Welcome
Striving to be a grateful parish following Christ by loving God, and loving our neighbors as ourselves through our words, deeds, and thoughts.
“The Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel.”
― Pope Francis
Fr. D'Sa's Weekly Reflection
September 23,2018 – Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” Christ and Child (1873) - Carl Bloch
A pastor was complimented for his “humble personality.” As a gesture of recognition the parishioners presented him a plaque inscribed: To the most humble priest. To the surprise of many he displayed the plaque on the center wall of the parish hall, replacing the crucifix that had hung there for many years. What a paradox of humility!
Despite Jesus’ clarification to the disciples that He is not to establish the expected Davidian Kingdom, but rather be a Messiah who would suffer and die, it made no sense to them. Just to the contrary, they were debating among themselves who would be number two in command once Jesus overthrew the rule of the Romans in Israel. Jesus steals this opportunity to bring home a powerful message of humility: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
I wish to quote a Chinese proverb here: “Be like a bamboo, the higher you grow, the deeper you bow.” It’s absolutely true, the taller the bamboo grows, the lower it bends. The Lord himself bent down and washed the feet of the Apostles, a perfect example of humility and service. Also, I was struck by the Gospel reading the other day which contained the same message. A centurion (commander of soldiers) was begging Jesus to cure his slave. It is amazing to note, that a centurion who held privilege, was concerned about the health of a slave who had no status in Roman society during those days. He intercedes for the slave before Jesus Christ.
Similarly, parents are the true leaders in a family. The children look up to the parents as their role models; yet parents are at the service of their children. It is the parents’ mission of humility to work hard for their well-being. It is worth noticing therefore when a Dad lowers himself to help his little kids to put on their socks and shoes.
The Lord, however, calls us to step out a little more, to render our service beyond our family circle. We are called to serve our brothers and sisters in the world because they are created in the image of God. Saint Mother Teresa said: ”I see Christ in whom I serve.” Once Mrs. Indira Ghandi, the then prime minister of India who was tall, said while presenting Mother Teresa to an audience ”I feel myself dwarfed when I stand before this holy mighty woman who heroically showed the world how to practice Christian love in sacrificial and humble service.”
Let us serve the Lord in our humble service to humanity. God bless you.
– Fr. Bernard D’Sa
Extraordinary Ministers
We will be meeting to go over our procedures for service at Mass. If you do not attend one of these trainings, we will presume that you are unable to serve as a minister, though we will hate to see you go. We will be more than happy to re-introduce you in the ministry once you undergo the training on the next schedule. We will have one training after each Mass, so you are welcome to attend any one you like.
- September 29th - St. Joseph’s after 4:00pm Mass
- October 7th - St. Joseph’s, after 7:30am Mass
- October 14th - Sacred Heart, after 9:00am Mass
- October 21st - St. Bernard’s, after 10:30am Mass
- October 28th - Sacred Heart, after 4:30pm Mass
Contact Deacon W. Dance Farrell-Saint Bernard/Saint Joseph & Sacred Heart Parishes and Director of Campus Ministry - Saint Bernard’s Academy, 222 Dollison Street,Eureka, Ca 95501
(707) 443- 2735 (work)
Reader & Extraordinary Minister Schedule for July - Sept., 2018
You can download a pdf of the schedule by clicking here or by clicking on the link below.
Children's Faith Formation
Teachers and Teacher Aides are needed for the upcoming 2018-2019 Faith Formation Year. If there are any of you who like to work with grade school aged children and are willing to commit Tuesday evenings from 6:00-7:30pm during the Academic Year, (Mid-Sept.- early May) please consider this wonderful ministry. Maybe God is calling you now to volunteer for this year. For additional information please contact: Melanie Broswick #442-6466 ext.1103
CatholicApps.com was created in response to the call to evangelization from Saint John Paul II, and then continued on through Pope Benedict, and of course the call for deeper evangelization from Pope Francis. We aim to review, and share a lot of catholic apps that can help you deepen your own Catholic faith, or share unique Catholic apps that allow you to share and evangelize your faith with family, friends, and anyone you have a relationship with.
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Immaculate Heart Media broadcasting as Relevant Radio® assists the Church in the New Evangelization by providing relevant programming through media platforms to help people bridge the gap between faith and everyday life.
We believe that Jesus Christ can transform people’s lives, and that media has the power to deliver this message of hope in powerful and transformative ways.
We exist to bring the beauty, goodness and truth of the Catholic Faith into the everyday lives of people who seek it, whenever and wherever they are.
Relevant Radio® has been helping people bridge the gap between faith and everyday life through informative, entertaining, and interactive programming twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week. The Relevant Radio network is currently serving the Church with 127 stations reaching 39 states, with a potential listening audience of 133 million people. Programming can be heard worldwide via streaming audio at relevantradio.com and on the mobile app or with an Alexa supported device.
