Dear Friends,

In last week’s gospel, the Sadducees tried to trap Jesus by asking if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not. In this week’s gospel the Pharisees, having heard how Jesus had “silenced” the Sadducees (remember the episode about the coin?) decided to test him by asking which commandment of the law is the greatest. By the way, not all Pharisees nor all Sadducees were “villains,” though that’s how they’re often portrayed in the gospel. Many were devout and faithful though some did try to trip up this Galilean rabbi, Jesus, whose answer was, of course, beyond reproach: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

In any case, the question begs reflection. It’s one thing to know the answer to what the greatest commandment is and quite another to examine our own lives to see if we are obedient to it.

In the second reading, Paul writes to the Thessalonians about their “receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers ...”

One could say that we are in a time of “great affliction” having had to adjust to the pandemic since last March. Judging by the atmosphere at “mass on the grass” these last months, I think we have received the word “with joy from the Holy Spirit.” The gospel and first reading give us the signposts to become “a model for all the believers.”

In the first reading, the chosen people are commanded: “You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong any widow or orphan.” The reading continues with a warning against usury and that the Lord will hear the cry of those wronged, and “my wrath will flare up.” I like to imagine what may happen to certain credit card companies...but I digress.

Toppers Pizza will donate back 20% of pre-tax sales generated by our group.
Show this flyer to the cashier when you place your order (or tell operator for phone orders).

​Also visit: Knights of Columbus

Our St. Vincent de Paul ministry extends sincere gratitude for your generosity during Christmas. You helped make 2019 Christmas brighter for 31 families. With your support, 161 individuals experienced a Christmas they will never forget.
​
About
This program meets a critical need in assisting our local community of families who have experienced a greater than usual financial hardship due to the pandemic. We are looking for families, who have been blessed this year and want to give back in gratitude, to participate by purchasing Christmas gifts for the family members they adopt. Your support will bring joy to your family as well as to the family you adopt during this holiday season.

​​​Questions or to participate:
Annette Prosser (805) 558·7134, annetteprosser@gmail.com
Thank you!

Also visit: St. Vincent de Paul, Groups, Outreach

We gather to share faith, fun and Spanish.
Beginning levels are welcome to learn and practice Spanish.
Each session will include a proclamation of the weekly Psalm in English and Spanish, a discernment of its meaning, and learning more vocabulary by focusing on key Spanish words in the Psalm.

Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 845 2489 5877
Passcode: 167442
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,84524895877#,,,,,,0#,,167442# US (San Jose)  

To register/questions:
Patricia Quezada
(805) 827·5903
patty.g.q14@gmail.com

In Jesus’s time, there were men and women who were Jewish, living under the Roman government as residents of Galilee, Judea, and surrounding regions. Also living among the Jews were Romans, Samaritans, and Gentiles. Like us they were spouses, parents, children, and siblings who had jobs and responsibilities in the empire.

​In today’s gospel, the Pharisees are determined to undermine Jesus by asking if the Jews should pay taxes to Caesar. While they are opposed to paying the tax, the Pharisees quickly produced a coin upon Jesus’ request which seems to imply their use and acceptance of its benefits. Sidestepping a direct answer about lawfulness issue, Jesus instead directs them to “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” He’s saying if you’re going to use Caesar’s coin, then repay him, but more importantly give to God what belongs to God.  
 
Sometimes this gospel story has been used to argue for the separation of religion and politics. But Jesus is saying it’s not that simple. There’s a danger in compartmentalizing our lives, religion from politics and the spiritual from the worldly, because, like Caesar’s imprinted image on the coin, God’s image is imprinted on our hearts. At the core of our being is our creator God. We belong to God and his imprint should inform and influence every part of us, everything that makes us who we are. Before our secondary identities, we are children of God. Before we are spouses, parents, friends, co-workers, citizens, residents, liberal or conservative, we are children of God and as such, we are whole persons called to give back to God by living the gospel values, values that influence how we live, work, play, vote, make decisions, and interact with others and the world around us.

Vigil / Rosary
Thursday, October 22, 2020
4:30 pm
Padre Serra Parish

Funeral Liturgy
Friday, October 23, 2020
9:00 am
Padre Serra Parish

​Funeral
Following Mass
Griffin Family Funeral

In both the first reading, from Isaiah, and in the Gospel, the topic is feasting. God is holding a big bash, the very biggest – no exaggeration here – and we’ve all received an invitation!

Isaiah writes for people in the king’s court. Food would have been abundant there under almost all circumstances except, perhaps, in time of war and siege. Matthew’s Gospel, written five to seven centuries later, was addressed to ordinary people, most of whom would have lived very close to hunger. Most people seldom had meat, except on special feast days, and survived on a diet of bread with the fruits and vegetables of the season. The food would either require hours of preparation, or purchase from a tavern or restaurant with high prices. Bad weather like drought or flooding, field pests and warfare made famine an ever-present possibility.

