Seventeenth Sunday In Ordinary Time July 26, 2009

First Reading: II kings 4:42-44

A man brought twenty loaves of bread to Elisha the prophet, who told his servant to distribute it to the people. The servant asked how he could offer twenty loaves to one hundred people. Elisha replied that God had said, "They shall eat and there shall be some left over." After all the people had eaten, there was bread left over as God has said.

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:1-6

Paul implores the Ephesians to live a life worthy of their calling by preserving unity among all of Christ's followers. He reminds them that there is one body, one Spirit, and one God who works through all people.

Gospel: John 6:1-15

Jesus fed a crowd of five thousand people with five loaves of bread and a couple of dried fish. After everyone present had enough to eat, twelve baskets of leftover bread were collected. Jesus then realized the people would want to make him king and so he fled alone.

__________________________________________

PRAY FOR PEACE

Prayer for Generosity

Dear Lord, teach me to be generous; Teach me to serve you as you deserve; To give and not to count the cost; To fight and not to heed the wounds; To toil and not to seek for rest; To labor, and not to ask for any reward - except that of knowing that I am doing your holy will. AMEN.

MASS INTENTIONS July 25 - August 1, 2009

Sun. 11:00 A.M. Joseph Ngoran + Tue. 8:00 A.M. For the Intentions of Elizabeth Ezekwem Wed. 8:00 A.M. For the Intentions of Elizabeth Ezekwem Fri. 8:00 A.M. Carlos Luciano + Sat. 5:00 P.M. Lucy Tran +

EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS 5:00 P.M. Sr. Jane Heckathorn, Eileen Hermann, Kathryn Letkey, Mary McGowan, Bernie Mullins 9:00 A.M Michael Porcher, Lucy Ragnelli, Marites Sanders, Sonya Simril, Almaz Yihdego, Bill Branca, Lucie Durand, Kimberly Gamboa 11:00 A.M. Allie Holley, Jeanette Louden-Corbett, Karen Patterson, Katherine Freeman, Linda Suciu, Nikiya Arcia, Gerry Beaulieu, Elisa Davila

LECTORS 5:00 P.M. John, Ruthanne Allen-Hunt 9:00 A.M. James Scott, Cynthia Wyman 11:00 A.M. Allie Holley, Jeanette Louden-Corbett

BREAD BAKER Elisa Davila

PLEASE HELP TO DEFRAY THE COST OF OUR NEW SOUND SYSTEM. You may have noticed that we installed a new Sound System. We would like to thank all parishioners who already made a donation to defray the cost. We need your help! If you would like to contribute to the cost, please make your check payable to Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Total Cost: $62,000. - Amount donated $39,511.60. We are still $22,488.40 short. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

BIBLE STUDY GROUP AT OUR LADY OF LOURDES CHURCH Come and join us for fellowship, enlightenment and mutual encouragement! The Bible Study Group meets every Wednesday from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall. For more information please call Michelle Benki at 510-499-2693

Shepherds Field Olive Wood Handcrafts Group

Dear Parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, The Shepherd Field Olive Wood Crafts Group will be selling items after the Masses this weekend on behalf of the Christian Catholic families in Bethlehem and Jerusalem (Holy Land). Most of these people work in crafting the olive wood to produce religious articles. They are used to selling their products to the tourists who visit the area there. But these days the tourists do not go there for security reasons. This situation has negatively impacted the Catholic people and leads to many of them emigrate which resulted in sharp drop in the percentage of Catholic in the Holy Land. The percentage of Catholics in the Holy Land is less than 2% these days. If this hardship continues, there will be no Catholics where Jesus was born. Sales will be used to help and support the Catholics in the Holy Land and to encourage them to immigrate. May God be with you and may God richly bless his people for now and forever.

Sincerely, John Qumsiyeh

RCIA

Are you interested in becoming a Catholic? Do you know someone who is? Are you a baptized Catholic who has not received the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and/or Confirmation? Then you may be interested in the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) that will begin in September at Our Lady of Lourdes. If you are interested, please contact the parish office.

Never be Discouraged

There is really nothing we need know or even try to understand if we refuse to be discouraged and trust God's Guiding Hand. So take heart and meet each minute with faith in God's Great Love, Aware that every day of life is controlled by God above… And never dread tomorrow or what the future brings, Just pray for strength and courage and trust God in all things… And never grow discouraged be patient and just wait For "God never comes too early and He never comes too late!"

Helen Steiner Rice

ONE CHURCH ONE AMERICA

Collection for the Church in Latin America A Special Thank you to all parishioners for their contribution to the Latin America collection last weekend. You donated the amount of $283.33. Worldwide Marriage Encounter Married Couples: What makes us both truly human and truly like God? It is Love, the love of a married couple, which is unselfish, undying, and wholly directed to the good of others. It is love that unites us in an unbreakable bond of fidelity and fellowship with others. Jesus loved his own until the very end of his passion and death on the cross (John 13:1) Experience a WWMW weekend being held in Pleasanton the weekend of September 11 - 13 and discover God's meaning more fully. For more information, call Ray & Roberta Montes at 916-806-4601 or Joe & Sue Talarico at 925-680-7767 or go to http://www.rekindleyourmarriage.org Please register on-line by August 14, 2009.

SOCIAL JUSTICE MINISTRY Please join us in making Rosaries for prisoners as part of our Social Justice Ministry. Friday, August 28, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in Our Lady of Lourdes Library on Boden Way. For more information please contact Maureen Connor at maureenkconnor@comcast.net .