In 1997, Saint John Paul II instituted a day of prayer for women and men in consecrated life. This celebration is attached to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2. This feast is also known as Candlemas Day; the day on which candles are blessed symbolizing Christ who is the light of the world. So too, those in consecrated life are called to reflect the light of Jesus Christ to all peoples. The celebration of World Day for Consecrated Life is transferred to the following Sunday in order to highlight the gift of consecrated persons for the whole Church.

 The Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations seeks to foster and encourage the various forms of consecrated life in the Church today. In Vita Consecrata, the 1996 Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Saint John Paul II wrote of the different forms of consecrated life as “the many branches which sinks its roots into the Gospel and brings forth abundant fruit in every season of the Church’s life.” These diverse forms include: Monastic Life, the Orders of Virgins, Hermits, and Institutes completely devoted to contemplation, Apostolic Religious Life, Secular Institutes, Societies of Apostolic Life, and new or renewed forms of the consecrated life (cf. Vita Consecrata, 6-12). Each form is described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Preparing for Lent

The 2018 Lenten season is fast approaching; and it’s time to prepare how we can make it more meaningful in our daily lives. The parish selected as our theme for this Lenten season the directive – “Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving”.

To help parishioners find some quiet time to spend in prayer, during Lent we will keep the inner doors of the church closed before the start of all weekend Masses; and we ask your support to please abstain from talking and visiting in the main section of church.

Continue to watch future issues of our parish bulletin, for information and ideas on ways to prepare yourself and your family for a more meaningful Lenten season.

– St Valentine Worship Commission

 Today with the 2^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time we begin a stretch of Ordinary Time Sundays that will last till the 6^th Sunday. The liturgical color is green, the color of hope and life. We start with John’s account of the call of the disciples. Having just celebrated a season marking the coming of the Lord, we now begin to see the adult Jesus at work. Having recalled our own baptism with the commemoration of the Baptism of the Lord last Monday, this weekend would be a good time to reflect on how we too have been called by the Lord in our baptism. We are called to be Christ’s instruments, witnesses to the world, a holy and consecrated people. We have received the power to do this by the Holy Spirit who has come to us. So let us be faithful to our calling. In answer to the Lord’s call, we respond, “Here I am Lord; I come to do your will.”

Vacation Time:

As Fr. Henry made the announcement that he is leaving for a vacation on January 14 and be back on February 13. We will have a change in the weekday Mass schedule: Monday’s and Tuesday’s 8.30 am Mass will be at Our Lady of Loretto, Thursday’s and Friday’s 8.30 am Mass at St. Valentine. We will continue to celebrate Mass in the Chapel when we do not have the School Mass.

Christmas Collection:

Before Christmas I always try to write a note reminding you to be generous towards the Church while making the Christmas offering. And I want to thank you for being so kind in listening to me. I know you always do. This year our Christmas collection was totaled to $83,832.00. My sincere THANKS to each and everyone for your generous contributions, towards the Church especially during the season of giving, “Christmas.” St. Paul tells us that “God loves a cheerful giver” (2Cor.9:7). May God Bless your generosity, and reward you a hundred fold.

Blessings,
Fr. Socorro

This Sunday marks the solemnity of the Epiphany. In some cultures this is referred to as “little Christmas”. On this day what we celebrate is what we celebrated on Christmas which is the manifestation of God’s love, Jesus Christ, being physically present in our world. His birth presents humanity with a new sense of hope. The prophet Isaiah wrote: “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your Light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.” The light that shines, Jesus Christ, is the hope for humanity. It is this light, Jesus Christ, in which God will provide, as Isaiah wrote, a light that will guide nations to a universal response to God, when all peoples and all nations will come together to live in faith and mutual respect.

 This hope expressed by Isaiah to become a reality we are invited to imitate the magi, let us give our love, fidelity, perseverance and sincerity to Jesus. Let us offer Him our prayers and our human weaknesses too. But specifically, like the magi and according to Bishop Socrates Villegas in his, Love Like Jesus, let us have the three S of this Feast of Epiphany. The first S is, to See. The wise men saw the star and they followed. God tells us not to see with our physical eyes but to see with our hearts because God is in our hearts, His favorite place within us.

The second S is Search. The wise men were searching for Christ. They wanted to find the meaning of life and they found it in Christ and in living for others. God wants us to live an exciting life and not just be satisfied with the monotony and the boredom of life. The last S is Submit or to obey. The wise men did this once they found Jesus and offered to Him the best of everything. Let us submit to His will and authority because His will and authority are the best for us.

Let us see, search and submit and surely we will find what we have been looking for all these years.

Happy New Year to All

   I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year celebration on December 31 and January 1. I pray that the Lord will bless us all with a faith-enriched, peaceful and prosperous New Year 2018. Though the gift of peace seems far away we continue to pray for peace in our families, communities, our nation, and for greater peace throughout the world.

In Christ,

Fr. Henry Rebello SAC

Wishing you one and all A Happy New Year – 2018. Who knows what’s ahead of us in this New Year. No one knows what the New Year will bring. The one certain about the future is its uncertainty. But as we enter into the unknown, the church gives us, on this New Year’s Day, a feast in honor of Mary, the Mother of God; because Mary is, in a unique way, the woman of faith. Because her faith can inspire us to have the kind of faith we need for our journey into the unknown. And so as we begin this New Year, we need to have faith and believe in God’s plans for us, Faith to know that God will have the best for us.

 May God continue to walk with us on our journey each day of the New Year, and may He fill us with the gifts of Faith, Love, Peace and Joy.

God Bless you all.

Fr. Socorro Fernandes, SAC.

 A special thank you from your priests:

At this time of the year we would like to thank everyone who has treated us so kindly with love, greetings, gifts, prayers and best wishes. We also extend our thanks to all those who have contributed to make our Advent and Christmas liturgies so meaningful.

 The simple beauty of our parish celebrations comes together because of the rich personal gifts, talents and dedication of many in our parish, including decorators, musicians and choir members, ushers and altar servers, lectors, Eucharistic ministers, and sacristans. Thanks to parents for encouraging their children to take part in the Nativity play and the children’s choir. Words of gratitude to members of St. Vincent dePaul Conference, and Christian Service Committee, who were busy reaching out to various people and groups. Thanks also to all those who gave so generously in order to make someone else’s Christmas more joyful either by taking a tag from the Christmas tree or by donating to help a needy family. We would also like to mention our appreciation to our parish and school staff who give of themselves so generously through their dedicated service. For those of you who attended our celebrations and made it so lively by actively taking part in it – we want to say Thank You. Sincere thanks to all who have so generously contributed towards our 2017 Christmas offertory collection. May God bless each and every one of you, granting you joy and peace in your hearts and in your families always.

 God Bless you all.

Fr. Socorro  & Fr. Henry