Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church Newsletter — April 2021

april 2021

Our Lady of the

Assumption Pa r i sh

Eucharistic Ministers

Inside 2 Stewardship: The Four Pillars

3 The Future of

Stewardship at Our Lady of the Assumption

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Youth Ministry Brings the Faith Alive for Our Young Parishioners

6 The Sacrament of

Reconciliation: Returning to the Father

7 Environment Ministry Members Share Their Faith Through the Beauty of Our Church

5057 Cottage Way Carmichael, CA 95608 (916) 481-5115 | olaparish.net

Honor Our Lord and Reverently Share Christ with Our Faith Community

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t our parish, we always see our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion serving at Mass, where they exercise their special call to service — assisting the priest in distributing the Precious Body and Blood of Christ. Here at Our Lady of the Assumption, our Eucharistic Ministers take much devotion and care when ministering the Eucharist to their fellow parishioners. They are also able to grow in their faith and grow closer to the Lord through their service.

At Our Lady of the Assumption, we have about 80 Eucharistic Ministers, trained personally by Deacon Michael Tateishi.

“We go over the basics, but we also spend time on how to prepare spiritually before serving at Mass,” Deacon Michael says. “We encourage folks to realize that what they are giving is Jesus, God, the Real Presence — and that they need to do that very reverently. In addition to the idea of being reverent, I also really impress on them one thing to do when they serve, which is to smile! I think Jesus was always smiling when He gave of Himself. We’re not here to be stern, it’s not a chore — what we’re giving is Christ.

“We also stress that they don’t need to make decisions about who receives Communion and who doesn’t,” he adds. “It’s not for them to decide — it’s between folks and their priests. We stress the loving and giving nature of the Eucharist.”

Since the ministry is large, individual Eucharistic Ministers are usually scheduled to serve once every couple of months. At the moment, only about half of the ministers can actively serve due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But while the pandemic has changed much about how we can worship in community, the ministry remains dedicated to bringing the Body of Christ to as many as safely possible.

“Like many parishes, many of our ministers are elderly, so I lost a good 50 percent of our ministers who don’t feel comfortable serving, especially because of the proximity and contact that comes with being a continued on back cover

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Stewardship: The Four Pillars

ou’ve heard about the three Ts of stewardship, but what about the four Ps? The three Ts – Time, Talent, and Treasure – describe the personal gifts we offer to the Church. The four Ps are the Four Pillars of Parish Stewardship described by the renowned pastor Msgr. Thomas McGread. They are the hallmark of a stewardship parish – Hospitality, Prayer, Formation, and Service. Let’s take a look at each of them to understand how we can improve in each area.

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of understanding of how to pray. We have to schedule time for prayer just as we would for an important appointment.

And we have to learn how to pray from other people. Many saints have written spiritual books that describe different methods of prayer.

Formation Continuous Conversion Pope John Paul II always emphasized ongoing conversion. From childhood through adulthood, our whole life Hospitality must be a process of drawing closer to God. He never stops Christian Kindness calling us forward to learn more and to examine ourselves “When I was a stranger, you welcomed me” (Matthew more deeply.

25:35). The Gospel teaches that whenever we welcome the Very often our society values material things more than least of our brothers or sisters, we welcome Christ Himself. interior virtues. But as personal experience shows, when we That is why the first mark of a stewardship parish is hos- finally acquire the car or house or “toy” that we wanted so pitality. Being friendly is one of the first ways we can be badly, it doesn’t really satisfy. On the other hand, we don’t Christ-like toward others. tend to desire spiritual virtues with the same kind of longModern Catholic parishes are often so large and have ing, but when we actually have them, we find them far more so many Masses that many parishioners don’t know one rewarding than material things. another. To create a sense of community, be sure to smile and greet others as you enter and exit the Church. Let’s try Service harder than ever to be a welcoming community.

Love in Action “Amen I say to you, whatever you did to the least of Prayer my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). This Heart-to-Heart with God Scripture was one of St. Teresa of Calcutta’s favorites.

