26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

09-30-2018Weekly Reflection

For whoever is not against us is for us.” (Mk. 9:40)

Jesus is inviting his disciples to be more open toward those who are not within the formal bounds of the Christian community, and not to consider them as foes. He also teaches us to acknowledge and encourage those who may not be of our own kin or kind, of our own community but who collaborate with us in our work for His kingdom.

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Stepping Closer to Jesus

09-23-2018Weekly ReflectionCatholic Stewardship Consultants, Inc.

This week’s readings teach us that living as Christian stewards requires us to swim against the tide of our “me-first” culture and stake out a path for our lives that may be different from that of our neighbors, friends or co-workers.

Jesus illustrates in today’s Gospel. “Taking a child, He placed it in their midst, and putting His arms around it, He said to them, ‘Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.’”

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Stewardship of Giving

09-16-2018Weekly Reflection

What is discipleship? Discipleship is living as Christ called us to live. It is following to the best of our abilities the perfect model that He provides us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that it is ‘a vocation to holiness and to the mission of evangelizing the world.’ (CCC1513) ‘as we are called to follow and imitate Christ’ (CCC520).

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Live the Liturgy

09-09-2018Weekly Reflection

We often associate the word "healing" with something that produces dramatic, physical results: the blind see, the crippled walk, and the deaf hear. Witnessing such miraculous events is few and far between for most. Healing happens more frequently in very ordinary ways using very ordinary means. Andwe can all be God's instruments for bringing it about.

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Stewardship of Formation Part 2

09-02-2018Weekly ReflectionCatholic Stewardship Consultants, Inc.

In today’s Gospel from Mark, Jesus instructs us in the best way we can honor Him, teaching us the meaning of true worship. Jesus reveals that the way we truly worship Him is by giving Him our hearts. We also learn in this Gospel passage what our Lord does not want — the pious lip service that the scribes and Pharisees offer.

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Stewardship of Formation

08-26-2018Weekly ReflectionCatholic Stewardship Consultants, Inc.

Formation is the product of education and practice. It’s an on-going cycle of applied learning. Without practice, it’s simply facts or knowledge. Without education action is often, and even most likely, misdirected and ineffective. The result of good formation is increased awareness. The old adage “The more you know, the more you know how little you know:” fits. Consider this as you read the question below:

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The Eucharist is the foundation for...

08-19-2018Weekly ReflectionCatholic Stewardship Consultants, Inc.

Jesus said to the crowd, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life….” We can hardly blame the crowd for their shock at this statement — eating the Flesh and drinking the Blood of our Lord should cause us a bit of a shock. Yet how easy it is to show up at Mass Sunday after Sunday, receiving the Eucharist as simply part of a weekly routine.

If we really spent time contemplating the gift our Lord is offering us in this sacrament, we would be awestruck at the
love and power in this gift. Through it, our Lord is giving us the very best He has to give — Himself. Not even the greatest theological scholar or the holiest of saints can fully understand this mystery.

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Live with what Sustains Us

08-15-2018Weekly ReflectionTracy Earl Welliver, MTS

You sit down at a restaurant and order drinks and an appetizer. Then you order an entrée with a salad. When all of that has been consumed, you order a dessert. You leave after having had a good time, but your pants don’t fit so well now. You are so full you regret ordering all those courses. Your eyes were bigger than your stomach. You ordered what you wanted and not what you needed.

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Faith is possible or for those that seek Truth

08-12-2018Weekly Reflection

Have you ever approached a hushed group and were certain they were talking about you? It's an uncomfortable feeling to catch people murmuring about what you did, said, or didn't do. It breeds division and exclusion. In today's Gospel, Jesus invites us to just the opposite.

The reading opens with the crowds "murmuring" their doubts about Jesus after he has proclaimed himself the Bread of Life. "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? how can he say 'I have come down from heaven?'" In his response, Jesus brings up the Israelites and the manna God brought them in the desert. If you turn back to the story in Exodus, you'll see another similar word: murmuring. As the going got tough, the Israelites doubted Moses and God's plan to protect and care for them as a chosen people. Here, Jesus proposes a difficult theological concept. Jesus himself is "the living bread" and "flesh for the life of the world."

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Let Go and Let God

08-05-2018Weekly ReflectionTracy Earl Welliver, MTS

As human beings, we seem to have a wide array of insatiable desires. We long for more money, more time, and more stuff. We spend millions of dollars each year on remedies for our overeating. We look to our neighbors to see what they have that we want so we can keep up with them in the race toward happiness. We look for instant gratification only to find that our hunger for whatever it is remains intact.

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Jesus Honors our Simple Loaves and Fishes

07-29-2018Weekly Reflection

Have you ever wanted to be part of something bigger? Even the most independent among us likes to make changes and have an impact on others. In this Sunday's Gospel reading, Jesus demonstrates one of his most iconic miracles -- the multiplication of the loaves. It is a sign of the institution of the Eucharist, when we are fed not by bread but by the Body of Christ.

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Welcome our new Maintenance/Custodian, Ray Lopez

07-22-2018Weekly Reflection

Ray was born and raised in the California Bay Area. He is the youngest of 6 kids! Ray excelled in football, wrestling, and baseball all throughout grade school and high school. Ray grew up as a Parishioner of Saint Martins in San Jose! He has over 25 years work experience.

While in the Bay Area, he was a contractor for some of Silicon Valley’s finest corporations. He was onsite working in facilities at Apple Computer and Oracle Corporation to name a couple. He was hired as a Facilities Manager for a Software gaming company. He spent 6 years with them. He moved to Arizona in 2003. He then went to work as a Service Technician for a Phoenix based medical equipment company. He was with them for 15 years.

Ray and his wife have 4 daughters and 4 grandchildren. Ray is an avid SF Giants, SF 49’rs, and Golden State Warriors Fan. He loves the beach ,camping, traveling, sports and being outdoors.

Jesus Sends You

07-15-2018Weekly Reflection

"He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two." This Sunday we read the first sending of the Apostles to preach, teach, and heal. For many of us, it can be easy to think we "just don't have enough" to be disciples and evangelists ourselves. We don't have enough education and training. We don't have enough experience talking to people about Jesus. We don't pray enough. We don't have enough faith.

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I say to you, arise!

07-01-2018Weekly Reflection

Today's Gospel offers a rare framework - a story in a story. Most of the healing miracles are standalone encounters. One person approaches Jesus, demonstrates faith, and is healed. The evangelist tells the next story. This Gospel, however, is different. Jesus is on his way to heal one person, a young girl of twelve, and is interrupted on his journey by "a woman afflicted with hemorrhages." She bravely approaches Jesus in a crowd, despite being ritually unclean from her bleeding, and stretches out to touch his cloak. She is healed! Jesus meets her eye, confirms her faith, and continues on to resurrect the young girl.

Reading this passage, it might be easier to identify with one story - the long-suffering woman or the young, innocent girl - and to move past the other. But here they sit side by side. The girl is twelve. The woman has been suffering for twelve years. For the Gospel writers, number parallels have deep symbolic meaning.

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