Cathedral 1218 East Jefferson, Brownsville, Texas, 78520 956-546-3178

Most Reverend Daniel E. Flores Bishop of Brownsville

Most Rev. Mario Avilés Auxiliary Bishop

OBLATES OF MARY IMMACULATE Rev. Fr. Lawrence Mariasoosai, O.M.I. Rector Rev. Jose Torres, O.M.I Rev. Edgar Garcia, O.M.I Deacon Roberto Cano Deacon Luis Zuñiga

Sacred Heart WEEKEND MASSES: WEEKDAY MASSES: Saturday 12:00 noon in Spanish Monday - Wednesday 12:00 noon in Saturday Vigil 6:30 PM (en Español) English Sunday 8:00 AM, 12:30 PM, 7:00 PM Thursday - Friday Noon in Spanish (en Español) 11:00 AM (Bilingual) (televised)

CONFESSIONS:

Mon-Fri 11:00 AM, Saturday 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM

St. Thomas SAINT THOMAS SACRED HEART Sunday Mass: 9 :00 AM (Español) Sunday Mass: 11:30 AM (English) Miercoles: 6:30 PM Confesiones Sunday: 6:00 PM () 7:00 PM Misa Primer Viernes7:00 PM Misa

Cathedral Office Faith Formation Nora Vega, Secretary Mirta Hernandez, DRE 956-546-3178 956-546-3178 ext 107 Office Hours: Mon-Fri 8 am to 1 pm/2 pm to 5 pm Sundays (Oct-May)

Cathedral Gift Shop Cathedral Gift Phone: 546-9927 Forget the checkbook and make Shop tithing simple for you and your Open Mon- Sat 10:30 to 4:00 pm family. Immaculateconceptioncathedral.org MASSES FOR THE WEEK Third Sunday in Ordinary Time January 24, 2021 SUNDAY January 24 8:00am † Eduardo Martinez-Maricela Lozano The kingdom of God is at hand. 9:00 am (ST) † Evangelina Torres 11:00am † Twila Young Repent, and believe in the gospel.— 11:30am (SH) Pro-Populo Mark 1:15 12:30pm † Ramon and Herlinda Araguz 7:00pm † Leticia Saenz Sheldon

MONDAY January 25 12:00pm † Carlos De Leon-Fam TUESDAY January 26 12:00 pm † Ramona Garcia-Fam WEDNESDAY January 27 12:00 pm † Lorenzo Peñafiel-Rosario Ramirez THURSDAY January 28 12:00 pm Por la salud de Raquel Martinez y Familia Martinez FRIDAY January 29 12:00 pm Happy Birthday Ma. Trinidad Leal de Rico

SATURDAY January 30 12:00 pm † Margarita Molina 5:00 pm Wedd: Harol C. Averill/Megan Mathers 6:30 pm † Abelardo Garcia-Fam

WE WILL ALSO REMEMBER THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE AT MASS TAMBIEN RECORDAREMOS EN MISA A LAS SIGUIEN- TES PERSONAS †Maria Martinez†Roman Martinez†Edurado Rocha†Diana Flores†Cosby Contreras†Marcos Padilla Jr.†Pablo Gonza- lez Jr. †Ruben Gerardo Hernandez†Aurora Mckee†Joe Galvam†Lionel T. Garza†Ninfa Zamora Garcia†Ana Bailey†Andres Rosas†Demetrio Zepeda=Everardo Rodriguez†Carlos and Carmen Ortiz†Daniel Gerardo Alaniz†Horacio Treviño Ala- niz†Alfonso Gonzalez†Victoria Garcia De Gallegos†Juan Tadeo Martinez†Raquel Martinez†Ma. Del Rosario Gueva- ra †Enrique Loya †Felicidad Ruiz

Special Intentions/Intenciones Especiales Salud de: Griselda Aguirre Nelly De Leon Raquel Martinez y Familia Juan Garza Accion de Gracias a el Santisimo Sacramento

Habra Hora Santa todos los miercoles a las 5 pm por las vocaciones sacerdotales aqui en la Catedral.

IMPOSIBLE SIN AMOR El alma no puede vivir sin amor.—San Francisco de Sales FROM THE RECTOR’S DESK

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I would like to share some more information about the Year of St. Joseph and wish that these messages help you enhance your under- standing of St. Joseph and bring you closer to the Holy Family. Therefore let us deepen our relationship with , Mary, and Joseph especially during this Year of St. Joseph.

