PENTECOST SUNDAY
June 8, 2025
Sunday Readings:
https://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/?select_date=2025-06-08
This weekend, the Church celebrates Pentecost, one of the most important feast days of the year that concludes the Easter season and celebrates the beginning of the Church. Pentecost always occurs 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus and 10 days after his ascension into heaven. Because Easter is a moveable feast without a fixed date, and Pentecost depends on the timing of Easter, Pentecost can fall anywhere between May 10 and June 13. The timing of these feasts is also where Catholics get the concept of the novena — nine days of prayer — because in Acts 1, Mary and the Apostles prayed together “continuously” for nine days after the Ascension leading up to Pentecost. Traditionally, the Church prays the novena to the Holy Spirit in the days before Pentecost. The name of the day itself is derived from the Greek word “pentecoste,” meaning 50th.
Welcome to St. Eugene’s
St. Eugene’s is the cathedral church for the Diocese of Santa Rosa, located in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California. Our parish community includes more than 1700 registered parishioner households and a school for preschool through eighth grade students. Our parish was founded in 1950 and became the cathedral when the Diocese of Santa Rosa was established in 1962.
Announcements
Please check this week’s bulletin for all current announcements. Only special announcements or ones that didn’t make it into the bulletin are listed here.
June 8, 2025 Pentecost Sunday bulletin - Eight Deadly Thoughts - Sloth
Dear People of God,
Continuing the discussion on the Eight Deadly Thoughts: The reason that sloth is harmful is that it prevents us from doing what we really need to be doing in life. It also brings up an interesting distinction that I learned a couple years ago: that studiousness and curiosity are different things. I had always thought that they were the same until someone gave me a different way of looking at them. Admittedly, there may be several different points of view on this subject. Studiousness is when a person is focused on and diligent towards work that is legitimately placed before the person by some authority. For instance, a child doing homework from school upon coming home after school is an example of studiousness. Whereas curiosity would be when a person ignores the work that they legitimately have in favor of doing what they feel like doing. An example might be a child spending all of his time looking under rocks in the backyard instead of doing his homework. That kind of activity could also be a sloth of sorts, because the person involved is slothful towards the work that he should be doing. Just because that person is animated doesn’t necessarily mean that that person isn’t being slothful. Both are possible, even though that sounds like a contradiction. For instance, playing video games instead of studying for a test is sloth; thinking that it doesn’t really matter if you say your prayers because God has better things to do is sloth; leaving work for other people to do when you could feasibly do that work is sloth. We all get slothful sometimes, but we need to remember that we cannot remain in that state too long, as various negative consequences will ensue.
May God bless you all,
Very Rev. Samuel Moses Brown
Querido Pueblo de Dios,
La razón por la que la pereza es dañina es que nos impide hacer lo que realmente necesitamos hacer en la vida. También plantea una distinción interesante que aprendí hace un par de años: que el estudio y la curiosidad son cosas diferentes. Siempre había pensado que eran lo mismo hasta que alguien me dio una forma diferente de mirarlas. Es cierto que puede haber varios puntos de vista sobre este tema. El estudio es cuando una persona está enfocada y es diligente en el trabajo que legítimamente se le presenta por alguna autoridad. Por ejemplo, un niño haciendo la tarea de la escuela al llegar a casa es un ejemplo de estudio. Mientras que la curiosidad sería cuando una persona ignora el trabajo que legítimamente tiene a favor de hacer lo que le apetece. Un ejemplo podría ser un niño pasando todo su tiempo mirando debajo de las piedras en el jardín en lugar de hacer su tarea.
Ese tipo de actividad también podría considerarse una pereza de cierto tipo, porque la persona involucrada es perezosa con respecto al trabajo que debería estar haciendo. Solo porque esa persona esté animada no significa necesariamente que no esté siendo perezosa. Ambas son posibles, aunque eso suene a una contradicción. Por ejemplo, jugar videojuegos en lugar de estudiar para un examen es pereza; pensar que realmente no importa si dices tus oraciones porque Dios tiene cosas más importantes que hacer es pereza; dejar el trabajo para que otras personas lo hagan cuando tú podrías hacer ese trabajo es pereza. Todos nos volvemos perezosos a veces, pero necesitamos recordar que no podemos permanecer en ese estado demasiado tiempo, ya que seguirán diversas consecuencias negativas.
