Archive for the ‘California’ Category

Today Christians Celebrate Feast of St. San Diego de Alcala de Henares (St. Didacus) – Please Pray For Us!

Tuesday, November 7th, 2023

St Didacus

St. Didacus (1400-1463)
Image: Univ of San Diego

(Franciscan Media) San Diego de Alcala de Henares (St. Didacus) was born in Spain Seville, his family were poor but God fearing according to Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala— While still quite young Didacus, joined the Third Order of St. Francis when he had scarcely reached young manhood and under the direction of a devout Tritiary Priest, he would serve God for a long period of time as a Hermit developing a reputation for great insight into God’s ways.

Didacus penances were heroic and he became so generous to the poor that the Friars sometimes grew uneasy about his charity. Didacus would volunteer for the Missions on the Canary Islands, laboring there energetically and profitably–while there, he became the Superior of a Friary.

In 1450 Franciscan Didacus was sent to Rome to attend the Canonization of Saint Bernardine of Siena (Feast Day: 20 May) when many Friars that had gathered there for the celebration fell sick, Didacus stayed caring for them for 3 months. Following Didacus return to Spain, he pursued a contemplative life full time, showing the Friars the wisdom of the ways of God.

When Didacus felt the end of his life was nearing, he requested an old worn-out habit, so that he may die in it, as the true son of the poor St. Francis. Before breathing his last, Didacus looked at a Crucifix and said:

“O faithful wood, O precious nails. You have borne an exceedingly sweet burden, for you have been judged worthy to bear the Lord and King of Heaven.”

Didacus passed away in November 1463 at the Franciscan Monastery in Spain Alcala holding a Crucifix to his heart. — Didacus was Canonized in 1588 by Pope Sixtus V

St. Didacus (St. San Diego de Alcala de Henares) is the Patron Saint for both the City and University of San Diego, California

Today Christians Celebrate Feast of St. Louis of Toulouse, Patron Saint of Mission San Luis Obispo, Please Pray For Us!

Friday, August 18th, 2023

St Louis of Toulouse

St. Louis of Toulouse (1274-1297)
Image: Pax Et Bonum

(Franciscan Media) Born in Italy Nocera the son of Charles II of Anjou, King of Naples according to SQPN and Great-Nephew of Saint Louis IX (Feast Day: 25 August) and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (Feast Day: 17 November) Louis at an early age exhibited early signs of attachment to prayer and compassion to those in need. As a child, he would take food from the castle to feed the poor.

When Louis was 14 yrs old, he along with two of his brothers were taken as hostages to the King of Aragon’s Court as part of a political deal involving their father. At the Court, Louis was tutored by the Franciscan Friars under which he made great progress both in his studies and spiritually — Like St.Francis of Assisi Louis developed a very special love for those afflicted with leprosy.

While still a hostage, Louis decided to renounce his royal title in favor of his brother Robert and was Ordained a Priest at the age of 23 — Very shortly thereafter Fr. Louis was appointed Bishop of Toulouse.

The Franciscan spirit pervaded Fr. Louis: “Jesus Christ is all my riches, He alone is sufficient for me,” Bishop Louis of Toulouse kept repeating.

Even as Bishop, Fr. Louis continued to wear the Franciscan Habit and sometimes would yet go out a beg for charity–Bishop Louis of Toulouse assigned a Friar to offer him correction, in public if necessary and the Friar always did his job.

Bishop Louis of Toulouse service to the Diocese was richly blessed, in no time he was considered a Saint — Bishop Louis of Toulouse set aside 75% of his income to feed the poor and maintain Churches, each day he would feed on average 25 poor people at his table.

On this date in 1297 at the age of 23, Bishop Louis of Toulouse fell asleep in the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ — In  1317 Bishop Louis of Toulouse was Canonized by Pope John XXII

  • Publishers Note: Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was the 5th California Mission founded in 1772 and named after St. Louis of Toulous by Fr. Junipero Serra who was Canonized by Pope Francis, during the Holy Father’s visit to the United States in September, 2015

Today Christians Honor St. Junipero Serra, First Saint of California – Please Pray For Us!

Saturday, July 1st, 2023

Blessed Junipero Serra

St. Junipero Serra (1713-1784)
Image: Tinh Than

Just after Canonizing the first Saint of Sri Lanka St. Joseph Vaz, Pope Francis announced that he would also be Canonizing the first Saint of California–Blessed Junipero Serra, in 2015

“We are grateful to our Holy Father Pope Francis for this gift to California and the America’s,” said Archbishop Jose Gomez of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, in a 2015 statement — “Its wonderful  to think that this new Saint once walked the road that is now the Hollywood Fwy and called it El Camino Real: The King’s Highway.”