What the Year of St. Joseph means, and how to gain the indulgencesWhat the Year of St. Joseph means, and how to gain the ! The announcement that many people have been anxious and longing to hear for several years finally came on Dec. 8 as Francis de- clared the beginning of a Year of St. Joseph.The timing was perfect, coming on the 150th anniversary of Blessed Pius IX declaring St. Joseph as Patron of the and on the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Joseph’s spouse.Along with the Pope’s announcement in his apostolic letter Patris Corde (“Heart of the Father)” came a proclamation from the Apostolic Penitentiary about spe- cial plenary indulgences that are now available for this Year of St. Joseph. More on the exact ways to obtain them in a moment. First, let’s hear what a couple of St. Joseph scholars think.

“It’s beautiful that after 2,000 years the Church celebrates a special year in honor of the humble and hidden Husband of Mary,” Father Larry Toschi, an Oblate of St. Joseph, pastor, and founder of the Holy Spouses Society in California said.

“As Oblates of St. Joseph, committed by lifelong vow to serving the interests of Jesus in imitation of St. Joseph, it brought great joy to our hearts to receive this announcement from , on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the 150th anniversary of his being proclaimed Patron of the Catholic Church. After his Holy Virginal Spouse, St. Joseph is the greatest model of sanctity and the most powerful intercessor ever. May this year bring renewal and re-flourishment to our Church and help each of us grow in holiness through imitating him.” Father Stanley Smolenski, the director of the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Joyful Hope/Our Lady of South Carolina, is also exceptionally happy about the announcement.“This third millennium has been providentially reserved for St. Joseph,” he said. “The first was Christocentric via the Councils, the second was Marian-focused on her devotions, apparitions and dogmas. That means that the third person of the Earthly Trinity, St. Joseph, would naturally follow.”“We have seen the importance of St. Joseph increasing in our times with social decay,” he added. “Isodore Isolanis, a 16th-century Dominican, prophesied that ‘The sound of victory would be heard when the faithful acknowledge the sanctity of St. Joseph.’”Father Donald Calloway, vicar provincial and vocation director for the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception and author of Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father, said, “It’s amazing. My phone is ringing off the hook. I’m getting calls from bishops’ offices around the world.”They’re telling him, “We want to do the con- secration for our ending especially on March 19, the feast day of St. Joseph.” And in a single day since the announcement he got more 300 emails about the consecration.“We’re setting in motion major things for the world. The book has a huge part in it.” Huge, too, are the plenary indulgences is offering during this Year of St. Joseph.

Plenary Indulgences for the Year of St. Joseph

All this year until Dec. 8, 2021, the from the Apostolic Penitentiary, which is in charge of indulgences, has established that the faithful “following his example can daily strengthen their life of faith in the full fulfillment of God’s will.” They will have “the opportuni- ty to commit themselves, with prayers and good works, to obtain with the help of St. Joseph, head of the heavenly Family of Nazareth, comfort and relief from the serious human and social tribulations that today afflict the contemporary world.”

Back 150 years ago when Pius IX also saw turmoil aplenty, causing him to then declare St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church.What are these indulgences the Apostolic Penitentiary is bestowing in this Year of St. Joseph per the Holy Father’s decree to “benefit the perfect achievement of the intended purpose?” We can gain a plenary under the usual conditions — sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father, “with a soul detached from any sin” if we participate in the Year of St. Joseph in several specific ways that the Apostolic Penitentiary has established for us to gain the plenary indulgence. As long as we’re in the state of grace one sacramental confession suffices for gaining several plenary indulgences, but a separate Holy Com- munion and separate prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father are required for each plenary indulgence. According to the most recent Church guidelines on the subject, “it is sufficient that these sacred rites and prayers be carried out within several days (about 20) before or after the indulgenced act.” Yet “it is, however, fitting that Communion be received and the prayer for the intention of the Holy Father be said on the same day the work is performed.” Here are the many opportunities and ways throughout this Year of St. Joseph, from now until Dec. 8, 2021, for us to gain the plenary indulgence over and over. Fulfilling the above conditions along with performing one of the particular works determined by the Penitentiary office can be done daily. One plenary indulgence per day. Remember, the only living person we can apply it to is our self. And we can apply it to any soul in purgatory. Think how many souls you get help — from relatives to unknowns by asking St. Joseph and Mary to pick out the souls for you.

