Happy Mother’s Day

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Dear Parishioners,

Happy Mother’s Day!

Thank you for your calls and emails and to let us know that you are doing fine! I am doing fine too! May God bless us all!

We are hoping that the light at the end of the tunnel will be bright soon. Each state will gradually reopen businesses and start to come back to normal. Some leaders are slow to reopen because of “fear.” What does it mean “essential or non-essential”? How about “Spiritual food”, is it essential for Christian lives? Are we afraid if God is for us? How easy it can be to let our hearts be “troubled” because of wars, famine, virus, fear, etc. Many things can concern us, but in the midst of it all, Jesus tells us to have faith in Him and not let all the bad news overshadow our joy and trust in Him.

Jesus also reminds us that He is the Good Shepherd and Sheep Gate. He knows each of us and we recognize His voice. Think about how much He cares for you. He is always mindful of you. He never leaves you defenseless before the predators of temptation or guilt or condemnation or pandemic.

Jesus says: I know you; I know your strengths and your weaknesses, your hopes, and your fears. I know what you believe and what you are not ready to believe. So, trust in Him, and do not worry about getting everything right. Just do the best you can while we are waiting for the “stay at home” order to be lifted. Let us put ourselves into God’s hands and trust in Him because the Lord is our Good Shepherd and Gate Keeper!

May Jesus protect you and keep you safe from all harm!

Best wishes to all and I hope to see you soon!

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Reverend Quang Vinh Chu, Pastor

 

 

 

 

Third Week of Easter Reflection

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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

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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

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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

Message From Our Pastor

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Hello Everyone,

Thank you for staying in contact with and supporting each other during this pandemic. It was good to hear from many of you. I am doing fine too!  Keep creating things to do both spiritually and physically. Keep in touch!

Today, the Church begins to celebrate the Holy Triduum, and we will miss all these celebrations together in the Church because of COVID19.

Let Jesus makes a transformation of reality in our life by:

  • Let us resolve to make this Holy Triduum special by sharing a holy space at home, sharing family prayer, making a meal together, having loving conversations and bonding with family members in unity.
  • Let us unite in our sufferings, inconveniences and annoyances with the suffering of Jesus, especially during this time. He sacrificed His life for us to live.
  • Let us sing a song with joy that Jesus Christ is truly risen from the dead. He destroys death and sins and darkness! Alleluia!

May Jesus’ suffering and resurrection bless you all!

PS: Don’t forget to say a Novena of Divine Mercy at 3 pm today.
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/novena-13366

Thank you!  Fr. Quang Chu

Easter Reflection

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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

Holy Week at Christ Cathedral

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All services will be livestream at: ChristCathedralMass.com and https://mass.christcathedralcalifornia.org/ Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/rcbo All services will be livestream at: ChristCathedralMass.com and https://mass.christcathedralcalifornia.org/ Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/rcbo … Continue reading →

The Norm Regarding Confession

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The Norm Regarding Confession (A Message from Bishop Vann) “Where the individual faithful find themselves in the painful impossibility of receiving sacramental absolution, it should be remembered that perfect contrition, coming from the love of God, beloved above all things, … Continue reading →

Reflection – Hope and Faith

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Dear Parishioners, We have been self-isolated for two weeks already!  Many of us take this time to create something to do at home, or to pray, or to take care of ourselves or to help others. It seems kind of … Continue reading →

Reflection 5th Sunday in Lent

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Dear Parishioners,

I hope and pray that all of you are doing well!  As you know, this weekend we celebrate the Fifth and final Sunday before Holy Week. Even though we cannot come to Church in these days, we still have two weeks to make this the Best Lent Ever.  As we listen today about the death of Lazarus, it is good to ask what you and I would do differently in light of our own inevitable death. Today, Martha asks a tough question. In grief over her brother’s death she asks about Jesus’ absence. “If you had been here my brother would not have died.” Jesus speaks to her about the future resurrection. For Martha that seems distant. Jesus then gives her the great revelation: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Yes, in these days, we can ask the same question: “Where are you? Why have you abandoned me?”

Again, Jesus invites us to believe in Him and to have a relationship with Him. It means more than intellectual assent – and it means more than a one-time acceptance. It is an immersion in Christ. St. Paul says that if we die with Christ in baptism we will rise with him to new life. (Rm. 6:3ff) Jesus for his part speaks about eating his body and drinking his blood in order to have eternal life. (Jn. 6:53-54)  Even in these days, we cannot receive Him physically, but we can spiritually.

From this passage, we understand that: the voice of Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, and he left the tomb. Yes, we believe that the Lord of Life is present among us. He calls us each day.  Come out of your darkness and come into life. Jesus is more powerful than anything holding us back including our sins. He is more powerful than the forces around us and within us that are trying to destroy us, even we are facing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Just as we have been freed from the bonds of sin by the Life of the Lord, we have to go to the cemeteries of the world,and unbind those suffering from the terrors inflicted by an immoral society. We have to call them away from their sins, their weakness, their anger, their addictions, their hatred, and their self-loathing. We have to call, “Come out of your tombs and come into life.”  We have to care for them, re-affirm them and let them know that God’s mercy is infinitely greater than our sins. We have to tell them, “You don’t belong in the darkness, you belong out here in the light. You don’t belong among the dead. You belong among the living. We have to untie them so they also can be free to live.

Following the example of Lazarus, I invite you to put into practice what we’ve been talking about this Lent: A time of silence – ten minutes, maybe more, maybe less – a daily relationship with Jesus. Invite him into your home and into your life.

Life is Worth living when it is lived united to the Lord. Life is full of beauty and full of joy when it is united to Jesus Christ. So, ” Come out of the tombs,” Jesus says to the world and to us. “Come out of the tomb and come into my life. Come into my Joy.”

Be not afraid! Run to the One who hears all your prayers. Go with confidence and trust. Jesus is with you. He will not abandon you.

God bless you and God bless the U.S.A. and the world! Stay home! Stay well! Be cool!

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Reverend Quang Vinh Chu, Pastor
Saint Mary’s by the Sea