Que Dios los bendiga a todos,
Muy Rev. Samuel Moses Brown
June 1, 2025 Ascension of the Lord bulletin - Eight Deadly Thoughts - Sloth
Dear People of God,
Continuing our discussion of the Eight Deadly Thoughts. The next of the thoughts is that of sloth. Sometimes people link sloth with gluttony. I believe at times there may be some relationship between these sins, however, in most cases gluttony seems to be an overstimulated desire for something. Whereas sloth is typically understood as a reduced or depressed desire for things including food. Then we have spiritual sloth which is very similar to physical sloth, but around spiritual things.
Very often people come up with some justification for this kind of sloth. So many people think that it doesn’t matter if they go to Mass, because they’re good people. People figure that they don’t need to say the rosary, because they find it boring. People crave to be entertained and stimulated, rather than to be faithful to the things that God has for them. If it doesn’t stimulate our curiosity, many people don’t feel like it’s really needed in their life.
Spiritual sloth can isolate us from God and cause us to justify so many other sins. Once we justify not attending Mass and not praying, just think of how easy it will be to justify so many other sins. If God doesn’t really care if someone prays or attends Mass, why would He care about lust, or greed, or envy? Our society accepts spiritual sloth as the norm which has had disastrous consequences on the people in our society. Once we also accept spiritual sloth as the norm, we will experience very negative consequences on our soul. We must do our best to remain animated in the faith and to encourage others to do so as well. If for no other reason, we should remember that God wants us to be in regular contact with Him. Spiritual sloth separates us from God. What could be more important than God?
May God bless you all,
Very Rev. Samuel Moses Brown
Querido Pueblo de Dios,
Continuando nuestra discusión sobre los Ocho Pensamientos Mortales. El siguiente de los pensamientos es el de la pereza. A veces, las personas vinculan la pereza con la gula. Creo que en ocasiones puede haber alguna relación entre estos pecados, sin embargo, en la mayoría de los casos la gula parece ser un deseo sobreeestimulado por algo. Mientras que la pereza se entiende típicamente como un deseo reducido o deprimido por las cosas, incluida la comida. Luego tenemos la pereza espiritual, que es muy similar a la pereza física, pero en torno a cosas espirituales.
Muy a menudo, las personas encuentran alguna justificación para este tipo de pereza. Muchas personas piensan que no importa si van a misa, porque son buenas personas. La gente cree que no necesita decir el rosario, porque lo encuentran aburrido. La gente anhela ser entretenida y estimulada, en lugar de ser fiel a las cosas que Dios tiene para ellos. Si no estimula nuestra curiosidad, muchas personas no sienten que realmente se necesite en su vida.
La pereza espiritual puede aislarnos de Dios y hacernos justificar tantos otros pecados. Una vez que justificamos no asistir a Misa y no orar, solo piensa en lo fácil que será justificar muchos otros pecados. Si a Dios realmente no le importa si alguien ora o asiste a Misa, ¿por qué le importaría la lujuria, la avaricia o la envidia? Nuestra sociedad acepta la pereza espiritual como la norma, lo que ha tenido consecuencias desastrosas en las personas de nuestra sociedad. Una vez que también aceptemos la pereza espiritual como la norma, experimentaremos consecuencias muy negativas en nuestra alma. Debemos hacer nuestro mejor esfuerzo para permanecer animados en la fe y para alentar a otros a hacer lo mismo. Si por ninguna otra razón, deberíamos recordar que Dios quiere que estemos en contacto regular con Él. La pereza espiritual nos separa de Dios. ¿Qué podría ser más importante que Dios?
