Each year on Good Friday the Church pauses to recall Jesus’ passion and death on the cross. This is the only day of the entire year that there is no celebration of the Holy Mass, causing us to ponder and venerate the cross.
Priest Ordination 2019: Ted Drennan
By Malie Hudson
On May 18, Bishop Gerald Barnes will ordain three seminarians to the priesthood. It will be the culmination of nearly a decade of formation for three men—Ted Drennan, Juan Carlos Lopez and Gino Galley—who came from various backgrounds to pursue a vocation to the priesthood.
Sr. Jennifer Nguyen, Herbsts honored with Amar Es Entregarse Award
By Malie Hudson
On April 27, Bishop Gerald Barnes will honor four extraordinary recipients with this year’s Amar Es Entregarse Award. The award is given to an individual or group who embody his Episcopal Motto Amar Es Entregarse, “Love is the total giving of one’s self.”
The March issue of the BYTE highlighted recipients Martin and Mary Swanson, and the Valley Missionary Program. In this issue, we introduce the remaining two awardees who will also be honored for their complete dedication to the local Church.
Franciscans and local Muslims team up to feed the homeless in Corona
By Marge Bitetti
CORONA—For Henna Jalal, caring for the homeless is part of her faith as a Muslim.
“I can’t go to sleep at night if my neighbor is hungry,” she says. “Being a good neighbor and realizing the duty to our neighbors doesn’t just mean being friendly to the homeowners next door. It means to help take care of the community as a whole, and that includes the poor.”
This is also a core calling of the Secular Franciscans as they perform Corporal Works of Mercy, which includes Feeding the Hungry.
Symposium highlights Catholic response to families of murder victims
SAN BERNARDINO—The Diocesan Office of Restorative Justice will hold its first ever Victims Symposium at the Diocesan Pastoral Center on April 10.
The event will showcase the many ways the Office has expanded its ministry to victims of violent crime, including murder, and their families and loved ones. It takes place during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, which sparked the idea to hold such an event, said Office Director Marciano Avila. “We’re usually out attending vigils that week. This year, we thought, ‘let’s have something here.’ ”
A rich tapestry of Asian and Pacific Island histories
Each month the BYTE will publish sections of the U.S. Bishops Pastoral Letter “Encountering Christ in Harmony: A Pastoral Response to Our Asian and Pacific Island Brothers and Sisters.”
In his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis urges the faithful to “a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them.”3 Jesus Christ is constantly reaching out to all persons, but there needs to be a response from us. We need not fear that the invitation is meant for someone else and not us. We can respond with a sure hope. “The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step toward Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: ‘Lord, I have let myself be deceived. . . . I need you. . . .’ God never tires of forgiving us. . . . [and no] one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love.”