THE CATHOLIC PARISH OF ST. BERNARD

615 H St. Eureka, CA 95501 (707) 442-6466

Parish Staff Rev. Thomas Diaz, Pastor Ext.2104 Rev. David Galeana, Parochial Vicar 443-8429 Rev. Gerard Brady, Retired 443-8429 Priests’ Emergency Number 707-599-3456 Deacon Frank Weber 442-5615 Cathy Finney, Office Manager Ext.2101 Illeen Knapp, Bookkeeper Ext.2102 Fritz Sorensen, Maintenance Ext.2105 Debbie David, Pastoral Advisory Chairperson 443-114 3 Dianne Luzzi, RCIA 442-8812 Issa Stemler, Music Director 840-9514 Amanda Rutledge, Children & Youth Faith Formation 601-8585

Office Hours

Monday – Friday 9am. - 3pm. E- Mail: office@saintbernards.org FAX: (707) 443-0914

www.saintbernards.org Mass Schedule at St. Bernard

Sundays: 10:30 am.

Weekdays: 12:15 pm. Mon, Wed, Fri

Holy Days: Vigil 7:00 pm, 12:15 pm

Confessions: Wednesdays 1:00 pm-1:35pm &

by appointment

Expo sition of the Blessed Sacrament: Wed. 1-9pm.

St. Joseph Mission Church Mass Schedule

(Located on the corner of C & Henderson St.)

Saturdays: 4:00 pm. (vigil), Sundays: 7:30 am.

Weekdays: Tuesdays & Thursdays 7:30 am.

Holy Days: 7:30 am

Confessions: Saturdays 3:15-3:45 pm & by app t.

August 30, 2015, 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Washing Your Hands Before Dinner In the Gospel Reading, Jesus and the Pharisees have a public fight about the

Jewish tradition of washing your hands before dinner. Jesus puts the Pharisees and their

tradition down with a scathing denunciation. He calls the Pharisees ‘hypocrites,’ who have God

on their lips but not in their hearts. So, what does this story say about tradition?

Well, we might think, if clinging to tradition gets the Pharisees a denunciation by the Lord, then

so much the worse for tradition! And yet where would we be without tradition? Our whole

religious understanding and practice, even our creeds, are shaped by tradition.

The solution to the perplexity lies in the story. When the Pharisees ask Jesus why his disciples don’t keep the tradition of

hand-washing, their question isn’t a request for information. It is a challenge to his whole ministry. From the point of

view of the Pharisees, a person couldn’t be from God and not wash his hands before dinner in accordance with the

tradition.

Our whole religious understanding and practice, even our creeds, are shaped by tradition. A tradition transmits

something precious from one generation to another. But the tradition the Pharisees cling to does not in fact transmit the

God of Moses, does it? What kind of God would make his total acceptance or rejection of a person dependent on

whether or not he washed his hands before dinner? Where is the righteous, merciful, loving God of Moses in this view of

the Pharisees?

In the First Reading, Moses orders the people to hand on God’s commands without adding or subtracting anything from

them. The Nicene Creed, which is part of the tradition that structures our faith, does not violate this order of Moses,

because the Nicene Creed does not change biblical teachings. It only unfolds them and gives deeper insight into them.

But when the Pharisees privilege hand-washing above the true goodness of Christ, they don’t hand on what Moses gave

them. They wreck it in the name of tradition. And that is why Jesus says the tradition of the Pharisees is the tradition of

men. These defenders of religious tradition have lost their grip on the very thing they were supposed to transmit, God’s

goodness and love. That is why Jesus calls them ‘hypocrites.’

It isn’t just the Pharisees who make this kind of mistake. We can and do also. And so this is a cautionary tale for all of us,

isn’t it? Eleonore Stump

Readings for Today Readings for Next Sunday

Reading I: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8 Reading I: Isaiah 35:4-7a

Reading II: James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27 Reading II: James 2:1-5

Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Gospel: Mark 7:31-37

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Humor: The 10th Commandment A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments. They were ready to discuss the last one. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was. Susie raised her hand, stood tall, and quoted, "Thou shall not take the covers off thy neighbor's wife."

St. Bernard Church 08/30 Sun 10:30 am Int.Christopher Fosnaugh 08/31 Mon 12:15 pm Int. Garrett Griffin 09/02 Wed 12:15 pm Int. Chad Kryla 09/04 Fri 12:15 pm +Beverly Giacomini 09/06 Sun 10:30 am Mass for the People

St. Joseph Hospital 09/01 Tue 11:30 am +Jose Maria Simoes 09/03 Thu 11:30 am +Chris Kraft

St. Joseph Church 08/29 Sat 4:00 pm +Al Mendoza 08/30 Sun 7:30 am Mass for the People 08/30 Sun 7:00 pm Int.of the Celebrant 09/01 Tue 7:30 am +Daniel Silva 09/03 Thu 7:30 am +Jim Titus 09/05 Sat 4:00 pm +Fr. Eric, +Helen Giere k Scuri 09/06 Sun 7:30 am +Lois Gardner 09/06 Sun 7:00 pm Int. of the Celebrant

Finance Corner The collection last weekend was $3,081

Second Collection This weekend the collection is for Betty Chinn and/or St. Vincent de Paul.

