The Diocese of Sacramento plans two Jubilee Year events for Northern California Catholics this month, including a three-day eucharistic congress featuring several speakers.

The diocese plans two Masses to mark the Jubilee Day for Women, honoring and recognizing women for their contributions to society and to the church and asking them to reflect on the challenges of the next century. The theme of the Jubilee day is “Women Saying Yes to God.”

Bishop William K Weigand will celebrate a bilingual Mass for women from parishes in the northern part of the diocese on Saturday, March 18 at 5 p.m. at Sacred Heart Church in Anderson. He will also celebrate a Mass for women on Sunday, March 19 at 12 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento.

During both Masses, Jessie Shields of Sacred Heart Parish in Red Bluff will give a reflection on the Jubilee Day for Women theme. Shields served for many years on the Diocesan Pastoral Council and the U.S. bishops’ National Advisory Council. She currently serves on The Catholic Herald’s advisory board and is chairwoman of Mercy Foundation North’s board of trustees.

The diocese’s Family Life Department, which is coordinating the Jubilee Day for Women events, has sent a informational packet out to all parishes in the diocese so that parishes may celebrate the achievements of women during liturgies on the weekend of March 18-19. John Rieschick, director of the Family Life Department, said representatives from various Catholic women’s organizations will participate in the Jubilee Masses on March 18 and 19.

Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb of Mobile, Ala., will be the keynote speaker at the diocese’s eucharistic congress March 24-26. Archbishop Lipscomb, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy and a member of the bishops’ Subcommittee on the Millennium, will address diocesan pastoral leaders on Friday, March 24 at St. Anthony Parish in Sacramento. His topic will be “Faith is Necessary for Eucharist: Eucharist is Necessary for Faith.”

The archbishop will expand on this topic during a keynote address to the public at 9 a.m. on March 25 at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in downtown Sacramento.

Mass of the Annunciation will be celebrated March 25 at 12 noon in the cathedral, followed by workshops in the lower level and at the Hyatt Hotel from 1 to 4 p.m. with speakers Atonement Father John Keane, Jesuit Father John Coleman, Mercy Sister Katherine Doyle, Rieschick and Elvira Ramirez. Workshops will focus on various topics related to the Eucharist.

Similar congress programs will take place in Spanish on March 25 at St. Rose Parish in Sacramento, beginning with Mass of the Annunciation at 8:30 a.m., followed by a keynote address at 9:30 a.m. by Bishop Jose de Trinidad Sepulveda, retired ordinary of San Juan de los Lagos in Mexico. Workshop speakers from 1 to 4 p.m. will be Sister Ana Maria Rizo, Father Rodolfo Llamas and Sister Soledad Castillo.

On Sunday, March 26, the program in Spanish will continue at St. Rose with a 9 a.m. keynote address by Sister Rizo, followed by an 10:30 a.m. procession to the cathedral. Bishop Weigand will preside at a multi-cultural Mass in the cathedral at 1:30 p.m.

Throughout the congress on March 24-25, eucharistic adoration will be held at St. Elizabeth Parish in Sacramento. Prayers and devotions will be led in English and Spanish by members of parish youth ministry groups.

There is no registration fee to attend the congress in English or Spanish, but a free will offering will be taken to help cover expenses. English participants are asked to register in advance in order to specify which workshops they will attend on March 25.

For information on the diocesan eucharistic congress in English, call (916) 733-0123. For information on the Spanish-language portion of the congress, call (916) 733-0177.

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