Fr. Jose Arong led a very educational and spiritual 4-day parish Lenten mission at St. Catherine Church in Martinez this past week.  The topic was “Living our Faith in the Light of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith)”.  Here is a link to the document if you would like to read it:  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html.   Fr. Arong is kindly sharing his PowerPoint slides for each day’s meditation as attachments to this email for those who may have missed any portion of the mission or for those who would like it as reference material.  If you would like to use any of his PowerPoint slides to develop catechetical materials for your parish or organization, Fr. Arong invites you to use them as you wish.  Thank you, Fr. Jose, for sharing your knowledge and wisdom so generously with all of us!

For those who live in the San Francisco Bay Area, here is a parish day of reflection for your consideration in furthering your spiritual growth:

·         Transfiguration Church in Castro Valley is sponsoring a day of reflection led by Fr. Anthony Gittins on “A Call to Radical Discipleship in a Changing World and Church” today, Saturday, March 29, 2014 from 9:30 AM – 3:00 PM.  Fr. Gittins, educated in the UK, has written 15 books, spent 10 years in West Africa as a missionary, and is a professor emeritus from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. The church address is 4000 East Castro Valley Blvd, Castro Valley, CA.  Please see the attached flyer for more information. 

A Prayer for Ash Wednesday

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, the all-holy one, who gives us life and all things. As we go about our lives, the press of our duties and activities often leads us to forget your presence and your love. We fall into sin and fail to live out the responsibilities that you have entrusted to those who were baptized into your Son.

In this holy season, help us to turn our minds and hearts back to you. Lead us into sincere repentance and renew our lives with your grace. Help us to remember that we are sinners, but even more, help us to remember your loving mercy.

As we live through this Ash Wednesday, may the crosses of ashes that mark our foreheads be a reminder to us and to those we meet that we belong to your Son. May our worship and prayer and penitence this day be sustained throughout these 40 days of Lent. Bring us refreshed and renewed to the celebration of Christ—s resurrection at Easter.

We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

 

From Ashes to the Font

The call to continuing conversion reflected in these readings is also the message of the ashes. We move through Lent from ashes to the baptismal font. We dirty our faces on Ash Wednesday and are cleansed in the waters of the font. More profoundly, we embrace the need to die to sin and selfishness at the beginning of Lent so that we can come to fuller life in the Risen One at Easter.

When we receive ashes on our foreheads, we remember who we are. We remember that we are creatures of the earth ("Remember that you are dust"). We remember that we are mortal beings ("and to dust you will return"). We remember that we are baptized. We remember that we are people on a journey of conversion ("Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel"). We remember that we are members of the body of Christ (and that smudge on our foreheads will proclaim that identity to others, too).

Renewing our sense of who we really are before God is the core of the Lenten experience. It is so easy to forget, and thus we fall into habits of sin, ways of thinking and living that are contrary to God's will. In this we are like the Ninevites in the story of Jonah. It was "their wickedness" that caused God to send Jonah to preach to them. Jonah resisted that mission and found himself in deep water. Rescued by a large fish, Jonah finally did God's bidding and began to preach in Nineveh. His preaching obviously fell on open ears and hearts, for in one day he prompted the conversion of the whole city.

From the very beginning of Lent, God's word calls us to conversion. If we open our ears and hearts to that word, we will be like the Ninevites not only in their sinfulness but also in their conversion to the Lord. That, simply put, is the point of Ash Wednesday!

The origin of the custom of using ashes in religious ritual is lost in the mists of pre-history, but we find references to the practice in our own religious tradition in the Old Testament. The prophet Jeremiah, for example, calls for repentance this way: "O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes" (Jer 6:26).

The prophet Isaiah, on the other hand, critiques the use of sackcloth and ashes as inadequate to please God, but in the process he indicates that this practice was well-known in Israel: "Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance: that a man bow his head like a reed, and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?" (Is 58:5).

The prophet Daniel pleaded for God to rescue Israel with sackcloth and ashes as a sign of Israel's repentance: "I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes" (Dn 9:3).

Perhaps the best known example of repentance in the Old Testament also involves sackcloth and ashes. When the prophet Jonah finally obeyed God's command and preached in the great city of Nineveh, his preaching was amazingly effective. Word of his message was carried to the king of Nineveh. "When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes" (Jon 3:6).

