It's easy to support flood victims in Myanmar. See how on the flyer provided here.

"THE LIGHTING OF THE STAR ON OUR MOUNTAIN"
As we join cities around the world in a bilingual vigil
To call for the End of the Death Penalty!

Please join us as we remember the victims of violence and those executed in our name.
Date: Sunday, November 29, 2015
Time: 4:30 - 5:30 PM (Bring a chair and a candle.)

Place: Parking lot of the Center for Careers & Technology (CCTE), 1170 N. Walnut St.
(one block east of Cotton, near Murchison)
In solidarity with:
- Cities for Life, Cities Against the Death Penalty
- The Restorative Justice Ministry of the EP Diocese
- El Pasoans Against the Death Penalty

http://www.worldcoalition.org/cities.html
Contact: Pat Delgado (915) 740-3962 phdelgado@hotmail.com

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico Catholic bishops have urged state residents to write letters to President Barack Obama in support of expanding U.S. resettlement efforts involving Syrian refugees.

In a statement Monday, the church leaders say they are joining the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in calling on Catholics to pray for refugees.

“Our Lord, in a special way, holds the most vulnerable close to his heart and, in this time of tragic loss of innocent life, we too should hold the people of Syria and Iraq close to our hearts,” Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester, Las Cruces Bishop Oscar Cantu and Gallup Bishop James Wall said in the statement.

To read more, click here: http://bit.ly/1XoQPEb

If you must shop on Black Friday, consider the Columban Mission Center as your place to shop.

Jubileo extraordinario de la Misericordia                  
Lunes, 7 de diciembre de 2015    7:00PM   Catedral de San Patricio
 
El Año Santo comienza el 8 de diciembre, solemnidad de la Inmaculada Concepción de la Virgen María. El Obispo Mark Seitz celebrará la Santa Misa para abrir el Año de la Misericordia
 
                                                                               
Lunes, 7 de diciembre de 2015    
7:00PM  
Catedral de San Patricio
 
Le invitamos a unirse con el Señor Obispo a celebrar esta Misa y a participar en la apertura de la Puerta Santa.  Favor de invitar a todos sus feligreses a participar en esta celebración especial.                                                                                 

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy     
Monday, December 7, 2015   7:00 PM   Cathedral of St. Patrick
 
The Holy Year will begin on December 8,  2015,the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.Bishop Mark Seitz will celebrate a Mass to open the Year of Mercy on  Monday, December 7, 2015 7:00 PM Cathedral of St. Patrick.
 
You are invited to concelebrate this Mass and participate in the Opening of the Holy Door. Please invite all in your parish to participate in this special celebration.
 
 
 

By:Sr. Doris Turek, SSND; Office of Worship

Carta del Papa Francisco con motivo del Año de la Misericordia               
“…Es mi deseo , que el Jubileo sea experiencia viva de la cercanía del Padre, como si se quisiese tocar con la mano su ternura.
Mi pensamiento se dirige …a todos los fieles que en cada diócesis, o como peregrinos en Roma, vivirán la gracia del Jubileo. Deseo que la indulgencia jubilar llegue a cada uno como genuina experiencia de la misericordia de Dios, la cual va al encuentro de todos con el rostro del Padre que acoge y perdona, olvidando completamente el pecado cometido. Para … obtener la indulgencia los fieles están llamados a realizar una breve peregrinación hacia la Puerta Santa, abierta en cada catedral o en las iglesias establecidas por el obispo diocesano... Es importante que este momento esté unido al Sacramento de la Reconciliación y a la celebración de la santa Eucaristía con una reflexión sobre la misericordia. Será necesario acompañar estas celebraciones con la profesión de fe y con la oración por mí y por las intenciones que llevo en el corazón para el bien de la Iglesia y de todo el mundo.
He pedido que la Iglesia redescubra …las obras de misericordia corporales y espirituales. La experiencia de la misericordia, en efecto, se hace visible en el testimonio de signos concretos como Jesús mismo nos enseñó. Cada vez que un fiel viva personalmente una o más de estas obras obtendrá ciertamente la indulgencia jubilar. De aquí el compromiso a vivir de la misericordia para obtener la gracia del perdón completo y total por el poder del amor del Padre que no excluye a nadie. …
La indulgencia jubilar…se puede ganar también para los difuntos. A ellos estamos unidos por el testimonio de fe y caridad que nos dejaron. De igual modo que los recordamos en la celebración eucarística, también podemos, en el gran misterio de la comunión de los santos, rezar por ellos para que el rostro misericordioso del Padre los libere de todo residuo de culpa y pueda abrazarlos en la bienaventuranza que no tiene fin.
Uno de los graves problemas de nuestro tiempo es, ciertamente, la modificación de la relación con la vida. Una mentalidad muy generalizada que ya ha provocado una pérdida de la debida sensibilidad personal y social hacia la acogida de una nueva vida. Algunos viven el drama del aborto con una consciencia superficial, casi sin darse cuenta del gravísimo mal que comporta un acto de ese tipo. …El perdón de Dios no se puede negar a todo el que se haya arrepentido, sobre todo cuando con corazón sincero se acerca al Sacramento de la Confesión para obtener la reconciliación con el Padre. También por este motivo he decidido conceder a todos los sacerdotes para el Año jubilar, no obstante cualquier cuestión contraria, la facultad de absolver del pecado del aborto a quienes lo han practicado y arrepentidos de corazón piden por ello perdón. Los sacerdotes se deben preparar para esta gran tarea sabiendo conjugar palabras de genuina acogida con una reflexión que ayude a comprender el pecado cometido, e indicar un itinerario de conversión verdadera para llegar a acoger el auténtico y generoso perdón del Padre que todo lo renueva con su presencia….
Vaticano, 1 de septiembre de 2015.       FRANCISCUS

