Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church 300 Fulton Street ▪ Redwood City, CA 94062

Tel. (650) 366-3802 ▪ Fax: (650) 366-1421 parish@mountcarmel.org pastor@mountcarmel.org ▪ www.mountcarmel.org

Parish Center Hours Monday - Thursday 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Mass Schedule Sunday: 8:00 am, 10:00 am, 12:00 pm (español), and 5pm Saturday: 8: 15 am and 5:00 pm Vigil Mass Monday to Friday 8:15 am Reconciliation/Confession Saturday 3:30 –4:30 p.m.

Parish Staff Pastor: Rev. Ulysses D’Aquila - 306-9583 Deacon: Rev. Mr. Thomas J. Boyle - 366-3802 Principal: Teresa Anthony - 366-6127 Development: Nori Jabba - 366-8817 Kid’s Place: Maureen Arnott – 366-6587 CCD: Magdalena Hernández - 368-8237 Youth Ministry: Kendra & Jason Rickwald - 918-0815 Youth Confirmation: Paula Martinez – 366-6194 Director of Music: Bianca Remlinger - 366-3802 Spanish Music Ministry: Andres Garcia -366 -3802 Administrative Assistant: Alba Canelo – 366 -3802

Baptisms / Bautismos Call parish at least two months in advance. Llame a la parroquia a lo menos dos meses antes. Weddings / Bodas Call parish at least six months in advance Llame a la parroquia a lo menos seis meses antes.

Mission Statement Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish is a Christ-centered community in the Roman Catholic tradition. We try to share the Good News of salvation with others. As a diverse community, we value and respect individual differences. As God’s people, we gather in the Spirit to pray, to celebrate the sacraments, to teach, to learn, to console, to rejoice, to minister and to renew our faith with one another.

The Epiphany of the Lord Sunday, January 3, 2016

Notas del Párroco

When I was a boy living in Spain with my family, it was Tres Reyes or the Feast of the Epiphany that was celebrated as the day when children received gifts rather than at Christmas as in the United States. For that reason, everywhere you went you

would see refer-ences to the Three Kings, including special cakes and little crowns and costumes for the children. Thinking about this made me ask myself, “Who were these

mysterious Kings or Wise Men or Magi who in the Bible have such an interesting role in the Nativity of Jesus? Where did they come from? Did they travel together, or did they inde-pendently find out about the impending birth of the Holy Sav-ior? What happened to them after they left the Holy Land? Did they tell others of what they had seen?” Most of these ques-tions cannot be answered with any certainty, but that does not indicate that the story of the Wise Men as reported in St. Mat-thew’s Gospel is not full of theological meaning. First of all, the Magi are foreigners. In other words, they’re not Jewish and in all likelihood would have known nothing of the Old Testament prophecies of a Messiah. They have come from a long dis-tance, probably from Persia, Babylonia and Arabia, drawn to the little town of Bethlehem by a sign they have seen in the sky. In my opinion, the Magi represent the deepest wisdom of the pre-Christian world, a world in which there were certainly great philosophers, astronomers and spiritual seekers. Our Church has always taught that God implanted His divine spirit in human beings from the beginning. This means that wise people of whatever race, culture or religion, and long before the birth of Jesus, were seeking to understand the universe and the purpose of our existence. So these Magi, whoever they were, had simultaneously discovered, by whatever secret sciences they employed, that the answer to these perplexing questions was about to be born; that Divine Truth from above was going to enter the world in the person of a little child born in a stable. And what does this story of the Wise Men mean for us today, so far away in time and place from Christ’s Nativity? Maybe it means this: that in the 2,000 years since the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem the number of those who call themselves Catholic and Christian is now over 1.5 billion. From a small movement that began in the Jewish community of Palestine, our holy Catholic faith has now spread to every continent of the globe. And every day someone somewhere discovers Christ anew, and like the Wise Men, comes to adore him. May all of us be counted among those believers, and may we – full of faith and hope – help to shine Christ’s divine light into our dark world. Fr. Ulysses

