Loving God & Others Through 10 Commandments (Homily #107 for Senior Living Home)

(audio clip of Homily #107)

Announcing Baby #6, Wife's Surprise 40th Bday, & 1st Year Death Anniv. of Helen Catubig (w/Homily #106)

Tove Ann is pregnant!!!  This past weekend, we announced our sixth baby.

On Saturday, we announced the news to our immediate family after family sang "Happy Birthday" to her at the Catubig residence.  It's recorded below somewhere.

And then on Sunday, we then announced to our friends and the world at Children's Wonderland.  This, too, is recorded below.

On both days, the baby was welcomed with joy and love.  And so here, too, we ask for God's protection and blessing.

________________________

For this personal web log, I start here below with Sun., Oct. 29, where we threw Tove Ann a surprise 40th birthday lunch. 

Sunday began with 10am Mass.

My sister, Michelle, said that she enjoys joining our family for Mass.  Three of the older kids rode with her.  John Paul already knew about the surprise, but I told Michelle to tell the kids on the ride.

I had to stall.  I took us to get some famous Vallejo senorita bread. 

Then I got lost finding Children's Wonderland.  This is odd b/c I normally use my iPhone for directions.  Tove Ann doesn't like my using my phone while driving.

When everyone starting singing "Happy Birthday," I whispered in Tove Ann's ear, "Now is a good time to tell everyone about the baby."  So she did!  Not only was Tove Ann surprised, everyone was surprised, too!

We find out in a couple of weeks whether our unborn baby is a boy or girl.

If a boy, then he will be named Peter Joseph.  If a girl, she will be named Mary Grace.

Thank you, Ate Marissa and in-laws, my parents, Maureen, Anabelle, and Michelle for helping!

This is the Sanchez Family, a homeschooling family from St. Basil's. 
They're starting the empty-nester process.

Friends from Sacramento even came.  Melissa and Irene were some of Tove Ann's childhood friends who came.  Melissa will deliver in November.

Please hold in prayer those with miscarriages and those trying to conceive.

Here are photos of my awesome family that helped.  My mom and Papa Hardie came from the South Bay. 

My Uncle Olan and Auntie Helen sent us a video of Beauty and the Beast, so this helped the kids develop an interest for the performance.

When putting the surprise potluck for Tove Ann together, I didn't know that we would do something like this.

My sister, Michelle, was in on trying to keep things a secret.  Thanks, sis!!!

 

After Tove Ann got over her shock, I eventually showed her the invitation:

Tove Ann misses her mom.  In a way, I wanted to make sure that she had a birthday to remember, even in light of her mom's death on Oct. 28, which is Tove Ann's birthday.

I love you, wife!  Thank you for marrying me.

Everyone then had lunch.

Eventually, after cake and a second "Happy Birthday," we then moved everyone to the amphitheater for some entertainment by the Purificacion kids around 2pm.

Some have asked me how we were able to keep the performances a secret from Tove Ann.  The kids actually performed the first show with family on Saturday, the day before.  So while Tove Ann knew that the kids were performing for Sat., Tove Ann had no idea that the kids were also rehearsing for Sunday, the next day, too, to do the performance again.  The kids themselves didn't know that they were going to perform a second round for a big audience on Sunday until that morning.  I only told John Paul that Sunday morning.  This was my cover...hee, hee!

There were 3 performances on Sunday.  Tove Ann didn't know about the last one, which was a father-daughter and husband-wife dance to "Tale as Old as Time" from Beauty and the Beast (1991).

We started with Mariana's "Loyal" but on this blog, I'm going to show here the kids' performance called "Little Town" from Beauty and the Beast (1991) first:

(begins @ 01:30)

Mariana had some stage fright, so her mom joined her.  This was Mariana' second performance.  I should have taken her on the stage a week before to get her used to the stage.  We're still learning.

Rehearsing with my kids the past few weeks reminded me of when I was a school play Director for A Man For All Seasons with 11th graders and Assistant Director for Romeo & Juliet for 8th graders many, many moons ago.

Here's the last dance scene:

Thank you to John Paul's friend, Gabriel, for recording.

See more videos and photos from Mama Helen's 1st Year Death Anniversary from Sat., Oct. 28, below.
Saturday was the kids' first opening debut.
We hope you enjoyed Sunday!

_______________________________________

On Sat., Oct. 28, 2017,

we had a small intimate Memorial Mass for Mama Helen's 1st year anniversary.

Nothing delights souls in the next life more than having Holy Mass offered for them!!

My son, John Paul, recorded some video clips and took pictures.

