The Gospel is from St. Mark 4:35-41. There is a very important lesson for every one of us in today's gospel story. Our lives are really a journey across the sea of time to the shore of eternity. During that crossing all who come to the use of reason encounter some storms. There is no smooth, calm crossing for anyone. This is the will of God. Our Lord knew that a storm was going to blow up that night in the Sea of Galilee. He allowed his disciples to face that terrifying ordeal, because he wanted his future Church to have confidence in his divine power and assistance, when tribulations and persecutions would seem to be on the point of ending her forever.

For Young Adults, ages 18 to 39 - Want to meet other Catholic young adults in our parish? Want an alternative to meeting on Zoom? ‍ . Would you like to meet members of the new Young Adult Ministry at Mary, Star of the Sea? Join us, Friday, June 25 @ 6:00PM at Chili's in Kahala Mall (4211 Waialae Ave), to meet new peers and build a Catholic fellowship among young adults. It's a chance to pray, eat and drink together safely! We ask you to please RSVP to Katy Parsons by June 23, text her @ 808-927-8125; or contact Ben DuMontier @ 920-257-7448 for more information.

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, historically known by its Latin name, Corpus Christi, celebrates the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. It is traditionally celebrated on the Thursday following the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. The feast dates to the Middle Ages and originated with a visionary nun and a Eucharistic miracle.

The dogma of faith which forms the object of the feast is this: There is one God and in this one God there are three Divine Persons; the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three Gods, but one, eternal, incomprehensible God! The Father is not more God than the Son, neither is the Son more God than the Holy Spirit. The Father is the first Divine Person; the Son is the second Divine Person, begotten from the nature of the Father from eternity; the Holy Spirit is the third Divine Person, proceeding from the Father and the Son. No mortal can fully fathom this sublime truth. But I submit humbly and say: Lord, I believe, help my weak faith.

After Jesus had ascended to heaven from Mt. Olivet, the apostles and disciples returned to the Holy City. They remained together in the Upper Room or Cenacle, the place where Jesus had appeared to them and which may well be called the first Christian church. About a hundred and twenty persons were assembled there. They chose Matthias as an apostle in place of the unhappy Judas; they prayed and waited for the Paraclete.

The death of a member of his family or of a loved friend, must be the saddest event imaginable in the life of an atheist. He is one who really is convinced that there is no God, no future life and therefore that the relative or friend is to turn into dust in the grave, never to be met with again. The thought that every day that passes is bringing him too nearer to that same sad fate, death, which will be the end of all his ambitions, all his enjoyments, the end of everything he thought he was or had, must be something hard to live with.

The Gospel is from St. John 15:9-17. It is only a few weeks since Good Friday when we commemorated the agonizing death of Christ on Mount Calvary. This was an excruciating, shameful death even for hardened criminals who deserved it. But for our loving Savior, the innocent lamb of God, one who had never offended God or neighbor, it was something of which the whole human race should be ashamed forever.

The Gospel is from St. John 15:1-8. The words of consolation and encouragement which our Lord spoke to his Apostles on Holy Thursday night were intended to console and encourage all his followers for all time. They encourage and console us today, and we need encouragement to persevere on the road to heaven. Living a truly Christian life is never easy. We have always the attraction of the world, and the temptations by the agents of evil, to make that life less easy still. But in our own day these difficulties have increased a hundredfold.

The Gospel is from St. John 10:11-18. The image of Christ as our Good Shepherd has always appealed to human nature. One of the earliest paintings of Christ in the Roman catacombs represents him as carrying an injured sheep on his shoulders. This is a manifestation of love which touches our innermost feelings. We do not mind being likened to sheep in this context. There is something guileless about a sheep, and at the same time a lot of foolishness.

The Gospel is from St. Luke 24:35-48. Our Lord's glorious resurrection is the crowning miracle of his sojourn on earth among men. It is the foundation and cornerstone of our Christian religion. His death on Calvary proved that he was really human; his resurrection proved he was also divine. During his public life he had claimed to be God. Had that claim been untrue God the Father could not have raised him from the dead. By his death he made atonement for the sins of the world — "he nailed them to the tree of the cross"; by his resurrection he opened the gates of death for all men and made them heirs to the eternal life. 