This Week’s Meeting & Events 09/01 Tue 2 pm Mass at Timber Ridge 09/01 Tue 7 pm Knights of Columbus 09/04 Fri 3 pm Mass at Chloe’s

PRAYERS FOR THE SICK: Evelyn Avila, Jim Avila,John Chiv, Cort Bess, Chet Branum, Sister Gertrude Conolly, Ed Dickinson, Deacon Frank, Tomas Gonzalez, Barbara, Jackie and Jim Hill, Chad Kryla, Mary, Margaret McCaskill, Joan McDowell, Cathy McCormack, Bridgette Mitchell, Riley Moran, Fran Mori, Brett Perrone, Donna Selsor, Ashley Sutherland Seiger, Nancy Tompkins, Ramon Torres, Mary Wood and all our weak and ill. The prayer list will be cleared and updated next week, if you would still like to have prayers said for yours elf or a loved one, please call the office @ 442-6466.

ADULT EDUCATION SERIES

Fr. David Anderson will present a series of lectures at the

Parish Activity Center (PAC) of St. Joseph Church in Fortuna

beginning on Monday, September 21 from 7 to 9 p.m. and

continuing for 6 weeks. Fr. David is a Catholic Priest of the

Byzantine Rite and is currently Pastor of St. Peter Eastern

Catholic Church in Ukiah. Topic will be announced soon. A

donation of $20 per person is suggested, but not required.

For more information, please call the Parish Office at 725-

1148.

Rest in Peace—Please pray for the recently

deceased and his family members: Larry Nord.

The Catholic Cursillo Movement

of the Archdiocese of Portland is having a Cursillo in

Christianity for men and women at St Rita’s Retreat Center

just south of Grants Pass, OR. The Cursillo is a 3-day

opportunity to grow in your relationship with Christ and in

communion with your fellow Catholics. The Cursillo is not

“just another retreat” but will give you a sense of real

Christian living. It is for active Catholics who are able to

receive the Sacraments. You are invited to the men’s Cursillo

on the weekend of October 15-18 and the women’s Cursillo

on the weekend of October 22-25. Car pools will be arranged

for transportation. Please contact Bob Farrar (677-1952) for

additional information and an application form.

The Women's Club of St. Bernard will be sponsoring a Parish Potluck. Please mark your calendar for Wed, Sept 16th, 6:00 pm in the Parish Hall.

Pastor’s Corner

Because people go back and forth to each parish for

mass, here is some information that might affect you.

New Mass times beginning October 3-4 at Sacred Heart:

Saturday Vigil Mass 5pm, Vigil Mass in Spanish 7pm.

The 7pm mass on Sunday evenings at St Joseph’s will

end the last Sunday in Sept.

In October there will be new office hours at St Bernard’s

with the office being open from 8-2 Mon-Fri.

Religious Education. Next weekend we will begin

registering students for religious formation for grades 1-

6. The classes will take place at St Bernard’s Academy.

A questionnaire has gone out to some families as to the

class time: an evening weekday class (like last year) or

an afternoon class at 3:30 on a weekday possibly a

Tuesday. I welcome Deacon Candidate Craig Brown who

will be leading the program in English and is a teacher at

St. Bernard’s Academy. I thank Amanda Jeffares

(Rutledge) for all her help this year and former years at

St Bernard’s. What we need now are teachers. If you

are interested in being an aide or a teacher give Fr Tom

a call at the parish number 442-6466.

Parents are the primary teachers of the faith to

their children and the church is here to help you. If we

do not get enough teachers and aides the children in

certain grades will have to be home schooled in religion.

We have combined both parishes for religious

education because we have a shortage of teachers.

Each parish needed the teachers from the other parish.

The grades will be 1: pre-First Communion, 2: First

Communion, Grades 3&4 combined, Grades 5 & 6

combined.

Information on Middle School Grades 7 & 8

(Confirmation) along with youth ministry will come

later.

ST. BERNARD PARISH POTLUCK

SPONSORED BY

THE WOMEN’S CLUB

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

6:00 P.M., PARISH HALL

MAIN COURSE OF CHICKEN,

PORK LOIN, BREAD, BEVERAGES AND

DINNER WARE WILL BE PROVIDED

PLEASE BRING ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

A-N - SALAD OR HOT SIDE DISH

O-Z – DESSERTS

The Women’s Club would like to publish a parish cookbook

with your favorite recipes. Please fill out the back of this

flyer and submit recipes by placing in collection basket, mail

or e-mail to office@saintbernards.org, attn: Illeen

St. Bernard Catholic School cookbook will be available for $7.00