February 8, 2024

Valentine's Day Fair Trade Chocolate Sale 

The weekend before Valentine's Day, February 10-11, Immaculate Conception's Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) will be teaming up again with Bull City Fair Trade for our JPIC Valentine's Day Fair Trade Chocolate Sale in the gathering space after all our masses. Our Hispanic Young Adults Ministry (PJH El Sembrador) will be helping our JPIC lead this event for our parish community!  

Please show your commitment to Catholic Social Teaching and support of “Fair Trade” by purchasing delicious chocolate for yourself, friends, and loved ones! To learn more about Fair Trade, please visit our JPIC Valentine’s Day Fair Trade Chocolate Sale web page. We look forward to seeing you! 

World Day of the Sick

February 11, 2024

February 11 is World Day of the Sick, an observation introduced by Pope John Paul II as a way for believers to offer prayers for those suffering from illnesses.

Ash Wednesday Schedule

February 14, 2024

6:15 AM - English Mass

8:15 AM - School Mass

Noon - English Mass

5:30 PM - Bilingual Mass

7:30 PM - Spanish Mass

Norms For Fasting and Abstinence

Ash Wednesday, February 14, 2024, and Good Friday, March 29, 2024, are days of fasting and abstinence. Fridays of Lent are also days of abstinence. Fasting is to be observed by all 18 years of age and older, who have not yet celebrated their 59th birthday. On a fast day, one full meal is allowed. Two other meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to each one’s needs, but together they should not equal another full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids, including milk and juices, are allowed.

Abstinence is observed by all 14 years of age and older. On days of abstinence, no meat is allowed. Note that when health or ability to work would be seriously affected, Church law does not oblige. When in doubt concerning fasting and abstinence, consult with one of the friars.

Fasting, almsgiving, and prayer are the three traditional disciplines of Lent. The faithful and Catechumens should undertake these practices seriously in a spirit of

penance and of preparation for Initiation into the Church or the renewal of Baptismal Promises at Easter.

Way of the Cross

This Lent the parish will pray the Way of the Cross on:

• Thursdays at 6:30 PM in Spanish.
• Fridays at Noon in English.

Starting next Thursday, February 15.

If you are interested in reading or volunteering, please contact Katushka Olave.

St. Oscar Romero Lenten Book Study

Immaculate Conception’s Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Promoting Human Dignity (PHD) team is pleased to sponsor this year’s Lenten Book Study. We will be reading “The Violence of Love,” a compilation of writings and homilies by Saint Oscar Romero. Three short years transformed the martyred Archbishop of San Salvador from a conservative defender of the status quo into one of the church’s most outspoken voices of the oppressed. 

Our JPIC PHD team will once again be offering both “In-Person” and “Online (Zoom)” options. We hope you will join us. 

• Spanish: In-Person, Saturday Mornings, 10 am -12 pm, Immaculata School Youth Ministry Room 2222 (First session: 02/17) 
• English: In-Person, Thursday Mornings, 10-11:30 am, Adult Faith Formation Room, Parish Office (First session: 02/22) 
• Spanish: Online (Zoom), Monday Evenings, 8-9:30 pm (First session: 02/19) 
• English: Online (Zoom), Tuesday Evenings, 7-8:30 pm (First session: 02/20) 

For more information and to register for any of these sessions, please visit our JPIC PHD Book Study web page. For more information about our JPIC celebration of St. Oscar Romero throughout Lent, including a screening of the film, Romero, in English and Spanish on Friday, 02/16, 6:30-9 pm.

Greener Lent

If you are looking for a meaningful, impactful focus this Lent please consider joining IC parishioners as we participate once again in the diocesan program Greener Lent. It’s easy to sign up at greenerlent.org! Once you join the IC Durham team, you will receive weekly updates on the real-world impacts our parish efforts have as we prepare our hearts to celebrate Easter. Greener Lent asks that we pledge each week to minimize our consumption of meat (there are different abstinence levels so you can participate as much or as little as you feel able). There are also resources for prayer and almsgiving opportunities that relate directly to creation care and support for those who suffer most from climate degradation. You can sign up anytime from now throughout Lent.

Bishop's Annual Appeal

Next week we will have the opportunity to participate in the 2024 Bishop’s Annual Appeal which funds many ministries that allow us to serve our communities, not just our parish community, but our larger Catholic family. We are celebrating 100 years of our Diocese: Learning from our History and Shaping our Future. 

Migrant Worker Hygiene Kits

Throughout Lent, Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) will be organizing our parish-wide collection of hygiene items for farmworkers in our community. Every spring an estimated 150,000 farmworkers pour into North Carolina to harvest cucumbers, tobacco, apples, sweet potatoes, green peppers, and Christmas trees. At the height of the growing season, farm workers often work 12-14 hours a day in the hot sun with few breaks, and the average farmworker earns less than $11,000 a year. Would you be able to feed and support your family for that?   