The Holy Gospel that the Liturgy presents to us on this second Sunday of Easter, is one of the most well known, discussed, and appreciated—the meeting of the Risen Lord with St Thomas. The Fathers of the Church have given us numerous insights into this Gospel text. Likewise, it is has proven the inspiration to the numerous artists who have physically represented the events of this Gospel in order to give us a clear idea of what happened, ‘eight days after’ the first apparition of the Risen One, to the disciples congregated in the cenacle.

"I rose up and am still with Thee." After His labors and His humiliations, Christ finds rest with His Father. "I am still with Thee." This is perfect beatitude. Through His cross He entered into the possession of eternal glory. Christ has gained the crown of victory; through Christ men also win their crowns of victory. Humanity was under a curse and subject to the wrath of God. Now that they have risen with Christ, their guilt has been destroyed. "I rose up and am still with Thee." The liturgy places these words in the mouth of the Church that she may pray them with Christ.

Today we begin Palm Sunday listening to the story of Jesus being welcomed into Jerusalem with great joy and exultation!  "Hosanna!" they cried out.  "Hosanna in the Highest!"  Jesus was treated as He should have been treated.  People were excited to see Him and there was much excitement.  But this excitement quickly turned to shock and horror as we enter more deeply into today's readings. 

We are all familiar with the story of how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  Martha sent Jesus a message to tell him that Lazarus was ill.  Two days later, Jesus started his journey.  When Jesus got to Judea, he found that Lazarus had already been dead for four days, but Jesus told Mary and Martha that their brother was not dead, only sleeping. Jesus went to the gravesite and called out to Lazarus to come out of the tomb, which he did.

Mary, Star of the Sea youth leader and Maryknoll Senior, Charla Teves, has received a youth grant award from the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation and is helping to plan a Virtual End Hunger Summit for youth, community members, and legislators on Saturday, May 8th from 9 am to 11:30 am. Registration is free and open now for adults and youth who want to participate in ending hunger. Please see the posters and display in the front of the church. She is also asking us to come together and donate canned goods and non-perishable food items in the box at the front of the church from now through April 16. If you have any questions, please email Charla at charlateves1@gmail.com. Let's come together to end hunger!

This Sunday is called "Laetare Sunday" in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite since its mood and theme is one of hope and rejoicing that Easter is near. In the Ordinary Form this Sunday is not different from the other Sundays of Lent even though the entrance antiphon for the day still begins with the Latin word "laetare" and the vestments worn by the celebrant are rose-colored, not violet. The day is important because it is the day of the second scrutiny in preparation for the baptism of adults at the Easter Vigil.

Many of us have prayed for the "best Lent ever" and signed up for daily spiritual exercises toward that end.  We committed to more prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  Does the Covid-19 pandemic impede or improve our Lenten practices now?  We are in a war against a terrible disease.  Dig a little deeper, and realize that we are in a real spiritual battle also. 

The Gospel is from St. Mark 9:2-10. This vision of Christ glorified, given to these Apostles on Mount Thabor (the traditional site of Transfiguration) was surely a very special privilege, and it was one they did not forget. "We saw his glory," St. John says in his gospel, written over sixty years later. In his epistles John also refers to this privilege (1 Jn. 1:1-4). St. Peter, writing from Rome to the churches in Asia Minor about thirty years later, mentions this outstanding experience: "For we were not following fictitious tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.

he Gospel is from St. Mark 1:12-15. The very thought of our divine Lord's suffering hunger, loneliness, and humiliation at the hands of his enemy—and that all this was for us—should make us feel ashamed at the little bits of suffering and humiliation we are willing to suffer for our own selves. He had no sin to atone for. He was making atonement for us and for our sins. He was the Son of God and his home was heaven, but he left it for a while to assume human nature, so that he could through his humiliations and sufferings bring us to share his eternal home with him. What is the thanks he gets from us? Ingratitude, forgetfulness, and even worse: insults and disobedience.

The Gospel is from St. Mark 1:40-45. We see both the divine power and the divine compassion of Jesus in this act of healing. The divine power was necessary in all instantaneous cures. Even if the diseases were curable, the ordinary process of nature took time to fight off the causes and to return to normality. Therefore, where there was an instantaneous recovery some power above nature, some supernatural cause brought it about. But where the disease was incurable, as real leprosy then was, to remove it by a simple word of command was more emphatically still the result of divine power. This divine power Jesus had, for he was himself divine, the Son of God.