HBD EJ

A Deacon's Wife is a Mighty Force With Whom To Reckon

A deacon's wife is a mighty force to be reckoned with. 

A deacon's wife is "the deacon's first bishop" to whom the deacon has given his first vow to serve and love. 

Before he learns to live the vow of obedience to his bishop, the married deacon must first live the vow of Holy Matrimony to his wife as Christ loved His Bride and Body which is the Church.

Happy Easter 2016!

 

 

Tove Ann said it was like we were at high school prom when I put my jacket on her.  Actually, Tove Ann and I have a cold.  This is why she's wearing my jacket.  It was a bit chilly.

 

The kids got the bug first during Holy Week.  And then it spread.

 

 

Today, we were suppose to go see our sides of the family.  We cancelled.  I also intended to help at St. Joseph's but my voice was just not cooperating with me.  I helped out at Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil.

 

We still made Mass as a family together a priority.   

 

Here's our family picture after Mass which we took at St. Catherine's School playground which is also a parking lot.

 

 





 

 

EJ was being silly with some of these other photos.  I got upset at him and told him not to do that anymore (unless we call out "funny picture" or something).

 

But after thinking about it, I post these here for when he gets older.



 



Here's one....



 

....and another one!

 

What were you thinking, son??!??!





Goofy kid!!  But I love you.

 

Here's a shot with JP getting the camera timer ready.  He kept laughing about the timer.



 

Tove Ann and I had a lot of hard laughs today from morning to now at night as I post this.  One of those laughs was after an argument.  Yes, family life isn't perfect.  It takes hard work.  And it is difficult.  The anti-family culture today doesn't make things easier.

 

 

I blogged about Palm Sunday HERE.  This is the beginning of Holy Week.  After serving at St. Joseph's in Vacaville during the morning as a deacon by myself, I then went to the 5pm as a family at St. Catherine's in Vallejo.

 

Fr. Resti is in charge of St. Joseph's in Vacaville. 
He asked me to help him temporarily since there are no deacons at the parish.



 

Someone once asked me how I manage to serve as a deacon and have a family with young kids on top of a full-time job running diocesan programs.  I answer as a realist and talk about being balanced and good scheduling, but ironically it actually means daily Mass together as much as possible as a family, daily family meal at least once, and a daily family rosary.  Ironically, when life gets busy, pray. 

 

Sometimes I get to go to daily Mass twice(!) during the week: the first is with the bishop at the Santa Rosa Chancery @ 8:30am.  The second is later at an evening Mass.  When the kids are sick, we split up Mass times.  I started going to daily Mass when I was a high school sophomore.  In addition to the family rosary of 5 decades, I try to do more of the holy rosary as possible.

 

On the afternoon of Holy Thursday, I got to see my baptismal goddaughter Christi Marie who played with my kids.

 

I blogged about Good Friday HERE.  It was the second time that I did the Solemn Intercessions.  Last year, I chanted them, but I don't think I used the correct tune.  This time, Brian the music director at St. Joseph's trained me with the correct music notes.  I was also asked to do some parts in Spanish.

 



  

 

This year was the first time I have served as a deacon at the Easter Vigil.  At the Easter Vigil, I did part of the Exultet.  I blogged HERE about the practicing but didn't record the actual chanting.  Ellen, the cantor that chanted most of the Exultet, said that I did fine with my parts.  Some day, I will learn the whole Exultet.  The tune is higher than I'm use to, but it makes sense to hit a higher note because the deacon is proclaiming the Easter Exultet.

 



 



 



 

On Holy Saturday, I helped my in-laws out with something, and my mom and Papa Hardie stopped by to drop off some Easter clothes for the kids and supplies.  I learned how to say "Hello, brothers and sisters" in Chamorro or Guamanian which is from the Pacific island of Guam: "Hafa adai, chelus."  Papa Hardie laughs when I call him "chelus".  I later went to St. Joseph's to help with the Easter Vigil. 

 

At the Easter Vigil, someone asked me to baptize her son.  My heart was touched.  I hope to blog about this later.

 

We couldn't make the Sunday gathering, but my mom and Papa Hardie dropped by in the evening since we were sick and gave us some food and some Easter goodies for the kids.  Here is a pix of my sister Rachel's gathering.

 

Rachel posted on FB, "Cheers to the Lord for He is Risen!"
(used with permission)

 



My father-in-law also stopped by with some goodies, too, before the end of the night.

