Two Upcoming Bake Sales Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School “Odyssey of the Mind” teams will be having a Bake Sale the weekend of February 7th and 8th after all Masses. The “Odyssey of the Mind” students will use the money to buy supplies to make their props and backdrops. Saints Peter and Paul Thrift Store Bake Sale: Our Saints Peter and Paul Thrift Store is sponsoring a bake sale after all Masses the weekend of February 14th and 15th – just before Lent begins. Anyone wishing to donate baked items can drop them off before Mass on either Saturday evening or Sunday morning. Thank you for your support and don’t forget to stop by and pick up a dessert for Sunday’s dinner. Again, all proceeds from the Saints Peter and Paul Thrift Store Bake Sale are used to help people in crisis or emergency. American Red Cross Blood Drive – You can save lives and support Saints Peter and Paul School: The Western Kentucky Blood Center will be at Saints Peter and Paul on Wednesday, February 18th (Ash Wednesday) from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. in our gym. Western Kentucky Regional Blood Center will donate $5.00 to Saints Peter and Paul School for each pint of donated blood while all donors will receive a free t-shirt and cholesterol screening. If you would like to assist at the blood drive by welcoming donors and serving snacks, please let Libby know. Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration: A big thank you for a very blessed year of Adoration. We would like to welcome the following adorers who have recently adopted Hours: Juan Uribe, Alma and Mark Reeder, Valerie Hobbs and Heidi Wheeler. May God reward you for your time spent with Him. The hours that are currently open are as follows; Mondays at 3:00 and 4:00 AM. Wednesdays at 3:00 and 4:00 AM. Friday at 12:00 AM (midnight). God Bless, Bill and Jenny Rush, Co-ordinators Catholic Men’s Conference Saturday, February 7, 2015 St. Stephen Cathedral - Owensboro Ticket price includes lunch $30.00 – Adult $15.00 Student (H.S. Senior and older) Registration forms available on the table in the narthex or in the parish office. Bus departs from Saints Peter and Paul Parking Lot at 6:00 a.m. Fat Monday Celebration: This year we will be celebrating our “Fat Monday” celebration at “Las Fuentes – Authentic Mexican Restaurant” on Canton Street. Las Fuentes Restaurant is opening just for us. Our menu is quiet extensive and involves a selection of 4 Appetizers, 14 Entrees and 6 Desserts – You may find that choosing just one from each category is the most difficult part. So, the meal will consist of an Appetizer, Entree, Dessert and Beverage (tea, water, soft drink, or coffee). Remember any alcoholic drinks are the responsibility of each individual person. The cost of this event is $25.00 per person. Come by the sacristy after weekend Masses or during the week see Libby at the parish office. To make your reservations – the money and your menu selection is due at the time of placing your reservation. This is always a fun-filled night, Don’t Miss It! Diocesan News Fr. John Meredith’s New Mailing Address: Rev. John Meredith, P.O. Box 190, Newburgh, In 47629 Father John has been assigned to prayer and penance and would like to be of assistance to people of the diocese. If you would like to send him a prayer request his email address for your intentions is [email protected]. Diocesan Town Hall Meetings: Bishop Medley invites your input at Town Hall Meetings to be held across the diocese. In preparation for the October 2015 Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis is encouraging widespread consultation in dioceses around the world on questions concerning marriage and family life. Two remaining Town Hall Meetings being held are: 1. Thursday, February 12 – Holy Spirit Parish, Bowling Green, 6:00 -8:00 p.m. 2. Thursday, February 19 – Blessed Mother Parish, Owensboro, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Your input will be conveyed to the Synod of Bishops in a report submitted by Bishop Medley at the conclusion of the listening sessions. Upcoming Pilgrimage: You’re invited. Please join Bishop Medley on a pilgrimage to the Catholic shrines of France. Does visiting Lourdes, Nevers, Lisieux, Normandy Beaches and Paris, France, interest you? Bishop William Medley will be leading a pilgrimage to these locations on October 8 – 17th of this year. For more information please visit: www.pilgrimages.com/bishopmedley. To book or for questions, please contact Liz or Natasha at 800-206-8687. Community News Hospice: Pennyroyal Hospice will be holding a Volunteer Training Session on Monday, February 16th and Wednesday, February 18th in the Conference Room of the Pennyroyal Hospice building at 220 Burley Avenue. The class will begin at 9:00 a.m. each day and finish no later than 3:00 p.m. There is no charge for the training and lunch will be provided. Both days are required to complete the class. To register for the session, or if you have any questions regarding becoming a Pennyroyal Hospice Volunteer, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator at 885-6428 or email to [email protected]. Father/Daughter Purity Ball: Alpha Alternative is hosting their Seventh Annual Father/Daughter Purity Ball. This year for those in kindergarten thru 5th grade, the program will be held on Friday, February 20th and for 6th grade