July 9, 2017 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time FROM PASTOR S DESK JESUS OFFERS US REST AND PEACE In today s Gospel Jesus give thanks to the Father for revealing His love and Goodness to the simple, the poor and the trusting. He invites all who are burdened to come and rest in Him. Jesus trusted the Father in all things was constantly thanking the Father for His care and invited us to trust in God. He tells us to walk with Him led by the Holy Spirit Whom He promised to send to us. Jesus gives rest, hope, and peace to all who trust in Him empowering us by the Holy Spirit to welcome all and encourage all to come to Christ. By preying, for others, encouraging them, and by our love we become instruments of hope for all who labor and are burdened. SATURDAY, JULY 8 5:00pm SUNDAY, JULY 9 Emma Sabbatini Fred & Susan Oliver Curtis Jones Steele Family 8:00am Margaret Mook Theda Lord 9:30am All Souls 11:00am David Patton 7:30pm OLA Parishioners MONDAY, JULY 10 8:00am All Souls TUESDAY, JULY 11 St. Benedict 8:00am All Souls WEDNESDAY, JULY 12 Ciccarelli Family 8:00am Dale & Arlene Fuller Portillo Family THURSDAY, JULY 13 St. Henry 8:00am All Souls FRIDAY, JULY 14 St. Kateri Tekakwitha 8:00am All Souls SATURDAY, JULY 15 St. Bonaventure 5:00pm Mass Intentions To request a Mass, please call the Parish Fred & Lizz Bacca Bacca Family Barbara Bugalski Richard & Margaret Heintz Facility Reservations Calendar Please confirm events at www.olaparish.net SATURDAY, JULY 8 Curia Meeting 10:00am, St. Paul s Room SUNDAY, JULY 9 Open Gym - OLA Basketball 7:30am, Parish Hall Group Baptism 12:pm,Church MONDAY, JULY 10 Troop 328 Scout Meeting 6:45pm, Seton Hall Christian Meditation 7:30pm, School Library TUESDAY, JULY 11 Community Presentation 5:00pm, Parish Hall KoFC Business Meeting 6:00pm, St. John s Hall WEDNESDAY, JULY 12 Legion of Mary Meeting 8:45am, St. Paul s Room SVDP District Meeting 1:00pm, St.. John s Hall THURSDAY, JULY 13 SVDP Meeting 4:00pm, St. John s Hall FRIDAY, JULY 14 Gym Floor Restoration 7:00am to July 15, 8pm, Parish Hall SATURDAY, JULY 15 Private 10:00am, St. John's Hall SUNDAY, JULY 16 Open Gym - OLA Basketball 7:30am, Parish Hall Knights of Colombus Installation 1:30pm, Church Hearing Assist Devices Available Please ask an Usher for assistance.
STEWARDSHIP OFFERING June 19 th - 25 th Weekend Offertory: $ 7,400.58 Electronic Giving : $ 2,167.00 Total: $ 9,567.58 Average Weekly Budget Amount: $ 13,846.15 Does the Holy Spirit dwell within you? If you are a baptized and confirmed Catholic the answer is a resounding yes. However, a better question might be Is the Holy Spirit alive within you? We are all gifted with the Holy Spirit, but how we respond to that gift varies immensely from one person to another. St. Paul says as much in the Second Reading from his letter to the Romans. Paul says, Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, (He) will give life to your mortal bodies also. This produces a number of other questions for us as Catholics. Given that the Spirit is within us, but does the Spirit guide us to Jesus? Are we prepared to be more like Jesus? Are we willing to be His disciple? And especially, Is the Spirit working in our hearts? It is there for each of us, to strengthen us and fortify us and to be with us always. However, we have to accept and embrace that fact. Living a life of stewardship is one of the ways we can do that. As our Bishops have told us in their pastoral letter on stewardship, Stewardship is how you respond to Jesus call to discipleship and holiness. It is a challenge for sure, but it is within the grasp and the capability of each of us. We may have to work at it, but if we trust in God it is most definitely possible. PLEASE SUPPORT OUR BULLETIN SPONSORS We would like to thank all of those who sponsor our Church Bulletin by purchasing a space on the back of the bulletin. These sponsors help offset the cost of our weekly bulletin. Please reach out our bulletin sponsors who would appreciate your patronage. Please let them know that you saw their advertising in our bulletin. If you would like to advertise in our weekly bulletin, please contact The Church Bulletin Company at 921-8584 or cbco@cbco.net. SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT de PAUL OLA CONFERENCE The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is an international Catholic organization of lay persons who wish to live their faith by loving and serving as Jesus did. It was founded by Frederic Ozanam, a 20 year old college student and his companions to beat witness to the Church and the mission it received from Jesus. The Society derives its name from St. Vincent de Paul s thinking and work. It seeks, in a spirit of justice and charity, and by the person-to-person involvement of its members, to help those who are needy and suffering. It serves everyone regardless of creed, color, opinion, or origin. Vincentians strive, through prayer and meditation on the Scriptures to bear witness to the love of Christ in their relationships with those they serve. Members share Jesus healing love and presence with those in need. In this giving of themselves, to the needy they receive more of Jesus whom they seek to emulate. Those who see in the poor the face of Jesus understand the Vincentian spirit. The OLA Conference provides services for the needy living in the OLA Parish area: Emergency Assistance which includes: clothing, furniture, infant and children s needs, rent, temporary lodging, travels expenses, utilities. Operation of a twice weekly Food Locker. WE NEED YOUR HELP! We are in need of persons willing to pick up food from our grocery stores, mostly mornings between 7 and 9 AM. Interested? Please call SVDP office at 481-6352. If no one answers, please leave you number and we will call back or call Marylee Johnson at 359-1225.
