Church Dedication With profound gratitude to God, and immense joy, Fr. Quang Vinh Chu cordially invites you to the Dedication of our Newly Renovated Church by The Most Rev. Kevin Vann, JCD, DD on Friday, November 30, 2018 At the 5:00 p.m. Mass Light Reception to … Continue reading →
Sunday, October 7th, is RESPECT LIFE SUNDAY.
St. Mother Teresa once said, “What will convert America and save the world? My answer is prayer. What we need is for every parish to come before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in Holy Hours of prayer.”
On October 5th, our monthly 12-Hour First Friday Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will occur in Father Johnson Hall. As usual, it will begin after the 8am Mass and end at 9pm with a rosary and benediction. Take Mother Teresa’ advice, and work to change America into a pro-life country!
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In conjunction with the Diocese of Orange Respect Life Month in October, Bishop Kevin Vann has designated next Sunday, October 7th as our Diocese’s 24th Annual Pennies from Heaven Campaign. Since 1994, the Diocese of Orange has been collecting funds to support local Respect Life shelters, clinics, and centers that give immediate and long-term care to Orange County women and families in crisis. Please consider donating your coins and dollars to help men, women and children in such crises in our community. Visit rcbo.org/penniesfromheaven for more information or to donate electronically.
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Saturday, October 13
October 13th marks the 101st anniversary of the last visitation of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal.
To honor her request to pray the rosary, on that day, the nation will participate in a day of prayer. The goal is for the USA to pray one million rosaries. Please join other Orange Diocese Catholics as they hold their rally at Mile Square Park at 9:30 a.m. on October 13th. Fr. Saul Alba Infante from Holy Spirit Church will lead the rosary.
Please meet near the Boys and Girls Club, located on Brookhurst Street between Warner and Edinger Avenue.
For more information, please contact Pat Nagel at patannnagel@gmail.com or (714) 847-1669
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To support Horizon Pregnancy Clinic, join their Walk for Life on Saturday, Oct. 20th, from 9am to 12pm. To register, go online at www.SupportHPC.org or call (714) 897-7500 and meet at Horizon – 15061 Springdale St. #109, Huntington Beach, CA. The entry fee is $20 and includes a free tee shirt.
Construction Begins This Wednesday
Our anxiously anticipated date of construction in the church for the Legacy Project begins this Monday, September 24th!
Daily and weekend Masses will then be held in Fr. Johnson Hall. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, yet we look forward to this beautification of our Church. Thank you to all those who participated in this Project to make it a reality.
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St. Mary’s by the Sea will have classes every Monday evening from 7:00-8:00pm. This class is for adults and teens (16 years or older) who would like to become a practicing Catholic and receive the sacraments of Baptism, First Holy Communion, and/or Confirmation.
Registration/Orientation
Monday, September 24, 2018 at 7:00pm
Fr. Johnson Hall
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We would like to remind everyone of the circular rack at the back of the Church with various free pamphlets in it that you can take home. Another resource is our Lending Library available to all located in Fr. Johnson Hall. It contains many Catholic approved books. And lastly, we invite you to visit our website at www.StMarysByTheSea.net, and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/StMarysByTheSeaCatholicChurch.
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St. Mary’s by the Sea opens the Church for Eucharistic Adoration every Monday through Friday from 1:00 to 4:30 pm. On Thursdays, the Divine Mercy Chaplet will be recited at 3:00pm and we will have Eucharistic Exposition (where the Blessed Sacrament is displayed outside the tabernacle in the monstrance for adoration by the faithful) from 3:00 to 7:30 pm, closing with Benediction (praying the rosary and receiving a blessing with the Host) at 7:30 pm.
When Mary was asked to become the Mother of God, she was touched by a moment of fear. For a mere mortal, this was an immense notion. How does one comprehend such a thing? But the Angel reassured her. The work would be accomplished by God, and nothing is impossible for Him.
Immediately Mary offered herself totally for the task of bringing Christ and His redemption into the world.
She laid down no conditions. She made no reservations. Joyously, she said “Yes” to God’s plan with a simple sentence: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me ACCORDING to Thy Word.”
She was aware of her lowliness. But she had no inferiority complex about it. She entrusted herself with generosity and faith to God’s loving Providence and power.
Her humility was her strength and the source of her calmness and joy. Her confidence was not in her own abilities but rather in God’s greatness.
We might do well to try to imitate her when we make our Morning Offering. We can offer ourselves to God each day, to be used by Him in His work of bringing love and redemption to the world.
But unfortunately, we do not have Mary’s generosity and faith. Doubts and fears disturb our serenity. As life unfolds itself, we begin to have second thoughts.
If things don’t go according to OUR plan, we imagine God has no plan.
If we are not successful in OUR efforts, we think God is a failure.
If our lives are ordinary and humdrum, we yearn for something spectacular and dramatic.
We forget that God does not work before television cameras, but in the hearts of men. He is a hidden God and often accomplishes His designs even without the cooperation of the mass media.
Mary realized that God chooses the weakest of things, that out of the most ordinary actions He accomplishes extraordinary results.
She was aware that when we can do very little, that God is doing very much. God seems to delight in humanly impossible situations, because nothing is impossible with God.
If we could only offer ourselves totally to God each day and trust Him completely, we would not be so downcast when something seems to go wrong against us or the Church. Instead, we could wait patiently as Mary did for God’s intervention and know that in our sorrows the God of ALL consolation will surprise us with joy.
He always has the last Word!
-Catholic Quote.
Vol. 81, No. 8
What are the Precepts of the Catholic Church?