 

I am grateful for the day.  Christ is risen!  Alleluia!

 

Check out some of my other blogs at www.MarysDeacon.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Easter Vigil 2016

Practicing Part of Exultet

Good Friday Solemn Intercessions

 



Deacon (Soon-To-Be-Father) Raj Derivera

I posted pictures of Deacon Raj's ordination to the diaconate HERE.

St. Rose, Crockett, CA

Read "Izzy Makes Sense" to 2 y.o. Daughter

Palm Sunday

Young Married Couples Breaking Bread group

There were 2 things from a Pope and the Bible that I shared on a conversation about spreading the Gospel to married young adults last night:

1.) Pope Emeritus Benedict said that there is a crisis today in that the Church has lost her missionary zeal.

It's as though Catholics today do not see a need to evangelize.

Missionaries during the 16th Century saw the urgent need to baptize people, but Catholics today seem to think that people can go to heaven without baptism. 

In some sense, this may be true [if a person that has not heard the Gospel and follows his conscience, but Catholics seem to think that means we do not need to evangelize].

2) If a person is in sin, and I do not say anything, God says, "I will hold you accountable."  But if you do say something then God will hold that person (not you) accountable.

This is from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel.

Comment on F-Word Search

I saw a post requesting people to list a word that starts with "F" and ends with "K" so I posted this:

Fornicating-Under-Consent-of-the King (I think this was the original purpose of the F-word.  Cuss words should be avoided and most likely eventually lead to blaspheming God.  I've also heard from an exorcist that it can also convey curses.  Instead of cuss words, bless people and clean up foul mouths.  Thanks!)

6-y.o. Recites 10 Commandments

My 6-y.o. recited the 10 Commandments for the first time in front of me.

I couldn't do that until I was teaching it at 23.

Rite of Committal After Funeral Mass With My Son Helping Me

Permission to use photo courtesy of Wilson John Catubig, Jr.

All Souls Catholic Cemetery, Vallejo, CA
Mon., March 7, 2016

 

A dear friend asked me and my son to participate in his grandmother's funeral.  

 

The husband (in the wheelchair) was married to Fely (the deceased) for 62 years!  I'd love to make it to half of that with my wife.  Also, in Fely's obituary, she was faithful to attending Sunday Mass every week.  For some reason, this delighted my heart to hear of this. 

 

The last time my son and I served together was another Funeral Mass in Nov. 2015, four months ago.

 

Fr. Jess, who preached the homily, noted how Fely was a teacher that studied English at the University of San Thomas like his own mom.  This caught my attention, as I myself started my career as a teacher before entering administration.  After Fr. Jess said this, from my deacon's bench where I was sitting, I looked at my friend, Sean, who is also a teacher of the faith, and we smiled at each other.  And we understood this significance.

 

I was also privileged to do the Rite of Committal from the Order of Christian Funerals and proclaim the Gospel at the Funeral Mass.  My son was by my side through it all.

 

It's said that nobody does funerals better than the Catholic Church.  With all due respect to other religions, this is true.  I have yet to see something better in the history of humanity.  Not only are the funeral rites of the Church spiritually efficacious for the soul after death, but it is also strength for the next of kin that remain on earth.  Nothing surpasses the power of just one Holy Mass.

 

My wife was asked to sing "Salve Regina" while the casket was being lowered.  After the casket was lowered, and as everyone walked to their cars to go to the reception, I asked my son to spread the extra remaining holy water around the grounds and on the tombstones for any souls in purgatory.

I also helped get some jumper cables for a family that was stranded at the cemetery before leaving.

Thank you, Fely, for your witness!

 

+ Eternal rest grant unto the soul of Fely, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.  May she rest in peace.  Amen.



How To Forgive Deep Hurts Using Jesus' Name & Deliverance Ministry (Homily #56)

My kids helped me unvest in the sacristy (Sat. 5pm).

 Homily #56c (Notre Dame Catholic School & Family Mass @ 12pm)

Homily #56b (Sunday, 8:30am Mass)

Homily #56a (Sat., March 5, 5pm Mass)



Someone asked me to take a pix.  I have the rose stole today for Laetare (Rejoice) Sunday.

HOMILY #56:

How To Forgive Deep Hurts/Grudges Using Jesus' Name & Deliverance Ministry

St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Vacaville, CA

4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday)

March 5-6, 2016

[*Pastor asked me before Mass to include a brief explanation of the rose vestments.]

