8/11/2018 The Wonderful Journey![]() Dear Friends, Today’s readings remind us of the power and promise of the Eucharist. That in seeking reconciliation and celebrating the Eucharist, we are receiving confirmation and strength for our personal journeys. We are asked to believe without seeing and that our belief will lead us to everlasting life. I am not a theologian. I am a scientist/businesswoman who spent the majority of my career developing therapies for life-threatening diseases. I have tried to be on the straight and narrow path with God, but have strayed more times than I’d care to admit. Yet, He has always welcomed me back home. Being a data driven person, I’ve often wondered about believing in God without seeing Him. I’ve learned that if we slow down, look and listen, that we will find God all around us and working through us:
Celebrating the Eucharist is quite emotional for me as I think about God’s love and blessings. I also think about my shortcomings, continually pray for forgiveness and strength to be the best person I can possibly be. I feel the divine surge of the Holy Spirit through the Eucharist each week. There is no doubt about what God is asking of us in the second reading (Eph 4:30–5:2): “All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us.” God is inviting us to join him on a most wonderful journey. He wants us to learn from Him, live like Him, forgive like Him and love like Him. I hope to learn from those of you further down this spiritual path with God and welcome others who are thinking about putting your feet on the trail. There’s room for us all. Siempre Adelante, Nancy Jorgesen Parish Business Manager 8/3/2018 We Want What We Want![]() I’ve never lived long with hunger. I’ve gone on diets and had to stare at food I was choosing not to eat. I’ve done a lot of physical work and been peckish. I’ve occasionally skipped meals and been extra especially ravenous. But I’ve never lived with ongoing hunger; I’ve never dealt with famine. I may have said, even more than once, “I’m starving,” but that was exaggeration. The people in today’s Gospel, though, almost certainly lived with hunger as a normal and recurring condition. Archeological evidence, from studies of graves from most of the ancient world, reveals that a majority of peasants, who made up the bulk of the world’s population until relatively recently, lived with hunger and protein deficiency. Without modern technology and machinery, lacking metal plows and unable to afford beasts of burden, most subsistence farmers produced only enough, when all went well, to feed their families in a hand-to-mouth kind of way. They ate what the earth brought forth soon after it ripened. They then lived with hunger until the next crop came to maturity. Droughts and taxes often stressed the poor farming family to the breaking point. When we hear of the dogged perseverance of the crowds around Jesus in today’s Gospel, as they sought to encourage him to repeat the wonderful multiplication of the loaves, where everyone had their fill, and there was still food left over, we have to look upon them sympathetically. It also leads us to recognize the point of this passage for us. We’re not desperate about food. Our physical hunger isn’t going to get in the way of our ability to hear what God has to say…but…we have our own blind spots, places where our gaping needs, hurts and anguish overshadows our willingness to attend to what the Lord would be with us and do for us. There is an implicit invitation for each of us to bring the places of our greatest struggles into dialogue with our communion with our Lord Jesus. Where can we find companionship in our loneliness? Communion. Where can we find strength to overcome the difficult? Communion. Where can we find comfort in our physical pain? Communion. Where will we find life when we feel like we’re dying inside? Communion. In receiving the Bread of Life we’re not having God “do it for us,” we’re committing to do all that we do, be all we can be, with Jesus. It takes a conscious act when we receive to make this possible. It requires us to return to our spiritual and physical union with Jesus in the moment of our struggle. We need to remember that we are not alone and that Jesus is working in, with and through us, for our greater good and the building up of the Kingdom ![]() Communing with Jesus is not to be done automatically or unconsciously. Jesus is bringing His whole self to it. We do well to bring our whole heart, body, mind and soul to receiving Him. Siempre adelante! Fr. Patrick Dear Friends, Every three years the readings we hear at mass focus for several weeks in the summer on the gift of the Eucharist – the source and summit of our life as Christians. The connection between the Old Testament readings and the corresponding gospel passages are rich during this time. Because becoming familiar with the Scripture readings before we hear them proclaimed at mass can be a very enriching spiritual practice, I offer the summary below of what we can expect in the coming weeks. Please take advantage of the U.S. Catholic Bishop’s website where you can read the full text of these readings and let them sink deep into your heart www.usccb.org