Here we go:

First, because St. Joseph “invites us to rediscover the filial relationship with the Father,” renew faithfulness to prayer and listen intensely to God’s will, the plenary indulgence is granted if we meditate for at least 30 minutes on the Our Father, or be part of a “spiritual retreat of at least one day that includes a meditation on St. Joseph.”

Second, St. Joseph the just man “urges us to rediscover the value of silence, prudence and loyalty in fulfilling one’s duties.” Because St. Joseph practiced the virtue of justice in a perfectly model way “full adherence to the divine law, which is the law of . So following St. Joseph’s example, we can obtain a plena- ry indulgence carrying out a corporal or spiritual work of mercy. Third, St. Joseph’s main vocation was to be guardian of the Holy Family, husband of Mary, and legal father of Jesus. To inspire, enthuse and encourage all Christian families to live with the same “intimate communion, love and prayer” that the Holy Family lived, we can obtain a plenary indulgence for praying the Holy Rosary “in families and between engaged couples.” What a start this is for engaged couples’ upcoming marriage too. Fourth, considering the feast of St. Joseph the Worker was institut- ed on May 1, 1955, those can gain a plenary indulgence “who daily entrust their activities to the protection of St. Joseph and all the faithful who invoke with prayer” the intercession of St. Joseph the Worker (or Craftsman) “so that who is looking for work can find a job and work [for] everyone is more dignified.” Fifth, considering the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt “shows us that God is where man is in danger, where man suffers, where he escapes, where he experiences rejection and abandonment,” as Francis said, we can gain a plenary indulgence if we recite the Litany to St. Joseph (Latin tradition), or the Akathistos to St. Joseph, in whole or at least some of it (Byzantine tradition), or some other prayer to St. Joseph “proper to other liturgical tradi- tions” for the Church persecuted ad intra [interior, from inside] and ad extra [exterior, from outside] and for the relief of all Chris- tians who suffer every form of persecution.” Sixth, “to reaffirm the universality of St. Joseph’s patronage on the Church,” we can gain a plenary indulgence if we recite any legitimately approved prayer or act of piety in honor of St. Joseph — for example, “To you, O Blessed Joseph”, especially on his feast days of March 19 and May 1, on the Feast of the Holy Fami- ly of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (this year on Sunday, Dec. 27), on the Byzantine Rite’s St. Joseph’s Sunday, on the 19th of each month and on every Wednesday, the day dedicated to St. Joseph. “Wednesday is special to me,” Father Calloway said. “Just like we have the First Saturdays devotion, I think now we’re going to see an increase of attention to the First Wednesday of the month.” At the same time “we have the incentive to remember that every Wednesday” is dedicated to St. Joseph. Father Calloway reminds that under these prayers to St. Joseph, we “can also do get the indulgence by doing the Consecration to St. Joseph.” Earlier this year the Apostolic Penitentiary gave him a letter granting that anyone who does the consecration can gain a plenary indulgence.

In Light of the Health Crisis The Apostolic Penitentiary has also taken into account the world- wide situation regarding the health crisis. The office stated the “gift of the plenary indulgence is particularly extended to the el- derly, the sick, the dying and all those who for legitimate reasons are unable to leave the house, who with a soul detached from any sin and with the intention of fulfilling, as soon as possible, the three usual conditions, in their own home or where the impedi- ment holds them, they will recite an act of piety in honor of St. Joseph, trust in God the pains and discomforts of their life.” Furthermore, for people’s fulfillment of getting divine grace, the Penitentiary “earnestly prays that all priests endowed with the appropriate faculties, offer themselves with an available and gen- erous spirit to the celebration of the and often administer Holy Communion to the sick.”

FAMILY INFLUENCE Disorder in the society is the result of disorder in the family. —St. Angela Merici Del escritorio del rector.

Mis queridos hermanos y hermanas en Cristo: Me gustaría compartir más información sobre el Año de San José y deseo que estos mensajes le ayuden a mejorar su comprensión de San José y le acerquen a la Sagrada Familia. Por tanto, profun- dicemos nuestra relación con Jesús, María y José, especialmente durante este Año de San José. Lo que significa el Año de San José y cómo obtener las indulgen- cias Lo que significa el Año de San José y cómo obtener las in- dulgencias El anuncio que muchas personas han estado ansiosas y anhelando escuchar durante varios años finalmente llegó en dic- iembre. 8 cuando el Papa Francisco declaró el comienzo del Año de San José. El momento era perfecto, ya que el 150 aniversario del Beato Pío IX declaró a San José como Patrón de la Iglesia Católica y en la fiesta de la Inmaculada Concepción de María. Esposa de José. Junto con el anuncio del Papa en su carta apostó- lica Patris Corde (“Corazón del Padre”) llegó una proclamación de la Penitenciaría Apostólica sobre las indulgencias plenarias especiales que ahora están disponibles para este Año de San José. Más sobre las formas exactas de obtenerlos en un momento. Pri- mero, escuchemos lo que piensan un par de eruditos de St. Jo- seph. "Es hermoso que después de 2000 años la Iglesia celebre un año especial en honor del humilde y oculto Esposo de María", dijo el padre Larry Toschi, oblato de San José, pastor y fundador de la Sociedad de los Santos Esposos en California. Como Oblatos de San José, comprometidos por voto de por vida a servir los intereses de Jesús a imitación de San José, nos alegró mucho recibir este anuncio del Papa Francisco, en la Fiesta de la Inmaculada Concepción de María, la 150 aniversario de su proclamación como Patrón de la Iglesia Católica. Después de su Santo Esposo Virginal, San José es el mayor modelo de santidad y el intercesor más poderoso de todos los tiempos. Que este año traiga renovación y florecimiento a nuestra Iglesia y ayude a cada uno de nosotros a crecer en santidad imitándolo ”. El padre Stan- ley Smolenski, director del Santuario Diocesano de Nuestra Seño- ra de la Alegre Esperanza / Nuestra Señora de Carolina del Sur, también está excepcionalmente feliz por el anuncio: “Este tercer milenio ha sido providencialmente reservado para San José”, dijo. “El primero fue cristocéntrico a través de los Consejos, el segun- do fue mariano centrado en sus devociones, apariciones y dog- mas. Eso significa que la tercera persona de la Trinidad terrenal, San José, lo seguiría naturalmente ”.“ Hemos visto la importancia de San José aumentando en nuestros tiempos con la decadencia social ”, agregó. “Isodore Isolanis, una dominica del siglo XVI, profetizó que 'El sonido de la victoria se oiría cuando los fieles reconocieran la santidad de San José'”. Padre Donald Calloway, vicario provincial y director de vocaciones de los Padres Marianos de la Inmaculada Concepción. y autor de Consagración a San José: Las maravillas de nuestro padre espiritual, dijo: “Es asombroso. Mi teléfono suena descolgado. Recibo llamadas de las oficinas de los obispos de todo el mundo ”. Le están diciendo:“ Queremos que la consagración de nuestra diócesis termine espe- cialmente el 19 de marzo, la fiesta de San José ”. Y en un solo día desde el anuncio, recibió más de 300 correos electrónicos sobre la consagración. “Estamos poniendo en marcha cosas importantes para el mundo. El libro tiene una gran parte en él ".

SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES

Sunday: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Monday: The Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle Tuesday: Ss. Timothy and Titus Wednesday: St. Angela Merici; Tu B’Shvat (Jewish new year of trees) begins at sunset Santisimo Sacramento por las vocaciones sacerdo- Thursday: St. Thomas Aquinas

CHURCH NAME AND ADDRESS Immaculate Conception Church #515247 1218 E. Jefferson Brownsville, TX 78520

TELEPHONE 956 546-3178

CONTACT PERSON Mirta Hernandez 956-407-4842 Or Nora Vega 956-546-3178 ext.101

SOFTWARE MSPublisher 2016 Adobe Acrobat 10.0 Windows 10

PRINTER HP Deskjet 6940

TRANSMISSION TIME Tuesday 3:00 pm SUNDAY DATE OF PUBLICATION Sunday, January 24, 2021

NUMBER OF PAGES SENT 1 through 6

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS Cover in Color 400 copies