Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church 300 Fulton Street ▪ Redwood City, CA 94062

Tel. (650) 366-3802 ▪ Fax: (650) 366-1421 parish@mountcarmel.org pastor@mountcarmel.org ▪ www.mountcarmel.org

Parish Center Hours Monday - Thursday 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Mass Schedule Sunday: 8:00 am, 10:00 am, 12:00 pm (español), and 5pm Saturday: 8: 15 am and 5:00 pm Vigil Mass Monday to Friday 8:15 am Reconciliation/Confession Saturday 3:30 –4:30 p.m.

Parish Staff Pastor: Rev. Ulysses D’Aquila - 306-9583 Deacon: Rev. Mr. Thomas J. Boyle - 366-3802 Principal: Teresa Anthony - 366-6127 Development: Nori Jabba - 366-8817 Kid’s Place: Maureen Arnott – 366-6587 CCD: Magdalena Hernández - 368-8237 Youth Ministry: Kendra & Jason Rickwald - 918-0815 Youth Confirmation: Paula Martinez – 366-6194 Director of Music: Bianca Remlinger - 366-3802 Spanish Music Ministry: Andres Garcia -366 -3802 Administrative Assistant: Alba Canelo – 366 -3802

Baptisms / Bautismos Call parish at least two months in advance. Llame a la parroquia a lo menos dos meses antes. Weddings / Bodas Call parish at least six months in advance Llame a la parroquia a lo menos seis meses antes.

Mission Statement Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish is a Christ-centered community in the Roman Catholic tradition. We try to share the Good News of salvation with others. As a diverse community, we value and respect individual differences. As God’s people, we gather in the Spirit to pray, to celebrate the sacraments, to teach, to learn, to console, to rejoice, to minister and to renew our faith with one another.

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph Sunday, December 27, 2015

Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. —I John 3: 2a

Notas del Párroco

Nothing is more hotly debated today than the nature of mar-riage and the nature of family. The competing voices in this

debate tend to divide into two camps, those who feel that the stability and sanctity of the ‘nuclear’ family is being threat-ened and must be protected at all costs, and those who claim that the traditional institutions of marriage and family are flexible and should be able to accommo-date a variety of human relation-ships and life styles. Catholics in general will fall into both camps. In an age of many di-vorces, we have become accus-tomed to the idea of children

being raised by only one parent, usually the mother. We are increasingly aware of gay couples who form families and raise children, and the need to respect such diversity. On the other hand, there are Catholics (and others) who feel that families with a single parent and families with same-gender parents signal a decline in values and morality in our society. Wherever we might stand individually on these issues, there is no denying that children need stable and loving homes if they are to devel-op into happy and emotionally healthy adults. Nothing is more damaging to the physical and spiritual welfare of children than the all-too-common domestic situation where there is violence and abuse. This Sunday we are celebrating the feast of the Holy Family which appropriately falls right after the feast of Christ’s Nativity. Since we are used to seeing the Holy Family depicted on Christmas cards or in reproductions of famous paintings, it is easy for us to idealize them. Jesus, Mary and Joseph don’t seem like real people. But think about it, they truly did exist although it was a long time ago. And their cir-cumstances, by the witness of the Bible, were not at all easy. Mary, when she was nine months pregnant, had to ride a don-key the long distance between Nazareth and Bethlehem to be counted in the census. She gave birth in a dirty stable with no one but Joseph to help her. When Jesus was only a few days old, the Holy Family had to flee from Galilee in order to escape the fury of King Herod. They went as refugees to Egypt where they would not have known the language, where they had no relatives, and where Joseph must have struggled to make a living. Considered from this perspective, the Holy Family be-comes an even more poignant image of family life and the many challenges families face today. This is no accident; I am certain that the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph and our Lord Jesus look with compassion and concern upon families everywhere, and that Christian parents and children should always put their trust and their problems in the hands of Jesus, Mary and Jo-seph confident that their prayers will be heard. May God bless our families! Fr. Ulysses

Nada se debate hoy más que el matrimonio y la familia. Las voces que compiten en este deba-te tienden a dividirse en dos cam-pos, los que sienten que la estabili-dad y la santidad de la familia "nuclear" está siendo amenazada y deben ser protegida a toda cos-ta, y los que afirman que las insti-tuciones tradicionales de matrimo-nio y la familia son flexibles y de-ben ser capaces de adaptarse a una variedad de relaciones humanas y estilos de vida. Los católicos en general caerán en ambos campos. En una época de muchos divorcios, nos hemos acostumbrado a la idea de los niños criados por un solo padre, generalmente la madre. Somos cada vez más conscientes de las parejas homosexua-les que forman familias y crían hijos, y la necesidad de respe-tar esa diversidad. Por otro lado, hay católicos (y otros) que sienten que las familias con un solo padre y familias con pa-dres del mismo sexo señalan una disminución en los valores y la moral en nuestra sociedad. No importa que pensemos indivi-dualmente, no se puede negar que los niños necesitan hoga-res estables y amorosos para que puedan convertirse en adul-tos felices y saludables. No hay nada más perjudicial para el bienestar físico y espiritual de los niños que la situación de un hogar donde hay violencia y abuso. Este domingo celebramos la fiesta de la Sagrada Familia que cae apropiadamente justo después de la fiesta de la Natividad de Cristo. Ya que estamos acostumbrados a ver la Sagrada Familia representado en tarje-tas de Navidad o en reproducciones de cuadros famosos, es fácil para nosotros idealizarlas. Jesús, María y José no pare-cen como personas reales. Pero en realidad sí existían aunque fue hace mucho tiempo. Y sus circunstancias, con el testimo-nio de la Biblia, no eran en absoluto fácil. María, cuando ella tenía nueve meses de embarazo, tuvo que montar un burro en una larga distancia entre Nazaret y Belén para ser contados en el censo. Ella dio a luz en un establo sucio con nadie más que José para ayudarla. Cuando Jesús tenía sólo unos pocos días de vida, la Sagrada Familia tuvo que huir de Galilea con el fin de escapar de la furia del rey Herodes. Se fueron como refu-giados a Egipto, donde no conocían el idioma, donde no tenían parientes, y donde José debería luchar para ganarse la vida. En esta perspectiva, la Sagrada Familia es una imagen aún más conmovedora de la vida familiar y los muchos desafíos que enfrentan las familias de hoy. Por eso, estoy seguro de que la Santísima Virgen, San José y nuestro Señor Jesús mi-ran con compasión y preocupación las familias de todo el mun-do, y que los padres y los niños cristianos deberían poner toda su confianza y sus problemas en las manos de Jesús, María y José, seguros de que ellos escucharán sus oraciones. Que Dios bendiga a nuestras familias! Padre Ulises

