This weekend, Feb 20-21, is commitment weekend for the Bishop's Appeal. Some of us may have already sent in their pledge by mail or email. If you have not, please take a pledge card, fill it out with the amount you will be pledging to the Bishop's appeal and drop it in the collection basket. In anticipation of the generosity of our members, I would like to thank all who made a pledge this year and thank you on behalf of The Most Reverend Bishop Barber. Much of the life and ministry of our church thrives on the generosity of our members.

In the back of the church there are Rice Bowls to help with our Lenten sacrifices. In the Rice Bowl repentance, for whatever we give up for Lent, we put the equivalent amount in the Rice Bowl so that at the end of Lent when we return the Rice Bowls, the week of Palm Sunday, the money we saved will be donated to a charitable purpose, someone else will benefit from our sacrifices.

Mark your calendars! The Sacred Heart Fundraising Committee will once again present Family Movie Night! Opening night is Saturday, March 5th, in the parish center at 6:30 pm. The first featured film for movie night is "War Room. Invite your family and friends to come and support this fundraising event.

We are being called to enter into the wilderness with Jesus. The church gives us 40 days to join Jesus in the dessert, to avoid temptation as He did, to deny ourselves comforts as He did. However, the Lord didn't send Jesus out alone, and He doesn't send us alone-we have the Holy Spirit.

Today marks the beginning of Lent, the beginning our Lenten journey. We learn to sacrifice something to experience new life and have others benefit from our sacrifice. How are we called to render our hearts and not render our garments in these days of Lenten journey.

After Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon Peter, "Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch!" The Holy Father proposed Jesus' imperative "Put out into the deep water" as the motto of the Church. We're called, like Peter, Andrew, James and John to leave behind whatever might keep us from the Lord and follow him.

In the generosity of your prayers, please remember Mrs. Rosalea Wallace Taylor, a long time member of Sacred Heart; and Mrs. Florence Baca, both of whom recently departed this life. Mrs. Baca is the mother of Patricia Kirtley.

On Saturday, Jan. 30th, we had a very successful registration for the sacrament of confirmation. 12 of our younger members signed up with a couple more possibly joining. We are also starting the RCIA program (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) for those adults wanting to become Catholic and those who are Catholic but need to be confirmed. Again, your prayers are requested for these members on their journey toward a deeper faith and the sacrament of confirmation.

This Wednesday, Feb. 10th, is Ask Wednesday. Ashes will be distributed at the 8:00am and 7:00pm Masses. The ashes are a sign of our willingness to repent, to change our lives for the better. In the Ash Wednesday gospel, we are called to prayer, alms giving and fasting. Supporting the Bishop's Appeal is a good way to give alms. For fasting we are asked to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, this is a refrain from eating between meals. On the Friday's of Lent, we are asked to abstain from eating meat. Also in the back of the church there are Rice Bowls to help with our Lenten sacrifices. In the Rice Bowl repentance, for whatever we give up in Lent, we put the equivalent amount in the Rice Bowl so that at the end of Lent when we donate the money saved to a charitable purpose, someone else will benefit from our sacrifices. Also in the back of the church are Lenten prayer booklets which correspond to the daily Lenten readings from scripture. We ask a $1 donation for these booklets. May all of us willingly participate in the spirit of Lent.

Every year in February the Bishop of Oakland has the annual appeal for financial support of the ministries done by the diocese. This year the bishop is linking the appeal with the Pope's Year of Mercy. The theme is Sharing God's Mercy. In light of some of the reflections shared in updating our parish mission statement last weekend, the Bishop's appeal is an opportunity to go beyond ourselves into services sponsored by the diocese. One of the ministries that is supported by the diocese is our school, St. Martin de Porres. Our goal this year is $6500.00. Next week we will hand out a brochure describing all the ministries done by the diocese. Please pray how the Holy Spirit is calling each one of us to support our Bishop in is ministry for the whole diocese.