St. Mary Catholic Church www.stmary-wc.org 925-891-8900

JULY 18, 2021

Dear Friends, Today we hear what has probably become everyone’s favorite Psalm: Psalm 23. We hear those familiar words, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” Jesus, our Good Shepherd, provides us with everything we need as long as we trust in His love and goodness, and seek to follow Him always. Jesus’ great love for us all is also shown in the Gospel today, when He looks out at the people and is moved with pity for them, because they are “like sheep with-out a shepherd.” He also looks at us in the same way, caring for us and blessing us with every good gift. May we continue to follow Christ, our Savior and Lord, and celebrate each day the goodness of the Lord in all our lives.

Father Fred

THE DAYS ARE COMING Separation, isolation, and hostility are terrible things. We are, sadly, too familiar with all of them in our mod-ern life, whether we look at world events or events in our own neighborhoods and fam-ilies. All three readings today refer to these same sad hu-man conditions. The prophet Jeremiah describes world conditions as if the people of his time were sheep who had been scattered by poor leadership and corrupt shepherds. But “the days are coming,” he assures us (Jeremiah 23:5), when a new shepherd, a just king, will come. We meet that king in the second reading and the Gospel. Paul reminds us in the Letter to the Ephesians that all divisions can now cease in Christ Jesus, who has brought us together through his blood. In Mark’s Gospel we see Jesus himself looking with pity on those searching for him as if they were sheep without a shepherd. Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co

READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: Ex 14:5-18; Ex 15:1bc-6; Mt 12:38-42 Tuesday: Ex 14:21 — 15:1; Ex 15:8-10, 12, 17; Mt 12:46-50 Wednesday: Ex 16:1-5, 9-15; Ps 78:18-19, 23-28; Mt 13:1-9 Thursday: Sg 3:1-4b or 2 Cor 5:14-17; Ps 63:2-6, 8-9; Jn 20:1-2, 11-18 Friday: Ex 20:1-17; Ps 19:8-11; Mt 13:18-23 Saturday: Ex 24:3-8; Ps 50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15; Mt 13:24-30 Sunday: 2 Kgs 4:42-44; Ps 145:10-11, 15-18; Eph 4:1-6; Jn 6:1-15

Coming soon: The Catholic Voice Magazine

June 21 was the last issue of The Catholic Voice on newsprint. In late July, you will be receiving the first issue of The Catholic Voice maga-zine. Bishop Barber hopes that “the new format, which will include new columnists and renewed focus on our shared role of being missionary disciples, will help you to feel a greater connection to your diocese and to grow deeper in your faith.”

The magazine will be mailed to all registered house-holds in the Diocese of Oakland. There is no charge to the parish for these subscriptions; but please prayer-fully consider supporting it through both the Bishop’s Appeal and the Catholic Communication Campaign.

FAITH FORMATION 2021-2022 Registration information for the next Faith Formation year is available online or in person in the Faith For-mation Office. A letter and forms went to all who are currently registered for Kindergarten through High School.

Vacation Bible School 2021 This coming week we will be working to turn our campus into Treasured VBS. Our teens will be working to prepare atmosphere, music, crafts, games and Bible stories for young campers who will be joining us on Monday, July 26, for an adventure of discovering how priceless they are to God. Thank you to all our parishioners who helped with our sup-ply wish list. YOU ARE TREASURED!!!

Congratulations to Samantha Guadalupe Moreno Lopez and Jesus Javier Moreno Lopez who are receiving their First Com-munion at the 11:00 am Mass this Sunday, July 18. God Bless both of you and your family.

MASS INTENTIONS

PRAY FOR THE SICK

Staff and Administration Website: www.stmary-wc.org

Parish Office 891-8900 Fax 934-1358 Fr. Fred Riccio, friccio@stmary-wc.org Pastor 891-8900 Fr. John Blaker, 891-8900 In residence Deacon Paul Turek pturek@stmary-wc.org Ana Lau, alau@stmary-wc.org Office Manager 891-8908 Aileen Baker, abaker@stmary-wc.org Bookkeeper 891-8911

Faith Formation

Maureen Tiffany mtiffany@stmary-wc.org Director of Faith Formation 962-5808 Mary Kerfs, lifeteen@stmary-wc.org Administrative Assistant 891-8939 Austin Pisciotto apisciotto@stmary-wc.org Coordinator K-Grade 6 891-8944 Jethro Castillo jcastillo@stmary-wc.org Youth Minister Grades 7-12 891-8920 Heather Abraham, habraham@stmary-wc.org Coordinator Confirmation 891-8934 & Community Service Tim Mannix tmannix@stmary-wc.org RCIA & Liturgy Coordinator 891-8921

