Called to Be Holy

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 15, 2017 – Year A
Readings: Is 49:3, 5-6 / Ps 40 / 1 Cor 1:1-3 / Jn 1:29-34
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor 

As part of our Catholic tradition we use a lot of signs, symbols and colors in our church.  For instance, when our priest’s and deacon’s vestments, altar cloths, and the rest of the art and environment in our sanctuary are mostly colored green, we are in the season that we call “Ordinary Time.”  In fact, it is anything but ordinary, because all of the liturgical seasons are extraordinary, supernatural, and spiritual.  This period is given to us by our Holy Mother Church so that we can reflect on the meaning of discipleship.    (more…)

The Power in the Words

The Nativity of the Lord
December 25, 2016 – Year A
Readings: Is 9:1-6 / Ps 96 / Ti 2:11-14 / Lk 2:1-14
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

This morning, when I visited Our Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful our sanctuary looked.  The flowers and the arrangements are truly a work of art.  During the Advent season, we don’t have flowers, so what a change. 

But what makes our sanctuary really beautiful tonight is that we are all here, in the sanctuary of Holy Name of Mary, as members of God’s family, to celebrate the birthday of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  (more…)

Us and Them

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 25, 2016 – Year C
Readings: Am 6:1A, 4-7 / Psalm 146 / 1 Tm 6:11-16 / Lk 16:19-31
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

At first glance, our Gospel today seems pretty straightforward. The question is: Why did the rich man go to Hell? The obvious answer is: Because he did not feed the poor. (more…)

The Good Shepherd Knows

Fourth Sunday of Easter
April 17, 2016 – Year C
Readings: Acts 13:14, 43-52 / Ps 100 / Rev 7:9, 14B-17 / Jn 10:27-30
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

About five decades ago, my uncle convinced my mom to allow me to spend a couple of days with his family in another province in the Philippine Islands.  I had a childhood experience that I will never forget, because that was my very first sleepover.  (more…)

Small Things With Great Love

Third Sunday of Easter
April 10, 2016 – Year C
Readings: Acts 5:27-32, 40B-41 / Ps 30 / Rev 5:11-14 / Jn 21:1-19
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

A little more than a decade ago, in my former parish, I was approached by a mother on her way out of the church, who asked me to offer a special prayer for her son.  She told me that she thought she was doing everything right in raising him to be nourished spiritually and grow up to be a good Christian.  She sent him to a good Catholic school.  They even went on a pilgrimage together to the Holy Land and visited several Marian apparition sites.  In spite of all this, he seemed to have lost his appetite for prayer and practically everything about God and the Church. (more…)

God’s Way

First Sunday of Lent
February 14, 2016 – Year C
Readings: Dt 26:4-10 / Ps 91 / Rom 10:8-13 / Lk 4:1-13
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

During the season of Lent we remind ourselves that our prayers are most effective when they are accompanied by sacrifice.  At fourteen degrees outside, it’s surely a sacrifice to be here this morning.  If somebody tells you that he or she is tempted to walk to church this morning instead of driving, you will find difficulty in believing it.  But if you say that you are tempted to sleep in instead of coming to Mass, everybody will easily believe you.

This is what temptation is all about: taking life the easy way. (more…)

A Baptism Story

The Baptism of the Lord
January 10, 2016 – Year C
Readings: Is 42:1-4, 6-7 / Ps 29 / Acts 10:34-38 / Lk 3:15-16, 21-22
by Rev. Richard Mooney, Guest Celebrant

In early December of 1952, I was baptized.  It was something my parents did for me.  I was about six weeks old.  For a while, I thought it was something my parent had done to me.  Later on I realized it was something my parents had done for me.  And I think they did the best they could, especially while trying to raise six boys (I was the third of them).  They had us all baptized as infants.  (more…)

You Are a Star

The Epiphany of the Lord
January 3, 2016 – Year C
Readings: Is 60:1-6 / Ps 72 / Eph 3:2-3A, 5-6 / Mt 2:1-12
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Yesterday morning, I had the wonderful privilege to preside at the communal celebration of Penance here in Holy Name of Mary church for the children who received the sacrament of Confession for the first time. I was amazed to see their joyful faces before they went to the confessional, because a good number of Catholics feel that going to confession is pretty much like going to the dentist: It is not a pleasant experience. (more…)

A Holy Family

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
December 27, 2015 – Year C
Readings: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 / Psalm 84 / Col 3:12-21 / Lk 2:41-52
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

Today is the feast of the Holy Family. You may be wondering why the church has all these feasts. It’s an opportunity for us to take a look at figures from our past or an aspect of our faith, to reflect on their lives and what their lives mean to us today.

Now if I asked you to name Holy Family, I’m sure most of you would say it’s Jesus, Mary and Joseph. But if we consider scripture and we take a look at it closely, really we should respond that the Holy Family was Joseph, Mary and Jesus. We can learn a lot if we take a look at their lives as reflected in scripture. (more…)

Home in the Lord

Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord
December 25, 2016 – Year C
Readings: Is 9:1-6 / Psalm 96 / Ti 2:11-14 / Lk 2:1-14
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

I love Christmas music. I start listening to it at the beginning of Advent, and I listen to it all the way through Advent and Christmas, all the way up to the Baptism of the Lord. This started when I was a little boy. My parents had an assortment of Christmas albums and I had a little record player, and I would sit and I play them over and over. And my parents had everything from “Oh Holy Night” to “Blue Christmas” by Elvis. I think I wore those albums out.  This year one particular song got stuck in my head throughout the whole month of December. That song is “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” (more…)