· 5th Sunday of Easter (B), May 14, 2006
· Announcement Sunday; Mother’s Day

· Mother’s Day
· There are many vocations in life: Marriage, Single Life, Religious life, Priestly life, etc.
· However, one of the most esteemed vocations is that of Motherhood.
· I would invite all of the Mothers of families to stand and to be acknowledged.

· In today’s Gospel from the 15th Chapter of John,
· Jesus, in his farewell discourse to his disciples speaks of the Vine and the Branches.
· Stay connected to vine, he says.
· The vine will give you life
· The branches will then grow and bear fruit abundantly

· Today as Pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church
· It is my privilege to share with you how I view God’s Spirit working in us as a Parish and School community.
· We have tried to stay connected to the Vine, and we have seen fruitful growth here at Blessed Sacrament.
· It is also my privilege to invite you to continue to participate in this ministry through the sharing of your Time, Talent and Treasure.

· This has not been an easy year,
· As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continue to claim lives,
· As the economy continues to sputter along making life difficult,
· We are all doing our best to cope with the pressures in our lives.

· In the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
· We hear that even in the midst of turmoil, the church continues to grow through the consolation of the Holy Spirit.
· Thanks to the leadership of the Pastoral Staff and the Pastoral Council Officers (Carol Kozeracki, Lily Harris, and Irving Rios), we have seen a number of successes over the past year.
· Let me name a few:

· Central to our parish is our Sunday Liturgy:
· What has struck me this year is the creativity of the Liturgy Leadership Committee (Jan Sooter, Mercedes Cortes, Milo Berris, Rodger Guerrero, and Fr. Wayne Negrete) and of all those who minister at our Sunday Worship.
· Two experiences stand out for me:
· The Holy Week services in April were the most moving and beautiful that I have experienced here at Blessed Sacrament.
· From Palm Sunday through Holy Thursday and Good Friday to the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday – each service was beautifully celebrated and spiritually focused.
· In addition, the Liturgy Committee initiated the new Multi-lingual Saturday evening Mass.
· This endeavor is a real challenge, but the team has worked hard to make this Mass an experience of the Multiethnic and Multilingual community that we are in Hollywood.
· “Many made one around the table of the Lord”
· Finally, what we do without our wonderful choirs. Thank you.
· Our gratitude to all who help us experience God’s presence through our worship celebrations.

· Blessed Sacrament School also continues to prosper under the professional and caring leadership of our principal, Mrs. Ava Haylock.
· While our numbers are down a bit because of the changes going on in Hollywood, the quality of education is very high.
· Again this year, all of our graduates who applied to high caliber Catholic or Magnate high schools were accepted.
· In addition, the WASC accreditation team that was sent from the Archdiocese to evaluate our school was extremely positive about every aspect of the school and community of Blessed Sacrament.
· Congratulations to Mrs. Haylock and to the entire faculty and staff.

· Our Religious Education program is thriving under the leadership of Sr. Virginia Ciprés and Mrs. Yaneth Marroquin, along with the collaboration of all the dedicated catechists.
· Sr. Virginia is organized and competent.
· She has formed the catechists into teams who work with volunteer coordinators.
· She has pushed catechists to get professional training so that they can better work with our children.
· Sister and the catechists have also been very creative this year:
· The two-year Confirmation program was moved to Sunday morning to better accommodate the candidates. The system is working well
· In addition, both in the First Communion Program and in the Confirmation program, catechists are working not only with the young people but also with their parents.
· A number of parent workshops and retreat were scheduled this year, so that parents could journey with their children as they prepare to receive these key sacraments in our Catholic lives
· Thank you to the Sister Virginia and to all the coordinators and catechists for your dedication to the faith life of our community.

· The other key ministry at Blessed Sacrament is our Social Service Program.
· Yolanda Lichtman and her staff and all the volunteers work miracles every day for the poor of our community.
· This year we have incorporated the program into a 501(c)3 Not-for-profit company with a new Board of Directors
· The members of the board are enthusiastic about raising additional funds so that Yolanda and Blessed Sacrament can do even more good for the poor of our community.
· Thank you Yolanda, staff, and Board Members for helping us never to forget the “Cry of the Poor” in Hollywood.

· I would be remiss if I did not include our Annual Carnival in the list of our parish ministries:
· Thanks to the persistent work of Valerie Milano with the help of Carlos Rubalcava, and a host of talented volunteers like Sara Garibay and hundreds more, we have a parish carnival that is second to none.
· The Carnival is our biggest fundraiser of the year.
· In addition, it brings us together as a community to celebrate and have fun.
· Thank you to all who make the Carnival a success.

· Looking toward the future there are a couple of items I would like to share with you:
· Thanks to the generosity of a several individual donors we are working on a few capital improvements this year:
· We are working to upgrade the sound system in the church, and also to provide better lighting.
· We are still looking forward to the day when we can light the tower of the church.
· This summer we plan to finish sealing the parking lot.
· And if all goes well, we plan to redo the linoleum under the pews in the church
· Our gratitude to those individuals who have made these projects possible

· From my point of view, our biggest need at Blessed Sacrament is a program for Youth and Young Adult Ministry
· We will be looking for volunteers to help us to put a program together.
· If we can increase our collections, we will have the money to hire someone to take on this ministry.
· We need to care for the young who are the future of our church and our community.

· I am very proud of what God has done at Blessed Sacrament.
· I am proud of all our ministries – you can see the list of them all in our bulletin – it is quite impressive.
· I am proud of our directors and staff, and how well we work together.
· God has been good to us.

· Nothing, however, can be accomplished without the prayer and participation of the parishioners of this parish.
· We need your involvement of time and talent (for the ministries and for the carnival and for community outreach).
· We need your financial support also, so that church can grow “with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.”

· This week in the mail, all of the registered parishioners will receive a brochure outlining the financial picture of the parish
· It explains what our expenses are and what our income is.
· It also asks each family to consider what kind of annual financial commitment you can make to carry on the ministry of the parish.
· Next Sunday, we will ask you to actually put in writing what weekly commitment your family can make for the coming year
· Our financial commitment is one way to show our gratitude to our generous God.

· I ask you to read the brochure and to discuss it as couples, or as a family or as an individual if you live alone.
· (If you do not receive it by Friday, I ask you to come by the office to pick one up, and to make sure that we have your current address and phone number)
· I ask you to pray about your financial commitment to the parish. As I say every year:
· Some of you will say, “We can do more.” God Bless You
· Some may say, “We are doing as much as we can.” God Bless You.
· Some may say, “We have to do less than we have been.” God Bless you.
· The important thing is that you pray about it and make a commitment.
· Next week we will ask you to state your commitment in writing so that we can plan our parish finances for next year.

· I am privileged to be Pastor of this wonderful community of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament.
· I do hate talking about money, but it comes with the job of pastor.
· I ask for your prayers and your support as we continue the ministry to which God has invited us all to share.
· May God’s Holy Spirit lead us and Guide us as individuals and as a parish community.
· Thank each and every one of you.
· Amen

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