W E L C O M E !

For livestreamed Masses, click on the preferred link below:

SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY E-BLAST! If you would like to receive our e-blast to receive last-minute news, articles, a link to the weekly BULLETIN, and links to various other items of interest, click HERE. You can always unsubscribe from the bottom of the e-blast cover (Constant Contact).

St. Therese Catholic Church

Ministered by the Discalced Carmelite Friars

Church Address:

1100 East Alhambra Road

Alhambra, California

NAVIGATING OUR WEBSITE:

Under CONTACT can be found specific contact numbers for the priests, the staff, and the volunteer coordinators of our ministries and groups.

If you are unsure about where to find the topic for which you are looking, click SEARCH and then enter a keyword. All the locations where that subject is included will appear.

Under ABOUT US can be found the following topics: Parish Mission & Vision Statements * History of St. Therese Parish * Architect of St. Therese * Discalced Carmelite Friars

Under OUR PATRONESS, topics include: * Life of St. Therese of Lisieux * (Road to Sainthood) * Lives of the Parents of St. Therese * (Upcoming Canonization) and * Lives of the Sisters of St. Therese

Under REGISTER is information about registering at St.Therese Parish (including a form).

MASS AND CONFESSION TIMES has its own link at the top of the page. Under that there is a subheading for information about Low-Gluten Communicants.

MASS CELEBRANTS shows which priests are celebrating the various Masses, etc.

Under the heading LATIN RITE MASS/SACRAMENTS is information about our weekly Latin Mass on Sundays, as well as forms to register for Latin Rite Baptisms, First Communions, and Weddings.

Under SACRAMENTS, you can find information for Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation for Youth, Confirmation for Adults, Weddings, and Anointing.of the Sick.

Under FUNERALS, you can find all the information you need about having a funeral here at St. Therese, including a selection of readings you may choose for the funeral Mass.

Under WEDDINGS, you can find all the information you need about having a wedding here, including links to pre-marital courses.

Under RELIGIOUS ED you can find subheadings for the following: School of Religious Ed (children through 8th Grade); RCIA; Adult Confirmation, Youth Confirmation (High School), VIRTUS (Protecting God's Children), Adult Bible Study, and Vacation Bible School

Under the heading NEWS / EVENTS, click on COMING UP for all our upcoming events, news, and announcements.

Under the heading MINISTRIES can be found the following subjects:

Liturgical Ministries (Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Ushers, Sacristans, Music Ministry, Altar Servers)

Prayer & Devotion Ministries (Perpetual Adoration, Exposition & Benediction, Rosary Prayer Group (including information on how to say the Rosary, as well as meditations and pictures for each mystery), Legion of Mary, St. Joseph Prayer Group, First Friday Mass, Intercessors for Priests prayer group, the Order of Secular Carmelites; and the Divine Mercy Devotion);

Respect Life Ministry (Articles written by Catherine Contreras (Respect Life Coordinator); Guadalupe Pregnancy Services [GPS]; and Natural Family Planning [NFP]

Peace & Justice Ministries (Christian Service, Detention Ministry, Rosary Makers);

Retreat Ministry (Men's Retreats, Women's Retreats),

Under COR JESU (X) is information about our Youth Ministry

Under VOX VITAE is information about Pro-Life Camps for Youth and Adults and other activities

Under the heading CATECHESIS Q & A, can be found various articles written or compiled by our staff about the Catholic Faith and Liturgy

Under the heading GROUPS can be found: the Avila Young Adult Group, Catholic Tradition Talks, Couples for Christ, "Going Deeper" Catholic Faith Study, the Grief Ministry, Knights of Columbus, Retrouvaille (for hurting marriages), and Video Night Presents.

Under OUR SCHOOL you can find information about our school.

Under COUNCILS: (Parish Council, Finance Council, Liturgy Committee, Festival Committee);

Under ONLINE GIVING is information about how you can make automatic donations through your checking account or credit card

Under PHOTOS you can find several albums containing pictures of parishioners and parish events, etc.