Starting on February 17, you can pick up a plastic bag and a list of items needed for each kit in the gathering space. Please return completed bags to the collection bins in the church gathering space no later than March 17, 2024. For more information, please visit our JPIC Migrant Worker Hygiene Kits web page. 

Meals for the Hungry: February 17

Please drop off food at Immaculate Conception Kitchen between 4:15 and 5 PM.

Please consider helping in this month's Meals for the Hungry on 

Saturday, February 17. Thank you for your generosity in feeding those in need. We ask that food donations be delivered in disposable (i.e., aluminum) pans and that each donation be enough to feed 15 people. Donations can be dropped off at the Immaculata kitchen (attached to the school). Food will be kept warm and cold as necessary until transport to Urban Ministries on Liberty Street, where meals will be served in person.

New Youth Small Group

Assistant to the Youth Director, Nicky Gutierrez, will be leading a High School small group starting on March 2^nd before Saturday night vigil Mass at 4:30 PM in the Youth Room. The group will meet from 4:30-5:15 pm. This small group is open to any high school-age youth. This small group will focus on building community and learning the Divine Office or the Liturgy of the Hours which are the prayers of the Church. The youth will participate in Vespers or evening prayer, and then we will have a reflection on the reading. This will be an English-speaking small group. This group will only have ten open slots, so please sign up.

Scuba Vacation Bible School

Take kids deep into an amazing undersea adventure where they’ll experience the ever-flowing, never-ending love of God. Kids will be immersed in the Word and discover what living water is all about! We are now accepting registrations for children from pre-k through 5^th grade. We also welcome adults and teen volunteers who would like to help. The camp will be held in Fellowship Hall from June 17 - 21^st from 9:00 AM - Noon. The price per participant is $50. We hope you can join us! You may sign up below:

Recovering Our Soul Connections: 

A Retreat for Women Who Have Been Sexually Abused

June 20-24, 2024 

Well of Mercy in Hamptonville, NC 

The retreat, which includes an exploration of Sacred Scripture, music, movement, expressive arts, mutual support, and liturgy, will begin at 6 PM on Thursday and end at Noon on Sunday. Over a period of two months before the retreat, you will meet with a spiritual director to build a supportive relationship.

Subsidies from the Diocese of Raleigh, the Catholic Community of Saint Thomas More in Chapel Hill, and the North Carolina Courts of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas make this retreat possible.

For more information, or to request an application, please email or visit Recovering Our Soul Connections on Facebook.

Applications will be accepted until the retreat is full. The cost to retreatants is $200.

Eucharistic Minister to the Sick

If you or someone in your family is ill and cannot attend Mass, we have volunteers who would be happy to bring Communion to you at your house. If you go into the hospital, they are willing to bring you Communion there too. Remember unless you let us know, we do not know you are ill. We want to be able to pray with you and bring you the Eucharist. Please contact Margie.

Stewardship Pledges

Thank you to all of you who completed a Stewardship Pledge for this year. Please remember if you are changing your donation there is one more step to take. If you use envelopes or give online you can adjust yourself. If you want to change your bank auto draft, please email Margie so she can forward it to our accountant so the change can be made. Any questions, please contact Margie. Thank you for your financial support of our parish.

What is happening with the newly acquired Buchanan Blvd property?

On August 9th, 2023 Immaculate Conception completed its acquisition of 2 adjacent parcels on Buchanan Blvd. Immaculate Conception had tried for more than 20 years to purchase these. The property includes 2 duplexes. All tenants have successfully transitioned to new homes. We would like to preserve the housing by moving the duplexes to a new location. One duplex is expected to be moved in late February - early March.   

The former owner is willing to cover the cost of moving the second duplex to a new location. A local nonprofit Durham Homeless Care Transitions (which provides short-term housing for homeless persons who are discharged from the hospital and need medical care and support services during their recuperation) is interested in the duplex. Durham Homeless Care Transitions lacks the land and expertise to have a foundation built for the duplex. If you would like to help this nonprofit, please contact Julia Gamble (919-463-8366). Any parishioner interested in accepting the duplex on their property for their use should contact Jenny Lischer-Froehlich.     

We are still discerning the ultimate use of this adjacent property, but a generation of efforts in this endeavor has produced new relationships, a new appreciation for the lack of affordable housing, and this increase in our campus footprint. May we be led by the Holy Spirit throughout this process and in all that we do.

Lenten Materials

We will have Lenten Materials available in the gathering space. We will have:

• Little Black Book ($3)
• Lenten Devotional ($3)
• Children Purple Book ($1)
• children’s activities (free)
• JPIC Eco-Lent calendars for adults and children (free)

We hope these resources will be helpful for you this Lent.

Second Collection: Maintenance Fund

This weekend's Second Collection will go towards the Maintenance Fund, thank you for your generosity!