READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday: 1 Sm 15:16-23; Ps 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21, 23; Mk 2:18-22
Tuesday: 1 Sm 16:1-13; Ps 89:20-22, 27-28; Mk 2:23-28
Wednesday: 1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51; Ps 144:1b, 2, 9-10; Mk 3:1-6, or any of a number of readings for the Day of Prayer
Thursday: 1 Sm 18:6-9; 19:1-7; Ps 56:2-3, 9-13; Mk 3:7-12
Friday: 1 Sm 24:3-21; Ps 57:2-4, 6, 11; Mk 3:13-19
Saturday: Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22; Ps 117:1bc, 2; Mk 16:15-18
Sunday: Is 8:23 — 9:3; Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14; 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17; Mt 4:12-23 [12-17]
MASS INTENTIONS
Saturday: Birthday INTENTIONS for Ruben Perez
Requested by Ruiz & Perez family
In MEMORY of Mike Mejia
Requested by Connie & Phyllis Bonilla
Sunday: In MEMORY of Alexia Boesen,
For the HEALTH of Sister Rosalie Cooper
Requested by Elia Maciel
Tuesday: 9am For the Health of José Maciel
5:30pm Birthday INTENTION for Erica Maciel
Requested by Elia Maciel
PRAYER LISTS
If you have anyone you want added to the following Pray Lists below or you can call the office at 916 452- 6866 or email us at info@immaculateconceptionsacramento.org. (Please remember to inform us know when the names should be removed).
PRAY FOR THE CHRONICALLY ILL
Beatrice Cisneros, Lilian Davila, Alex Piedra, Ron Sykes
-- NAMES --
PRAY FOR SPECIAL HEALTH INTENTIONS
Lucas Abella, Connie Bonilla, Noreen Crowley, Maria Elena Guitierrez, Mary Katherine Hernandez, Loretta Hocking, Minnie Jimenez, Marcos P. Lopez, Richard D. Nance, Jr., Mark Parshall, Jose Ramirez, Irene Rodriguez, Domingo Valdez, Nicolas Valdez, Dorothy Wanner, Regina Yañez
-- NAMES --
PRAY FOR SPECIAL INTENTIONS
Jacqueline Daste, Evelyn Borba, Socorro & Frank Godina
-- NAMES --
PRAY FOR SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN
Gabriel Granados, Michael Godina, Marco Mares Jr., Mariela del Carmen Mares
-- NAMES –
SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME: THE LAMB OF GOD
Msgr. Joseph A. Pellegrino
You come to Church today and you notice right away that the Christmas decorations are gone. You know where Mary, Joseph and Jesus are, don’t you? No, they’re not in Egypt. They’re in boxes in storage.
Some of our poinsettias remain. They, particularly the red flowers, are a good reminder that the One we celebrate on Christmas gave his blood for us. As the old priest would repeat in his one line Christmas homily: “The Wood of the Manger is the Wood of the Cross.”
The Christmas season is over. Now we move on with the very beginning of Jesus’ public life, usually referred to as his ministry. We come upon John the Baptist seeing Jesus and pointing to him. “This is the Lamb of God,” he says.
“Lamb of God.” We use that term so often, that it is easy for us to overlook the deep theology and the unfathomable love of our God contained in His sending His Son to be the Lamb.
The first place we come upon the concept of the Lamb of God is in the 53rd chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. Although this was written six hundred years before Jesus, it describes the feelings of God’s people as they look at Jesus on the cross. It’s short, so let me quote it:
It was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; But the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all.
Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth.
He is wounded for our sins, bruised for our iniquities. He has taken upon himself the chastisement that makes us whole. That is what John the Baptist meant when he said, “Look, there is the Lamb of God.”
The question comes: why? Why did the world need a Savior? Why did God’s son become a man to suffer and die for us? Did the Word have to become Flesh? Was Christmas necessary? Well, we can’t tell God what is necessary or not necessary. But we can try to come to an understanding of God’s plan. From the very beginning of the world, all creation was entrusted to human beings. Sadly, man, in his selfishness and self-centeredness, perverted the whole purpose for creation. Instead of glorifying God, creation was used to satisfy man’s selfish needs. But, God still did not take the gift of creation away from man. A man would once more restore creation to God’s original plan. Jesus Christ is this man.
Some people continue to pervert the purpose of creation. Sadly, sometimes, we join them. We become so wrapped up in ourselves that we push God aside. We turn the good things of the world into the purpose of creation, being more concerned with our selfishness than seeing God’s gifts as a means of glorifying Him. As long as we live like this true love cannot not exist in the world. We cannot give ourselves to others or to another if our main concept of how to live is to take, not to give. This is the reason why for some people life is meaningless and frustrating.