By: Sr. Doris Turek, SSND; Office of Worship

This year, on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis will open the Holy Door at the Vatican that will signal the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. We are all in need of the mercy of God in so many ways.
The following are excerpts from a letter from Pope Francis concerning the Holy Year of Mercy and indulgences:
“…I would like …the celebration of the Holy Year to be for all believers a true moment of encounter with the mercy of God. It is indeed my wish that the Jubilee be a living experience of the closeness of the Father, whose tenderness is almost tangible,…
         My thought …goes to all…, whether in individual Dioceses or as pilgrims to Rome, will experience the grace of the Jubilee. I wish that the Jubilee Indulgence may reach each one as a genuine experience of God’s mercy, which comes to meet each person in the Face of the Father who welcomes and forgives, forgetting completely the sin committed. To …obtain the Indulgence, the faithful are called to make a brief pilgrimage to the Holy Door, open in every Cathedral or in the churches designated by the Diocesan Bishop,….. It is important that this moment be linked, …, to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist with a reflection on mercy. It will be necessary to accompany these celebrations with the profession of faith and with prayer for me and for the intentions that I bear in my heart for the good of the Church and of the entire world.
         I have asked the Church …to rediscover …the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. The experience of mercy, indeed, becomes visible in the witness of concrete signs as Jesus himself taught us. Each time that one of the faithful personally performs one or more of these actions, he or she shall surely obtain the Jubilee Indulgence. Hence the commitment to live by mercy so as to obtain the grace of complete and exhaustive forgiveness by the power of the love of the Father who excludes no one. …
        …The Jubilee Indulgence can also be obtained for the deceased. We are bound to them by the witness of faith and charity that they have left us. Thus, as we remember them in the Eucharistic celebration, thus we can, in the great mystery of the Communion of Saints, pray for them, that the merciful Face of the Father free them of every remnant of fault and strongly embrace them in the unending beatitude.
         One of the serious problems of our time is clearly the changed relationship with respect to life. A widespread and insensitive mentality has led to the loss of the proper personal and social sensitivity to welcome new life. The tragedy of abortion is experienced by some with a superficial awareness, as if not realizing the extreme harm that such an act entails. …The forgiveness of God cannot be denied to one who has repented, especially when that person approaches the Sacrament of Confession with a sincere heart in order to obtain reconciliation with the Father. For this reason too, I have decided, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, to concede to all priests for the Jubilee Year the discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it. May priests express…words of genuine welcome combined with a reflection that explains the gravity of the sin committed, besides indicating a path of authentic conversion by which to obtain the true and generous forgiveness of the Father who renews all with his presence…”
St. Patrick  Cathedral;, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Westway; San Lorenzo, Clint and St. John, Monahans are the parishes where pilgrimages to the Holy Door may be made in the Diocese of El Paso.