“We all have within us some areas, some parts of our heart that are not alive, that are a little dead….But if we become very attached to these tombs and guard them within us and do not will that our whole heart rise again to life, we become corrupted and our soul begins to give off, as Martha says, an ‘odor’ (see John 11:39), the stench of a person who is attached to sin. And Lent has something to do with this. Because all of us...can hear what Jesus said to Lazarus: ‘He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (11:43).

Dear Sisters and Brothers, Grace and Peace! The whole world is facing unsettling times because of the COVID-19 crisis. As children of God, Sisters and Brothers of our Lord Jesus, we firmly believe that there is a purpose as to why we are experiencing this pandemic. However, despite the negative consequences of this contagion, we hear and read positive things happening all over the world. The spirit of compassion, caring, cooperation, solidarity, having more time to bond as a family, prayerfulness and other gospel values are intensely being practiced by an outpouring of the world's population. It is only God who knows when this will end. Surely, there is healing happening at different levels of human relationships, in society, in nature, for we are all interconnected. Our Lord is with us. That is His name “Emmanuel.” In His time, this crisis will end. There are a vast number of opportunities nowadays that God wants us to optimize to bring about the Christ-like character in us. We are in lockdown here in Oahu. Thus, our Parish Office and our two schools are physically closed until the end of April. Our Principal at the upper school and Director of ELC have received guidelines as to how to proceed given the situation. As the need arises, kindly call our Parish Office at 734-0396 and leave a message, and I or Fr. Pat will get in touch with you as soon as we are able to respond to your request. Fr. Pat and I are praying for all of you in our private adoration and Mass. Keep us also in your prayers. Let us continue holding on to the hands of Christ and our Blessed Mother, Star of the Sea. As the Psalmist said “weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.” (Ps. 30:6) In our Bread of Life, Fr. Frankie, SSS Pastor

How’s your eyesight? What do you see when you look at the world around you? That seems to be the issue in today’s Gospel. As the story opens, we meet a man whom everyone assumes is a sinner because he is blind (John9:2). But by the end of the story, Jesus says that those who claim they can see are really the ones in darkness.

Honolulu’s Bishop Larry Silva, in consultation with his priest advisors, canceled all public Masses effective noon, March 17, through March 31. The decision was made at an emergency 3 p.m. online presbyteral council meeting on March 16. The bishop will meet with his advisors again on March 27 to reassess the Mass cancellations and to decide whether to continue them. The March 16 emergency meeting was prompted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation that gatherings of 50 or more be canceled and the advice of local health and government officials. Just four days earlier, the Office of Worship had issued guidelines stating that “at this time, there will be no cancellation of Masses.” The memorandum, “Cold and Flu Season and the Coronavirus Outbreak,” has been updated several times since it was first sent by the diocesan Office of Worship on Jan. 31 to Hawaii clergy and parishes.

The Gospel is from St. John 4:5-42. This gospel, about the Samaritan woman, is exceptionally rich. Every time we read it we are passionately moved by that intense conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. When Jesus asked a Samaritan woman who had come to the well to give Him a drink, more was going on than Jesus just looking to quench His physical thirst. As St. Therese of Lisieux wrote, “When He said, ‘Give me a drink,’ it was for the love of His poor creature that the Creator of the universe was seeking. He was thirsty for love. We might wonder why. Why would Jesus desire the love of someone who was not only a Samaritan, but who also had a checkered past.

My dear Sisters and Brothers, Peace and Grace in our Savior! I will never forget when I went to the Mountain of Transfiguration in the Holy Land with a pilgrim group. A profound feeling of peace enveloped my entire being. On top of a mountain, we certainly get a wider perspective and view. Our eyes roam very far into the horizon and, as the view leaves us breathless, it is as though so much is soaking through the pores of our skin, drowning us in its noise and materialism. That is why, like Peter, James and John, we need a mountain top experience with Christ to catch a vision of something better, to widen our perspective, to have a glimpse of the glory of Jesus’ divinity.

The Gospel is from St. Matthew 4:1-11. This incident in our Lord's life, his forty days and nights of fasting followed by temptations, has been chosen as a reading for this first Sun- day of Lent for our edification and encouragement. Lent is a period of preparation for the central Christian events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

The Gospel is taken from St. Matthew (5:38-48). The lesson we have to learn from today's Gospel hardly needs any emphasizing. We must, if we are truly Christian, forgive those who offend or injure us. We must love all men, whether they be friends or enemies. G. K. Chesterton says : "We are commanded to love our neighbors and our enemies; they are generally the same people. But it is my neighbors, those among whom I live and work, who are liable to injure me and thus become my enemies.”

