Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church 300 Fulton Street ▪ Redwood City, CA 94062 Tel. (650) 366-3802 ▪ Fax: (650) 366-1421 [email protected] [email protected] ▪ www.mountcarmel.org

Fourth Sunday of Lent March 6, 2016 Parish Center Hours Monday - Thursday 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Parish Staff

Pastor: Rev. Ulysses D’Aquila - 306-9583 Deacon: Rev. Mr. Thomas J. Boyle - 366-3802 Principal: Teresa Anthony - 366-6127 Development: Nori Jabba - 366-8817 Kid’s Place: Maureen Arnott – 366-6587 CCD: Magdalena Hernández - 368-8237 Youth Ministry: Kendra & Jason Rickwald - 918-0815 Youth Confirmation: Paula Martinez – 366-6194 Director of Music: Bianca Remlinger - 366-3802 Spanish Music Ministry: Andres Garcia -366 -3802 Administrative Assistant: Alba Canelo – 366 -3802

Mass Schedule Sunday:

8:00 am, 10:00 am, 12:00 pm (español), and 5pm Saturday: 8: 15 am and 5:00 pm Vigil Mass Monday to Friday 8:15 am Reconciliation/Confession Saturday 3:30 –4:30 p.m.

Baptisms / Bautismos Call parish at least two months in advance. Llame a la parroquia a lo menos dos meses antes.

Weddings / Bodas Call parish at least six months in advance Llame a la parroquia a lo menos seis meses antes.

Mission Statement Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish is a Christ-centered community in the Roman Catholic tradition. We try to share the Good News of salvation with others. As a diverse community, we value and respect individual differences. As God’s people, we gather in the Spirit to pray, to celebrate the sacraments, to teach, to learn, to console, to rejoice, to minister and to renew our faith with one another.

Notes from the Pastor

Notas del Párroco

This Fourth Sunday of Lent has traditionally been called Laetare Sunday and it was meant to provide a sort of break in the somberness and austerity of Lent. The Roman Missal even allows for fresh flowers in the sanctuary and there is the suggestion that the priest might wear ‘rose-colored’ vestments rather than the purple vestments associated with Lent. The Latin word Laetare means rejoice, and as we approach the end of Lent and the terrible events of Jesus’ arrest, torture and agonizing death on the cross, we are also nearing the glorious moment of Easter which celebrates Christ’s Resurrection from the dead. In other words, as we consider Christ’s Passion and Death, we also need to keep in mind the great and significant victory over sin and death that Jesus won for us through his agony and death on the cross. As followers of Jesus Christ, we should view our own lives in a similar way. In other words, as Catholic Christians we are asked to look at our lives as a whole, always striving to reconcile the entirety of our human experiences, both those experiences that are happy – the weddings, the births of children, the successes – as well as those that are difficult and painful – the struggles to make a living, the enduring of illness, the fact of death. When we do this in the right spirit, then we come to see that everything has its time and purpose and that even our most painful moments can change and renew us for the better. The first reading this Sunday says, “Not as humans see does God see, because humans see the appearance, but God looks into the heart.” So as Christian believers, we have to look into the heart of things, beyond appearance, if we wish to truly see. And that’s the message in today’s Gospel story of the man born blind. The Gospel begins with some questions many of us have asked: “Is this misfortune of mine a punishment for something I did wrong? Is God angry with me? Has he rejected or forgotten me?” Jesus in all of his teachings and acts countered the ancient belief in an angry and punishing God. Through his own person, Jesus continually demonstrated that in all the difficulties and pain of life, God is always present, revealing himself to us in the midst of our sufferings. The healing of the blind man in the Gospel perfectly illustrates the working out of God’s plan for humanity, indeed for everyone who wanders blindly through life. Jesus is the light of the world, and faith in the saving reality of Christ Jesus should permeate the daily experience of every true believer. As St. Paul says in our second reading, “Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.” When we live in that way, the light that Jesus Christ brought to us -- the light of faith, the light of hope -- can more and more fill our souls and open our eyes and illuminate our path through this dark world to the bright world beyond. Fr. Ulysses