Family Connection Today s reading from Matthew s Gospel comes after a discourse in which Jesus reproaches people who have witnessed His mighty deeds yet still lack belief. In this context, today s Gospel explains the reason for this unbelief and reveals what is necessary for faith. Today s Gospel also continues to enhance our understanding of discipleship as last week s Gospel did. Jesus first prays in thanksgiving to God who has made himself known to Jesus disciples. He praises God who has made himself known to the little ones and not to the wise and learned. As in other recent readings from Matthew s Gospel, a contrast is made here between the unbelieving Pharisees, who are wise and learned, and the faithful disciples, tax collectors, and sinners with whom Jesus keeps company. The second part of this reading calls to our attention the unity between the Father and the Son. God has made himself known through Jesus, and in knowing Jesus, we come to know the Father. In Jesus life and in his person, God reveals himself to us. In today s Gospel, Jesus teaches an important lesson for families: from the youngest and simplest among us we can learn the most profound insights about God. Parents who are attentive to this reality can learn much from their children even as their children are learning from them. Families who create time and space for encounters with God will enrich the faith of all who share in family life. Gather as a family and read together today s Gospel, Matthew 11:25-30. Allow time for each person to reflect on what Jesus reveals to us about God. Invite each person to show these things in a creative way, perhaps through a picture, poem, or some other means. Share these with one another. Conclude in prayer together, thanking Jesus for making God known to us. Pray together the Lord s Prayer or today s Psalm, Psalm 145. Parenting PARENTING IN THE POP CULTURE: PREPPING OUR CHILDREN FOR HEAVEN OR HELL? By Fr. Robert McTeigue, SJ T he greatest threat to children today? Their parents. An exaggeration? Let s see. Parents are the premier guardians of their children, and the gateway to their souls and bodies. Do our children appear spiritually, morally and physically healthy, well on their way to fruitful and Godpleasing maturity? Following a terrorist attack at a recent pop music concert in England, I did a bit of research on the music parents buy for their young children and the concerts to which they take their children. I found lyrics that are so obscene that I dare not quote them here. I found videos of onstage dancing at these concerts that can only be described as simulations of sex acts. This is what parents are permitting, paying for and even sharing with their children. The senses are the gateway to the soul. What passes through the five senses enters the memory and imagination, affecting the intellect, the will and the heart. What the children understand to be true, good and beautiful is profoundly shaped by their early sensory experiences, especially those endorsed by the authority of their parents. What happens to children who are taught by their parents to sing of group sex while watching live soft pornography onstage at a concert? I had planned to write, Parents would not allow their children to eat poisonous food so how can they allow their children to consume poison for their soul? But that s not quite right. The epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States shows otherwise. Children cannot eat junk and cannot live an unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle without at least tacit parental permission. The effects of physical malnutrition are readily apparent; what about the effects of spiritual malnutrition? I spent 20+ years teaching young adults who arrived at university with malformed habits of mind and heart. Permitted to consume whatever the popular culture offered, aided by parental acquiescence and finance, these troubled men and women struggled with and often failed to benefit from the intellectual, moral, spiritual and social opportunities that a good university education can offer. They wasted years and a lot of money. Continued on next page
Continued from previous page The sources of the sickness they re absorbing isn t limited to food and popular culture there s an ecclesial sickness too. If parents make available to their children beautiful churches and worthy worship, children will be able to draw certain conclusions about God and the Catholic faith. If children see only ugly churches and shoddy worship, children will be able to draw a different set of conclusions about God and the Catholic faith. So much for lamentations how about recommendations? Let s start by noting the gravity of the situation: God will surely ask us about how we formed our children who are really his children. Teachers, parishes, family, but above all parents have a decisive role to play. The physical, moral and spiritual health of our children will be thoroughly shaped by what we allow, foster, approve and concede, both explicitly and implicitly. Especially in early years, what shapes the souls of children is what parents allow to enter the senses. Their moral imagination will be shaped by what they see and hear. Love among family members, stories of saints and heroes, a fervent sense of Sabbath and holy days, habits of prayer and sacraments, can foster souls able to grow into readiness for Heaven. What is likely to grow in the absence of all these? Let s turn to prayer. We need to intercede for our children with a most fierce and stubborn love, to protect them from a world that would seduce and enslave them, and from spiritual enemies that would poison their souls against God. Let s turn to those who have been getting it right. I think of parents I know who have been reading to their children nightly since infancy. A few years later, their children would find it unthinkable to end the day without books. I think of a family whose