Saint Hilary Church and School is a caring, vibrant community which believes in promoting Catholic values, love, faith, friendship, and outreach to those in need.

If you are visiting, we welcome you and invite you to join us at Mass. If you are new to the area or a long-time resident, we look forward to having you join our community. We offer the Catholic sacraments, religious education for children and opportunities to become involved in any of our liturgical, instructional, faith & prayer, outreach or fellowship ministries. Please register with the parish to have an ambassador family help you find out what your parish has to offer!

Father William E. Brown - Pastor - BillBrown@StanfordAlumni.org

Father Roger G. Gustafson - Parochial Vicar - FatherRogerGustafson@Gmail.com

Learn more by reading:

• Our Priests' current message to parishioners
• Our current bulletin
• Our current events, news and information below and at parish news

You may now support Saint Hilary Parish by donating online - quick & easy!

This is ALSO true if you want to go online to make a donation to the Archbishop's Annual Appeal.

To learn more about our ministries, click here. To get involved in one of our ministries, click here or on the "Get Involved!" button.

WANTED: Your faithful insights on family

Pastors throughout the Archdiocese of San Francisco received an email from Archbishop Cordileone's office, inviting the faithful to prayerfully read a document ("Lineamenta") about the Church's vision of family, and then to take part in a survey so that you can share your experience, hopes, and vision about family life in this 21st century.

All of this comes thanks to Pope Francis and his desire to receive from Catholics throughout the world a sense of what good Catholic people treasure in their hearts about family life in its many forms and varieties. The Holy Father has made it crystal clear that the faithful, as was true in the early days of the Church, should have an opportunity to help their Bishops articulate what is Christian, holy and helpful when it comes to family.

Before March 6

FIRST:  read the Lineamenta prepared for next fall's Synod on the Family by clicking here. 

SECOND:  prayerfully consider what you have read, discuss it with loved ones, talk about it in your faith-sharing groups if you wish, and see what comes up in your own private meditation, as well as your frank talks with people you trust.

THIRD:  take part in a survey which you will find on the website of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, by clicking here.

FOURTH:  pray for the success of the Synod on the Family, that it may help our Church lovingly articulate what we believe about life, morals, the Gospel, and God's plan for the human race He so lovingly created in His own image.

As Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone wrote so eloquently in his memo this evening, "While this approach is novel to us, it is certainly the order of the day in the Acts of the Apostles where the leaders consult the community about problems, procedures and difficulties that arise, and then decisions are made and owned by the participants." We share with your our Archbishop's encouragement you who participate "to do so with serenity of mind as they ponder these very weighty matters confronting us today."

If a loved one would like to take part in this important process, but is not comfortable with the internet, please offer your services and help them read the online Lineamenta, discuss the study questions with you, and then complete the Survey Monkey. 

EUCHARISTIC MINISTER TRAINING:

Saturday, Feb. 28, at 11:00 a.m.

As promised, after the holidays, we are doing our annual training for this wonderful and important Ministry. Saturday, February 28, from 11:00am to 1:30pm in the church.There is still time to sign up.

Mary Musalo will be doing the training and Fr. Brown will be with us to answer your questions. Jeanne Dana, the coordinator for EMs, will be joining us as well.

We have a two-prong approach---we concentrate on the spiritual side of what it means to be a EM, and then we approach the mechanics of what happens and when.

SOUP SUPPERS ON WEDNESDAYS OF LENT

This year, by popular demand, we have moved our Lenten Soup Suppers back to Wednesdays!

Please mark your calendars, bring your family and friends, and be sure to join us each Wednesday of the Lenten Season for delicious soups, good fellowship, and of course the 5:30 p.m. Mass just before the supper.

Various organizations volunteer to prepare the soups each Wednesday; call Diana if you want to learn more.

Our parish Pro-Life Group cordially invites you to take part in the "Forty Days For Life" campaign, which begins on Ash Wednesday. To learn more click here.

We are offering five new Faith Sharing groups: 

• Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights
• Wednesday and Saturday mornings

I asked Janice Russell, our daily sacristan, to jot down what she has experienced during her two years of involvement with the Women's faith-sharing group, and here is what Janice wrote:

"First, I should disclose that I have never joined any faith-sharing groups before and had to push myself to attend the first one. I didn't think I was 'the type' to share my prayer experience or to discuss my thoughts about the Gospel readings. Plus, I had never studied scripture and didn't think I had much to offer a group.

I've come to learn that a faith-sharing group isn't about becoming a scripture scholar. It's about learning how God reveals himself to each of us in unique and mysterious ways when we read scripture and reflect on the Word of God together. The Word of God is broken open by others' experiences in ways I would never have imagined. Faith-sharing truly can lead to a conversion of heart."

Many good Catholic people want to do a little something extra or special for the Season of Lent, so please prayerfully consider if this opportunity might be good for you!

LENTEN REGULATIONS: 

As in the past, the following regulations are in place for Abstaining and Fasting during Lent:

ABSTINENCE:  Everyone fourteen years of age and older is bound to abstain from meat on ASH WEDNESDAY, the FRIDAYS of Lent and GOOD FRIDAY.

FAST:  Everyone eighteen years of age and older but under the age of sixty is also 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 another full meal.  Drinking liquids during the day is permitted.

When health or ability to work would be seriously affected, the law does not oblige.   In doubt concerning fast or abstinence, a priest assigned to pastoral ministry or confessor should be consulted.  In the spirit of penance, the faithful should not lightly excuse themselves from this obligation.

We have implemented a new, easier approach to making donations to St. Hilary Parish. To make a one-time or recurring donation online, click here or on the button.

Our very own Catholic newspaper!

If you live in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and would enjoy reading our local paper, Catholic San Francisco, you may now do so online in addition to receiving a printed copy at your own home.

Just hop on over to the website,

http://www.catholic-sf.org/

and click on the digital paper in English or in Spanish. There is also a helpful search engine on that page, which you can use for topics that interest you.

Father Brown's Q and A:  Sunday envelopes?

Help Saint Hilary School via eScrip!

Sign up for eScrip today and designate our parish school, St. Hilary #137965399 as the recipient of your eScript points.

We are MOST grateful to the families of our parish and of St. Hilary School who have used this easy, free method of making a big difference in helping our school and our students.

Just go to www.eScrip.com and follow the simple instructions -- be sure to plug in St. Hilary School #137965399 when you register.

God bless you! Just last year, the efforts of people like you brought in thousands of dollars for our parochial school.

Also, take a look at the eScrip online mall:  http://shopping.escrip.com

Pastor e-Mail Alerts  -  from Father William e-Brown

Would you like to receive emails from Father Brown when one of our dear parishioners passes away, or when a special event is taking place here at St. Hilary, or when a disaster strikes and we will take up a second collection for those impacted? If so, please send a brief message to:

BillBrown@StanfordAlumni.Org

Rest assured that all messages are sent as a "blind carbon copy,"

so that others cannot access your email address.