St.

Helen Church
4106 Mountain St.
Beamsville, ON L0R 1B7
Ph: 905-562-7427
Fax: 905-563-0003
Email: office@sthelenscatholic.ca
Opened - October 2, 1938 Est. as a Parish - January 1, 1986
Pastor: Rev. Krzysztof Szczepanik Sunday Masses:
Office Administration: Aggie Agnino Saturday: 5:00pm
Sunday: 9:00am, 11:00am
Office hours:
Tuesday to Friday 9:30am - 12:00pm Weekday Masses:
Closed on Mondays and all Statutory holidays Tuesday to Friday: 9:00am
Website: www.sthelenscatholic.ca 1st Friday of the Month:
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/sthelenscatholic Adoration after morning Mass

Sacraments Contacts
Catholic Funeral Rites:
Baptism: When a death occurs in your family, Music Ministry:
1st & 3rd Sunday at 1:00 pm. please call the Parish Office and we Anthony van Engelen
Call parish office. will assist you in making the adve1@yahoo.com
necessary liturgical arrangements.
1st Communion & Confirmation Ministry Scheduling & RFM:
Contact the Parish Office. Chronic Care Facilities: Rachel Reid ~ ministryschedul-
Pastoral visits are made monthly. ing@sthelenscatholic.ca
Reconciliation: Reception of Holy Communion is
Every Saturday 4:00pm - 4:30pm or by available to residents. Fundraising Events:
appointment with the priest. office@sthelenscatholic.ca
Homebound:
Marriage: Notify the Parish Office when serious Facility & Grounds Maintenance:
Arrangements six months in advance. illness occurs. When the sick, aged or Craig Luey
Marriage preparation is required. incapacitated are confined to home for craig.luey@gmail.com
an extended time, pastoral visit can be
RCIA & RCIC: arranged. Catholic Women's League:
Contact the Parish Office. Piera Palmieri ~ contact parish office

Anointing of the Sick: Schools Knights of Columbus:

Please let us know when someone has St. Mark School Marcel VanRuyven
a serious or prolonged illness or is to Principal: Steven Ward mgvanruijven@gmail.com
have surgery. This sacrament
celebrates the healing of mind and St. Edward School SVDP:
body and the forgiveness of sins. Acting Principal: John Romano Lorraine Martin ~ contact parish office

Kindly complete the following and place in the collection box.