Liturgy of the Word

(my sister-in-law, Marissa, and my wife, Tove Ann)

Proclamation of the Gospel

(on Mary at the foot of the Cross)

(video of Homily #106)

(written text below)

(audio clip of Homily #106)

(written text below)

I

Please allow me a brief moment to take us back one year ago today:

On Friday afternoon, Oct. 28, 2016, our beloved Helen was on her way back home from the hospital in an ambulance.  It was the Memorial Feast of St. Jude, the patron of impossible cases and also Tove Ann’s 39^th birthday. 

Helen’s daughter, Tove Ann whom Helen often called her “miracle baby”, rode in the ambulance with her mom, as she quietly prayed the powerful Chaplet of Divine Mercy for her mom.  Those words from the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, “For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world,” accompanied Helen on her last drive to her Wellfleet home.

When Helen arrived in the family room, family members immediately said, “You’re home, Mom!  Welcome home!” for they knew that it was Helen’s dying wish to pass away at home.

Then, within minutes, as Helen’s son, Daniel, hung a crucifix above her bed, as the Cross was lifted up behind Helen’s suffering on her own Cross, as the Cross which Helen prayed before since her childhood was mounted above her deathbed, as the Cross that Helen turned to throughout her life and before which she prayed the rosary, Helen breathed her final breath.

Helen’s daughter, Stefanie Jane, described Helen’s final, peaceful moment as follows.  (Quote) “She took her last breath as a sigh of relief” for she was finally home.  (End quote) 

Helen died during the Jubilee Year of Mercy. 

II

This colorful snapshot of Helen’s final moments are surrounded with much religious flavor and meaning.  In our secular society, where visible signs of faith and God are often placed aside, this story perhaps becomes much more important for us who gather one year later at this Holy Mass. 

It describes elements of what has traditionally been called a Christian death or even a happy death.  Helen passed away as she had lived: Not only was Helen a disciple of the Crucified Jesus, she was a devoted daughter of Jesus’s mother, Mary.  And this is the first of 2 main points today as we remember her and pray for the repose of her soul.  Helen’s devotion to our Mama Mary.

As we hear proclaimed in today’s Gospel, standing by the Cross of Jesus were his mother and others like John the Beloved and Mary Magdalene.  “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold you son.”  Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother.”

Helen enthroned the images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary in her home.  She taught her kids from their youth into their adulthood.  She took Jesus’s words to us today to heart, “Behold your mother.” 

I myself recall many nights joining Helen with her adult kids and little grandkids in the family living room while she led the rosary before the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

This gives us great hope in our sorrow.  Our Lady said to St. Dominic, that the rosary will withdraw men from the love of the world and its temporary vanities, and the rosary will lift them up for the desire of Eternal Things. 

III

Lift us up to the desire for eternal things.  This is the 2^nd of two main points today.  For us, the living, moments of death should remind us that this life is temporary.  During our short time on earth, we should be serving God and loving our neighbor, instead of living as if God did not exist.  Our time on earth should remind us of the need for conversion if we have been away from God and from loving our neighbors, family and friends.  It is love that is eternal.

Mama Helen did not wait until her deathbed before following Jesus.  She already made loving choices with God in her life and throughout her life.  We, too, should not wait until our deathbed when it may be too late to turn our minds and hearts to Eternal Things.  Our hearts should want Heaven. 

One of those Eternal Things that Helen chose are the choices she made for marriage and family life, an area so under assault even more so in our days than ever before.  Helen chose to marry a combat-wounded veteran, and she did so when serving in the Vietnam War was unpopular many decades ago, when soldiers were spit upon and called names after returning home and despised instead of honored the way they are today.  She said to Ernesto, “I will be your right arm.”  And she did so for 47 years.  Helen chose to have and raise children as blessings from Heaven.  She chose service to community and to help others in need.  So let us, too, lift up our minds to those eternal things that matter in life, as our Mama Helen did.

In closing, let us reflect on those two points about Helen’s life: Her devotion to Jesus and Mama Mary and eternal things about our future Resurrection in the life to come.  Every Mass is Heaven on earth, the Mass that we celebrate now is a foreshadow of our home in Heaven that we heard proclaimed in the Reading from the Book of Revelation.  “I saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  … He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning…Behold, I make all things new.”  Just as Helen heard these words from family in her final moments in her earthly earth, “You’re home, Mom!  Welcome home...you’re home,” so may she and all of us one day hear from our eternal family in the eternal life to come, “You’re home, you’re home in Heaven.  Welcome home.”

__________________________________

After Mass, I talked to my sister, Rachel, who brought her son, Braxton Joseph.

Uncle Dennis tickled him crazy!!

We stopped by All Souls Cemetery.

