FROM PASTOR’S DESK

GOD’S MERCY

I n the Gospel today tells another parable to describe the Kingdom of God developing on last week’s parable.

As we heard last week Jesus came proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel. Those who hear and live by it

are transformed by it giving fruits of faith, love, hope, peace, and joy. The history of the Church really shows

how people who heard and kept the Gospel were transformed and did great works of love. At the same time we

recognize that not all who call themselves Christian have lived the Christian life. In other words, in the Church

are many Saints and also many sinners. The Lord Who is kind and desires us to repent as the first reading re-

minds us awaits patiently for our conversion and gives us the Spirit to help us in our weakness.

Mass Intentions To request a Mass, please call the Parish

July 23, 2017 Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary

Hearing Assist Devices Available

Please ask an Usher for assistance.

SATURDAY, JULY 22

5:00pm John Caskey † The Madigans

Donna & Al Roehr †† The Litchfields /

Stacy

SUNDAY, JULY 23

8:00am Albert Harakuni † The Depners

11:00am Patrica A. Walters Bill Walters

Phyllis Oldham Family † Mary DeGraaf

7:30pm OLA Parishioners

MONDAY, JULY 24

St. Sharbel Makhluf

8:00am Jeanne Strickland † Albers Family

TUESDAY, JULY 25

St. James, Apostle

8:00am Paul Jerzak † Irene Bielawski

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26

St.s Joachim & Anne

8:00am Natalie Marie Giorgi † Parulan Familly

THURSDAY, JULY 27

8:00am Paul Jerzak † Irene Bielawski

FRIDAY, JULY 28

8:00am Mary Zboralske † Zboralske Family

SATURDAY , JULY 29

St.. Martha

5:00pm Tom Stacy † The Litchfields /

Stacy

Amy Maltby † Delia Anderson

Facility Reservations Calendar

Please confirm events at www.olaparish.net

SATURDAY, JULY 22

SUNDAY, JULY 23

Open Gym - OLA Basketball 7:30am, Parish Hall

Baptism—Leahy 3:00pm, Church

MONDAY, JULY 24

Boy Scout Troop 328 Meeting 6:30pm, St. John’s Hall

Troop 328 Scout Meeting 6:45pm, Seton Hall

Christian Meditation 7:30pm, School Library

TUESDAY, JULY 25

OLA Calendar 10:00am, St. Paul’s Room

KofC Planning Meeting 7:30pm, St. John’s Hall

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26

Legion of Mary Meeting 8:45am, St. Paul’s Room

Music Ministry Meeting & Rehearsal 6:30pm, Church

THURSDAY, JULY 27

FRIDAY, JULY 28

SATURDAY, JULY 29

SUNDAY, JULY 30

Open Gym - OLA Basketball 7:30am, Parish Hall

Private 12:31pm, St. John’s Hall

STEWARDSHIP

OFFERING

July 3rd - July 9th

Weekend Offertory: $ 12,412.47

Electronic Giving : $ 6,695.33

Total: $ 19,107.80

Average Weekly Budget Amount: $ 13,846.15

Today’s readings remind us

of the fact that it is God who

guides us, and it is God who

influences our decisions

through the Holy Spirit. To-

day’s Gospel is again a series

of parables shared by our

Lord Jesus to teach us and to

explain Holy Scripture.

Jesus tells the Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat, which

is relatively clear to us in terms of the facts. However,

there is an important point within it that we must

acknowledge. When the decision is made to allow the

weeds to grow with the wheat, it is clear the separation

will occur later, not at that moment. When the decision is

made as to what will be harvested and kept and what will

be destroyed, that is a decision made by God.

It is somewhat a reflection of another point made in scrip-

ture. Today’s Gospel comes to us from the Gospel of Mat-

thew, Chapter 13; however, in just a few chapters prior to

that (Chapter 7) we are told “Stop judging, that you may

not be judged…for as you judge, so will you be judged.”

There is no question that there are “weeds” among the

flock, but it is not our place to identify them and sort them

out. That is the work of God.

As Catholics and Christians we must take care not to be

self righteous and judgmental. Before we call into ques-

tion someone else’s walk with God, we need to scrutinize

and take care of our own. Stewardship is what we do, not

what we necessarily think others should do.

Summer is here! It’s the season for outdoor barbe-

cues, beaches, and well-deserved family vacations.

While families spend hours planning for those three-

day weekends and weeks out of town, they some-

times tend to overlook that their parish needs them

especially in the summer months. Stewardship

shouldn’t go away when you do. OLA expenses are

a 12 month proposition. Parish Pay is a safe, con-

venient way to electronically donate consistently,

giving you the peace of mind that you are doing

your part to support the parish and its ministries. To

sign up, simply go to olaparish.net and click on the

“Contribute” button.

