SPECIAL NEWS

MEET JAVIER SANDOVAL,
OUR NEW DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS ED

Javier Sandoval is our new DRE in charge of the various religious education programs at St. Therese Parish. Javier was born into a Hispanic household in Los Angeles, California, and partly raised in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. When he was in high school, he discerned becoming a priest and, after graduating, he entered the seminary for two years. Javier graduated in May 2005 with a degree in Theology and Philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He taught for some years and also acquired a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education from Loyola Marymount University in May 2008. If you see Javier, be sure to introduce yourself!

“DRESSING APPROPRIATELY AT MASS”
BY PATRICK MADRID

“A few years ago, I was in Jerusalem and visited the Western (or Wailing) Wall. Several hundred Jews stood at the wall praying, bowing rhythmically as they addressed their petitions to God. For many, this ancient Jewish custom is utterly foreign, even weird. But in reality what’s weird is not that Jews bow to show reverence at the Western Wall, but that so many Catholics have lost their sense of the sacred. For example, to see teens and adults come to Church on Sunday dressed in shorts, tank-tops, flip-flop sandals, and T-shirts emblazoned with beer logos are common sights at Mass. What does it say to God? Would they dress so carelessly for the prom if they were invited to have dinner at the White House or to a party with some celebrity? Of course not! Irreverence for holy things takes forms other than just dressing inappropriately for Mass. There are those, for example, who visit and chitchat loudly inside the Church after Mass while others are trying to pray. Some people go up to receive Holy Communion while chewing gum. Others never bother to genuflect or show any form of reverence to Christ in the tabernacle. The fact is that we Catholics can learn something very important here from our Jewish friends at the Wall about respect for holy things.” (Source: Does The Bible Really Say That?: Discovering Catholic Teaching in Scripture by Patrick Madrid, Cincinnati: Servant Books 2006)

TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS
TO BE HELD AT ST. THERESE
EVERY SUNDAY AT 1:00 P.M.

In response to the publication last July of Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Letter, “Summorum Pontificum,” by which the Holy Father allows for and promotes a wider usage of the liturgical books in force in 1962, we began celebrating this Mass here at St. Therese this past September 16. Originally, it was to be celebrated on the 3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays. However, as of now, we will now be able to have the traditional Latin Mass of 1962 offered here at St. Therese Church EVERY SUNDAY at 1:00 p.m. Missals are available to assist you in praying this Mass.

PILGRIMAGES

PILGRIMAGE TO ITALY & FRANCE with Fr. Adam Gonzalez, OCD, April 13-27, 2009 ($4,450 pp double occ. includes r/t air, luxury coach, priv bath, daily breakfasts/dinners, 2 lunches, all touring and entrance fees, daily Mass, papal audience, Padre Pio, Lanciano, Assisi, Marian Shrines and more. For more info, call Louisa & Jack Day at 323-722-9339 or see itinerary at www.syversentouring.com/carmel. MARIAN SHRINES OF EUROPE from July 31 to Aug. 9, 2008, with Fr. Theo Nelliparambil, OCD, and Avenue of Travel. $3639 pp double includes r/t air, 9 buffet b’fasts, 6 dinners. Visit Lisbon, Fatima, Lourdes, Madrid, and more. If interested, call Angela Yang at 213-612-0305 or email pyang38372@cs.com. “IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ST. PAUL” CRUISE / PILGRIMAGE with Fr. Fernando Pinto, OCD, from Nov. 6 to 21 (Greece, Turkey, Holy Land, Rome). Inside cabin, $4370 pp dbl; outside, $4620 pp dbl. See www.jmjministries.org or call 520-573-0065.

