Church guide

CHANGE seems to be the main theme in the readings for this second Sunday of Lent. There is a change in the setting in our Gospel this Sunday. Last Sunday we were taken to the desert into a world of heat, sand, dryness, stones and hunger. We also saw the battle between Jesus and the devil, Mount Tabor. Today, Jesus is not exhausted, nor weak by hunger as he was last Sunday; instead he is transfigured, His face shining like the sun and his clothes white as the light. Mount Tabor is a place filled with beautiful trees, beautiful blue skies, it is a place filled with peace; it is a place completely different than the desert. Change or transformation is also found in the two other readings and the people in them; Abraham, Saint Paul, Jesus and Peter, James and John. In the first reading Abraham is no longer the same man he was at the time he was asked by God to leave everything behind. His journey has brought him to this point where he is now being given the land. From now on l, life for him and his descendants will be different. This Lenten season we are on a pilgrimage or a journey, we are on our way to the mountain of Easter; the mountain of the Resurrection. By listening and obeying God’s command, and submitting entirely to it, by being obedient, by making the decision to heed Gods call, Abraham allowed God to change him. His whole life changed. At the end Abraham was a changed man. Like Abraham, God calls us during these 40 days of Lent to experience a change in us helped by His grace, from a sinful to a graced filled life. What about us? It’s been a week and a half or so since we started Lent, this holy season of Grace and blessing on Ash Wednesday. Have we listened to God’s call to leave behind everything that may get in the way between Him and us? Do you see a change in you already? Are you allowing God and his grace transform you, to change you? In our second reading saint Paul talks about the transforming power of the grace of God. This lent God calls us to return to him and to have a conversion of heart. He gives us his grace to change, transform our lives, in other words to get to the mount of the resurrection with renewed hearts. In the story of the transfiguration, the disciples are also transformed and changed. Up till this point they had not seen the Glory of Jesus. On the Holy Mountain our Lord was transfigured. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light and the voice of God was heard in blessing and approval. This was the true nature of Jesus shining through. Something similar needs to happen to us this lent, after all that’s what this holy season is all about; our whole life should be a gradual process of Transfiguration. Our whole purpose should be to allow the light of God to shine through us. Peter, James and John get a glimpse of the glory that Jesus was destined for, but of the glory they were destined for as well, but it implies that we work with his grace and work in changing the sinful areas in our lives. Jesus’ transfiguration was a preview— a foretaste of the transformation that awaited his disciples, for them then, and for all of us now. This experience was so overwhelming, so unexpected, so filled with the presence of God, that Peter didn’t want to leave. He said “Lord, it is good that we are here! Let’s just stay here for a while, safe up on the mountaintop. Like Peter, you and I might feel the same and ask ourselves: should I stay, or should I go? Should I stay the same person I have been up until now or should go and walk the road ahead of me in this Lenten Journey? We might be tempted to say, I will just stay like this, hoping I am good enough, I don’t really need to change anything in my life, I am just happy and good the way I am. We could remain the same person we have been up until now or allow God and His grace to change us? If so, we can accept the grace that Jesus is offering us today, and throughout this lent, to take our sinfulness and nail it to the cross. The question is: How are we going to look at the end of this Lenten journey? We will be dazzling white, bright as the sun because we converted to God? Let us not make the mistake of allowing this season to go by without its effect. We might not like the idea of accepting that we are not perfect, that we are sinners. Jesus said to peter and the disciples after the transfiguration “do not be afraid” in the same way he says to us “do not be afraid to humble yourself” The rest of this Lenten season let us allow God and his grace change us from our sinfulness to holiness to allow the light of God to shine through us. May all of us get to the celebration of Easter with hearts and minds transformed. May we shine like the sun and reflect the Glory of Jesus in our lives. Amen