Envelopes will be on the round table in the foyer the following weekend.
☐ New Parishioner* ☐ Change of address ☐ Moving
Name________________________ Phone_________________ E-mail___________________
Address______________________________________________ City_____________________
☐ I would like to use offertory envelopes* Postal Code______________
 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B
Sunday February 7, 2021
Mass Intentions
February 9 - 14, 2021
As we gather, let us remember and pray for . . .
Tues. ~ ………………………………………. Feb. 9th
9:00 am + Barbara Berge
(by Nancy Winslow)
Wed. ~ ………….St. Scholastica..…………. Feb. 10th
9:00 am + Emme Geczy, + Lilly Torek &
+ Emerich Borchok
(by Alex Geczy)
Thurs. ~ ………………………………………. Feb. 11th
9:00 am + Ruth Merritt Schlievert
(by Corona Jarvis)
Fri. ~ ………………………………………. Feb. 12th
9:00 am + Rita Cacco
(by the Family)
Sat. ~ ………………………………………. Feb. 13th
5:00 pm For the People of St. Helen Parish
Sun. ~ ………………………………………. Feb. 14th
9:00 am + Teresa Capasso
(by Lina & Giuseppe Compagnone)
11:00 am + Helen Murphy
(by a dear friend)
MEETINGS & EVENTS
At this time and until further notice, parish meetings,
bingo and other events are cancelled. It is suggested
that groups find alternate meeting places should you
wish to meet with your group.
MASS INTENTIONS 2021
If you would like to have a Mass offered for someone,
contact the parish office. The Mass stipend or offering
given is $10.00. Mass cards are $2.00.
ANNUAL OFFENCE DECLARATIONS
All volunteers with a police clearance through St.
Helen must complete the annual offence declaration
form.
If you have not yet completed one, please do this as
soon as possible since these are now PAST DUE.
COVID & MENTAL HEALTH & WELL BEING
As the result of Covid 19, our community may suffer
from increased anxiety related to the uncertainties
around the pandemic. Let’s continue to pray for one
another and reach out to someone who may be isolated
or vulnerable in the ways we can safely.
There are also resources available at no cost to
Ontarians to reduce and manage stress and promote
well being. BEACON digital therapy (iCBT) is now
This week, the Sanctuary Lamp burns in
memory of:
RUTH MERRITT SCHLIEVERT
The Sanctuary Lamp burns to remind us of Christ’s
presence in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.
If you wish to sponsor the sanctuary lamp for one
week, the stipend is $35.00
our parish prayer
Jesus, open our hearts, enabling us to embrace
your teachings and to love one another. Holy
Spirit, lift us and lead us, deepening our desire to
serve God through serving each other. Amen.
2021 Offertory Envelopes are in the vestibule of the
church. Check your label to ensure we
have the correct information. Please
dispose of any old envelopes . If you are
unable to come to the church to pick up your enve-
lopes and want us to hold them, please let the
office know.
available free of charge to support Ontarians through
stress and mental well-being concerns during COVID-
19, funded by the Government of Ontario.
https://info.mindbeacon.com/btn542?
utm_campaign=Ontario&utm_source=google&utm_me
dium=sem&utm_content=performance&gclid=CjwKC
AiA7939BRBMEiwA-hX5J9_fYT-
8z_xsfJvAC86eLszZM2Ad6RjygwhomGDMMVBB_j
Vx1Dw4NBoCgbgQAvD_BwE
PRAYER SHAWL
MINISTRY
The Prayer Shawl
Ministry continues
to create handcrafted
shawls for
parishioners, their
families and friends who are coping with illness,
loneliness, pain or trouble. They are available to
anyone who needs one. Please call Pauline at 905-563-
7441 to request a shawl or lap blanket or if you would
like to join this ministry.
WHAT IS THE CHURCH’S STANDING ON
COVID VACCINES?
Directives are included after pg 4 of this bulletin.
Collection First Sunday of the Month!
 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sorrow fills all my days. (Job 7)
Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel! (1 Cor. 9)
Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases.
(Mark 1)
The word Gospel
means “good news.” It
is a story that ends not in
death but life; it is
centered not in
humiliating sorrow but
in liberating joy; it does
not demand blind
adherence to laws and
rituals but invites us to
welcome the Spirit of compassion and love into our
lives. The Gospel of Jesus is about the re-creation and
transformation that are possible through reconciliation,
justice, mercy and community.
Like Jesus’ rising before dawn and going to a
deserted place, we too need that “deserted,” “out of the
way” place to re-connect with God, to rediscover God’s
presence in our life, to find within ourselves again a
sense of gratitude for the blessings of that presence.
Jesus does not perform miracles to dazzle the crowds
and glory in their acclaim but to awaken his hearers’
faith and trust in the word of God, to restore all of
humanity to God's vision of one world in which all men
and women love and respect one another as brothers
and sisters under the Father's loving providence.
WORLD DAY OF THE SICK - FEBRUARY 11
The ministry of Jesus to the sick is central to the life of
the Church. February 11, highlights the healing
ministry of the Church. It reminds us that service to the
sick and suffering cannot be neglected. It recognizes
the great efforts of doctors, nurses, health care
institutions and pastoral care givers to restore health to
those afflicted with illness and disease.
STEWARDSHIP OF TREASURE
Please continue to remember the parish regarding
financial giving as we rely on your weekly
contributions to sustain our parish. We are extremely
thankful to those families who continue to sustain
our parish through their contributions, especially during
this difficult time.
We meet every second and
fourth Monday at Mt.
Carmel Spiritual Centre.
Next session will be Mon.
February 8th, 7:00-9:00
pm - Topic - Understanding Loss. Because of the
current province-wide lockdown due to COVID-19,
meetings will be held virtually via the Zoom
platform and pre-registration is required for Zoom
meetings by phoning 905-356-4113 or 905-684-0154
or emailing paratedanddivorced@saintcd.com
COVID STAY AT HOME ORDERS
The province wide stay at home orders continue to
February 11, 2021. Churches are permitted to
remain open with a maximum capacity of 10 people.
Parishioners are reminded that Bishop Bergie’s
dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass on
Sundays and on Holy Days of Obligation, granted on
March 16 2020 is ongoing. We celebrate Masses as
usual weekdays and weekends with only 10 people on
a first come first serve basis. All are encouraged to
view online/livestream/televised Masses. A listing of
diocesan parishes with livestreaming can be found at
www.saintcd.com. Check our website or Facebook for
updates. Calls and emails will be monitored. The
parish office will remain closed for the duration.
SANCTUARY LAMP
We have openings for the Sanctuary Lamp in 2021. If
you would like to book a particular week in memory of
your loved one, please contact the office sooner rather
than later as the year is filling up. Cost is $35 per week.
ST. HELEN KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
BOTTLE DRIVE
SAVE YOUR RETURNABLE EMPTIES!
This event will take place once the
current “Stay At Home” order has been
lifted, date TBD. Until then, the KofC ask
that you save your returnable bottles and
donate them at the Bottle Drive once the
date is set in February. The drop off will be in the
parking lot of St Mark School in front of the school
building. Thank you for your support.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION PRAYER
Oh Jesus, I turn toward the holy tabernacle where You
live hidden for love of me. I love you, O my God. I
cannot receive you in Holy Communion. Come,
nevertheless, and visit me with Your grace. Come
spiritually into my heart. Purify it. Sanctify it. Render it
like unto Your own. Amen. Lord, I am not worthy that
You should enter under my roof, but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.
COUNTDOWN FOR LENT ~ FEBRUARY 17
Lent has two major purposes: It recalls or prepares for
Baptism, and emphasizes a spirit of penance. Through
forty days of closer attention to God’s Word and of
more fervent prayer, believers are prepared to celebrate
the Paschal Mystery. Lenten instructions stress these
baptismal and penitential themes.
POPE FRANCIS’ PRAYER INTENTION
FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY
Violence against women ~ We pray for women who are
victims of violence, that they may be protected by
society and have their sufferings considered and
heeded. (Apostleship of Prayer)
 Directives Concerning COVID-19 Vaccines

