A HALF CUP OF INSPIRATION WITH FR. TAT

“Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:1-12; 17-20

Dear disciples of Christ,

“Who are the disciples of Christ?” You might ask. You are; I am; and we are the disciples of Christ.We are called and sent to be disciples of mercy, forgiveness and love. Jesus called and sent seventy-two disciples to go out, to preach the good news, to heal the sick and to pray with the poor and abandoned.

We should be so proud and happy because God invites each one of us personally by name. The most joyful and rejoicing news is: “Our names are written in heaven.” Today, we should celebrate our vocation as baptized Christians. We are called to be holy and to share God’s blessings with everyone without condition and without border.

What a privilege to work with God and for God in the vinyard. “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” I would like to invite youpersonally to reflect on your gifts, availability and time to see if you can work in the following ministries at St. Gerard’s community:

• Finance council (internal dimension)
• Parish council (external dimension)
• Sacraments team (spiritual dimension)
• Giving Communion to the sick and homebound
• Youth and young adults
• Extraordinary ministers (Lectors, Ushers, Altar servers, Eucharistic ministers, sacristans, choir)
• Catechists
• Bible study
• Helping the homeless or poor
• Interfaith dialouge
• Counting collection money
• Alumni
• Cleaning the church, chapel and office.
• Bingo
• Prayer group

I thank God for your great generosity to St. Gerard’s Church. I am glad to share with you a picute of Mary Ann visiting Ms. Kim and giving her Communion every Thursday. May God continue to bless us with joy and grace to generously share God’s blessings with others around us.

Gratefully,

Fr. Tat Hoang, C.Ss.R.

A Half Cup of Inspiration with Fr. Tat :

“Give us each day our daily bread.” Luke 11:1-13

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

St. Alphonsus Liguori, Founder of the Redemptorist and Doctor of the Church, taught, “No Prayer no salvation.” The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. My primal profession as a priest and a Redemptorist minssionary is to pray. With gratitude and joyfulness, I pray “Give us each day our daily bread.” And indeed, I’ve received abundantly everyday blessings upon blessings from the Lord through all of you and events.

I have come here to serve at St. Gerard Majella Church – A Redemptorist Family for only three weeks. However, I felt like I have been here for a long time. We meet. We laugh. We exchange stories. We celebrate. We care and share together. Especially, we prepared together for the Blue Mass last Sunday to honor our First Responders. And it went so so well. I personally thank each one of you to join together to make this event so honarable and beautiful.

God has blessed and guided me everyday. I have no fears. I remember my dad used to teach me how to pray. He always prayed to God everyday saying, “Give us each day our daily bread.” He never asked God for more than he needed each day. He entrusted his family to God with this prayer. God takes care of his family of 6 children (5 boys and 1 girl). We all are grown up and successful now. I am grateful to my parents, family and friends.

Life is beautiful. And life is full of surprises. If we keep ourselves open and trust in the Lord, we never lack of God’s blessings and guidance.

Instead of asking for more from God, we might need to recollect ourselves to give God thanks for so many blessings in our lives through our family, work, faith community and friendship. Gratitude is the foundation of prayers.

Gratefully,

Fr. Tat Hoang, C.Ss.R.

“He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord” (Psalm 15).

 We thank God for our Governor, Mayors and all First Responders for working so tirelessly last week to make sure all citizens and families protected from the tropical storm Barry.

This Sunday is a special Sunday for St. Gerard’s community. We have a blessed opportunity to celebrate the “Blue Mass” to care, share and pray together for the First Responders, living and diseased, in our community, city, state and country. These First Responders are our police officers, firefighters, EMS, military men and women, coast guards, security officers, chaplains of hospitals, doctors and nurses. They are secretly and tirelessly working for the sake of the common good of all citizens and families. My first and last words for them are: “THANK YOU.”

“He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.” This phrase is from the Responsorial Psalm today. The First Responders are the ones who are called and sent to do justice in our society today. They represent justice. They keep us safe. How many times we believe that they live in the presence of God and God is with them always?

We live in the world in which people live so much in fear, suspicion and doubt. We do not easily trust one another. We constantly run fact check to find “the truth”. Unfortunately, we are cautious for everything. If we live justly, we should not be so worried.

Justice of God is not only about right from wrong, but also about hospitality, compassion, wisdom, common sense and trust. Abraham and his wife Sarah, in the first reading today, invited three strange men to rest and eat at their home because they saw them in need. In contrary, these three men blessed them back with the abundant grace of God to have the firstborn baby after a long time yearning.

The ultimate justice is: We all need God’s grace, blessing and even forgiveness in our lives.

May we all live and do justice. May the presence of God be with each one of us. May God bless our First Responders and our families with abundant peace, protection and love.

– Fr. Tat

Who was neighbor to the robbers’ victim? – “The one who treated him with mercy.” (Luke 10:25-37)

Dear friends of Christ,

This is my first official message as a new pastor of St. Gerard’s parish. First, I want to sincerely thank our previous pastors, Redemptorists and all parishioners of this parish, especially the former pastor, Fr. Chuong Cao, C.Ss.R., for serving this parish so faithfully and generously. I am so blessed and lucky to be able to follow the service and hospitality of all of you.

Secondly, I am here to serve all of you in the pastoral and sacramental need. Many people have congratulated me and prayed for me as I assume this ministry. I have to confess with you that I will work all my best, God will take care the rest. With God, everything is possible.

Thirdly, I am so privileged to meet with so many of you. We exchanged names, smiles and hopes. Some of you whispered in my ears, “Fr. Tat, we are behind you. Let us know what you need. We are here for you.” I am so grateful for you. We need one another to build the kingdom of love and unity. We do not work for each other, but we work with one another. I will work with you.

Jesus invites us to “treat others with mercy.” I was broken and abandoned before. God sent many “good Samaritans” to pick me up and heal me. I am still here because of so many good and generous people. Let us be merciful and welcoming towards others in our society and community today. 

I have hope. And our hope is here and now.