Que Dios los bendiga a todos,
Muy Rev. Samuel Moses Brown
May 25, 2025 6th Sunday of Easter bulletin - Eight Deadly Thoughts - Anger
Dear People of God,
Continuing our discussion of the Eight Deadly Thoughts: Anger often follows greed or envy because we become angry that other people seem to be doing well. Other people appear to be happy with the world’s goods. Society puts on a show that it doesn’t need God. Yet, why do we feel empty without God? Why do we have to live a moral life? Why should we have to be the ones who sacrifice and work? Why can’t we have what everyone else has…because the grass is NOT greener on the other side. This is one trick of the Devil to make us leave our Christian faith and to walk away from the things that our God has given us. But if we embrace the ways of the world and live as if morality doesn’t exist, we don’t feel better, we feel worse. Then, we will get angry because of that! Either way, there appears to be a false choice between two options: live morally and be angry that it seems like it doesn’t matter, or live like everyone else and be angry that that doesn’t make us happy.
We often hear that emotions are not good or bad in themselves, it is what someone does with them that is important. Though this is true, we also need to understand the classical Christian understanding of anger as sinful. We can view anger as being an interior reaction to outside stimuli that then becomes manifest when someone decides to express it. The language that we speak can also influence how we view anger. In English, we say things like: “he is making me angry.” As opposed to a Romance language, such as Spanish, wherein a person would say: “me enojo” (that is: “I make myself angry”). Really the Spanish way of speaking is correct, we make ourselves angry in given situations, but we can control ourselves. That is where the sin enters into the situation. We can control ourselves, but we don’t.
May God bless you all,
Very Rev. Samuel Moses Brown
Querido Pueblo de Dios,
Continuando nuestra discusión sobre los Ocho Pensamientos Mortales: La ira a menudo sigue a la avaricia o envidia porque nos enojamos al ver que otras personas parecen estar haciéndolo bien. Otras personas parecen ser felices con los bienes del mundo. La sociedad hace un espectáculo de que no necesita a Dios. Sin embargo, ¿por qué nos sentimos vacíos sin Dios? ¿Por qué debemos vivir una vida moral? ¿Por qué deberíamos ser nosotros los que sacrificamos y trabajamos? ¿Por qué no podemos tener lo que tienen los demás... porque la hierba NO es más verde al otro lado? Este es un truco del Diablo para hacernos abandonar nuestra fe cristiana y alejarnos de las cosas que nuestro Dios nos ha dado. Pero si abrazamos las formas del mundo y vivimos como si la moralidad no existiera, no nos sentimos mejor, nos sentimos peor. ¡Entonces, nos enojaremos por eso! De cualquier manera, parece haber una falsa elección entre dos opciones: vivir moralmente y enojarse porque parece que no importa, o vivir como los demás y enojarse porque eso no nos hace felices.
A menudo escuchamos que las emociones no son buenas ni malas en sí mismas, lo que importa es lo que alguien hace con ellas. Aunque esto es cierto, también necesitamos entender la comprensión clásica cristiana de la ira como un pecado. Podemos ver la ira como una reacción interior a estímulos externos que luego se manifiesta cuando alguien decide expresarla. El lenguaje que hablamos también puede influir en cómo vemos la ira. En inglés, decimos cosas como: “me está haciendo enojar”. A diferencia de un idioma romance, como el español, donde una persona diría: “me enojo” (es decir: “me hago enojar”). Realmente la forma de hablar en español es correcta, nos hacemos enojar en ciertas situaciones, pero podemos controlarnos. Ahí es donde entra el pecado en la situación. Podemos controlarnos, pero no lo hacemos.
Que Dios los bendiga a todos,
El Muy Rev. Samuel Moses Brown
May 18, 2025 5th Sunday of Easter bulletin - Eight Deadly Thoughts - Anger
Dear People of God,
Continuing through the Eight Deadly Thoughts, we come to anger. We all feel overwhelmed at times and we feel like yelling, hitting, making bad gestures. Those behaviors do not respect the dignity of other people and they are usually motivated by an interior sense of self righteousness. That is often the root of anger in our life. Living in a culture where people are free to express their emotions, we feel as if it’s acceptable to express anything we want. But in many other cultures of the world, people are expected not to show emotion if it will cause difficulty for others. People are expected to be polite even when they are upset. When we yell at people without a real reason or scare our kids by being so angry, we are sinning. The time for yelling is some kind of actual emergency. We would yell at someone to prevent that person from getting hit by a car, for instance. Anger is when we surrender our rationality if we do not get what we want. We yell when someone else is driving poorly. We use foul language when we don’t get our way. We hit someone because they “won’t listen.” These are all common examples of things that do offend our God. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “judge not, that you may not be judged,” “whatever you wish that other would do to you, do also to them,” and “everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” We are not perfect and will continue to give into anger. When that happens, we should seek to reconcile in a way that improves the relationship even when there has been significant strife or conflict.