The question of Vaccines has once again been the center of controversy and debates within the
Church in the last several months. The diverse and sometimes conflicting pronouncements in the
mass media by bishops, Catholic associations, and experts have raised questions about the
morality of the use of these vaccines. The morality in question is of serious matter. However, the
Church in her wisdom has decided that a Catholic is permitted, in good conscience, to make licit
use of the vaccines available, especially given that there are no other alternatives at this present
moment.
These are the criteria given by the Church in her moral Theology:
Pontifical Academy for Life in 2005 came up with the following:
“In spite of serious moral culpability of those who initially produce the vaccine and some of
those who continue to produce and distribute it, the Vatican does not hold physicians and
parents who elect to vaccinate children morally culpable if”:
• No alternatives are available
• They work to encourage researchers to find new, morally unproblematic sources for the
vaccines
• There are serious health risks in refusing the vaccines
• This is viewed as a temporary solution.
The Church believes that these parameters are met with the situation that we find ourselves in.
Also, we can add that it has been verified by National Catholic Bioethical Center, that the
vaccines for COVID-19 can be placed in three different categories.
1) Those that do not use any abortion-derived cell line from fetuses.
2) Those that didn’t use them in the making of the vaccines but were used in the testing.
3) Those that use them in the design, development, or production of the vaccine.
The vaccines in group #1 do not exist yet. The time period is unknown and not certain.
The vaccines in group #2, namely Pfizer and Moderna, have been confirmed that they did not use
morally compromised cell lines in the design, development, or the production of the vaccine. A
confirmatory test, however, employing the commonly used, but morally compromised cell line
HEK 293 was performed on both vaccines.
This is where the main debate has been. The issue is that those cells were derived from aborted
fetuses back in the 1960’s and early 1070’s. But the tests that were performed were in no way
performed on embryos at any stages.
It is undeniable of the sources of these cells; however, in using the principles of cooperation it is
deduced that the level of material cooperation for the average person is at best remote and far