ANGELUS

St. Peter's Square Sunday, July 20, 2014

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning,

These Sundays the liturgy proposes several Gospel parables, that is, short stories which Jesus used to announce the Kingdom of Heaven to the crowds. Among those in today’s Gospel, there is a rather com-plex one which Jesus explained to the disciples: it is that of the good grain and the weed, which deals with the problem of evil in the world and calls attention to God’s patience (cf. Mt 13:24-30, 36-43). The story takes place in a field where the owner sows grain, but during the night his enemy comes and sows weed, a term which in Hebrew

derives from the same root as the name “Satan” and which alludes to the concept of division. We all know that the demon is a “sower of weed”, one who always seeks to sow division between individuals, families, nations and peoples. The servants wanted to uproot the weed immediately, but the field owner stopped them, explaining that: “in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them” (Mt 13:29). Because we all know that a weed, when it grows, looks very much like good grain, and there is the risk of confusing them.

The teaching of the parable is twofold. First of all, it tells that the evil in the world comes not from God but from his enemy, the evil one. It is curious that the evil one goes at night to sow weed, in the dark, in confusion; he goes where there is no light to sow weed. This enemy is astute: he sows evil in the middle of good, thus it is impossible for us men to distinctly separate them; but God, in the end, will be able to do so.

And here we arrive at the second theme: the juxtaposition of the impatience of the servants and the pa-tient waiting of the field owner, who represents God. At times we are in a great hurry to judge, to cate-gorize, to put the good here, the bad there.... But remember the prayer of that self-righteous man: “God, I thank you that I am good, that I am not like other men, malicious” (cf. Lk 18:11-12). God, how-ever, knows how to wait. With patience and mercy he gazes into the “field” of life of every person; he sees much better than we do the filth and the evil, but he also sees the seeds of good and waits with trust for them to grow. God is patient, he knows how to wait. This is so beautiful: our God is a patient father, who always waits for us and waits with his heart in hand to welcome us, to forgive us. He always forgives us if we go to him.

The field owner’s attitude is that of hope grounded in the certainty that evil does not have the first nor the last word. And it is thanks to this patient hope of God that the same weed, which is the malicious heart with so many sins, in the end can become good grain. But be careful: evangelical patience is not indifference to evil; one must not confuse good and evil! In facing weeds in the world the Lord’s disciple is called to imitate the patience of God, to nourish hope with the support of indestructible trust in the final victory of good, that is, of God.

In the end, in fact, evil will be removed and eliminated: at the time of harvest, that is, of judgment, the harvesters will follow the orders of the field owner, separating the weed to burn it (cf. Mt 13:30). On the day of the final harvest, the judge will be Jesus, He who has sown good grain in the world and who him-self became the “grain of wheat”, who died and rose. In the end we will all be judged by the same measure with which we have judged: the mercy we have shown to others will also be shown to us. Let us ask Our Lady, our Mother, to help us to grow in patience, in hope and in mercy with all brothers and sisters.

Pope Francis Teachings

Sometimes we know what we have to do, but we lack the courage to do it. Let us learn from Mary how to make decisions, trusting in the Lord .

-Pope Francis

Family Connection Inspiring Stories

Matthew 13:24-43 (shorter form: Matthew 13:24-30)

Jesus offers parables about the Kingdom of Heaven

and explains them to his disciples. .

This Gospel is a

way of explaining

why there is good

and evil in the

world today. As

Jesus explained

in the parable, the

weeds (or evil)

are allowed to grow with the wheat (or good). Only at

the harvest (the end time) would God separate the

good from the evil just as the farmer will separate the

wheat from the weeds in Jesus' parable.

How do we answer our children when they ask why

bad things happen to good people? This parable of the

wheat and the weeds may be a way of explaining why

God allows evil, like the weeds, to grow next to good-

ness in our world today. Evil will not really be gone

until the fullness of God's Kingdom.

Try as a family to think about why God allows weeds

to grow among the wheat in today's Gospel story. Ei-

ther by looking through the newspaper, or sharing

news about people in your own community, family or

neighborhood, think about where weeds are growing.

Consider ways that as a family you can help control

the spreading of these weeds. What actions will you

take?

Discussion Starters

Even though there are weeds in my life, I try to plant

good seeds of wheat by . . .

One kind of weed this Gospel helps me understand

better is . . . because . . .

One time that I saw something very small yield some-

thing very large was when . . .

COLOMBIAN GARBAGE COLLECTOR

BUILT A FREE LIBRARY OUT OF

DISCARDED BOOKS

T hey say that one man’s trash is another man’s

treasure, and Jose Alberto Gutierrez, a gar-

bage collector in Bogota, has salvaged some-

thing spectacular out of people’s castoffs: a free

community lending library.

Over the past 20 years, while driving his route on the

garbage truck, Gutierrez has collected more than

20,000 books, which he has turned into a library he

calls La Fuerza de las Palabras (Spanish for “The

Strength of Words”) inside his home.

According to a report in The Telegraph, the first

book Gutierrez, known as the “Lord of Books,” ever

brought home was Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. He

could hardly believe someone would toss it out.

