Faith From Unexpected Places

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 12, 2020 – Year A
Readings: Is 55:10-11 / Ps 65 / Rom 8:18-23 / Mt 13:1-23
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Many of us here are old enough to know that love indeed comes from the most unexpected places. God’s visits to us could also come from different sources. The movies, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, may be just other sources of entertainment for most people, but for a young man named Anthony Ferguson, these movies got him thinking about the deeper meaning of life, and eventually his vocation. (more…)

Come to Me

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 5, 2020 – Year A
Readings: Zec 9:9-10 / Ps 145 / Rom 8:9, 11-13 / Mt 11:25-30
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

For more than one hundred years now, the Statue of Liberty, which reminds us of our freedom, has been watching over the New York harbor. Millions, including me, visit this statue each year. At the base of this statue there is a tablet where the words of Emma Lazarus are inscribed, the first line of which is “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” (more…)

Find Yourself

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 28, 2020 – Year A
Readings: 2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16A / Ps 89 / Rom 6:3-4, 8-11 / Mt 10:37-42
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Life since the beginning of this pandemic has been far from normal. We have had to make sacrifices to help prevent the spread of the virus, and some of us are feeling that our freedom to do what we want to do has been curtailed, while others see it as just a reflection of our imperfect lives and the world we live in. We all have to do some things that we may not want to do, but we have to do them. That’s just what life in this world is all about. (more…)

Christ Our Hope

Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 17, 2020 – Year A
Readings: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 / Ps 66 / 1 Pt 3:15-18 / Jn 14:15-21
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Yesterday, we welcomed the youngest member of our Christian family here at Holy Name of Mary: Theodora Miriam, who is only a few months old, received the Sacrament of Baptism. During the ceremony, Theodora’s big sister and big brother, who are two- and four-year-olds, were so happy, with big smiles on their faces. It occurred to me that these children, with the help of God’s grace, will still be here in Holy Name of Mary long after I’m gone from this world. This gives me hope. (more…)

Holy Detachment

Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 10, 2020 – Year A
Readings: Acts 6:1-7 / Ps 33 / 1 Pt 2:4-9 / Jn 14:1-12
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

Once there was a young couple who decided, for their first anniversary, that they would take a camping trip to Disneyworld. At this time the husband was working long hours at his job, so it fell to the wife to do most of the preparation. But lucky for this husband, his was a very industrious, hard-working wife.

She planned everything out: She planned where they would stop. She planned the menu. She even went as far as chopping all the things that were going to go in the meals for the week, so that it would require less time to prepare. (more…)

Indescribable Joy

Sunday of Divine Mercy
April 19, 2020 – Year A
Readings: Acts 2:42-47 / Ps 118 / 1 Pt 1:3-9 / Jn 20:19-31
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Karen Mannering of Kent was six months pregnant with her fourth child when she tested positive for Covid-19. Describing her experience while she was isolated in her hospital room for a week, she said, “It was a lonely, dark time. No one was allowed to come and see me. I was scared that I was going to die, and I was fighting for every single breath. I was fighting for my and my baby’s life.” (more…)

Faith, Our Antidote for Fear

Fourth Sunday of Lent
March 22, 2020 – Year A
Readings: 1 Sm 16:1B, 6-7, 1-13A / Ps 23 / Eph 5:8-14 / Jn 9:1-41
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

This morning I had the chance to talk with my relatives in New York and California. Because of this coronavirus, we now have more time, not only to reconnect with our relatives and friends in other parts of the country and the world, but also many of us have rediscovered our relationship with our God. And this is indeed a silver lining in the dark cloud of this COVID-19 pandemic. (more…)

Follow the Light

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
February 2, 2020 – Year A
Readings: Mal 3:1-4 / Ps 24 / Heb 2:14-18 / Lk 2:22-40
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

A story is told about an elderly woman in frail health. One day she expressed to her doctor the hope that she would have the strength to live just a few more months so that she could celebrate the birth of her first grandchild.

Sure enough, the day came and the woman was well enough to hold the little child in her arms. The woman returned to her doctor, who was amazed when he heard about this good news. He suggested that it would be important for her to set a new goal, so that she had something to look forward to; something to keep her going. (more…)

How Can This Be Possible?

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
January 1, 2020 – Year A
Readings: Nm 6:22-27 / Ps 67 / Gal 4:4-7 / Lk 2:16-21
by Deacon Michael Stinson, Guest Homilist

When I was in college, I often went to a particular convenience store that was near our campus. I usually went there in the evening to get coffee, when I was studying in one of the classrooms that was just across the road. The name of that store was “Tinee Giant.” I went there so often that I bought a mug with the store logo on it, and I still have it. For some reason they spelled “Tiny,” T-I-N-E-E.

That name, Tinee Giant, is what we call in English class an oxymoron. It’s a figure of speech that puts two things together that seem to be opposite, like tiny and giant. How can something be tiny and giant at the same time? I’ll bet you can think of more oxymorons: “jumbo shrimp”? That’s a favorite one. “Open secret,” “virtual reality,” “alone in a crowd,” “unpopular celebrity,” and of course, you can quote Shakespeare: a “damned saint,” an “honorable villain.” (more…)

Faith: God Is With Us

Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 22, 2019 – Year A
Readings: Is 7:10-14 / Ps 24 / Rom 1:1-7 / Mt 1:18-24
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

A couple of weeks ago when I was in the Philippines preparing to fly back here to the US, the Philippine weather bureau had announced that a super typhoon was about to hit our island. This caused the airlines to cancel all of the flights. This super typhoon was probably the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane.

The most popular shelter there during the storms has always been the Catholic churches, because they are the biggest and the strongest buildings in the islands. Most of all, people feel safe there because, as we all believe, the Lord Jesus is present there in the church: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament. (more…)