Daily Reflection



Daily Reflection:
Monday, July 6

My Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
 
I share with you some thoughts on envy and
how envy has touched and affected my life.
 
How have you dealt with envy in your life?
 
--Fr. Mike
 
Envy
 
Envy is my first tangible memory as a human being. I carried that deadly sin with me into adulthood.
 
I was 4 ½ years old, in kindergarten. Three or four of us were sitting on the floor and we were asked to place blocks of wood, with holes in their centers, on a string. It was a contest to see who would finish first. I did not win, and I was envious of the girl who had more dexterity than the rest of us to complete the task first.
 
How sad! My first real memories of me, Michael, were those of envy spurred on by competition.
 
Thomas Aquinas said of it, “Envy according to the aspect of its object is contrary to charity, whence the soul derives its spiritual life…Charity rejoices in our neighbor’s good, while envy grieves over it.” ( Summa Theologica )
 
I have often reflected upon Thomas’ take on envy and finally in my late adult life, I feel confident in voicing a bit of different twist on his definition.
 
My kindergarten envy did not grieve over my classmate’s good fortune in finishing first. The deadly sin of envy made me feel inadequate and incompetent. And I took those feelings of inadequacy and incompetence with me through the schools--grade, high, college, and seminary. Most times in the background, other times significantly in the forefront, the envy was always there, ready for a fight.
 
Only after very special moments of grace in my faith journey, in which God broke into my existence, over and over again through the encouraging words of fellow human beings, did I come to be aware of my gifts and talents. They led me out of my envy, in which I was grieving over myself. I was led to charity, in which I recognized the many gifts God had given me; and how I could use them to be of assistance to others.
 
Grieving, not so much over my neighbor’s good, but rather, grieving more over my inadequacies blinded me to my own good. Thanks to God’s interventions over the years, I am now charitable to myself and the world is a better place because of it.









Welcome Back to Mass in Person!

Mass Times:
Saturday, 5:00pm (English)
Sunday, 8:30am (English)
Sunday, 10:30am (English)
Sunday, 1:00pm (Vietnamese)
Tuesday, 8:15am (English)
Thursday, 8:15am (English)

If you made a reservation for one of the in-person Masses, we'll see you there!
Reservations are still required for weekend Masses on Saturday and Sunday.
Weekday Masses on Tuesday and Thursday at 8:15am are now open for up to 100 people at each Mass, first come first served.

If you plan to attend Mass in person and wish to access the worship aid, it will be available the day before on the Reflections & Resources page of our website.

Please click HERE or call 760-758-4100 x100 to reserve a seat for Mass in person. Reservations must be made at least 12 hours in advance.

If reserving online seems a little intimidating, check these tips first HERE , then give it a try online HERE .

ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES are back! If you were accustomed to using one before, please bring your earpiece or headphones. The transmitter devices will be sanitized after each use. Any questions, contact Lorraine Doering .

Remember that you can watch Mass Online any time after 6:00am on Sunday or Wednesday. Bishop McElroy continues to dispense everyone from the obligation to attend Mass in person.



Attention STM Women!

Watch your mail for an invitation to join the STM Women's Guild for the 2020-2021 year.

Click on the photo to peruse the types of activities and fundraisers we host, understanding that we will make adjustments as needed.

Questions? Email Trish Feeley.


Hello Faith Formation Families!

We would like to share some information about our Religious Education Program (REACH) for the Fall. Please click on the images above for more details and to request your enrollment packet. Thank you!

Many of us make our contributions when we attend Mass each week. Our Parish still needs our weekly contributions even though we cannot attend Mass, so that we can continue providing services and ministering to you. Please consider giving online, using text-to-give, or mailing in your contributions to STM at 1450 S. Melrose Dr., Oceanside, CA 92056. Thank you!

If you know Parishioners or have family/friends who do not have access to email, please share this information with them. Thank you!

If you or anyone you know needs anything, please contact the Parish Office. We are closed but checking voice mail regularly and will do our best to help. You may also call
2-1-1 for assistance with resources of various types.

The bulletin link is available in every email we send (see golden orange button below. People without email or internet access will be able call the Parish Office and leave a message requesting a bulletin via snail mail each week during this time. Thank you!


The Larger Church
Solutions for Change FarmBox

We hope you are doing well during this turbulent time. Many of us have been "thrown for a loop" the past couple of months from COVID-19, but the good news is, we are learning to find a way forward, and slowly but surely, able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We want you to know that we have a special place in our heart for your church and the people you serve, and we hope everyone is safe, happy, and healthy. 
 
As you may or may not know, our Solutions for Change has a farm! Solutions Farms provides work development training for the formerly homeless families in our program and funds the transformation of these families. 
 
Pre-Covid, we sold our lettuce to local restaurants. Unfortunately, with business shut downs, we lost these accounts, and a valuable source of funding for our program. We needed to get creative, so we quickly pivoted, partnering with local fruit and vegetable farmers to come out with our own CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Box - Solutions FarmBox!
 
Solutions FarmBox delivers organic fruits and vegetables straight to your front door. The box includes our 100% organic spring mix with local farm fresh veggies and fruit such as avocados, apples, oranges, tomatoes, zucchinis, spinach, strawberries etc.
 
To continue to serve those in need, we offer this CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box for purchase on our website, and 100% of the proceeds go towards solving family homeless at Solutions for Change. 
 
If you would like to purchase a box click here .
If you do not want a box but would like to support Solutions for Change, click here .


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