Cuando yo era niño viviendo en España con mi familia, era la Fiesta de Epifanía o Tres Reyes que se celebra como el día cuando los niños recibieron regalos en lugar de en Navidad como en los Estados Unidos. Por esa razón, en todas partes uno veía referencias a los Reyes Magos, incluyendo pasteles especiales, pequeñas coro-nas y los trajes para los ni-ños. Pensando en esto me preguntaba "¿Quiénes eran estos reyes misteriosos o hombres sabios o magos que en la Biblia tienen un papel tan importante? ¿De dónde vienen ellos? ¿Viajaban jun-tos, o uno por uno? ¿Qué pasó con ellos después de que salieron de la Tierra San-ta? La mayoría de estas preguntas no se pueden contestar con certeza, pero eso no indica que la historia de los Reyes Magos como se informó en el Evangelio de San Mateo no está lleno de significado teológi-co. En primer lugar, los Magos son extranjeros. En otras pala-bras, no son judíos y con toda probabilidad no sabían nada de las profecías del Antiguo Testamento acerca de un Mesías. Vinieron de muy lejos, probablemente de Persia, Babilonia y Arabia, guiados a la ciudad de Belén por un signo que habían visto en el cielo. En mi opinión, los Reyes Magos representan la sabiduría más profunda del mundo pagano o pre-cristiano, un mundo en el que había grandes filósofos, astrónomos y hombres sabios. Nuestra Iglesia siempre ha enseñado que Dios implantó su espíritu divino en los seres humanos desde el principio. Esto significa que muchas personas de cualquier raza, cultura o religión, y mucho antes del nacimiento de Je-sús, estaban tratando de entender el universo y el propósito de nuestra existencia. Así que estos reyes magos, cualesquiera que fuesen, habían descubierto al mismo tiempo, por cualquier ciencias secretas que empleaban, que la respuesta a estas preguntas desconcertantes estaba a punto de nacer; que la Divina Verdad desde arriba iba a entrar en el mundo en la per-sona de un niño nacido en un establo. ¿Y qué significa esta historia de los Reyes Magos para nosotros hoy, tan lejos en tiempo y lugar del nacimiento de Cristo? Tal vez significa esto: que en los 2,000 años desde el nacimiento de Jesús en Belén, el número de aquellos que se llaman católicos y cristianos es ahora más de 1.5 millones. Desde un pequeño movimiento que comenzó en la comunidad judía de Palestina, nuestra san-ta fe católica se ha extendido a todos los continentes del mun-do. Y cada día alguien descubre de nuevo a Jesucristo, y al igual que los Reyes Magos, viene a adorarlo. Que todos noso-tros seamos contados entre estos creyentes, y que - llenos de fe y esperanza - ayudemos a brillar la luz divina de Cristo en nuestro mundo oscuro. Padre Ulysses

Notes from the Pastor

OLMC WOMEN’S CLUB The OLMC Women’s Club would like to thank all of the wonderful women of our parish that have sup-ported our gatherings throughout the year. Be-cause of you, the OLMC Women's Club has been able to purchase Easter decorations, new chalices and will be helping with new decorations for Christ-mas. Please mark your calendars for our next din-ner Feb. 3rd at 6:30pm in the Small Hall. Have a Happy New Year!

Jubilee Year of Mercy January 3, 2016 The Epiphany of the Lord In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, Epiphany celebrates God’s mercy shining on the magi from a guiding star. Their kingdoms were far from Jeru‐salem, their religions far from God’s covenant with Israel. At first the star led the magi to Jerusalem, where they could “recalculate” their quest with the help of God’s own “GPS,” the Jewish scriptures. How challeng‐ing and humbling for the magi to discover that they would find the world’s Messiah not in a palace but with a poor couple in an insignificant village. That’s where God’s mercy, shining in the star, led the magi to worship Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Today the magi in‐vite us to “recalculate” our life’s journey during this Ju‐

bilee Year—to follow the star of God’s mercy along the way of humble love, to discover a re‐newed personal relationship with Jesus ourselves and so be‐

come “guiding stars” leading other seekers to find Je‐sus, too. —Peter Scagnelli, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.