In the book of Judith, we find acts of repentance that specify that the ashes were put on people's heads: "And all the Israelite men, women and children who lived in Jerusalem prostrated themselves in front of the temple building, with ashes strewn on their heads, displaying their sackcloth covering before the Lord" (Jdt 4:11; see also 4:15 and 9:1).

Just prior to the New Testament period, the rebels fighting for Jewish independence, the Maccabees, prepared for battle using ashes: "That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes" (1 Mc 3:47; see also 4:39).

In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the use of sackcloth and ashes as signs of repentance: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes" (Mt 11:21, Lk 10:13).

Although Ash Wednesday is not a Catholic holy day of obligation, it is an important part of the season of Lent. The first clear evidence of Ash Wednesday is around 960, and in the 12th century people began using palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday for ashes.


Ash Wednesday
Our Shifting Understanding of Lent

Those who work with liturgy in parishes know that some of the largest crowds in the year will show up to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. Though this is not a holy day of obligation in our tradition, many people would not think of letting Ash Wednesday go by without a trip to church to be marked with an ashen cross on their foreheads. Even people who seldom come to Church for the rest of the year may make a concerted effort to come for ashes.

How did this practice become such an important part of the lives of so many believers? Who came up with the idea for this rather odd ritual? How do we explain the popularity of smudging our foreheads with ashes and then walking around all day with dirty faces? Those who do not share our customs often make a point of telling us that we have something on our foreheads, assuming we would want to wash it off, but many Catholics wear that smudge faithfully all day.

Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ,

Deacon Bobby Peregrino, Spiritual Advisor for the Sacramento Filipino Cursillo Movement, has kindly shared his homily for last Sunday’s Mass.  It is titled, “Being Salt of the Earth and Light of the World and People will Know We are Christians by Our Love”.  You can find the audio link and the full text of his homily below this email.  De Colores!                                                                                                                  

Deacon Ben Agustin


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Homily on “Being Salt of the Earth and Light of the World and People will Know We are Christians by Our Love” based on the Gospel reading (Mt. 5:13-16) for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

 Click on the link below to listen to the audio of the homily:

http://stcatherinevallejo.org/wp/2014/02/10/homily-on-being-salt-of-the-earth-and-light-of-the-world/

 Here’s the text:

Jesus used the metaphors – salt, light, city set on a mountain - to describe the Church - relative to her mission in the world.  They all are for the sake of others.  When we speak of Church – We – ARE the Church - the People of God –and the Gospel message is for each one of us – not only addressed to the clergies or religious or the person next to you.

 “You are the salt of the earth.” Salt is not eaten for its own sake but salt is put into meat – to preserve it, to spice it up, to make it taste better.

 Actually - Salt cannot lose its saltiness.  Sodium chloride, salt, is a chemical compound.  Salt is not a complex composition like wine, which can become bitter.  Salt is not an organic compound like meat or cheese or bread, which can spoil or rot.  Salt is salt, pure and simple.

 So – what does Jesus really mean by the phrase, “but if the salt has lost its saltiness, it is useless, and worthy of being thrown out - to be trampled by - underfoot.” - which is a warning to us.

 Jesus is actually referring to the salt losing its usefulness – How? – We fail to live as the salt of the earth when we prefer to stay in the safety of the salt shaker – so to speak – just staying in our comfort zone and safe world - rather than fulfilling our destiny out in the world… which is to be the seasoning to those who face a bland existence; to serve as a preservative like the salt to keep the world from going bad… to preserve what is right and good and true.

 We lose our saltiness – so to speak – our distinctiveness as Sons and Daughters of God – when we simply blend in with the world… when we look and sound and act as everybody else…  So - Who needs us then?  What good are we for - then?

 Jesus did not command us: “You ought to be the salt of the earth, should act like salt, or pretend we were salt, or attempt to be salt.”  He said, “YOU ARE the salt of the earth.” – Referring to our identity – who we are - Meaning - We already have what we need to make a difference in the world… by virtue of our baptism in Christ.

 Our very being is Sacramental (signs/instruments) of God’s love, grace and mercy as the Body of Christ.