GREETINGS FROM
FR. PAUL KOENIG

Dear Sr. Therese Parishioners: When I arrived in Uganda ten months ago, we had five postulants under our roof; we now have seven! This year, it was decided to move our postulancy to Jinja ("the source of the Nile," the longest river in the world and, as it exits Lake Victoria, the second largest fresh water lake in the world-behind our own Lake Superior)—about 130 kilometers east of here. This is a big step for us, so please keep all of this in your prayers. Across our eastern border is Kenya. Perhaps you have heard of the political unrest in that country in the wake of a highly contested presidential election, the process of which has been questioned at the highest levels of government. We were just treated to a visit by Frs. Dennis Geng and Larry Daniels and Bro. Richard Dpendi from our Carmelite community in the capital city of Nairobi. Fr. Dennis is originally from Riverside, California; Fr. Larry hails from Wisconsin; and Bro. Richard is from here in Uganda. It was great to have them with us. Thank God they made it here and back safely, having encountered some rock-throwers on the way and even traveling under the protection of a military escort at one point (an armed soldier actually traveled in their vehicle through one particularly hazardous section of their journey). In another local development, our elementary school has a new addition called “Little Flower School,” which houses three classrooms and a faculty meeting room. Two of the classrooms are at the "nursery school" level (about thirty students each) and the other will cater to a group (about 10 or so) of handicapped, learning disabled children. This new addition has been built as a project of our Carmelite Mission and will be operated as such—having been financed by our generous donors from Ireland and Austria. I’ll end this with an accounting of a recent occurrence. Part of our daily duties is to bring the freshly-extracted milk to nearby Zigoti for sale to one of the local merchants. That task falls to whichever priest has just celebrated the daily Mass. We drop off the milk en route to bringing our half-dozen workers to our two-acre "garden" four kilometers away. So, there I was, behind the wheel of our pickup a month or so ago, on the main road between our capital city of Kampala and Mityana, preparing to turn into the milk place on the opposite side of the road when I saw that the "driveway" leading into the station was blocked by a car and a motorcycle. I eyeballed the situation and tried to figure out if there was enough room for us to squeeze by these two obstacles when I noticed in my rearview mirror that there was a truck bearing down on us, "hell-bent for election" as my high school football coach used to colorfully put it. In other words, this guy was flying! So I stopped my turn, and the truck blazed past us. Fortunately, nobody was coming in the opposite direction, so I turned into the station and parked as usual. But I noticed that the whole "village" was coming alive, and the noise level was rising noticeably. I turned around and saw that the truck had screeched to a halt, and was heading in our direction! The driver backed up right in front of us, cutting off what he perceived as our escape route, and stopped dead. Turns out, these guys were cattle traders, and all twenty-or-so of them poured out of the back of the truck and surrounded us. The driver, being apparently unhappy with my driving, was hanging out of his window shaking his fist at me and yelling—the veins popping out on his neck. It wasn't pretty! One of the cattle traders saw my collar and said, "If you weren't a priest, we would punish you." “Slowly by slowly,” as they say here, the situation calmed down, the cattle traders all got back in their truck, cooler heads prevailed, and peace was restored. I mean to tell you, the whole town had come out to witness and participate in this near rumble. What I didn't see, but came to find out later, was that the townsfolk had armed themselves with clubs and were saying things like: "If you hurt our priest, we will kill you." Of course, I was oblivious to all that. I marveled at how, just beneath the surface, things were so volatile. As Tarzan would say after a tough day at the office: "It's a jungle out there, Jane!" May God bless and reward you all, Fr. Paul Koenig, OCD PS: If you’d like to write to Fr. Paul, here is his address (note: postage is 84 cents). Fr. Paul Koenig, O.C.D. Discalced Carmelite Friars St. Kizito Parish, Kyengeza P.O. Box 141 Mityana, Uganda (East Africa)

CONGRATULATIONS
TO FR. LAURENCE PONCINI!

Brother Laurence is now Father Laurence! He was ordained May 26, in San Jose (his hometown). Pray for Fr. Laurence as he begins his priestly ministry here at St. Therese. ...And be sure to get his blessing the next time you see him. God bless you, Fr. Laurence!

FR. LAURENCE SLIDE SHOW

If you have access to the internet, check out the photos of the ordination of our new priest. Fr. Laurence Poncini, O.C.D. Just go to the Carmelite website: www.discalcedcarmelites.com and click on RECENT EVENTS. This will lead you to three different slide shows. or: http://www.dsj.org/dsj/vocations-ordination2007.asp Once again, Congratulations, Fr. Laurence! May God bless you in your ministry!

IN LOVING MEMORY OF
FR. WILLIAM FENTON

Sunday, June 17, WAS the fourth anniversary of the death of our beloved Fr. William Fenton, who died on June 17, 2003. He is the only Carmelite to have served TWO six-year terms here as pastor, as well as having served as an associate pastor for over 13 years. Fr. Fenton, who deeply loved St. Therese Parish and who was so happy to have been able to celebrate his 50th ordination anniversary with us in 1998, asked for nothing except to be remembered “at the altar of the Lord”. Please continue to honor his request by keeping him in your daily prayers.   Memorial of Father William Fenton, OCD

A HISTORY OF THE ARCHDIOCESE
OF LOS ANGELES

We have for sale (for $40) a limited-edition hardcover book filled with beautiful artwork and color pictures that is destined to be a collector’s edition. The book was compiled by Msgr. Francis Weber, the Archdiocesan archivist, and includes photos and brief histories of every parish and school in the Archdiocese. You can purchase this book at the Religious Goods counter in the back of the church after the Masses or in the rectory. Be one of the first to own this beautiful coffee-table-sized book.

BENEDICTION & EXPOSITION

We have begun a new devotion, to be held each Thursday evening in the church, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. It will include Benediction and Exposition of the Holy Eucharist. We hope to have a strong participation from our parishioners.

LITURGY OF THE HOURS

The Carmelite Friars pray the Divine Office publicly in St. Therese Church every day of the week, except Sunday, from 6:45 to 7:15 a.m. All are invited to join them in this ancient prayer. We use the four-volume set of the Liturgy of the Hours, which are available for purchase at Cotter’s Church Supplies in L.A. (1-800-446-3366)