November

Technological innovations have brought amazing changes not only in our lives but also in our world. With all this, we can pretty much do almost everything - anything, anywhere and anytime! We are conditioned and introduced to a world of of instancy and speed. in effect, most of us have already lost the art of waiting.

Welcoming a new liturgical year means bringing back the art of waiting in this holy season of Advent, a time of expectation and waiting represented by the Advent Wreath. Let us enter to this holy season and allow ourselves to be absorbed by the spirit of faith, hope, and love. Even in the midst of technological and digital advancements, advent is still basically a time of prayer, readiness and openness to welcome Jesus into our lives, homes and in our Christian community!

Ending the liturgical year with the Solemnity of Christ, the King of the Universe, we look back with gratitude for the abundant blessings the Lord has poured forth upon us. Jesus, Christ the King, has been and will always be with us. He is our yesterday, today and tomorrow. On the other hand, we also remember the times we have failed God and our brothers and sisters. And so, we ask the Lord for His mercy and forgiveness for our failures but at the same time we thank Him and promise to do better. Long Live Christ the King!

Moreover, in this Thanksgiving week, many things to thank for - our God, family, friends and Christian community. As we gather as a family and/or friends for the Thanksgiving Meal/Dinner, we sincerely thank God for the gifts of faith, hope and love. We thank God for life, freedom and peace. We thank God for the past liturgical year of blessings and graces!

Full of heartfelt gratitude, give thanks to the Lord for He is good and wonderful! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

Approaching the end of the liturgical year and welcoming the Jubilee Year of Mercy, we, not only prepare exteriorly but also interiorly. Exterior preparation: For the past weeks, we have been decorating our homes and yards depending on what holiday we are celebrating. Busy planning and getting ready for our homes and yards with the upcoming season, we tend to forget the Church, our spiritual home. Interior Preparation: Every single day, we are to prepare ourselves interiorly or spiritually. Interior preparation to celebrate the divine mysteries requires a firm faith, readiness, perseverance and openness to the Holy Spirit who transforms our lives and our community .

Now is the time! This is the time, not the unexpected time of the Second Coming of Jesus, but the appointed time (season) to plan, think, get involved in the Church in so many different ways for the new liturgical year.

And so, part of the preparation, we organized a project to paint the Church interior and to finish up the parking lot (Jake Casale’s eagle scout project) on November 11, 2015, Feast of St. Martin of Tours, patron of soldiers and Veterans’ Day. Thanks to CCD Parents especially Salvador de la Peña and Iván Martinez. Also for carpet cleaning, thank you to Marina Barrera (Parish Office) and Mixcoatl Huante (Church).

In our Gospel, Jesus warned the crowd about the scribes, the teachers of the law. In order to be recognized, they have to be physically and actively visible to everybody. They love to go around in their fancy and long robes and to be greeted in the public places. They have to be on the seats of honor in the synagogues and be in the places of honor at crowded events and celebrations. And what is unacceptable is that they devoured and demolished the houses of widows and their families. Jesus said: “They will receive their very severe condemnation.”

Sitting down opposite the treasury, Jesus observed the people put money into it. Many wealthy people put in large sums from their surplus wealth. While a poor widow put in two small coins from her poverty.

In short, there is no one who is so poor that he/she cannot give and no one too rich that he/she cannot receive. In order to give, you don’t need to have much or to be rich so that you can contribute, give or donate. Even though you are poor, you can still give the little you have to others and community. You can either give your time, and/or treasure and/or talents!

On this regard, THANK YOU TO: (1) The Filipino Group who gave LED flood lights for the sanctuary, LED light bulbs for the Parish Office and Rectory; (2) The CCD Parents [Church carpet cleaning, Marian Center’s doors and pipes repair, Parish Office Cleaning, and Paint donation].

I thank God for your time, treasure and talents you give to the Church! No matter how big or small, God blesses your generous hearts!

November 1: All Saints´ Day!
There is a great multitude who are saints out there living and dead. But today's feast is instituted to honor all the saints who are dead. They are either known or unknown, canonized and uncanonized, recognized and unrecognized by the Church. So, the holy Mother Church supplies a festal celebration for All Saints during the year.
On this All Saint's Day, we are reminded of our "communio" as a Church of Christ. We always profess the communion of saints. This "communio sanctorum" is our spiritual union or solidarity as members of the Christian Church. This spiritual union binds us together - all the faithful on earth, the souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven.

November 2: All Souls' Day!
As a Church, we commemorate the souls of all the departed. It is a day of prayer for the dead. With our tradition, we pray for all the dead family members, relatives, friends, parishioners, and school alumni. At the same time, in our Parish, we pray for them for the whole month of November. It is an opportunity to make sacrifices for them. The only way -- prayer -- to help our dead brothers and sisters go back to God, our Creator in eternity.
Eternal rest grant unto souls of all the departed, O Lord. And let your perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen!