Text Box: Since December 2004 I try to explain the importance of the priestly pastoral visit and Blessings of your homes during Christmas season; but without much success. Only very few people invited me to visit their families. This year only 1 (one) person. For me this is a sign, that you don’t need God’s Blessings for yourself and your families. I decided to discontinue this. It is wasting of place in the Parish Bulletin. ST. MARGARET MARY ALTAR BOY & ACOLYTE PILGRIMAGE TO ROME IN 2013: ALL Altar boys & Acolytes from our parish are invited to travel on a Spiritual Journey to the Eternal City, led by Rev. Stan Zak. Sacrifice & preparations are required for an ideal pilgrimage experience. Come, be a part of this exciting destination. Say "YES" to the Invitation! For more information, contact Valerie & John Burkart valzb@sbcglobal.net or Lily & Dan Mullen lily.mullen@gmail.com ALTAR BOY NEWSLETTER is now on our parish website – visit: www.stmargmaryoak.org BLESSING OF ENGAGED COUPLES On Tuesday, February 14 this year, we will celebrate St. Valentine’s Day. On Sunday February 12, during 10.30am Holy Mass there will be a special Engagement Blessing for those couples who plan to be married. Please call Father Stanislaw Zak if you would like to receive this blessing and special diploma for that occasion: 510-482-0596, ext. 202. WORLD MARRIAGE DAY In 1983 "World Marriage Day" was established and designated to be celebrated each year on the second Sunday in February, this year Feb. 12. World Marriage Day honors husbands and wives as heads of the family, the basic unit of society. It salutes the beauty of their faithfulness, sacrifice and joy in daily married life. In 1993 his Holiness, Pope John Paul II, imparted his Apostolic Blessings on World Marriage Day. Our World Marriage Day speaks readily of the role and values we proclaim: Husband and wife are symbolically seen as two candle-like figures, reminding us that married love calls us to help enlighten the world. The couple is joined by a heart, focusing on love as the power that fosters unity within the couple, and generates the capacity to be life-giving and to inspire others to fruitfulness and unity. Our Theme for WMD has been permanently adopted as "Love One Another." This phrase is the commandment given us by Jesus in John 14. It speaks to us in a simple but challenging way of how our Father wishes us to live. Loving one another is a daily decision - simple, but challenging. On Sat. Feb. 11, at 5:00pm and Sun. Feb. 12, at 8:30am & 10:30am in our parish, there will be the renewal of marital vows. Prayer: "Father, as we prepare for WMD, we thank you for your tremendous gift of the Sacrament of Marriage. Help us to witness to its glory by a life of growing intimacy. Teach us the beauty of forgiveness so that we may become more and more One in Heart, Mind and Body. Strengthen our communication and help us become living signs of your love. Make us grow more in love with the church so we may renew the Body of Christ. Make us a sign of unity in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Brother. Amen." During this Day, let us pray to Almighty God for better communication between husbands and wives, between parents and children, between brothers and sisters, relatives, friends and especially Text Box: between nations. May we be instruments of His peace and may we bring peace to a world waiting to know and love our Father. CCD CLASS CALENDAR: February 12th – NO CCD CLASSES 27th –Confirmation Class – Saint name March 4th – First Communion children receive Blessed Crucifix during the 10:30 Holy Mass. 11th – Parish Lenten Retreat – All Classes Participation Mandatory April 8th – NO CCD CLASSES 15th - NO CCD CLASSES 22nd – CCD Classes Resume WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE In 1997, Pope John Paul instituted World Day for Consecrated Life on February 2, or nearest Sunday after it (this year February 5th). All Christians are "consecrated" to the Lord through the Sacrament of Baptism, so what does this mean, "consecrated life"? The term "consecrated life" became a popular term for religious life during the pontificate of the late Pope John Paul II, when he wrote a treatise called Vita Consecrata (consecrated life in Latin) in the early 1990s. But, since the very beginning centuries of the Church, particularly in the Christian East, there has been a continual movement of certain men and women who discerned they were called by the Lord to a different sense of "vocation" than their peers. Originally, they went into the desert to "escape the world". This meant that they wanted to consecrate their entire lives to the Lord through prayer, silence, mortifications, penances and work. Many did so for the purpose of leading a penitential life. Perhaps they had committed grievous sins and determined that their only hope for salvation in the Lord was to avoid all possible contact with their former lives and begin an entirely new life away from the world. Others simply wanted to live for the Lord Jesus alone in prayer and with work. Still, many other men and women, rather than stay in monasteries, they discerned their vocation to serve among the poor, to educate, to assist the sick and the dying, to preach, to go among non-believers as missionaries or to preach among the baptized, calling them to deeper relationship with the Lord and to conversion. On this Sunday, Feb. 5, we will pray for all religious and for new vocations to religious life. LENTEN PARISH RETREAT: March 10 - 14 In our Community we will have a Parish Retreat as part of spiritual preparations before Easter. Conferences will be preached after the 8.00AM and the 6.00pm Masses, and Sunday at all Holy Masses. Please reserve that time for your spiritual wellness. We will mail the program to all our registered parishioners in February. FEBRUARY 11th – OUR LADY OF LOURDES