“Do not become so involved in the work of the Lord Each time she picked up a poor and hungry child, she that you forget the Lord of the work,” a seminary pro- knew she was ministering to Christ. While we may not fessor once taught. In other words, don’t get so caught up view ourselves as saints, we too are called to such heroic with parish projects and outreach efforts that you forget service right within our own community. As St. Teresa of to draw aside to spend time with God in prayer. Every Calcutta said, “To be a saint is not the privilege of a few, great saint has taught that prayer is the most essential but the duty of everyone.” component in the life of the Christian. Through prayer, We have many service opportunities right here withwe nurture our most important relationship – the one in our own parish. If you have the willingness to serve that will last for all eternity. and take the initiative to find where you are needed, A healthy prayer life should include communal prayer you’ll find that there is no end to the families and insuch as Mass, as well as personal prayer and family prayer. dividuals who truly need help. How can you reach out The two biggest obstacles to prayer are lack of time and lack to them in love?

A Letter from Our Pastor

The Future of Stewardship at Our Lady of the Assumption

Dear Parishioners,

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e are not experts in the area of stewardship, but we are blessed with experiences that include conversions of mind, heart and soul. Who can deny that our parish has begun changing since we decided to adopt stewardship as a way of life? It has defined our spirituality, helping us to put the pillars of parish stewardship into practice by recognizing that hospitality, prayer, formation and service are at work in the life of our parish activities. It works and continues to work for us, whether people notice it or not. Perhaps this pandemic has allowed us to spend a bit more time thinking about things like this. Thinking about stewardship, talking about stewardship, and evangelizing stewardship should continue to be the mission of Our Lady of the Assumption long into the future.

Nearly 30 years ago, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops envisioned within their groundbreaking document, Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response, a guide to inform, encourage and invite the reader to a conversion of heart and become the “disciple” Christ called us to be. They knew stewardship would facilitate everyone’s call to discipleship boldly proclaiming, “Once one chooses to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, stewardship is not an option.” It still is a relevant and timely publication that can inspire even the most hardened skeptic. One just has to give it a chance. Some are ready for the change of heart that stewardship fosters, while others are resistant, but that belongs to their story. What about ours?

I am encouraged to see the growing number of people in our parish who recognize the importance

of their spiritual life and who take the steps needed to get involved in parish life. I am excited to see stewardship in action with parishioners who are willing to live out their call to discipleship within the parish family to which they belong.

The stories of stewardship you read in this newsletter vary a bit — some being very dramatic and others being simple. However, all of them are important and should be shared as often as the occasion calls for a good story. Most of the time, that good story will be a stewardship story. The future of stewardship at Our Lady of the Assumption will depend on telling those stories of our past, and the new ones waiting to be written and shared.

Discovering the stewardship way of life has helped me to do not only what I was assigned to do as a pastor, but it has also helped me understand more fully what I was called to do in my vocation as a priest and a Catholic Christian. It is my sincere hope and prayer that each of you can make the same claim as members of this parish family, in their vocations of marriage or the single life, and as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and being a Catholic Christian.

My hopes and prayers are well-founded because I believe with all my heart, the future stewardship story of our parish depends upon it.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Father Eduino Silveira Pastor

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Youth Ministry Brings the Faith P

High School youth group Catholic HEART Workcamp mission trip to Montana

High School youth group at an evening of OLA Taize Prayer

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ope Francis has urged young people to be involved by sharing their faith with one another. “The Church needs your momentum, your intuitions, your faith,” he wrote after the 2018 Synod on Youth. “And when you arrive where we have not yet reached, have the patience to wait for us.”

In turn, we are blessed to have youth in our parish who are committed to living the faith and sharing the Good News.

The COVID-19 pandemic ended in-person youth group meetings, at least for the time being. Youth Minister Johann Rubia-Miller says it’s been difficult for the youth, but at the beginning of the pandemic, they adapted by meeting over the Zoom videoconferencing platform. However, when school started this last fall, the youth said being on Zoom at school all day was enough and wanted another way to connect. So, Johann has connected with our youth in a variety of ways, whether through social media or with outdoor, socially distanced visits. She focuses on different topics and uses videos, articles, and questions to engage the youth. She hopes to do more in-person visits and events in the future, once it’s safe to do so.

“It’s hard because we can’t replace the time physically together,” Johann says.