Año Jubilar de la Misericordia 3 de enero de 2016 La Epifanía del Señor En este Año Jubilar de la Misericorida, la Epifanía celebra la misericordia de Dios brillando sobre los reyes magos desde la estrella que los guía. Sus reinos estaban

muy lejos de Jerusalén, sus religio‐nes muy lejos de la alianza de Dios con Israel. Al principio la estrella guió a los magos a Jerusalén en donde ellos podrían “recalcular” su búsqueda con la ayuda del propio “GPS” de Dios, las Escrituras ju‐días. Que humilde y consternado debió ser el momento en que los magos vieron al Mesías del mundo no en un palacio sino con una pa‐

reja pobre en un pueblito insignificante. Ahí es donde está la misericordia de Dios, brillando en la estrella que guió a los magos a adorar a Jesús, el Príncipe de la Paz. Hoy los reyes magos nos invitan a “recalcular” nuestro camino de vida durante este Año Jubilar, siguiendo la estrella de la misericordia de Dios a lo largo del camino de amor humilde, para descubrir una relación personal renovada con Jesús hacia nosotros mismos para que podamos convertirnos “estrellas guías” dirigiendo tam‐bién a otros buscadores a encontrar a Jesús. —Peter Scagnelli, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.

OLMC MEN’S CLUB

OLMC Men's Club meet every 2nd Thursday of the month. Next gathering will Thursday Jan 14, 6‐9 p.m. in the small hall. Proceed will go to support wor‐thy causes like scholarships for local kids and area char‐ities. Spread the word to new dads and gentlemen of our community. "Like" our Facebook page and post your pics to Facebook.com/OLMCMensClub.

Providing quality Catholic educa on for children in Preschool through grade 8 Now offering Transi onal Kindergarten!

Applica ons for 2016-2017 are now available and are due February 5, 2016.

Tours are provided every Wednesday and Friday at 9:00 am. Please call to register for a tour.

Open House

Sunday, January 31, 2016

11:00 am to 12:30 pm. 301 Grand Street |Redwood City, CA 94062 Tel. 650-366-6127 | www.mountcarmel.org

Since 1885

Saturday, January 2, 2016 5:00 PM Mollie Tonry † Sunday, January 3, 2016 Susan Doherty † 8:00 AM Guido de Santi † 10:00 AM Roberto & Martha Cardenas 12:00 PM (Español) (Wed.Annv)

Barbara Britschgi 5:00 PM (Birthday Blessings) Monday, January 4, 2016 8:15 AM Hoan Phan & Cuong Tran † Tuesday, January 5, 2016 8:15 AM Yxenia Contreras (Birthday Blessings) Wednesday, January 6, 2016 8:15 AM Dave Gonzales † Thursday, January 7, 2016 8:15 AM Parishioners of Mt. Carmel Friday, January 8, 2016 8:15 AM Josiah Harris † Saturday, January 9, 2016 8:15 AM Parishioners of Mt. Carmel

This week at Mt. Carmel Sunday, January 3, 2016: R.C.I.A. Session 9:00 am Chapel Children’s Liturgy 10:00 am Chapel Monday, January 4, 2016: Carismáticos (Directiva) 7:00 p.m. Old Chapel

Tuesday, January 5, 2016: Men’s Basketball 8:30 pm L. Hall

Wednesday, January 6, 2016: Grupo de Oración (Carismáticos) 7:00 pm L. Hall

Thursday, January 7, 2016: Good Grief 6:00 pm O. Chapel

Friday, January 8, 2016: Spanish Choir Rehearsal 7:00 pm P. Center

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SAINTS AN SPECIAL OBSERVANCES

Sunday: Epiphany of the Lord; National Migration Week Monday: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Tuesday: St. John Neumann Wednesday: St. André Bessette Thursday: St. Raymond of Penyafort; Julian Calendar Christmas