School

Office 935-5054 stmary@st-mary.net Website: www.st-mary.net Alumni: stmaryalumni@st-mary.net Garrett Padia, Principal 935-5054

DATE TIME INTENTION

07/17 4:30 pm Rodolfo & Angelita Narboneta

07/18 7:00 am Jeanne Tomlinson

11:00 am Elena Gaoiran (L) B’D’

1:00 pm The People of St. Mary

12:05 pm Ana Maria Fasquelle

12:05 pm Erika Salomon

07/21 6:30 am For those who risk their lives to save the lives of others

07/22 6:30 am Deeper love & gratitude for the gift of the Eucharist

12:05 pm Ray & Nini Saulog

07/24 8:30 am Catherine Desimone

9:00 am Rev. William Marshall

07/19 6:30 am Peaceful resolution to world conflicts

07/20 6:30 am Spiritual growth of our parish community

12:05 pm Walter Bartholomew

12:05 pm Vern Hajek

07/23 6:30 am Souls in Purgatory

Allison Flamez Susana Jaime Rosalinda Reyes Jeanine Gordon Jake Johnstone Clarissa Gutierrez Fred & Emilia Sohn Raul Gonzalez Raquel Zittel David Toy Ana Lopez Dominador Hontucan Oralee Floria Mary McLoughlin Angela Crane Beverly Regan Josefina Zabat Audry Robinson Loretta Holmes

Nancie Campi Betty Baker

Carol Erikson Danyel Sheets

Beth Wainwright Robin Wood

Billy Silva Mary Kennedy Cheryl LaMarre Marissa Magno

Ed Regan Annabelle Semira Mary Ann McGill Maryann Moran

Bibiana Christman Carmen Bardges

Pat O’Rourke Marina de Castilla

Mark Butler

St. Bridget of Sweden was born in 1303, and had from an early age remarkable religious visions that influenced her entire life and out-look. As a young teenager in 1316 she married and bore eight children, including St. Catherine of Sweden. On the death of her husband in 1344, Bridget retired to a life of penance and prayer near the Cistercian monastery of Alvastra. To the prior, she dictated the revela-tions that came to her, and he translated them in-to Latin. One was a command to found a new reli-gious order, which she was not able to fulfill until near the end of her life, receiving papal permission from Pope Urban V for her order of cloistered nuns in 1370. She went to Rome in 1350 and, except for several pilgrimages, remained there for the rest of her life, constantly accompanied by Catherine. She exercised a wide apostolate among rich and poor, sheltering the homeless and sinners, and she worked untiringly for the end of the Avignon papacy and for the pope to return to Rome. She was spurred by a vision to visit the Holy Land in 1372, and she died soon after her return to Rome. She was canonized in 1391. Her feast day is July 23. (Britannica.com)

Faith in Marriage

Q: What kind of religious practices should we begin, once we marry, to help us practice our faith each day?

A: Your spiritual life as a couple is important. The sacrament of Marriage is a gift and a grace, but liv-ing it well isn’t always easy! It requires intentionality and perseverance. Growing your spiritual life as a couple also requires a plan. Life can be incredibly busy. There’s never “enough time” for everything we want to do. But we can live by our priorities. If we don’t prioritize prayer, we’ll find it slowly disappear from our lives. If you’re not already praying individually, that’s a good place to start. If your schedules are similar, take some quiet time at the same time to help hold each other accountable. Praying together is also important! You could start by looking at the religious practices of your family and of families around you that you re-spect. Talk with your spouse about the ones who make the deepest impression on you or were most meaning-ful when you were young. Think about what you want your future children to experience. Making faith a commitment now will mean it is engrained habit when you grow your family. Ultimately, these faith practices should help us grow in our love for God and for one another. ©LPi

The Steward’s Work Is Never Done

Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock! When you hear these strong words from the Old Testament, you’re probably thinking, thank good-ness I don’t have any sheep — dodged that bullet. Nobody misled here! No flock scattered on my watch! However, we are all shepherds of a kind, called to tend our own sheep: our families, our parishes, our communities. But it’s exhausting. Don’t we all sometimes just want to take a break from being a steward? The excuses are so familiar: we’re tired; we’ve done enough; we’ve given all we can; what more does the parish (or my spouse, or my kids, or my boss, or my friends, or my community) want? We give ourselves permission to be selfish. So, what if the flock scatters just a little? Jesus gets that. We can just imagine him weary with exhaustion, can’t we? We see him on his boat, attempting to sneak away for a quick break — may-be just a chance to eat a bite of food in peace. He is God, but he was still human, after all. Even the most dedicated shepherds need to sleep. But people could-n’t leave him alone. They were hungry for him. They needed what he could offer, and they needed it now. As tough as it is, that’s the example we are tasked with imitating. Everyday Stewardship demands ac-countability. It demands our showing up even when we are tired. It demands that we look at our lives, our time, our energies, our talents, our hearts, our bank accounts and think: where do I still have more to give?— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS. ©LPi