Under PRAYERS: Basic Catholic Prayers, Rosary Prayers, Novena Prayers, Prayers Composed by Saints, and Divine Mercy Prayers

Under CARMELITE SAINTS: A list of all the Carmelite saints and the biographies of the more well-known Carmelite Saints

Other headings are:

BULLETINS: Download PDF versions of the Sunday bulletin from January 2011 to the present);

SUBMIT NEWS: Click on this to submit an announcement for the website

CALENDAR: Select the month you are interested in and check on upcoming events).

CONTACT: Find the phone numbers and emails for the Friars, the staff, and the volunteer heads of organizations.

SEARCH: If you're not sure where to find the subject you're interested in, use the search link to enter a key word and finds all the areas where that subject can be found.

"SLEEPING JOSEPH" STATUE

Buy a ticket for an opportunity to win this beautiful “Sleeping Joseph” statue. Tickets are $3 each, $5 for two, or $10 for five (they are available at the Religious Goods counter after the weekend Masses or in the Parish Office Monday through Friday). The winning ticket will be drawn on Father’s Day.

The image of St. Joseph as he's sleeping is a powerful reminder of his peaceful surrender to God's divine plan for his life. One night an angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him that Mary's baby was the Son of God. The angel told Joseph to marry Mary and to name her baby Jesus. Jesus was to be the Savior of the world. Joseph obeyed the angel and married Mary. The statue is 16X3 inchest and is simple in the way Joseph was himself, wrapped in his humble robes. Yet the symbolic value of this image is strong. While asleep, St Joseph received messages from God, who warned him about the danger posed by King Herod and entrusted him with loving and protecting Mary and the Baby Jesus. Immediately after God spoke to Joseph, he responded exactly as he was told. Based on this reflection, the “Sleeping Saint Joseph” devotion teaches us two valuable lessons: God calls us to rest and reflect in our lives—to break away from our busy lives. And when God gives us a message, we must act on it. ITE AD SANCTUS IOSEPH!

ALL PROCEEDS GO TO BENEFIT THE ST. THERESE PARISH FAMILY, which SEEKS TO BUILD a LARGER PARISH FAMILY through ST. JOSEPH'S INTERCESSION. St. Joseph, protector of the Holy Family, pray for our family! Amen.

FORMED: CATHOLIC FAITH ON DEMAND

Fr. Thomas has purchased a subscription to the Catholic media website, FORMED.ORG, and is making it available to ALL our parishioners! Discover all the best Catholic content in one place: Entertaining movies, enlightening programs, inspiring talks, audio dramas, and a great selection of popular e-books--all just a link away! To register, click on the image above. Then, enter St. Therese Church, Alhambra, CA, click on it when you see it, and then enter your name, your email address, a password, and your zip code--and get started enjoying all they have to offer! Click HERE to sign up.

CALLED TO RENEW COMMITTMENT WEEKEND

Soon we will have another COMMITMENT WEEKEND. (See details about Called to Renew on its own website. Click HERE to check it out).

Please consider making a pledge to the Called to Renew campaign this weekend. The monies collected will allow St. Therese Parish to renovate our facilities. Fifty percent (50%) of all funds raised up to our goal will remain with our parish to address the following needs:

• Church interior renovations

• Painting the church Interior

•Repairing the stained glass windows

•Repairing the church’s tile roof

•Repairing / updating the lighting/wiring

•Repairing our school classrooms and parish offices (built over 70 years ago!)

DEEPENING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

Join Joe Campbell and Florence Goh for this interactive program series which is held every Tuesday night from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., via ZOOM (it began November 29 but it is ongoing). To register, CLICK THE PICTURE ABOVE, which will take you to the registration page. After completing it, the ZOOM link will be emailed to you.

VIDEOS OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

FR. ED BROOM, OMV, gave four talks at St. Therese on The Acts of the Apostles. Click the picture above to watch them on our YouTube channel. The first one was recorded on May 5, 2022.

