August 20, 2017 Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time FROM THE PASTOR S DESK PRAYER HEALS ALL THINGS In today s Gospel we have a great example of persistent prayer that brought healing and freedom from evil. A pagan mother persistently begged Jesus to heal her daughter who was tormented by a demon. Jesus was delighted by her faith and healed her daughter. Thus He showed that anyone who has faith and prays with persistence is heard. We have many examples of this in Scripture and the Tradition of the Church. By her persistent prayer she not only showed great faith in Jesus but also sat an example to the people of Israel and for all Christians. Prayer brings God s healing, fills us with love, and liberates from evil. It transforms us giving us intimacy with God and it increases our faith. God is moved by a trusting heart that does not give up, but hopes and allows Him to heal us and do great things in us and for us and through us.. Let us pray as a community and as individuals. Mass Intentions To request a Mass, please call the Parish SATURDAY, AUGUST 19 St. John Eudes 5:30pm Marion Moorse Donald Moorse David Mulgrew Donald Moorse SUNDAY, AUGUST 20 8:00am Dale & Risa Fuller Portillo Family 9:30am Bill Muller Lorrretta Slingerland 11:00am John O Donnell Bill Mullin O Donnell Family George & Rory Hodsdon 7:30pm OLA Parishioners Steele Family Borg Family MONDAY, AUGUST 21 St. Pius X 8:00am Jeni (birthday) Rick Harold Silva Ricci Family TUESDAY, AUGUST 22 The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary 8:00am Larry & Sophie Rick WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23 St. Rose of Lima 8:00am Virginia De Souza Jesse & Kevin De Souza THURSDAY, AUGUST 24 St. Bartholomew 8:00am FRIDAY, AUGUST 25 St. Louis St. Joseph Calasanz Souls in Purgatory 8:00am All Souls SATURDAY, AUGUST 26 5:30pm Lizz Baca Baca Family Dick Carlson Nancy Carlson Facility Reservations Calendar Please confirm events at www.olaparish.net SATURDAY, AUGUST 19 DeFrank Baby Shower 10:00am, St. John s Hall Parish Feast Day Celebration 6:00pm, Parish Hall SUNDAY, AUGUST 20 Open Gym - OLA Basketball 7:30am, Parish Hall MONDAY, AUGUST 21 Varsity Volleyball Practice 5:00pm, Parish Hall OLA Women s Book Club Mtg. 6:30pm, St. John s Pastoral Council Meeting 6:30pm, St. Paul s Room Troop 328 Scout Meeting 6:45pm, Seton Hall RCIA Inquiry 7:00pm, St. Anne s Room Christian Meditation 7:30pm, School Library TUESDAY, AUGUST 22 OLA Finance Council Meeting 7:00pm, St. Paul s Baptismal Preparation 7:00pm, St. Anne s Room KofC Planning Meeting 7:30pm, St. John s Hall WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23 Legion of Mary Meeting 8:45am, St. Paul s Room OLA Varsity Volleyball Practice 5:00pm, Parish Hall Youth Choir Rehearsal 6:00pm, Church OLA Finance Council Meeting 6:30pm, St. Paul s Music Ministry Rehearsal 7:00pm, Church THURSDAY, AUGUST 24 Boy Scouts Troop 328 Meeting 6:30pm, St. John s Hall FRIDAY, AUGUST 25 SATURDAY, AUGUST 26 Memorial for David Grotewohl 11:30 am, St. John s Hearing Assist Devices Available Please ask an Usher for assistance.
