Dear Parishioners:
- COUNTING DOWN TO ONLY 1 MORE WEEKS … Please, mark your calendar and plan to bring your family to our Parish 25th Anniversary Day – Sunday, September 22nd, a combined 10:00 AM Mass ONLY at Prince of Peace Parish; following with a luncheon reception. Remember NO Saturday Mass.
Please pray for the success of this Anniversary Event for our parish community.
- Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel is often referred to as the “lost and found” collection of the New Testament. The chapter begins with the parable of lost sheep, followed by the parable of lost coin, reaching its climate with the parable of prodigal son (15:11-32) which is at the heart of today's Gospel.
At different times in our lives, most of us have played each of the roles in this story: that of the loving and apparently overindulgent parent; that of the younger son whose sinfulness and pride have made him in desperate need of mercy; the older son, responsible and above reproach, but upset at the generosity and leniency with which the weaknesses and sins of others are being treated.
We are told that younger boy “squandered his property”. The son apparently traveled a long way, imagining that he would find in some other country the happiness and excitement he had apparently not found in his own land – and the result was just the opposite. The elder brother is concrete in condemning his younger brother’s behavior; telling his father how the younger brother has “devoured your money with prostitutes”.
How easy it is, when we are angry with someone, to imagine the worst about them, to speculate about their faults and failings and magnify them to incredible proportions!
By this parable, Jesus overturns our expectations and categories and challenges us to see our relationships from a radically new and different perspective – “to see as God sees.” We must abandon the image – all too common among people of religious faith – of God as the heavenly accountant, poised to pounce on the slightest mistake. We must never forget the words of a saintly person once said: “All that God looks for from us is the slightest opening and he forgives a multitude of sins.”
- Please be generous to C.H.D. Collection. Today, there’s a second collection; Annually, this special collection comes to our attention in order to challenge us to bring HOPE to the poor and spread the good news of the Gospel to all. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development allocates funds to community projects to support the efforts of low-income people seeking to change the social, political and economic conditions that perpetuate poverty. The Catholic Communication Campaign was created to place the means of communication in service to the truth at the local and national level.
- If you ever been asked to share or explain your faith… and hesitate of how to start …!!! Come and join with “other inquirers” to learn, share and refresh the gift of our Catholic faith. The RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adult) Team is ready to begin preparing for the people who God call and through the help of all the parishioners of our parish community to recommend for exploring or renewing or deepening in the Catholic Faith.
Please talk to the RCIA Team Members. Please check the bulletin in regard to any Religious Programs or call the Religious Office for more information.
Christ’s Peace,
Fr. Phuong Hoang