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.

Father, you want me to be what? A Eucharistic minister? Oh no, Father, I am not worthy! There were my responses – thirteen years ago – when my parish priest approached me to consider serving the People of God as an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist (the more proper liturgical designation). With his persistence and after the necessary training, there I was at Mass, holding a paten, and in it – the Body of Christ! Naturally shy, my impulse was to pray for communion to get over soon.

A better understanding of the meaning and symbolic language of the Church’s liturgy, especially the Mass, will help Catholics encounter the Lord and grow in holiness, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said in a letter this week. “Concretely, it is a matter of helping communities to better internalize the prayer of the Church, to love it as an experience of encounter with the Lord and with brothers and, in light of this, to rediscover its contents and observe its rites,” the cardinal said.

There are four Marian (related to Mary) Dogmas. Dogmas are those doctrines of the Church which have been defined by the Pope and the teaching authority of the Church. Dogmas are teaching, or doctrines, of the Church that have been bolded, underlined, and italicized, so to speak. They are proposed for our belief and faithful Catholics are not free to dissent from them.

Please welcome Karen Ululani Loebl to our Parish community as our new Youth & Young Adult Minister. Karen was born and raised on O’ahu and grew up in Kaimuki, attending SacredHearts Academy (SHA) for 13 years, graduating in 1986. She is a teacher with 30 years of experience and has taught at Sacred Hearts Academy, St. Francis, and at St. Louis School for their afterschool programs. She is also a professional health educator and has worked for community health centers where she developed creative youth programs which won state awards.

Grace and Peace in our Lord Jesus! Please find inserted in our Parish bulletin the Statutes of the Pastoral Council of Mary, Star of the Sea Parish. Our beloved Bishop Larry promulgated the norms for Parish Pastoral Councils in the Diocese in November of 2018. All the parishes in the diocese are required by the norms to have a functioning pastoral council with statutes by Sunday, June 9, 2019.

Wishing Deacon Raffy and Pinky the warmest Aloha as they join our Mary, Star of the Sea Parish family on July 1, 2019!! Deacon Rafael “Raffy” Mendoza and Maria Sofia “Pinky” Mendoza Raffy and Pinky were married in December 1982 and are blessed with three grown up sons (the first two sons are based in Manila, Philippines while the youngest is in Pasadena, California).

The story of the resurrected Jesus on the shore in today’s Gospel highlights the personality of the fervent, impassioned Peter. Peter, impulsive, the first to approach the Lord; Peter the first to enter the gravesite and behold the cloth wrappings that had embraced our Lord. We ask ourselves, who is this apostle Peter, once informed of the Gospel presence, who rushes to approach the mystery? It is that part of me that, at the urging of another, will rise to greet the Lord, as Peter did also at the beginning of the Gospel when his brother Andrew had informed him of Jesus’ presence.

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. Jesus’ response to Thomas, after he recognized Him as ‘My Lord and my God’, has a mysterious fascination that must relate not so much to the disciples—those who ‘have seen’—but rather to those, like us, who were added to their number after- wards. ‘You have come to believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.’ (Jn 20:29)

Dear Sisters and Brothers: A JOYFUL, LIBERATING EASTER! What an extravagant love God has for us, His beloved children! Every year, we are given the grace-filled opportunity to celebrate and enter deeply into the great mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrec- tion. This is God’s own doing, the only way He could save us from eternal damnation for disobedience by our first parents that we all share. Jesus Christ was born for us. Jesus Christ lived for us. Jesus Christ died for us. Jesus Christ rose from the dead for us!

As Catholics, we like anonymity. We like to blend into the crowd. We don’t wear yarmulkes like Orthodox Jews, or plain clothes like the Amish. We can generally go unnoticed. Until Ash Wednesday. With that big, ashen cross on our foreheads, everyone knows who we are. It’s a sign that says, “Look at me! I’m a Catholic!” What can you do? You can hide your ashes or wash them off. But, we’re all about seizing the moment here, so I want to challenge you to “rock your ashes” instead. Here are five reasons why you should keep your cross and wear it proudly on Ash Wednesday.