Before the pandemic, Johann was using the EDGE program for the seventh and eighth-grade students and Lifeteen for the high school students. The mission of the Youth Ministry program is to “engage and transform the lives of our modern youth culture through the sacramental life of the Catholic Church, providing leadership and adult ministry opportunities.”

A major part of our Youth Ministry program is service.

Over the years, the program has performed many projects to benefit our community — think of a service project, and they have probably done it! As Johann says, the youth always desire more service projects. Before the pandemic, the youth were offering child care during the 9:30 a.m. Sunday Mass. They also collect soap and personal care products for the St. Vincent de Paul food locker. Also, they’ve gone to downtown Sacramento to bring food to the homeless, and collected coats and socks to be distributed. The youth group members also serve in most of the ministries for the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass.

Alive for Our Young Parishioners “We just really try to make sure that service is at the forefront of everything we do,” Johann says. “It’s important, to us, to get out in the community.”

When Johann’s children were in high school, she saw the need for a youth ministry program. So, she helped get the program off the ground and, eventually, began overseeing it. She says being involved with the youth has strengthened her faith and has positively changed her life. Some weeks, she wonders if she’s getting more out of the program than the youth.

“This is my calling,” she says. “This work fulfills me so much.

It’s just so awesome to see that, still among the most evil things in the world, we still have so many young people that want to make a difference. They believe in the good and they want to help. It’s inspiring.”

Johann looks forward to being able to safely meet in-person again. For now, she urges parents of youth to discuss involvement in our Youth Ministry with their teen — the program provides many wonderful opportunities for youth to socialize and grow in faith with their peers. And, as Johann points out, many teens leave the church in high school and college — so, involvement in a program like our Youth Ministry is a way to keep our young people interested and actively engaged in their faith.

“This is a safe place to share ideas and support one another,” Johann says. “Youth encounter fellowship, brotherhood, and sisterhood. This can pave the way for lifelong friendships.”

If you would like to learn more, you may connect with Our Lady of the Assumption Youth Ministry on Facebook at @olayouthgroupcarmichael or on Instagram at @olayouthministry. You may also stay up-to-date with our Youth Ministry by checking the bulletin and connecting via Flocknote. Please contact Johann Rubia-Miller at youth@olaparish.net for additional information.

High School youth group meeting

Middle School youth group meeting

Middle School youth group outing at laser tag

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The Sacrament of Reconciliation: Returning to the Father

hose of us who have children know what it’s like when they come to us apologetically after having done something they know is wrong. As parents, it melts our hearts, and we can’t help but forgive them freely, and take them into our arms – sometimes squeezing them with tears in our eyes! At times, we may even feel closer to them than we did before the event occurred.

This, we can assume, is how God feels, being our most clement Father. In His magnanimous love, He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to redeem the world, freeing it from the haunting grips of sin and death.

Christ instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation through His Church to offer sinners forgiveness for the offenses they committed against God. As the Angelic Doctor St. Thomas Aquinas writes so beautifully, “[The Sacrament of Confession is a] sacrament of healing and a sacrament of conversion, returning us to the Father after we have sinned. In the life of the body a man is sometimes sick, and unless he takes medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life a man is sick on account of sin. For that reason he needs

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medicine so that he may be restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the Sacrament of Penance.”

As far as the details for the reception of this sacrament are concerned, three conditions are necessary – contrition, which is genuine sorrow for sin, together with a purpose of amendment; confession of sins without any omission; and satisfaction by means of good works. A priest is gravely bound to keeping total confidentiality for all confessions they hear.

Church law requires Catholics to confess mortal sins – the most serious kind of sins – to a priest at least once per year, and to confess them before ever receiving Holy Communion, as well. However, this is by far the minimum; Catholics are encouraged to receive the sacrament freely and frequently since it is so extremely beneficial to the health of the mind, soul and spiritual life in general.

To honor the Sacraments is to honor God and the entire Christian community. To receive the Sacraments is to live in God’s love and to strengthen our love for each other. Christ, our tenderhearted, Paschal Lamb, awaits us, His beloved children, to come to Him with all of our hearts.