If you recall when, out of his compassion for the hungry crowds, Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes, and everyone ate their fill and there were baskets of food left over, people continued to follow Jesus for days, hoping for a repeat of the feasting. Jesus tried to redirect their attention to the eternal questions and the bread of heaven – see John, chapter 6 – but his followers’ bellies got the best of them. They had lived so long with hunger it was hard for them to shift from that focus.

Even today, access to food depends on where you live. Although the statistics I’m giving vary from one version to the next, the following seems to be in the middle of the scholarly offerings. In the United States, average Americans spends roughly 6.4% of their income for food. In 1900 AD, only 120 years ago, providing food for a family consumed as much as 43% of wages, whereas housing was only 23%. Things certainly have flipped.

In Nigeria today, on the other hand, each household spends only half of what we would on food in a year. There, however, that lesser amount consumes 56.4% percent of most household’s earnings. Food is a much greater concern for the average person in Nigeria than it is for us in the United States.

I share these stats just to give us an idea of how different the whole question of feeding one’s family can be from time to time, and place to place.

In both Isaiah and Matthew, there is a banquet prepared of rich food and pure choice wines, of slaughtered calves and fattened cattle. For their audiences, these images are very suitable metaphors for heaven where, finally, there would be enough for everyone. The wonderful thing is that we’re all invited.

We live in such abundance that we may have to reach a little to understand how these feasts would have affected the original audiences. In Jesus’ parable, in particular, it would have been disturbing that people bypassed the opportunity repeatedly offered them. The incomprehensible behavior of the invited, but unwilling, guests deeply offends the king.

The parable is actually speaking of the history of God’s chosen people, always invited into an eternal relationship with God, but often distracted by the world’s affairs. Can we honestly say that it is any different with us? The invitation still stands; the feast is still ready; the king has dispatched his servants to bring us together. The experience is going to be rich; the king offers the best of what is possible; the reward is eternal. Is it possible that we, too, are too busy to respond?

Dear Faith Family,

I hope that you are all doing well.

The Faith Formation year has started! And while it looks vastly different from our previous years, I just wanted to take time to assure you that the parish staff and volunteers are still committed to sharing the glory of our faith to the children and teens of the parish.

Regarding the Confirmation process, we are beginning our Year 1 classes this Sunday via Zoom. We have had some experience with Zoom during the tail­end of Year 2 Confirmation when the pandemic first hit, so the leaders and I have confidence that digital learning won’t deter us from effectively sharing our testimonies with the teens. We have also restarted peer leader meetings on Tuesdays so we can brainstorm to create ideas to evangelize via Zoom.

We have also continued 4:12 throughout this quarantine and it has been a huge success. There is something about the teens using their free time to rejuvenate their faith by spending time with their peers. I know it affects me tremendously. We meet most Wednesdays at 7:15.

Although things look different and we are praying that things start to look the same, I just wanted to share with you that the mission stays intact. Just because the world shut down, it doesn’t mean that we should cease “Encountering Jesus and Being Disciples.” This, in fact, is the cornerstone of our parish and it would be a failure to divert from this cornerstone.

If you have a teen who is interested in 4:12 or leadership, please add us on Instagram (@pspyouth), that is where we post the Zoom information for each meeting (we post the meeting code in the stories). If you or your teen don’t have access to Instagram, feel free to email us at youthministry@padreserra.org

​Funeral Liturgy
Friday, October 9, 2020
9:00 am
Padre Serra Parish

​Funeral
Following Mass
Conejo Mountain

Dear Parish Family,
Happy Catechetical Sunday to you all. On this day we celebrate the importance of passing on the faith and being witnesses to the Gospel. The root of the word Catechesis comes from a Greek word meaning “to echo, or resound.” Catechism is the act of resounding or bringing the Church’s teachings to the world. A catechist is one who teaches in the name of the Church. This ministry of teaching in the name of the Church has a profound dignity, which is why catechists are formally commissioned by the Church.

“The 2020 Catechetical Sunday theme is taken from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, “I Received from the Lord what I also Handed on to You.” This theme focuses on the essential work of catechesis, which is an invitation to a whole new life given by Christ Himself. It emphasizes that living faith necessitates movement, inspiring all those who hear the Word to share it as witnesses of the true and living God.” ­ Bishop Robert Barron; USCCB

On this day we not only highlight the work of catechists in parishes and schools, but we also commend parents and guardians and encourage them to take seriously their role of making their Catholic households a place where faith is passed on to the next generation. Parents are truly the primary catechists of their children. This has become even more evident this year, with the pandemic, so many of you became not only academic teachers, but with the closures of the church buildings, you became the main source of faith to the children in your life. Building the domestic church; recognizing that it’s not the building, but the gathering of believers that makes the Church.

This is why the rite of blessing of catechists used on Catechetical Sunday includes a blessing of parents and guardians. You too will be commissioned and blessed, in your vocation and mission. To all catechists in our lives, parents and grandparents, priests and deacons, religious sisters, church family, all who have been encounters of Jesus in our lives, we thank you!

Dear friends on the journey,

On September 6, 2018 Botham Jean was killed by Amber Guyger. Thirteen months later Amber was convicted of murder and sentenced to ten years in prison. The circumstances of this case are important, but not the whole story. You may recall that Amber was a white female police officer who entered what she thought was her apartment to find Botham, a young black man, sitting on her couch. Thinking he was an intruder, she fatally wounded him. Later it was revealed that it was in fact not her apartment. She entered Botham’s home where he was unarmed, sitting on the couch eating ice cream.

I believe the lesson here is forgiveness. At the sentencing hearing, Botham’s brother Brandt, in his victim impact statement, told Amber that he loved her as a person, wanted only the best for her, and offered his forgiveness for her actions that had ultimately taken his brother’s life. Brandt then asked permission to hug the defendant Amber. Gasps, tears and sniffles filled the courtroom during their one­minute embrace.

What struck me most deeply in this tragic story was young Brandt. How could someone forgive the murderer of a loved one? How could an 18­year­old have such wisdom? He said it repeatedly in his statement…God. It was clear that his Christian faith has so strongly shaped this young man and his values. He understood that God would forgive her, and that he should too. I wonder if I could do the same thing. Could I offer forgiveness to someone who hurt me so deeply?

To this point in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is revealing the secrets of the kingdom of God. We’ve had the Beatitudes back in chapter six followed by his teachings on the dangers of wealth, the importance of denying oneself, and thinking as God does. In today’s parable, Jesus offers another insight: God’s mercy and the necessity of forgiveness. Grace, mercy, compassion and forgiveness not only describe the kingdom of God in heaven, they are also the keys to God’s kingdom on earth and how to live a happy life now.

Today’s gospel holds us to a higher standard in God’s kingdom and teaches us about the freedom that comes with forgiveness. Nelson Mandela said it well: “Not forgiving someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” The resentment, anger, pain, and grudges we harbor only bind us. Only when we ask God’s forgiveness and we forgive others can we make space for God’s grace and mercy in our lives, thus in turn our transgressor’s life.

The rub is in the place of forgiving and not forgetting. Forgiveness is not forgetting nor condoning but an opportunity to learn a lesson and more about ourselves and another. This is the place of growth and transformation and to encounter Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice for our forgiveness.

Dear Parishioners,
 
I am praying for you, not simply that you weather these days, but that you triumph over adversity, that you not merely endure each other, but that your capacity for love becomes ever more like Jesus’ own, and that when faced with great financial or emotional difficulties, you find the strength you need each day.
 
It’s probably long past time for an update on what has been happening. So, I am sending this message because there are some coming Mass time changes, a new entrance to the parking lot, and new paving.
 
New Mass Schedule: The days are getting shorter, and although the summer’s warmth endures, we know that, too, will change. On the first weekend of October, we will begin the following schedule:

• Reconciliation
  Saturdays, 3:30-4:30 in the courtyard (or by appointment)
• Livestream Mass
  Sunday 11:00 am (not open to public attendance – Holy Communion following at the gazebo until 12:30)
• Mass on the Grass
  Saturdays, 5:00 pm
  Sundays, 9:00 am and 5:00 pm

 
As before, all parishioners, including priests and deacons, will wear masks covering their mouths and noses. State guidelines permit us to wear face shields in addition to facemasks, but not in place of them.
 
New parking lot entrance: At long last, our new entrance on Arboleda Road will be open this weekend. This will allow parishioners travelling east on Upland Road to turn left into the parking lot at both entrances. It will also permit both right and left hand turns, when exiting, at both gates. The new parking lot in the back is also available for parking for Mass on the Grass.
 
Parking lot paving: I am sorry for all the inconvenience over these months. It is not quite over. Our parking lots require maintenance. On Wednesday through Friday, September 23rd — 25th, different sections of the parking lot will be closed for resurfacing. There will always be parking available for morning Mass those days, but the walk will probably be longer than usual on some of them.
 
Other reminders:

• The parish bulletin continues to include a weekly column, announcements and activities for children. Be sure to give it a good look each week
• Faith formation is beginning soon. Please make sure to sign up your children and youth.
• The offices may be closed for the time being, but the receptionist is at her desk until 5 each day to receive your calls.
• I continue taking appointments, either by Zoom, or socially distanced in the courtyard.

 
As you can see, the parish is not “closed.” We carry on together in spirit, even when not in the same place. The church survived the Black Death, when one in three people in Europe succumbed. We will by the grace of God, continue to encounter Jesus and be His disciples, even in our own challenging times.
 
Siempre adelante,
 
Fr. Patrick

Funeral Liturgy
Friday, September 18
9:00 am
Padre Serra Parish

​Funeral
Following Mass
Conejo Mountain