November 25, 2018 Open Mind Open Heart Open Door THE KING OF KINGS

Transcription

1 November 25, 2018 Open Mind Open Heart Open Door THE KING OF KINGS He was the humblest king, who was so poor, They mocked and scorned Him with abusive jeer. The King of kings did not have a palace, He was tortured by men who were callous. He didn t wear a ring of authority, They gave Him a crown, shaggy and thorny. His throne was the cross on which He was hung. Pained and shamed, from the world suddenly flung. He owned nothing and traveled but little, With people He was simple and gentle. His mother nurtured Him from her womb, He was buried in a borrowed tomb. His royal staff was a small walking stick, His kingly attire was His Jewish cloak. The followers He chose were fishermen folk, A spiritual leader, He loved His flock. Once killed, they thought, His life would be over, Puny men didn t know He d live forever. He rose from the dead like the rising sun, And reigns in heaven, God s beloved Son. No king or emperor influenced human life Like Him, who is our Way to eternal life! Jesus is the King of earth and heaven, To be heirs of His kingdom we re chosen. Questions: 1. Do you recognize that Jesus is asking to enter your heart? 2. Will you pray for God's grace to strengthen you so you can let Jesus replace your heart with His own sacred heart? 3. Will you pray for Jesus to completely occupy you and strengthen you? 4. Will you fully accept the teachings of the Church Jesus founded, and put aside your own rebellion, or will you be like Judas, acting against your Church and in so doing attempting to murder your Savior? 5. Or, will you become humble, strengthened by the power of Jesus in your heart, with the hope of one day seeing God in His infinite glory? Fernandez Family Baptism October 27, 2018 Reflections: The more His popularity grew, the more restless his detractors became. The more followers He made, the more sleepless nights His enemies spent. And sure enough, with each passing day His name came to be known among the people throughout the village of His birth. All those who heard Him were spellbound by His message and wondered from where He got His wisdom and knowledge. People would walk miles and miles to hear Him, to see Him, or just to touch Him. Many mothers brought their children so He would touch and bless them. He blessed and cured the sick. He gave sight to the blind, (Continued on page 2) Fremont Blvd Fremont, CA office@sjapostle.net

2 Message from Father Antony (Continued from page 1) made the lame walk and even He brought the dead back to life. One day He did something extraordinary by multiplying a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. He then told His disciples to feed the people who had become weak from hunger. They fed thousands of people that day. Highly charged with emotion at this spectacular happening, the people wanted to make Him their king. The apostles, who were fighting among themselves for important positions in Jesus new kingdom, wanted to see an even more spectacular event: the crowing of Jesus as an earthly king. They thought it was a golden opportunity and wanted to seize the moment, which appeared so propitious. Everything looked ripe for it. Judas had longed for some occasion like this because he was very worldly and expected a worldly kingdom that would be able to resist the Roman occupying power. Jesus had all the traits of a king. He had the personality, the charm and the huge following which grew day by day. His slipping away from the crown shocked them all. Judas was especially disappointed and angry. For him this was an incomprehensible wasted opportunity. He tried to force Jesus to act in a worldly manner against the wishes of God, thinking Jesus would choose to be an earthly king rather than allow Himself to be killed by His enemies. Judas chose to betray His master. The ordinary people considered Him to be a special prophet sent by God. They saw in Him all the characteristics of a man of God. To the Jewish leaders, though, He was a threat and a challenge. The news of His rising popularity and acceptance by the people troubled even Caesar, who was then considered the divine king of Rome. As a matter of fact, when Jesus was brought for trial to Pilate, the governor of Rome, one of the accusations against Jesus was that He claimed to be a king. Confirming this in the presence of Pilate, Jesus did not deny that He was the king of the Jews. He told Pilate, Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind. Yes, I am a king. I am born for this (John 18: 36-37). As long as He was the king of the Jews Pilate did not think Jesus was a threat to Rome, and he dismissed the case. But then the Jews charged Jesus with treason, accusing Him of revolting against Rome, refusing to pay taxes and instigating the people to do likewise. These were diabolical lies. Jesus always respected Roman civil authority by teaching the people to render to Caesar what belonged to him. They wickedly juxtaposed Jesus against Rome with a plan to arrest Him. Pilate apparently accepted Jesus kingship by ordering an inscription: This is the King of the Jews on the cross. Think back to the time of Jesus' birth. The Magi from the East asked Herod the Great where the king of the Jews was to be born. This query greatly troubled Herod, since he would not tolerate any rival to his kingdom or to him personally. In addition, he eagerly waited to make one of his sons his successor. Equally disturbing was the news that the child would be born in Bethlehem, the site of his summer palace. Not taking chances, he ordered all male babies under the age of two to be slaughtered to make sure that there would be no threat to his kingdom. Unlike the earthly kings, Jesus had been born in poverty, in a manger. His parents were ordinary people chosen from an obscure village. He did not have the name and lineage of any of the great kings of the world. He never sat on a earthly throne adorned with precious stones. Return in your thoughts to the time of His betrayal. His enemies made a mockery of His kingship by placing a thorny crown on His head. They even cast lots for the only belongings He had, the clothes He wore. He never engaged in any conflict with another nation, yet there never was a leader who revolutionized the world as much as the carpenter s Son of Nazareth. He declared a spiritual war and invited all His followers to fight against evil. He challenged those who would choose to walk in His footsteps to fight against selfishness, hatred, jealousy and avarice. The weapons of war that He advocated were love and forgiveness. Prayer is the most powerful communication system, which He initiated among His subjects. His kingdom is not of this world. His kingdom is everlasting. And we should be proud of the fact that we are heirs to this kingdom. Jesus, by dying on the cross, made us members of His eternal kingdom. He has assured us that there are many mansions in His Father s kingdom, and He went ahead to prepare us a place for us. The primary difference between an earthly kingdom and His heavenly kingdom is that the kingdom of God begins here and now, and will last forever. As Jesus Himself said, For behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Your final admittance into God's Kingdom depends on the life you choose. We must live our lives knowing fully well that we are God s creatures and depend on Him for everything. We cannot think of life without Him, and we can never think of becoming bigger than or equal to Him, a mistake Adam and Eve made. Doing so means you never really knew God, because if you truly knew Him you would know that God's infinite power, wisdom, and grace are so far beyond your comprehension that seeing Him face to face would destroy your earthly body. Humility is the key to beginning to understand God, and humility leads to prayer and love. The sin of Adam and Eve was not merely a sin of disobedience. It was a rebellion against Him in their efforts to become equal to Him, revealing the extent of their arrogance and pride, which is what led to their fall. This temptation continues even to this day. Our daily prayer should be, Lead me not into this temptation. Knights of Columbus Membership Drive and Fundraiser December 8 & 9 after all Masses Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Christmas Gift Candies will be for sale. St. James Bulletin and Website since 2007 Submission deadline is two weeks before publication date. articles to: bulletin@sjapostle.net. Send information for the webpage to: webmaster@sjapostle.net Carolyn Fiori... Editor Facebook: Search St. James the Apostle Church, Like the page. IF posting pictures, you must get consent from the people in the photo (per Oakland diocese Safe Environment). Please, NO tagging pictures. Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the rstborn the dead

