The liturgy of Palm Sunday is like a formal entrance into Holy Week. It combines two contrasting moments: the welcome of Jesus in Jerusalem and the drama of the Passion. We hear the festive “Hosanna” during the triumphal entry, because He is the one who “went about doing good and healing” (Acts 10:38) and “curing every sickness and disease” (Mt 9:35). Later on another moment, the Passion, we hear the repeated cry: “Crucify him!” He is arrested, abused, condemned, scourged, crowned with thorns, nailed to a cross and, amid agonizing torments, hands over His spirit (Mk 15:37; Jn 19:30).

It seems that He deserves the greatest mercy and to appeal for mercy, He had extended only good for people, yet He does not receive it in return. Even those who are closest to Him cannot protect Him and snatch Him from the hands of the oppressors.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI says that in the reality of the cross, what is evil is taken by God and given back as love redoubled. God is not a spectator at the tragedy. In the mystery of suffering, we are not to see the absence of God, for God Himself is present in the very depths of suffering. Christians are called to embrace the cross, to embrace suffering. The cross is a reminder that our God is a God who suffers with us.

The suffering Christ speaks in a special way to every person in the world. Jesus atoned for our faults and made satisfaction for our sins to the Father by his love so we once more would have access to the fullness of life and holiness that comes from God.

The last word will be declared at dawn when first the women and then the apostles come to the tomb of the crucified Christ, see the tomb empty and for the first time hear the words: “He is risen from the dead.” The Eucharist instituted by Jesus during His Last Supper with the disciples has been celebrated as the “source and the summit” of the entire Christian life. With joyful voices let us exalt the victory of the cross.

Fr. Rafal Duda
Parochial Vicar

My Very Dear Brothers and Sisters:

             As we prepare to celebrate the great events of Easter, I would like to invite you to approach this Holy Season with deeply grateful hearts and minds that Christ has paid the ultimate sacrifice for us: He died for our sins.

Easter’s Gospel proclaims to the disciple of Jesus: “The Lord’s Tomb is empty! He is risen!” Jesus, through His suffering and death, has defeated all sin and death. But the good news calls out to each one of us even more importantly and intimately, “Your tomb is empty! You also can rise!”

Perhaps we should ask how. Definitely we should cast out all forms of hatred, gossip, ill-feelings and above all, our sins. As we recall, the “Exsultet,” the great Easter song which always doubles as the Easter Proclamation, states clearly the most wonderful event: “Dispel all evil, wash guilt away, restore lost innocence, bring mourners joy; it casts our hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride… When heaven is wedded to earth and human beings are reconciled with God!” Do you agree with me that this is most wonderful? Please do not let us lose out in the grace that God is lavishing on us. Our act and deed of appreciation to God for this greatest event in human history is to “climb the mountain of the Lord with clean hearts and pure hearts.” Blessed are they who are poor in spirit, and blessed are they who are clean of heart.

I am extremely thankful to God about the opportunity to serve you over last three years. I believe that we have had good times and bad times together, but I also deeply recognize that this is not happening accidently. This is the will of God and the intention of God that we are becoming a family. I am your pastor but I also am your servant. Please forgive me my sins as well as any wrong-doings that might have offended anyone unintentionally; so I do the same to you! By doing this, the Easter Season will become joyful for all of us. I wish and pray for you that through the Mystery of the Resurrection of Christ, God will grant you PEACE, JOY AND HAPPINESS. Together, let us resolve to think and talk and act as Easter people, to bring Christ’s peace to our families, our communities and our world. HAPPY EASTER.

With love,
Fr. Thuong Hoai Nguyen

Pastor

Lent is the old English word for spring. This is a time for change. Watching the world for signs of springtime can bring hope after the long cold winter months, especially on the East Coast. If you are concerned for the arrival of the spirit of spring, be on the lookout for signs of the season. There are signs everywhere – in the sky, the garden, the woods, fields, and near water. In the city and the country, watch for the signs of spring’s approach.

In our lives, change and difficulties seem to give us the opportunity to step back, become aware of ourselves in new ways, holy ways. There are different difficulties in our lives, for example the death of someone you love, and recently our hearts go out to all the people who have lost their loved ones in the mudslide in Washington. We know that the only real hope comes from our Savior. There are economic difficulties that contribute to social problems like limited education.

We remember Lazarus, who was a sign of the Resurrection and the life of Jesus Christ. This sign is for all humanity. And life came to the tomb of Lazarus, as Jesus raised him from the dead. Jesus, who brings life, is put to death and placed in a tomb. His death and resurrection are life-giving. Dying and rising from the dead brings the hope of eternal life to all who, like Lazarus, must die. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. He helped them during a difficult time. He was withLazarus‘ grieving family and friends. Jesus Christ raised Lazarus to life so that more people can believe in him.

