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Sunday, February 7, 2010
FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
— WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE

THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, ST. JEROME EMILIANI, PRIEST and ST. JOSEPHINE BAKHITA, VIRGIN

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, WEEKDAY

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, ST. SCHOLASTICA, VIRGIN

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, OUR LADY OF LOURDES

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, WEEKDAY

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, BLESSED VIRGIN MARY ON SATURDAY

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

February 7th is BOY SCOUT SUNDAY! Special congratulations to the Scouts as they celebrate their 100TH ANNIVERSARY.

Feeding the Hungry: On the second Sunday of the month, Saint Rita volunteers make and serve the evening meal at Carpenter’s Shelter. Canned fruit is part of the menu. Donations are welcome at anytime, especially those LARGE cans that go a long way in feeding a crowd. No crushed pineapple or applesauce please. For further information on this work of mercy, and other ways you can help the poor of our community, please call Susanne Arnold at 703-683-5138.

Please pray for those students who are in their last week of preparation before receiving the SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION on Monday, February 15^th. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of Your Love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth. ✜

Charity is Faith in Action

2010 Bishop’s Lenten Appeal: Today is Commitment Sunday, and we thank you in advance for your generous support of this important annual appeal. Our parish goal for this year is $103,000. Please know that, along with reaching our goal, parish participation is also very important. For this reason, we encourage all NEW parishioners — as well as those who have not participated in the past — to consider what they might do for 2010. It’s love’s nature to sacrifice oneself for the good of another. The needs throughout the Diocese are many and varied; please help make a difference. Please participate!

Words of Wisdom from Saintly Priests: St. Basil the Great

Reprimand and rebuke should be accepted as healing remedies for vice and as conducive to good health. From this it is clear that those who pretend to be tolerant because they wish to flatter — those who thus fail to correct sinners — actually cause them to suffer supreme loss and plot the destruction of that life which is their true life.

Saint Rita School — Second Quarter Honor Roll

FIRST HONORS

SECOND HONORS

Congratulations students!
We’re very proud of you. Keep up the good work.

Looking ahead — Daily meditation booklets for Lent will be available in the parish pamphlet racks next weekend, February 13–14 in anticipation of Ash Wednesday, February 17^th. — Divine Mercy pamphlets and prayer cards will be available in the parish pamphlet racks the last weeks of Lent in anticipation of Divine Mercy Sunday, April 11^th.

PARISH EVENTS

Father Horkan’s Bible Study Series will continue with its current study this Sunday, February 7^th at 7:30 PM in the Parish Center — Jacob and Esau: Conflict and Reconciliation, Genesis, chapters 26–33. This study will continue next Sunday, February 14^th and the 21^st. (This second meeting is an addition). Watch the bulletin for chapter updates on this continuing series. Newcomers always welcome!

Join the STARS — the young at heart for those 50 and older for our Pot Luck Dinner and Lenten Program on Thursday, February 11^th at 7:00 PM in the Parish Center. Our Pastor, Father Donahue will be our guest speaker and will help us prepare for a more fruitful Lent. For more information on the STARS, or to RSVP for our February 11^th Pot Luck, please contact Jane at 703-549-2561, or email maryquinn@aol.com.

The John Paul II Reading Group meets about once a month at the Saint Rita Rectory to discuss classic Catholic writings. The next meeting will be Saturday, February 20^th at 6:30 PM and the book for this month is Kristin Lavransdatter, Part II: The Wife by Sigrid Undset, the winner of the 1928 Nobel Prize for Literature. The Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy, written from 19201922, is about the fortunes of a Norwegian noblewoman and her family in the 14^th century as Christianity is still overcoming the country’s pagan past. For more information about the reading group, please call Father Horkan at 703-836-1640.

Our March Pre-Baptism class is scheduled for Thursday, March 4^th at 7:30 PM in the Parish Center Lounge. These classes are held on a monthly basis, always the first Thursday (unless announced otherwise). One class is required if you plan to have your child baptized at Saint Rita; attendance at one class will suffice for as long as you remain a registered parishioner. — Both parish and class registration are required in order to attend this class. Call Joanne at 703-836-1640, ext. 10 for information and to register.

