Saint Mary's College Mission and Ministry Center

"Have mercy, tender God." psalm 51 Tomorrow, February 17, the Catholic Church begins its liturgical season of Lent with Ash Wednesday. Observing the traditions of Ash Wednesday, the Mission & Ministry Center is excited to be able to invite our current students, faculty, and staff to join us for the following non-eucharistic liturgies (prayer services) that are available to our Saint Mary's community*. At each of these liturgies, ashes will be distributed. ... 8:30am Chapel Plaza (*for on-campus Students, Staff, Faculty) 1:00pm Chapel Plaza (*for on-campus Students, Staff, and Faculty) 2:00pm Rheem Campus Parking Lot (*for off-campus Students, Staff and Faculty) The reception of ashes is not limited to Catholics, and all members of our community* (as described above) are welcome to attend. Please see the link in our bio for additional information for attendees. @stmarysca @smcclassof2022 @smcclassof2021 @smcclassof2023 @smc_classof2024 #ashwednesday

Our first 4pm Student Community Liturgy is starting soon! https://youtu.be/2W8S26t_20g

Prayer for Inauguration Day Heavenly Father: As our nation undergoes this presidential transition, we pray: Thy Kingdom Come.... May your Holy Spirit instill our president with the values and principles of your kingdom to exercise the sacred trust of administering the nation. Give our new president, his administration, and Congress the ability to honor you by doing what is right, fair, and just for all citizens, especially the poor, hungry, and marginalized. We ask that all the people in our nation, irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, or religious faith be treated with dignity. We pray for the wholeness, health, integrity, soundness, welfare, security, prosperity, harmony, and justice of all the citizens of our nation. Help our nation develop a foreign policy that fosters peace, justice, equality, and freedoms that can advance the development, rights, and privileges of our global neighbors. Move our nation to provide international leadership in the good stewardship of all the natural resources that you have entrusted to humankind. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Today Mass will be celebrated in person and online. SMC students living or working on campus are invited to celebrate in person with Fr. David Gentry-Akin at 3pm outside at the Ageno East parking lot. Face coverings, social distancing, and LiveSafe Health Screenings are required for all in attendance and contact information will be collected. Then, at 8pm we will celebrate live online from the Chapel with Fr. Michael Olawuni, SMC Chaplain. We are continuing with our Vocations series with the theme, VocationListening to God's Voice" The link to the livestream is in our bio.

Greetings! Because of a venue shift, our liturgy is at 4pm today, and we are attempting to continue to LiveStream! Here is the link that we hope will be working at 4pm. If this time does not work for you, then please feel free to tune into this same link on YouTube at your convenience later. If you are an SMC on-campus resident join us in person at the Rec/Turf Field for our first outdoor Student Community Liturgy. Saint Mary's College of California https://youtu.be/2W8S26t_20g

Join us this evening at 8pm for our first Student Community Liturgy if the new year. https://youtu.be/48fQvrP19hg

We are excited to be celebrating our Student Community Liturgy together again in person at a new time and outdoor location! If you live on campus, join us at 4pm up on the SMC Recreation/Turf Field. For those living off campus, you can join us at 4pm by live stream. Please note that we will not be celebrating liturgy at 8pm on the 14th.... Check out the link in our bio for details on attending in person and for the link to the livestream for those joining us from home. @stmarysca #smcgaels

EPIPHANY Perhaps it is time for an epiphany For a moment when the eyes open And the heart soars... And the soul sings And the mind goes poof! And we go Wow! So that’s it! Perhaps, after plodding along Seeking glimpses of the sacred Catch hints of a star There is a moment when we finally reach that place Where love is born And perhaps, it is a surprise Perhaps when the universe peels open’ And we see the heart of the Sacred We find what we did not expect We find more than we expected Perhaps, as we gaze into the manger of our hearts We find something more powerful More beautiful More profound More grace full More loving Than anything we had ever conceived And in the moment of Epiphany Revelation We fall to our knees Overwhelmed Able to do nothing but receive Until having received we can do nothing but give Epiphany reveals not just the Sacred Not just that God is here Not just that God is love But it reveals who we are Children of God It reveals who we can be People of compassion and generosity People who welcome, and serve Epiphany is not a safe moment For when we see We are never the same We can never go back to the place from whence we came We can never take the same old road We can never be at ease with the old ways The old priorities, and values We can never align ourselves Ever again With the powers that would dominate Abuse Use We can never again enable Those who would harm children Abandon the poor Create inequity Deny justice Of those who would exclude we must go another way the way of servanthood and generosity rather than the way of power and greed So it is time for an epiphany It is time to let God stun us with Sacred Love And Sacred Joy And Sacred Hope And Sacred Peace It is time for us to let the Sacred be so present In us That the darkness is dispelled by the light And we see And exclaim yes See more