Like spring brings hope after long cold winter months, Jesus Christ brings us hope during our difficulties. The sun will begin to show up at an earlier hour and go down later as the spring advances. Notice the sky. Are you seeing more sunlight?This is spring, expression of life. The Spirit of the God dwells in us like the spirit of spring.

Invitation for change: If you have not yet gone to confession, you have the opportunity to go on Saturdays, or just come to the parish office, or ask the priest after or before the Mass. Please remember our youth who are participating in the Confirmation retreat in Lafayette this weekend as well.

Fr. Rafal Duda
Parochial Vicar

Dear friends,sight is a wonderful gift, but what we see with our mind and heart is of even greater value. We have examples of that inner vision in all of today’s readings. Our first reading takes us back 1,000 years before Christ when the prophet Samuel had to choose a king from among the sons of Jesse of Bethlehem. They all had the dignity and physical characteristics of potentially good leaders, but God knew who would make the best king. St. Paul tells us in the second reading that we have been enlightened by Christ, and in the gospel we hear how a man born blind had not only his eyes opened by Christ, but his heart. Meanwhile, those who claimed to be able to see were blinded by arrogance. Through the waters of baptism, the Christian is brought from darkness into the light of truth.

Our world today thrives in a conscious presence of difference. In the street, at work and on the television screen we constantly encounter cultures whose ideas and ideals are unlike ours. Yet, continually the tendency is to project ourselves, our ideas and ideals, our democracy and values to be the rule for everybody – what is good and workable for us must be good and workable for everybody. This was what blinded the Pharisees in our gospel reading today. Their understanding of religion was based on the strict observance of the law, and nothing more. And so for Jesus to take pity on this man born blind and restore his sight was, for them, “unrealistic” because the law forbade healing on the Sabbath.

Interestingly, even the parents of this man were not willing to testify to his healing because of the blind fear of being expelled from the synagogue. And this is how sin, evil and wickedness thrives – on falsehood. Sin blinds our perception of reality, and we are vehement in rejecting even the moral teachings of our faith. The serious challenges facing us as a people, for example, are questions of how and why some interests – especially promoted by the media – are allowed to dominate decision-making while others are excluded completely. It is a terrible and dangerous arrogance to believe that you alone are right: you have a magical eye which sees the truth, and others cannot be right if they disagree. This was the failure of the Pharisees.

May our Lenten journey open our eyes to the truth of God’s ways, realizing that no matter how eloquent our diatribes in defense of falsehood may be, “Man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart!”

Fr. Gabriel Wankar
Priest-in-Residence

The symbol of water features prominently in our readings today.  In our first reading, the people of Israel encounter a lack of water on their journey and complain, even with the threat of violence.  Jesus, in the gospel reading, asks for a drink after an exhausting journey, and then offers the woman living water.  Life, as we all know, depends on water.  There is no life without water.  That is why we in California, for example, have been praying for adequate water and cautioning on the use of water in the face of the drought.  Similarly, our Christian beginning is in the life of grace, starting with the water of baptism.  The waters of baptism initiate us into a life of union with God in the Christian community, through which we are continually offered the living waters of the word of God and the sacraments to satiate our spiritual thirst.

Perhaps the woman in today’s gospel came to draw water at noon in order to avoid nasty looks or comments from the other women who may have looked down their noses at her because of her current unmarried situation.  For any number of reasons, Jesus could have easily slipped away when she arrived.  In addition to her unconventional living arrangements, she was a woman and a Samaritan.  Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans, and men usually did not speak with women in public.  Rabbis would not even talk with their own wives in public.  But Jesus did not walk away.  Rather, he asked for a drink.

We will never get to know the Lord if we don’t take time to talk with him.  He doesn’t show up in radiant light or thunder and lightning.  He comes in ordinary ways, in the guise of a friend or even an adversary, in the words from a book, especially the Book that we call by its Greek name, the Bible.  He shows up in an assembly of believers and in such simple things as water, bread and wine.  The important thing is to make time to listen, to respond, to have a conversation, to do more than just tell him what we want him to do for us.  We never get to know anyone in life without spending time with them.  If the Lord is important to us, we need to set time aside to spend with him; attending Stations of the Cross, visiting the sick, coming to daily Mass, visiting the Blessed Sacrament in adoration – to receive the living water from our God.

Fr. Gabriel Wankar
Priest-in-Residence

Fellow believers in Christ, I am sure many people here have climbed a mountain or hill and experienced the presence and grandeur of God.  Of course, it is never an easy experience to climb a mountain; steep, windy, stony and challenging.  It requires real effort, tact and caution.  One of the most memorable days I ever had was the day I climbed Mt. Sinai, a mountain in the southern portion of Sinai Peninsula where tradition has it that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.  It is part of a chain of rugged, reddish colored granite mountains that rise high into the air.  Mt Sinai itself is 7,500 feet high.  The view of the stark and arid mountains surrounding Mt Sinai is spectacular.

