Sunday, July 25, 2021
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ! Today, Sunday at 12 noon, Bishop Vann will preside at our parish Groundbreaking ceremony. This is a joyful day for our parish because after many years of fundraising, we can begin our construction for the New Building. Our students will be much happier because we will accommodate more classroom for our catechism students. Catechism is a special program that will have our children to prosper in their faith as they grow older. Please consider your continued pledge for the project. With your generosity, we will have more money to pay for the whole project. Again, we are incredibly grateful to all of you for your financial support to our parish. May the Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady of La Vang, grant you peace, love, and joy!
Today’s readings invite us to become humble instruments in God’s hands by sharing our blessings with our needy brothers and sisters. They also remind us that if our country has been blessed with an abundance of earthly bread or with the technical capabilities to produce such abundance, then these gifts are for sharing with the hungry people and poor countries. Once physical hunger is satisfied, then we are challenged to satisfy the deeper hungers, for love, mercy, forgiveness, companionship, peace and fulfillment. The first reading tells us how the prophet Elisha, by invoking God’s power, fed one hundred men with twenty barley loaves. This miracle foreshadowed the gospel account of Jesus' miraculous feeding of the crowd who followed him to hear his words. Today’s psalm gives us the assurance that it is “the hand of the Lord that feeds us,” and that it is God who “answers all our needs.” In the second reading, St. Paul reminds the Ephesians that Jesus united the Jews and the Gentiles by bringing them together as Christians in one faith and one baptism, and hence they must live together, helping each other by sharing their blessings. Paul urges us to become communities of sharing Christians. The miraculous feeding of the five thousand people by Jesus, using five barley loaves and two fish, as described in today’s gospel, is associated with the Holy Eucharist early in the Church’s tradition. The people immediately interpreted the miracle, giving Jesus two Messianic titles: "The prophet” and "the one who is to come." This miracle teaches us that God works marvels through ordinary people. Elisha’s servant and Jesus’ disciples distributed the bread provided by God through generous people who were willing to share their food with the hungry. Thus, God meets the needs of people through the good will and services provided by members of His community. The message for us this week is that we are called to be generous in sharing. The gospel story teaches us that Jesus meets the most basic human need, namely hunger, with generosity and compassion. Today’s readings also tell us that God really cares about His people and that there is enough – more than enough, even – for everybody. As Christians we are challenged to commit ourselves to share our blessings, and to work with God, in communicating His compassion to all, as the early Christians did. God always blesses those who share their blessings and talents with loving commitment!
Sincerely yours in Jesus Christ and Our Lady of La Vang!
Reverend Joseph Luan Nguyen Pastor
List of bulletins 2021
- July 25, 2021 Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B
- July 17, 2021 Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B
- July 11, 2021 Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B
- July 04, 2021 Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B
- June 27, 2021 Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B
- June 20, 2021 Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B
- June 13, 2021 Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B
- February 7, 2021 Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Year B