The Precepts of the Catholic Church are a description of the absolute minimum actions required of Catholics regarding the Church.
These precepts remind us that Christian life requires a commitment to prayer and active participation in the liturgy and sacraments. If we fall below this bare-minimum level, we can’t rightly consider ourselves to be in full communion with the Catholic Church.
We must “sanctify the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord” (Sunday) as well as the principal feast days, known as Catholic holy days of obligation. This requires attending Mass, “and by resting from those works and activities which could impede such a sanctification of these days.”
We must prepare for the Eucharist by means of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). This sacrament “continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.”
This “guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord’s Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy.”
“The fourth precept ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts and helps us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart.”
“The fifth precept means, that the faithful are obliged to assist with the material needs of the Church, each according to his own ability.”
Remember the precepts of the Catholic Church are the MINIMUM levels of participation in the life of the Church. Out of love for Christ and a desire to advance in the spiritual life, you will normally try to do far more than they require.
Now, the duty to perform the tasks of your state in life takes precedence over the law of fasting in the precepts of the Catholic Church. If fasting honestly causes you to be unable to fulfill your required tasks, it would be uncharitable to fast. The law of fasting would not apply in this case.
-Quotes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
One of the fallacies common in the thinking of man is that his failure to succeed or to obtain happiness is the result of the circumstances in which his life is cast.
We do not like to think of failure as being a result of our own weakness, faults, or inadequacies. It hurts our pride to admit, even to ourselves, that it is not life, or fate, or to a large extent any of the forces outside of us, but rather our own shortcomings that defeat us.
It is true that man may be handicapped by hereditary or environmental factors over the making of which he had no control. A family background of poverty, lack of education, absence of social standing, prevalence of low ideals and moral standards, place obstacles in the course of development that are difficult to overcome. So, too, is it hard to rise above such personal impediments such as sickness, poor training and education, lack of opportunities, and insufficient money. Financial and social occurrences such as depressions and wars also seriously hinder him.
But the significant thing is that many men overcome these obstructions, and rise to a glorious success and happiness. And it is only reasonable to assume that if some men can do this, then it must be within the power of the human being, as such, to shape the ups and downs of his life to his own ends, and to rise to victory through his difficulties, or in spite of them.
Students have long realized that it is not circumstances or obstacles that defeat a person, but that it is rather how he approached them and reacts to them. If he faces them with an attitude of defeatism, and permits them to control him, his failure is inevitable. If, on the other hand, he meets them with courage, and fortitude, and with the determination to conquer them and to rise above them, he may be confident of success.
In the eternal plan he is intended to be the master of his life. But he must gain mastery through his will to control the circumstances which surround him, regardless of how adverse they may be. Defeat or failure is what happens if he allows these conditions to master him.
No, it is not our fathers, or grandfathers, or great grandfathers and mothers, and their weaknesses and sins that defeat us. It is not our background, or our poverty, or lack of opportunity. It is we, who do it to ourselves!
-Catholic Quote. Vol. 81, No. 7
It is very difficult to staff 24 hours of Adoration each month, especially during the early morning hours. We want to make sure that both the people who attend and Jesus on the Altar are safe. We did have an incident last month and are not sure that it was safe.
The Adoration group, along with the Staff, have decided to change the Adoration hours. So beginning next month, Friday, August 3, First Friday Adoration will begin at 9 am Friday and continue until 9pm Friday. First Friday will then end with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Adoration will not continue through late night Friday and early morning Saturday. All adorers currently volunteering for the late night Friday and early morning Saturday hours are encouraged to volunteer during the 9am-9pm hours on First Friday.
Please call the Office (714-536-6913, x-112) to volunteer for a new hour. Thank you to all who have supported and continue to support this most important St. Mary’s by the Sea program.
Save the Date: August 18thFrom 11am-2:00pm at Lake Park. We’ll have two big tents, with lots of new games, professionally grilled brats, burgers, hot dogs and soft drinks, not to mention the fantastic Opportunity Prizes!
Any questions on what’s needed, how to donate, or about volunteering opportunities, please contact Mary Gill at (714) 330-6023.
Parish Faith Formation
Life Is Meant To Be A Prayer!
During every day of the week (not merely on Sunday) there is need for private and individual prayer. Some people kneel or sit for a few minutes each day. Some offer the Rosary. Many just talk to God in their own words about their lives and the lives of their loved ones or others. Many read a section from one of the Gospels, and then talk to God about how they might better put these words into practice.
But beyond those quiet moments of peace and solitude, there are many other opportunities we have for prayer. Even in the middle of a busy day, we can turn our hearts and minds to God.
We should try to realize evermore consciously that God is always present. God loves us and sees us and watches over us every moment. “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
The most essential starting point for making prayer a regular part of our lives is a remembrance of God’s presence. God is never absent from us.
Many of the daily tasks we do require little or no concentration. We can pray while we do them.
There are many topics for our conversations with God.
The word A–L–T–A–R serves as an excellent reminder of five of the most basic topics for regular prayer: Adoration, Love, Thanksgiving, Asking, and Repentance.
The Gospels portray Jesus regularly in prayer (see Luke 5:16 & Luke 6:12), and Mary, too, is portrayed as a person of prayer (see Luke 1:46-55 & Acts 1:14). If prayer is so important in the lives of the holiest human beings who ever lived, how much more so it is for us!
We live in a fast paced life with never enough hours in a day to do all the things we need to. We have to pick and choose our priorities. Are we making conversation with God one of those priorities? And if NOT, why not?
-Catholic Quote. Vol.73, No. 7