Abraham was called by God to “climb the mountain” of leaving his home for an unknown territory and start a completely new life.  He came from Sumer, a settlement near modern-day Kuwait.  He and his family migrated to Haran, a city in the northern part of Syria, near Turkey.  God called him to leave his kinsfolk behind and move to the land of Canaan, modern-day Israel.  He left behind a prosperous commercial area to settle in a land that was still relatively primitive and undeveloped.  Abraham made the long and difficult journey at the tender age of 75 along with his wife, Sarah, who was 10 years younger.  It was a pure act of faith for him to believe in the promises God made to him, as we heard in the first reading.  Abraham trusted God wholeheartedly and “climbed this mountain” in faith.

Lent is a time when our Lord invites us to “climb the mountain” of intense prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  If you’ve never climbed a real mountain, I’m sure you’ve climbed many mountains figuratively: mountains of ignorance to become educated, mountains of fear to discover new strength and courage, mountains of hurt and sickness to find healing, mountains of pride to discover we are not the center of the universe.  In conquering such everyday heights, we discover the God who never leaves us.  Peter, James and John on Mt. Tabor discovered the God that was hidden within Jesus who was always with them when they “climbed the mountain.”

What mountain will you climb during this Lent to discover God in people around you: at work, in the neighborhood, in family and friends?

Fr. Gabriel Wankar

Fellow Believers in Christ,

Our Church always begins the season of Lent with Jesus in the desert.  Jesus was sent there by the Holy Spirit right after his baptism.  It was a time to reflect and pray, a time of transition from the workshop to his work of teaching and healing.  We all need to go into the desert from time to time.  Sometimes the Holy Spirit takes us there by denying to us for a time the joys and consolations that we would like our religion to bring us.  Sometimes life itself takes us into a desert, with the loss of a loved one or a job or our health, or a feeling that we’ve lost our purpose.  Our faith is really tested during such times.  That’s when we wonder whether God still loves us, whether God is still with us.  Lent is a kind of little desert, as we are encouraged to temporarily back away from a few of life’s pleasures, pleasures that distract us from reflecting on the more serious side of life.  I often minister to people who are dying.  It’s not unusual for someone to say to me: “I never thought this would happen to me.”  I guess they never thought about what was ahead for us all.  Life could be over for any of us tomorrow.  Jesus told us he would prepare a place for us in his Father’s home, and he will never reject anyone who comes to him.  But we do have the freedom to turn away from him by not following the way he has shown us.  That’s what Lent is for, to think and pray about these things.

Today’s gospel, where Jesus refuses to give in to temptation, is contrasted with the first reading where Adam and Eve did give in.  Ultimately their sin, like ours, consists in the decision not to trust God when he tells us to do or not to do something.  The story of Adam and Eve tells us the source of evil is our decision to give in to temptation, to not trust, to make our own rules, to use the free will which God gave us to say “no” to God.  The story shows us that we bring suffering upon ourselves as a result.  Did you notice how Jesus always answered the devil with a quote from scripture?  It shows how knowing scripture can be a real help to resist temptation.  Then again, the devil quoted scripture, too, so we have to know it well.

As we embark on this journey into the desert of self-denial for 40 days and 40 nights, let us in a special way, dear friends, remember those whose lives and persons are perpetually in the deserts of this world!

Fr. Gabriel Wankar
Priest-in-residence

Dear friends, I am sure that at Jesus’ time, there was a lot of stress and anxiety.  Israel was a country ruled and taxed by an oppressive foreign power.  When they said, “What are we going to eat?” their concern was IF they would have anything to eat.  It was real bad!

I came back from Nigeria a couple of weeks ago, where Islamic extremists have forced Christians to leave the predominantly Muslim northern part of the country and move south.  My state, Benue, is at the moment witnessing sporadic attacks, with innocent people killed and rendered homeless. Events such as the Westgate Mall siege in Nairobi, the struggle for power in Egypt, the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the on-going crisis in Syria, Central African Republic Sudan and the rise of extremism in the former Soviet republic of Dagestan, the unrests in Ukraine, Venezuela as well as Italy are sure causes for worry and stress in our world.

I don’t know whether the anxiety people had to face at Jesus’ time and in the places mentioned above was greater or less than what we face here on the home front – broken homes, aging parents, delinquency, drugs, AIDS, free flow of arms, threat of nuclear weapons, loss of homes, loss of jobs, etc.  The American Academy of Family Physicians estimates two-thirds of office visits are prompted by stress-related symptoms.  I believe that even though we have Maalox and Martinis, tranquilizers and psychology, we still need to hear the Lord’s wisdom in today’s Gospel.  Jesus reminds us that our God loves us.  We belong to God, so “enough of worrying.”  Relax, God is in control.