3 Nov 27 Dec 2 Dec 3 Dec 8-9 Dec 9 Dec 9 Dec 10 Dec 12 Dec 3-11 Dec 12 Dec Dec 17 Dec 25 Dec 27 Dec 31 Jan 6 PARISH CALENDAR Pastoral Council 7:00pm Bake Sale - Youth KofC Officer s Meeting 7:30pm KofC fundraiser (Christmas Gift Candies for sale.) KofC Novena Prayer for the Unborn after 10am Mass Parish Christmas Party 4:00pm St. Vincent de Paul Meeting 7:00pm Finance Council Meeting 6:30 pm Novena Rosary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Grotto, 6:30pm Special Mass and Celebration - Our Lady of Guadalupe Simbang Gabi KofC Business Meeting 7:30pm Pastoral Council (to be cancelled or re-scheduled) Bishop Begin Assembly 3546 Bus. Mtg 7:30pm New Year s Eve Dinner Dance Santo Niño Fiesta Devotion Schedule on the Flap TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION Although our Puritan forebears at Plymouth Rock were almost a hundred years removed from their Catholic roots, the old liturgical calendar still had an unconscious claim on their hearts. We ve already seen how on Saint Martin s Day, November 11, medieval continental Europe observed a great harvest day of Thanksgiving, with games, dances, parades, and a festive dinner of roast goose. With the goose went ample draughts of Saint Martin s Wine, the first wine of the new harvest. Martinmas celebrated full barns and larders stocked for the winter. Even after the Reformation, the tradition of eating goose on Saint Martin s Day was retained in Holland, and it was there that our Pilgrims encountered this tradition. When Governor Bradford sent four hunters out into the Massachusetts wilderness in the autumn of 1621, they did indeed find some geese and ducks, and were persuaded by the indigenous people to try turkey, too. Please remember those in the armed services: Pvt. Christopher Mueller, Brian Christopher Carreiro, Sgt. Kristan Jofel T. Carado, Greg Savella, Major Jenny Ryan, Captain David Evans And Parishioners and friends who need our prayers or who are ill John DiPaola, Evelyn Reyes, Frank Smith, Concha Garcia, Todd Wetherwax, Deacon Ernie Dandan, Joel Rivera, Melanie O Connor, Katherine Gomes, Lydia DeGraf, Judy McKenney, Tomás Sandoval Klassen, Laura Skaff, Alice Ferreira, Agnes Harris, Ray Ballin, Bob Nehls, Dawn Barker, Martha Torres, Tammy Bumgarner, Margarete Matulich, Carl Dubose To add names to this list, please contact the parish office at or bulletin@sjapostle.net. Just as the liturgical calendar has been tweaked over the years, President Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to the third Thursday in November in 1939, probably to extend the Christmas shopping season. The protest was so great that in 1941 the day established by President Lincoln, the last Thursday in November, was restored. If the Pilgrims had known of the Martinmas connection, they might never have celebrated at all! Rev. James Field, J. S. Paluch Co. CHRIST IS KING On the final Sunday of the liturgical year we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. It s easy to understand today s scriptures as events that happened long ago and far away, or predictions that will come true somewhere, some day. But they invite us to claim Christ as our King here and now. Jesus words to Pilate in the Gospel remind us that his kingdom transcends time and place. And the prophecies from Daniel and Revelation give us reason to be faithful to Christ our King right here and right now. By concluding the year with this feast we are proclaiming our faith that Jesus Christ is the one and only King over all seasons, all peoples, and all of creation. No matter what nation we belong to or what language we speak, he has made us into a kingdom (Revelation 1:6) one people united in love and peace for all eternity. Copyright J. S. Paluch Co., Inc. VIVA LA FIESTA! We will once again celebrate this time-honored tradition with our annual Our Lady of Guadalupe Fiesta day. We will pray our nine-day outdoor novena prior to a special Mass/ celebration and procession leading up to December 12th. Unlike any other apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, this is where Our Lady left a miraculous image of herself unmade by human hands. Second, it is the only universally venerated Madonna and Child image where Our Lady appears pregnant instead of holding the Infant Jesus. Please join us for a Rosary at 6:30 beginning December 3 through December 11. Then a Mass and celebration on the December 12 Feast Day. For more information, contact Susan Johnson ( , address: srblackcherry1@gmail.com) or Tess Santos. KNIGHT S CORNER Would you like to join the Men in Blue Blazers? The Knights of Columbus of St. James the Apostle Council No is accepting applicants. A prospective candidate must be a practicing Catholic and at least 18 years of age. This is a great opportunity for single and married men to serve God and the parish s community activities, set an example for its youth and make families closer to God. If you are interested and would like more information, please contact Willie Lagos, jwblagos@yahoo.com, Or ask a Knight! Thank you. We are men of faith & men of action. and ruler the kings the ea h. Revelation 1:5

