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“THE MORE YOU HONOR ME, THE MORE I WILL BLESS YOU” Something to reflect upon……... It is a real joy for us all to bask in the proclamation of today's Gos- pel, Matthew 6:25-34, the teaching on God's love and care for us. It certainly is easy to wax poetic on the beautiful images presented: the birds of the air cared for by God, the fields, dressed by God with wild flowers making them more grand than King Solomon in all his glory. The images are beautiful, but we do need to be careful that the message is not lost in the poetry. The underlying message of this passage is pointed to those who are weak in faith, certainly me, per- haps also you. The theme of little faith, found throughout the Gos- pel of Matthew, strengthens those of us whose faith in the Risen Lord is continually assaulted by the situation of our daily lives. We are called to faith not just in times of great spiritual experiences, or in times of personal crisis, we are called to faith in the face of our typi- cal day. These are the radical demands of Christianity. We are to put God first and have faith in Him; then our happiness is no longer de- pendent on the contents of our closets, our bookshelves, our cars, boats or houses, or even the people who move in and out of our lives. When we put God first, our happiness flows from the experi- ence of the presence of God's love in our lives. When we put God first, we have the time, no, more than that, we have the ability to look at the birds of the sky and flowers of the fields and say, “God, how beautiful they are. How good You are. How caring You are.” In today's Gospel the Lord calls us to enjoy life by trusting in him. If we develop that attitude of faith, then whenever the events of our lives become heavy, when calamity strikes individuals or rela- tionships in a family, we can call on the presence of the Lord to care for us, to share our burdens. "Come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome," Jesus will say later on in the Gospel of Matthew, "My yoke is easy, my burden is light." February 27 - March 5, 2017 Monday: February 27 9:15 am + Teodora Barias Tuesday, February 28 9:15 am + Lina Nunes 7:15 pm - Thanksgiving Mass Wednesday, March 1 9:15 am - Thanksgiving Mass 6:00 pm - Thanksgiving Mass 7:30 pm -Thanksgiving Mass . Thursday, March 2 7:15 pm + 40 day death anniversary of Ilka Mikulinac Friday, March 3 9:15 am + Joseph Lee Chiu-Ming 7:15 pm +Beryl Paul Saturday, March 4 8:30 am + Stanley Nunes 5:00 pm—Thanksgiving Mass Sunday, March 5 8:30 am + Delfin Reyes Sr. 10:00 am + Alicia & Rogelio Lozares 11:30 am - Thanksgiving Mass 1:00 pm + Community of Prince of Peace Let us pray! For those who are sick mem- bers of our parish and those who love and minister to them Thank You For Your Generosity! Last Sunday Collection: 10,826.65 WHAT IS ASH WEDNESDAY? Ash Wednesday (from the Latin Dies Cinerum, meaning "Day of Ashes") is the first day of Lent. On this day, Christians fo- cus intensely on their utter and complete sinfulness and the ne- cessity of Christ's suffering and death to earn their salvation. Ash- es are referred to many times in the Old Testament as a sign of sorrow, mourning, repentance, and mortality (see 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1-3; Job 42:6; and Jeremiah 6:26). Many churches use ashes during Ash Wednes- day worship as part of a rite called the Imposition of Ash- es. According to this ancient custom, ashes (traditionally made by burning palm fronds used on Palm Sunday of the previous year) are mixed with a small amount of olive oil and ap- plied to the forehead of each worshipper. This mark, in the sign of a cross, can be a powerful reminder of our depraved and sinful nature and total dependence on God for forgiveness and salvation. PARISH MISSION April 1-5, 2017 More information to come as it be- comes available