OUR PARISH You may notice that there are only two candles beside the altar. We have noticed that the oil seems to be running our rapidly. Therefore, to conserve resources, we are going to try using only two candles. Thank you for your understanding! MARTHA-MARY GATHERING Remember to save Thursday, September 7, 10:30 am, St. John s Hall for our next Gathering. All women of the Parish are invited to join in prayer, informational programs, and light refreshments in this pleasant social atmosphere. In September there will be discussion about upcoming ways Martha-Mary will interact with other ministries of our Parish. For more information, please call Joan at 484-1587. Please plan to join us for a brief conversation about Children s Ministries here at Our Lady of the Assumption and specifically the Children s Liturgy of the Word. Your input is very important! When: Sunday, August 27, 2017 Where: St. John s Hall Time: Following 9:30 Mass This meeting will be very short (10-15 minutes), bring your whole family and refreshments will be served. If you have questions, please contact Tracy Urban at 1tracyju@gmail.com. Hope to see you! BULLETIN Any errors are unintentional and deeply regretted. Thank you for your understanding. Please contact Shannon Blecha with any corrections, submissions, or ideas for the Parish Bulletin at 481-5115 or parishbulletin@olaparish.net Thank You! OLA SCHOOL NEWS Hello All! The 8th grade will be selling Pavilion Car Care car wash coupons as a fundraiser supporting the 8th grade Washington D.C. field trip. We will be selling the coupons at morning coffee on the first day of school and then Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday starting August 16th through September 14th for one hour immediately following school dismissal. The cost of each car wash coupon is $27. That is almost a $17 savings! We will accept cash and checks for payment. Please make checks payable to OLA. Pavilion s Charity Wash includes: - Full Service Carwash (Exterior Wash & Dry, Interior Vacuum & Dusting) $24.99 - Underbody Protectant $6.99 - Clear Coat Protectant $3.99 - Rain-X All Surface Protectant $5.00 - Air Freshener $2.49 Total Value $43.46 This package does not include wheel cleaning or tire dressing. This is a GREAT deal only available through this fundraising opportunity. We are so appreciative of our Pavilion Car Care partners who continue to support our school so generously! And we are ever grateful to our amazing teachers, administrators and families who always rise to the occasion in supporting our children. Thank you all so much! Your 8th grade class
Pope Francis Teachings GENERAL AUDIENCE Wednesday, 2 August 2017 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! There was a time when churches were oriented toward the East. You entered the sacred building from a door at the west end and, walking along the nave, you moved eastward. It was an important symbol for old-world man, an allegory which, in the course of history, has gradually died out. We men and women of the modern epoch, much less accustomed to grasping the great signs of the cosmos, hardly ever notice details of this sort. The West is the cardinal point of the setting sun, where the light dies out. The East, however, is the place where the shadows are overcome by the first light of dawn and it reminds us of Christ, the Sun risen on high, at the world s horizon (cf. Lk 1:78). The ancient Rites of Baptism called for the catechumens to pronounce the first part of their profession of faith keeping their gaze turned to the West. And in that stance they were asked: Do you renounce Satan, his service and his works? And the future Christians repeated in chorus: I do!. Then they turned toward the apse, in the direction of the East, where the light is born, and the candidates for Baptism were again questioned: Do you believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?. And this time they responded: I do!. In modern times the appeal of this Rite has been partially lost: we have lost sensitivity to the language of the cosmos. Naturally there remains the profession of faith made according to the Baptismal interrogation, which is proper to the celebration of several sacraments. However its significance remains intact. What does it mean to be Christians? It means looking to the light, continuing to make the profession of faith in the light, even when the world is enveloped in darkness and shadows. Christians are not exempt from external and even internal shadows. They do not live outside of the world, however; by the grace of Christ received in Baptism they are oriented men and women: they do not believe in darkness, but in the dim light of day; they do not succumb to the night, but hope in the dawn; they are not defeated by death, but yearn to rise again; they are not cowered by evil, because they always trust in the infinite possibilities of good. And this is our Christian hope: the light of Jesus, the salvation that Jesus brings to us with his light that saves us from the darkness. We are those who believe that God is Father: this is the light! We are not orphans; we have a Father and our Father is God. We believe that Jesus descended among us; he shared our life, making himself companion above all to the poorest and most frail: this is the light! We believe that the Holy Spirit works unceasingly for the good of humanity and of the world, and that even the worst suffering of history will be overcome: this is the hope that awakens us each morning! We believe that every affection, every friendship, every good yearning, every love, even the most minute and neglected, one day will find fulfilment in God: this is the power that spurs us to embrace our daily life