4 WORSHIP SCHEDULE Monday-Saturday Mass: Rosary 8:10am, Mass 8:30am Saturday Mass: 5:00pm Sunday Masses: 8:30am, 10:00am, 12:00noon Holy Days of Obligation: Masses 8:30am & 7:30pm Confessions: Saturday 4:00pm or by appt. Every Friday Adoration: 9:00-10:00am First Fridays: Adoration 9:00 am-6:30pm Sacred Heart Novena 6:30pm Benediction 7:15pm Healing Mass 7:30pm Our Mother of Mass & Novena, Perpetual Help: Wednesdays, 7:30pm DEVOTIONS Weekly: Bible Study Divine Mercy Chaplet: In the Small Chapel: Legion of Mary Eternal Life Bible Study Charismatic Prayer Meeting Wed. 9:30 am (Kitchen) Thurs, after morning Mass Tues 9:30am Thurs. 7:30pm 2nd & 3rd Fridays 7:00pm Monthly: Divine Mercy Cenacle 7:00pm, 2nd and 4th Prayer Meeting Mondays (Small Chapel) Our Lady of Vailankanni First Saturday 7:00pm Respect for Life Rosary Second Sunday 11:00am Grotto Sacred Heart 6:30pm 1st Friday Enthronement (formal ceremony to make the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus as the King of the house), please contact: Cora Surla (510) ; or Tessie Ricafort (510) PARISH OFFICE HOURS M-F 9:00AM TO NOON REGISTRATION IN THE PARISH Warmest welcome to all who worship in our Community. If you are not registered in the Parish, please complete a registration form available at church entrance or at the Parish Office. ANOINTING OF THE SICK Please call the Parish Office when a parishioner is home-bound or hospitalized to arrange for Holy Communion and Anointing of the Sick. MARRIAGES AND BAPTISMS Please contact the Parish Office at least 6 months in advance for weddings and 3 months in advance for baptisms. BAPTISMS To have your child baptized, please make an appointment with Father Antony. Come to the St. James Parish office or call the Parish Office at For more details, please go to the Church website (Parish Info) or contact Marcial Vasco Baptism Preparation/Training class: First Saturday of the month from 11:00 am - 12:30 pm in the Small Chapel. Baptism Celebration: Last Saturday of the month 11:30am-12:30pm in the church FUNERALS We recommend using Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services / Holy Sepulchre Cemetery and Holy Angels Funeral and Cremation Services. You may contact Shirley X 133. MOTHER TERESA CENTER RESERVATIONS. Contact our Facility Manager & Event Coordinator Larry Bellamy ( , MTC@sjapostle.net) or leave a message at the Parish Office. (No prices or quotes are given over the phone or in an .) Fr. Antony Vazhappilly, Pastor Ernie Dandan, Deacon

5 Baptism On October 27, 2018, the Parish Family of St. James joyfully welcomed the following children through the saving waters of Baptism.: Mikaela Siron, Kristiana Matta & Jefferson and Sofia Fernandez