While he grew up in poverty and had to leave school

at a young age, his mother instilled in him a life-long

love for reading. “I got my inspiration from my

mom,” he said in a CGTN video about his library.

“When I was little she would read to us every night.”

His goal is to pass on that love to children from low-

income families who might not otherwise have ac-

cess to books.

“The whole value of what we do lies in helping of

what we do lies in helping kids start reading,” he

told Al Jazeera.

His vocation was inspiring by his own experience of

reading as a child. When he was 13, Gutierrez picked

up a copy of Homer’s Odyssey, which changed his

perspective forever.

“After reading it, I became a traveler in my own od-

yssey. I will only reach my Ithaca when I see librar-

ies and books everywhere in my country.”

Gutierrez has run out of room in his home, which he

shares with his wife and three children, and is now

traveling around

the country deliver-

ing books to poor

districts where

there is no public

library, according

to a report in the

Telegraph.

Sts. Joachim & Anne

Parents of our Blessed Mother Mary

“Feast of grandparents.”

LIVE, LEARN & ENJOY YOUR FAITH

An amazing weekend away with your spouse. Our next

weekend date Aug 4-6, 2017 in Sacramento, CA and Oct 6

-8, 2017 in Reno, NV. To register, please visit: https://

www.sacramentowwme.org. Or for more information,

contact Terry & Janet at:(916)489-3464 or at: applica-

tions@sacramentowwme.org.

WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER

Christ the King Passionist Retreat Center

Institute For The Study Of The Passion

Fall Series

Preparing for the Commemoration of the Reformation

Presented by: Fr. Tom Bonacci C.P.

Thursday August 31

St. Paul of the Cross (Founder of

the Passionists) and Martin Lu-

ther’s Doctrine of the Cross Com-

panions Gathered at the Foot of the

Cross.

Thursday September 14

The Cross of Jesus in the Theology of the Reformation.

Thursday September 28

Revisiting the Protestant Doctrine of Justification in

Light of the Catholic/Lutheran Agreements 1999 and

Conflict to Communion 2012.

Meets in La Casa on Thursday mornings 10:00 am –

12:00 noon. $12 per session or $30 for the three-week

block, paid at first session. Payment and registration

will be taken at the door.

Rexphil Rallanka, Director of Music and Principal Or-

ganist for the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, will

perform an organ concert on the Cathedral’s Reuter pipe

organ. Featured on the program are works by J.S. Bach

and American composers John Cook, Margaret San-

dresky, Lewis Songer, and Joel Martinson. Friday, July

28 at 7:30 pm. Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

1017 11th Street. Doors open at 7 pm. The concert is

free. A suggested donation of $15 will be accepted at

the door.

CATHEDRAL ORGANIST IN CONCERT

Mass Requests

Please contact the Parish Office if you would like to re-

quest a Mass to honor someone special. The Diocese rec-

ommended stipend for this is $10.00 per request but no

request will be denied based on ability to pay.

Parish Registration and Change of Address Welcome to Our Lady of the Assumption Parish! Please register by completing the New Parishioner form below

or online at: http://olaparish.net/new-parishioners. Please let us know if you have moved by calling the Parish

Office at 481-5115. You may place the completed form in the offertory basket or the parish office mail slot. The

parish office is located off the Walnut Avenue parking lot.

____New to Our Lady of the Assumption Parish. ____ Recently moved and/or phone number changed.

Name: Phone:

Street Address:

City, Zip:

Email:

___ I am interested in a tour of Our Lady of the Assumption Church.

https://www.facebook.com/OLAParish/. Receive notifications about upcom-

ing events taking place here at Our Lady of the Assumption.

PLEASE PRAY FOR HEALING OF OUR

PARISHONER & FRIEND

DEBBIE KICK

“Heal me, LORD, that I may be healed; save

me, that I may be saved,for you are my praise”.

Jeremiah 17:14

OUR PARISH

Vocations Cross Prayer Campaign

OLA has a Vocations Cross Prayer

Campaign. Each week, a family will

take home the Vocations Cross. During

their week, they commit to praying for

an increase in vocations to the priest-

hood and religious life, as well as for

our priests, seminarians, and religious

in the Diocese of Sacramento. The cross will then be

returned to the parish the following Friday, and pre-

sented to a new family at the Mass they normally at-

tend. If you are interested in participating, please

contact the parish office at 481-5115 or par-

ish@olaparish.net.

“Then He said to His disciples, ´the harvest is

abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the

master of the harvest to send out laborers for

His harvest´.” –Mathew 9:37-38

OLA PARISH OFFICE POSITION AVAILABLE:

Ministry Coordinator/Administrative Assistant Full Time Salaried Position

Complete job description and applications will be available in the parish office Monday, July 24th.

Please contact Deacon Michael for additional information at 486-9485 or at deacon@olaparish.net.