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” Christ is not abolishing the ten commandments, but he is demanding of his followers a more perfect, a more sincere, fulfillment of them. The whole moral value of any legal observance (the Mosaic law included), comes from the interior disposition of him who observes or keeps the law.

The Gospel is from St. Matthew 5:13-16. No less an authority than Christ himself calls his true followers the "salt of the earth." and the "light of the world." These are titles of honor, surely, and of the greatest distinction. Christ is putting his true follower on almost a level with himself. He was the light of the world; he was the salt of the earth. He it was who gave men the knowledge of the true nature of God, as shown by the Incarnation. He it was who gave this life its flavor, who gave this life its meaning, its preservation. By his death and resurrection he took away the sting of death, and removed its eternal corruption, by the guarantee and promise of a resurrection to an eternal life.

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord which occurs forty days after the birth of Jesus and is also known as Candlemas day. The Presentation of the Lord concludes the celebration of the Nativity and with the offerings of the Virgin Mother and the prophecy of Simeon, the events now point toward Easter."In obedience to the Old Law, the Lord Jesus, the first-born, was presented in the Temple by his Blessed Mother and his foster father. This is another 'epiphany' celebration insofar as the Christ Child is revealed as the Messiah through the canticle and words of Simeon and the testimony of Anna the prophetess. Christ is the light of the nations, hence the blessing and procession of candles on this day. In the Middle Ages this feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or 'Candlemas,' was of great importance.

As He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And He said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. And going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zeb'edee and John his brother, in the boat with Zeb'edee their father, mending their nets, and He called them.

With the feast of the Baptism of the Lord we have entered into the liturgical time that we call “ordinary.” On this second Sunday, the Gospel presents to us the scene of the meeting between Jesus and John the Baptist at the Jordan River. The narrator is the eye witness, John the Evangelist, who, before he was a disciple of Jesus was a disciple of the Baptist, together with his brother James, with Simon and Andrew, all are from Galilee, all are fishermen. So, John the Baptist sees Jesus, who steps forward from the crowd and, inspired from above, sees in Jesus the one sent by God. For this reason he points him out with these words: “Behold the lamb of God, he who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Right on the heels of the feast of the Epiphany, the Holy Roman Catholic Church celebrates the baptism of Jesus, when as the Word of God from Matthew’s gospel, chapter 3: 16 – 17 testifies that after Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God descended on him like a dove, then the voice of God thundered saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased.”

The Epiphany of the Lord Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Epiphany. "The Lord and ruler is coming; kingship is his, and government and power." With these words the Church proclaims that today's feast brings to a perfect fulfillment all the purposes of Advent. Epiphany, therefore, marks the liturgical zenith of the Advent-Christmas season.

On the last Sunday of each liturgical year, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, or Christ the King. Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925 with his encyclical Quas primas ("In the first") to respond to growing secularism. He recognized that attempting to "thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law" out of public life would result in continuing discord among people and nations. Today reminds us that while governments come and go, Christ reigns as King forever.

Cardinal Robert Sarah reflected on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the meaning of the priesthood in a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Saturday marking his 50th ordination anniversary. “The priest lives joy in its fullness at Holy Mass, which is the raison d'être of his existence, what gives meaning to his life,” Sarah said in his homily at the Altar of the Chair Sept. 29.

Come join our annual Octoberfest on October 26th Saturday 5:30PM to 9:30PM. Fun activities include dancing, musical chairs, corn hole, yodeling and costumes. This will continue our fundraising to upgrade the cafeteria to accommodate multi-purpose church and school functions. Mahalo for your support!

Many people have difficulty with the Catholic Church’s teaching on sex and gender because they fail to recognize its philosophical dimension. As inheritors of twentieth-century positivism, many today assume that the quantitative sciences are the arbiters of truth, and that any other way of knowing, except that privileged and direct access to one’s own internal subjectivity, can be no more than private opinion or pseudoscience. This philosophical error silences objection and shuts down dialogue by defining disagreement with itself as hateful and anathematizing.

This beautiful video comes from Real Alternatives, a non-profit group which works to support and provide alternatives to abortion for pregnant women to choose life for their babies. The video, a combination of animations and ultrasound images, shows the development of a baby in its mother’s womb and describes the changes which take place at each stage of pregnancy.