Our New Youth Minister

Recently I sat down with Mason Fredenberg, our new Youth Minister, to get to know him a little better.

Fr. P: You’re from Mission Viejo, right? Where did you go to high school?

Mason: Yes, I’m from Mission Viejo, and I went to Santa Margarita Catholic High School.

Fr. P: Did you participate in youth ministry during your high school years?

Mason: Yes, I enjoyed the youth ministry at Solano parish, and got involved with things like the youth band, core team, and other programs. I also got involved with the great campus ministry at Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Fr. P: Is it fair to say that your interest in theology, religion, and ministry was nurtured by your participation in youth ministry activities?

Mason: Yes, my involvement in youth ministry planted the seed of interest, which then grew through life experience.

Fr. P: Well, you certainly pursued that interest in a big way by getting a B.A. and M.A. in theology, and going through a great ministry program through Notre Dame Unversity. Now that you are here, what are your hopes for the young people of St. Edward the Confessor and San Felipe de Jesús?

Mason: My hope is that all youth will find themselves welcomed here, and that they will find here the space to grow in understanding the God who loves them.

Please join me in welcoming Mason to our parish.Let’s pray for him and for all the youth of our parish.

Gratefully yours,

Martha and Mary

The gospels tell us several times that Martha and her sister Mary, along with their brother Lazarus, were good friends of Jesus.On one occasion, Jesus was visiting them and Martha was busy with the details of hospitality, while Mary sat at the feet of the Lord and listened to him speak. When Martha complained to Jesus that Mary was not helping with the work, Jesus responded by defending Mary, who (in his words) had “chosen the better part.”

Jesus did not tell Martha to stop working, but he did say something about the degree of priority work should have in comparison to prayer (which is how we sit at the Lord’s feet). Their relative priority is implied in a statement of St. John Paul II: “A constant danger for apostolic workers is to become so much involved in their work for the Lord, as to forget the Lord of all work.” In prayer, we are mindful of the Lord of all work. We receive from him the strength and enlightenment we need in order for our work to be fruitful.

Whether we tend to be more like Martha or more like Mary, we are called to look at the proper relationship between these two tendencies in our lives. Let’s continue to work for the Lord, while never forgetting the Lord of all work.

Gratefully yours,

Good Samaritans

If you type the phrase “Good Samaritan” into Dictionary.com, you will find the definition: “a person who gratuitously gives help or sympathy to those in distress.” Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan is so famous that it has found its way into the dictionary! Jesus tells this parable in answer to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” All of us are called to be neighbors to one another, helping those who need help and receiving help from others as well.

Most of us can recall times when someone has helped us. There are many good people in this world, and sometimes a person we have never met will appear at just the right time to give us the assistance we need. Hopefully we can also recall times when we have been the person giving help; opportunities to do good for others are all around us.And beyond the assistance we give to people whom we encounter in daily life, we can give the assistance of our prayers to anyone we want to help—whether they are in this world or the next. I know that I have been helped a lot by the prayers of many good people here at St. Edward the Confessor and San Felipe de Jesús; thank you for this! Your prayers are a great help to me. I promise my prayers for you as well.

As we hear the parable of the Good Samaritan during Mass this weekend, let’s give thanks for the Good Samaritans in our lives, and let’s do our best to be Good Samaritans to others. In particular, let’s pray for everyone who needs our prayers.We have the ability to do so much good; let’s never settle for less!

Gratefully yours,