St. John the Baptist Catholic Church

Dear Friends,

I have here a very familial message for all of us.

We like to belong to our family, parish, and community. We make great efforts to belong and we want so much to belong. But do we know that the desire of our hearts to belong is answered by what we celebrate today – the Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity?

The celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity offers us a window to see God as a family of Trinity, Father Son, and Holy Spirit totally united in love for each other, a family inviting us to belong to the very life of love they share. God invites us to belong.

The invitation happens firstly when we were created in the image and likeness of God and secondly when we were baptized. Since our baptism, we share and are drawn into the love and beautiful relationship at the heart of our Triune God. We were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We were adopted by God as sons and daughters (brothers and sisters) on the day we were baptized. Indeed, through our baptism, we belong to a new family, the family of the Trinity.

Our belonging to the Trinitarian life is God’s message for us that the life of the Trinity does not exist in solitary individualism but in a community of love and sharing.  For this reason, God wants us to overcome every tendency of division and isolationism. In the act of our belonging, God wants us to be true to the universal family we belong to, a catholic family, a family rooted in the life of the Trinity.

Fr. Bart

If you could not come up with all seven gifts of the Holy Spirit when Fr. Ray asked during his homily on Penecost.  The catechism answer is

1831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David.¹⁰⁹ They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.

A nice discussion of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit  can be found here here Wikipedia Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Friends,

Happy Birthday!  Today, our church came to life when the Holy Spirit came down on the followers of Jesus, and our church came to life.  The Holy Spirit invited everyone from all over the world to join in this great event.  We are children of that first Pentecost.  Our little church on San Pablo Avenue reflects that wondrous diversity, and we support and love one another in our cultural differences, but especially in our love for Jesus and our commitment to our parish.  Once again: Happy Birthday, Church.

Medical update. A week and a half ago, I developed pneumonia and spent four days in Alta Bates Hospital.  The great medical care given by the staff took care of the pneumonia, and I was able to be with our 12:30 First Holy Communion group of children and parents last Sunday.  God blessed me to be here, even though I am out of breath and rather fragile.  I deeply appreciate your prayers and love.   God is so good.  I can never thank God enough.

Peace,

Fr. John

Friends,

In the liturgy today, we remember that Jesus left for heaven: the Ascension.  However, Jesus did not leave us orphans.  He promised to send the Holy Spirit to lead and guide the church and to develop our understanding of God.  Jesus called the Holy Spirit our “ADVOCATE,” or attorney, who pleads our cause in spite of our sins.  And this advocate is still at work in each one of us and especially in our church.  Our church really needs a lawyer/advocate in this era of child abuse, abused victims, litigations and tons of money.  It is painful to read about both old and new allegations.  “Holy Spirit, Advocate, we need you to guide us.”

Another point: I got a wonderful email from Fr. Emmanuel, and he sends his love and prayers.  He enjoyed his ministry here in our parish and he grew as a priest. …  He mentioned that as he re-inculturated himself, he found that he must build his mother a home.  Now, Fr. Emmanuel has a vow of poverty and has no money.  He said that his uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces all considered his mother their mother also.  He would ask them to help build the home, which cost $1,000.  If you would like to help him, make a check out to St. John’s and put Fr. Emmanuel’s name in the line at the bottom.  We will get your love offerings to him and report back to you.

Peace,

Fr. John

Friends,

Happy “mothering day.”  That is not a crazy idea.  Just think of it.  We have put aside this day to honor our biological mothers, and rightly so.  Our mothers are the ones who taught us our prayers.  They set the example for us for right and wrong.  They took us to church and taught us how to behave in a sacred place. …  Our mothers were our first educators.  It is right and just that we honor them today.

However, as we reflect upon our past, we will find many other women who have “mothered” us.  Perhaps our sisters or aunts or cousins, or the friendly neighbor next door.  We needed “mothering,” and these women saw the needy child and proceeded to help us grow into mature individuals.

Now here is an irony.  We have also been “mothered” or nurtured by male figures.  Some of us were lucky to have a good father.  The father-figure in a family is crucial, both for males and females.  We learn who we are as men and women from these remarkable women and men.

Today we thank God for giving us mothers and fathers, women and men who help us become fully adult and fully Christian.

Peace,

Fr. John Maxwell

Friends,

What a wonderful month is May. Spring is here in all of her glory. The weather is warming up, and flowers are blossoming. May is the month for mothers, and we set aside a very special day for them. May is a month that the church dedicates to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. In our scripture reading today, we see the little church growing and thriving. There is a lot of vitality in the month of May.

Here in St. John’s, many of our parishioners will celebrate Cinco de Mayo and the liberation of Mexico. We will have the Filipino tradition of Flores de Mayo. We will celebrate and honor and remember our biological and spiritual mothers. We might want to take up our rosaries and pray the 50 Hail Mary’s to honor our spiritual mother and the mother of our Church.

I hope that the month of May will bring you blessings and graces.

Peace,

Fr. John

P.S.: Mary and Joseph obeyed the Roman emperor who called for a census of the whole world.  I urge you to follow the example of the Holy Family and support the census.

On Saturday, May 1st, we will begin our Flores de Mayo celebration by reciting the rosary at 4:30 pm. Everyone, especially the children, is invited to participate in the flower offering to our Lady. Flowers will be provided. A reception will follow after the Mass in the conference room.