Good Shepherd Catholic Parish

What is the Year of Saint Joseph

     With the Apostolic Letter “Patris corde” (“With a Father’s Heart”), Pope Francis recalls the 150^th anniversary of the declaration of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. The mark the occasion, the Holy Father has proclaimed a “Year of Saint Joseph” from December 8, 2020 to December 8, 2021.
     We invite you to pray with us throughout the Year of Saint Joseph. We are providing a prayer booklet that can use and that will allow Saint Joseph to lead you into deeper devotion and greater love for Our Lord Jesus and his Blessed Mother Mary.
     You can reserve a Saint Joseph figure (see photo) to be in your home for a week to help increase your devotion. We will also have a Book of Intentions that you can pray through and also add your intentions so that others can join you in prayer.

Click Here to Sign Up for a week.

¿Qué es el Año de San José?

      Con la carta apostólica "Patris corde" ("Con corazón de padre"), el Papa Francisco recuerda el 150 aniversario de la declaración de San José como Patrón de la Iglesia Universal. Con motivo de la ocasión, el Santo Padre ha proclamado un “Año de San José” del 8 de diciembre de 2020 al 8 de diciembre de 2021.
     Te invitamos a rezar con nosotros durante todo el Año de San José. Estamos proporcionando un folleto de oración que puede usar y que le permitirá a San José llevarlo a una devoción más profunda y un mayor amor por Nuestro Señor Jesús y su Santísima Madre María.
     Puedes reservar una figura de San José (ver la foto) para que esté en tu casa durante una semana para ayudar a aumentar tu devoción. También tendremos un Libro de Intenciones por el cual puedes orar y también agregar tus intenciones para que otros puedan unirse a ti en oración.

Haga “clic” aquí para reservar la estatua de San José

A recent cartoon in the Wisconsin State Journal seemed to call into question the consistency of Catholic's pro-life stance, given our concerns related to vaccines derived from cell-lines from aborted fetuses. This cartoon may lead you to confusion. So here is a brief attempt to clarify what the Church is saying.
         As Catholics, we take seriously the responsibility that we have to defend human life at all its stages and the responsibility to never treat another human being in a utilitarian fashion, manipulating them for our own ends. Hence, though the concept of vaccines is clearly in favor of the common good, the processes used to attain a vaccine must be examined to make sure that the processes themselves are morally licit.
         The USCCB issued this statement on the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine recently approved for use in the United States:

“The approval of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19
vaccine for use in the United States again raises
questions about the moral permissibility of using
vaccines developed, tested, and/or produced with
the help of abort ion-derived cell lines.”

            Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines raised concerns because an abortion-derived cell line was used for testing them, but not in their production. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, however, was developed, tested and is produced with abortion-derived cell lines raising additional moral concerns. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has judged that ‘when ethically irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available … it is morally acceptable to receive Covid 19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.’(Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Note on the morality of using some antiCovid-19 vaccines” (17 Dec 2020), no. 2.) However, if one can choose among equally safe and effective COVID19 vaccines, the vaccine with the least connection to abortion-derived cell lines should be chosen. Therefore, if one has the ability to choose a vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccines should be chosen over Johnson & Johnson’s.
             While we should continue to insist that pharmaceutical companies stop using abortion-derived cell lines, given the world-wide suffering that this pandemic is causing, we affirm again that being vaccinated can be an act of charity that serves the common good."
              In short, the US Bishops' Conference (USCCB) has deemed that the vaccines currently available in the USA are morally acceptable because the connection to the sin of abortion is very remote. Still, because there is some connection to such a morally reprehensible act, the vaccines should be received under moral protest (ex. informing the pharmaceutical company that you disapprove of the process they used to produce the vaccine). Additionally, since the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has a stronger connection to abortion, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are to be preferred to it if they are available.

 I hope this helps clarify things for you a bit.
 - Fr Dave