We used a prayer service brochure from the parish to say some prayers.

Here's my mom and Papa Hardie who drove Rachel and Baby Braxton.

Eternal rest grant unto the soul of Helen Esperanza Catubig, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon her.

May her soul and the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Amen.



___________________

After lunch at a restaurant, immediate family returned to the Catubig home.

Before we prayed the rosary, my sister-in-law and her husband announced that she was pregnant!
What a joy!

We then prayed the rosary.  Some favorite family songs were sung.

Mariana then made her very first debut singing Loyal by Lauren Daigle.

Then, the family did the very first debut of "Little Town" from Beauty & the Beast (1991):

Debut of "Little Town" from Beauty & the Beast
by Purificacion Kids
at Catubig Residence
on Sat., Oct. 28, 2017

Thank you to John Paul's cousin, Isaiah, for recording.

This was from my cell phone.  It's the same as the one above.

After the performance, we then had cake for Tove Ann's birthday:

BUT before blowing out her candle, Tove Ann made a surprise announcement. 

I made sure my mom was on my cell phone, along with my sisters.

Here's the clip.  I didn't know John Paul was recording:

Our new baby was welcomed along with my sister-in-law's new baby.

The kids got to play with their cousins.

posing with my brother-in-law, James John "J.J."

Before the day ended, Papa Ernie danced with his granddaughters:

Mariana w/her grandfather

Faith w/her grandfather.

John Paul created this for his mom.

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY, TOVE ANN!!!

AND WELCOME, LITTLE ONE!  WE LOVE YOU!

MOMMY & DADDY LOVE YOU!

"Mufasa-Simba Lion King & God's Love" (Homily #105 for Catholic School Kids)

(audio clip)

St. Catherine's School, Vallejo, CA, USA

Marilou Abadilla (1960-2017), Mother of My Former Student Dane Abadilla (Homily #104 for Funeral Mass)

(audio clip)

Racism & Abortion (Homily #103 on Protecting Human Dignity)

Dr. Alveda King, one my heroines, is the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

(audio clip from 8am Mass)

(video clip from 5pm Mass)

Racism& Abortion: On Protecting Human Dignity

Oct. 22, 2017, 8am & 5pm Masses

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This month of October is both Respect Life Month and the month of the rosary.  It is most fitting, then, to reflect on today’s Gospel about giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar & giving to God what belongs to God. 

Caesar here represents the state or federal government or human laws.  We give the State what is legitimately and justly owed to the State. 

But more importantly, Jesus teaches us to give God what belongs to God.  We must respect God and God’s laws over human beings and human laws.  Unjust human laws need not be obeyed, and we are bound as Christians to disobey human laws whenever they contradict God’s laws.  God laws protects the dignity of the human person. 

The dignity of the human person means that each individual human being has a worth in and of themselves.  Each of us is in the image and likeness of God.  We are in God’s image and likeness because we have the ability, like God, to reason and choose. 

In today’s First Reading, it is written in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, “I am the Lord, and there is no other.  There is no god but me.”  Here, we see the dominion and Lordship of God over all aspects of human life.

Two emotionally-charged, controversial issues needing the light of today’s Gospel today are racism and abortion.  Human life and the dignity of the human person ultimately belong to God, not to Caesar or the State or to elected officials.  The Second Vatican Council explicitly condemn three actions in Gaudium et Spes: (1) indiscriminate bombing esp. non-combatant civilians (which I’m not going to focus on today), (2) direct abortion, and (3) racism.  I’m going to focus on two issues, abortion& racism, as they relate to Caesar and God. 

Some brief points about direct abortion: I say this with as much love and gentleness that could be pastorally said from the ambo: Innocent human life should be protected absolutely from the moment of conception.  (repeat)  Whatever we do to the least of our brothers and sisters in the womb, we do to Jesus Himself. 

Modern science (a type of Caesar) and the natural order would agree with God.  With the invention of the microscope in the 19^th Century, science shows that at the moment of conception, the new entity inside the womb possesses the same human genes as me and you outside the womb.  I also say with as much love as possible that if have been involved with a direct abortion, let today’s Gospel be an invitation to come to conversion to giving God what belongs to God.

Respect for human dignity from womb to tomb also means respecting the dignity of the human person, regardless of their background.  It means that each human person has worth and value in and of themselves, not because of what usefulness or utility or benefit they can give me, but each person is deserving of respect for who they are.   And human dignity does not depend on what someone else can do for me.  We are human beings, not human doings.

[It should be said that there is an important distinction here between human person and the human act.  While we do not need to agree with a person’s actions or their choices, we must always respect the person.  It’s not the other way around where we respect and honor the person’s evil acts but we hate the person—no! – rather we love the person but not an evil action of that person.]