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January 29, 2021
removed. We are in no way saying that this is excusable or makes it right, nor are we supporting
the culture of death. We therefore echo the Church’s strong stance and continuous fight against
abortion. And saying that taking the vaccine is licit is in no way going against this belief. Here is
what the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith said on the 21st of December 2020.
The licit use of such vaccines does not and should not in any way imply that there is a
moral endorsement of the use of cell lines proceeding from aborted fetuses. Both
pharmaceutical companies and governmental health agencies are therefore encouraged to
produce, approve, distribute and offer ethically acceptable vaccines that do not create
problems of conscience for either health care providers or the people to be vaccinated.
Here then is the Church’s conclusion.
At the same time, practical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral
obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary. In any case, from the ethical point of view,
the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one's own health, but also on
the duty to pursue the common good. In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the
epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to protect the weakest and
most exposed. Those who, however, for reasons of conscience, refuse vaccines produced with
cell lines from aborted fetuses, must do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and
appropriate behavior, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent. In
particular, they must avoid any risk to the health of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical
or other reasons, and who are the most vulnerable.
No one is forced to take the vaccines, and no one should be demonized if they refuse the
vaccines for reasons of their conscience. This should be a voluntary decision.
Included below are links to documents for you to read and form your own conscience on the
matter.
https://www.immunize.org/talking-about-vaccines/vaticandocument.htm
https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_202012
21_nota-vaccini-anticovid_en.html
http://www.academyforlife.va/content/pav/en/the-academy/activity-academy/note-vaccini.html
https://www.usccb.org/moral-considerations-covid-vaccines
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e3ada1a6a2e8d6a131d1dcd/t/5fd3ce39e679895094dd1e4
9/1607716409962/NCBCVaccineStatementFINAL.pdf

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January 29, 2021
 DONATIONS DURING COVID-19
1. Pre-Authorized giving (monthly automatic withdrawal): contact the office

2. E-transfer: use our business email address with your

bank: donations@sthelenscatholic.ca
If you would like to use this convenient method through your bank, please follow these
instructions (some banks charge a fee):
Go online and log into your bank account. Select Interac e-transfer and select a
recipient – the first time you will have to add recipient by putting in
donations@sthelenscatholic.ca (after the first time it will then stay on your list of
recipients). Input amount to send and complete the transaction. Note in the memo area
what your donation is for; Sunday Offertory (SO), Facility Maintenance (FM) and
Building Fund (BF). (Please include your ID# in the memo - contact the office if you
do not have a parish ID.)
Example - SO $20 One transaction can be made for all three if you wish. Such a
notation could look like this: SO $xx, FM $xx, BF $xx. If your transaction does not
work the first time, please try the next day as the Diocese can only receive a set amount
of donations in a 24-hour period. If you have any questions, please email or call the
office.

3. Regular mail: send your weekly offertory envelope or cheque payable to St. Helen
Church to:
St. Helen Church
4106 Mountain St.
Beamsville, ON L0R 1B7

4. Drop off: If preferable to you, you may drop off your envelope Tuesday to Friday
mornings at the office.

5. Credit card or Paypal (Canada Helps link): https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/49448

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/119109791RR0006-st-helens-parish/
(tax receipt is issued by Canada Helps, they retain a nominal percentage as fee)

COVID 19 pandemic
Thank you for considering the financial needs of our parish during the COVID 19 pandemic. We
understand and appreciate that financial pressure on families is different today than it was even a
few months ago. We are also carefully managing the expenses at the parish and are deeply
grateful for any help you can provide. Thank you and be assured of our continued prayers and
best wishes.