November 12, 2023

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

At the Diocesan Eucharistic Congress, I had the pleasure of meeting Stephen Pham, one of our new seminarians. It turns out that he is from our parish so I asked Stephen to write a little about himself so that we can get to know him.

Stephen wrote: “I was born and baptized in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States with my parents and older brother at the age of three. Since then, we have called Orange County home away from home. Growing up, I lived in the cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana, and attended St. Columban Catholic parish in Garden Grove where I enjoyed participating in children’s faith formation and youth ministry. I obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and worked in sales and marketing in the pharmaceuticals industry before entering the seminary. During the pandemic, I moved to Dana Point and have been blessed to call St. Edward’s a spiritual home, filled with good friends such as those at weekday afternoon Mass, the parish staff and youth ministry volunteers. In my

free time, I enjoy practicing the violin and playing tennis. I am in my first year of seminary formation and hope to entrust myself to your prayers. Please know that I am praying for you and our community. “

Please keep Stephen in your prayers as well as the men and women from our parish that are discerning a call to the priesthood or consecrated/religious life.

Bishop Tim Freyer

November 5, 2023

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The Synod on Synodality has now finished the first month of in person prayer, listening and discerning. Some in the media try to get revenue by driving clicks to their website, etc. and can tend to exaggerate the story. Contrary to what some of you have heard, there has been no change in doctrine. Remember, this is the first year of a two-year process. At the end of next year’s meeting the members of the synod will write a document that will be given to the Holy Father. Usually, the Holy Father will then write the formal document.

Some have asked about whether we are going to be performing blessings of same-sex couple. At this time, there is no plan in the United States to authorize that. I am a member of the administrative committee of the US Bishops (we plan the agenda for the bishops’ meetings) and we have had no requests for time to even discuss this.

Regarding the concerns I have heard about women priests or deacons, no conclusions or recommendations have been made. Just last week, an interview was published in which Pope Francis again repeated that women’s ordination is not possible. He said, “"The fact that the woman does not access ministerial life is not a deprivation, because her place is much more important. I think we err in our catechesis in explaining these things, and ultimately we fall back on an administrative criterion that does not work in the long run."

I hope this helps clarify what you may have seen in different news reports.

Bishop Tim Freyer

October 29, 2023

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I enjoyed seeing many of you last week at our Diocesan Eucharistic Congress. The joy, enthusiasm and excitement was inspiring.

Please consider attending the National Eucharistic Congress next July 17-21 in Indianapolis. There will be tracks for high school students, families with children 13 and under as well as for adults. The speakers include Bishop Barron, Sr. Miriam James Hiedland, and Fr. Mike Schmitz. More information is located at https://www.eucharisticcongress.org/ I have already made my reservation and hope to see you there.

I have received countless comments regarding the time it takes around the time of the distribution of Holy Communion. This has been especially hard for families with children. Next weekend we will implement some changes that hopefully will resolve these issues as well as support the dignity of the baptized in the Mass. Our goal is to be efficient, but most importantly, reverent and helping all of us to be prayerful during the entire Mass. Additionally, you will hear bells rung during the Eucharistic prayer which draw our attention (in case we are distracted) to the Holy Spirit coming down to transform the gifts of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus as well at the elevation of Body and Blood of the Lord. The bells are also a sign of joy that God has come down from heaven to be with us in the Eucharist.

We are also working on getting the text of the readings, the creed, etc. on the screens. We are also in need of volunteers to hit “next” on the computer during the Mass. If you are interesting in helping in this ministry, please contact Fr. Aristotle.

Another area of concern has been about people asking parishioners for money. The best way to address this is to have the people asking for money to contact our St. Vincent de Paul ministry.

Again, I am grateful for your concern and love for our parish. Have a blessed week!

Bishop Tim Freyer