Dear parishioners, Today we would like to take a mo-ment to recognize some important partners of St. Mary Parish. Some-times we take our Sunday bulletin for granted, but on the back page

are ads from the companies that support us year-round. Please take some time today to look over our bulletin ads and when you patronize those businesses or services, say thank you from St. Mary. No one ever tires of hearing “thank you.” Our bulletin advertisers will appreciate it. They are part of our success at St. Mary.

Michael Cox from PAX Foundation is looking for host families for exchange students arriving for the academic year 2021-2022. Pax is a state-department- sponsored program. For more infor-mation, contact Michael at 925-202-5551or michaelcox2257@yahoo.com Share your love of your country with a PAX high school exchange student from another country . . . A S A H O S T F A M I L Y

La Liturgia de hoy evoca la figura del pastor, figu-ra muy fuerte en tiempos de Jesús. Un pastor cuida, protege y da la vida por sus ovejas. También exis-ten los malos pastores y se distingue su mal proceder. Este Evangelio también es recordado el IV domingo de Pascua. Jesús es el Pas-tor de Pastores; basta observar su proceder para ver lo mucho que nos ama y que busca nuestro bien en todo momento. La primera lectura nos describe los rasgos de los malos pastores; así que, si los inverti-mos, veremos claramente las características de los buenos pastores.

¿Actualmente a quienes se les dice pastores? Bueno, no es solamente los pastores en la iglesia. Pastores son las personas que cuidan y protegen y guían a otros. Se les puede llamar pastores a los padres de familia, a los maestros, a los abuelitos y a toda per-sona que tiene bajo su cuidado, de alguna forma, el hogar, la escuela o la oficina. El Evangelio nos dice que Jesús dijo a sus discípulos: “Vámonos aparte, a un lugar retirado, y descansarán un poco. Porque eran tantos los que iban y venían que no les quedaba tiempo ni para comer” (Marcos 6:31-32). Lo que paso a los apóstoles, les pasa a los padres de familia responsables del cuidado de sus hijos. Son tantas las idas y venidas que no hay tiempo ni para comer. ¡Señor Jesús, deseo que tú seas mi Pastor y mi Maes-tro en todo lo que hago! Guíanos a todos y cúranos de nuestras heridas causadas por esta pandemia. El mundo entero te necesita, no nos abandones. Oremos juntos: “El Señor es mi Pastor nada me falta; en verdes pastos él me hace reposar. A las aguas de descanso me conduce, y reconforta mi alma” (Salmo 23: 1-3). ©LPi

SANTA BRÍGIDA DE SUECIA (1303-1373) Fiesta: 23 de julio Brígida fue una persona bendecida por Dios, no sólo porque desde muy pequeña abrigó en su ser el deseo de ser santa, sino porque en su pro-ceso de santidad Dios le concedió tener visiones de la Pasión de Nues-tro Señor Jesucristo. En estas expe-riencias místicas recibió mensajes de Nuestro Señor, que después transmitió a los líderes de la Iglesia. También fue esposa y madre, pues aunque se casó muy joven, supo inculcar en sus hijos el amor a la santidad, tanto así que una hija suya, Catalina de Suecia, es venerada como santa. Junto con su esposo Ulf, fueron parte de la corte durante dos años. De hecho, ella podría haber llegado a ser la reina, pero no se interesó por los puestos o por la vida cómoda; antes bien, vistió con sencillez y motivó a los reyes de Suecia a que fueran santos. Vivió la caridad de una manera profunda con los pobres y enfermos, pues una vez que enviudó, fundó la Orden Religiosa del Santísimo Redentor, dedicándose de entero a la cari-dad con los necesitados. —Miguel Arias, © Copyright, J. S. Paluch Co.

DIOS DENTRO DE MI Dios está de una forma secreta y escondida dentro de todas las almas en la propia subs-tancia de cada una, porque si no fuera así, ellas no podrían existir. —San Juan de la Cruz.

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