St. Helena Catholic Church 100 E. Bender Blvd. Hobbs, NM Phone (575) Fax (575)

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1 St. Helena Catholic Church 100 E. Bender Blvd. Hobbs, NM Phone (575) Fax (575) Rev. Ricardo Bauzá, Pastor Rev. Luis R. Lopez, Parochial Administrator October 22, th Sunday in Ordinary Time Rev. Johnrita Adegboyega, Priest in Residence Leo Martinez, Office Assistant, World Youth Day, & Prison Ministry. Lorina Anaya, Marriage Preparation Christopher Martinez, Maintenance Ann Baeza, Liturgy Coordinator Kevin Espino, DRE Karla Segovia, CCD Diana Salinas, RCIC Amparo Salazar, RCIA Sonia Tovar, EDGE Chris Martinez, Youth Group Valerie Monteverde, Archives Kathy Moran, Altar Society Mark Sanchez, Music Ministry Tim Ryan, Bible Study OFFICE HOURS Monday thru Friday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. DAILY MASS Tuesday thru Friday 5:30 p.m. (English) Saturday (Vigil) 5:30 p.m. (English) Sunday 9:00 a.m. (English) 11:00 a.m. (Spanish) CONFESSIONS Saturday 4:00-5:00 p.m. From nearly the beginning of Christianity, it has been a customary practice to solemnize the anniversary of a martyr s death. This was normally done at the church nearest the place where the martyrdom occurred. By the fourth century, neighboring churches had begun to celebrate common feasts.according to the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, Gregory III ( ) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November. While this date had become significant for the Christians in the West, it was not yet a universally recognized feast. Sixty years later, Pope Gregory IV commanded that All Saints be observed everywhere annually on the first day of November. Evening vigils on the day before a feast or solemnity are customary in the Catholic Faith, and so Halloween falls on October 31 because it is the vigil before All Saints Day, and not because the Church wanted to baptize Samhain or any other pagan celebration. Samhain was not a pagan Festival of the Dead. Samhain was a festival that marked the beginning of winter in Ireland, but the historical evidence simply does not support the idea that it involved jack-o-lanterns, witches, ghosts, or religious ceremonies. In his book Stations of the Sun, historian Ronald Hutton explains:t]he medieval records furnish no evidence that 1 November was a major pan- Celtic festival, and none of religious ceremonies, even where it was observed (p. 362).There are some folk tales where humans have dealings with deities or monsters that end or begin on Samhain, but as Hutton concludes:t]heir point cannot be proved from the tales themselves; it could just be that several narratives are started, set, or concluded at this feast because it represented an ideal context, being a major gathering of royalty and warriors with time on their hands (p. 362).Virtually all of the customs associated with the modern secular celebration of Halloween developed only in the past 500 years and have very few (if any) connections to ancient pagan religious practices. What s a Catholic to do? While it is true that most of the customs practiced on Halloween here in the United States cannot be traced back to ancient pagan religions, this does not mean some of them are not problematic. READ MORE ON PAGE 4.

2 Mass Intentions Tuesday, October 24th 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 25th 5:30 p.m. Thursday, October 26th 5:30 p.m. St. Helena Catholic School Friday, October 27th 5:30 p.m. + Gin & J.O. Smith(Bonnie Moran) Saturday, October 28th 5:30 p. m. +Dr. Angelo Spinazzola (Bonnie Moran) +Joe Janica (Ann Janica) Sunday, October 29th9:00 a.m. +Fr. Dennis (Bonnie Moran) Sunday, October 29th11:00 a.m. + Lucio Roberto Llamas + Beatriz Carrera +Roberto Llamas Familias de Santa Helena The will of God Jesus I love you. All I have is yours. Yours I am and yours I want to be. Do with me whatever you will. Amen FOUR HABITS THAT WILL TRAS- FORM YOUR LIFE. WHAT ARE YOUR HABITS? ARE THEY HELPING YOU BECOME THE BEST-VERSION-OF- YOURSELF-OR SOME SECOND- RATE-VERSION-OF-YOURSELF? FEATURING :JONATHAN FAN- NING WHEN: NOVEMBER 4, 2017 TIME: 9:00 A.M.-1:30 P.M. WHERE: HOLY ANGELS CATHO- LIC CHURCH 2309 A&M AVE. SAN ANGELO, TEXAS TICKETS: OR CALL Divine Mercy Chaplet Please join the Divine Mercy Group to pray the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy every Monday at 5:30p.m. All prayer warriors are welcome in the sanctuary Come and be a part of this powerful ministry in our parish. Our collection (October 15, 2017) 8, Your generosity is appreciated! Our United in Ministry goal 2017 $57, The Diocese of Las Cruces appreciates your generosity!

3 Calling all divorced, single, and married couples What is the purpose of life? How do we handle loneliness? If we are living together, why do we have to get married? 2017 Theology of the Body/ Teologia del Cuerpo October 23, 2017 Instructed by Javier and Abby Gonzalez Classes will be in English and Spanish! Clases estarán en Ingles y Espanol St. Helena Parish Center Meeting Room A&B Time 6:30 P.M For more info/para mas información Que es nuestra razon de vivir? Como podemos superar la soledad Si estamos juntados porque necesitamos casarnos Prayer Group For Teens Every Monday 6:30 p.m. at the youth house. All teens and those who wish to pray with teens are welcome. 1. Gently Used Holiday Decorations--Altar Society is holding a gently used holiday decoration sale in the parish hall on October 28th. If you have clean, gently used decorations for Christmas, Halloween, Easter or other occasions that you wish to donate for the sale, please bring them to the office in the next two weeks. 2. Altar Society is making and selling Advent wreaths and you can pre-order yours by picking up a form in the back of church.

4 I would never have been comfortable with my daughter dressing up as a devil or a witch for Halloween, but I never had a problem allowing her to go trick-or-treating with her friends. Most of the time she wanted to dress as her favorite movie or cartoon character. I use the opportunity every year to tell her about the Catholic origins of Halloween. My good friend Fr. Amaro Saumell used to open the parish hall on Halloween night and invite the children and their parents to come dressed as their favorite saints. I understand this is popular in many parishes throughout the country, and I think that is great. As Catholics, the most important thing we need to remember is that Halloween is the vigil before a very important feast day where we honor the saints in heaven who dedicated their lives (and in many cases gave them up) to advance the cause of Christ and his Church. "God picks me from the patch, brings me in, and washes all the dirt off of me. Then he cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc., and then He carves me a new smiling face and puts His light inside of me to shine for all the world to see." Sponsor of the Week

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