 “You ARE the light of the world.” Light is not threatened by darkness.  There is no measure of darkness that can swallow up light.  Darkness cannot quench light.  In fact, the greater the darkness, the greater the power of a single source of light to show the way.  “You are the light of the world,” Jesus said.  So do not fear the darkness.  Go conquer it.

 You are a City set on a Mountain… A city set up on a mountain helps guide the ship in its navigation … helps show the way to travelers…  The Church is meant to be visible so people can see how to guide their lives by it.  Literally – we can say – St. Catherine of Siena Parish Church is a Church set up on a hill.  So – is our parish, are our parishioners, is our community - a guiding light for people who live in darkness where hatred and violence and hopelessness dwell?

 Jesus calls His followers to make a difference in their world as a witness to the character and will of God.

 It has been said: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph in the world is for good people to do nothing.” (Edmund Burke).  Doing nothing is a sin of omission.  It is a deadly sin.  We contribute to the cause of evil by our evil deeds, and also by not doing the good deeds we ought to do. 

Pope Francis said: "I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security."

 What good is the light of the lamp under a bushel basket.  It only lightens up the inside of the basket…  “You are the light of the world,” the Lord says. “Your light must shine before others so they can see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”  We have a responsibility to others. 

 We heard in the first reading from Isaiah: “Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own.”  Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,” Our light should shine by caring for those who need us.

 When we perform charitable actions, we are beacons of the Light of Christ that has come into the world.  We have a responsibility to let others see this light of Christ, and through this light find their way out of darkness and despair and into the way of love and fulfillment, the way of holiness.

 Meaning – the reason why we help others in not just for sake of helping others - not just for the poor to have their physical and worldly needs met – but the ultimate goal is that by helping those in need -  out of darkness and despair – they, too, will find their way to love – to holiness – and Encounter Christ… so they can love God.

 This is the underlying reason and passion that drove Mother Teresa to help the poorest of the poor so that eventually they can love God… Christ is thirsty for the love of the poor.

 It is not enough that the followers of Jesus are the salt of the earth.  Jesus wants us to get out of the salt shaker into the flavorless world!

 Later, in that same Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (7:21) Jesus calls us - not to be just identified with Him, but to follow Him. He went where people were hungry and poor, lonely and hopeless. He retreated to quiet places to be alone with God. He refused worldly power and wealth. He loved his enemies. Every day he took up a cross of self-sacrificing love. He calls us to follow him.

 In the Gospel of Mark 3:31-35 - Jesus said: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’

 The name “Christian” is not enough. Today maybe more people than ever before call themselves Christian but there are not nearly as many, however, who day by day follow in the way of Jesus Christ.

 There are not many whose lives are like salt, seasoning the world for others, - - - or like light, bringing illumination to all the dark places of the world. Do you know people like this? When we encounter such people, they don’t have to tell us they are Christians. We know who they are. When we ourselves decide to take seriously the invitation to follow Jesus, we will not need to identify ourselves to the world. “They will know we are Christians by our love.”

Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ,

Deacon Donnie Geaga, from the San Bernardino Filipino Cursillo Movement, has kindly shared his homily with us from last Sunday’s Mass.  It is entitled, “The Light of Christ in the World of Darkness”, and is well worth reading.  You will find the full text of his excellent homily below. 



Homily on “The Light of Christ in the World of Darkness”

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time  Is 8:23, 9:3  1Cor 1:10-13, 17  Mt 4:12-23  1/26/2014

I    Introduction          Do you agree with the saying, “If you look for the bad in a person, you will always find the bad and if you look for the good in a person, you will certainly find the good”?  Last Christmas, a 6-year old child sitting on the lap of Santa was asked, “What do you want for Christmas?”  Without blinking an eye, the child replies, “A better life!”  Amazing, isn’t it?  From the eyes of a 6-year old who hardly observes the good and bad around her, we would think, she sees the need for a better life, not wanting anything else a child would usually ask for.

Because very often we, you and me, would always focus on what is bad, not just in a person but in our world.  This includes our environment - our home, our community, our school, the church we belong to and the company we work for.  We constantly whine about ineffective government policies, corrupt and self-serving politicians, biased news and print media, high crime rate, the prohibitive cost of fuel and basic commodities, unemployment, loss of homes and so on and so forth.  All we see and think about is how awfully bad is the world we live in.