after-dinner entertainment for years was reading aloud together The Lord of the Rings, a chapter at a time. Let s turn to wise people for diagnosis, prescriptions and guidance. Start with Postman s Amusing Ourselves to Death. Then turn to Senior s The Death of Christian Culture, which includes a list of 1000 (!) good books to read with your children between the ages of 2 and 18. Follow up with his The Restoration of Christian Culture, which offers Saint Benedict and Our Lady as role models. Let s turn to wise people for diagnosis, prescriptions and guidance. Start with Postman s Amusing Ourselves to Death. Then turn to Senior s The Death of Christian Culture, which includes a list of 1000 (!) good books to read with your children between the ages of 2 and 18. Follow up with his The Restoration of Christian Culture, which offers Saint Benedict and Our Lady as role models. BE GOOD STEWARDS OF YOUR FAMILY THIS SUMMER July is the heart of summer, and summer is an exciting and challenging time for stewardship of the family. Everything turns a little upside down for the family in summer. Kids out of school, grandparents visiting, teens with a first job, road trips and those big family reunions: Sometimes it seems summer dashes by in a flurry of wet bathing suits and backyard barbecues. How does the Christian steward make summer a special time for the domestic church of family? Relax!... No, really!... Relax! Slow down! The world often spins around us and we are caught up in work, social media, and activity. Gift yourself and your family with time this summer. Be truly present. When Pope Francis addressed a homily to families in 2013, one word he used often was simplicity. Make time for family meals, but make them simple and nutritious. We need simplicity to pray as a family, the Holy Father said. Let each family member take a turn praying a simple grace at family meals. Linger over good food and good conversation. Make family your focus. Listen to your children. Take time for a night out with your spouse. Make a commitment to fun and presence. The Holy Father also asked families, How do we keep our faith as a family? We don t keep it for ourselves, he said, as a personal treasure like a bank account. No, we share it. We witness it. How can we witness faith during the summer months? Christian families are missionary families, Pope Francis said. Summer is a good time to plan a field trip to a shelter or a food bank. Call ahead and ask what you can bring and how your family can help. Many agencies plan summer picnics and presentations by refugees during the season. Let your kids experience this diversity. Attend a vacation bible school or help with one. Invite a priest from your parish, or perhaps a lonely neighbor, to dinner. Spread your family joy. The summer readers in your family might benefit from finding Catholic periodicals or books on heroes of our faith. Visit new parishes during the summer. If you are on a road trip, never miss Sunday Mass and take advantage of a side trip to a shrine or an historic Catholic church. Most of all, relax and enjoy. Pope Francis says, The family which experiences the joy of faith communicates it naturally.
MOMENTS FROM VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
OUR PARISH 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 Rest in Peace We extend prayers of comfort to the families and friends of Ursuline Hughes Church Tour All Are Welcome For a tour of our Church, contact Jane at 481-5115 The parish hall/gym will be having the floor refinished on July 12th. The weekend of July 13 and 14 the parish hall will not be available. PERT CLUB MEETING (People Enjoying Retirement Together) Tuesday, July 18, 2017 Are you retired and looking for social interaction? Join PERT Club to celebrate Independence Day at 11:00 am at St. John s Hall. It ll be a short meeting to share some fun and games, followed by the traditional 4 th of July picnic at Noon. Hot dogs, buns, and assorted condiments will be supplied by the club. You are asked to fill in the blanks with assorted picnic salads, appetizers, chili, desserts, cold drinks, etc. Bring your own utensils, cups, glasses, table decorations for your table, and some food for the St. Vincent de Paul Food Locker. Following the potluck will be BINGO, with cash prizes, at 1:00 pm, or when the Kitchen Crew is finished. The Kitchen Crew is asked to arrive by 9:30 am, to help decorate and prepare food presentation. Stop by our meeting, join some old friends, make some new ones and sample our potluck. Call Jane at 359-7126, or George at 483-7194, if you have any questions July 16 th it s Donut Sunday! Enjoy a delicious Donut after 9:30am Mass OPPORTUNITIES TO LIVE YOUR FAITH AND ENJOY BATTLE READY RALLY 2017 In honor of the 100 th Anniversary of Fatima, St. John the Evangelist Church in Carmichael is very happy to invite us all to the Battle Rally 2017 with Doug Barry, co-host of EWTN s Life on the Rock, on Thursday July 13 & Friday July 14, 6:30-8:00pm, who is coming back for two very exciting evenings for us to take a deeper look into what the Blessed Virgin Mary is telling us. Let s help them to spread the word! They want to fill the church. Bring all your family and friends. There is a special need and call for young adults, young families and teens too. MONACO BOYS CHOIR IN CONCERT The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament presents the Monaco Boys Choir in concert, this Wednesday July 12, 2017. Founded in 1904, the Monaco Boy Choir is the liturgical choir for the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Monaco. Under the direction of Pierre Debat, the choir has toured over thirty-five countries. They have performed with the Monte-Carlo Opera and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic. Works by Charpentier, Couperin, Bach, Mendelssohn, Casals and others will be performed. Doors open at 7 pm. A suggested donation of $15 will be accepted at the door.