As we look back at the past year, it is a cry of thanksgiving that we have uttered to the Lord from our hearts on the last day of 2018 or on January 1st of 2019. We have all received from God innumerable blessings, grace upon grace most of which I would think we don’t even deserve. But God in His mercy made us worthy, for we are His beloved children in Christ our Lord and Brother. In various ways, we have shared these blessings to others. Blessings in their very nature are meant to be shared.

A BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL! A little girl was heard praying the Lord’s Prayer and saying “Forgive us our Christmases.” Perhaps, many of us need to pray that prayer. On the first Christmas, there was no room for the Lord Jesus in the inn. Today, for many, there will be no room for Jesus as well. Do I have room for Jesus? Do our various institutions have room for Jesus? Or do we put up thick walls and say “there is no room in the inn.”? It is that holy time of the year again when God calls us to take time to reflect on all that has gone before and what is to come.

The mid-point of Advent alerts us to issues of justice, equality, honesty and integrity. St. John the Baptist called the people to repentance so they can prepare for the coming of the Messiah. Through the Church, he continues to call people of every generation to enter into this inward decision to seek and receive God’s offer of forgiveness as the excellent way of preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ anytime He wants. But what does repentance looks like? What does it demand?

Please read the letter from Most Reverend Larry Silve to ll Parishioners regarding October designated as Pro-Life month in the United States Catholic Church, to focus on the extremely important issues related to defending the lives of the unborn, of the sick and elderly, and of all who are vulnerable.

Come join our Octoberfest on October 27th Saturday 5:30PM to 9:30PM. Delicious food, cold beer, Oompah Band and dancing $45 - Adults / $25 - Children (4-14) Tickets are on sale at the Church entrance after Mass and at the Church office during the week. This will continue our fundraising to upgrade the cafeteria to accommodate multi-purpose church and school functions. Mahalo for your support!

Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, MSOS Grade School will include a KINDERGARTEN program. Our upper school will now become a K-8 Catholic School. The MSOS Grade School Kindergarten will align directly with the Grade School’s curriculum, standards and pedagogy. We are excited to have the opportunity to provide this new entry-level Kindergarten experience to new families who wish to join our Mary, Star of the Sea Grade School Ohana. Read our Pastor's announcement on this Sunday's Bulletin.

We will be closed Thursday August 23rd and Friday August 24th due to Hurricane Lane. Please note that all parish related activities are cancelled. There will be only 1 Mass on Thursday 8/23 at 7:30AM. No Mass on Friday 08/24. We will notify you should we need to make additional closure announcements. God bless and be safe!

This reality should give us something more than ordinary optimism. It should give us a supernatural joy, in ALL circumstances. But that takes work. When I was a teenager my mother used to tell me, “joy is a choice.” She was right, and reflecting on those words throughout my life has helped me to become a joyful man. She didn’t say “feeling good is a choice.” I doubt very much that St. Paul was always feeling “tip-top” when he was in prison awaiting his beheading, but he was joyful. Much of what he wrote while in chains was brimming with joy. He wrote things like, “Rejoice in the Lord always!” “Have no anxiety at all!” “I may be struck down but I’m not destroyed.” and “In all these things we are more than conquerors!”

Our loving Abba-Father has sent Jesus to us to shepherd us – lead, guide, feed, care for, and love us. We have all experienced that loving presence in our lives, more strongly at some times than other. We can truly proclaim that: “The LORD is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.” But the challenge that this imposes on us is that we need to reach out and shepherd others with the same loving care we have received. We are called to share what we have received and further the mission and ministry of our Good Shepherd by compassionately shepherding those whom GOD has placed in our lives. May you continue to experience the loving care of the Good Shepherd and may the Holy Spirit prompt you to share that loving care with those whom GOD our Abba Father has entrusted to your care.