St. Junipero Serra was born on Spain’s island of Mallorca according to Franciscan Media and entered the Franciscan Order, taking the name of St. Francis’ childlike companion  Brother Juniper. Until he was 35, he spent most of his time in the classroom, first as a student of theology and then following his Ordination as a professor.

Suddenly he gave this all up and followed his yearning that had begun years before when he had heard about the missionary work of St. Francis Solanus in South America — Fr. Junipero’s desire was to evangelize the native people of Mexico and California and he established the first 9 of California’s 21 Missions, used to teach American Indians Catholicism and learn new skills such as growing crops and raising livestock that would help improve their standard of living.

Dubbed ‘The Evangelizer of the West in the United States,” by Pope Francis, St. Serra was most known for his zeal and determination, both physically and spiritually.

St. Junipero Serra missionary motto has been described as, “Never turn back.” According to several reports, once Fr. Junipero landed on Mexico’s shores with his companions, he insisted on walking the more than 200 miles to Mexico City. During this trek, Fr. Junipero suffered an infected insect sting on his leg that would affect him for the rest of his life. — Fr. Juniper’s fierce determination, also led him to baptize more than 6,000 people and confirm another 5,000

Fr. Junipero reputation as a ‘Great Evangelizer’ of his time is on par with several other Saints Canonized by Pope Francis, including the recent St. Joseph Vaz of Sri Lanka, St. Peter Faber of France, St. Jose Anchieta of Brazil, together with St. Francois de Laval and St. Marie of the Incarnation of Canada.

According to Gregory Orfalea, author of Journey to the Sun: Junipero Serra’s Dream and the Founding of California, “evangelization is one of the several things Blessed Junipero and Pope Francis have in common.

“Serra talked about how Faith seemed to have dried up in (Spain) Mallorca,” Orfalea said in an email interview. “The Native Americans surely resurrected it. So evangelizing for both Pope Francis and Padre Serra was a two-way street of redemption.”

Similarly, both Pope Francis and St. Junipero Serra, experienced success in the academic world but preferred to be in the streets serving the poor, Orfalea said. They also came from similar backgrounds in religious orders.

“I sometimes think (Pope) Francis is a Franciscan Jesuit and (Junipero) Serra a Jesuit Franciscan,” Orfalea said.

Pope Francis had waived the customary requirement of a second miracle in the Canonization cause of St. Junipero Serra — Beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1988, Blessed Junipero Serra’s first miracle was the inexplicable cure of a dying Nun with kidney failure in St. Louis in the 1960s — Pope Francis announced that the Canonization of Blessed Junipero Serra would take place during the Holy Father’s visit to the United States in September, 2015

More here from USCCB

Related: On The Mercy of God – A Spiritual Meditation from the Writings of St. Junipero Serra

Today Christians Celebrate Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, Patron Saint of California & Anti-Marxists, Please Pray For Us!

Monday, May 1st, 2023

St Joseph the Worker

‘Saint Joseph the Worker’ Holy Card
Image: Catholic Springtime

(Franciscan Media) Today we celebrate the Feast of ‘St. Joseph the Worker’ (established by Pope Pius XII in 1955 in order to Christianize the concept of labor) in response to ‘May Day’ celebrations by Communists.

Joseph the carpenter of Nazareth reminds us of the dignity and importance of labor (that some in our day seriously lack the initiative of, I digress) and that work is part of God’s plan for the world by responsibly cultivating the goods of creation, we grow in dignity as men and women made in God’s image.

By the daily labor in his shop, Joseph offered to God the patience and joy of providing the necessities to his Holy Spouse and of the incarnate Son of God an example to all laborers.

“Workman and all those laboring in conditions of poverty will have reasons to rejoice rather than grieve, since they have in common with the Holy Family daily preoccupations and cares.” –Pope Leo XIII

The texts of the Mass and the Liturgy of the hours provide a catechetical  synthesis  of the significance of labor seen in the light of faith.

The Opening Prayer states: “O God, Creator of all things, who laid down for the human race the Law of Work, graciously grant that by the example of St. Joseph and under his patronage, we may complete the works You set us to do and attain the rewards You promise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son (Jesus!) who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever.”

The Office of Readings, is taken from the document of the Second Vatican Council on the Church in the modern world.

In every type of labor that we do, we are obeying the Command of God given in Genesis 2:15 –“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till (work the soil) and keep it.” 

The liturgy for today’s feast vindicates the right to work and this message that needs to be heard and heeded especially in our day.

