3/16/2024 “And Who Is My Neighbor?” Lk 10:29Who is our neighbor in this, our nuclear age with its wars and global conflicts? At the core of the Gospel is inclusiveness, challenging us to do the hard work of ever expanding our consciousness about who is our neighbor, and how best we can care or help in some fashion. We may associate neighbor with closeness, a next-door neighbor, or the person sitting in the next pew dealing with a mix of stresses, burdens and dreams. With a fiery new beginning in Lent, we can broaden our view of neighbor to see our neighbor in everyone with whom we come into contact: an overworked grocery clerk needing a kind word, a prayer for an impatient driver ahead of us in traffic, or a frustrated co-worker who really could benefit from a Snickers bar. It can get tough. Love of neighbor means those who may have hurt us, those we may not like, those we need to forgive, and those from whom we need forgiveness. Love of neighbor connects us closer to suffering brothers and sisters in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and people all around the world. Love of neighbor means loving those with whom we may strongly disagree politically. Perhaps, most difficult of all, may be loving the professed enemies of our country, who, like us, have the weaponry to destroy the earth. The magnificent Canticle of St. Francis of Assisi praises God for “Brother Sun and Sister Moon,” and for our “Brothers Wind, Air, and Fire,” and for “Sister Water and Mother Earth.” Can it be that in our nuclear age, the risen Christ reveals to us, that love of neighbor connects us with all of creation – including every person and every creature, even to the ends of the earth? Pax Christi USA is an organization grounded in the Gospel and Catholic social teaching and guided by the spirituality of nonviolence in order to foster a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world. To learn more, visit www.paxchristiusa.org. All are invited to our parish PAX Christi ministry. We meet every third Thursday at 7:00 pm in the San Fernando room. For more information, please contact Gary Freeberg gfreeberg@gmail.com or Deacon Luc Papillon lucpapillon@gmail.com. I extend to a heartfelt invitation to our next prayer gathering this Thursday, March 21. Siempre Adelante, Frank Bognar Parishioner and member of Pax Christi 3/8/2024 Rejoice in the Lord!Dear parish family, How is your Lenten journey going? Have you found it challenging? In need of a bit of a break? On this fourth Sunday, we are still in the middle of Lent. There are still two more weeks before we can wave our palms and enter Holy Week. This is why I think that centuries ago, the church thought it would be a good idea to make the fourth Sunday of Lent be Laetare Sunday. A Sunday when we get to ‘rejoice in the Lord.’ Just like we do during the Advent season (Gaudete Sunday), and just like then our liturgical color is rose. This simple change of color, should make us take that much-needed pause. Today we hear one of the most famous gospel verses; “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” Let us Rejoice in the Lord! What wonderful news, it should fill us with joyful anticipation of the victory to be won. Our God’s love for us is unconditional! But just like any gift given, we must be willing to receive it. This is where the continued journey of Lent will help us prepare. Once again I ask, how is your Lenten journey going? Have you had the opportunity to make meaningful changes, to receive God’s gift. Let us take our Gospel, as our guide and reminder of where we have placed the light of Christ. Jesus is the light that has come into the world, to reveal our sins so that they may be forgiven. Yet we prefer the darkness, we wish to keep our sins hidden, even from God. There is nothing our God doesn’t know about us; he knows us better than we know ourselves. We need to bring all of ourselves to God’s light, including those bits of ourselves we wish to hide. Take the remaining time of our lenten season to intentionally make those necessary changes in ourselves that only we know, and then take it to action. As we accept God’s love and gift of salvation, let us in action reflect our love for our God. We will do our part and let the Holy Spirit take over. I will pray for your continued Lenten journey to be filled with hope and blessings, please pray for me too. Siempre Adelante, Tere Delgado Faith Formation Minister 3/1/2024 Is the Lord in our midst, or not?Dear Friends, On any given Sunday there will usually be a connection, a “bridge,” between the first reading (from the Old Testament except during the Easter Season) and the gospel. That bridge is sometimes easy to see, and sometimes a deeper reading is needed. The second reading (from the New Testament other than the gospels) is often on its own “track” but there are times like this week where there is a clear connection between it and the gospel. Paul writes to the church at Corinth: “Jews demand signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” The story from the gospel of John this week is a familiar one. Jesus “cleanses” the temple in Jerusalem, driving the moneychangers out, overturning their tables and spilling their coins. This story has meant different things to me at different times in my life. At one point, I thought its purpose was to help me feel at peace with “righteous” anger. At another, I took it as a cautionary tale about the importance of proper behavior at Mass. Later, I learned that Jesus’ ire was at the moneychangers themselves who were gouging the pious Jews of humble means who came to worship at the temple and needed to buy animals to sacrifice. But it’s what comes next that is most interesting to me: “At this, the Jews answered and said to him, ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’” There’s the “bridge” to St. Paul’s letter. “Jews demand signs ...” Jesus answers “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Even for those of us who have heard this reading many times and know that Jesus is referring to his resurrection, it is astounding. The gospel reading ends with a