On August 1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an "interim final rule" that will require virtually all private health plans to include coverage for all FDA-approved prescription contraceptives, sterilization procedures, and related "patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity." These are listed among "preventive services for women" that all health plans will have to include without co-pays or other cost-sharing -- regardless of whether the insurer, the employer or other plan sponsor, or even the woman herself objects to such coverage.

Please Take Action by contacting your U.S. Representatives:

On September 7, Cardinal DiNardo, chair of the bishops' Committee on Pro-LIfe Acitivities, urged Congress to support conscience protection legislation in light of this "unprecedented threat to religious freedom." Please add your voice to his: Write to Congress supporting the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (HR-1179).
Clicking here will lead to a simple form email. All you have to do is fill in your name and address and it will automatically send the message to the proper representative for you.

For more information on the HHS mandate and its inadequate conscience protection, read our Preventive Services Backgrounder.

You can find out more at United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website.

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,

Fr. Gregory Veneklase [Michael, OCD]
St. Agnes & St. Cecilia Parishes

From The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Resources and Background on HHS Rule on Contraceptive Coverage

January 25, 2012

On January 20th, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a stunning and extremely disappointing final rule mandating that contraception and sterilization be included at no cost to the insured in all health care plans. The very narrow religious exemption was unchanged from the interim final rule, only offering a year of "grace" to comply.

This means that most Catholic ministries would be compelled to provide and pay for "services" (i.e., sterilization and contraception, including some abortifacients) that are a clear violation of Catholic teaching. It rests on the appalling notion that the federal government can tell religious ministries what is religious. In this case, it says that a ministry is not religious if it serves or employs people who are not members of that religious body. For us, it is precisely our faith that calls us to "serve the least of these" without regard for their religious affiliation. We serve the poor, the hungry, the sick, the homeless, andeducate children "not because they are Catholic, but because we are." In short, the decision of the Administration is bad morality, bad policy and, for that matter, bad politics.

President of the USCCB, Cardinal-delegate Timothy Dolan commented "Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience. This shouldn't happen in a land where free exercise of religion ranks first in the Bill of Rights."

The bishops along with Catholic partners including the Catholic Health Association, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic CharitiesUSA, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities and other Catholic and religious allies, had vigorously argued against the mandate and encouraged a broader exemption that would include religious institutions and ministries.

The threat to our religious liberties is very real and challenging. The government should not be forcing us to choose between putting our faith into action and violating our consciences. Likewise the Administration's action poses real threats to the Churchs capacity to offer adequate health care coverage for those who serve in our charitable and educational ministries in ways that reflect our teaching and moral principles. This decision tries to force us to choose between these two principles. The rule would go into effect for religious employers in August 2013 and employers' new policies would have to be implemented by January 2014. The purpose of the year is supposedly to allow us time to comply, but in fact we have a year to reverse, repeal or change this unjust mandate.

Included in this message are links to several statements, fact sheets and other materials that can assist you in helping to fix this injustice. For those of you who will be joining us for the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering next month, you will have the opportunity to make the case to Congress.

We appreciate all you do to defend human life and dignity, to protect religious liberty and Catholic identity. We ask you to join with us and others inside and outside our community of faith to resist and reverse this appalling decision that threatens our freedom to serve those who need our help the most.

Links:
USCCB statetment on HHS Rule: http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-012.cfm

Video of Cardinal-Designate Dolan, President of the USCCB, speaking about HHS rule: http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-013.cfm

Catholic Relief Services' statement on HHS rule: http://newswire.crs.org/crs-objects-to-obama-administration-decision-to-require-catholic-institutions-to-offer-birth-control-to-employees/

Catholic Charities USA's statement on HHS rule: http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/page.aspx?pid=2516

Michael Sean Winter's Distinctly Catholic blog commenting on HHS Rule: http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/jaccuse

Washington Post editorial on HHS rule: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/respecting-religious-exemptions/2012/01/22/gIQA0ZESJQ_story.html?hpid=z3

USCCB Comments filed on proposed HHS rule issued in August 2011: http://www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/rulemaking/comments-proposed-hhs-regs-neonates-research-2001-08.cfm

USCCB fact sheet on HHS rule: Click here

Please contact the rectory at your earliest opportunity so we can get to personally know you, placed on the mailing list, and officially register you into the parish records system. We look forward to meeting you.