At present in the United States, racism and race relations have much media attention.  Perhaps to some degree, there may be some of us here have experienced racism.  If so, let this be a moment to purify our hearts of any hatred and hurt we have experienced.

Race relations should be built on godly principles such as the moral principle of solidarity, instead of some trendy human standard for how cultures can work together.  For us Christians, it is the Eucharist that is the ultimate source of our communion in the Church.  In society, however, when God or moral principles are removed from the foundation, mere human ways of Caesar take over. 

Solidarity, a principle in Catholic social doctrine, means a social friendship or a type of brotherhood or sisterhood, or unity with others different from me.  In other words, even though I am not have experienced the hardships of someone else, I can somehow relate and remain united with that person.

For example, I may not be of someone’s race, or be a woman, etc., but I can find ways to remain in solidarity with those experiencing injustice.  One dangerous way that Caesar tries to address race relations is through a philosophy called Marxism or through class warfare, a total contradiction to Christianity.  One might even call this the errors of Russia, the area from where this came.  Whereas Karl Marx and Saul Alinsky use class warfare – pitting groups against each other (b v. w, woman v. man, poor v. rich, labor v. capital, etc.) – for social progress, Catholic social doctrine on the other hand speaks of solidarity, forgiveness, mutual cooperation, protecting the innocent, and human dignity.  Human law can go so far.  It is hearts that need conversion. 

In my own life, I have been tempted many times since college to fall into the trap of Marxism to solve social ills.  If it wasn’t for St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John Paul the Great’s solidarity which addressed social problems without violent bloodshed (Poland’s Solidarity & the Philippines EDSA where the power of the rosary protected these countries), and Catholic social teaching on such as solidarity, I would have been a Marxist and even left the Church trying to solve the world’s problems as a Marxist.  Poland in 1989 and the Philippines in 1986 here are models of nonviolent change for a violence-saturated United States.  [If time permits, tell story of Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila about reports of beautiful Woman stopping soldiers from firing into crowd: “Do not fire!  I am the Queen of this land.”]  I would have given Caesar that which belongs only to God: respect of human life and dignity. 

But we as followers of Jesus believe in the power of the human spirit to rise above the divisions of society where strangers help each other, to heal acts of racism that we see on TV or experiencing in our lives, and to promote racial harmony and cultural interdependence.  (Note: right to self-defense? and principle of non-violence?)  We can take what is good, true and beautiful from each culture, and reject what is bad and evil.  These are some ways to respond to these evils.  The enemy of souls wants us divided.

For us, at least the hurt need not be in our hearts, and we need not return evil for evil, but rather return goodness for the evils of racism.  Caesar does not command our hearts, and our hearts to not belong to Caesar.  Our hearts belong to God!

So let us purify our hearts of hatred and woundedness.  Let us rather build a civilization of love, not a culture of death and violence, that respects the dignity of the human person and human life from womb to tomb!  As we sang in the Responsorial Psalm, let us not give Caesar glory and honor, but let us “Give the Lord glory and honor.”  Let us not give evil actions glory and honor, but let us give the Lord of the human person glory and honor.

Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.  Give to God what belongs to God.

E.J.'s First Day of Altar Server Training

Turn Away From Sin & Pray Daily Rosary (Homily #102 for 100th Anniversary of Fatima)

(audio)

(Miracle of the Dancing Sun, Oct. 13, 1917)

Benediction of Blessed Sacrament Over CA Wildfires From Church & "Jesus Revealed God as Loving Father Who Provides" (Homily #101)

(audio)

Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament Over Wildfires
(after 6pm Mass)

This is what I posted on my FB page about what went through my mind as a did the Benediction of Our Eucharistic Jesus:

You'll notice that when I turned to my far left, I paused and faced Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament towards the fires in Fairfield for Him to put out. And when I turned to my far right, I paused and faced Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to the fires in Napa & the Santa Rosa Diocese to extinguish, too, and to bless and cover all the people with His love and protection.

Father's Providence During CA Fires (Homily #100)

Burned remains of Cardinal Newman High School Admin Bldg. (Santa Rosa, CA)

(audio)

To help those affected by North Bay fire & displaced families, contact:

Catholic Charities

https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/CatholicCharitiesSantaRosa/donate

St. Vincent de Paul Society, Sonoma County

http://www.svdp-sonoma.org/svdp-newsandevents.html

(707) 584-1579

A friend, Marita, sent me this photo.  It is a fitting photo of a statue of Jesus teaching his disciples the Our Father prayer.

Deacon Convocation