holy Family is setting up an email alert system, to let everyone know what is going on. If you would like to receive a monthly calendar and announcements of coming events, please send us an email with you Name, email address and cell phone number.
Send your email to holyfamily@silverstar.com

A note from St. Alphonsus Liguori

    "If you wish to strengthen your confidence in God still more, often recall the loving way in which He has acted toward you, and how mercifully He has tried to bring you out of your sinful life, to break your attachment to the things of earth and draw you to His love."

Catholic Rural Life - April Blessing

It is not far-fetched to say that our health, our very lives, depend on the sprouting of seeds. The planting of seeds and nurturing through harvest, we receive God's choicest blessings when we break from our labors and enjoy a simple meal. Saving some of the new seeds allows us to continue this miraculous cycle of nature."
 

Confirmation Week

    Our Confirmandi are preparing to be confirmed by Bishop Steven this coming Saturday, the 21st of April.  The celebration of the Holy Spirit will begin at 5:30 pm with youth from Our Lady of the Mountains and Holy Family receiving this very meaningful and important Sacrament.  Please join these youth in praying for the grace, wisdom and guidance of the Spirit during this very important week.

 

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Most people think of Easter as a single day. It’s never had the commercial appeal of Christmas, and because it always falls on Sunday, most people don’t get an additional day off from work. But for Catholics, Easter isn’t just a day, it’s a whole season. The Easter season stretches all the way to the feast of Pentecost. Lent, which sometimes feels like it’s stretching on forever, is actually forty days long. Easter, on the other hand, is all of fifty days long. About these fifty days theologian Nathan Mitchell writes:

“The great fifty days of Pentecost are not an unwelcome, unrealistic obligation to ‘party on,’ even if we don’t feel like it, but an invitation to explore more deeply ‘the weather of the heart,’ to awaken our memory of God’s presence and power in our lives, to look more closely at all the rich and varied textures of creation.”

One way the church pursues this goal of seeing God present in the world is through the reading of the Acts of the Apostles. At Masses all through the Easter season, our usual practice of reading from the Old Testament is replaced be reading from the Acts of the Apostles. These readings tell the story of the church’s earliest days, and the beginnings of our faith’s spreading throughout the ancient world. These stories of heroism, controversies, persecutions and miracles all testify to the continued presence of the Risen Christ in the world, through the lives of his disciples, and the actions of the Holy Spirit.

All of this should be an encouragement and a sign of hope for us today. Despite war, violence, personal struggles, and an under-performing economy, God has not abandoned us, nor left us to our own devices. The risen savior is still with us. These 50 days of Easter ask us to reflect on his presence, and—even in the face of danger or fear—to live with joy.

Prayer Intention of the Holy Father The Month of April

Universal: For those who have responsibility in economic matters:  That economists may have the courage to reject any economy of exclusion and know how to open new paths.

Month of the Holy Eucharist

The month of April is traditionally dedicated to devotion to Jesus in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The Catholic Church teaches that the Blessed Sacrament is the real and living presence of Christ—His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity— received into our souls with every reception of Holy Communion. Our Eucharistic Lord is the source and summit of our Christian life, the ultimate proof of His infinite love for us.

Holy Family is setting up an email alert system, to let everyone know what is going on. If you would like to receive a monthly calendar and announcements of coming events, please send us an email with you Name, email address and cell phone number. Send your email to holyfamily@silverstar.com 

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Solemnity of the Annunciation 2018

This year, the Solemnity of the Annunciation is celebrated on the 9th of April. The Annunciation is usually celebrated on the 25th of March, which was Palm Sunday. On this day, the Church celebrates Mary’s saying “yes” to the angel Gabriel. This mystery is celebrated in the first decade of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. It is a wonderful time to reflect on our answer to Jesus when he asks us to pick up our cross and follow HIM, as Mary did.