Yet Jesus does not imply that we become irresponsible.  We have to work to provide for ourselves and our family.  We have to study to pass exams.  We have to make efforts to develop and improve.  In doing all of these, however, let us never think we can get along well without the Lord.  When we do that, we are setting ourselves up for stress and anxiety, because then we are programming ourselves to think we have to make it on our own.  Any civilization, culture and progress that is devoid of a sense of God is bound to head for ruin and destruction.  We have a God who helps us – our rock, our salvation, our stronghold.  From Him comes all our help.

As we embark on our Lenten journey of 40 days and 40 nights this Wednesday, let us pray fervently for peace in the world, that all nations and cultures will turn back to God for mercy and healing.  From Him comes all our help.

Fr. Gabriel Wankar
Priest-in-Residence

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We should thank the Lord Jesus who came to deliver us from darkness, sin and even death.  Jesus begins today’s Gospel with the correct understanding of the law.  He emphasizes the completion of the Law of God.

Jesus is not abolishing the 10 Commandments, but is demanding of his followers a more perfect, more sincere, fulfillment of them.  The whole moral value of any legal observance, including Mosaic Law, comes from the interior disposition of him who observes or keeps the law.  No man serves or honors God by any exterior acts – be they ever so arduous or continuous – unless these acts proceed from an intention to honor and please God.  This is the charter, the constitution, of the new law, Christianity.  The old law is not abolished, but is deepened and given a new life.

Jesus began with a new perspective regarding the law.  He based his teaching upon the Old Law but gave it a new way of being understood and practiced in people’s lives.

Therefore, avoiding murder is not enough; the true Christian must remove any inclination to murder by building up true, brotherly love for all men in his heart.  Avoiding anger is not enough; the true Christian must have peace of mind and try to build up harmony with others.  When we offer gifts at the altar, the true Christian must fill up with love, not only the love of God, but also the love of neighbors deep down in the heart.  And above all, the true Christian has to reconcile and be reconciled, to forgive in order to be forgiven.

True and loyal service of God therefore begins in the heart and has its value from this interior disposition.  Keeping the 10 Commandments is our way of proving to God that we are grateful, obedient and loyal to him who gave us all we have and who has promised us future gifts infinitely greater still.  And just as our love for God is proved by our true love for our neighbor, so the last seven of the commandments impose on us obligations regarding our neighbor.  It is only by fulfilling these seven that we can fulfill the first three which govern our relations with God.  Let us pray that you and I truly understand today’s Gospel and put it into daily practice.  May the Holy Spirit renew our hearts and minds so that we might be free to become true sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.

With love,
Fr. Thuong Hoai Nguyen, Pastor

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Jesus calls us in the Gospel today: “You are the salt of the earth, and you are the light of the world.”  How can we become the salt and the light of the world nowadays?

If we think through about who we are, we should confirm one thing that makes us so special, so precious: That we are called the children of God, or the children of light.  These words “salt” and “light” are real titles of honor, and of the greatest distinction.  Christ is putting his true follower almost on a level with himself.  He was the light of the world; he was the salt of the earth.  He gave human beings the knowledge of the true nature of God, through the Incarnation.  He gave this life its flavor, its meaning, its preservation.  By his death and resurrection, he took away the sting of death and removed its eternal corruption, through the guarantee and promise of a resurrection to an eternal life.

Indeed, when we became disciples of Jesus through Baptism, we received his Word with great joy.  We received the light from Christ; and we were anointed to become the royal priesthood, holy people.  We became the light that needs to shine.  We became the salt of the earth, the “good salt.”  We literally put a “good taste” in the mouth of those who are hungry for God’s love.  If, however, we fall away from Jesus, we are in darkness and go flat.  We become hurting people in which our light has died and our salt is degraded. The enemy takes advantage and uses our “flat” lives to trample people underfoot.

Therefore, we should put on Christ, stick with Christ and be closer to Christ.  We have light because of him.  We have the taste of salt because of him.  And we can shine and give taste to life only because of Him, the Lord Jesus Christ.  As Jesus said: “You can’t do nothing without Me.”  You and I have seen that human life on earth is short.  The demands of our Christian life may not always be easy, but we know that if we live up to them, we are other Christs.  We are continuing his great work by our own good example to our neighbor, and we are giving glory to God, earning for ourselves the eternal light of heaven.

In short, we are Christians, we are reborn in Christ along with His mission, the mission of becoming the light of the world and salt of the earth.  We should ask ourselves this week: “Am I the light of our society?  Am I the salt of my brothers and sisters?”  May the light of Christ give us more light, and the salt of Christ give us more flavor.

With love,
Fr, Thuong Hoai Nguyen, Pastor