Star of the Sea Catholic Church

Daily Mass: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, - 5:15pm
Weekend Mass: Saturday (Vigil English) – 4:30pm
                             Saturday (Vigil Spanish), - 6:30pm
                             Sunday (English) – 8:30am
First Friday Parish day of Adoration and Prayer: 4:00pm – 6:00pm
First Saturday Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary: 9:00am
Holy Day of Obligation Schedule: (Vigil Mass) - 5:15pm,
             (Morning Mass) – 9:00am
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Confession time: Saturday - 3:30pm -4:15pm

This Weeks Bulletin

Daily Mass: Thursday – 5:15pm
Weekend Mass: Sunday – 11:00am
Holy Day of Obligation Schedule: 12:10pm
Confession time: Thursday – 4:35pm – 5:00pm

ARCHDIOCESE OF PORTLAND IN OREGON                  

August 30, 2021

(Spanish version coming soon)

The COVID-19 virus has surged once again with the rapid spread of the Delta variant, which is dramatically more contagious than the original virus. The pandemic and its effects have impacted the entire globe and laid a heavy burden on all of us, including our families and communities here in western Oregon. We continue to implore the Lord for his mercy and a rapid end to the pandemic.

Now that the Pfizer vaccine is fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the State of Oregon is requiring all school teachers, staff, and volunteers, including in private schools, to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 18 (see rule HERE). It is important to recall that statewide vaccine mandates for other vaccinations already exist for all children who attend schools.

Catholic Church leaders encourage all people who are able to get vaccinated to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Please see this VIDEO, which features Pope Francis and the President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop José Gomez. Pope Francis, Pope Benedict, and our own Archbishop Sample have all received the vaccine. In recommending the vaccine, the Church relies on the judgement of public health experts regarding its safety and efficacy. No medical intervention is without risks, and these risks must be weighed in light of the benefits of vaccination for the individual and common good.

Receiving any of the currently approved COVID-19 vaccines is morally acceptable for Catholics in light of the pandemic and since ethically irreproachable COVID-19 vaccines are unavailable. Because receiving the vaccine constitutes only remote, passive material cooperation in evil, the Church teaches it is morally licit to do so ( CDF 2 & 3). A Catholic, in good conscience, can receive any of the three currently available COVID-19 vaccines. Since this position that one can in good conscience receive the vaccination has been confirmed by recent statements by the Holy Father and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, this is to be considered an authoritative application of the Church’s moral norms in this particular case and constitutes a part of the Magisterial teaching of the Church.

The Church recognizes that in principle, vaccination is not a moral obligation and must be voluntary (CDF, 5). However, because the State is requiring vaccination for some sectors of society, (including Catholic school teachers, staff, and volunteers) due to the pandemic and for the stated purpose of protecting the public health, Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Portland are therefore obligated to comply with the State’s vaccine mandate. The Church recognizes and understands there are legitimate medical and other reasons why individuals may not be able or willing to take the vaccines. For example, the Church supports individuals who, not accepting the Church’s official moral guidance, are disturbed in conscience about taking the vaccines due to their remote connection with aborted fetal cell lines. Individuals not able or unwilling to be vaccinated must take concrete, practical steps to avoid exposing those who are vulnerable and at risk. In cases where accommodations cannot be made by an employer, the individual may need to seek employment elsewhere to protect the common good and minimize risks to vulnerable populations.

In the case of Catholic school teachers, staff and volunteers, there may be circumstances when accommodations can be made for an individual seeking an exemption of conscience. Each request for such an accommodation will be carefully and sincerely considered on its merits and on an individual basis.  Minimizing risk for our children and keeping them safe is paramount. The Oregon Health Authority form must be used to request a religious exception.

No letters can be written by priests or other Church officials to support an individual’s request for religious exemption. This is because the matter is strictly between the employee and the employer. Also, no Church official can state that receiving the vaccination is contrary to the moral teachings of the Church, given the moral guidance provided by the Church as referenced above.  Individuals can be directed to use National Catholic Bioethics Center materials as a reference to craft their own letters of conscientious objection.

