English Español Mary Immaculate
Catholic Church / Pacoima, CA

The Transfiguration

Second Sunday of Lent

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Today, the second Sunday of Lent, we remember that the Transfiguration is an invitation of hope. Christ is strengthening and supporting the apostles for the reality which will fall hard on them: his passion and his death. It is, in a way, the anticipation for his resurrection and his glorification. It is a first step towards hope for us who live in constant battle and suffering: for “if God is with us, who can be against us?”

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Let us place our trust in the transfigured Christ, let us raise our eyes to heaven, and let us never cease to reach Him… We are called to participate in the glory of Christ. “Rabbi, it is good that we are here!” said the apostles. It is so wonderful to be with Christ. Isn’t that what we always say? “This is my beloved son, listen to him”. The Father invites us to hear his Son, Jesus Christ. To hear the son is to hear God. We hear the son: in the revealed Word, in the Teaching of the Church, in every Eucharist in which we participate, in each of the Sacraments, in our prayers, in the most ordinary events of the day…Let us ask of the Lord that he helps us become “transfigured”, that he be with us in our journey together every day in every event, faithful to Christ, not only in this season of Lent, but always and everywhere. God bless you.

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Lent

Theological and Liturgical Meaning

  • Lent is a sacramental sign which is offered as an interpretation of the Christian life in the light of the symbolic value that the number 40 has in Sacred Scripture, patristic and ancient liturgy.
  • This number refers to certain biblical events that has highlighted the salvation of God.
  • Lent is a time of testing, as they were Israel forty years in the desert.
  • It is also of prayer and fasting, as the stay of Moses at Sinai and Elijah march to Mount Orbe
  • It is a time of penance and conversion, as in Nineveh in the time of Jonah
  • Finally, it symbolizes the forty days of temptation of Jesus.

Ash Wednesday

This day was ordinarily intended to impose penance to public sinners. The rite of ashes is taken from Jewish tradition as a sign of mourning and sorrow; when the practice of public penance declined, it was imposed to all the faithful (IX century). The liturgical reform has reinterpreted this rite as a sign of a desire for Easter conversion and reconciliation.

World Meeting of Families

Held every three years and sponsored by the Pontifical Council of the Holy See’s for the Family, the World Meeting of Families is the world’s largest Catholic gathering of families. Each World Meeting of Families has a theme that energizes and enlivens the event while adding great depth of meaning to our understanding of families. The theme of the World Meeting of Families – Philadelphia 2015 is “Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive,” emphasizing the impact of the love and life of families on our society.

“The family which experiences the joy of faith communicates it naturally. That family is the salt of the earth and the light of the world; it is the leaven in our society”. — Pope Francis

Canonization of Junipero Serra September 2015

Father Serra came from Spain in December 1749, before coming to California he walked 300 kilometers to devote his mission at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The first preaching of the Gospel in this country was carried out by Spanish missionaries who came from Mexico under the sign of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Father Serra was bold and eloquent in fighting the civil authorities to defend humility and rights of the indigenous peoples.

“The canonization of Father Serra gives an important sign in this new era of globalization and cultural encounter.” — Archbishop Jose Gomez

Saints & Special Observances

Sunday: Second Sunday of Lent; Penitential Rite for Candidates for Full Communion
Tuesday: St. Katharine Drexel
Wednesday: St. Casimir; Purim (Jewish observance) begins at sunset
Friday: First Friday; World Day of Prayer; Abstinence
Saturday: Ss. Perpetua and Felicity; First Saturday

News

  • Pray for the sick of our community of Mary Immaculate especially for Mr. Roberto Caudillo who serves at our parish school.
  • Pray for the health of baby Josie Edwards
  • Congratulations to our priest Fr. Cesar Bejarano for his 18 years x __ ?
  • Pray for couples who celebrate a wedding anniversary

May God bless you today and always!

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