February 23, 2020

Teaching the Faith

2020 Lenten Regulations for the Diocese of Santa Rosa

“The Lenten Season has a double character, namely to prepare both catechumens and faithful to celebrate the paschal mystery. The catechumens, both with the Rite of Election and Scrutinies, and by catechesis, are prepared for the celebration of the sacraments of Christian initiation; the faithful, ever more attentive to the Word of God and prayer, prepare themselves by penance for the renewal of their baptismal promises. (From: The Order of Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours and the Celebration of the Eucharist)

The current discipline is as follows:

· Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence, that is, limited to a single, full meal and abstinence from meat.

· The other Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence from meat.

· The law of fasting permits only one full meal a day, but it does allow the taking of some food in the morning and a second light meal at noon or in the evening, as you prefer. Persons who have completed their eighteenth year to the beginning of their sixtieth (60) year are obligated to fast.

· The law of abstinence from meat applies to all persons who have completed their fourteenth year of age.

However, it is highly recommended that children from ages seven to fourteen years also follow the law of abstinence.

· All Catholics are encouraged to receive Holy Eucharist frequently during Lent and to receive the Sacrament of Penance so that all may be prepared to celebrate more fully the paschal mystery. Those who have received their first Holy Communion are to receive Holy Communion during the Easter season.

· The determination of these days of obligatory penance, as listed above, should not be understood as limiting the occasions for Christian penance. This penance is to help us see and shorten the distance between our present lives and the life God wants for each of us. “Penance should not be only internal and individual but external and social.” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy #110)

February 16, 2020

Teaching the Faith
On the Sacrament of Matrimony
It is, “the matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.”
Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of “the wedding-feast of the Lamb.” Scripture speaks throughout of marriage and its “mystery,” its institution and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the history of salvation, the difficulties arising from sin and its renewal “in the Lord” in the New Covenant of Christ and the Church.
“The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws. . . . God himself is the author of marriage.” The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity, some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. “The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life.” God who created man out of love also calls him to love the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and likeness of God who is himself love. Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. It is good, very good, in the Creator’s eyes. And this love which God blesses is intended to be fruitful and to be realized in the common work of watching over creation: “And God blessed them, and God said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.'”
Holy Scripture affirms that man and woman were created for one another: “It is not good that the man should be alone.” The woman, “flesh of his flesh,” his equal, his nearest in all things, is given to him by God as a “helpmate”; she thus represents God from whom comes our help. “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.” The Lord himself shows that this signifies an unbreakable union of their two lives by recalling what the plan of the Creator had been “in the beginning”: “So they are no longer two, but one flesh.”
CCC- 1601-1605
My brothers and sisters, let us pray for a greater respect and dignity of the Sacrament of Marriage in our time, may the Lord bless all married couples with the abundance of His grace that they may be true heralds of the Gospel through their marriage.
Fr. Barrera

Febrero 16, 2020

Enseñando la Fe
El Sacramento del Matrimonio
“La alianza matrimonial, por la que el varón y la mujer constituyen entre sí un consorcio de toda la vida, ordenado por su misma índole natural al bien de los cónyuges y a la generación y educación de la prole, fue elevada por Cristo Nuestro Señor a la dignidad de sacramento entre bautizados”
La sagrada Escritura se abre con el relato de la creación del hombre y de la mujer a imagen y semejanza de Dios y se cierra con la visión de las “bodas del Cordero” de un extremo a otro la Escritura habla del matrimonio y de su “misterio”, de su institución y del sentido que Dios le dio, de su origen y de su fin, de sus realizaciones diversas a lo largo de la historia de la salvación, de sus dificultades nacidas del pecado y de su renovación “en el Señor” todo ello en la perspectiva de la Nueva Alianza de Cristo y de la Iglesia.
“La íntima comunidad de vida y amor conyugal, está fundada por el Creador y provista de leyes propias. […] El mismo Dios […] es el autor del matrimonio”. La vocación al matrimonio se inscribe en la naturaleza misma del hombre y de la mujer, según salieron de la mano del Creador. El matrimonio no es una institución puramente
humana a pesar de las numerosas variaciones que ha podido sufrir a lo largo de los siglos en las diferentes culturas, estructuras sociales y actitudes espirituales. Estas diversidades no deben hacer olvidar sus rasgos comunes y permanente. A pesar de que la dignidad de esta institución no se trasluzca siempre con la misma claridad, existe en todas las culturas un cierto sentido de la grandeza de la unión matrimonial. “La salvación de la persona y de la sociedad humana y cristiana está estrechamente ligada a la prosperidad de la comunidad conyugal y familiar”.
Dios que ha creado al hombre por amor, lo ha llamado también al amor, vocación fundamental e innata de todo ser humano. Porque el hombre fue creado a imagen y semejanza de Dios, que es Amor. Habiéndolos creado Dios hombre y mujer, el amor mutuo entre ellos se convierte en imagen del amor absoluto e indefectible con que Dios ama al hombre. Este amor es bueno, muy bueno, a los ojos del Creador. Y este amor que Dios bendice es destinado a ser fecundo y a realizarse en la obra común del cuidado de la creación. «Y los bendijo Dios y les dijo: “Sed fecundos y multiplicaos, y llenad la tierra y sometedla”.
La Sagrada escritura afirma que el hombre y la mujer fueron creados el uno para el otro: “No es bueno que el hombre esté solo”. La mujer, “carne de su carne”, su igual, la criatura más semejante al hombre mismo, le es dada por Dios como una “auxilio”, representando así a Dios que es nuestro “auxilio”. “Por eso deja el hombre a su padre y a su madre y se une a su mujer, y se hacen una sola carne”. Que esto significa una unión indefectible de sus dos vidas, el Señor mismo lo muestra recordando cuál fue “en el principio”, el plan del Creador, “De manera que ya no son dos sino una sola carne” (Mt 19,6).
CIC-1601-1605