![]() Siempre Adelante, Dominic MacAller Director of Liturgy and Music ![]() Dear Parish Family, The summer is here and our recent heat wave made sure we knew it! I hope you all found a way to keep cool, whether it was in an air-conditioned shopping mall, splashing in a pool or enjoying the cool breeze at the beach. Maybe you treated yourself to a tasty frosted drink or ice cream cone. Our necessity to stay cool perhaps provided us with an opportunity to take a much-needed and enjoyable respite from our otherwise busy, same old same routine, a joy we may not have taken the opportunity to experience had the weather not been so extreme. In our gospel today, Jesus tells his apostles after their return from preaching the good news and healing many, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” To put balance back in their lives they needed time to withdraw for a while to reflect, rest, pray, and be at peace. God the Father set the example, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation” (Gen 2:3). Jesus too “would withdraw to deserted places to pray” (Lk 5:16). While he was so available to all those in need, the poor, the sick, the outcasts, he knew there was a limit to his availability. He took the time to get away, to rest the body, mind and spirit, being at peace with the Father and the Holy Spirit, a gift he gives us too: “Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (Jn 14:27). His peace gives us salvation, wholeness, health, welfare, safety and balance. As we make plans and set out on our summer vacations (or staycations), let us not miss the opportunity to recharge our inner selves. It is not about how many items we can check off our bucket list, and it should not be filled with stress in the planning and execution of our plans (I can’t help but think of the Griswolds in National Lampoon's Vacation). Consider a personal goal to take some time to rest, refocus and recharge our spiritual batteries, restoring balance in our lives, especially caregivers of children, parents, or others entrusted in our care. Find some time this summer, even if it is just 10 minutes a day, where you can have some quiet time to reconnect with God. Last week while on vacation with my husband, we stopped at Margaret Dodd Park in Pismo Beach. The weather was perfect, the view was absolutely breathtaking and my husband practiced his guitar (yes, we take it everywhere). I had the gift of God's presence and his peace. I began to thank him for the beauty of his creation, but soon found myself in complete silence and feeling happiness and peace in His presence. I could have stayed there forever, but just like the apostles after they have rested, I must return to my ministry. Now with my spiritual battery recharged, I return filled with joy and excitement for my continued service and ministry. I even came home with new ideas for the new program year. Here are some suggestions of what you can do in your “Retreat with God.” For those of you who have young children, planning some quiet, alone time may be a big challenge. Why not do it together, by spending ‘one quiet minute with God,' where your family can learn to listen for God's voice in the whisper. At first it may be more like 10 seconds, but that's okay. If you enjoy a good book, let your summer reading be an opportunity to be inspired by a saint’s life. If you enjoy the outdoors, find a beautiful and tranquil location where you see and feel the presence of God in his creation such as the beach, on a mountaintop, near a waterfall or a beautiful garden. Once you are there, ask our Lord to join you, then, just be in His presence... don't speak, just listen, and enjoy the quiet. With every breath, breathe in the peace of the Holy Spirit. If getting out to nature is not your thing, consider visiting Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel or find another quiet space. If you love apps, try the 3 Minute Retreat by Loyola Press, or God Moment (3 random daily reminders to take a moment to pray) or perhaps a podcast is more your style. Do what works for you and allow your soul to be at peace. Siempre Adelante, Tere Delgado Faith Formation Minister 7/12/2018 Knocking on Doors![]() Dear Faith Family, Happy summer to all of you! This Sunday’s gospel is a unique one. As you may know by now, I like to try to relate our Sunday readings to something that is relevant to us in our current lives. Upon first glance, it seems pretty difficult to do so with the instructions that Christ gives to the Apostles regarding sacks, tunics and sandals. It especially seems irrelevant to us when Jesus gives authority to the Apostles over unclean spirits. While it seems tough to relate to, there is plenty in this reading that can help us share the love of Christ with others. I don’t know about you, but I can be timid when it comes to sharing my testimony to “random people.” There have been plenty of times in my life where I just assumed that people don’t have an interest or that they do not welcome my profession of faith. Looking back though, in plenty of those times where I was hesitant and didn’t utter a word, I missed out on a great opportunity to just knock on a door to see if I am welcomed. It is such a great disservice to our faith life to assume that everyone we speak to will not welcome your message. Humility is rough; it is especially rough to exercise humility with a false idea of what it actually is. Father Patrick told me once that humility isn’t a denial of our gifts, but rather, an understanding of them. Once we understand our gifts, it is through humility that we know how effective and beautiful they can be. Especially in regard to sharing our story. Yes, Jesus does let the Apostles know that there are some houses that will not welcome their message. But Jesus also doesn’t ask the Apostles to avoid those houses. In my worst times, I assume all houses hate my message. Because of that, I hesitate to knock on doors to share God. In this gospel message, I think Jesus is instructing us to not be afraid to be declined. If we lack this fear, then sharing our story will become an everyday occurrence. So friends, be sure to share your story. Start with your friends and family and branch out from there. Let your faith be the most important part of your family, because it is through our faith that we have an understanding that we are all children of God and that we are loved. That seems like something worth sharing, even if we think no one wants to hear it. God Bless, Brett Becker Youth and Young Adult Minister |
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