Este cuarto domingo de Cuaresma, tradicionalmente se ha llamado Domingo de Laetare. El Misal Romano permite flores frescas en el santuario y ofrece la sugerencia de que el cura podría llevar vestimentas de color rosa en lugar de los morados asociados con la Cuaresma. La palabra latín Laetare significa gozo y al acercarnos al los finales de Cuaresma y los terribles acontecimientos del arresto, tortura y la muerte agonizante en la cruz de Jesús, también nos estamos acercando al momento glorioso de la Pascua en cuya fiesta celebramos la resurrección de Cristo de entre los muertos. En otras palabras, a la misma vez que consideramos la pasión y muerte de Jesucristo, hay que tener en cuenta su victoria sobre el pecado y la muerte. Como seguidores de Jesucristo, debemos ver nuestras propias vidas de una manera similar. En otras palabras, como cristianos católicos se nos pide que miremos nuestras vidas como un todo, con el objetivo de conciliar las experiencias felices - bodas, nacimientos de los niños, éxitos - así como las difíciles y dolorosas – la lucha para ganarse la vida, sufrimiento de las enfermedades, y la muerte. Cuando hacemos esto con el espíritu correcto, entonces llegamos a ver que todo tiene su tiempo y propósito, y que incluso los momentos más dolorosos pueden cambiar y renovarnos espiritualmente. La primera lectura de este domingo dice, “Dios no juzga como juzga el hombre El hombre se fija en las apariencias, pero el Señor se fija en los corazones.” Así, como creyentes cristianos, tenemos que mirar hacia el corazón de las cosas, más allá de la apariencia, si deseamos ver realmente. Y ese es el mensaje del Evangelio del ciego de nacimiento que escuchamos hoy. El Evangelio comienza con algunas preguntas que muchos de nosotros nos hemos preguntado: "¿Es esta mi desgracia un castigo por algo que hice mal? Está Dios enojado conmigo? ¿Me ha rechazado o olvidado?" Jesús en todas sus enseñanzas y actos contradice la antigua creencia en un Dios enojado, un Dios que nos castiga. A través de su propia persona, Jesús demostró continuamente que en todas las dificultades y el dolor de la vida, Dios está siempre presente, revelándose a nosotros en medio de nuestros sufrimientos. La curación del ciego en el Evangelio ilustra perfectamente como Dios tiene un plan especial para la humanidad, de hecho, para todos aquellos que vagan errantes como ciegos por la vida. Jesús es la luz del mundo, y nuestra fe en la salvación que Jesucristo está presente en todos los altibajos de nuestras vidas. Como dice san Pablo en la segunda lectura, "Vivan como hijos de la luz, porque la luz produce toda clase de bondad, justicia y verdad." Cuando vivimos de esa manera, la luz que Jesucristo trajo a nosotros - la luz de la fe, la luz de la esperanza - puede llenar nuestras almas y abrir los ojos, e iluminar nuestro camino a través de este oscuro mundo hacia el mundo más allá de Dios. Padre Ulises

Jubilee Year of Mercy

March 6, 2016 Fourth Sunday of Lent On Laetare Sunday, we rejoice as Luke’s Jesus proclaims that God is boundlessly merciful. The parable’s prodigal son returns home, not authentically repentant but desperate, having squandered on prostitutes (or so his older brother claims) the inheritance wrongly demanded while his father still lived. This selfish son is only spared ritual “shaming” when the father “shames” himself, running to embrace him, interrupting his prepared “act of contrition.” By doing so he challenges confessors, and all of us, to be signs, says Pope Francis, “of the primacy of mercy always, everywhere, and in every situation, no matter what.” Avoid the harshness of the elder son, Francis warns, “who stands outside, incapable of rejoicing,” his judgment “severe, unjust, and meaningless in light of the father’s boundless mercy” (Misericordiae Vultus, 17). If John’s Gospel is proclaimed, the “religiously observant” people there likewise serve to warn against harshly judging others, for the physical blindness of the man they expel from the synagogue is healed, while their own blindness of heart remains. —Peter Scagnelli, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc. Papal quotes Copyright © 2015, Libreria Editrice V aticana. Used with permission.

ARCHDIOCESAN ANNUAL APPEAL 2016 A very grateful thanks to all our parishioners who contributed to the Archdiocesan Annual Appeal in 2015. Because of your generosity, we were able to reach our assessed amount last year. We have now begun to collect for 2016. There are brochures in the back of the church. Please take one and consider what you can contribute to help us cover the Annual Appeal for this year.