The Annunciation is the beginning of Jesus in His human nature. Through His mother He is a member of the human race. If the virginity of Mary before, during, and after the conception of her Divine Son was always considered part of the deposit of faith, this was done only on account of the historical facts and testimonials. The Incarnation of the Son of God did not in itself necessitate this exception from the laws of nature. Only reasons of expediency are given for it, chiefly, the end of the Incarnation. About to found a new generation of the children of God, The Redeemer does not arrive in the way of earthly generations: the power of the Holy Spirit enters the chaste womb of the Virgin, forming the humanity of Christ. Many holy fathers (Sts. Jerome, Cyril, Ephrem, Augustine) say that the consent of Mary was essential to the redemption. It was the will of God, St. Thomas says (Summa III:30), that the redemption of mankind should depend upon the consent of the Virgin Mary. This does not mean that God in His plans was bound by the will of a creature, and that man would not have been redeemed, if Mary had not consented. It only means that the consent of Mary was foreseen from all eternity, and therefore was received as essential into the design of God. 

Thank you

A successful Holy Week takes a lot of preparation and planning from a lot of people. Thank you to everyone who helped make this week memorable. A great series of liturgies!!!


 

Divine Mercy Novena

The novena of Divine Mercy begins on Good Friday and ends on the Saturday before Mercy Sunday.  Unlike other novenas, where people ask for something from God through the intercession of His Holy Saints, Divine Mercy Novena is intended to be prayed for graces and/or salvation to be given to other people. Jesus asked that this novena be prayed prior to the Feast of Divine Mercy (the Sunday after Easter), beginning on Good Friday. He gave Sr. Faustina an intention to pray for on each day of the Novena, saving for the last day the most difficult intention of all, the lukewarm and indifferent of whom He said: "These souls cause Me more suffering than any others; it was from such souls that My soul felt the most revulsion in the Garden of Olives. It was on their account that I said: 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass Me by.' The last hope of salvation for them is to flee to My Mercy." In her diary, Faustina wrote that Jesus told her: "On each day of the novena you will bring to My heart a different group of souls and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy ... On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My passion, for the graces for these souls.”

Marriage Help

Retrouvaille (pronounced retro-vi) has helped tens of thousands of couples at all stages of disillusionment or misery in their marriage. This program can help you too. For confidential information about or to register for program beginning with a weekend on May 18th – 20th near Salt Lake City call 801-450-4965 or email: 4007@retrouvaille.org or visit the web site at www.HelpOurMarriage.com

Knights of Columbus

The Knights Council will convene next Sunday after Mass 
 

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CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 

ARTICLE 5
"HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. ON THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN"

631 Jesus "descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens."476 The Apostles' Creed confesses in the same article Christ's descent into hell and his Resurrection from the dead on the third day, because in his Passover it was precisely out of the depths of death that he made life spring forth:
Christ, that Morning Star, who came back from the dead, and shed his peaceful light on all mankind, your Son who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.477
Paragraph 1. Christ Descended into Hell

632 The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was "raised from the dead" presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection.478 This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there.47

633 Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God.480 Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into "Abraham's bosom":481 "It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell."482 Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.483

634 "The gospel was preached even to the dead."484 The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfilment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption.

635 Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live."485 Jesus, "the Author of life", by dying destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage."486 Henceforth the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and Hades", so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."  487 Today a great silence reigns on earth, a great silence and a great stillness. A great silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. . . He has gone to search for Adam, our first father, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow Adam in his bonds and Eve, captive with him - He who is both their God and the son of Eve. . . "I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. . . I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead."488

IN BRIEF
636 By the expression "He descended into hell", the Apostles' Creed confesses that Jesus did really die and through his death for us conquered death and the devil "who has the power of death" (Heb 2:14).