I recently attended a Deliverance Ministry Conference.  Deliverance Ministry is very much related to today’s Gospel for the 4^th Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday).  During Lent, we are called to have a spirit of repentance, a sense of sin, and the true freedom of the children of God.

Three main characters from Jesus’ Parable are the Merciful Father, the Younger Prodigal Son, and the Older Son.  I am going to focus on the Older Son to have us experience Deliverance Ministry today.

There are two main parts in this homily.  First, we are like the Older Son with grudges and hurts.  The second part is that we can be delivered from these hurts.  [I will take 30 seconds to show you Deliverance Ministry to forgive this Lent.]

I.

So let’s look at the Older Son in today’s Gospel.  Notice the Older Son’s reaction to his Father: The Older Son became angry; he bitterly refused to enter his Father’s house; He said to his father…, “[A]ll these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders…”

Here, the Older Son needed to be unbound or freed from the shackles of a spirit of unforgiveness.  He needed the freedom that is befitting of a son or daughter – a child – of God.  He was in the bondage of a spirit of bitterness which was eating his heart.  He needed deliverance.

II.

This leads to the second point: Deliverance Ministry involves a simple prayer of authority using Jesus’ name to drive away spirits troubling God’s children.  Here, one need not be an ordained priest to use Jesus’ name to free people in bondage. To use the words of today’s Responsorial Psalm, “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord./ I sought the Lord, and he answered me / and delivered me from all my fears.

Deliverance Ministry is different from (a) the Sacrament of Reconciliation and (b) the solemn Rite of Exorcism.  Both Confession and Exorcism require a priest, but Deliverance Ministry does not.  These are three completely different but related ministries.

Whereas in the Sacrament of Reconciliation where we take accountability and confess our sins to a priest of how we ourselves have hurt God and others, Deliverance Ministry by contrast is where we need to be freed from the spirit of hurt caused to us by others.  The authority to close off any open doors of hurt comes from the name of Jesus and our baptism and Confirmation.

[IF TIME ALLOWS: When I first heard of Deliverance Ministry, I thought it was a Protestant televangelist thing, but in the history of the Catholic Church, the Church has always delivered her children from the influence of fallen spirits (whether through catechumens and RCIA, renouncing the devil and sin during the ritual for baptism, or professing faith in the Gospel at Mass).]  The secular non-religious world calls these “negative energy” or “bad karma”, but the Christian Creed believes in all things visible or invisible in the spiritual world of good and bad angels.

So here are some steps in Deliverance Ministry.  I will summarize briefly what normally takes 20 if done well.  First, repent and believe in Jesus.  Next, forgive and renounce using Jesus’ name.  For example, you say, “In the name of Jesus, I forgive ______ (say that person’s name) for _____ whatever the hurt was done – here, you want to be specific.  If it’s hard to say the person’s name, it can be whispered under the breath or be general like “In the name of Jesus, I forgive the masked man for breaking into my car”.  In the case of the Older Son, he would say, “In the name of Jesus, I forgive my younger prodigal brother for living a life of dissipation, for ruining our property and finances, etc.”  Again, you want to name specific people and specific hurts. 

After forgiving, then you renounce by saying, “In the name of Jesus, I renounce the spirit of …..” and then you list what it is.  [IF TIME ALLOWS: In the case of the Older Son from today’s Gospel, for example, he would say, “In the name of Jesus, I renounce the spirit of unforgiveness.  Or in the name of Jesus, I renounce the spirit of anger or hatred or bitterness.  Et cetera.”]  You can say this at home or in front of a person praying over you. 

Afterwards, you or the person that is praying over you takes authority in the name of Jesus over the spirits that have been renounced and commands them to leave with words such as, “In the name of Jesus, I break the power of every spirit that ______ has renounced, and I command it to go right now to the foot of the Cross.”  We are not to converse with evil spirits but only use Jesus’ name.  Only an exorcist should converse with evil spirits.  Deliverance Ministry is not an exorcism.

[IF TIME ALLOWS: Finally, you say words to thank God with any words such as, “Thank you, God, for helping me to forgive,” and receive his blessing.  Notice, in all cases, the Name of Jesus is always used.]

III.

So, to summarize: (1) We are like the Older Son with grudges.  (2) And we can be delivered from these grudges and hurts. 

So, are you ready to forgive someone right now?  Even if there’s more, let’s focus on just one or two.  I invite you to forgive now.  You can remain seated.  Repeat after me:

I believe in You, Jesus.