The first Sunday of Lent this year coincides with daylight saving time. As we all know, starting today, the days will be longer, and the nights will be shorter. As I prepared this reflection with that idea in mind, I couldn’t help but to think about the words of Saint John the Baptist found in the Gospel of Saint John 3:30 “He must increase, and I must decrease”. Lent is the sacred time in which Our Lord gives us the opportunity to allow Him to increase in each one of us and for us to decrease. Easy to say but in order to accomplish such task, the readings for both Ash Wednesday and this first Sunday of lent provide the guidelines for us to do so. Isaiah tells us that God calls us to have a change of heart, to change our attitude toward God and others, He calls us to take to heart the words we were told as ashes were put on our foreheads, “turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel” “Return to me with all your hearts, rend your hearts not your garments” is what God desires from us. What a blessing it is to make our own the words from the responsorial psalm on Ash Wednesday “Be merciful oh Lord, for I have sinned” When we acknowledge our sinfulness and our need of God and His grace we decrease, and He increases in us. When we perform works of compassion and charity He increases and is recognized by others in us, we become less, and He becomes more. Lent calls us to pray more, to put thing aside, (cell phones, TVs, laptops, computers, social media, etc) and spend more time in dialogue with Him through prayer, reflection and silence. Lent also calls us to Fast. Not only from food or from soda or chocolate or sweets, but from hurtful attitudes toward others, gossip, lack of patience, foul language, thinking and saying that we are better than others, or treating others unkindly. At the beginning of this lent we are to ask ourselves, how do I deal with temptations in my life?What temptations have I given into and how have they taken away God’s grace from me? The temptations of Christ in the desert are those of all human beings: the urge to live by our desires and needs rather than by the Word of God, the presumption that God will save us even if we do nothing and the temptation to want power and dominion over others. This gospel on this First Sunday of Lent tells us of the temptations of Christ in the Desert to encourage us also to do what he did, that is, resist temptation and to remain faithful to God in these days of reconciliation. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert in the same way we have been given the Spirit of God, let us ask the same Spirit to be with us during these next 40 days and help us to overcome sin and temptation. May all of us come to the end of this sacred time of spiritual renewal and conversion being less and Jesus more. “He must increase, and I must decrease. Amen.

It seems that this Sunday Our Lord is already leading us into a self-reflection before we begin the Holy Season of Lent. In our Gospel reading, Jesus makes it very clear: we are to make sure that as Catholic Christians, we practice what we preach, and apply it to ourselves before we dare apply it to others as He says: “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye”. What harsh words we hear today. Now, notice how in this gospel, Jesus is not talking to the scribes or the pharisees, rather, He is talking to his disciples! His words are also for all of us His followers, for those of us who want to grow in the likeness and image of God. We are called to see in ourselves that which is wrong, that which is sinful, that which is imperfect, before we see it all in others. What a difference this would make if everyone took to heart Jesus’ teaching today, no matter who we are, bishops, priests, famous people, newscasters, politicians and regular people like you and me. Really, what a difference it would make! We live in a society that promotes judgement and only seeing and pointing the finger at the faults of others. “Everyone is wrong, and we are the ones who are right”, seems to be the rule in our society today. But Jesus calls us to be people who “bear good fruit”. People who are not “hypocrites”. The gospel challenges us to be the people we were called to be, to look at ourselves and remove the beam in our own eyes before we choose to remove the speck in others. What a difficult thing this seems to be, but what a blessing it is as well, to see that we are not perfect and that we have faults, limitations and sins, because when we are honest and humble and acknowledge our limitations and sinfulness before our Lord, we are able to grow in holiness and in his image, in His grace. The person who sees him or herself as “perfect” cannot grow in holiness because there is no room for God and His grace to work in them. On the other hand, we must be careful to not misunderstand our Lord and think that He is telling us not to correct our brothers and sisters, we have a responsibility to correct others by letting them know what they might be doing wrong with kindness and love but only after we have corrected our own faults and remembering our own limitations. We must be careful when we choose to speak ill or point the faults of others, we have to be aware of the sin of speech as we hear in the first reading today “When a sieve is shaken, the refuse appears; so do a person’s faults when he speaks. The kiln tests the potter’s vessels; so the test of a person is in his conversation. As its fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree, so does our speech discloses the cultivation of our mind”. There could be a great harm coming out of our mouth. we could ruin someone’s life, reputation and honor, but on the other hand it could also be a blessing, when we teach the ignorant, encourage and comfort the broken hearted, and proclaim the truth of the gospel. Jesus is telling us to be careful and to work on our speech. So, today, let us take to heart the words of Our Lord and let us begin already, our sacred time of self-reflection. Let us look into our hearts and ask ourselves if we are truly bearing good fruit in word and in deed. Are we really the people of God we profess to be in our words and in our actions? Do our words and actions really show that we are the people of God? Do we, in our love, compassion, mercy, respect, kindness and understanding and words show that we are children of God? Let us not be afraid to do some self-criticism and self-reflection before we choose to judge and criticize others. May God’s grace transform us today and throughout this upcoming Lenten season.

