FOR CONFESSIONS
  Father Luis attends confessions after the 9:00 am Mass on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please inform Fr. Luis before the Mass that you want to have confession.
 

TODAY’S READINGS
First Reading — My servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear (Isaiah 53:10-11).
Psalm — Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you (Psalm 33).
Second Reading — Let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Gospel — Whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all (Mark 10:35-45 [42-45]).
The English translation of the Psalm Responses from the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.

READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday:            2 Tm 4:10-17b; Ps 145:10-13, 17-18; Lk 10:1-9
Tuesday:            Rom 5:12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21; Ps 40:7-10, 17; Lk 12:35-38
Wednesday:       Rom 6:12-18; Ps 124:1b-8; Lk 12:39-48
Thursday:          Rom 6:19-23; Ps 1:1-4, 6; Lk 12:49-53
Friday:               Rom 7:18-25a; Ps 119:66, 68, 76-77, 93-94; Lk 12:54-59
Saturday:           Rom 8:1-11; Ps 24:1b-4ab, 5-6; Lk 13:1-9
Sunday:              Jer 31:7-9; Ps 126:1-6; Heb 5:1-6; Mk 10:46-52
There is an expression in the world of sports that a particular player deserves to be called the GOAT. Now years ago, if an athlete was called a goat, it meant that his performance at a game was so poor that he bore much of the responsibility for the team losing.  But that is not how the term goat is used now.  To be a goat is to be the Greatest of All Time.  Here in Tampa Bay, our football team has Tom Brady, a player who is commonly referred to as the GOAT.  People may claim that Michael Jordan is the GOAT in professional basketball.  Others might say that the title GOAT belongs to LeBron James. 
 
            Some athletes are far from being GOATS, but act as though they were.  They have an entourage of people who are continually telling them how wonderful they are.  They lord it over their teammates as though the others were second rate citizens in their world of wonderfulness.
 
            But you don’t have to go to sports to witness those who are so full of themselves that they act as though they are goats.  James and John in today’s gospel acted that way.  They felt that they should sit at the right hand and left hand of the Lord when Jesus came into His Glory.  They wanted to lord it over the other disciples.  Or, at least they wanted it to be clear that they were much better than the others.  Jesus told them that they were clueless.  They didn’t understand where greatness came from.
 
            There are many people in all walks of life who strut around as legends in their own minds.  They may be professionals, like lawyers or doctors or professors who look down on others, or they may be people who hold a position of respect in their families, like parents or grandparents, but do so in an arrogant way, as tyrants rather than as sources of family love.  Perhaps we all do this at times.  We may act as though we are great, but the truth is that those who think that they are GOATS, are, like James and John, clueless.  They, we, don’t understand from where greatness comes.
 
            Jesus understood how to be great, though.  He told James and John, and He tells us, that greatness comes through service.  On the night of the Last Supper, before Jesus gave us His Body and Blood, He washed the feet of His disciples, and then gave them and us this mandate: what you have seen me do, you also must do.  That was the path to greatness. That was the way that we could become GOATS.
 
            Think about St. Teresa of Calcutta.  She died in 1997, so most of us have been blessed to have been witnesses to some of her life.  Everyone would admit that she was a great lady.  But how did she become great?  She became great by emptying herself to serve the poorest of the poor, first in Calcutta and then throughout the world. 
 
            Think about people you know that you can say with confidence that he or she is a great person.  My guess is that person is someone who continually reaches out to other people.  Someone is sick, he or she is there.  Someone is having a bad day, he or she is there.  Someone needs help with a difficult job, he or she doesn’t even need to be asked.  You see, truly great people have learned how to be great from He who is the One True Goat, Jesus Christ, the Greatest of All Time.
 
             All of us have different gifts. We have a responsibility to develop our gifts in service to the Lord. What can I do best?  What do you do best?  Some people are capable of caring for the incarcerated with mercy, compassion and justice.  Others have a great deal of empathy for the sick.  Still others have a heart for the poor.  Some are capable of teaching. Others are great parents not just to their own children but to those orphaned by the circumstances of their lives.  We all have many talents. Our talents are given to us to serve others.  We are called to develop these talents.  We are called to greatness.
 
            The Lord understands our failures, our limitations, our fears, the times that we lack confidence in ourselves to do His work. He sees this, but He also sees so much more.  He sees our talent.  He sees our love.  He sees our determination to
seek Him out in others and serve His Presence.
 
