Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church 300 Fulton Street ▪ Redwood City, CA 94062 Tel. (650) 366-3802 ▪ Fax: (650) 366-1421 [email protected] [email protected] ▪ www.mountcarmel.org

The Epiphany of the Lord January 06, 2019 Parish Center Hours Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Parish Phones Parish Center Office: (650) 366-3802 Pastor’s Office: (650) 306-9583 Religious Education Office: (650) 368-8237 Mt. Carmel School Office: (650) 366-6127 Mt. Carmel Pre-School: (650) 366-6587 Parish Staff Pastor: Rev. Ulysses D’Aquila Deacon: Rev. Mr. Thomas J. Boyle Principal: Dr. Deborah Farrington Administrative Assistant: Ivette Meléndez Director of Religious Ed.: Magdalena Hernández Youth Confirmation: Judy Draper Director of Music: Bianca Remlinger Pre-School Director: Maureen Arnott

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

Baptisms / Bautismos Levántate y resplandece, Rise up in splendor, Jerusalén, porque ha Jerusalem! Your light llegado tu luz y la gloria has come, the glory of del Señor alborea sobre ti. the Lord shines upon — Isaías 60:1 you. — Isaiah 60:1

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.

Notes from the Pastor

Notas del Párroco

When I was a boy living in Spain with my family, it was on the Feast of Three Kings or Epiphany that children received gifts rather than on Christmas as in the United States. This properly extended the season of Christmas beyond December 25th to January 6th which was a very big day among Spanish families. Everywhere you went in Madrid you would see Three Kings decorations, Nativity scenes with Melchior, Balthasar and Gaspar in their beautiful robes, and in the bakeries the special ‘King’ cake that was eaten on that day. Remembering 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 separately? What happened to them after they left the Holy Land? Did they tell others about what they had seen?” These questions cannot be answered with any historical certainty, but that doesn’t mean that the story of the three Wise Men as reported in the Gospels is not profoundly significant. First of all, we know that the Magi are not from the Holy Land. They’re not Jewish and probably would have known nothing or little of the Old Testament prophecies about the long-anticipated Messiah. Instead, they came from far distant countries, most likely Persia, Babylonia and Arabia, guided to the little town of Bethlehem by a sign they have seen in the skies. In my opinion, the Magi represent the profound wisdom of many pre-Christian cultures in which there were certainly 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 for many centuries wise people of various races, cultures and religions had been seeking to understand the universe and the meaning of life. These Magi had discovered, by whatever methods and knowledge available to them, that the answer to these mysterious questions was about to be born; that Divine Truth from Heaven would 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? 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 Christians is now over 1.5 billion. From a small movement that began among 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. Father Ulysses.

Cuando era un niño viviendo en España con mi familia, era durante la Fiesta de los Tres Reyes o la Epifanía que los niños recibieron sus regalos en lugar de la Navidad como en los Estados Unidos. Esto extendió correctamente la temporada de Navidad más allá del 25 de diciembre al 6 de enero, que fue un gran día para las familias españolas. En todas las vitrinas de Madrid, uno vería decoraciones de los Reyes Magos, belenes con Melchor, Baltasar y Gaspar en sus hermosas túnicas, y en las panaderías el pastel especial que se comia ese día. Recordando todo esto, me hizo preguntarme: “¿Quiénes fueron estos Reyes misteriosos, hombres sabios o Magos que en la Biblia tienen un papel tan interesante en la Natividad de Jesús? ¿De dónde vienen? ¿Viajaron juntos o por separado? ¿Qué les pasó después de que salieron de la Tierra Santa? ¿Le contaron a otros lo que habían visto?" Estas preguntas no pueden responderse con certeza histórica, pero eso no significa que la historia de los tres Reyes Magos tal como se informa en los Evangelios no sea profundamente significativa. En primer lugar, sabemos que los Magos no son de Tierra Santa. No son judíos, y probablemente no saben nada o muy poco de las profecías del Antiguo Testamento sobre el Mesías tan esperado. En cambio, provenían de países muy distantes, probablemente Persia, Babilonia y Arabia, guiados a la pequeña ciudad de Belén por una señal que habían visto en los cielos. En mi opinión, los magos representan la profunda sabiduría de muchas culturas pre-cristianas en las que ciertamente había filósofos, astrónomos y aquellos que buscaban el propósito espiritual de la vida humana. Nuestra Iglesia siempre ha enseñado que Dios implantó su espíritu divino en los seres humanos desde el principio. Esto significa que durante muchos siglos personas sabias de diversas razas, culturas y religiones habian estado buscando entender el universo y el significado de la vida. Estos magos habían descubierto, por cualquier método y conocimiento disponible a ellos, que la respuesta a estas misteriosas preguntas estaba por nacer; que esa Verdad Divina del Cielo entraría en el mundo en la persona de un niño pequeño nacido en un establo. ¿Y qué significa para nosotros esta historia de los Reyes Magos hoy? Tal vez significa esto: que en los 2,000 años desde el nacimiento de Jesús en Belén, el número de los que se llaman a sí mismos cristianos católicos es ahora más de 1.5 mil millones. Desde un pequeño movimiento que comenzó entre la comunidad judía de Palestina, nuestra santa fe católica se ha extendido a todos los continentes del mundo. Y cada día alguien en algún lugar descubre a Cristo de nuevo, y como los Reyes Magos, viene a adorarlo. Que todos seamos incluidos entre esos creyentes, y que nosotros, llenos de fe y esperanza, ayudemos a hacer brillar la luz divina de Cristo en nuestro mundo en tinieblas. Padre Ulysses.

