A reminder to everyone that our next Infant Baptism is on April 24, 2021, Saturday at 10:00 am.  Please call the Office of Religious Education at 689-8681 Ext. 107 if you have any questions on baptism, either for children or adults.
 
 
After months of COVID-19 lock-down, here are the OLPH Re-opening guidelines that will be inforce to allow us to gather in person as a faith community.  Please read the guidelines because they contain valuable information that will allow you to make reservations and secure the tickets for the Mass you and your family would like to attend.  A ticket is required for each person to attend Mass.  Click the link below for the guidelines.
 
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If you have any questions, please contact the Parish Office (808) 689-8681.
 
 
 
      Would you like to learn/review what the Sacrament of Baptism is about?  We can suggest two videos: “Baptism, One Ohana” from our diocese and “Why We Baptize” from Busted Halo series on Sacraments 101.
      To access Baptism, One Ohana, please go to the diocesan website: catholichawaii.org, click on diocesan offices, scroll down to Office of Religious Education, then click on “Baptism, One Ohana”.  We use this video to prepare parents and godparents for infant Baptism.
      Here’s the link to “why we baptize infants” from Busted Halo :  http://bustedhalo.com/video/baptism
Or you may Google: Why we baptize infants, busted halo you tube.  It’s narrated by Fr. Dwyer.
 
 
The three disciplines of Lent are Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. L ast week, I printed the Seven Petitions in the Lord’s Prayer.  I hope that you would use the Lord’s Prayer more intentionally and reflectively from now on and not just for the Season of Lent.  This week, we will deal with Almsgiving and will give you some information on the Rice Bowl Project of Catholic Relief Services (CRS).  Here is a link to view an introduction to CRS Rice Bowl: https://www.crsricebowl.org/about.
The three countries featured in the Rice Bowl program this year are: Madagascar, El Salvador and Timor-Leste.  Please visit the website of CRS Rice Bowl for information, prayers, how you can donate, and meatless recipes you may want to try on Fridays of Lent.  Please remember that all Fridays of Lent are abstinence days for all who are 14 years of age and older.
Rice Bowls are available at the check-in table before Mass.  Please pick up one for your family.  Please be generous to help those who have less than what you have, and oh, please do not put rice in the Rice Bowl.  Also note that 25% of all donations will stay in our diocese to help the diocesan Social Ministry Programs.
 
 
The Season of Lent has two special meanings: (1) to immediately prepare the catechumens for their reception of initiation sacraments at the Easter Vigil; (2) to prepare the baptized to renew their baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday.  Please visit the USCCB Website for more information.  Start reading from the top of the page and scroll all the way down as you read and make sure you watch the short video on tips to celebrate Lent.  Here is the link:
https://www.usccb.org/prayer-worship/liturgical-year/lent
 
 
Lent – the liturgical season of forty days which begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with the celebration of the Paschal Mystery (Easter Triduum).  Lent is the primary penitential season in the Church’s liturgical year, reflecting the forty days Jesus spent in the desert in fasting and prayer (CCC Glossary Page 886)
For 2021: Ash Wednesday is on February 17.  Paschal Triduum starts on April 1st.
Triduum: Holy Thursday – April 1st
                  Good Friday – April 2
                  Easter Vigil – April 3
Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation however, a lot of Catholics come to church on Ash Wednesday “to get ashes”.  What is the significance of ashes on Ash Wednesday?
Biblical root of ashes:
Jonah 3:6
Esther 4:1-3
2 Sam 13:19
Ezekiel 28:18
Jeremiah 6:26
Numbers: 19:17
Job 42:6
Daniel 9:3

Ashes are a sign of physical death, as in ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust’.  We began as dust and our bodies will return to dust until we are raised up by Christ.  By receiving ashes and keeping them on, we publicly proclaim our intent to die to our worldly desires and live even more in Christ’s image, which we focus on during the season of ‘rebirth’ that is Lent (a Latin term for spring).
 
 
Xayne Sielken's Project for January - bookmark on his baptism.