BULLETIN NOTICES
Submit bulletin notices in writing to the Rectory before noon on Monday.

INFANT BAPTISM
Parents desiring the Sacrament of Baptism for their children must be registered and be actively participating in parish life. Parents must also attend a baptism class. Contact the office in advance.

MATRIMONY
Arrangements for marriages must be made at least six months in advance. One of the parties must be a practicing Catholic.

ANOINTING OF THE SICK
Whenever someone is seriously ill, hospitalized or is dying, contact the parish office immediately.

The new English translation of the Roman Missal, the official manual for the Roman Catholic Mass, has been approved, and soon familiar prayers and responses said in churches around the English-speaking world will change. Priests will follow newly-translated instructions. Prayers used throughout the Mass and some responses of the congregation will change. Sacred chants and music used in worship will also be updated.

The full texts of the English translation received recognitio, or approval, from the Vatican in June and July of 2010. The new translation will be implemented in U.S. dioceses in Advent 2011. It will be the most significant change to the Mass in over 40 years.

If you would like to see the response changes in the Mass, you can download two small .PDF files, one with the responses of the people and the other the parts of the priest. They are really very minor and very meaningful. If I might say, they reminded me a lot of when I was an altar boy and recited prayers in Latin, but I assure you, there is no Latin for the people, so fear not. I think you will like what you read. (This inserted block written by the webmaster of this site.)

An occasion like this raises the question: Why is the Roman Missal so important?

"The Roman Missal is a common treasure," says Msgr. Anthony Sherman, executive director at USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship. "It is the book that provides us with prayer text. It serves as a point of unity that keeps us all together, presenting the prayers that are used around the world, in many languages, during universal feasts or holy days."

Latin is the core text of the Roman Missal, evolving from oral tradition to written words. During the 15th century, in the era of the first printing press, the earliest book called Missale Romanum appeared. After the Council of Trent in 1570, Pope Pius V issued the edition that set the premier standard of uniformity used by celebrants of the Catholic faith.

Eight former Popes issued new editions between 1604 and 2002, and each maintained a consistent style of worship for prayer in the Roman rite. Over time, additional Masses, prayers and revised rubrics (instructions) used to celebrate the Mass were added. The need for vernacular translations of the Roman Missal arose after the Second Vatican Council, and the present English translation of the Mass, which dates back to the 1970s, follows the Vatican's guidelines of that time, which favored translations that were easy to understand in the vernacular.

When Pope John Paul n issued the Third Edition of the Roman Missal in 2002, a new English translation was required. Since the new English translation is guided by the 2001 Vatican document Liturgiam Authenticam, it presents a more literal translation of Latin wording and sentence structure than is used in the current translation.

"The current translations are centered more on the community than the divine," says Father Paul Turner, a parish pastor in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri and author of Let Us Pray: A Guide to the Rubrics of Sunday Mass. "They were somewhat inattentive to inclusive language, and lacked some theological depth and musicality. The first translations condensed some of the content of the prayers. The new translation improves that," he says.

"This is not a new Mass," says Michael McMahon, president of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, adding that with a new translation, "one of the opportunities we have is to look at the parts of the Mass that should be sung" in the dialogue between the priest and the people and integrate them. One of the challenges of introducing a newly-translated missal is retraining priests to lead Mass. Downloadable recordings for priests who don't read music are being produced and distributed free, online. Major publishers will release material on compact discs.

The Roman Missal itself is the primary source of training and instruction for the new translation. It displays rubrics, sentences printed in red that instruct a priest on what to say and do, how and when to gesture, and when to sing the common prayers in The Order of Mass. It provides instructions that guide the celebrant in leading the liturgy and the people assembled in ritual response for each occasion of Mass.

It also dictates the words used by a priest during the Mass, which with the new translation will reflect a more formal style than past translations.

"It will sound much more like Latin," says Father Turner.

"The Roman Missal puts us into a tradition of prayer and creates an historical awareness in the roots of where we are now," says Msgr. Sherman. "When you study the background of these prayers, you become united" with the perpetual mission of the Church.

Editor's note: Lynn Williams is a full-time communications consultant and an award-winning freelance journalist from Nashville, TN. She is a frequent contributor to the Catholic press.