We Made It! Archdiocesan Annual Appeal 2018. Thanks to some very generous donations in the last few weeks, we were able to reach our assessed goal of $72,821, the amount we owe to the Archdiocese by the end of this month. A very grateful “Thank you!” to all those who contributed to the Archdiocesan Annual Appeal for 2018.

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Today’s Second Collection is for our Parish Facilities and Improvement Fund. This collection helps us to maintain our church and other parish facilities in good condition, to do the repairs and upgrades that are needed, and to cover the gardening needs of the Parish.

Parish Collection Envelopes We still have a number of Collection Envelope packets that were not picked up when the envelopes were in the vestibule. If you are a user of the parish collection envelopes and did not get yours, please come to the Parish Center between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday to retrieve your packet.

Men’s Club Thursday January 10,

6-9 p.m. in the Small Hall.

Curry Night Chicken and shrimp vindaloo Lamb curry, Tandoori Chicken, Samosas Cucumber salad Naan and Rice No February Dinner - Enjoy Valentine's Day with your Sweetheart. But mark your calendars for the Mens Club Crab Feed on Saturday February 9. Ticket information is coming.

ELECTRONIC DONATIONS VANCOPAYMENTS.COM is

Next Week’s Second Collection Our Second Collection will be for our Religious Education Program.

created to facilitate the process of donations, if you wish to make your donations to the Church electronically or by Credit Card, please see our website,

an agency

www.mountcarmel.org

press Donate and follow the easy instructions. May God reward your generosity.

Saturday, January 05, 2019 05:00 PM Maria Josefina Ramirez † Sunday, January 06, 2019 08:00 AM Aimme Santiago (Int.) 10:00 AM Joe and Ana Phan † 12:00 PM Silvia Calderon y Fam. (Int.) 05:00 PM Pro-Populo Monday, January 07, 2019 08:15 AM Josiah Harris † Tuesday, January 08, 2019 08:15 AM Kerry Lewis † Wednesday, January 09, 2019 08:15 AM Jay Sayo Agtarap † Thursday, January 10, 2019 08:15 AM Baongoc Pham (Int.) Friday, January 11, 2019 08:15 AM Dave † and Maryann Gonzales Saturday, January 12, 2019 08:15 AM Alfred Absi †

Welcome Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Registration Form The following confidential information will be entered in our parish data system. It is only for the purpose of knowing and serving you better. Name (s): ______________________________ Address: _______________________________ City:_________________ zip:______________ Telephone:_____________________________ e-mail:_________________________________ Others in your household:________________ Number of adults over 18 years of age: _____ Number of children under 18 years of age: ___ Would you like a parishioner number in order to register your donations? _____

Sunday:

SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES

Monday:

The Epiphany of the Lord; Blessing of the Home; National Migration Week St. Raymond of Penyafort; Julian Calendar Christmas

GOOD GRIEF MINISTRY The loss of every loved one creates many changes, challenges and much pain. “Good Grief”, an ongoing support group, meets every Thursday at the Parish Center, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. We care, We share. Do come,

The Giving Tree Because of the great kindness of our parishioners who brought toys for the Giving Tree, we have been able to serve over 73 needy families of this area by providing Christmas toys for their children. As the parents picked up the toys from the Parish Center, so many of them expressed their gratitude. These are hard-working families whose incomes barely cover the high rents they must pay here in Redwood City. So the help we have given them in making their children’s holiday brighter is very much appreciated. Thank you one and all.

OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL #919128 300 Fulton St. Redwood City, CA 94062 CONTACT PERSON Ivette Meléndez, Bulletin Editor: 650-366-3802 Fr. Ulysses D’Aquila, Pastor: 650-306-9583 EMAIL ADDRESS [email protected] SOFTWARE Microsoft ®Publisher 2007 Adobe®Acrobat®X Window7® PRINTER Toshiba e studio 3055c TRANSMISSION TIME By 11:00 a.m. On Wednesday SUNDAY OF PUBLICATION January 06, 2019 NUMBER OF PAGES SENT 1 through 6 SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS