Schedule for January 23-24, 2021
Saturday, January 23
- 7:00 am Cathedral Open for Private Prayer and Devotion
- 8:00 am Mass - will also be livestreamed
- 10:00 am Funeral Mass for Eric Junger - will also be livestreamed
- 3:00 pm Rosary – Live-Stream
- 3:30 - 4:30 pm Holy Hour - concluding with Evening Prayer and Benediction
- 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm Confessions
- 5:00 pm Mass
- 6:00 pm Cathedral Closes
Sunday - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
- 7:00 am Cathedral Open for Private Prayer and Devotion
- 8:00 am Mass - will also be livestreamed
- 9:00 am - 9:50 am Confessions
- 10:00 am Mass
- 11:00 am - 11:50 am Confessions
- 12:00 Noon Mass
- 1:00 pm Baptism
- 5:00 pm Mass
- 6:00 pm Cathedral Closes
Dear Parishioners,
During my time as a college Seminarian, we would attend classes at St. Louis University and on the Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas, there would be a group of students in the College of Philosophy and Letters who would spend the feast day reading aloud the Summa Theologica. The Summa is the best known work of St. Thomas and is a compendium of all the main theological teachings of the Catholic Church. It was intended to be an instructional guide for theology students.
With his charism as a philosopher and theologian, he offered an effective model of harmony between faith and reason, dimensions of the human spirit that are completely fulfilled in the encounter and dialogue with one another.
According to St Thomas' thought, human reason, as it were, "breathes": it moves within a vast open horizon in which it can express the best of itself. When, instead, man reduces himself to thinking only of material objects or those that can be proven, he closes himself to the great questions about life, himself, and God and is thereby impoverished. The relationship between faith and reason is a serious challenge to the culture we find ourselves in today. Saint John Paul II wrote an Encyclical entitled Fides et Ratio - “Faith and Reason” - to address this topic.
I raise this topic because the state of our world seems to indicate we have left faith and reason behind. Instead of seeing “faith and reason as two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth” (Fides et Ratio), many have turned to the self as the center of truth, and see reason as being separate from faith. It is necessary to admit that the tendency to consider “true” only that which can be experienced constitutes a limitation of human reason, and that this tendency has led to the coexistence of rationalism and materialism, hyper-technology and unbridled instinct.
Faith presupposes reason and perfects it, and reason, enlightened by faith, finds the strength to rise to the knowledge of God and spiritual realities. Human reason loses nothing by opening itself to the content of faith, which, indeed, requires its free and conscious adherence.
Saint Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.
Monsignor Henry Breier
This Weekend's Pulpit Announcements
In the coming weeks, 2020 contribution statements will be mailed out to all parishioners. These statements will reflect parish records of your financial contributions made over the past calendar year, and are intended for tax information. Any parishioner who has recently moved is urged to contact the rectory office to ensure you receive your tax statements in a timely manner.
The Cathedral Pro-Life Ministry is seeking new members to assist on new parish projects, including a Mothers' Day rose sale and a 30-Minute Speaker Series. Please see your bulletins for additional information.
The St. Louis Review, your faithful source for Catholic News, is the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. For $35.00 a year, your weekly copy of the Review will keep you in touch with the Church in St. Louis, across the nation, and around the world. Please use the subscription renewal envelope in your January envelope packet (or write your check for $35.00 to the parish, mark it “Review”, and include your name and mailing address) and return it in any Sunday collection.
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Public Service Announcement
Wearing of Masks
Just a quick reminder that masks are to be worn at all times while in the Cathedral Basilica (except for the reception of Holy Communion). It is important that the mask covers both your nose and your mouth to prevent the spread of a virus.