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…)

Goods or Grace?

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 10, 2021 – Year B
Readings: Wis 7:7-11 / Ps 90 / Heb 4:12-13 / Mk 10:17-30
by Deacon Barry Welch, Guest Homilist

Today’s gospel acclamation, the part within the Alleluia, is this: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”? It means that we understand a fundamental truth: that none of us is responsible for our own existence, nor are we responsible for our continued existence.  Someone else is responsible for that, and we know who that is: God.  We need Him.  He didn’t need us, and yet out of love, He created the whole world, and out of love, He put us in it. And remember, “It was good.” (more…)

What God Has Joined Together

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 3, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Gn 2:18-24 / Ps 128 / Heb 2:9-11 / Mk 10:2-16
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Someone once said that, when a person gets into deep trouble, he or she is surrounded by close friends and family.  And he continued by saying, “If you don’t believe this, just take a look at your wedding pictures.”

Brothers and sisters, from time to time, we tell jokes about married couples, but that is not at all to belittle the sanctity and permanence of marriage.  In today’s gospel, Jesus is very clear and emphatic: “Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”  Marriage is forever and for always. (more…)

The Beauty of Confessing

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 26, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Nm 11:25-29 / Ps 19 / Jas 5:1-6 / Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

My hope in today’s homily is that all of us might leave today with one temptation and sin in mind that we are going to root out of our life with an intentional plan of attack that includes changes in our behavior and Jesus’ grace in the Sacrament of Confession. (more…)

Who Will Choose the Son?

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 19, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Wis 2:12, 17-20 / Ps 54 / Jas 3:16-4:3 / Mk 9:30-37
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Who is above all of us?  Who is the most powerful?  Who is the most respected?  In today’s gospel, this is what the apostles were arguing about.  As Jesus spoke of His coming pain, the disciples insisted on exaggerating themselves.

Our gospel today reminds me of a beautiful story that moved me.  It is about a wealthy man and his son, who loved to collect rare works of art.  They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael.  They often would sit together at night and admire the great works of art. (more…)