verse that seems foreboding but is actually cause for hope: “Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.” As we all know, human nature is weak and corrupt. Jesus knows that better than anyone. And yet, he chooses to sacrifice “the temple of his body” by suffering and dying for us, sharing in our suffering so that we can share in his glory in the resurrection. If that’s not good news, I don’t know what is! At the 11:00 am liturgy this week, we will hear a different set of readings as our catechumens – those seeking baptism, confirmation and eucharist at the Easter Vigil – undergo the first of three scrutinies. In the first reading, we will hear the story of the chosen people grumbling against Moses because of their thirst as they wander in the wilderness in search of the promised land. At the Lord’s direction, Moses strikes the rock with his staff, and water flows from it. The “bridge” to the gospel is this: We hear the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, where first he asks her for a drink, but then reveals himself to her as the living water that will quench her (and our) thirst forever. In this way Jesus answers the question posed at the end of the first reading, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?” with a deeply satisfying affirmative. Siempre Adelante, Dominic MacAller Liturgy and Music Minister 2/21/2024 Transformation to TransfigurationLast Sunday was the First Sunday of Lent which begins in the Lectionary Cycle each year with Jesus in the desert. St. Mark’s Gospel last week spoke about Satan tempting Jesus in the desert. It was not about Satan’s three temptations that we know from Luke and Matthew’s gospels but about God’s power to overcome Satanic forces. Temptation calls to all of our lives. During the Forty Days of Lent we are to examine ourselves in our “desert time” to overcome our temptations leading us to wrongful paths, thoughts and behaviors. Lent is a time marked for our transformation, that is, to whom we are now to whom we are to be. God’s power is also with us. In today’s First Reading from Genesis Abraham offers an awakening moment for us when God calls to him. Abraham replies, “Here I am.” I smile at Abraham’s response. Of course, God knows where Abraham is. To me Abraham is also answering….... “I am listening. I am attentive. I am ready to act.” We too are to say “Here I am” but do we? Are we listening to know and see God in our lives every day? It is not only “Here I am.” It is also “Where am I?” Lent is the time for us to pray, fast and give alms wrapped in our interior reflections of where we are in life’s journey. All this opens us to a transformative question: “Who am I” living in God’s love with Jesus in my life. Mark’s Gospel this second Sunday of Lent follows after Jesus’ forty days in the desert. Jesus took Peter, James and John up a high mountain where he was “transfigured” into a different glorified substance and exalted outward appearance witnessed with his clothes becoming “dazzling white.” Like Abraham we are to answer not only “Here I am” but also ask ourselves during Lent are we on the path to be transformed to see the face of God in our glorified, exalted and transfigured heavenly body? Deacon Jack and Sharon Redmond 2/17/2024 Walk this WayRecently, a friend and I hiked a trail along the Pacific Coast Highway. Said friend — younger, fitter, and spryer — led the way to a beautiful crest overlooking the ocean. Completing the hike felt like a tremendous accomplishment for me, but it was not without a few breathless pauses and a gulp of fresh water. My mental roadblocks and physical weaknesses almost kept me from that beautiful view. On this first Sunday of Lent, Mark’s gospel tells of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert.” Newly baptized, Jesus took 40 days in a harsh and barren environment to grapple with, not only Satan, but the enormity of the mission before him. He spent time with his Father to pray and ask for help. What temptations and struggles do we need to take to God? What obstacles are keeping us from a close relationship with Jesus? Despite Satan’s attempts to lead him away from God, Jesus remained steadfast. Without sinning, Jesus was tested in the same ways we are: basic and vainglorious desires. How do we turn away from sin — those troublesome behaviors, attitudes, and mistakes we inevitably repeat or succumb to? Jesus was “among wild beasts,” vulnerable and probably weak from hunger, but the angels ministered to him. He was never alone, but empowered by the Spirit and comforted with the presence of his God-family. Jesus emerged from the desert ready for his public ministry, and he proclaimed with certainty: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand.” Now is the time, he said. Now is still the time. Jesus was establishing his new Church then and we are that Church today. During Lent, we are tasked to enter our own wilderness and prepare for an encounter with the person of Christ. We are brought into relationship with him, into the kingdom of God. We get to be a part of his family! What can we do to prepare for this encounter? We can scour our hearts asking the Lord to empty them of all that is weak, and leave space for Jesus to enter. We can sacrifice some of our favorite things, and admit to our wrongdoings. We can access our gifts to be strong for ourselves and those in our community. Sometimes, we have to go through what is difficult to take on something else. Our Christian hearts are made for greater ways and better things. Our shortcomings and challenges are no match for God’s loving presence abiding within us. “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Jesus’ mission statement propels us to ask for mercy and move outward from ourselves for others. Whatever path we walk in life, we never have to go it alone. With the friendship and encouragement of Jesus, experienced in community, we overcome the roadblocks and look forward to a new horizon and a steady direction. Imagine the view of Heaven ... Peace and joy, Mary Huebner Liturgy Assistant |
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