St. Bruno Catholic Church

The first reading is a paean to Elijah. The gospel is about the Lord's Prayer and Fr. Ron Rolheiser has a very interesting write up on this in his latest column in Catholic San Francisco. He mentioned about his professor during his doctoral studies, an elderly Augustinian priest, who radiated integrity and wisdom. One day, this professor spoke about his prayer life. Fr. Ron couldn't remember the exact words but what the elderly priest said stuck with him. Prayer is not alw...ays easy because we are always tired, bored or caught up with so many things, so the elderly priest said. Then he added, no matter what the time, the situation, he was faithful to one thing: praying the Our Father as best as he could. Just thing about that, praying it as best as you can. And it's enough. After all, it's the prayer the Lord taught us. Maybe we could do more, a rosary every day or a 5-minute mental prayer or morning prayer, well and good. But if you can't, praying the Our Father as best as you can, with full attention and fervor, is enough. We say a number of prayers and even Our Fathers everyday but do one Our Father the best you can. It can be the Our Father at mass, at your morning prayer or during rosary, but again, at least once with full attention and fervor. Tomorrow is the Feast of the Sacred Heart. Mass is bilingual. Good night! -- Fr. Michael

Wednesday of the 11th Week or Ordinary TIme First of all, here's the link to the latest upload on Rhymes & Rhythm. It's a trio of father and two daughters. Be amazed. https://studio.youtube.com/video/ORPrWOwwrj4/edit...Continue reading

Tuesday of the 11th week of Ordinary Time With Naboth dead, King Ahab appropriated the vineyard, had it torn down in preparation for the planting of his vegetable garden. What he did not expect to see in that place was the prophet Elijah who proceeded to denounce Ahab, announcing death and destruction to visit him and his clan. And you know what? Ahab listened and repented. Following the customary way of showing penance, he tore his garment, put on sackcloth and fasted. And G...od, seeing the repentant Ahab, had mercy on him. But Jezebel was unrepentant. She was a Phoenician and didn't care about the beliefs of the Jews. She died a horrible death. Many evil deeds are done and continue to happen, but a simple and sincere acceptance of guilt and expression of sorrow wins the mercy of God. The response to the psalm today is worth repeating, "Be merciful to us, O Lord, for we have sinned." In case you missed the link to the latest music video upload, here it is: https://youtu.be/UpqMTr4Mcsw Good night! -- Fr. Michael

Monday of the 11th Week of Ordinary TIme King Ahab was a fair and just man. He wanted the vineyard of neighbor Naboth, and turn it into his vegetable garden. So, like a good neighbor, he asked Naboth to sell him the lot at a fair market value or exchange it for a better vineyard. It was a pretty decent proposal. But Naboth wanted the vineyard to remain as it was; more importantly, it was an ancestral property, and that piece of land was his connection to his past. He would no...t sell. King Ahab could have simply grabbed the land but he would not. He was a decent man so he left it at that. But he was obsessed with that vineyard. Greed consumed him. He would not eat. Jezebel came to his rescue. Hey, get up from your lethargy. Eat, relax and be merry and I will take care of your problem. She did. Through cunning, manipulation and treachery, Naboth ended up dead, and Ahab took possession of the vineyard. That's the problem with greed. It drives one to resort to measures, fair or foul, to satisfy it. No, Ahab himself didn't do anything evil, but he would have known what Jezebel was up to and he didn't stop her. But no crime goes unpunished and that's the reading tomorrow. Good night. -- Fr. Michael

Feast of the Sacred Heart Friday, June 19, is the Feast of the Sacred Heart. There will be short Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at 6PM in the church... Edit - we will have Rosary in Church

Schedule of Weekend Masses Next weekend, we will add a 6PM Sunday mass to the present weekend masses. Herewith is the mass schedule for the coming weekend. Saturday, June 20 ... 4:30 PM in English 7:00 PM in Spanish Sunday, June 21 10:00 AM in Spanish 12:00 PM in English 6:00 PM in English

Friday on the 10th week or Ordinary Time The word of God came to the prophet Elijah to come out of the cave where he was hiding from the wrathful Queen Jezebel and meet God outside. Elijah did. Then there came a strong and heavy wind, but God was not in the wind. Next came an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake either. There followed a fire but God wasn't there. Then there was a tiny whispering sound, and Elijah detected God's presence there.... We often associate God's presence with dramatic events in nature, and that maybe so, but God also speaks to us in the ordinary daily events of our lives. We can discern his presence in a sunrise, a blooming flower, the chirping of birds, the laughter of a child or even in the breath that we take. Be grateful even for the littlest thing in life for everything is suffused with the presence of God. Good night! Fr. Michael