Hermanos, oremos por el respeto y la dignidad del Sacramento Matrimonial, para que los matrimonios perseveren en su vocación, puedan levantar familias santas, y a través de su ejemplo anuncien el evangelio.
Los invito a perseverar en su vida matrimonial, sepan que Dios esta con ustedes, y en la fidelidad de a su vida matrimonial encontrarán la salvación para su alma.
Que Dios los Bendiga.
Fr. Barrera.

Febrero 9, 2020

Enseñando la Fe
Los Mandamientos de la Santa Madre Iglesia
Hermanos los mandamientos de la Santa Iglesia son cinco.

Participar en la misa los Domingos y fiestas de Guardar.
Confesarse, a lo menos una vez al año o cuando hay peligro de muerte o antes de comulgar.
Comulgar a lo menos una vez al año.
Hacer los ayunos y abstinencias señalados.
Prestar la debida ayuda material a la Iglesia.
Los invito a profundizar en la fe y enseñanza de la Iglesia, los invito a que se acerquen y participen en las actividades de la parroquia, a que sean generosos y ayuden a su Iglesia.
Que el Señor los Bendiga!
Fr. Barrera

February 9, 2020

Teaching the Faith
The Commandments of the Holy Mother Church
Brothers, and sisters the commandments of the Holy Church are five.
1 To attend Mass on Sundays and holy days while resting from servile labor.
2 To receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least once a year..
3 To receive the Eucharist at least once a year, during the Easter Season.
4 To observe the days of fasting and abstinence.
5 To help to provide for the needs of the Church according to one’s abilities.
I invite you to deepen the faith and teachings of the Church, I invite you to come closer and participate in the activities of the parish, to be generous and help your Church.
May the Lord Bless you!
Fr. Barrera

Febrero 2, 2020

Enseñando la Fe

Los Mandamientos de la Ley de Dios son diez:

Los tres primeros se refieren al honor de Dios y los otros siete, al provecho del prójimo.

El 1. Amaras a Dios sobre todas las cosas.

El 2. No tomaras el nombre de Dios en vano.

El 3. Santificaras las fiestas.

El 4. Honraras a tu Padre y a tu madre.

El 5. No mataras.

El 6. No cometerás actos impuros.

El 7. No robaras.

El 8. No darás falso testimonio ni mentiras.

El 9. No consentirás pensamientos ni deseos impuros.

El 10. No codiciaras los bienes ajenos.

Hermanos los diez mandamientos son el camino a seguir para llevar una vida en paz con Dios y con el prójimo. El cristiano que sigue los diez mandamientos agrada a Dios. A través de los mandamientos Dios nos indica el camino para encontrar la felicidad aquí en esta vida y alcanzar la vida eterna. Los invito a que lleven una vida en paz, con Dios a través del cumplimiento de los diez mandamientos y los ensenen a sus hijos.

Que Dios los Bendiga.

Fr. Barrera

February 2, 2020

Teaching the Faith

The Commandments of the Law of God are ten:

The first three refer to the honor of God and the other seven, to how we relate to our neighbor.

1. Love God above all things.

2. You shall not take the name of God in vain.

3. You shall keep the sabbath Holy.

4. Honor your Father and your mother.

5. You shall not kill.

6. You shall not commit impure acts.

7. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not give false testimony or lies.

9. You shall not consent to impure thoughts or desires.

10. You shall not covet the property of others.

Brothers, and sisters the ten commandments are the way to lead a life in peace with God and with our neighbor. The Christian who follows the ten commandments pleases God. Through the commandments God shows us the way to find happiness here in this life and in life eternal. I invite you to live a life in peace, with God through the fulfillment of the ten commandments and teach them to your children.

God bless you.

Br. Barrera

Enero 19, 2020

Enseñando la Fe
EL ANGELUS
V. El Ángel del Señor lo anunció a María.

R. Y concibió por obra del Espíritu Santo.

Dios te salve, María… Santa María…
V. He aquí la esclava del Señor. R. Hágase en mí según tu palabra.

Dios te salve, María… Santa María…
V. El Verbo se hizo carne.

R. Y vivió entre nosotros.

Dios te salve, María… Santa María…
V. Rogad por nosotros, Santa Madre de Dios.

R. Para que seamos dignos de alcanzar las promesas de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo. Amén.

January 19, 2020

Teaching the Faith

The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary…

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary…

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

January 12, 2020

Teaching the Faith
An Act of Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.