Jesus came to live as the Father wants us all to live. He sacrificed himself completely for others so that we could experience sacrificial love. He called us to use creation as the Father meant creation to be used. God’s plan for mankind could once more be put into effect since the Son of God became a man. Entrusted with creation, a man restores the world.
In the visions of the fifth chapter of the Book of Revelation a book is brought out sealed with seven seals. The book is God’s plan for mankind. But the plan is sealed. “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?", a voice cries out.” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to examine it. The visionary sheds many tears because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to examine it. But then one of the elders said, "Do not weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed, enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals." Then the visionary saw standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders, a Lamb that seemed to have been slain. Only the Lamb was worthy to once more restore God’s plan for mankind.
And John the Baptist saw Jesus and proclaimed, “Look, there is the Lamb of God.” The One who became a man was the Lamb slain for us. His death opened up the Book of God’s plan for mankind. He restored our life with God. He conquered sin.
John the Baptist also said that Jesus is the One who will baptize with he Holy Spirit.” Baptized with the Holy Spirit, we have been given the power of God to transform the world. We have been given the power to create a new world, a world with a new way of living, the way of sacrificial love.
When we say or sing, “Lamb of God” we are remembering what Jesus did for us and what he has empowered us to do for others. We are remembering his sacrifice to make God’s love real on earth. We are reminding ourselves that joining Jesus in sacrificial love is the only way we can be his followers.
John the Baptist found his reason for existence. He was to point out the Lamb of God to the world. His mission is the mission of every Christian. We are to point out the Lamb of God to the world.
There is nothing greater that any of us can do in our lives than to reveal Christ to others, first to our children and then to all we encounter.
John the Baptist was not a typical person of his time. He was extraordinary. It really was not John’s dress or diet or even his preaching that made him extraordinary, it was the fact that he found the purpose for his life. He looked to Jesus and said, “There is the Lamb of God.”
Our lives can also be extraordinary. May we have the courage, like John the Baptist, to reveal Christ to the world. May we join the Baptist in saying with our lives, “Look, there is the Lamb of God.”
http://frjoeshomilies.net/01-19-20.html
OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED MONDAY
JANUARY 20TH – MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY
WALK FOR LIFE
The Walk for Life West Coast will take place in San Francisco on Saturday, January 25th 2020. A bus will leave from Immaculate Conception that morning to take people to the Walk, returning that evening. Tickets for the bus are now on sale for $20 per person. We have family discounts and scholarships are available! Tickets are almost sold out, but please call to get the last few tickets: Ana Keyworth 916-213-4959. Hope to see you there!
ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
The Blessed Sacrament is exposed every Thursday in the chapel of the Church, following the 9am mass until the 3am Friday morning. People are needed during the mid-day (between 1pm – 3pm) so that the Blessed Sacrament is not left alone. Please call Martha Rodriguez at (916) 919-6418 to sign you up on the schedule as to the time you will be available to worship with the Blessed Sacrament, or you can also put your name on the list that is located in the chapel.
ST. MARY’S MARDI GRAS CRAB FEED
Mark your calendar, February 8, 2020. Come out and enjoy good food, good people and a good time at our Mardi Gras Crab Feed. We will have a great raffle and music to dance to. The menu includes Jumbo shrimp with Cajun cocktail sauce, salad, cornbread with honey butter, chicken and sausage gumbo served over rice, crab and peach cobbler. Doors open at 6pm. Dinner is served at 7pm. All this for $45 per ticket!!! Tickets can be purchased by calling Denise Franzoia (916) 457-5084 or the parish office at 452-0296 (credit cards accepted). Tickets must be purchased by February 1, 2020.
MARRIED COUPLES
How would you like to spend a weekend away with your spouse – just the two of you? Away from everything: the kids, job, phone, bills and house? Plan to get away to a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend. The next Marriage Encounter Weekends include: Feb 14-16, 2020 in SACRAMENTO, CA and Mar 20-22, 2020 in RENO, NV. For more information and to apply for a Weekend, visit our website at: https://www.sacramentowwme.org or contact Terry & Janet at applications@sacramentowwme.org or 916-489-3464
CHARITABLE BEQUESTS:
A charitable bequest to your parish is a tangible way to acknowledge God’s generosity to you during your lifetime. Arranging a charitable bequest is simple, just have your estate planning attorney include a provision in your will or trust that directs to your parish a specific cash gift, a gift of other personal or real property, or a specified percentage of your estate. You can further specify that your bequest be used to support the parish school or your favorite parish ministry. There may be estate tax advantages to making such a charitable bequest to your parish. For further information, please contact The Catholic Foundation at 916-733-0266 or tcfcagift.org. The Catholic Foundation provides technical support to the parish for bequests.