Rosary and Novena of the Sacred Heart (Day 1)

Mass for Peace and Justice To be a salt of the earth and light of the world also means that you treat everyone fairly, with no discrimination. Don’t be a racist. To be a racist is to have an attitude and do actions that put down other people because of the color of their skin. That is right. In his letter to the people of the Archdiocese of Boston, however, Cardinal Sean wrote that racism is more than a personal attitude. It is ingrained in the system. It is embedded in the s...tructure. Racism is a vestige of slavery that has been long abolished, but which continues to manifest itself in the dehumanizing attitudes that foster discrimination, inequality and violence. The good cardinal avers that, like COVID-19, it can infect any person without regard to religion or ethnicity. Racism is a social and spiritual disease that kills people. The death of George Floyd at the hands of the police makes clear that racism is a very serious problem in our society. We can do something about racism. We can build up our communities and strengthen our solidarity. The church teaches that we are a community of people of all colors: black, brown, white and, yes, yellow. We are all created in the image of God, and are brothers and sisters. We should stamp out from our minds that anyone is less human and all are deserving of respect and love. Not only that, as again Cardinal O’Malley pointed out in his letter, we are called to oppose discrimination in any form and to stand against injustice of any kind. To violate that human dignity is to dishonor the presence of Christ in every person. Let me end with a verse from the prophet Isaiah, which is the reading chosen for the special mass for Peace and Justice this morning. The Archbishop asked us priests to have celebrated yesterday's mass, which was George Floyd's funeral, for peace and justice. However, I only found out about the memo after I already did the mass, so this morning the mass was for that purpose. Here's the quotation from Isaiah: Right and justice will dwell in the desert and justice abide in the orchard. Justice will bring about peace; right will produce calm and security. My people will live in a peaceful country. (Isaiah 32, 17). May it be so. Good night! -- Fr. Michael

Tuesday of the 10th Week of Ordinary Time When I was a child a German missionary came to our house to give communion to my grandma. That left me a lasting impression for he came from foreign land to serve at our humble place. That simple visit to the sick planted in me the desire to become a priest. The gospel reading today speaks about being a salt that gives taste and light that shines. More than words, our actions define us. We are Christians when we love and foster unity ...rather than hatred and division; when we speak the truth rather than tell lies; when we pardon rather than seek retaliation; when we seek understanding rather than sow confusion; and, when we act humbly rather than arrogantly. Those are some of the ways by which we can be salt of the earth and light of the world. Good night -- Fr. Michael

Monday on the 10th week of Ordinary Time Being poor does not mean one is holier or more spiritual. But poverty places one in a greater dependence on God than on money or connections. . The first of the beatitudes of today's gospel is about poverty of spirit. One becomes humble and close to that are the virtues of patience and compassion. A poor or unempowered person has a lot of patience and is more sensitive. More than any virtue, patience and compassion are the traits that ...attract people to someone in position of leadership, be he a teacher, catechist, community leader, work supervisor, policeman, politician, minister or priest. Good night. -- Fr. Michael

Trinity Sunday What can we say about Trinity Sunday? It's a mystery so we can't fully comprehend it, else it ceases to be one. Yet, there are things that we can learn. First, it is a community of three persons: Father creator, Son the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit, the consoler. This threefold divinity reveals the richness of God's love for us as we have heard in the gospel from that popular often-quoted gospel text, John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that He sent us his ...only begotten Son..." The unity of the Trinity is experienced by Paul who in the second reading today writes, "the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit." That's actually used as a liturgical greeting at mass. Second, equality. There is no higher or lower among the three persons. The preface of the Mass puts it this way, "equal in majesty." Imagine an equilateral triangle. All the sides are of the same length; together they form a figure, a triangle. Third, majesty. They constitute one Godhead to whom we are called to render glory and praise, forever. Yet, not only do we adore the Trinity, we are called to imitate them. We are called to foster and deepen community among us built on equality; that we treat everyone the same, regardless of race, language, culture, education and economic status. That we accord respect and even reverence to every is because of the conviction that we are created in the image and likeness of God. The protest marches that have been going on throughout the country and even in other countries are a call to equality, an end to racism. This call, at first glance , may seem tobe divisive but the goal is towards unity; towards fair and just treatment of everyone. This desire for equality is not to put down everyone to a lower level of humanity but to raise up everyone to a dignified and honorable status that one deserves as a child of God. So even as we magnify the Trinity, we are challenged to live like them

Public Sunday Mass (English) today at 12 pm