Connecting With God

Fifth Sunday of Easter
April 29, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Acts 9:26-31 / Ps 22 / 1 Jn 3:18-24 / Jn 15:1-8
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

The Lord Jesus was a master communicator. He could present something that is full of mystery in a way that even a little child in those times could understand.

In the gospel that we have just heard, when the Lord Jesus was telling His disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches,” they must have been walking in the vineyard and seeing the vines all around them, hanging heavy with ripe fruit.

Understanding these words of Our Lord is not rocket science. Plain common sense tells us that a branch can’t remain alive just by itself, let alone bear fruit. (more…)

Our Shepherd Is the King of Love

Fourth Sunday of Easter
April 22, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Acts 4:8-12 / Ps 118 / 1 Jn 3:1-2 / Jn 10:11-18
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Not too long along, when I was celebrating Mass at one of my former parishes in the Tidewater area, a church with about eight thousand members, we all heard a child crying in the church’s nursery. It is a huge church, so there is a nursery during the Mass. Now almost immediately one of the mothers in the congregation got up to see her child. In less than a minute, the crying stopped. (more…)

The Eucharist Comes Alive

Third Sunday of Easter
April 15, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 / Ps 4 / 1 Jn 2:1-5A / Lk 24:35-48
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

According to a 2013 Huffington Post/YouGov survey, about 45% of Americans believe in ghosts, and a majority of them are probably Christians. In the gospels, there are two instances where the disciples thought that Jesus was a ghost.

In chapter 14 of the gospel of Matthew, when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they thought He was a ghost. But Jesus spoke to them and said “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” (more…)

Let Us Be One

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 11, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Lv 13:1-2, 44-46 / Ps 32 / 1 Cor 10:31 – 11:1 / Mk 1:40-45
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

The gospel today picks up where we left off last week. We have Jesus performing another miracle of healing. Now, at first glance, you could say, “Oh, this is Jesus, the healer. He’s doing another miracle.” There’ve been many attempts in the past hundred or so years to explain the miracles away. You see that happening all the way back to the time of the founding of our country. (more…)

God’s Call

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 21, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Jon 3:1-5, 10 / Ps 25 / 1 Cor 7:29-31 / Mk 1:14-20
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

A little child who is lost in a big crowd experiences fear and helplessness – more than we could ever imagine. But the voice of his father, mother, grandfather or grandmother will not only bring him relief, but he will respond with joy to that call. Sometime in the past we all must have experienced being called in some way or another. (more…)

Words and Silence

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time
January 14, 2018 – Year B
Readings: 1 Sm 3:3B-10, 19 / Ps 40 / 1 Cor 6:13C-15A, 17-20 / Jn 1:35-42
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

I’d like to start today by sharing a quote that I found, which captures the heart of today’s readings:

“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively, with words of encouragement, or destructively, using words of despair. Words have energy and power, with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate, and to humble.” (more…)

A Place of Refuge

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
December 31, 2017 – Year B
Readings: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 / Ps 128 / Col 3:12-21 / Lk 2:22-40
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Last week I visited a family who, fourteen years ago, had a foster daughter who lived with them for a year. A few days before this past Christmas, this same girl, who is now in her twenties with two young children, called them up and said that she had no place to live. She is homeless and is having a hard time finding a shelter. Since she has no friends or relatives who would be willing to take her into their homes, she thought she would take the chance of asking them if they would have a temporary space for her. This kind couple simply told her, “You always have a place in our home.” She is indeed blessed to have a place of refuge during the cold season of winter. (more…)

Promise and Fulfillment

Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 24, 2017 – Year B
Readings: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8B-12, 14A, 16 / Ps 89 / Rom 16:25-27 / Lk 1:26-38
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Thirty-two years ago, when I was preparing for my ordination to the priesthood, my bishop in the Philippines assigned me to a church with a very wise pastor who was asked to mentor newly ordained priests. His name was Father Douglas. He was named by his parents after General Douglas MacArthur who, even today, remains quite popular in the Philippines. When MacArthur left the country during the Japanese occupation of World War II, he promised to return. He did indeed return, and liberated the more than seven thousand islands of the Philippines from the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army. That was certainly a promise well kept. (more…)

Anxiety Free

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 8, 2017 – Year A
Readings: Is 5:1-7 / Ps 80 / Phil 4:6-9 / Mt 21:33-43
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Most of those who attended the mission at Resurrection parish were not aware that attending with them was a priest – Father Bob. He is a retired Air Force chaplain as well as a retired priest of the diocese of Erie.

If you are one of the few – as I was – who had the privilege of speaking with him, you would think that he is the person to speak with when you are experiencing trials and tribulations in this life. (more…)

Safely Home

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 3, 2017 – Year A
Readings: Jer 20:7-9 / Ps 63 / Rom 12:1-2 / Mt 16:21-27
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Last Monday, as flood waters were rising in northeast Houston, three brothers and two of their friends set off in a small boat to rescue anyone they could find. In their two trips, they brought two families to safety, but on their third rescue trip, they didn’t make it. Two of them, Yahir Vizueth and Jorge Perez, died in the process of helping save lives. (more…)