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for our STELLA MARIS

Family of Parishes

including:

St. Thomas More, St. Bernadette,

St. Mary & St. Peter


February 18


START SOMEWHERE CHALLENGE


GET BACK INTO SPIRITUAL SHAPE



The Start Somewhere Challenge at Stella Maris invites all Catholics

to attend at least one Eucharistic event

(Mass, quiet prayer in a church, a talk, a concert)

between February and July 2024.


There’s plenty to choose from because we’re

launching our own Eucharistic Revival.


Click the link below to watch Brad Bursa explain this challenge:


START SOMEWHERE CHALLENGE


Click the link below to learn more about the

Stella Maris Eucharistic Revival opportunities:


STELLA MARIS EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL 2024



FR. MIKE SCHMITZ

OUR LENTEN GUIDE


Have you ever wondered things like...


What's the significance of Ash Wednesday? 

Where is Lent in the Bible?

What should I give up for Lent?

What is the point of Lent anyway?



To help you experience these 40 days of Lent,

check out this ultimate guide from Fr. Mike Schmitz

to answer your questions and encourage you along the way. 


Click the link below to see Fr. Schmitz's guide:


ULTIMATE GUIDE TO LENT WITH FR. SCHMITZ

40 Unique Penances for Lent


Many Catholics traditionally do something like

give up a favorite food,

watch less TV, etc. for Lent.


These are good ideas, but there are other ways

to increase your prayer, fasting and almsgiving.


Click the link below to check out

40 unique ideas to choose this Lent:


40 UNIQUE PENANCES



A JOURNEY WITH

CHRIST INTO

CONVERSION


In the Gospel of Mark, the first words of Jesus are an invitation

to metanoia, to repent, to change, to be converted.


Join Fr. Dave as well as personal testimonies from

men and women as they tell their stories

that will inspire you to seek to encounter Jesus

and the new life he is constantly inviting us to.


This 10-episode series titled Metanoia and filmed

on location in the Holy Land explores topics

such as who is Jesus,

what must we do to inherit eternal life,

and many other significant matters of faith.


Click the link below to get started:


METANOIA



A NEW CATHOLIC APP


The world is noisy—

take refuge on the new app called Vineyard!


Social media, fake news, AI, data privacy… In an ocean of over-stimulation, Vineyard offers a secluded alternative.


Part meditative, part social, Vineyard is a

sanctuary for virtuous content,

conversation, and contemplation, centered on balance.


Click the link below to check it out:



VINEYARD


NOVENA PRAYERS


SPECIAL 30 DAY NOVENA TO ST. JOSEPH



STARTS: FEBRUARY 19

ENDS: MARCH 19


This special novena to St. Joseph is prayed

for thirty days and can be prayed anytime of the year,

for any special intention.


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Ever blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans, the defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. Look kindly on my request. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and so I am surrounded with unhappiness. To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth, do I go for help and protection.


Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favors I ask.


I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to take our nature and to be born into this world of sorrow.


I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the holy Virgin, nor a house where the Son of God could be born. Then, being everywhere refused, you had to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to the world’s Redeemer in a cave.


I ask it by the loveliness and power of that sacred Name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable infant.


I ask it by that painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the Child Jesus and His holy Mother future victims of our sins and of their great love for us.


I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From their evil plan you had to flee with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt. I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.


I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child and His Immaculate Mother during your second journey, when you were ordered to return to your own country. I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys and sorrows.


I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you and His Mother for three days. I ask it by your joy at finding Him in the Temple, and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the company of the Child Jesus. I ask it by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.



I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you showed in accepting the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and hell, entered into the possession of His kingdom and led you into it with special honors.


I ask it through Mary’s glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you have with her in the presence of God.


O good Father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I ask.


(mention request here…)


Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Finally, my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.


Amen.

SPECIAL PRAYERS

2024 YEAR OF PRAYER


The Vatican presented initiatives to

"rediscover the value of prayer"

during the 2024 Year of Prayer

in preparation of the Jubilee 2025.


Pope Francis officially launched the Year of Prayer

during the Sunday Angelus on January 21, 2024


This year is “a time to discover how to pray,

and above all how to educate the people of

today in prayer, in this age of digital culture.”


Click the link below to read more bout this Year of Prayer Initiative:


2024 YEAR OF PRAYER


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The prayer for this week during this Year of Prayer

is a moving prayer known as “Learning Christ”

by St. John Henry Newman.

It is a poignant plea to live a

deeply authentic, faith-centered life in God:


Teach me, my Lord, to be sweet and gentle in all the events of life: in disappointments, in the thoughtlessness of others, in the insincerity of those I trusted, in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.
Let me put myself aside, to think of the happiness of others, to hide my little pains and heartaches, so that I may be the only one to suffer them.
Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path. Let me so use it that it may mellow me, not harden nor embitter me; that it may make me patient, not irritable, that it may make me broad in my forgiveness, not narrow, haughty and overbearing.
May no one be less good for having come within my influence. No one less pure, less noble for having been a fellow-traveller in our journey toward eternal life.
As I go my rounds from one distraction to another, let me whisper, from time to time, a word of love to You.
May our life be lived in the supernatural, full of power for good, and strong in its purpose of sanctity.
Amen.





For Peace in the Middle East



Click the link below for several prayers for Israel

and also a list of the names of the hostages!!


PRAYERS FOR ISRAEL AND HOSTAGES NAMES




NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL

NEW WEEKLY INFO

Lenten Eucharistic Prayer Companions are ready!