RESPECT LIFE HIGHLIGHTS

MONTHLY RESPECT LIFE MASS: Saturday, February 27th at 8:00 AM (date correction from last week’s bulletin); the Rosary will follow at the Duke Street abortion facility. MONTHLY RESPECT LIFE INTENTION: For orphaned children throughout the world, especially those who are abused or neglected. We remember in a special way those children orphaned in Haiti as a result of the recent earthquake.

40 DAYS FOR LIFE — FEBRUARY 17^TH THROUGH MARCH 28^TH: This is an extraordinary opportunity to stand up for the culture of LIFE! Please join us in praying the Rosary at the Duke Street abortion facility on our sponsored day, Saturday, February 27^th. You may join us at approx. 8:45 AM (after our monthly Respect Life Mass), or anytime between 7:00 AM and 10:00 PM.

ASK A PRIEST NIGHT: Sunday, March 7^th — All NEW format with time for more questions & answers. Wine and cheese will be served, and just a reminder — this is an adults only event.

THE LITURGICAL YEAR — PART I

The last four articles have dealt with the canonization of saints; and they described one effect of canonization, namely, that the saint can be on the liturgical calendar. This article will describe the liturgical calendar and its seasons, and the next article will discuss what it means for a saint’s day to be on it. The Church uses the liturgical year to order her celebrations, especially the Mass, along the lines of the mysteries of our redemption, centered on the life, death and resurrection of Christ, as well as His return in glory. The liturgical year has five seasons, Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time, with Ordinary Time divided into two parts.

The liturgical years begins with Advent, which is the 22 to 28 days just before Christmas. During this time, the Church focuses on the preparation of the Chosen People of old for the coming of the Messiah, and our on own preparation to welcome Jesus into our lives, now and at the end of all things on earth. Advent, which begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, is followed by the Christmas season, during which we celebrate the birth and early years of Jesus and joy at His enduring presence. The Christmas season begins on Christmas Eve and is marked with celebrations for such feasts as that of the Holy Family; the Epiphany, when the magi came to visit Jesus; and the Baptism of the Lord, which launched Jesus’ public ministry. The Baptism of the Lord is usually celebrated on the Sunday after January 6 (the traditional day for the Epiphany), concludes the Christmas season and prepares for Ordinary Time.

The concept of “Ordinary Time” comes from the Latin words ordinarius and ordinatus, which imply a time that is steady, orderly, and even rhythmic. The first part of Ordinary Time begins after the Christmas season and continues until Lent; and the second part of Ordinary Time begins after the Easter season and continues until Advent. It thus consists of thirty-three or thirty-four weeks, depending on how long the Advent and Christmas seasons are. The Scriptural readings at Mass during Ordinary Time describe the public ministry of Jesus from the time of His Baptism to the final confrontation with dark powers that led to His Crucifixion and then Resurrection. And there is a focus on the steady, ordered growth of the Christian life, both for each person and for the whole Church.

In between the two parts of Ordinary Time, and surrounding the highest point of the year are the Lenten and Easter seasons. The Lenten season derives its name from the Latin word lentus, which means slow, tough and enduring. Beginning with Ash Wednesday and continuing 40 days (not including Sundays) through Holy Thursday afternoon, Lent focuses on the final days of Christ’s life leading up to His Crucifixion and especially on His sacrifice for us. That season calls for us to discipline our desires and comforts, focus more on prayer and charity, and so join more fully in Christ’s self-sacrificing love for us and the world. Concluding Lent and beginning Easter is the Triduum, the highest time of the year. The Triduum goes from the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening through Easter Sunday. During the Triduum we celebrate the central events of history, Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection, as well as the Eucharist that makes them present. Starting with the Easter Vigil and continuing 50 days through the Feast of Pentecost (when the Holy Spirit came in power to the first Christians) the Easter season focuses on the Resurrection and the early Church and calls for a joy and sense of mission with the risen Christ, anticipating everlasting glory in heaven. The next article will discuss the special days of the calendar and the colors that symbolize aspects of the liturgical year.

— Father Horkan