with enthusiasm! And this is our hope: to live in hope and live in light, in the light of God the Father, in the light of Jesus the Saviour, in the light of the Holy Spirit who urges us to go forth in life. There is then another very beautiful sign of the baptismal liturgy that reminds us of the importance of light. At the end of the Rite, the parents if it is a child or the baptized themselves if they are adults are consigned a candle, whose flame is lit from the Paschal Candle. It is a large candle that on Easter night enters the completely dark church, to demonstrate the mystery of Jesus Resurrection; from that candle everyone lights their own candle and passes the flame on to those nearby: in that sign is the slow propagation of the Resurrection of Jesus in the lives of all Christians. The life of the Church I will say a rather strong word is contagious light. The more light of Jesus we Christians have, the more light of Jesus there is in the life of the Church, the more alive she is. The life of the Church is the contagion of light. The most beautiful exhortation that we can address to each other is to always remember our Baptism. I would like to ask you: how many of you remember the date of your Baptism? Do not answer because some may feel embarrassed! Think, and if you do not remember it, today you have homework to do: go to your mom, to your dad, to your aunt, to your uncle, to your grandma, grandpa, and ask them: What is the date of my Baptism?. And never forget it again! Is that clear? Will you do it? Today s task is to learn or remember the date of Baptism, which is the date of rebirth; it is the date of light; it is the date in which allow me to say in which we were infected by the light of Christ. We are born twice over: the first time into natural life; the second, thanks to the encounter with Christ, at the Baptismal font. There we died unto death, in order to live as children of God in this world. There we became human as we never could have imagined. This is why we all must spread the fragrance of the Chrism, with which we were anointed on the day of our Baptism. In us lives and operates the Spirit of Jesus, first born of many brothers and sisters, of all those who oppose the inevitability of darkness and death. What a grace it is when a Christian truly becomes a cristo-foro, which means bearer of Jesus in the world! Above all for those who are experiencing situations of grief, of despair, of darkness and of hate. This can be understood from many fine details: from the light that a Christian conserves in his eyes, from the foundation of peace which is not undermined even on the most complicated of days, from the wish to begin to love again even when we have experienced many disappointments. In the future, when the story of our days is written, what will it say about us? That we were capable of hope, or that we put our light under a bushel? If we are true to our Baptism, we will spread the light of the hope Baptism is the beginning of hope, that hope of God, and we will be able to pass on to future generations the meaning of life.
https://www.osv.com/osvnewsweekly/ MEMORIAL - AUGUST 22 The Queenship Of Mary "This is why the blessed Virgin is called powerful - nay, sometimes, all-powerful, because she has, more than anyone else, more than all the angels and saints, this great, prevailing gift of prayer. No one has access to the Almighty as His Mother has; none has merit such as hers. Her Son will deny her nothing that she asks; and herein lies her power. While she defends the Church, neither height nor depth, neither men nor evil spirits, neither great monarchs, nor craft of man, nor popular violence, can avail to harm us. For Human life is short, but Mary reigns above, a Queen forever." ~Cardinal Newman MARIAN REFLECTION Listen: In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death. Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion Ponder: How is Mary still in the world? What does her assumption into heaven mean for me? Do I find hope in Mary s life with God? Respond: Father, grant me the grace to follow Mary s path to happiness with you. Family Connection Matthew 15:21-28 Jesus heals the daughter of the Canaanite woman because of her great faith. Even when spurned by Jesus, the faith of the Canaanite woman makes her bold enough to argue and ask again for what she needs. Her persistence and great confidence that Jesus could heal her daughter reminds us of the confidence with which our children bring to us their own needs. In their faith and trust we can find modern examples of how we might approach God in prayer. As a family, recall some times when a request for something was presented by one family member to another with confidence and persistence. If the request was denied, talk about why that was so. If the request was eventually granted, talk about what led to the change of heart. Then read together today s Gospel, Matthew 15:21-28. Was anyone surprised by Jesus response to the Canaanite woman? Why or why not? What makes Jesus change his mind and heal the woman s daughter? When we pray, God wants us to be as confident in his mercy. Invite family members to identify the things that they most need from God. Pray these prayers of petition together as a family, confident that God will hear and answer your prayers. WISDOM OF THE DAY Let them also not dispute among themselves or with others, but let them be ready to answer with humility, saying: "we are unprofitable servants." ~St. Francis of Assisi