HOMEBOUND MINISTRY If someone in your family is homebound, lives nearby and is unable to attend Mass, but would like to received the Eucharist, please contact Julie O’Leary at (650) 361-8681. Communion ministers are needed to bring the Eucharist to homebound parishioners. Please call Julie O’Leary if you would like to participate in this worthy ministry.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH LENT PROJECT - WATER FOR TANZANIA During Lent, we are asking that you donate empty plastic water bottles to the school. At the end of Lent we will take them to be recycled and all the money earned will go to St. Francis Xavier, our sister parish in Tanzania, to purchase cisterns to collect and store water for their community. Please, only plastic water bottles. If you have water bottles to donate, please drop them off in a plastic bag at the school office from Monday through Friday.

Youth Ministry News:

Sunday 3/20- YM meeting in Small Hall from 3pm5pm for Jr. High and High School. Please save the dates. We hope to see you there! Blessings, OLMC Youth Ministers.

OLMC Women's Club 2nd Annual Graton Casino Bus Trip Sat. Mar.12th 8:30am, returns aprox. 5:30pm Cost: $35 (does not include driver's tip) $15 free play and $5 food credit. Reserve ASAP! Limited seating. Fun!! Men & Women over 21 invited. Tina Peterson (650) 4000076 Gina Gonzales (650) 366-1773 or email: [email protected]

Holy Hour/Happy Hour Young adults in their 20s and 30s are encouraged to join us for a Holy Hour at Nativity parish (210 Oak Grove, Menlo Park) on Tuesdays from 8pm-9pm, followed by drinks at a local pub. If you have any questions, please e-mail [email protected] or visit our website, holyhourhappyhour.wordpress.com.

GOOD GRIEF MINISTRY The loss of every loved one creates many changes, challenges and pain. “Good Grief”, an ongoing support group, meets every Thursday at the Parish Center, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. We care. We share. Do come.

Saturday, March 5, 2016 5:00 PM Fernando A. Silva † Sunday, March 6, 2016 8:00 AM Charles & Theresa Elacqua † 10:00 AM Filomena & Luigi Liberati † 12:00 PM (Español) Lida Fava † 5:00 PM Angela Nardi † Monday, March 7, 2016 8:15 AM Lila Sattler † Tuesday, March 8, 2016 8:15 AM Andy Dei Rossi † Wednesday, March 9, 2016 8:15 AM Marguerite Corman Thursday, March 10, 2016 8:15 AM Fernando A. Silva † Friday, March 11, 2016 8:15 AM Salvador Manuel † Saturday, March 12, 2016 8:15 AM Kathleen Coburn & James Coburn † Saturday, March 12, 2016 5:00 PM Kim Quinn †

This Week at Mt. Carmel Sunday, March 6, 2016: CCD Class 8:45 am Children’s Liturgy 10am School Brunch 7:30am-1pm Confirmation (Retreat) 2-6pm

School Chapel LH/SK/K L. Hall

Monday, March 7, 2016: Carismáticos (Directiva) 7pm Sister Parish 7pm

P. Center O. Chapel

Tuesday, March 8, 2016: Men’s Basketball 8:30 pm

L. Hall

Wednesday, March 9, 2016: Carismaticos 7 pm CCD Class 6:30pm I.C.F. 6pm SVDP Det. Min. 7pm Thursday, March 10, 2016: CCD Class 6:30 pm Good Grief 6pm Men’s Club 6 pm Friday, March 11, 2016: Spanish Choir Reh. 7:00 pm Saturday, March 12, 2016: Sequoia Crabfeed All Day

L. Hall School S. Hall/K P. Center School O. Chapel SH/K P. Center LH/SH/K

BUCKETS OF WATER FOR TANZANIA! Help build a cistern for our Sister Parish. Our brothers and sisters in Kiraeni still suffer from severe drought. Let’s help them build a cistern to collect rainwater from the roof of the church. We hope to raise $18,000 to build an underground cistern that will hold 150,000 gallons of safe drinking water. $3.00 will buy 5 buckets of water.$100.00 will buy 175 buckets of water. Consider Alms for Kiraeni during this Lenten season. The Alms box will be in the vestibule for your donation. Make checks out to Mount Carmel Church and put Sister Parish in the memo line. Contact Lucinda Dei Rossi at 366-9604 for questions. SAINTS AN SPECIAL OBSERVANCE Sunday: Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Friday:

Girl Scout Sunday Ss. Perpetua and Felicity St. John of God St. Frances of Rome Abstinence

Welcome Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Registration Form The following confidential information will be entered in our parish data system. It is only for the purpose of knowing and serving you better. Name (s): _______________________________ Address: ________________________________ City:_________________ zip:_______________ Telephone:______________________________

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