VIDEOS OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ST. IGNATIUS

During February through April, 2022, Fr. Ed Broom, OMV, was here at St. Therese to give ten talks on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. The talks were all recorded, and you may view them by clicking the above picture. You will be taken to the page with the links to each talk and to the accompanying handouts for each talk. (Note: Once you are on that page, you may have to scroll down until you find the same picture you see above.)

HOLY SPIRIT NOVENA

Anytime is a good time to pray the NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT! Also, read THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Fr. Thomas would also like to share with you the following links for talks in the series, "Words of Knowledge Explained". Just click on each person's name to hear his or her talk.

Dr. Mary Healy (Activating Your Spiritual Gifts) & Dr. Mary Healy (Hearing the Lord's Voice)

(Randy Clark — Richard Roberts — Kris Valloton - Shawn Bolz - Joyce Meyer

For the booklet written by Fr. John Hampsch, CMF, called WHEN GOD SAYS NO, click the title to open it. Also, you may want to listen to this TALK BY BOB SCHUCHT. It is part of a series available on the website, www.jpiihealingcenter.org.

Prayer Guidance (GUIDANCE = God U I DANCE)

Here is some guidance on prayer—from the Gospels and from St. Thérèse. (And when we really ask the Holy Spirit for GUIDANCE, and then watch and wait for Him to give it to us, our lives really do become "God, U & I Dance!")

Prayer is meant to be holy leisure, too--not always hard work; prayer after Holy Communion is especially meant to be a time of holy leisure, to be able to climb into Jesus’ lap and let Him fold His arms around us and hold us close. Here is a way of prayer to foster that kind of listening prayer. It is from the Bible and is called the Jesus Prayer: While breathing in, gently and silently say, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God”; then, while breathing out, say, “have mercy on me, a sinner.” This prayer is a combination of the prayer of the blind Bartimaeus calling out to Jesus (Mark 10:47), the prayer of the tax collector in the temple (Luke 18:13), and St. Peter’s great statement of faith in Jesus (Matthew 16:16). Once you get the hang of praying this prayer, you can shorten it to “Jesus” while inhaling and “mercy” while exhaling.

With the help of St. Therese you can also focus on other meanings of the word mercy, besides that of a sinner pleading before the judge: “Therese has left on record how much she would have liked to learn Hebrew, so as to understand the Gospels better. And this no doubt would have been a great joy to her. For few Hebrew words are etymologically more rewarding than those used to convey the concept "mercy". Four words are used to convey the reality: hanan, to lean over; hamalnoum, to suffer with, to spare since one feels pity [like the judge looking at a repentant sinner]; raham-rahamim, to be soft, the mother’s breast, the entrails, the womb; and naham, to relieve someone, to stop his groans by helping him to breathe. What a program! Therese saw this as God’s feelings about man” (The Little Way, by Bernard Bro, O.P., p. 60).

So, you see? It is a very simple kind of prayer, biblical, rich in meaning, adaptable to whatever psychological, emotional, physical, spiritual situation you find yourself in; and it gives your mind a little bit of food to meditate on while being simple enough so that you can listen to the live Person, Jesus, and try to listen to what He is saying to you. As you get used to this prayer, you can use it anywhere, anytime, focusing on that meaning of mercy which best fits with what is happening in your life at that moment. You will find that you can easily spend 20 minutes with Jesus in this way, especially when He has just come into your very own house/body after Holy Communion.

In Jesus and Mary and Joseph,

Fr. Thomas of the Trinity, OCD

Be sure to check out the NEWS / EVENTS section of this website (link is near the top of each page) for news and upcoming events.

PRAYER BEFORE RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, who according to the will of the Father and with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit hast by Thy death given life unto the world, I adore and revere this Thy holy Body and this Thy holy Blood which was given over and poured forth for the many unto the remission of sins. O merciful Lord, I beg of Thy mercy that through the power of this sacrament Thou wilt make me one of that many. Through faith and love make me feel the power of these sacraments so I may experience their saving power. Absolve and free from all sin and punishment of sin Thy servants, Thy handmaidens, myself, all who have confessed their sins to me, those whom I have promised or am obliged to pray for, and so too those who themselves hope or beg to be helped by my prayers with Thee. Make our Church rejoice in Thy constant protection and consolation. Amen.

