“Come living, giving Creator and rattle the door latch of my slumbering heart.
Awaken me as You breathe upon the earth, gently calling it to life.
Awaken my youthful dream of holiness.
Help me to take the daily things of life and to infuse them
with great love for you and for others.-Fr. Samuel Rayan

As we approach the midpoint of Lent, let’s take a long, loving look at where we were, where we are and where we wish to be by Easter.

Today’s readings present us with a definate road map for our journey towards God. Traditionally, we call these the “Commandments of God” or “The Ten Commandments”. God lays out before us what He expects of us and admonishes us that He is a jealous God “I, the Lord, am your God. You shall have no other gods besides me.” He appreciates and expects our prayers, our obedience and our putting Him first in our lives and He does not want us worshiping worldly things or greedily accumulating possessions

Listening to Thomas Awiapo preach our parish mission during this past week, we saw that the New Testament expects us to go beyond the observance of the Ten Commandment and to practice the Works of Mercy as well. Thomas would not be alive today if it were not or the generosity of Catholics, like you, who gave to Catholic Relief Services. Catholic Relief Services were then able in your name to practice the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and by providing education for the people of Thomas’ village in Ghana.

We also practice these Works of Mercy every time we give to or work with the Saint Vincent de Paul, Legion of Mary, Catholic Worker House and the umpteen other charitable organization in our city, state and overseas. We are the hands and feet of Jesus as we reach out to the sick, poor, hungry, homeless and suffering of our society and of the entire human race. God will not be outdone in generosity and will reward you and your children for all the kindness shown to others.

“And bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:6)

May God rattle the door latch of your slumbering heart this week!

Monday-March 20th
Readings: 2 Sm 7:4-5a,12-14a,16 - Rom 4:13,16-18,22
- Mt 1:16,18-21,24a

Tuesday-March 21st
Readings: Dn 3:25,34-43 - Mt 18:21-35

Wednesday-March 22nd
Readings: Dt 4:1,5-9 - Mt 5:17-19

Thursday-March 23rd
Readings: Jer 7:23-28 - Lk 11:14-23

Friday-March 24th
Readings: Hos 14:2-10 - Mk 12:28-34

Saturday-March 25th
Readings: Is 7:10-14:8:10 - Heb 10:4-10 - Lk 1:26-38

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.

Spiritual Reading will be available at St. Robert’s after the Masses on Sundays. Please take a few minutes either before or after Mass and check out a book or two that interest you. You may keep the books until you have them read. We have some books on the Library cart but we have many more in the Library/Reconciliation room.

Early Church History

The Fil-Am Group of St. Robert’s was organized in 1990 to reach out to Filipino families and to welcome Filipinos new to our parish. We want to keep our culture and traditions alive and to share those traditions with the whole parish. Among those traditions are: Flores de Mayo in May, San Lorenzo Ruiz in September and Simbang Gabi in December.

Members of our group are involved in the parish in every way possible: liturgical ministries, Legion of Mary and Junior Legion, visiting the sick, Centerplate, Stations of the Cross and the soup supper. We provide a lumpia booth at the festival and sponsor a dinner dance and trip to Reno for fun and to help support the parish.

Many people in the Philippines find themselves without the necessary resources to meet basic survival needs. They also face the daunting challenge of rebuilding. Our 2nd collection will be sent to help them with these needs.

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.

Hearing Thomas Awiapo speak this morning, I was touched by the question contained in his wonderful story: Are you Christ? What a great question for each of us as we continue to grow during this Lenten season! We might begin by quieting ourselves and asking, “Who has been Christ for me?” We could go back in memory as far as we are able or just think about the past few weeks. The person who has been Christ for me could have helped me with something or listened to me or embraced me with welcome as I came new to a group. The person could have been an elder who inspired me with his or her openness to life and learning or a child who gladdened my heart by wanting to have a picnic with me in the park.

Who has been Christ for me? If I was too busy “multi-tasking” to have noticed or have thanked the person, I might still do that and might ask God to bless him or her as well.

And now to turn the question around, Have I been Christ for someone lately? Have I been understanding to someone whose lack of organization has inconvenienced me? Have I continued to greet the person who never greets me first? Have I shared someone’s pain, though I really can’t do anything about it? I can answer that I gave a ride to a woman and her son walking in the rain and looking for El Crystal School.

And, to be honest, I need to also recognize the times I haven’t been Christ to those around me. The times I’ve been crabby with someone or not sat beside someone I know would have appreciated it. In my early years as a sister, we used to pick one negative attitude or habit to pray about and ask God’s help with for a week or two or until we’d improved at least a little. What might be your one attitude or habit you’d invite the Spirit to help you work on?

MERCY CENTER
2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010
Tel: 650.340.7474, fax: 650.340.1299
mc@mercyburl.org

March 2006
24 Speaker Series: James Finley - Little Things that Fill The Whole World
25 Workshop with James Finley - On Spiritual Awakening