Second Sunday of Lent February 28, 2021

Hello everyone!  I hope you all are doing well as we progress into 2021! 

Hopefully we might be able to soon turn the corner and come out of this health crisis.  

The Bishop has allowed us, following the recent Supreme Court decision, to return to church for our weekend Sunday Masses.

Saturday 4 pm Mass continues at Blessed Sacrament Mission in Elk.

So this Sunday 8am and 10am Masses will be held in the church for St. Anthony's.  

• For the 10am Mass we will have the door open to the side entrance of the church accessed by the stairs near the Rectory for anyone would like to sit in the side nave and be a little more isolated during the service.  There is also the possibility of assisting from the choir loft as well.   

• At the 8am Sunday Mass we have only had a couple parishioners participating these past weeks so that is an option as well. 

Due to the limited mobility of a few of our Saturday evening parishioners, we will continue the 5:30pm Saturday Mass in the Parish Hall for a few weeks. 

We are also coming up on Lent and Ash Wednesday will be here on February 17th year.   On Ash Wednesday we will have Masses at 8:30am as well as a 5:30pm both held in the church.

We normally receive extra booklets for following the Mass during Lent so anyone who would like is welcome to take one home to follow the daily readings during Lent as well as the meditations that are provided. 

Thank you all so dearly for your financial support during these difficult times. It is most dearly appreciated.   We also received a very positive response to our Appeal Letter - for a mailing of this sort we received a fairly high percentage of response.   Likewise donations were given from across the country as well as across the community.   Again, thank you for your generosity! 

During Lent I will try doing a weekly ‘sermonette’ - a 3-5 minute video on the Gospel of the following Sunday.   Look for these in your email boxes on consecutive Thursday’s. 

These are trying times but we must remain steadfast in our Faith. God is greater than our difficulties and He has called us to something greater!   Let us be mindful as well of those vulnerable in our community and let us pray for their psychological, moral and physical welfare. 

You all remain present in my daily prayers.   Hopefully before too long we will all be reunited in our parish here.  May God bless you all!

~ Fr Rob

Father Arsenius, the resident Hermit Priest of the Annunciation Hermitage at Blessed Sacrament Church in Elk, CA, presents the Mass and vespers in Latin. 

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Many people have asked about where I come from so I thought I would give you a little bio of myself.

I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1964. My father grew up in Chicago and was fascinated by electronics in his youth and went to work in avionics for American Airlines. He worked first in New York at La Guardia and then in Tulsa since the principal maintenance base for American was located there. My mother is from the South and her family goes back to Revolutionary times. She met my dad while working at La Guardia and entered the Catholic Church five years after they were married. We lived in Tulsa on Route 66 on an acreage my father had bought. Our parish, seven miles away, was run by the Polish Capuchins, the same ethnicity as my father. 

I went to parochial school and public school and then to Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa. After graduating, I went with friends to the University of Kansas. It was there that I discovered Professor John Senior and his Great Books Program. There was also a swell of Catholic activity and I greatly deepened Faith as a student there. He recommended that I spend time in a Benedictine Abbey and suggested Fontgombault in France. I spent nine months there and was proposed the Carthusian life. The Carthusian Order imitates the solitary life of the monks in the desert. I practiced this life for 28 years most of which were in France and then came out of the life mainly for health reasons dealing with sleep apnea, fatigue, stress and tension.

I spent a year teaching St John’s Seminary in Camarillo, Ca and then 18 months at Mission San Miguel in the Central Coast region. This last year I was the chaplain at the Newman Center at Sonoma State Univ. while residing and helping out at the cathedral of St Eugene.

I am happy to be with you all here as we walk together in our Faith coming closer to God as a community each day.

Peace be with you, Fr Rob