Blog Archives

2/28/2023

1932 - 2023

Funeral Liturgy
Wednesday, April 26
11:00 am
Padre Serra Parish

Dear friends on the journey,

Have you seen the meme depicting a remote cozy cabin in the woods with the caption, “Could you stay here without internet, phone, or television for thirty days?” Some memes offer a bonus condition of receiving a million dollars at the end of the month. Money or no money, my response is always and without hesitation, “Why yes; yes I could and would.” I would love to experience something like that. Just me, a stack of books, my Bible and journal, a retreat plan from my spiritual direction, comfy clothes and blankets, good food and snacks, coffee, and maybe some wine.

Today’s gospel story is a slightly similar situation in that Jesus retreats to the wilderness for forty days following his baptism. But this is where the similarities end between Jesus’ wilderness experience and my cabin retreat. Matthew tells us that Jesus was taken by the Spirit to the desert to be tempted by the devil three times. The first temptation is to get Jesus to rely on his own power, not God’s. The second temptation is to test God’s promise of protection and the third offers Jesus the promise of all the world’s kingdoms if he just worships the devil. But each time Jesus resists the temptation, rebuking the devil. Jesus will not test God, nor doubt God’s faithfulness.

These temptations are not dissimilar to our own. We are tempted by a culture that tells us to be self-reliant, trust only ourselves, strive for money and power, that worldly goods provide happiness and self worth. It shames us into thinking we’re not good enough until we’re thinner, richer, more educated, living in a bigger house. It tells us to keep up with the Jones’.

Fortunately, there’s a remedy. This forty-day season and retreat of Lent is rooted in the remedies of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Prayer centers ourselves in relationship with God. In giving of our resources like money, we trust that God will provide for our needs. Fasting not only unites our suffering with Jesus’ and others’, but creates space, time, and focus for prayer and almsgiving. Lent invites us to grow in the same confidence that Jesus had in the desert to turn away from temptation to trust in God’s power, protection, forgiveness, mercy, and love.

We may not be able to go away for the next month to a comfortable cabin to ponder all this, and really, we shouldn’t, because the real growth happens in doing the work in the midst of busy normal lives. So as we begin this Lenten season, I offer a few questions to ponder:

● How can you use the forty days of Lent as a retreat?
● How are you going to incorporate prayer, fasting, and almsgiving?
● What are the temptations in your life that need to be addressed
this Lent?
● How can you become a better person on Easter Monday than you
were on Ash Wednesday?

Siempre Adelante,

Teresa Runyon
Pastoral Associate

2/23/2023

Peter Conway

1945 - 2023

Funeral Liturgy
Tuesday, March 14
10:00 am
Padre Serra Parish

Mortuary
Reardon, Simi Valley

2/21/2023

Tim Higgins

1930 - 2023

Brother of Eileen Richards
Funeral & Celebration of Life
Friday, March 10, 1:30 PM

Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center
700 N. Sunnyside Ave.
Sierra Madre, CA 91024

2/18/2023

To Infinity and Beyond

Recently, I watched a rebroadcast of the movie, “Toy Story.” Andy received for his birthday the latest and greatest toy on the market, a Buzz Lightyear. Much to the dismay of his formerly beloved action figure Sheriff Woody, Andy loved his new Buzz Lightyear “to infinity and beyond.” Eventually, and through many adventures, Woody and all of the toys recalled their own moments in the spotlight of Andy’s love and they reciprocated in kind. Woody and Buzz and Mr. Potato Head and Rex and Slinky Dog understood the timelessness of true unconditional love and shared it with each other.

Through today’s Gospel, Jesus calls us to this kind of enduring, persistent love. He suggests that we turn the other cheek and go the extra mile. He asks his listeners then and now to share a radical new love — to love as God loves – and that includes even those we call our enemies. Who are the people in your life you find difficult to love? What must we do to love as God loves? Jesus is challenging us to move away from our old way of doing things (judgment, anger, resentment, envy) and approach others with a generous heart. He wants us to go beyond what is fair and do what is kind. We need a conversion. After all, He accepted the challenge himself — stripped of his garments, never resisting ill treatment, offering forgiveness from the cross, and dying for all of us.

In further instruction, Jesus tells us “to be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” How can we possibly reach perfection in the eyes of God?! Jesus understands the imperfections of being human. He knows we will try and fail in our efforts to be holy. He does not want us to “go it alone.” In community, as a people of God, we learn and grow and love and support, striving for wholeness with God in the sacraments. Only by turning toward God, could we hope to experience, share, and reciprocate such complete love.

This weekend, Padre Serra Parish will send 13 fallible and flawed humans to the Rite of Election, answering a call to a relationship with Christ through the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion. They hear the Good News and allow it to guide them to make the necessary changes to follow Jesus. They pray, study, and complete the work of discipleship. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the catechumens eagerly express their intention to receive the sacraments. The all-encompassing love of Christ has changed their hearts. We, the parishioners, offer our prayers and example, encouraging them to oneness in the body of Christ. We contribute to the sense of trust and belonging that brings them to a life with God

Woody and Buzz belonged to Andy, and Andy used all of his toys in fun and creative ways. However difficult it may be to “see the face of God” in everyone we meet, we all belong to God. The Spirit of God lives in each one us, therefore, we all have an immense capacity for unconditional love. As the Church, may we continue to model loving as God loves, drawing his people home.

Peace and joy,

Mary Huebner
Initiation