637 In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven's gates for the just who had gone before him. 

Notice from Bishop Steven

Stephen Tarleton Dougherty, a former Catholic priest of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas and former member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, was convicted in Texas of raping a teenage girl in 2011. We are notifying the people within the Diocese of Cheyenne because he also served at St. Ann Parish in Saratoga from November 2003 until December 2004. As a Diocese we reaffirm our commitment to the safety of all of God’s children. Together let us be vigilant in providing a safe environment and praying for all victims of clergy sexual abuse. If anyone has experienced abuse by a member of the clergy or anyone representing the Catholic Church, please contact Fr. Carl Gallinger, Vicar General, at (307) 638-1530.
 

Thanks Mike!!!!

Many thanks to Alpine Fire Chief, Mike Vogt for finding and donating an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) unit to Holy Family Church. It is very simple and safe to use. There will be a future training session for those who would like to attend. This is part of the emergency plan that our Parish Councilhas been working to develop. Thanks to all those involved in this effort.
 

Council of Catholic Women

The Council of Catholic Women is looking for donations of individually wrapped candy for the Easter egg hunt after Mass on Easter Sunday. Additionally, volunteers are needed to help with the event. Please contact Erin Blutt if you can help. Don’t forget the meeting after Mass this morning.
 

Easter Lilies

Please consider donating Easter lilies to help decorate the Church next Sunday. Donations are cheerfully accepted any time when someone is at the church to receive the flowers. Please do not leave them outside, due to the vagaries of our spring weather. 
 

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Today (the 25th) the Church recalls the entrance of Christ the Lord into Jerusalem to accomplish His paschal mystery. Accordingly, the memorial of this entrance takes place at all Masses, by means of the procession or the solemn entrance before the principal Mass or the simple entrance before other Masses. Blessed palms are distributed to all the faithful in order to participate in the celebration. As we enter into the Church, let us focus on the events of the upcoming week. As part of the Holy Week celebration, we will be conducting a Communion Service and Adoration on Tuesday at 12:00 pm.

The Sacred Paschal Triduum, the shortest liturgical season on the Church calendar, begins at the start of Mass on Holy Thursday at 7:00 pm and ends at the conclusion of the Vigil
Mass on Saturday evening.

Holy Thursday of the Lord’s Supper - Mass at 7:00 pm Stations of the Cross - Friday at 3:00 pm

Chaplet of Divine Mercy - Friday at 3:40 pm - This cerebration makes the start of
the Novena of Divine Mercy which ends on Saturday the 7th of April, before the celebration of the Mass on Mercy Sunday on April 8th.

Friday of the Passion of the Lord (Good Friday) - Mass at 7:00 pm

Holy Saturday - The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night - Mass at 8:30 pm

The Easter Season begins on Sunday morning and lasts the 50 days until Pentecost
Sunday. The days of the Easter Season are cerebrated in joy and exultation as one feast day, indeed as “one great Sunday”. 

Notice from Bishop Steven

Fr. Charles Gormly was ordained a priest in 1935 for the Diocese of Cheyenne. He left the diocese in 1944, never to return. He died in 1968. Recently, credible allegations of sexual abuse were brought against Fr. Gormly in Minnesota where he had served in various parishes. We are notifying the people within the Diocese of Cheyenne because he also served here. As a Diocese we reaffirm our commitment to the safety of all God’s children. Together let us be vigilant in providing a safe environment and praying for all victims of clergy sexual abuse.

PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING TODAY!

The Pastoral Council will meet after Mass this morning. Please plan to attend.
 

Council of Catholic Women

The Council of Catholic Women is looking for donations of individually wrapped candy for the Easter egg hunt after Mass on Easter Sunday. Additionally, volunteers are needed to help with the event. Please contact Erin Blutt if you can help

Catholic Rural Life

Family farmers need to be told that what they do honors God. They are stewards of our land. As any farmer would tell you the land is the most important thing. If you don't take care of it you cannot survive." --Fr. Dave Barrett, CRL Member and rural Minnesota pastor 

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Last week in our discussion of reasons to go to Confession, we focused primarily on mortal sin as a reason to go to Confession, which it is. However, as people of good conscience, we probably more often than not, inadvertently commit venial sin. For a very detailed and lengthy discussion of venial sin, go to the USCCB website and review the discussions posted by Fr. Peter Ryan SJ. Some highlights of his discussion are:

The Gift of Baptism Is the First Stage of Our Cooperation

Our decision to repent, believe, and be baptized is the beginning of our loving response. Of course, most of us were baptized as infants and could do little more than sleep or yawn or perhaps cry as someone else pronounced baptismal vows on our behalf. But now we are able to respond, and we must endorse those vows by committing ourselves to live holy Christian lives.