Today’s gospel reading is a continuation of last Sunday’s gospel. Both place Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth, his hometown. The scene in the synagogue seems very disturbing; at first Jesus’ audience seem to be amazed at His words but then the people who have come for worship turn angry to the extent of intending to throw Jesus off a cliff. But what is it that made them so angry? What did He say to them? Well, He reminded them of two events in Jewish history. One was during the life of Elijah, the prophet. The Hebrews in Elijah’s time were suffering from a horrible drought; people were dying of starvation. A prophet had come from God to a widow and because of her faith. God had saved her. The problem was she was not a Jew, she was a Gentile. The same was true in the story of Elisha. Leprosy was a plague spreading throughout Israel, but God used a prophet to save only one leper, and he, too, was a Gentile. Because as we know, the Jews believed that salvation was only for them, the chosen people. Had Jesus glorified the Jews and told them that they were God’s exclusively privileged people, He would probably have received praise and appreciation rather than criticism. But he chose to be as we hear in the first reading “a fortified city, not to be crushed, a pillar of fire, a real prophet that would prevail and be consecrated to the truth”. Some truths are often bitter. So, what about us? How do we react when we hear the word of God challenging us? Or people around us challenging us when we do not live in the way of God? Are we like the people in the synagogue in today’s gospel reading? Do we react in the same way? Wanting to get rid of them in any way we can? We too may be angered or agitated when God, through his word, admonishes us or when someone, a family member, a friend, a co-worker, a priest, tells us a truth that we don’t want to hear. The problem arises, when we are confronted with a truth that requires us to change, to change our attitudes toward people, to change the way we behave, to change our patterns of sinful living. This is what Jesus was about. He wasn’t interested in simply having nice intellectual discussions or spiritual ideas. The people of Nazareth realized what they were facing: a prophet of God who was confronting them not with a mere debating subject but with a radical change in the way they lived their faith and their relationship with God and others. Today, God challenges us through His word to accept it, to be open to it and allow it to transform our lives. He calls us to allow his message to lead us from sin into grace and holiness. One thing we could do as part of our reflection this week is to think about what God says to us through Saint Paul in our second reading. Saint Paul explains what true love for God and others means. Can it be said of us that we are not impatient, that we are not unkind, or jealous, or rude? Can it be said of each of us that we are not quick tempered, or that we are not always seeking after our own interests? That we do not brood over injuries or do not rejoice over wrong doings and that we do rejoice with the truth? Let us pray today and ask Our Lord to give us the grace to allow his word to transform us and lead us to a more profound love for him and others. Let us also ask for the grace to remain faithful to the Gospel message and values even when, like Jesus, we encounter rejection and hostility and persecution trusting that the Lord is our refuge and our stronghold. Finally, let us pray for those affected by the rain and those in harms way especially the people here in Montecito, Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Malibu and throughout our state. May God protect us all. Our Lady of Mount Carmel intercede for us.

Based on the readings and our reflection on the readings this last Sunday, we could ask ourselves the following questions and hopefully see how God’s grace is working in our lives. Where or in what events or circumstances in my life have I seen this week God’s presence, love and compassion? Where or what areas of my life have I allowed him to change or transform? What gifts has God given me? How am I using these gifts for the service to others, beginning in my family, work, friends? Like Our blessed Mother at Cana, who are the people or needs I could pray or intercede for this week? Mary Our Blessed Mother intercede for us. AMEN