These beautiful prayer guides will help you

keep prayer at the center of your Lenten practices

this year by guiding you in connecting

an hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament with the Mass


Click below to download the Prayer Companion:


LENTEN EUCHARISTIC PRAYER COMPANION

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NEW Revival Special on EWTN In-Depth



Hear from key Revival voices

including Bishop Andrew Cozzens, Archbishop Charles Thompson,

Will Peterson of Modern Catholic Pilgrim

and Sr. Josephine Garrett, CSFN

and learn how the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage

and Congress will play a pivotal role in animating the vision of the Revival.


Click the link below for this EWTN Special:


EWTN SPECIAL


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DETAILS AVAILABLE

 

A daily schedule for the National

Eucharistic Congress is live on our website.

You can now explore what this incredible

experience will look like day by day.

 

Preview the options for impact sessions in the morning

that speak to your particular vocation and mission.


Then, get excited for the dynamic revival sessions,

when the whole assembly will gather in Lucas Oil Stadium

to experience the power and love of Jesus.


These sessions—and the soon-to-be-announced

afternoon breakout sessions—

will be led by the expansive list of faithful speakers

who will join us in Indianapolis this summer.

 

Scroll through the updated schedule to

see many powerful opportunities for

encounters with Christ through prayer and the sacraments.



Click the link below for EVENT schedules:


EVENT SCHEDULES


Click the link below for IMPACT Sessions:


IMPACT SESSIONS


Click the link below for the SPEAKERS list:


SPEAKERS LIST




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If you see a link on your device's screen that says,

"View entire message”,

please click that link to continue seeing the entire newsletter.


REGISTRATION INFO FOR THE CONGRESS


WILL YOU BE THERE, TOO?


You can join us!

July, 2024

for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress.


Directly experience the fruits of your intercession and

see its impact around the country.

Click the link below to REGISTER:

REGISTRATION FOR 10TH

NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONFERENCE




QUIZ! FOR THE WEEK


HAS SOMEONE EVER

ASKED YOU:

ARE YOU SAVED ?

Scroll down to find the answer!


HUMOR


HIGHLIGHT





A SHORT HISTORY OF MEDICINE


"Doctor, I have an ear ache."


2000 BC - "Here, eat this root."


1000 BC - "That root is heathen, say this prayer."


1850 AD - "That prayer is superstition, drink this potion."


1940 AD - "That potion is snake oil, swallow this pill."


1985 AD - "That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic."


2000 AD - "That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root!"


GOSPEL READING REFLECTION

For February 18, 2024


1st SUNDAY IN LENT

Mk 1:12-15


SIN AND ITS REMEDY



  • Our Lord ended his ordinary, hidden life and inaugurated his public life with his baptism by John at the Jordan. Then he endured forty days of penance as immediate preparation. Then he began his public ministry in Galilee.


  • We imitate Christ’s forty days in the desert with our forty days of Lenten discipline each year.


  • Christ completely fasted for forty days—the limit of human endurance—so his discipline was much more severe than anything we undertake.


  • Yet, unlike Christ, who was only tempted from without, we are also tempted from within, because we have concupiscence. Christ was physically hungry for food but when we give up anything our entire being seems to go into rebellion.
  • Christ’s reply to Satan—in our verse before the Gospel—when Our Lord was tempted by Satan to turn stones into bread—is useful to us when our mind, will, and senses demand we abandon our suddenly, now-seemingly senseless self-deprivation: “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”





SCOTT HAHN'S

MASS READINGS REFLECTION


Click the link below to hear Scott Hahn reflect on

the 1ST SUNDAY OF LENT:


" THE NEW CREATION"


REFLECTION ON THE FIRST SUNDAY

OF LENT BY DR. HAHN




ANSWER TO QUIZ


HAS SOMEONE EVER

ASKED YOU:

ARE YOU SAVED ?



It is true that the first step to our salvation is accepting

Jesus as our Lord and Savior through the sacrament of baptism,

but our road to salvation does not end there.


Salvation doesn’t take place in a single moment.

Getting to Heaven is a process that

we must cooperate with every day. 


Jesus Himself said that “he who endures to the end will be saved”

(Matthew 24:13).



Salvation requires perseverance in faith.

We need to receive God’s grace and repent of our sins continually

in order to lead holier lives and prepare our hearts for Heaven.


So when someone asks, “Are you saved?” you can respond,


“I have been saved,

I am being saved,

and I hope to be saved.”


That’s the true answer!


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Faith Formation Activities & Events for every Month & Season


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BOOK

RECOMMENDATION

 

We need to be armed for battle!



At all times, and especially during these crazy times in this vale of tears,

we need to lay our foundation in Christ Jesus.

Spiritual reading helps us build and strengthen that foundation.

Order through your favorite book dealer.

This week's recommendation is:

 

Why We're Catholic:

Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, and Love



BY

Trent Horn



Why do we believe that God exists,

that he became a man and came to save us,

that what looks like a wafer of bread is actually his body?


Why do we believe that he inspired a holy book and

founded an infallible Church to teach us the one true way to live?


Ever since he became Catholic, Trent Horn has spent

a lot of time answering these questions,

trying to explain to friends, family, and

total strangers the reasons for his Catholic faith.


Some didn't believe in God, or even in the existence of truth.


Others said they were spiritual but didn't think

 you needed religion to be happy.


Some were Christians who thought Catholic doctrines

over-complicated the pure gospel.


And some were fellow Catholics who had a hard time

understanding everything they professed to believe on Sunday.


Why We re Catholic assembles the clearest, friendliest,

most helpful answers that Trent learned

to give to all these people and more.


We pray you will be excited to embark on purposeful

spiritual reading as a way to build a more prayer-filled,

Christ centered life.