Environment Ministry Members Share Their Faith Through the

Beauty of Our Church

Our Lady of the Assumption decorated for Lent

Our Lady of the Assumption decorated for Easter

hen Joan Cotton realized she could share her faith through the beauty of decorating, she joined the Environment Ministry.

“God has blessed me with the gift of enjoying decorating and the eye to see how things go together to bring beauty out,” she says. “I love to give to others, and it has also made my faith stronger.”

The Environment Ministry at Our Lady of the Assumption seeks to bring the décor of the church into the Liturgy of the Word and particularly Sunday’s Gospel. In 2011, Fr. Brendan McKeefry started the ministry, which was originally part of the Liturgy Committee.

“The Church divides the year into liturgical seasons starting with Advent and Christmas, or Christ’s birth,” Joan says.

“Then we have the season of Christ’s ministry, or Ordinary Time, before Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, or from Ash Wednesday through the Resurrection of the Lord.”

Marylee Johnson has been part of the Liturgy Committee since 1974 and is now a member of the Environment Ministry.

“Visuals help us learn and understand the Gospel as we listen,” Marylee says. “Being involved in this ministry has helped me learn more about the Gospel and my own faith journey.”

During the Lenten season, decorations become particularly quiet and simple as they reflect the readings, and colorful flowers are demonstrably absent.

“For Ash Wednesday, we put a vase of olive branches in front of the altar,” Marylee says. “We then added to that over the weeks that followed with some sand and a cactus plant.”

Then, during the Easter season, bright and colorful flowers symbolized the joy of Christ’s resurrection. Hydrangeas, lilies, roses, and tulips adorned the church, as well as gold and white banners.

While many faith community members volunteer to help the Environment Ministry during the Christmas season, ministry members are needed throughout the entire liturgical year.

“We really need some young folks to get involved!” Marylee says. “They could climb ladders for us, hang the higher-up decorations, and move heavier plants.”

Throughout the week, we have the opportunity to reflect on the Gospel and its unfolding meaning in our lives, and the environment of our sacred space brings us all further into the Word of God. “Each carefully placed plant, flower arrangement, banner and decoration are meant to symbolically represent each season, and focus our minds and hearts on that particular phase of Christ’s life,” Joan says. “The environment helps draw me back into my faith and deepens my faith.”

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If you would like more information about Environment Ministry at Our Lady of the Assumption, please reach out to Joan Cotton at 916-849-2282 or faithformation@olaparish.net, or Marylee Johnson at 916-359-1225.

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5057 Cottage Way Carmichael, CA 95608 (916) 481-5115 | olaparish.net MASS TIMES: 8:00 a.m. Daily Mass Monday-Friday and first Saturday located inside of the church Saturday 5:00 p.m. Vigil Mass live streamed inside of the church, open to the public Sunday Mass 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 7:30 p.m. located inside of the church *See website for diocesan and county guidelines.

Eucharistic Ministers Eucharistic Minister,” Deacon Michael says. “Everyone is wanting to come back whenever they can. We currently are down to one weekend Mass on Saturday and three on Sunday, and all are live-streamed so people can watch online. We also have Eucharistic Ministers who stay after the Mass for those who can come after the live stream to receive Communion. We offer this for about 15 minutes after the conclusion of each weekend Mass. We want everyone to feel comfortable.”

In addition to their usual responsibilities, in non-pandemic times many Eucharistic Ministers would bring the Eucharist to individuals who were homebound, in the hospital, or in nursing homes. Ministry members truly feel

continued from front cover humbled to be of service to their community by distributing the Body and Blood of Christ.

“For me, it’s been a very positive thing, and for my ministers, they feel that it’s a wonderful responsibility and are fulfilled by it year after year,” Deacon Michael says. “It has enriched their personal lives, and they keep coming back to do it.”

“We always welcome others to come and help serve,” he adds. “We would love to have more younger people — we have always allowed anyone who is at least a junior in high school to become a Eucharistic Minister. It speaks to how universal Christ is — we want all ages involved and we encourage their participation as early as 16 or 17 years old.”

If you would like more information about our Eucharistic Ministers, please contact Deacon Michael Tateishi at deacon@olaparish.net or 916-486-9485.