There is a special dignity and value to the work done caring for ones family (and extended family) The Office of Readings contains an excerpt from the Vatican II document on the modern world:

“For while providing the substance of life for themselves and their families, men and women are performing their activities in a way which appropriately befits society, The can justly consider that by their labor they are unfolding the Creator’s work, consulting the advantages of their brother men and are contributing by their personal industry to the realization in history of the divine plan.” —Gaudium Et Spes –Man’s Activity Throughout the World –No. 34

More here from Catholic Culture

Related: For Today’s Holy Scripture Readings for the Memorial of St. Joseph The Worker -USCCB

Today Christians Commemorate St. Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Martyr For Jesus Christ – Please Pray For Us!

Friday, March 24th, 2023

Archbishop Oscar Romero(CNA) On Sunday, 22 March, 2015 in Los Angeles, over 3,000 people gathered at the ‘Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels’ for Mass in honor of Archbishop Romero’s Beatification (in San Salvador on the 23 May) and prayed that his ‘shining example’ of sacrificial love and his alliance and friendship with the poor and oppressed will continue to be fruitful.

“Archbishop Romero preached nonviolence and reconciliation in a time of hate and vengeance,” Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles said in his Homily Sunday, adding that he, “Spoke out against every form of violence, every violation of the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person,” noting that this included “the violence of abortion.”

Sunday 22 March, 2015 Holy Mass, marked the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Romero during his celebration of Mass in a small Chapel outside of San Salvador.

The proclamation by Pope Francis confirming that Archbishop Romero died a martyr followed a vote by Theologians at the ‘Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints’ in January that Romero was murdered in “hatred of the faith.”

Archbishop Romero Radio BroadcastArchbishop Oscar Romero — El Salvador’s Most Trusted News Source

Catholic Agency For Overseas Development worked closely with Archbishop Romero during the 1970s supporting his famous Sunday radio broadcasts which — at a time of heavy press censorship, were often times the only means by which people in El Salvador, knew the truth about the atrocities occurring in their country.

A vocal critic of the country’s military dictatorship, the Sunday before his assassination, Archbishop Oscar Romero’s homily called upon Salvadoran soldiers to disobey their orders if asked to attack innocent civilians — his homily ended with the words: “In the name of God, I urge you, I plead with you, I order you—Stop the killing.”

Archbishop Jose Gomez said that Archbishop Romero is “a shining example to all of us,” showing us humility and courage, love for the poor and his “witness of solidarity and service to others, even to the point of laying down his life.”

More here from Franciscan Media

Please Help Our Friends at Mission For The Homeless

Thursday, October 14th, 2021

Do to others as you would have them do to you. –Luke 6:31

San Francisco Bay Area Missions is very pleased to introduce you to our good friends at Mission For The Homeless in Oakland, a nondenominational non-profit ministry that we’ve been very blessed to know, helping our poor and homeless friends every day of the year by providing food, tents, blankets, socks, hats, gloves personal hygiene products and prayers.

We’d very much appreciate if you would kindly consider making a donation to them as their operating expenditures are quite limited for a need that is so great. You may be assured that 100% of every dollar donated always goes to help those much less fortunate than any of us.

For More Information Visit: Mission For The Homeless@Facebook

Donate By PayPal: Mission For The Homeless

Thank You Very Much — God Bless!

“Through Prayer We Touch The Heart Of Jesus…”

Tuesday, July 9th, 2019

Prayer“Prayer is always the beginning of peace in our world because through prayer, we touch the heart of Jesus who is our peace. His way of love opens the path to forgiveness and reconciliation–with God, with others and following His way of love means we are called top be peacemakers. We need to be working for greater understanding among peoples and greater awareness that we are all Sisters and Brothers in God’s family.” —Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, Los Angeles

An Inspiration Of Time With God For Today

Monday, March 4th, 2019

How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?  Let us love not in word or speech but in truth and action. –1 John 3:17-18

God Is Judge

The Lord is always watching what people do, everything they do is as clear as day to Him. None of their sins are hidden from Him, He is aware of them all. When we give to the poor, the Lord considers it as precious as a valuable ring. Human kindness is as precious to Him as life itself. Later He will judge the wicked and punish them, they will get what they deserve but the Lord will allow those who repent to return to Him. He always gives encouragement to those who are losing hope. –Sirach 17:19-24

The Joy Of Forgiveness

Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

While I kept silence, my body wasted away, through groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to You and I did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” You forgave the guilt of my sin.

Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to You; At a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.

You are a hiding place for me; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with glad cries of deliverance. –Psalm 32:1-7

Related: For Today’s Bible Readings and More Visit: -USCCB

Antisemitism: San Francisco Police Need Your Help In Locating Black Racist That Drew Swastika at BART Station

Saturday, October 28th, 2017

VIA: SF GATE

(Watch) Student Confronts UC Berkeley Administrator

Monday, September 25th, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMkgzFuJrMg

H/T: Jasmine Lee