 

II    The World of Darkness           On top of all of these politics of personal destruction are the natural disasters like tsunamis, earthquakes, tornados, snow winter blasts, hurricanes and typhoons, etc., that have caused great loss of lives and properties.  Not to mention the countless people living in poverty, deprived of their basic necessities, the marginalized, the oppressed, the unattended – the unloved.  Public moral issues such as abortion, birth control, same-sex marriages, mercy killing or euthanasia, etc., have caused great division among people in many countries.  It seems hopeless for most of us.  We believe we live in a world of darkness.

We are tired and weary of all these politics.  The real need is to have vision, to see ways and means of making our world a better place to live in and to work on what we can do rather than just complain and blame each other for all these problems.  This is what the 6-yr old was asking for – a better life, a better world.

In his time, Jesus lived in a troubled world, which in many respects, was even worse than the world we live in today.  Justice was never served.  The kings, pharaohs and emperors were actually tyrants who lorded it over the people, making them their slaves, abusing and persecuting them.  Roman legions oppressed the people while living in luxury and wanton abundance, oblivious to the plight of the people in need.

Then God sent the Christ Jesus to give us vision and the message of hope, faith and love starting with ourselves.  God in Jesus Christ tells us to take charge of ourselves first before we can take charge of others.  As stewards of our body and soul we have to make something good and decent out of ourselves.  As the saying goes, “Life is God’s gift to us and what we do with our lives is our gift to God.”

 

This is the fulfillment of the prophesy of Isaiah in the first reading of today which says,                                                                                                                   “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shown.” (Is 9:3)  

                                                                                                                       

III    The Light of Christ in Our Lives          Even if we live in the darkness of our sins, Jesus provides the light for our souls when he sees a repentant heart.  He loves us so much that he readily looks for the good in us and then forgives and forgets so that we can walk in his light.

In Matthew’s Gospel of today, upon hearing the imprisonment of John the Baptist, Jesus  decided to make his move as part of the beginnings of his public ministry.  Ironically, the end of the time of hope becomes the beginning of a new and glorious era.

                                 

He begins his ministry in Capernaum, the farthest land in Israel -the land of darkness, a shabby location filled with pagans and those disobedient to Jewish laws.  This is the kind of people Jesus calls to himself; people who eke out their existence on the edge of life.  Pope Francis must love the Gospel Theme of today because it is in places like these that the Lord’s Mission is urgently needed.



Sounds familiar?  When we are burdened with problems like the loss of a job and/or home or the care for a very-ill loved one or the decision to have abortion to avoid scandal or other challenges that we cannot overcome that the world is crumbling down on us, isn’t it time to turn to God to seek his forgiveness and to ask for his help?  God in Jesus Christ, came to heal the sick and not the righteous.  Jesus begins from things that are broken and in need of repair. He is greater than all of our transgressions.

Jesus preaches to us saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Mt 4:17)  He is telling us that a better world is within our reach and within our grasp.  He continuous to say, “Reform your lives and believe in the Good News.  A better world begins when we begin to change our personal lives to seek the face of God.

Also, Jesus calls us in the ordinariness of our lives, in places where we are or when we seem distant from God.  No matter how dark our lives are, Jesus comes to us and calls us to his light.  This was how he called his first disciples who were caught up in the tasks of ordinary life.  So Jesus calls us in the state of life in which we exist.

IV    Conclusion          So brothers and sisters, as true followers of Christ, we always remember that Repentance is central to our lives.  Let us npw bow our heads in prayer.  “Lord God, teach us to be repentant.  Help us to soften our hardened hearts whenever we offend you and hurt other people whether verbally, emotionally or physically.  Make us realize that in doing so, we also diminish our personal dignity and pride.  Guide us return to your light to let your light shine upon our world to glorify you, by making a firm resolve to amend our lives and follow Christ’s teachings.    In Jesus’ name, we pray.  Amen.”

Deacon Donnie Geaga     St. Peter & St. Paul, Alta Loma      Diocese of San Bernardino          

Deacon Bobby Peregrino, Spiritual Advisor of the Sacramento Filipino Cursillo Movement, has kindly shared his homily with us from last Sunday’s Mass.  It is titled, “The Joy of the Gospel and Being Fishers of Souls”, and is well worth reading or listening to.  You will find the link to the audio recording and the full text of his excellent homily below. 