Very Rev. Samuel Moses Brown
Querido Pueblo de Dios,
Continuando con los Ocho Pensamientos Mortales, llegamos a la ira. Todos nos sentimos abrumados a veces y sentimos ganas de gritar, golpear, hacer gestos negativos. Esos comportamientos no respetan la dignidad de otras personas y generalmente están motivados por un sentido interior de autojusticia. Esa es a menudo la raíz de la ira en nuestra vida. Viviendo en una cultura donde las personas son libres de expresar sus emociones, sentimos que es aceptable expresar lo que queramos. Pero en muchas otras culturas del mundo, se espera que las personas no muestren emociones si causará dificultades para otros. Se espera que las personas sean educadas incluso cuando están molestas. Cuando gritamos a las personas sin una razón real o asustamos a nuestros hijos al estar tan enojados, estamos pecando. El momento para gritar es en alguna clase de emergencia real. Gritaríamos a alguien para evitar que esa persona fuera atropellada por un coche, por ejemplo. La ira es cuando entregamos nuestra racionalidad si no conseguimos lo que queremos. Gritamos cuando alguien más está manejandoconduciendo mal. Usamos lenguaje grosero cuando no conseguimos lo que queremos. Golpeamos a alguien porque "no escuchará". Estos son ejemplos comunes de cosas que ofenden a nuestro Dios. Jesús dijo en el Sermón del Monte: "no juzguen, para que no sean juzgados", "todo lo que deseen que otros les hagan, háganlo también a ellos", y "cualquiera que esté enojado con su hermano será responsable de juicio". No somos perfectos y seguiremos cediendo a la ira. Cuando eso sucede, debemos buscar reconciliarnos de una manera que mejore la relación, incluso cuando ha habido un conflicto o una tensión significativa.
Muy Rev. Samuel Moses Brown
May 11, 2025 4th Sunday of Easter bulletin - The Blessing of Mothers
May 4, 2025 3rd Sunday of Easter bulletin - Acknowledgments for our Holy Week liturgies
April 27, 2025 2nd Sunday of Easter bulletin - The 8 Deadly Thoughts (continued)
April 20, 2025 Easter Sunday bulletin - Easter Sunday Message
April 13, 2025 Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord bulletin - Lenten Series VI
April 6, 2025 Fifth Sunday of Lent bulletin - The Eight Deadly thoughts - Lenten Series V
March 23, 2025 Third Sunday of Lent bulletin - The Eight Deadly Thoughts - Lenten Series III - FOOD
March 16, 2025 Second Sunday of Lent bulletin - The Eight Deadly Thoughts - Lenten Series II
March 9, 2025 First Sunday of Lent bulletin - The Eight Deadly Thoughts - Lenten Series I
March 2, 2025 Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Lenten Repentance - Fish Fry
February 23, 2025 Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Lenten Penances
February 16, 2025 Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Marriage Week
February 2, 2025 Feast of the Presentation of the Lord bulletin - Church architectural terms
January 26, 2025 Third Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Jesus’ Baptism - Acknowledgements
January 19, 2025 Second Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Gospel of Luke - St. Patrick’s Gala?
January 12, 2025 The Baptism of the Lord bulletin - New Year’s Resolutions?
January 5, 2025 The Epiphany of the Lord bulletin - Christmas season end? - Jubilee
December 29, 2024 Feast of the Holy Family bulletin - Purple: Royalty + Penance
December 22, 2024 Fourth Sunday of Advent bulletin - Christian Peace
December 15, 2024 Third Sunday of Advent bulletin - Advent Joy + Preparation
December 8, 2024 Second Sunday of Advent bulletin - Advent - Loving Rescue
December 1, 2024 First Sunday of Advent bulletin - New Liturgical Year C - Advent Practices
November 24, 2024 Christ the King bulletin - Give Thanks to God
November 17, 2024 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Prayer + Sacrifice
November 10, 2024 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Penitential Rite
November 3, 2024 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Eucharistic Prayers (cont.)