Notes from the Pastor

ARCHBISHOP’S ANNUAL APPEAL 2015

Thank all of you who have contributed to the Archbishop Annual Appeal. Our assessment for 2015 is $64,500. To date we have received $61,290. Our balance $3,210. Thank you very much for helping us meet our goal.

~ New Year’s Day ~ Friday, January 1, 2016

Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God (a holy day of obligation)

10:00 am Morning Prayer followed by Solemn Mass and Holy Hour.

OLMC WOMEN’S CLUB The OLMC Women’s Club would like to thank all of the wonderful women of our parish that have sup-ported our gatherings throughout the year. Be-cause of you, the OLMC Women's Club has been able to purchase Easter decorations, new chalices and will be helping with new decorations for Christ-mas. Please mark your calendars for our next din-ner Feb. 3rd at 6:30pm in the Small Hall. Have a Happy New Year!

HOMEBOUND MINISTRY If someone in your family is homebound, lives near-by and is unable to attend Mass, but would like to received the Eucharist, please contact Julie O’Leary at (650) 361-8681. Communion ministers are needed to bring the Eucharist to homebound parishioners.

FAMILY LIFE

Family life is sacred, but it is not without trial. Per‐haps this is the most important message we can glean

from today’s readings. If Je‐sus, Mary, and Joseph can trip up sometimes—can discon‐nect—then we shouldn’t find it surprising when such things happen to us as well. And par‐ents everywhere (children, too) can probably relate to—and take some solace in—the Gospel’s account of Mary and

Joseph after Jesus explained why he stayed behind in the temple. They heard his words, Luke tells us, “But they did not understand what he said to them” (Luke 2:50). Amen! Nevertheless, Jesus does go back home with them, and continues to thrive under their care.

Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.

VIDA FAMILIAR

La vida familiar es sagrada, pero no faltan las dificul‐tades. Este puede ser el mensaje más importante que

encontramos en las lecturas de hoy. Si Jesús, María y José pue‐den tropezar de vez en cuando –desconectarse– entonces no nos debe sorprender cuando eso mismo nos ocurre a noso‐tros también. Y los padres don‐dequiera que estén (hijos tam‐bién) pueden ver el parecido –y hasta consolarse– con el relato bíblico que habla de María y

José después de que Jesús les explica porqué se quedó atrás en el templo. Escucharon sus palabras, nos dice Lucas, “pero ellos no comprendieron lo que les acababa de decir” (Lucas 2:50). ¡Amén! Sin embargo, Jesús sí se va con ellos para la casa, y continúa creciendo bajo su cuidado.

THE NAME FOR GOD

Mother is the name for God on the lips and in the hearts of little children. —William Makepeace Thackeray

Saturday, December 26, 5:00 PM Kent Bret Fisse † Sunday, December 27: 8:00 AM Charles & Theresa Elaqua † 10:00 AM Steve Brosnan † 12:00PM(Español) Lorena Barriga e hijos (Contreras) Int 5:00 PM Liliane Shah † Monday, December 28, 8:15 AM Parishioners of Mt.Carmel Tuesday, December 29, 8:15 AM Leoncia Puzon † Wednesday, December 30, 8:15 AM Luis Alberto Cardenas † Thursday, December 31, 8:15 William Tonry † (Anniv.) Friday, January 1, 2016, 10:00 AM Solemnity of Mary Mother of God. Morning Prayer followed by Solemn Mass and Holy Hour. Saturday, January 2, 2016 8:15 AM Ledesma Family, Thanksgiving

Intenciones de Misas de la semana

This week at Mt. Carmel Sunday, December 27: R.C.I.A. Session 9:00 am Chapel Children’s Liturgy 10:00 am Chapel Monday, December 28: Carismáticos (Directiva) 7:00 p.m. Old Chapel

Tuesday, December 29: Men’s Sports 8:30 pm L. Hall

Wednesday, December 30: Grupo de Oración (Carismáticos) 7:00 pm L. Hall

Thursday, December 31:

Friday, January 1, 2016 10:00 AM MASS Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR PEACE

Welcome Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish

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SAINTS AN SPECIAL OBSERVANCES

Monday: The Holy Innocents Tuesday: Fifth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord; St. Thomas Becket Wednesday: Sixth Day within the Octave of the Nativi ty of the Lord Thursday: Seventh Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord; St. Sylvester I; New Year’s Eve Friday: The Octave of the Nativity of the Lord; Mary, the Holy Mother of God; World Day of Prayer for Peace; First Friday; New Year’s Day Saturday: Ss. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazian zen; First Saturday