            Some people think that because of situations in their past, they will never be good enough to bring Christ to others.  Perhaps we all have those thoughts at time.  We need to stop ourselves from that way of thinking.  We have been called by Christ to be his disciples.  We are Christians.  We did not take Christianity on ourselves.  We were given this Grace freely by the Lord.  We are good enough.  He makes us good enough.
 
            It is not the size of a person’s entourage that demonstrates that he or she is great.  It is not the position of authority that a person holds that demonstrates his or her greatness.   True greatness come from Jesus Christ.  He calls us to be people of service.  It is through service that every one of us is capable of becoming, in our own way, GOATS.


http://frjoeshomilies.net/10-17-21.html
Thiis material is used with permission of its author, Rev. Msgr. Joseph A. Pellegrino, Diocese of St. Petersburg,                  
  GIFTS
        In today’s readings, we discover that material wealth alone does not keep us from discipleship. We will see that there are other gifts more important than material wealth, but even so, it is how we use our gifts that matters most.
        Today’s scriptures point to the value of the gifts of wisdom, trusting in God, and letting our actions reflect the love of God from within. It is not gold that causes us to fall, but rather the desire for gold above all other things. From the readings in Wisdom and Hebrews, we find the source of God’s gifts in our lives. Wisdom is more valuable than worldly possessions. In Hebrews, we are challenged to look at our own values and admit honestly what controls our lives.
Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co. To all that participated in making the Festival a success.  Thank you to all that joined us and participated in purchasing raffle tickets.

We’ll like to give SPECIAL THANKS to all the following
Celia Munoz who coordinated the event.  Raul Munoz who did setup and take down. 

To the following Parish Groups  
St. Vincent de Paul, Sagrado Corazon, Guadalupanos, Divina Misericordia, Grupo de Oracion, Youth Group, Hispanic Eucharistic Ministers (Ministros)

Individual Parishioners and their helpers 
Ramon & Maria Lozano, Mario Cortez, Roberto Razo & sons, Gabriel Trejo & mother, Javier & Elizabeth De la Rosa, Imelda Barron, Lorraine Agtang

Business Sponsored Booths
Taco Booth courtesy of Taqueria Espinoza (Franklin & 12 street)
Mangonadas, tostilocos, snow cones, corn in cup courtesy of Guillermo Tellez Stand
To the Entertainment who donated their time.
Mariachi las Abajenas,   Cielito Lindo,   Favianna Munoz,      Chandos,     Imperio X,  Alikan,       H9,   Enkdna2,     Sexto Poder
Sound System Courtesy of Pantera Sounds
          The bread is broken, the banquet is prepared, and now we are invited to the feast. Once more the priest holds the host, now broken, for us to see, and invites us to behold the one “who takes away the sins of the world.” Truly blessed and happy are those invited to this meal, which is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, the supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:19). We respond to this invitation with a prayer to the Lord: we acknowledge that we are not worthy, but at the same time we are confident that the One who comes to us can heal us, body and soul. This prayer echoes the story of the centurion in Luke’s Gospel. The centurion, a Gentile, asks healing for his servant, but does not consider himself worthy to have Jesus come under his roof—he believes that Jesus can heal his servant with a word, without even seeing him. Jesus is amazed at his faith. It is the same for us. We believe that Jesus speaks to us, comes to us, dwells with us, even though we neither hear his voice nor see his face.
—Corinna Laughlin, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.
   
MASS INTENTIONS
Saturday:        

PRAY FOR THE CHRONICALLY ILL
Beatrice Cisneros, Lilian Davila, Barbara LeDoux, Alex Piedra, Ron Sykes, Elias Zumout, Samia Zumout
   
PRAY FOR SPECIAL HEALTH INTENTIONS
Lucas Abella, Connie Bonilla, Noreen Crowley, Maria Elena Guitierrez, Loretta Hocking, Minnie Jimenez, Marcos P. Lopez, Richard D. Nance, Jr., Mark Parshall, Jose Ramirez, Irene Rodriguez, Alicia Ruiz, Lucy Ruiz, Domingo Valdez, Nicolas Valdez, Dorothy Wanner, Regina Yañez, Sonia Zumout
             
PRAY FOR SPECIAL INTENTIONS
Jacqueline Daste, Evelyn Borba, Socorro Godina

PRAY FOR SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN -  Michael Godina, Marco Mares Jr., Mariela del Carmen Mares, Aaron Sanchez