Today dear friends, we celebrated the second Sunday in Ordinary Time. On this Sunday, the holy scriptures place Our Lord at the beginning of His public ministry. One thing that we can say about our God is that God is always entering the lives of His people, He is always present in every circumstance of His children, He is always there for them. Isaiah refers to this in the first reading, God delights in his people. He knows of their joys and their struggles. He is always there ready to give strength, forgiveness and grace to those who love him, empowering them and changing their lives. For the people in the Old Testament, God promise is that things will be better, things will change. That same God in the person of Jesus, is the one we hear about in our Gospel today. Whenever we hear the story of the Wedding at Cana, we focus on the miracle of the water transformed into wine. But there is another aspect in the story we can consider, and that is, that Jesus is present in the life of this bride in groom at the beginning of their life as husband and wife. Jesus is present in their moment of need or struggle and enters into their life and so, it is for many others. Jesus entered the life of the blind man, the life of the paralytic, the life of Peter’s mother in law, the servant of the centurion, the lives of the ten lepers, the life of the widow who was about to bury her only son, the lives of each one of the apostles, and many others helping them in their time of struggle. Today, the Holy Scriptures remind us that God wants to enter our lives and that we are never alone in our worries and struggles no matter what they may be: loneliness, hurt, lack of faith, discouragement, illnesses, tiredness, sadness and joys. May we always seek and find His presence in our lives, may we always see and open our hearts to His grace, strength and love and may we always allow Him to transform us and transform our lives. We must pray for the grace to see, find and experience that presence so that we may come to know that we are never alone in the struggles we face. Saint Paul reminds us about the gifts given to each one of us, may we use those gifts to help those around us and the people of our faith community see and experience the presence of our loving and compassionate God. Finally, the gospels tell us of the presence of Our Blessed Mother Mary at the beginning of her Son’s ministry and of her presence at the end of His life on the cross. May we always pray to her to help us to follow her example of faithfulness throughout our lives. May we always take to heart Her words: “do everything my Son tells you”. BLESSED MOTHER INTERCEDE FOR US. AMEN.

Today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord ends the season of Christmas. This event in the life of Jesus marks the beginning of His ministry where He gave himself fully in the service of God and all of God’s people. We are each called to a journey which also begins when we are baptized. We are called to become disciples of Jesus in our own time. On that day, we too are given an assurance of God’s love and favor, and we too are empowered by the Holy Spirit for the journey ahead of us. It is a moment of grace that has the potential to shape our lives in a very fundamental way, in a way that is in keeping with God’s purpose for our lives. Each one of us, no matter whatour vocation or state of life, is called to a journey full of purpose by working for our salvation and the salvation of others. From the moment of our baptism the Lord keeps guiding us, and as the Scripture declares, that word “does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.” Like Jesus himself, today we turn our ears again to hear that baptismal call. As we renew our baptismal vows and promises, today and every Sunday, may we live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God. May we every day choose to love and serve God in others. May we all live our baptismal promises in the circumstances of our daily lives and show in word and deed we are true sons and daughters of God. May we also hear the words of Our Heavenly Father saying to each one of us, “You are my beloved son, my beloved daughter, I am well pleased with you.”

Today’s feast of the Epiphany is a reminder of God’s gift to all of us - the gift of His Only Begotten Son in a tiny child. In this gift, salvation, grace, forgiveness and eternal life are given to us. Today’s feast also reminds us that we are to be or become like the wise men not only in looking for Jesus in the daily events of our lives but also in the people we come across. Like the magi, we are called to offer our kindness, our compassion and our understanding to those around us. But, maybe, today Our Lord calls us to offer him a different gift. For each of us, this gift is different – the gift of purity of heart, the gift of forgiveness, the gift of humility. We can place ourselves in the nativity scene and offer our gifts to Our Lord, not of gold, frankincense or myrrh, but the gift of ourselves and of our lives. The gift of who we are, how we live our life and how we love Him and love Him in others. The magi, we are told, went back through a different route. The experience of seeing Our Lord changed them. In the same way, maybe, our Lord is calling us to change our route, our ways, and to try to find him as he guides us towards a different path – a path that leads us to Him and to holiness. Maybe, just maybe, this can be our most important resolution for this new year.

Today we are filled with gratitude for the great gift that God has given us in giving himself to us and coming into this world! Christmas is a feast where people of all faiths come together with joy to give thanks to God and to join in real expressions of love for one another. Christmas is also a time for us to think of the reality that the Lord God is in our midst. In the first reading today, we hear from the Prophet Isaiah. The people in those days were facing a lot of struggle - difficulty to the point where it was hard to be hopeful. Isaiah gave them a sense of the coming of the Lord and that filled the people of God with amazement, wonder and joy. It gave them hope during the darkness in their suffering. This is something that Christmas does for each one of us. It is a joyful season meant to give us hope in our own life which can be dark and threatening at times. As we spend this most of Holiest day, let us share that love with those closest to us, friends and family. Let us be generous to one another as the Lord God is most fully generous to each one of us in coming into our lives in the gift of a child. May those around us see the presence of God in us. May the wonder and amazement of Christmas be present in our own daily lives as we make the Lord present to others. Merry Christmas to all!

