I really can’t express in words how grateful my brother and sisters and I are with the great outpouring of cards, flowers, prayers, Mass intentions and donations, that we have received in memory of my mother. We are truly overwhelmed. Thank you to everyone.

We were blessed to have been able to provide mom with wonderful caregivers and hospice people. The services received were exceptional. Mom was also grateful to the Sisters of Mercy and the priests and sister of Our Lady of Angels parish who visited and brought her the Eucharist.

The grief support group of St. Robert’s has already approached me. Based on my experience when my dad died, 18 years ago, I know I will find comfort and support from them.

As I mentioned in my last letter, I have become more aware of the many families and individuals who find themselves in similar situations. We need to continue to pray as a community for all who are suffering from life threatening illnesses and for their families and caregivers. I am concerned for those who have to face these issues without the same family and support that we were able to provide and receive. God in your goodness, please watch over them.

Thank you all for the good that you do for me and for all God’s people. I beg your patience as my mind plays tricks on me and I sometimes do not respond as I think I should. They tell me that this is also part of the grieving process.

Monday-March 27th
Readings: Is 65:17-21 - Jn 4:43-54

Tuesday-March 28th
Readings: Ez 47:1-9,12 - Jn 5:1-16

Wednesday-March 29th
Readings: Is 49:8-15 - Jn 5:17-30

Thursday-March 30th
Readings: Ex 32:7-14 j- Jn 5:31-47

Friday-March 31st
Readings: Wis 2:1a,12-22 - Jn 7:1-2,10,25-30

Saturday-April 1st
Readings: Jer 11:18-20 - Jn 7:40-53

We continue to ask each week that parishioners pray for the chronically ill of our parish. If you have a friend or loved one in need of our parish prayers please call the Rectory at 589-2800.

You are invited to participate in Stations of the Cross, each Friday in Lent, at 6 pm, in the Church. A Soup Supper will follow in Hennessy Hall. This is a light sacrificial meal and an opportunity for members of our Parish family to get to know one another. Please put in the basket provided the amount you would have spent on your usual Friday dinner. Your donation will allow our St. Vincent de Paul Society to feed our sisters and brothers less fortunate than we.

Early Church History

The Church and Ecology

On the World Day of Peace in 1990, Pope John Paul II said, “The ecological crisis is a moral issue [that] has assumed such proportions as to be the responsibility of everyone.” In response, the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops issued the pastoral letter, Renewing the Earth in which they insist that “the ecological problem is intimately connected to justice for the poor. “How,” they ask, “may we apply our social teaching, with its emphasis on the life and dignity of the human person, to the challenge of protecting the earth, our common home?” Sister Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ writes of the two approaches to the ecological crisis we face: the stewardship model which envisions the Earth in the service of humans and the kinship model which envisions humans in the service of the Earth. She suggests that we think of the Earth as the “new poor.” Sister Miriam Therese MacGillis, OP warns, “The future of humanity is totally aligned with the future of the planet.”

Children's Liturgy will again be performing the Gospel on Palm Sunday and will be in need of children to portray the Passion of Christ. Signups will take place after 9:30 .a.m. Mass TODAY and NEXT SUNDAY, April 2nd.

And

The Children’s Liturgy team will again be having Good Friday activities for children ages 4 and up. Hall doors will open at 1:15 p.m. on Good Friday, and it is requested that children are pre-registered. Last minute registration will be accepted at the door. Children will need to be picked up as soon as church services are over.

The Gift of Love
If we’ve been blessed with parents who loved us unconditionally, we can more easily understand this weekend’s readings. Even when we did things we knew our parents didn’t approve of, we knew that, after an appropriate punishment, our relationship would be as good as it was before. I dreaded getting in trouble at school because inevitably, my Mom would say at the dinner table, “Tell your father what you did today.” The punishment I got was never that much, but I hated the idea of hurting my Dad. His response was always something like, “I know you can do better than that.” No wonder I can so easily think of God as my Father!

Some of us grew up with the idea that we needed to “win” God’s love, to do things – certain prayers or sacrifices or charitable actions - so that God would love us. It seems almost too much to believe, but God does love us a million times more than the person who loves us the most. Paul stresses to the Ephesians that God saves us by grace, that is, the gift of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection; it isn’t due to anything we’ve done to deserve salvation. The good works we do come from that relationship with Christ in response to this love, not in order to gain this love. So we don’t have to worry about whether or not we’re saved. That is a given unless, of course, by our free will we consistently and seriously reject our relationship with God. Our task - not a small one - is to respond to that gift by living our lives with compassion and mercy. John’s gospel says the same thing, “God so loved the world so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life.” Wounded and broken as it is, this world is still God’s world which he loves more than we can imagine.This weekend used to be called “Laetare” [be joyful] Sunday, marking as it does the halfway point of Lent. It surely is cause for rejoicing that we don’t have to wonder if we are saved. It should also be cause for rejoicing for our families, our neighborhood and our world if the gospel of Jesus takes root in our lives and overflows into theirs! Peace, S. Sheral

The Gospel According to You
There is a wonderful, old story written in a time long gone. It is the gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The gospels were given to show us the power of God’s love divine. May that story be told again in the writing of your life and mine.

Dress Code: Full length black slacks, (jeans or spandex are not permitted), white shirt with collar, closed toe comfortable shoes (preferably black or white).

We will car pool from the rectory. For those working in San Francisco, you can meet the group at the gate.