Many of us don’t give much thought to “becoming Catholic,” since the act of entering the Church was done for us by our parents and godparents at our infant baptism. But for others, the journey to full communion with the Catholic Church comes while in college, just prior to or in the midst of our marriage, and even stems from the birth of our children and their entrance into the religious education program at the parish level. The process by which one becomes Catholic later in life is called the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults or RCIA. It is a process by which one learns of the tenants of our faith and then makes the consciences decision to fully accept our belief in a loving and giving Triune God, thus becoming Catholic. It happens a great deal more often than you might think. CLICK TO READ MORE...

February 27 at 7:30 p.m. Saint Catherine will host the sec-ond annual Seven Last Words of Christ, a time of sacred music, readings, prayer and meditation designed specifically for the Lenten Season. I hope you will attend this beautiful event. Brief yet powerful, last year’s attendants were astounded by the power and beauty of this liturgy and were very complimentary of the work put into it by the choir, the lectors and Susan Zybert, our music director. I was impressed so much so that I believe this is a wonderful spiritual exercise for each and every member of our parish. I hope you will mark your calendars and join us this year. It will be worth the time and will set the tone for a truly powerful Lenten experience as you hear the compassion and love that Christ offers us from His cross. Don’t miss it

We begin our Gospel account today in the desert, with the devil trying to tempt Christ with earthly power. It is a good place for us to begin the season of Lent, for I suspect many of us might find ourselves “in the desert,” spiritually speaking, from time-to-time—tempted by the material world. We also might find ourselves a bit “dry” when it comes to our spiritual journey—thirsting for a drink of the Holy Spirit to reinvigorate our prayer life or our life of service. I know that I find myself in the “desert” from time-to- time as sometimes praying the breviary does not speak to me, other times I feel “dry” when thinking of how I might serve God in a ministry or in some situation. I know this is true of my priest-friends, as when we get together on social occasions we speak of these “low” points in the spiritual life. This is normal for any of us. And in these “dry” times we should not feel inadequate or as if we are failing, but rather we need to turn even closer to God and seek His Spirit in our lives so that we are refreshed and rejuvenated. CLICK TO READ MORE...

St. Catherine of Siena Men’s and Women’s Clubs are looking for volunteers and sponsors to participate in HomeFront 2013 on May 4th, 2013. This is an effort to help our neighbors in need with home repairs. We are looking for 15-40 volunteers to help work at the site or prepare food for the volunteers or monetary sponsors to help defray the cost of supplies and materials. Volunteers must be a minimum of 18 years of age. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS!

The Lenten Mercy Project runs for six weeks and is bsed on the Corporal Works of Mercy. It provides an opportu-nity for us to share with those less fortunate than us by making pecific donations each week. Our first weekend for collecting tems is next weekend February 16/17. Please look at the flyer whch is inserted in this week's bulletin; it delineates our needs or each week. Containers for our collections will be available at boh entrances of the church. We hope that you will participate each week by bringing at least one item. The agencies truly appreciate our generosity and we are truly very grateful for your participation. CLICK FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...

Abstinence from meat (beast or fowl) is to be observed by all Catholics fourteen years old and older on Ash Wednesday and on all the Fridays of Lent. This obligation prohibits the eating of meat, but not eggs, milk products, or condiments of any kind, even though made from animal fat. CLICK TO READ MORE!

Where am I Going:“I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven, because of what Jesus did for us.” (Philippians 3:14) Are we really going to Jerusalem? How much longer before we get there? Are you sure we’re heading in the right direction? These are questions that may bring back memories of past journeys traveled as a child or with children. As a child, we must trust that the adult knows the way. As an adult we know that if we follow the map and continue, we will eventually reach our goal, whether physical or spiritual.

If between 500,000 and 650,000 people assembled on your front lawn, it seems to follow that you would take notice of them. But did we? That’s what happened on our “nation’s front lawn” last week—more than half-a-million American citizens marched on Washington, D.C. to protest the more than 54 million abortions performed in our nation since the 1973 US Supreme Court decision—Roe v. Wade—legalizing an individual’s right to terminate human life in the womb. And hardly a peep was mentioned in the national or local media—neither in newspapers nor on the nightly news (ABC, NBC and CBS did not men-tion it; the New York Times ran an article, beneath the fold) meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s new eye glasses made the news). The world’s largest human rights rally went virtually unreported. Media bias? I think so! CLICK TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE...