We offer our prayers and support to the Reed family, Rosie, wife of Clarence, mother of Margo and long time member of Sacred Heart has passed. Rosie’s services are as follows: Rosary Friday, March 2nd, 6:00 p.m., Fouchés’ Hudson Mortuary, 3665 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland Mass of Christian Burial Saturday, March 3rd, 10:00 a.m. Sacred Heart Interment Monday, March 5th, 11:00 a.m. Cypress Lawn, Colma, CA Eternal rest grant her O’ Lord and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and all the souls of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.

Fr. Patrick has been stationed at Sacred Heart since 2011.  He has been here for his masters and doctorate degrees in ethics.  He has been missioned back to Zambia and South Africa to teach our seminarians there.  Over the year Fr. Patrick has been involved in many of the ministries of Sacred Heart.  We express our gratitude to him for his service to us.  Fr. Patrick will preside and preach at the Masses on the weekend of March 3-4.  We call God's blessings on Fr. Patrick's new ministry.

Last week some members signed up to help with our outreach to the homeless.  There are sign-up sheets in the back of church for one more week for members to volunteer.  If God's Spirit is calling you to minister in this way, please volunteer.

This weekend is the last weekend to hand in your pledges for the Bishop's Appeal.  From the pledges so far, we have not reached our goal of $9100.00.  If you have not already made a pledge, please do so that we can do our part in supporting the ministry of the diocese.

Rice bowls are in the back of church for those who wish to follow this form of Lenten sacrifice.  Also, there are Lenten prayer books in the back of church.  We are asking a donation of $2.  We also have the devotion of the Stations of the Cross on Friday nights at 7 PM.

As part of our communal response to God's Lenten call to repentance we will host our annual faith revival this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 PM in our church.  Our guest preacher is Fr. Ken Hamilton, SVD.  Fr. Ken will also preach at our Masses this weekend and he was the guest preacher for our faith revival last year.  We know what quality preaching we will receive.  Please make time for this very important part of the Lenten conversion aspect of our spirituality.  Also invite your friends; they will thank you for this.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 14, 2018.  Our parish will host a parish carnival as our major fundraising event of the year.  Tickets are $50 for the dinner/dance and $10 for the raffle tickets.  These tickets are presently on sale after the Masses on the weekends leading up to the Carnival.  Last year everyone who came enjoyed themselves in eating, dancing, socializing.  We have the same catering company this year, so the eating will definitely be great.  We will have the same DJ, so the music will be tremendous as will the dancing.  Of course, the socializing will be the best because it is US.

We offer our prayers and support to the Boykin and Syphax-White families, Betty, a long time member of Sacred Heart has passed. Betty's services were held Saturday, February 17, 2018. Eternal rest grant her O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and all the souls of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.

As part of our remembrance of Black History, Fr. Jay Matthews, rector of the Catholic cathedral of Christ the Light, we be the guest preacher for this weekend.  At the 10 AM Mass we will have special music and food and drink.  Also look at the new display we have on our Black History bulletin board.  Celebrating Black History is a way of living out our mission statement of celebrating our cultural diversity.

Tax Day, April 15th will be here before you know it. If you would like a statement of your 2017 contributions to Sacred Heart Parish, please contact Tamara in the Parish Office (655-9209) during office hours, (Tuesday & Thursday 9:00 am—4:00 pm and Friday 10:00 am—2:00 pm).

The Holy Father invites the whole Church to observe the Friday of the first week of Lent, 23rd of February, as a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the many areas of conflict throughout the world, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. Initiatives may include: The Way of the Cross (adapted for Peace in Congo and South Sudan), Eucharistic Adoration and Prayer Service.

If you or you know of anyone in the parish who is sick and homebound who would like to receive communion at their home or is sick and is in need of prayers, please contact Tamara Murray at the parish office (510) 655-9209. Request for prayers will be listed in the bulletin for one month and extended upon request.

We offer our prayers and support to the Esperanza family, Josefina, the mother of Rodney Esperanza has passed. The family is currently planning her services. Eternal rest grant her O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and all the souls of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.

This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent.  The celebration of the Eucharist with the distribution of ashes will be at 8 AM and 7 PM.  Lent is a season of repentance.  We struggle with the question of how God is calling us to change and become a better person.  It is in changing that we will experience the new life of Easter.  We will also begin our Friday Stations of the Cross devotion at 7 PM on Friday Feb. 16th.  All are welcome to join us.

This weekend is pledge weekend.  Last weekend we learned of all the good work and ministry that the diocese of Oakland does in our name.  This is the weekend where we put our money where our mouth is.  Our goal this year is $9100.00.  I ask that we include our pledge to the Bishop's Appeal as part of any sacrifice we are planning to do for Lent.  In that way the benefit of sacrificing will go beyond us and help those in need.  Extra envelopes for the appeal will be available in case you did not receive one in the mail.  May God bless our generosity!

We continue our celebration of African American history month with changing the display in the vestibule of the church.  Last week we featured Black women.  This week we feature Black Catholics.  Please stop by and read about the women and men of our Black Catholic heritage.  As a reminder, on the last weekend of this month, Feb. 24-25, we will have a special guest preacher, Fr. Jay Matthews, rector of the Catholic cathedral of Christ the Light.  In this way we celebrate one of the many cultures that are part of Sacred Heart parish.

Recently our parish received a $3000 grant from the Domincan Sisters to reach out and help the homeless.  Our first effort will be around Easter time.  If you are interested, next week we will have a sign-up sheet for those willing to help.  Please prayerfully reflect on whether or not God is calling you to help.  This would be a very good way to make a Lenten sacrifice of our time and help the homeless at the same time.