Category Archives: Reflection

Third Week of Easter Reflection

St. Mary's by the Sea Roman Catholic Parish Posted on by

Dear Parishioners,

During this 3rd week of Easter Season, we are continuing our journey of hope. Yes, our misery is almost toward the end of a tunnel. The light of our lives will be bright again. As you know many states are slowly reopening their businesses and getting back to normal life again. It is the hope that we are looking for.

When we come back to our normal life, what can we give to God? Look at a brief recap of a 62-year-old man who just recovered from COVID-19. He said “I am surely going to be more spiritual as this has made me appreciate all of the prayers and how much God loves us…. I will be more patient and forgiving and will not worry about the small stuff…. I will tell my family I love them every day (I had gotten out of this habit long ago). I will thank God every day for bringing my wife and children into my life…. Sometimes it takes a dramatic event like what I experienced to remind us of what’s most important: God, family, and friends.” (OC Register, Thursday April 23, 2020; p. 10).

Yes, we have experienced that God is never absent. He never abandoned us. He is always walking with us. He is always in our midst. He loves each one of us passionately. He wants all of us to be saved and come to know the truth about Him. Through this pandemic, we know that we need God, we need each other and we need the Church.

Let us continue to love and support each other. Let us continue to recognize God’s gift in our daily life. Let our hearts respond with praise and thanks to the Lord who loved not only us but the whole world!

May the blessing of our Risen Lord be with you always!

Stay cool and be happy!

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Reverend Quang Vinh Chu, Pastor

 

Divine Mercy Message

St. Mary's by the Sea Roman Catholic Parish Posted on by

Dear Parishioners,

We have been self-isolated for a month already! Time flies so fast, doesn’t it? During this time, we have not been able to attend Church. We are able to stay-at-home to watch via livestream Masses. We have more time to read the Bible and reflect on the Words of God. His words stir deep in our hearts, and we begin to feel a sense of hope again. At home, every time you pray with your family, you are taking hold of Jesus’ power to bring healing and comfort. So, slow down and listen to His words. Stop and let Jesus touch your heart with divine insight. Gaze on Him at live-stream Mass and you will see that He is there all long.

Whenever the order of stay-at-home is lifted, and we are able to return to church, we will better understand the mystery of Jesus’ great love and humility. We will experience and know that Jesus is never absent. He is walking with us. He longs to stir our hearts again through His words and through His presence. He longs to tell us that He has a plan for our life and that we can rely on Him.

As we celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy, we say “O Blood and water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You.” For this, we know that Jesus can bring all of us into His embrace. So, what can we give to Jesus in return for such a marvelous gift when we come back to normal life?

May the peace of our Risen Lord be with you always!

Wearing mask + keeping social distance = saving lives!

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Reverend Quang Vinh Chu, Pastor

 

Happy Easter from Father Chu

St. Mary's by the Sea Roman Catholic Parish Posted on by

Happy Easter 2020 from St. Mary’s by the Sea

Dear Parishioners,

Happy Easter to everyone!

Today, especially during this pandemic, millions of people in the world celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord in many different ways, Our Risen Lord is truly risen from the dead as He promised and He is living among us. Jesus’ Resurrection changed everything, even in this pandemic year: Sin was defeated. Satan was vanquished. Death was swallowed up by life. Hopefully, the coronavirus is slowing down or stabilizing. It is the millions of lives who have experienced God in conversion.  Your life has also been swept up. It is the good and amazing news.

As we celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord, how can we even begin to honor God for what He has done for us? We can start by:

  1. Seek out His presence as your first priority.
  2. Keep running to Him throughout the day in prayer.
  3. See for yourself how He has been moving in your life and making you a new creation.
  4. Spend your lives ushering the graces of God to your families, neighbors, friends, strangers, enemies, and especially to physicians, doctors, nurses, first responders, etc.

Today, Jesus has become a life-giving spirit, pouring out the Holy Spirit onto the whole world. From this spring of resurrection power, let us continue to say: “Lord Jesus, You are alive! You are our hope! You are our joy! Alleluia!” Lord God, give me the courage and zeal to share that message with everyone I meet. Amen.

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Reverend Quang Vinh Chu, Pastor

Easter Reflection

St. Mary's by the Sea Roman Catholic Parish Posted on by

Dear Parishioners,

First and foremost, thanks to God for His blessing and I pray that all of you are doing well! I am doing good too! Thank you for your prayers and for supporting me in my ministry in so many different ways.

Yesterday, Monday April 6, 2020, I celebrated my uncle’s funeral and graveside service, this is the first time ever that I celebrated a funeral with fewer than ten people according to the order of our Government because of the coronavirus pandemic. It seems so sad! In this situation, many of us wonder why God does not always do what we want and how and when we want it done.

At this moment of sadness, I remembered the day of Jesus’ burial. There were only few people to bury Him such as Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, John, Mary Magdalene, Mary, mother of Joses, and Mary, Mother of God because people were afraid of the Jewish leaders.

During this period of time, it is a great challenge for us to face this crisis. We do not always understand God’s will and it becomes difficult to choose to trust that He knows what He is doing. In such times, we would do well to look to the Cross of Christ where the Son of Man is glorified and we see the will of God made manifest.

During this Holy Week, gazing in wonder upon the Crucified Lord, we see the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep. He extends His arms on the Cross to embrace us and He bends His head low to receive us with the kiss of reconciliation. Sparing nothing for our salvation, He gave His own life so that we might live.

Through the strength and power of His love, He has forever destroyed the power of sin and death for all who trust in His mercy and love. When we look upon the pierced side of Christ, we learn most clearly that “the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them” because nothing can keep us from the love of Christ Jesus (Wisdom 3:1).

Here we are at the Holy Week, a time when we focus our attention on Jesus’ suffering and death. With confidence in the grace and mercy of Christ, that we lovingly entrust our struggles, our crisis, our sadness etc. to him, to the one who died for us, who said, “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me” (John 12:26).

As the events of Holy Week are sent in motion, allow God to broaden your vision. Let Him show you how big His plan is, how wide and broad is His desire to save everyone – and save them completely. Let Him make that transformation a reality in your own life, even though we cannot gather together to celebrate the Holy Triduum and His resurrection in the Church.

Don’t worry, at the time of Jesus’ Resurrection, there was only Mary Magdalene who recognized Him outside of the tomb when He called her name. And Jesus asked her to spread the words of His rising to His disciples and to all. Let us spread the words of Jesus’ Resurrection to all, wherever it maybe, especially during this time of crisis.

Let us say, “Alleluia, Alleluia, Jesus Christ is truly risen from the death, Alleluia!”

May the Risen Lord bless you always!

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Reverend Quang Vinh Chu, Pastor