UPDATE ON FR. THOMAS' SKATEBOARD

UPDATE ON FR. THOMAS' SKATEBOARD: About three weeks after it was taken from in front of the office, a teenage boy has returned the skateboard, after having heard that it was not a "give-away" item. However, he had painted over the 23rd Psalm with black paint, which he then beautifully decorated with hearts and stars. Before he returned it, a generous benefactor had already purchased a new skateboard for Fr. Thomas from the same company where he had gotten the first one. If anyone knows who the teenage boy is, Fr. Thomas would like to give the skateboard back to him. If you know who he is, please have him call the office. Thank you!

POST-ABORTION HEALING

Fr. Thomas' letter in the bulletin of January 22, 2023--the anniversary of Roe v. Wade--is about the over-turning of Roe

Post Abortion Healing article in English

Post Abortion Healing article in Spanish

ONLINE GIVING

Enroll Today!

Through Faith Direct you can make all of your contributions to St. Therese Church via automatic payment from your checking account or credit card--just as you may do now with your mortgage, household bills, and other monthly payments. This is a great way to simplify your giving--as well as being very cost-effective and environmentally-friendly. Of course, it's voluntary! The first step is to enroll in the program. To do so, click on the picture logo above. You will then be taken to the Faith Direct website. During your enrollment, you may choose from weekly donations, monthly donations, school donations, special collection donations, or one-time gifts. To watch an instructional video, go to the Online Giving link (next to the HOME page link at the top of the page). Thank you for your donations to St. Therese! May God bless you!

SEVEN CHANCES TO GROW IN YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE

CLICK HERE for six documents to help you take a SPIRITUAL INVENTORY of your life. These will be used at the Saturday evening Healing Prayer Training sessions.

1. MONDAY CONTEMPLATIVE CANDLELIGHT MASS: Fr. Robert Barcelos will be here on Monday evenings to celebrate the 7:00 p.m. Mass.

2. TUESDAY NIGHTS: Mass Celebrated in SPANISH! The schedule is as follows: 6:30 p.m.: ROSARY in Spanish; 7:00 p.m.: Showing of a portion of Season 2 of The Chosen; 7:15 p.m.: Mass

3. WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS: St. Joseph Prayer Group meets at 3:00 p.m. in front of St. Joseph’s statue.

4. WEDNESDAY NIGHTS: Mass begins at 7:00 p.m., followed by outdoor Confessions at 8:00 p.m.

5. THURSDAY NIGHTS: Join us every THURSDAY evening in HONOR OF ST. JOSEPH! The schedule is: 7:00 p.m.: Showing of a portion of Season 2 of The Chosen; 7:15 p.m.: Mass; 7:45-8:45 p.m.: Adoration and *HEALING PRAYER (*in the main vestibule and on the sides of the church).

6. FIRST FRIDAY NIGHTS: Come and honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus by attending Mass at 7:00 p.m. on the first Friday of each month. The Mass is then followed by adoration AND *HEALING PRAYER (*in the main vestibule and on the sides of the church).

7. SATURDAY NIGHT HEALING PRAYER TRAINING SESSIONS: Join us in the church on Saturday nights from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

*HEALING PRAYER MINISTRY: Held during Adoration every Thursday evening and every First Friday evening.

NOTE: Click on the links in the left column for LIVE STREAMED MASSES on both our Facebook page and our YouTube channel.

SAINT THERESE CARMELITE SCHOOL VIDEOS

Watch the video, "THE BEST SCHOOL IN THE WORLD"--ONE OF ONLY TWO SCHOOLS IN THE L.A. ARCHDIOCES USING A CLASSICAL CURRICULUM (click on the photo below to view it):