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Homily on “The Joy of the Gospel and Being Fishers of Souls” based on the Gospel reading (Mt. 4:12-23) for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time:

Click on the link below to listen to the audio of the homily: 

http://stcatherinevallejo.org/wp/2014/01/26/homily-on-the-joy-of-the-gospel/

Here’s the text:

Again - to be clear – this season of ordinary time does not have to do with things ordinary versus extraordinary.  But this has to do simply with the numbering of the weeks of the year… ordinal weeks… and in that sense we are in ordinary time… but there is never anything ordinary about the message of the Gospel.

Jesus is clear - “This is the time of fulfillment – Repent!  The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  

It is always a time of fulfillment.  God is always acting, always leading, always calling us and we must always be ready to respond – always ready to follow where He leads us – always ready to serve…. with flexibility – with openness – with trust in God’s grace to strengthen us, to lead us and to save us.  In other words, we cannot take a break from being a disciple of Christ.

We must not make the mistake of dividing life into the sacred and the secular… between ordinary and extraordinary…  The truth is - with Christ, there is no such thing as an ordinary life.

All of life is sacred when it is touched by the presence and power of Christ. You do not have to quit your job and leave everything to follow Christ.  You can do that right where you are, regardless of your status in life.  It has nothing to do with how you make your living; it has everything to do with how and why you live. 

As St. Paul said: “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17)

… and so we can say we are no longer just catching fish, or planting crops, or sweeping floors, or just selling clothes or just washing dishes. Whatever we’re doing, we’re in business with God; we’re following Christ… and always has something to do with service… dying to self – dying to self-centeredness – dying to self-absorption.

Making money is okay but if your primary consideration is yourself - it very soon turns to greed.  Having fun is all right, nothing wrong with having a good time; but if all that matters is the entertainment of self, it opens the door to moral decline.  

In the Gospel, Jesus gave Peter and Andrew, James and John something better to live for - than self.  They were still fishermen, but they had a higher purpose when they decided to follow Jesus. He will do the same for any of us who has the courage to follow Jesus… leading us to fullness of life and joy.

On that note - I will share excerpts from Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation – The Joy of the Gospel – addressed not only to the bishops, clergies, and consecrated persons but very importantly - to all the Lay Faithful – us.

-           powerful challenging words of The Exhortation – which  points to a problem, gives a diagnosis of the problem, and offers a solution filled with joyful hope.

What is the Problem? The Pope says that the Great Problem is the almost complete lack of missionary zeal on the part of Catholics… because of people’s lack of knowledge - lack of awareness of the apostolic character of the Catholic faith by the great majority of Catholics – who forgot that we are the People of God- the Beloved Sons and daughters of God - “holy, catholic, and apostolic Church” and that we are all also called to be Fishers of Souls… to fish people out of darkness, hatred, violence, guilt into God’s wonderful marvelous life.

So - Why do Catholics NOT share their faith and NOT lead others to Christ? The Pope says: Catholics lack joy: because if we have joy, then no one needs to tell us to share and spread the faith, as we will do so naturally and spontaneously, the same way that we share anything that we are passionate about.

This lack of joy is because of lack of deep spirituality which turns into pessimism, fatalism, and mistrust. Some people do not commit themselves to mission or do not proclaim the Good News because they think that nothing will change and that it is useless to make the effort. They think: “Why should I deny myself my comforts and pleasures if I will not see any significant result anyway?” This attitude makes it impossible to be a missionary. It is only but a malicious excuse for remaining caught up in one’s comfort, laziness, vague dissatisfaction and empty selfishness. It is a self-destructive attitude, for “man cannot live without hope: life would become meaningless and unbearable”. 

If we think that things are not going to change, we need to recall that Jesus Christ has already triumphed over sin and death. Jesus Christ truly lives. The Gospel tells us that when the first disciples went forth to preach, “the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message” (Mk 16:20). The same thing happens today. We are invited to discover this, to experience it. Christ will not deprive us of the help we need to carry out the mission which He has entrusted to us. 

We need to realize that Christ’s resurrection is not an event of the past. Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up. Often - it seems that God does not exist: all around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty. But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit. 