The Gift of Forgiveness After Baptism: Cooperation Through Penance and Reconciliation

Baptism should mark an end of sin for us, but let's face it. We are weak and do not always stay true to our baptismal promises. We do not always hold fast to grace. We do not always say no to sin. Yet God's love for us is so deep that he makes provision even for the sins we commit after we are baptized. The Lord does not do this by turning a blind eye to sin as an indulgent parent might do, for the Holy One demands holiness. Peter makes this clear in an exhortation: "As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, 'Be holy because I [am] holy'" (1 Pt 1:15-16). But the Lord doesn't just demand holiness. He empowers us to be holy by making forgiveness available to us through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation and by giving us the Holy Spirit.

What about venial sins?" you might ask. Unlike mortal sins, venial sins do not take away the sanctifying grace we receive at Baptism. They do not make us dead members of Christ. And no amount of venial sins can ever add up to a single mortal sin. Nevertheless, someone who sins venially finds it far easier to sin mortally. For example, a boy who disobeys his parents' directive not to spend time with a delinquent friend commits a venial sin, but he may then find himself tempted to participate in activities he knows to be gravely wrong. It is good to confess venial sins. Of course, venial sins can also be forgiven in other ways, including through the devout reception of the Eucharist. Still, conscientious Catholics who have no mortal sins find in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation the grace they need to keep sin out of their lives and to grow in holiness. It is very helpful to develop the habit of frequent confession, and going once a month is by no means too often. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it, "Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit" (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], 2nd ed. [Washington, DC: Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV)– USCCB, 2000], no. 1458). 

March, the Month of St. Joseph

The Church traditionally dedicates the month of March to the special veneration of St. Joseph, whose feast day is March 19th. "He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife," says St. Bernardine of Siena. "He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying 'Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.'" Due to St. Joseph's leadership of the Holy Family, he has been declared the protector and patron of the universal Catholic Church.
 

Prayer Intentions of the Holy Father - Month of March                    Evangelization: Formation in Spiritual Discernment - That the Church may appreciate the urgency of formation in spiritual discernment, both on the personal and communitarian levels.

The Knights will meet after Mass this morning.

 

The Pastoral Council will meet after Mass next Sunday

Lenten Penance Service

The Lenten Penance Service will be held on this Tuesday at 6:00 pm. Please plan to attend if your schedule permits.

There will be Baptism after Mass 

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Why go to Confession?

The basic requirement for a good confession is to have the intention of returning to God like the "prodigal son" and to acknowledge our sins with true sorrow before the priest.

Modern society has lost a sense of sin. As a Catholic follower of Christ, I must make an effort to recognize sin in my daily actions, words and omissions.

The Gospels show how important is the forgiveness of our sins. Lives of saints prove that the person who grows in holiness has a stronger sense of sin, sorrow for sins, and a need for the Sacrament of Penance or Confession.

As a result of Original Sin, human nature is weakened. Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ's grace, takes away Original Sin, and turns us back toward God. The consequences of this weakness and the inclination to evil persist, and we often commit personal or actual sin.

Actual sin is sin which people commit. There are two kinds of actual sin, mortal and venial.

Mortal sin is a deadly offense against God, so horrible that it destroys the life of grace in the soul. Three simulta- neous conditions must be fulfilled for a mortal sin: 1) the act must be something very serious; 2) the person must have sufficient understanding of what is being done; 3) the person must have sufficient freedom of the will.