LIVE, LEARN & ENJOY YOUR FAITH For more information about Youth Groups, please contact Johann Rubia-Miller at 488-4626 or Email: youth@olaparish.net OLA Youth Groups Wednesdays (Grades 7-8) 7:00pm - 8:30pm and Tuesdays (Grades 9-12): 7:00pm - 8:30pm Meetings are held in Seton Hall. Dinner and Mass Fellowship Night SILENT RETREAT The Response of Love and Faith Silent Retreat for Women and Men Fr. Kevin Leidich, S.J. The First Principle and Foundation of The Spiritual Exercises provides a blueprint for living the example of Jesus. In this silent retreat, retreatants will pray with the words of Ignatius which describe our purpose and the direction of our faith: "To Praise, Reverence, and Serve God". When: Friday September 15 4:00pm through Sunday September 17 2:00pm Where: The Jesuit Retreat Center of Los Altos For more information, please visit: https://jrc.retreatportal.com/calendar/events.aspx PILGRIMAGES Catholic Charities of California, Inc. (CCC) invites you to participate in our pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Via Francigena in Italy, Rome and Finisterre in Spain. These are seven-day walking pilgrimages. We are also offering a non-walking pilgrimage to Greece, May 13 th 22 nd, 2018. These pilgrimages are a beautiful opportunity for people to deepen their faith, while also supporting Catholic Charities programs serving those in need. Contact us at Pilgrim@CatholicCharitiesCA.org or (916) 706-1539 for more information on these exciting pilgrimages! Every 3 rd Sunday of the month starting in September come and break bread in the youth room, attend Mass together, and experience our faith through prayers and worship. There will be a light dinner in the youth room from 6:30pm to 7:15pm followed by attendance at the 7:30pm Mass. Help to participate in the Mass by greeting, ushering, bringing up the gifts, and reading. This evening is for youth in grades 7-12. RSVP is not required. Information and/or questions, contact: OLA Youth Minister, Johann Miller at (916) 486-4626 faithformation@olaparish.net OLA Youth Choir and Ensemble (Grades 3-12) All parish and school children grades 3-12 are invited to participate in these activities. We are looking for both singers and instrumentalists. Practices are from 6:00-6:55pm on Wednesday evenings in the church. Please contact our Music Director, Casey Oliver, at 481-5115 or worship@olaparish.net
OFFERING July 17 th - July 23 rd & July 24 th - July 30 th Weekend Offertory: $ 17,557.34 Electronic Giving : $ 2,854.00 Total: $ 20,411.34 Average Weekly Budget Amount: $ 13,846.15 Support OLA Via Amazon Smile Thank you to everyone that supports our parish with their purchases. Remember this doesn t cost you anything! The Amazon Foundation contributes half a percent of your total purchases to our Parish. Just shop via OLA Parish s Amazon smile portal: smile.amazon.com/ch/45-3954215. We appreciate your support! STEWARDSHIP Today s Gospel from the Book of Matthew describes what occurred in Tyre and Sidon when Jesus cured the daughter of a Gentile woman. Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities. The Apostles faithfully followed the Lord wherever He went, just as we are called to do. There was only one reason that the Lord made this trip (on foot, of course, as that was the only alternative at that time), and that was to cure the daughter of the Gentile woman. Making an effort like that is a sign of Christ s love, and His understanding of a need. He was also trying to teach His followers, which includes us, how important each individual and her or his faith is. Jesus Apostles found this situation, and perhaps even this entire trip, to be a fruitless and empty gesture, more of a bother than it was worth. They even plead with Jesus to ignore the woman and send her away. They said, Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us. However, Jesus is teaching a lesson to each of us, actually two lessons. He does not send her away but finally responds, saying O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish. The two lessons (messages) Jesus provides to us are easily summarized. First, we need to know and understand that Jesus loves us and He is aware of our needs. The second is that when we pray and appeal for help (all the woman finally said was Lord, help me! ) a key to answered prayers is persistence. She had it, and we need to have it. Estate Planning A legacy gift to Our Lady of the Assumption is one of the most rewarding and far-reaching investments you can make. Our Lady of the Assumption takes the trust you place in us seriously and has used previous gifts to support the educational needs of our students, the liturgical and basic necessities of those helped by our charity partners locally, nationally and internationally as well as investing in the future of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish. We are grateful to those who have included us in their plan for the distribution of their assets after death. We pray that you will keep Our Lady of the Assumption Parish and/or School in mind. We invite you to contact the Parish Office if you wish to learn more about how you can include us in your estate planning. If you are a user of our electronic giving program, please take note of the new link to access our Parish Pay website: https://www.parishpay.com/ nonprofit/login.html?pc=2a8q5e74. If you are not, we invite you to consider it. ParishPay is a way to automate your regular weekly offerings. Electronic giving is convenient for you and provides muchneeded consistency for our church. There is no cost for you to participate. If you are currently giving on a weekly basis, you will no longer need to write out 52 checks a year or prepare 52 envelopes. And when travel, illness or other circumstances prevent you from attending services, this program will allow your weekly offerings to continue on an uninterrupted basis. Thank you for your continuous support!