AUGUST 16, 2020 | 20TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME WELCOME PARISH OFFICE HOURS Monday-Thursday 9:00 AM-4:00 PM closed for lunch 12-1:00 PM MASSES NOW Saturday: 4:00 PM Sunday: 8:00 & 11:00 AM Spanish Mass is at 1:00 PM DAILY MASS 9:00 AM Monday-Saturday MISSION The Mission of St. Joan of Arc Parish is to put Jesus first in our lives by seeking to know Him in Scripture, Encountering Him in Prayer, Celebra)ng His Presence among us in praise and worship and uni)ng with one another in loving service . NOTE WEEKEND MASSES WILL BE CELEBRATED AT THE TIMES LISTED ABOVE UNTIL AT LEAST THE END OF AUGUST MASKS ARE REQUIRED. WE WILL ALLOW ONLY 50% CAPACITY FOR EACH MASS AND YOU MUST PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING. THANK YOU. YOU ARE IN OUR PRAYERS. 13485 Spring Hill Drive | Spring Hill, FL 34609 | (352) 6880663 | www.StJoanofarcfl.com From the Pastors’ Desk Where do you feel close to God? I have asked various people; and have gotten various responses. Some people have told me they felt God’s presence when they are in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Others have told me that they felt the presence of God during Mass, where two or more are gathered. Many have told me that they felt close to God reading the bible. Some have told me they feel close to God in a secluded place, like a beach or on top of a mountain. Some people felt close to God by listening to music. Some have felt the presence of the Lord when they are meditating or contemplating in a quite spot by themselves. God can reveal Himself in almost any place. In last week’s reading, we see how God revealed Himself to Elijah. If you recall, Elijah was fleeing from Queen Jezebel in 1 King 19:1 -11. She threatened to kill him because he had defeated and killed the false prophets of the false god Baal. Elijah was frightened. Elijah even wanted the Lord to take his life because he failed God as a prophet. However God had other plans for Elijah. The Lord gave Elijah instructions through an angel. God then informed Elijah that He would be present to him. In 1King 19:12-13 God was truly present. However, God was not present in the most obvious places. God was not in the heavy wind rendering the mountain and crushing the rocks. At the same time God was not present in the earthquake or fire. God revealed Himself in tiny sound. When Elijah felt the presence of the Lord, he naturally hid his face and stood at the entrance of Mt. Horeb. This is where God gave Elijah instructions to perform his prophetic ministry. For me, I truly feel God’s presence through other people. As God revealed Himself through the prophets like Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and the Apostles with His Son Jesus Christ in others who are open to Him. When making decisions like entering the seminary, getting ordained, transferring to another parish, I have relied on people God sends my way to make the right decision. I seek the advice of holy men when I am at a cross road, and a proper decision has to be made. If I have a sense of peace in the decision I made, I know that God was present. What last week’s reflection reveals to us is that God can be present in almost any way. He can reveal Himself in great Theophany, like an earthquake or fire, but He can also be present in a soft wind. To feel his presence, we must have faith in God. We can take time out to seek the Lord, but we must be open to having a personal relation- ship with Him. Adapted by Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers, and Proclaimers of the Word by Elizabeth M. Nagel, SSL,SSD, Elaine Park, SSL,STD and Mary Pat Haley. Sunday Homily Helps 19 th Sunday in Ordinary Time August 9,2020 by Marge Fenelon The Challenge of Stewardship Every day we are called by Christ to respond in some way. The more practice we have at giving of ourselves freely and living in His presence, the easier it is to discern that call. Once we hear the call, the choice is ours: will we respond with yes or no? We could say that we are not required to say yes because God has given us free will. However, our response speaks much to where we are in our maturity of faith. When we were children, the word “no” used to be one of our favorites. If we continue to say that as we get older, well, that says something about where we are in our walk with the Lord. If we truly are disciples of Jesus Christ and are serious about growing in our faith, we will say “yes.” We are not required to say yes, but we say yes because that is who we have become. This is the challenge of a stewardship way of life. Have we matured enough to say yes when God calls, regardless of how much our answer may cost us? What matters more to us: what it will cost us or our relationship with Jesus? Some days we will easily be able to say yes. The grace and love he gives us will be plenty to see us through whatever situation in which we find ourselves. However, we are imperfect beings and there will be days when we are more into ourselves than him. It is on those days that we find ourselves at a true crossroads of a challenge. The choice is always ours. Hopefully, our faith will be strong enough. His call is never for his own sake. He calls us because the world he created and the Church he instituted need us. They wait just as he does for our response. – Tracy Earl Welliver 2 20TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME NOTITAS DEL DIÁCONO NOTES FROM DEACON FRED JOSE CRUZ We see the Canaanite woman pleading Toda la relación entre Dios y el pueblo with Jesus to help her daughter… to heal her daughter. It is the plea of an outcast… Jesus escogido estaba fundamentada en la alianza. La heard that plea and listened to her heart. She was historia de los israelitas, desde Abraham hasta an outcast no longer. Moisés y David, tenía la alianza como ancla y Outcasts are invisible in our community encontró oposición de las naciones enemigas, and if they become visible they are usually seen as desde Egipto hasta Asiria y Babilonia. Pero en la inconvenient. Some might say, there but for the primera lectura de hoy escuchamos a Isaías decir a grace of God go I and walk on… But if we are su audiencia, que recién regresaba de su exilio, que truly seeking the grace of God we might find it in los extranjeros que se habían adherido a la alianza abundance among the invisible of our community. también serían conducidos al monte santo, en la Many are roaming our streets, sitting at casa de Dios. El acceso no está basado en bus stops and bus depots, subways and parks and even beaches. We might even find them in our antecedentes, cultura o historia, sino en la fidelidad family or in our schools. All we have to do is y el servicio de cada cual. Es en una relación look and pay attention and we will see those in directa con Isaías y con Jesucristo que Pablo puede need.. Perhaps at one time in our lives or perhaps decirles a los romanos: “Trato de desempeñar lo even now we are living as an outcast… trying to mejor posible mi ministerio entre los no survive the day. Where is God’s grace in their judíos” (cfr. romanos 11, 13). Pablo ha dedicado su struggle? ministerio a hacer discípulos de todas las naciones, Perhaps it is in the invitation to become conduciendo a los extranjeros hacia al Señor. part of their struggle even if it is for just a El Papa Francisco ha enfatizado moment. Perhaps it is in sharing a bit of our food, repetidamente que somos una Iglesia misionera, clothing, blankets or whatever is needed. Perhaps it is in sharing some of our time or a simple smile llamándonos incesantemente a ir a “las periferias” or greeting. God’s grace has a surprising way of a servir a los marginados de la sociedad. La mujer touching our hearts and healing that which is cananea del Evangelio de hoy rompió un buen wounded. Sometimes we just don’t know how… número de límites, pero fue Jesús quien rompió el and perhaps we don’t really need to know… just primero. Él fue a Tiro y Sidón, dos ciudades de do. A leap of faith is needed for the healing to Fenicia, en Siria, donde la gente adoraba a dioses take place.. paganos. Los judíos normalmente no se We all have had our ups and downs during aventuraban a ir allí. Le dijo a la mujer: “Yo no he our lives. In looking back we probably can sido enviado sino a las ovejas descarriadas de la remember when someone helped us who had no casa de Israel”, pero su presencia en el territorio de motivation but love itself. We probably remember that when we were down and out that ella contradecía sus palabras (Mateo 15, 24). Jesús we needed to be reminded that we are all children salió afuera de Israel y encontró a personas de una of God and someone extending an act of kindness gran fe fuera del pueblo escogido.