Please join us for the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord!

This morning, we heard the news of another act of violence, this time so close to home. Let us pray for all of the victims, their families and all those affected by last night’s tragedy in Thousand Oaks. For all those who lost their lives, may their souls rest in peace. #ThousandOaks

Yesterday, we heard in the gospel about the two greatest commandments. "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." Loving with all of one’s heart is truly a challenge, in imitation of Christ. But it is our Christian vocation. We believe that life comes from death, that gain comes from loss, that receiving comes from giving, and that Jesus himself had to die to come to the fullness of life. We profess to be followers of one who made a complete offering of himself to the Father and spent his energies and his time in the service of others, who returned to his Father devoid of any earthly goods. This does not imply that we have to tread exactly the same path as Christ. What it does indicate is that genuine surrender to God does not allow us to retreat into a paradise of unreal spirituality. It means that if we love God, we need to be concerned for others, for the members of our family and community. We need to rise above our selfishness and realize that “there is greater happiness in giving than in receiving” (Acts 20:35). As we begin this week, let us reflect on what does God really occupy in our hearts, in our souls, in our minds, in our whole beings? #MondayMotivation

Today is a day to remember those who walked before us, who accompanied us, gave us life. Indeed, the whole month of November is a time for remembering our loved ones in a special way. Today the Church asks us to pray in a special way for all the deceased. In praying for all those who have gone before us, we ask the Lord to give them the fullness of life. We are also grateful to them, thanking God for the gift of their lives and all the ways we were blessed through them. "Let us ask the Lord today, to give us the grace to never lose or hide the memory of loved ones, the grace to continue to hope and the grace to recognize the lights that accompany us on the journey to where He awaits us with so much love." -Pope Francis --- You are invited to write the names of your deceased loved ones in our Book of Remembrance. The book is placed at the main entrance of the church and will remain there throughout the month of November.

Today, November 1st is All Saints' Day. We celebrate God's harvest -- the great gathering in of the saints. This is the homecoming when we sing of a city to come, a new Jerusalem where we will all be welcomed home. Today’s feast is not focused on the canonized saints but on all the good and holy people who have ever lived. None of us is expecting to be canonized in Saint Peter’s Square. We don’t expect our picture to be hung on the walls of churches. Nor do we imagine anyone preserving pieces of us as relics. In reality, the saints were fully human beings, who struggled with temptation and savored life’s joy. On All Saint’s day, we think of all the good people who have crossed our path and enriched our life — parents, classmates, friends, colleagues, parishioners. They were not perfect, but in their own ways, they were great human beings. In its teaching about the Church, the Second Vatican Council stressed the Universal Call to Holiness. Our Feast today is a reminder of our deep-down calling to become better people. It says that Jesus Christ can and will empower us to practice what he preached and to live with the values and attitudes that guided him. “Do not be afraid to be saints!” - Saint John Paul II

Please join us for a night Under the Stars to meet & mingle with fellow parishioners after the 4:30pm Mass! (5:30-7:30pm)

Photo Courtesy: Sarah Ellefson Photography

Welcome To Our New Pastor Father Lawrence Seyer Fr. Lawrence comes to us after spending 11 years at Our Savior Parish and the USC Caruso Center in Los Angeles. While at Our Savior, he oversaw the multi-million doer campaign to design and build the new Church and Center at USC. While at USC, he was very involved with the spiritual lives of the students, faculty and alumni. Fr. Lawrence grew up on Connecticut with his four sisters, one of whom is his twin. He attended the University of Oregon and graduated in 1983 with a degree in Economics. For a number of years he worked in marketing research in Los Angeles and then entered St. John’s Seminary. After being ordained in 1997 as a priest for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, he was first assigned to St. Barnabas in Long Beach as the Associate Pastor and then as the Associate Pastor at St. Claver in Simi Valley. For recreation, Fr. Lawrence enjoys skiing, sailing, golfing, traveling and learning. Fr. Lawrence looks forward to meeting all OLMC parishioners and friends!

So true!