through college, the program will be held on Saturday, February 21st. The theme of this year’s ball is “Guard your Heart” “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:23. The Purity Ball will be held at the James E. Bruce Convention Center. Each night the program will run from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. The evening will include an ageappropriate program about purity in all aspects of life. This is a formal event. The registration fee is $30 per couple and $10 for each additional daughter. For more information visit their website at www.alphapcc.org or call (270) 885-3820. Every Human Life is Sacred: Excerpts from an address of His Holiness Pope Francis at the Commemorative Conference of the Italian Catholic Physicians’ Association on the occasion of its 70th anniversary There is no doubt that, in our time, due to scientific and technical advancements, the possibilities for physical healing have significantly increased; and yet, in some respects it seems that the capacity for “taking care” of the person has diminished, especially when one is sick, frail and helpless. In effect, medical and scientific achievements can contribute to improving human life, provided that they are not separated from the ethical root of these disciplines. For this reason Catholic doctors commit to … a human and spiritual mission, as a true lay apostolate. Attention to human life, especially to those in greatest difficulty, that is, to the sick, the elderly, children, deeply implicates the mission of the Church. The Church also feels called to participate in the debate which focuses on human life, presenting her proposal on the basis of the Gospel. In many places, quality of life is primarily related to economic means, to “well-being,” to the beauty and enjoyment of physical life, forgetting the other, more profound, interpersonal, spiritual and religious dimensions of existence. In fact, in the light of faith and right reason, human life is always sacred and always has “quality.” There is no human life that is more sacred than another: every human life is sacred! There is no human life qualitatively more significant than another, only by virtue of resources, rights, greater social and economic opportunities. This is what Catholic doctors try to affirm. ... [Their] work seeks to bear witness by word and deed that human life is always sacred, valuable and sacrosanct. As such, it must be loved, defended and cared for. Professionalism, enriched with the spirit of faith, is a further reason to collaborate with those — even from different religious perspectives or thought — who recognize the dignity of the human person as a criterion for their activities. Indeed, while the Hippocratic Oath commits [doctors] to always be servants of life, the Gospel drives [them] further: to love life always and in any case, especially when it requires special care and attention. The predominant school of thought sometimes leads to “false compassion” which holds that it is a benefit to women to promote abortion; an act of dignity to perform euthanasia; a scientific breakthrough to “produce” a child, considered as a right rather than a gift to be welcomed; or to using human lives as laboratory animals, allegedly in order to save others. Instead, the compassion of the Gospel is what accompanies us in times of need, that compassion of the Good Samaritan, who draws near and provides concrete help (cf. Lk 10:33). Your mission as doctors places you in daily contact with so many forms of suffering. I encourage you to take them on as “Good Samaritans,” caring in a special way for the elderly, the infirm and the disabled. Faithfulness to the Gospel of life and respect for life as a gift from God sometimes require brave choices that go against the current, which in particular circumstances may become points of conscientious objection. This faithfulness brings with it many social consequences. We are living in a time of experimentation with life. But it is harmful experimentation. Making children, rather than accepting them as a gift, as I said. Playing with life. Be careful, because this is a sin against the Creator: against God the Creator, who created things this way. Many times in my life as a priest, I have heard objections. “Tell me, why, for example, does the Church oppose abortion? Is it a religious problem?” — “No, no. It’s not a religious problem” — “Is it a philosophical problem?” — “No, it’s not a philosophical problem.” It is a scientific problem, because there is a human life there and it is not licit to eliminate a human life to resolve a problem. “But no, the modern school of thought...” — “Listen, in the old and the modern schools of thought, the word kill means the same thing!” The same is true for euthanasia. We all know that with so many elderly people in this throwaway culture, euthanasia is being performed in secret. And this is saying to God: “No, I will end life, as I see fit.” A sin against God the Creator: think hard about this. St. Camillus de Lellis, in proposing the most effective method to care for the sick, simply said: “Put more heart into those hands.” Put more heart into those hands — this is my hope as well. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Salus Infirmorum, support the intentions with which you intend to continue your action. (Knights of Columbus Chaplain’s Report, January 2015)