Most Blessed By Obedience

Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 19, 2021 — Year C
Readings: Mi 5:1-4a / Ps 80 / Heb 10:5-10 / Lk 1:39-45
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Today is the last Sunday of Advent.  This season is about to end, and we are closer to the Christmas holidays.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord took flesh in the Virgin Mary, and He remains with us in the Blessed Sacrament.  And every Christmas we commemorate His birth.

During these four weeks of Advent, we have been listening to and meditating on the readings from the Holy Scriptures that remind us of the need that we all have to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. (more…)

The Missing Piece

Third Sunday of Advent
December 12, 2021 — Year C
Readings: Zep 3:14-18a / Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 / Phil 4:4-7 / Lk 3:10-18
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

Good morning and welcome to Gaudete Sunday, which in Latin means rejoice. To help us understand that word, I would like you to recall a time in your life when you went from feeling incompleteness, or pain, or uncertainty, or loneliness, or boredom, or aimlessness to feeling whole and joyful.

Maybe it was when that person you liked asked you on a date or agreed to go on a date with you, or when your significant other first said, “I love you”, or when your boss, out of the blue told you that you are doing a great job, or when your doctor relieved your pain, or when your best friend or family member forgave you, or when you and your wife first realized you were going to have a baby. (more…)

Our Guiding Star

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
December 8, 2021 — Year C
Readings: Gn 3:9-15, 20 / Ps 98 / Eph 1:3-6, 11-12 / Lk 1:26-38
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

St. Thomas Aquinas once said, “As sailors are guided by a star to the port, so are Christians guided to heaven by Mary.”

It is a nice coincidence, as we prepare to commemorate the birth of Jesus with the Advent season, that we also have this season to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the womb of her holy mother, Saint Anne, the wife of Joachim.  The feast we celebrate today, the Immaculate Conception, is that of Mary being conceived by her mother, Saint Anne, not Jesus conceived by Mary. (more…)

Gratitude and Confidence

Second Sunday of Advent
December 5, 2021 — Year C
Readings: Bar 5:1-9 / Ps 126 / Phil 1:4-6, 8-11 / Lk 3:1-6
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

The season of Advent is a time for us to prepare our hearts for Christmas.  In our gospel today, on this second Sunday of Advent, we hear John the Baptist preparing the people for the coming of Jesus, a voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.  Make his path straight.” (Lk 3:4). We hear these familiar words of John the Baptist calling all people to conversion.

Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians in our second reading today, reminds us of three wonderful things.  First, Saint Paul reminds us of the joy of the Lord. (more…)

Prepare for His Coming

First Sunday of Advent
November 28, 2021 — Year C
Readings: Jer 33:14-16 / Ps 25 / 1 Thes 3:12-4:2 / Lk 21:25-28, 34-36
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Today is the first day of Advent and also the first day of the liturgical calendar of the Church.  That’s why some would say it’s the New Year for the Church.

Every time we hear the word Advent, what comes to our mind?  Perhaps we would say, “Christmas is near.”  Yes, Christmas is near, but it’s not yet Christmas.

Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning ‘coming’ or ‘arrival.’   In this season of Advent, the Church invites us to prepare for the coming of the Lord into our lives.  The Church teaches us there are three ways in which the Lord comes into our lives. (more…)

What You Do Today

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 14, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Dn 12:1-3 / Ps 16 / Heb 10:11-14, 18 / Mk 13:24-32
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

There is a beautiful Cherokee proverb that says: “When you were born, you cried, and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that, when you die, the world cries, and you rejoice.”

Our gospel today talks about the end of time. For many years, people have speculated about the end of time, because people love to speculate, especially about when the world might come to an end. That is why writers and filmmakers make money by imagining how it might end. (more…)

Good and Generous

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 7, 2021 — Year B
Readings: 1 Kgs 17:10-16 / Ps 146 / Heb 9:24-28 / Mk 12:38-44
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Two widows are featured in this Sunday’s readings.  The first one is from our first reading, when the prophet Elijah asked for water and bread from a widow that he saw picking up sticks.  At that time there was a great famine in that area, and only one meal was left for the widow and her son.  But even in that situation, the widow did not refuse to help the starving prophet.  She believed the prophet’s word that God would provide for them during this time of famine, and yet, her jar did not run out of flour and her bottle did not run out of oil until the drought was over, as Elijah had said.  So, the widow in our first reading experienced that God would never neglect a person who does good. (more…)

Choose to Love

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 31, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Dt 6:2-6 / Ps 18 / Heb 7:23-28 / Mk 12:28b-34
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

There is a story told of a man who was liberated from a concentration camp in WWII. He was called “Wild Bill Cody.” They called him that because the man had an unpronounceable seven-syllable Polish name and a handlebar moustache like the ones on Old West heroes.

While the rest of the Jewish prisoners were emaciated and haggard, Wild Bill was in excellent condition. Because of his amazingly good health, the Americans assumed that he had been in prison a very short time.  When his papers came through, however, they showed that Wild Bill had lived on a starvation diet and slept in airless, disease-ridden barracks for six years – just like the rest of the prisoners.  But Wild Bill had done it without physical or mental deterioration. (more…)

Ask For Your Miracle

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 24, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Jer 31:7-9 / Ps 126 / Heb 5:1-6 / Mk 10:46-52
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

Jesus performed miracles two thousand years ago and is still doing so today. Today, may we leave this church with a renewed faith in Jesus’ power to heal us and to truly help us when we are in need, and to heal and help others through our prayer.

In today’s gospel, the setting is important. Jesus is walking from Jericho to Jerusalem. Said another way, Jesus is walking from the site of the opening of the Promised Land through Joshua’s obedience to God, to the site of the opening of the gates to our final Promised Land through Jesus’ obedience to His Father. (more…)

Not to Be Served, But to Serve

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 17, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Is 53:10-11 / Ps 33 / Heb 4:14-16 / Mk 10:35-45
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

There is a story about three sons, who left home, went out on their own, and prospered.  Later, when they were reunited, they discussed the gifts they had been able to give to their elderly mother.

The first one said, “I built a big house for our mother.”

The second one said, “I sent her a Mercedes with a driver.”

The third smiled and said, “I’ve got you both bested.  Remember how Mom enjoyed reading the Bible?  You know she can’t see very well, so I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible.  It took elders in the church twelve years to teach him.  He is one of a kind.  Mom just has to name chapter and verse, and the parrot recites it.” (more…)