From the Pastor’s Desk Catholic teaching has always recognized a hierarchy of values. The Ten Commandments are a guide for Catholics, but also for all Christians. The Commandments of the Church are also a “measuring stick” by which we can test our fidelity to the God who made us. Examining these “laws,” and how we observe them, aid us in our Act of Reconciliation, which is required of all Catholics at least once a year. In our pubic life, as Catholics, there are some issues that outweigh others because they regard acts which are intrin-sically evil. For example, there is no wiggle room for Catholics on these four key issues: abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research and single sex marriages. Any Catholic, including a Catholic politician, who sup-ports even one of those four issues, is not a Catholic in good standing. We do have a civil right of freedom of choice, but if we want to be Catholic we also have a moral obligation to heed the official teaching of the Church. The seamless garment approach has been touted as excusing politicians who support certain positions to the exclusion of others, e.g. aid for the poor, war, the death penalty, etc. Can Senator X can be supported because she/he opposes war, supports the poor, is against capital punishment, etc even though he/she is pro-choice? No way! However, when there is no clear choice, because there is no one run-ning for office who does not support at least one of these four issues, it becomes a question of the lesser of two evils. In a letter to the American Bishops on denying Holy Com-munion to pro-abortion Catholic politicians, the then-Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, made it clear that the death penalty is legitimate and cannot be placed on the same footing as abortion or euthanasia. He said: “If a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. ... It may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death pen-alty, but not however with regard to abortion and eutha-nasia.” (or, I might add, embryonic stem cell research or single sex marriage)

Continued on page 4

Mass Intentions For The Week

Sunday March 4, 2007 7:30 Victor Candia 8:45 The Vincent Ruggiero Family 10:15 Norrine Lewis 11:45 For the Parishioners – The Panelli & Musante Families 1:00 Vincenzo Fannucchi 5:00 Angelo & Matilde Foppiano Monday March 5, 2007 7:30 Silvio & Elvira Toso – Diane Landry Jacobs (Conc.) 9:00 Felice & Grazia Spingola 12:15 Giulio, Esterina, & Louis “Rico” Liberatore Tuesday March 6, 2007 7:30 Francisco & Maria Spingola – Umberto Sereni (Conc.) 9:00 Les Favrat 12:15 Lawrence Figone Wednesday March 7, 2007 7:30 Maria Devincenzi – Thomas Mazzucco (Conc.) 9:00 Luigi & Rosa Mangini 12:15 Andrea & Genoveffa Sabini Thursday March 8, 2007 7:30 Vicenzo & Brigida Ruggiero – Giuseppe & Angela Gianelli (Conc.) 9:00 Angelo & Sally Lantieri 12:15 Anton Canepa Friday March 9, 2007 7:30 Louis Ferralis – Alfredo Panelli – Mary Remick (Conc.) 9:00 Louis, Eugenia, & Raymond Raggio 12:15 Lester & Catherine Hamann Saturday March 10, 2007 7:30 Antoinette & Francesco Germano – Howard Brown (Conc.) 9:00 Alemanno & Gina Martelli & Vincent Pellegrini 5:00 Carolyn, Harry, & Mary Fichter

WEEKLY INTENTIONS Alex & Josephine Anguzza - Gabriella Rossi - Noreen Lewis

Louis, Eugenia, & Raymond Raggio - Mary Vollelunga George Vetari - Virginia Sanguinetti - Frank Sanguinetti Angelo Sanguinetti - Nicola Sanguinetti - Dennis Calvert

Giovanni & Marianna Dionigi - Lauri Uhler & Tom Mainzer In Honor of the Infant of Prague - Int. Maria Corradetti

Ferdinando, Rita, Peter, & John Rossi - Int. Michelle Alioto Fabro Ricci - Howard Brown - Int. Green - Fr. Justin

Leland Bedoni - Fred Schnell - Int. Jim Folio - Int Fr. Mario Gerald Seefeldt (2) -Intention Del Zompo - Thomas Mortimer

Intention of the Donor (4) For each intention mentioned in the group above, individual Masses will

be said in our Schools or Missions.

Baptism Todd Ferro

Marriages

Matt Kenny & Angie Hammell

Rest-in-Peace Dympna Fernan – Nick Keehner

SS. Peter & Paul Church

March 4, 2007 Italian Catholic Federation: Branch 38 invites everyone to their branch meeting in the Parish Center: 11 am, March 10, followed by a luncheon. Lunch includes corned beef, cabbage and pota-toes, drinks, and dessert for only $12. RSVP with Mara Amato (415-392-3560) by March 5 so we can pre-order lunch. Ci vediamo! Stations of the Cross: Stations of the Cross will be observed every Friday of Lent at 12:45 PM. Attention Salesian Class of 1959! 20+ other classmates from the 1959 8th grade class are organizing a 50th year reunion to take place in 2009. If you’d like to join in the fun, please email Ralph J. Blasi at rjblasi@yahoo.com or call Joe or Franca Marchetti at 650-343-7898. Next Week’s Second Collection: Next week’s second collection will be for our parish school. Choose Life! Many times we’ve asked if Cali-fornia Taxpayers were having second thoughts about allocating $3 billion plus for immoral embryonic stem-cell research that has yet to show a single cure. But we have to keep this up because there is a conspiracy of silence about adult & cord-blood stem-cells in the media. Example: last Sunday’s SF Chronicle had an article about Hawaii which mentioned that the famous singer Don Ho had a serious heart problem that had been miraculously treated with stem-cells. What they didn’t tell you is that Don Ho was cured, back in 2005, by taking stem-cells from his own blood, multiplying them in a lab, then injecting them into his heart. Close friend Ed Brown said: “Don did not take stem cells from a fetus. He doesn’t believe in that. He took blood from his own body and re-injected that into his heart.”–StemCellNews.com, December 7, 2005.

Second Sunday of Lent Genesis 15:5-12; 17-18; Philippians 3:17-

4:1; Luke 9:28b-36. Our readings today remind us of God’s promises to humanity and his faithfulness to those promises. They are readings filled with hope. The promises made to Abraham go beyond anything he could imagine, while the Transfiguration

gives us a glimpse of the glorified Christ, the same glory in which we are given a share through Baptism.

Particular Items Second Collection: This week’s second collection will be for second collection will be for our Archdiocesan Assessment.

Eucharistic Adoration/Holy Hour: Every Wednes-day, we have Holy Hour will be from 7:00-8:00 PM. The parking lot will be open.

Baptismal Preparation Class: the baptismal prep class will meet Wednesday, at 7:00 PM, in the parish center. Guys and Dolls! Mark your calendars! On March 9 & 10, at 7:00 PM, our Salesian Boys’ and Girls’ Club will present “Guys and Dolls” in the auditorium. Some of you will have seen their last production, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which got rave reviews. The young people rehearse for many months for these productions, and they are well worth seeing. Tickets are $20 for adults; $10 for children, and all funds go to benefit the SBGC. For more information, call 397-3068.

Father Joseph Cheng, S.D.B. Our dear Fr. Joseph was called home to the Lord on Friday, February 10. Old–timers will remember Fr. Joseph very well: he was the founding Director of the Saints Peter and Paul Chinese Apostolate. Bishop Ignatius Wang will celebrate a Memorial Mass for Fr. Jo-

seph here on March 11, at 10:15 AM. All parishioners are in-vited to remember this wonderful Salesian. Blood Drive: Mark your calendars! The next Blood Drive will be Sunday, March 11. The Bloodmobile will be parked in front of the church from 8:30AM-12:45PM. Please call 421-0809 to schedule a donation appointment. Last time, you gave 14 units of blood. Let’s top that this time! Give blood, save a life.

Domenica 2A Di Quaresima

Il Signore si rivela manifestando la decisione di al-learsi con Abramo. La seconda rivelazione del Si-gnore, scrive s. Paolo, avviene nell’animo del cre-dente. La terza rivelazione è luminosa e inattesa: attorno a Gesù convergono la profezia e la legge. Il culmine della manifestazione sta nelle parole che Dio Padre indirizza all’umanità.

Singer Don Ho

Magnificent Photos of Saints Peter and Paul: Gerald, over at “The Cafeteria is Closed” website, has posted a magnificent photo essay of our church. He shows the church in ways even the oldest parishioner will not have seen. Go to: http://closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2007/02/saints-peter-paul-san-francisco.html

Please pray for: All those on the Saints Peter and Paul Prayer List. We could not publish the entire list this week.

Lenten Disciplines: Abstinence: Everyone 14 years and older is bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, all the Fri-days of Lent, and Good Friday. Fast: Everyone over 18, but under 60, is bound to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On these two days, the law of fast allows only one full meal a day, but does not prohibit taking some food during the day, so long as this does not constitute a full meal. Drinking liquids during the day is permitted. When health or ability to work would be seriously affected, the law does not oblige. If in doubt concerning Fast or Abstinence, a priest should be consulted. In the spirit of penance, the faithful should not lightly excuse themselves from this obligation.

“It is the right of every woman to give birth. That is a BIRTHRIGHT!” Once again, the wonderful students of the Salesian Service Learning Committee is sponsoring a special clothing & baby item drive to benefit Birthright of San Francisco, a group that helps young pregnant women.. Needed are: disposable diapers (sizes 1, 2, & 3; newborn to 28lbs); Sleepers (0-3 months); Onesies (0-3 months); socks (newborn). Clothes must be new or just slightly used and clean. Drive dates are February 7-March 7. Please drop items off by the school stage at morning assembly or in the rectory office.

Liturgical Calendar Sunday 04 Second Sunday of Lent Mon-Sat 05-10 Lenten Weekdays Sunday 11 Third Sunday of Lent

Your sacrificial offering last week: SSPP Collection: $3,050. Second Collection (Catholic Charities): $870. Thank You! Your parish needs and appreciates your continued sup-port.

Second Sunday of Lent

continued from page 2 The four absolutes remain: life issues in themselves not debatable. The teaching of our Catholic Church is clear, and we are bound to follow it.

I submit that any parishioner who supports even one of the four non-negotiables should not receive the Eucha-rist, because he/she is not in union with the Church. If there is a problem accepting any of these truths, ar-range an interview with one of your priests for clarifi-cation and for the good of your own soul.

–Fr. John Malloy, S.D.B.