If you need help-especially if you have been away for some time-simply ask the priest and he will help you by "walking" you through the steps to make a good confession.

Before Confession, be truly sorry for your sins. The essential act of Penance, on the part of the penitent, is contri- tion, a clear and decisive rejection of the sin committed, together with a resolution not to commit it again, out of the love one has for God and which is reborn with repentance. The resolution to avoid committing these sins in the future (amendment) is a sure sign that your sorrow is genuine and authentic. This does not mean that a promise never to fall again into sin is necessary. A resolution to try to avoid the near occasions of sin suffices for true re- pentance. God's grace in cooperation with the intention to rectify your life will give you the strength to resist and overcome temptation in the future.

Before entering the confessional, you should have made a review of mortal and venial sins since your last sacra- mental confession, and should express sorrow for sins, hatred for sins and a firm resolution not to sin again.

A helpful pattern for examination of conscience is to review the Commandments of God and the Precepts of the Church. CatholicOnline.org 

"I serve at CRL because the only hope for unity in our country and agriculture is from a close relationship with Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church has the best and most complete answer to attaining that peace which surpasses all understanding for our fractured world. I am happy to serve in any capacity to further that mission."
--Kelly Spiering, CRL Board Member and Wyoming Farmer (Powell)

 

The Women’s Group will meet this morning after Mass. New members and visitors are always welcome.

The Knights will meet next Sunday after Mass

Deacon Mike Leman - Legislative Liason

Here is the information for contacting legislators during the current session:
Find your representative:
http://redistricting.state.wy.us/planviewer/ ViewPlan.aspx?plan=HEA%20number%208% 20house

Find your senator:
http://redistricting.state.wy.us/planviewer/ ViewPlan.aspx?plan=HEA%20number%208% 20senate

FORMED.org(54063)

It’s not too late to sign up for Daily Lenten Reflections. This Lent, get daily reflections from Bishop Donald Hying, delivered right to your email, every day. Watch, Read & Reflect for just 10 minutes per day. Just go to the daily reflections at FORMED.org and sign up for the emails. 

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Laetare flyer

The fourth, or middle, Sunday of Lent, so called from the first words of the Introit at Mass, "Laetare Jerusalem" — "Rejoice, O Jerusalem". During the first six or seven centuries the season of Lent commenced on the Sunday following Quinquagesima, and thus comprised only thirty-six fasting days. To these were afterwards added the four days preceding the first Sunday, in order to make up the forty days' fast, and one of the earliest liturgical notices of these extra days occurs in the special Gospels assigned to them in a Toulon manuscript of 714.

Strictly speaking, the Thursday before Laetare Sunday is the middle day of Lent, and it was at one time observed as such, but afterwards the special signs of joy permitted on this day, intended to encourage the faithful in their course through the season of penance, were transferred to the Sunday following. They consist of (like those of Gaudete Sunday in Advent) in the use of flowers on the altar, and of the organ at Mass and Vespers; rose-coloured vestments also allowed instead of purple, and the deacon and subdeacon wear dalmatics, instead of folded chasubles as on the other Sundays of Lent. The contrast between Laetare and the other Sundays is thus emphasized, and is emblematical of the joys of this life, restrained rejoicing mingled with a certain amount of sadness.

The station at Rome was on this day made at the church of S. Croce in Gerusalemme, one of the seven chief basilicas; the Golden Rose, sent by the popes to Catholic sovereigns, used to be blessed at this time, and for this reason the day was sometimes called "Dominica de Rosa". Other names applied to it were Refreshment Sunday, or the Sunday of the Five Loaves, from a miracle recorded in the Gospel; Mid-Lent, mi-carême, or mediana; and Mothering Sunday, in allusion to the Epistle, which indicates our right to be called the sons of God as the source of all our joy, and also because formerly the faithful used to make their offerings in the cathedral or mother-church on this day. This latter name is still kept up in some remote parts of England, though the reason for it has ceased to exist.(newadvent.org)