Dear Holy Spirit,

Every now and then, the beginning of Lent, Ash Wednesday, falls on Valentine’s Day. Some people say, how do you make sense of Lent and Valentine’s Day on the same day? Come to think of it, isn’t Valentine’s Day all about celebrating loving relationships? In other parts of the world, Valentines is a day to express love for family members and friends. But no matter how it is celebrated, it is all about love.

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2024 ADA – Supporting our Mission Together

Last weekend, we kicked off the 2024 Annual Diocesan Appeal. We are happy to report that during the first week of the campaign, 90 families made gifts or pledges totaling over $67,000.

What a great start! 

Pledge forms and brochures can be found in the pews and entrances of the church. You can also click here for more information and to donate today or use the QR code added here for your convenience. Thank you for continuing to support our parish and our diocese faith community in so many ways.

Rule on Fasting and Abstinence

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence.

For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Roman Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.

If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the "paschal fast" to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.

Please check the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for more information.

Lenten Speaker Series

The Lenten Speaker Series and Soup Suppers will take place on the Thursdays Feb 22-March 21.

We have invited some wonderful presenters to help make this a prayerful Lenten Journey together.

To RSVP, please click here.

To learn more about the speakers and their topics, please click here.

CRS Rice Bowls

The pillars of Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. This Lent, Holy Spirit is participating in the Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl program, an opportunity for us to give alms that will change the lives of people around the world. You can pick up your Rice Bowl at the doors. Create the bowl and give as generously as you can.

“Every gift you give helps a child thrive, brings hope to a family and rebuilds a community.” (CRS)

Thank you.

Transforming our Worship Space

“Simply beautiful!” This was a phrase heard repeatedly describing our church these past Advent and Christmas seasons.

The Art and Environment committee members are responsible for depicting each liturgical season. It takes prayer, reflection, and imagination to enhance the liturgical space. The committee is guided by the principles set in the document on Environment and Art in Catholic Worship. The tradition of decorating or not decorating the church for liturgical seasons and feasts heightens the awareness of the festive, solemn, or penitential nature of these seasons. “Human minds and hearts are stimulated by the sounds, sights, and fragrances of liturgical seasons, which combine to create powerful, lasting impressions of the rich and abundant graces unique to each of the seasons.” (Built on Living Stones #123)

As we prepare for Easter, the greatest of all liturgical celebrations, and to maintain the high quality of our liturgical space, we need your help. We are inviting you to join our committee. Join us in this prayerful, reflective, and fun ministry. Additionally, the committee encourages all parishioners to use the Easter flower donation envelope found in your monthly envelope packet. This will ensure that funds are available to purchase beautiful fresh flowers, fabrics and other things needed to enhance our liturgical space and celebrations.

If you have questions or if you are interested in joining the Art and Environment Committee, please reach out Gloria Cutshall at gloria.cutshall@yahoo.com.

Thank you very much beforehand for your consideration,

The Art & Environment Committee

Hope & Healing - Grief Group

If you have experienced the loss of a loved one, then please join us Feb. 8th for a new Hope & Healing Grief Consolation Group. It is a cross-parish 6-week series on bereavement care to foster healing through scripture, contemplative prayer, and small group faith sharing.

It will be held on Thursday evenings, from Feb. 8 – Mar. 14, from 7:00-8:30pm. To register, please contact Merry Reardon, Pastoral Care Director, at: merry.reardon@dsj.org, or 408-997-5112.

Nicaragua Mission Trip 2024

JUNTOS for More Than Ten Years

Check out this video from Holy Spirit’s Nicaragua mission trip in 2014! TEN YEARS! You may notice there are two people in the video who have not aged, Row David and John Bland. We can’t promise the fountain of youth, but the impact of this trip on the people of Nicaragua and the people of Holy Spirit Parish cannot be adequately expressed. As countless returning missionaries have shared, you can’t explain it, you just have to feel it. The last two years, our missionaries have worked on bringing water to communities in Nicaragua. Here’s one more video from two years ago about the Amigos for Christ water projects.

Did you miss last week’s information meeting but still want to join us? Awesome!

Visit the Mission Trip Webpage to learn more or email hs.amigos@yahoo.com.

Ready to sign up? Fantastic!

Online Registration for the 2024 Holy Spirit Mission trip to Nicaragua is now open HERE! 

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3sixty High School Ministry

Last Sunday, we had a fun community building night. Despite the crazy weather we had, we still had a great showing of youth. Due to mission trips and other events, our next 3sixty will not be until Sunday, March 3rd. Enjoy the little break!

Egg Roll Fundraiser

Thank you to all those who purchased egg rolls. As a reminder, the orders will be ready for pick-up on Sunday, February 11th from 8:30am-1:30pm. Pick-up location is outside in the back entrance of the Parish Hall. Thank you for your support!

Diocesan Youth Retreat (DYR) – Save the Date!

This summer’s DYR is set for June 10-14, 2024! This retreat is for graduated 8th graders through graduated seniors in high school. Stay tuned for more information and registration.

Mass of St. Timothy & Mass for the Healing of the World

Beginning Ash Wednesday, our mass parts switch to a combination of two musical settings. The Penitential Rite will be the “Lord Have Mercy” from Mass of St. Timothy by Matt Maher. The Lenten Gospel Acclamation, Holy, Save Us Savior of the World, Great Amen, and Lamb of God come from Mass for the Healing of the World by Trevor Thomson. These are the same mass parts we used last year during the Lenten season as all the music selections incorporate call and response, which encourages active participation, naturally. You can listen to these song selections by clicking here.

HS Music Playlist

Holy Spirit's Music Ministry has been searching for ways to streamline access to the music we provide at every liturgical celebration. For about a year now, we have been adding music onto a YouTube playlist and sharing it every week to help music ministers prepare and listen leading up to our liturgies. Now, we’re extending that access to you! The playlist is updated every week with the first 6 songs at the top of the playlist showing the music we prepare at our liturgical celebrations. Since this project started, the playlist is now approaching 200 videos! So, if you’re in need of another music outlet while at work or for personal leisure, the HS Music playlist is now an option so you can listen to the songs that fill up our worship space every week!

You can access this playlist by clicking here.

Domestic Church

The next session is Tuesday, February 13th.

Faith Formation



There is no Faith formation on Sunday/Monday February 18/19 due to Presidents’ Day Holiday.