However dark things are, goodness always re-emerges and spreads. Each day in our world - beauty is born anew.  Human beings have arisen time after time from situations that seemed doomed. Such is the power of the resurrection, and all who evangelize are instruments of that power. People do not realize that.

So, Pope Francis proposes this solution to this lack of joy and lack of deep spirituality and therefore lack of missionary zeal among Catholics:

He says: “I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ (meaning – having our own personal intimate relationship with Christ and not just going through the motions as Catholics), or at least an openness to letting Him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.

The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk. Whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that He is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus – the Pope leads us in this prayer: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace”.

The Pope continues: “How good it feels to come back to the Lord whenever we are lost! Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking His mercy. Time and time again He bears us on His shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love.”

“With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, He makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire us more than His life, which impels us onwards!”

It is the Risen Christ who tells us, with a power that fills us with confidence and unshakeable hope: “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:5).

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we will find our joy when we proclaim and share this Good News and bring others to Christ.

Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ,

We are very fortunate this year in having several special occasions to gather as Cursillistas from throughout Region XI and the Nation.   Please reserve the following important dates on your calendar for our 2014 Regional and National Cursillo Encounters:

April 11-13, 2014: Spring Region XI Encounter at Dicocese of Fresno Pastoral Center, 1550 North Fresno St., Fresno, CA

July 31-Aug 3, 2014: 24th National Encounter of the Cursillo Movement of the U.S. at Chapman University, One University Drive, Orange, CA (this is 5 miles from Disneyland in Anaheim, CA)

October 3-5, 2014: Fall Region XI Encounter at Diocese of Fresno Pastoral Center, 1550 North Fresno Street, Fresno, CA


Here are the topics to be presented at the 2014 National Encounter on July 31-August 3:

- Keynote: “CURSILLO AND THE NEW EVANGELIZATION” - Bishop Carlos Sevilla,  SJ

- History of Cursillo:  speaker from Mallorca, Spain

- Evangelization through Friendship:  Jackie D-Gray

- Servant Leaders’ Call and Responsibility, Diocesan, Regional and National:  Omar Baez

- Doctrinal rollo: topic TBD -  Deacon Ben Agustin

- Conflict Resolution Workshop:  Steve Krause

- Stewardship in Cursillo Movement:  Hoang Tran

I have been asked to give a 30-minute Doctrinal Rollo at the National Encounter, so I’d like to solicit your thoughts about what topic(s) would be of greatest interest to you.  Would you kindly email me your ideas? Please leave your suggested topics by commenting below.

De Colores!

Deacon Ben Agustin

Homily on “The Gift of Jesus in the Ordinariness of Our Lives”

4th Sunday of Advent,  Is 7:10-14,  Rm 1:1-7,  Mt 1:18-24    “A”  12/22/2013

I   Introduction      “Can anything good come from Nazareth?’  This was the nagging question thrown at us “unbelievers” who couldn’t imagine a “home-towner” born to lowly parents, a carpenter and a young Jewish girl, could be trusted to bring change to the world and lead us to God’s Kingdom.  “Incredibly Preposterous!” would have been a justifiable reaction.  

It was the same question posed by Nathaniel to Philip when he talked about Jesus as “the One about what Moses (and also the prophets) wrote in the law.” (Jn 1:45-46)  Philip after realizing Nathaniel’s sarcastic reaction, replied with a challenge, ‘Come and see’, meaning “Come and see for yourself.’  This is the challenge that Philip is actually throwing at all of us now, in the 4th and last Sunday of Advent, when the truth of God in Jesus Christ is to unfold and be revealed in his birth, 3 days from today.   So what do we come and see for ourselves, in the birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ?

Do we see how an unknown town of Bethlehem in Nazareth was chosen as Jesus’ place of birth?  Or why a little, young Jewish girl, barely 14 years old named Mary said “Yes” to giving  birth to the Son of God from her virgin womb?  Then also, why a manger in a cave; far from the glitzy lights and glamour of City life, in the dark of the night and not in a well-furnished hospital or a well-lit inn?  And aside from Mary and Joseph, why was the birth of the Son of God witnessed only by farm animals and by the shepherds who were tending their flock and then followed the “the Star of Bethlehem, to pay homage to the King of Kings, as did the Wise Men - the Magis.  Then why did Joseph, a modest carpenter betrothed to Mary, accept the angel’s message of taking Mary into his home as his wife, even if she was with child?