In the name of Jesus, I forgive __________ for __________.

In the name of Jesus, I forgive __________ for __________.

In the name of Jesus, I forgive myself for ____________.

Repeat after me:

In the name of Jesus, I renounce the spirit of unforgiveness.

In the name of Jesus, I renounce the spirit of resentment and bitterness.

In the name of Jesus, I renounce the spirit of anger.

In the name of Jesus, I renounce the spirit of revenge.

In the name of Jesus, I renounce the spirit of _____ (list whatever else you want).

“In the name of Jesus, I take authority over and break the power of every spirit that I have renounced, and I command them to go right now to the foot of the Cross.”

Now, repeat after me: “Thank you, Jesus, for this freedom.  Thank you for this gift to forgive this Lent.”  And there you go!  We learned another way to forgive hurts.

I close with the words of the Word of God from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians in the Second Reading, “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold new things have come!”



20-Yr. Reunion w/Classmate-Turned-Bishop

Photo by Jay Balza
blog @ sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com

 

As I do with any bishop, I kissed his episcopal ring. 

But a fraternal hug only seemed to matter to him.

We were not just a bishop and a deacon.
My wife said, "You hugged like brothers."

 

 

The last time I saw him in person was 20 years ago at the University of San Francisco.

 

I blogged about my college memories and future predictions for him HERE.

Photo by Jay Balza
blog @ sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com

 

 

Photo by Jay Balza
blog @ sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com

My wife does a "mano po" to the new bishop by taking his hand and placing it on her forehead.

With roots in the SF Bay Area where there is a heavy concentration of Filipino Catholics, Bishop Lopes knew about this.
 

Photo by Jay Balza
blog @ sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com

 

Filipino Catholics "mano po" their clergy, parents and elderly to ask for a blessing.

 

Photo by Jay Balza
blog @ sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com
 

Bishop Lopes greeted my son, "Hello, John Paul," and kids.

Photo by Jay Balza
blog @ sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com

My spiritually-tough-as-nails-Ph.D.-wife wanted to tell this Vatican official about her work as President of the Maris Stella Institute.

Photo by Jay Balza
blog @ sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com

Photo by Jay Balza
blog @ sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com

"Our help is in the name of the Lord..."
 

"...who made heaven and earth."

Photo by Jay Balza
blog @ sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com

 A blessing from a Successor of the Apostles

Photo by Jay Balza
blog @ sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com

Photo by Jay Balza
blog @ sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com

Family w/Sr. Ignatius Marie from USF

I did not know that Jay Balza was taking pictures.
Thank you, Jay, for permission to use these.
On Jay's right is Bishop William Justice, Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco.

Jay's blog @ sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com



My family poses with my former boss (when I worked in the Oakland Chancery many years ago).



Tove Ann speaks w/Archbishop Cordileone, the "Lion Heart" of the City of St. Francis.





Smelling (Like) the Sheep

I spoke to someone today who had alcohol and cigarettes on his breath about coming back to Mass regularly.

My sense was to speak to him b/c Pope Francis said we should smell like the sheep. 

Well, I literally smelled the sheep.

I hope to see this sheep at Sunday Mass.

Santa Rosa Chancery

Before my trip up to Eureka for the annual Rite of Election, I took a picture with the family who got to see Bishop Vasa.  They were dropping me off for my trip.  Bishop Vasa did the long drive, even after I insisted on driving him.

(Spring 2014)

St. Eugene's Cathedral, Santa Rosa, Rite of Election 2014 (used with permission from Diocese of Santa Rosa)

The bishop asked me to temporarily substitute 3 periods of 11th grade religion classes at Cardinal Newman High School in Spring 2014 until a teacher was appointed (used with permission from Diocese of Santa Rosa).

(used with permission from Diocese of Santa Rosa.

(used with permission from Diocese of Santa Rosa)

Santa Rosa Religious Education Congress 2014 Welcome Remarks (used with permission from Diocese of Santa Rosa).

I snuck a photo of the bishop before the Post-Communion Prayer during morning Mass.

Santa Rosa Religious Education Congress 2015 Welcome Remarks (used with permission from Diocese of Santa Rosa).

Photo credit: Martin van Tassel (adult student in diocesan formation program)

Dr. John Collins, Superintendent of Schools, and I used this picture as our chancery working theme.

* * *

This is actually a picture I had taken from my phone when I worked at the Diocese of Oakland.

To my right is the Superintendent of Schools.  We are with school principals and teachers.