October 27, 2024 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Eucharistic Prayers
October 20, 2024 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time bulletin - Do you believe? & Eucharistic Prayers
October 13, 2024 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - All Saints’ Day & All Souls’ Day coming
October 6, 2024 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Prepare!
September 29, 2024 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Receiving Holy Communion
September 22, 2024 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Humility & Helping Hand
September 15, 2024 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Penitential Rite
September 8, 2024 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Renew our faith
September 1, 2024 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time bulletin - Kneeling during Mass
Special Feature in the bulletin for August 25, 2024 - Why Do We Venerate Relics?
August 18, 2024 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time Bulletin - Sunday is special
August 11, 2024 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time Bulletin - Holy Eucharist => Eternal Life
August 4, 2024 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Signs and Miracles
July 21, 2024 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Bulletin - Ordinary Time
July 14, 2024 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Bulletin - Seek God’s presence
July 7, 2024 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Bulletin - Embrace Jesus
June 30, 2024 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time Bulletin - Jesus heals
June 23, 2024 Bulletin 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time Bulletin - Stewardship
June16, 2024 Bulletin - Father’s Day - Special Message: The Head of the Family
May 26, 2024 Trinity Sunday Bulletin - The Mystery of the Trinity
May 19, 2024 Pentecost Bulletin - Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful
Del Pastor: Domingo de Pentecostés
May 12, 2024 Seventh Sunday of Easter - Ascension Bulletin - Follow Him to Eternity
May 5, 2024 Sixth Sunday of Easter Bulletin - Our Relationship with God
April 28, 2024 Fifth Sunday of Easter Bulletin - We are the branches
April 21, 2024 Fourth Sunday of Easter Bulletin - Jesus is Our Shepherd
April 14, 2024 Third Sunday of Easter Bulletin - Resurrection: nice idea or truth?
April 7, 2024 Second Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday - Bulletin - Several titles - 2nd Sunday of Easter
March 31, 2024 Easter Sunday Bulletin - Christ the Lord is Risen!
March 24, 2024 Bulletin - Welcome the Lord… at all times
March 17, 2024 Bulletin - Countdown to the Passion
March 10, 2024 Bulletin - The Light of God
March 3, 2024 Bulletin - Spiritual & Physical maintenance
February 25, 2024 Bulletin - Transfiguration - God’s Ways
February 18, 2024 Bulletin - All About Lent
February 11, 2024 Bulletin - Jesus Heals a leper - Thanking God
February 4, 2024 Bulletin - Jesus is the Messiah - the Healer
January 28, 2024 Bulletin - The Word of God
January 21, 2024 Bulletin — Time of Fulfillment in the Gospel of Mark
January 14, 2024 Bulletin - Ordinary Time/Gospel of Mark
January 7, 2024 Bulletin — Epiphany
Pastor’s Desk
Mass, Confession, & Adoration Schedule
Weekly Mass Schedule
Weekday Mass
Mon-Fri — 6:45 a.m. & 8 a.m.
Tues — 5:30 p.m.
Saturday — 8 a.m.
Saturday Evening Vigil:
4:30 p.m. (English)
6:30 p.m. (Spanish)
Sunday Mass:
7:30 a.m.
9 a.m.
10:30 a.m. *
12 noon
5:30 p.m.
Only the Sunday, 10:30 a.m. Mass (*) will continue to be live-streamed on St. Eugene Cathedral YouTube Channel. An outdoor speaker and/or monitor will only be placed outside for special Masses/events that would require outside overflow seating.
Holy Day Mass Schedule
The usual schedule for Holy Days follows. Please check current bulletin for any changes.
6:45 a.m., 8 a.m., 5:30 p.m. and
7 p.m. (Spanish)9:20 a.m. school Mass during the school year
Adoration Times
24 hours a day. Passcode required.º
º The Adoration Chapel is open for Perpetual Adoration. See the announcement above, the latest bulletin, or the Adoration web page for more information.
Confession
Saturday 3:00-4:30 p.m. or by appointment
First Saturday of every month prior to and during the 8 a.m. Mass
Sunday Masses Confession:
No regular schedule - dependent on priests’ availability.