What we do see for ourselves makes us more skeptical so that more questions need to be answered.  Did God commit an inglorious oversight of choosing all these ordinary people in an unknown and  seemingly forsaken little place to pave the way for the birth of the Messiah, the Son of God?

II    The Gift of Jesus’s Birth in Our Lives        Or, do we need to look at the BIG picture in this manner?  That God is the Lord of History and what has happened more than 2000 years ago was no mistake at all.  God is no longer a distant God, for God in Christ Jesus has come to us in the ordinariness of our lives, the closest that he could ever be – by being with us in our poverty, in our families in need, in our daily struggles and challenges, in our careers, in our successes and failures, in our joys and in our pains, in feast or in famine.  He came literally and physically to be one of us, in everything else except in sin.

Our ordinariness is what especially appeals to God.  He wants to be loved by ordinary men and women, for the unworthy like you and me.  Take the Blessed Mother for instance.  She was a simple Jewish girl who was young and innocent but was open to hear God’s message.  Humble to consider herself a handmaid of the Lord, her simplicity and humility found great favor with the Lord. 

Joseph, on the other hand, was also a humble and hard working person.  He was betrothed to Mary (husband and wife without living together) and was willing to divorce her to spare her life.  For a woman betrothed to a man, who is with child that is not his, was committing adultery under Jewish laws which

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was punishable by death, being stoned to death.  Until the angel of the Lord in the 2nd annunciation story of Matthew’s Gospel of today, appeared to him and told him not to be afraid to take Mary into his home as his wife, because she has conceived this child through the power of the Holy Spirit and will give birth to the Son of God.  And Joseph did as he was told.

III    The Message of Christmas        In our lives, we at times receive unexpected news and are being challenged to embrace this, for it is during these circumstances that we encounter the Lord.  Like Joseph, we can become fearful when our laid-out plans are being changed.  We have to learn to be still and listen to the soft voice of our Savior.

During this advent season, a time of expectation and of awaiting the remarkable, we learn to be patient, to persevere through prayer and fasting. for without our being aware of it, God in Jesus Christ will be born daily in our lives so that no matter what the circumstances we find ourselves in, our lives are filled with hope and joy because we know that God lives among and within us.

God promised that a child will be born whose life will show us that He, God, is with us.  The promise was fulfilled and our horizon was completely changed.  We now have a God who led and had lived with ordinary people.  So when we look at our lives and feel that we do not amount to anything, then we can look at Mary and Joseph and know that we can also be instruments of God’s Divine Love.

Therefore, the message of Christmas is a message that tells us that God wants to be loved by us in our ordinariness with all our frailties and vulnerabilities.  God even sent his only begotten Son to suffer and die on the cross.  He was treated like an ordinary criminal stripped of all respect and dignity.  The story of Christmas gives special meaning to what is ordinary and unspectacular - a simple Jewish girl, a carpenter for a foster father, a little town of Bethlehem in Nazareth, a baby boy born in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes witnessed by shepherds and farm animals.  All very ordinary and non-spectacular!  What makes it meaningful and special is that this is our story too.

V    Conclusion        So brothers and sisters,  Christmas indeed celebrates the meeting of the divine and the human, of heaven touching earth, of God embracing us and we embracing God.  The Christ Child born in the manger brings us tidings of great joy. He came to heal the broken hearted, to feed the hungry, to find the lost, to bring light to the darkened world and to bring hope and love in our hearts.  If the Christ-child born in the stable is not born in our hearts, then Christmas becomes useless.  

And so, may we love the Lord God in the everyday and regular things we do.  May we accept ourselves and others for what we are and what God has intended for us to be.  The Kingdom of God, as Jesus said, is at hand.  So let us come and see it for ourselves that indeed, something good has come out of Nazareth.  For with the Christ Child born in our hearts, we are not far from the Kingdom of God.  In fact, the God in Jesus Christ, is here with us.  May the peace and joy of the Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and your family always.  Amen.

Deacon Donnie Geaga        St. Peter & St. Paul Parish, Alta Loma,       Diocese of San Bernardino