Due to the spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations being driven by the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, Governor Brown announced an executive order requiring face masks/coverings statewide at all indoor public gatherings beginning August 13, 2021.

Face Masks are required for all adults and children older than 5 who are gathered in all Catholic Churches in the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon.

 

The use of face masks is required for all indoor faith gatherings and meetings. Social distancing and capacity limits are not currently in effect. Link to the Governor’s Mask Requirement fact sheet HERE. 

The Archdiocesan COVID-19 Response Team has consulted with faithful Catholic medical experts who have confirmed the contagious nature of the Delta variant and the dire situation of our hospital systems in Oregon. In charity, we must do our part to help stop the spread of this dangerous variant. 

  We are pleased to announce that our Parish 2021-2022 Faith Formation classes/programs will resume fully on September 29, 2021.

Please call the Parish office for registration or talk with the Sister Fidel after Masses for questions and clarifications you might have concerning the program.

We are open to helping you get through any problem that might keep you away from receiving the Sacraments of:

*  Baptism

*  First Holy Communion

*  Confirmation

*  RCIA

*  Marriage

Blessings and Love of Christ to you all!  

Welcome back to Jesus from the pandemic! 

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,

Blessings and care of Jesus Christ to each of you and your family!

Please, I want to first thank Our Lord Jesus Christ and Savior, for His Merciful Guidance and Love, in making it possible again for us to reconnect to our parishes and one another physically. I believe, perhaps by now, all of us may have read the pastoral message from Archbishop Sample, welcoming all of us back and encouraging us to embrace the loving presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.

Also, may I once again, express my gratitude to each of you for the way all have supported each other in handling the pandemic crisis that disturbed the whole world. Gradually, we are seeing that nothing is impossible with God, whenever we put our trust and surrender to Him. No one has ever handled this situation for the first time ever, and no one has the perfect way to work with it. We only did and guided by whatever that was possible and much okay to implement at a given point in time, depending on those challenges. There are tens and hundreds of ideas out there and none was a perfect one. We were guided with only the best we can have at that point in time. They may have not appeared so perfect to our satisfaction, but please, just know whatever strategy we applied to help, was the only better path for those different situations. However, we shall continue to explore everything we can to serve your spiritual needs well and joyful. I am so grateful to each of you and really love you so much. Thank you for how all of you help to navigate through the whole situation, and gradually return according to what is convenient for us. May I also thank our parish staff and volunteer team with prayerful thoughts and gratitude. They did such a wonderful job and selfless services throughout the time of pandemic surge. God bless each of them abundantly.  

Parish Ministry

This year all our parish ministries have been aligned under six different commissions. The reason is for every ministry to be on the same page with our parish vision and archdiocese. Each ministry is aligned to one of these commissions. Someone appointed will be heading each commission, and reporting to the coordinator of parish life and stewardship office. The commission was an initiative I personally presented to the pastoral council to help me structure them well and accordingly. Part of my vision to serve the parish well, is to have clear structure in our parish vision, evangelization, and all aspects of parish ministry and administration. This year also, we have a new pastoral council body that will be commissioned August 15, 2021, the day of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The new pastoral council body will be working hard in promoting our parish mission, charism, motto, and vision.

Parish Events coming up

August 14, we have another Wedding at Star of the Sea Brookings, other youths and a wonderful couple who have been on catechesis and discernment for time now. They are our great parishioners, by name Juan Carlos and his soon to be great wife, Veda.

We also have another wedding coming up hopefully, in October. I will update us with details about them as soon as their preparations are finalized.

Knights of Columbus

The Knights of Columbus of our parish have new Grand Knights. The New Grand Knights now is Mr. Michael Juster. He will be taking over from our wonderful grand knights who served so well for the knights and keep serving the parish generously. We always thank Randy Hall for his services for the Knights of Columbus and his help to the parish. Mr. Michael Juster was described as a good and spiritual man. We shall keep him in prayers and encourage him as the leader of our parish Knights Help let us all welcome our brother Michael Juster and pray for him as leader of our parish Knights of Columbus.

 I will be updating you more about our implementation for coming back!

The parish is your home, welcome back!