“When’s the last time you went to confession?” … I began to think about it. I couldn’t remember. At least I wasn’t sure. “I think it was on the last youth group retreat.” Talk about resistance. If there is one battle that resistance has dominated in the hearts and minds of Catholics for the past fifty years, it surrounds confession. We just stopped going. On one level it makes complete sense. … Mediocrity seeks comfort and going to confession isn’t comfortable. It’s uncomfortable to look at ourselves, assess our selfishness and sinfulness, and tell another human being about it. But wow, is it good for us. We all have a great need for healing. We all need to be liberated from our self-centeredness. We need to grow in awareness of how what we do and say affects the people around us and people on the other side of the world. But we resist it. We resist God. We resist his forgiveness. We resist happiness.  … For more than twenty years I have been going to confession regularly. There is always a temptation to put it off.  Resistance puts a barrier between me and going to confession, and as always, I have to break through that barrier, slay resistance, and go. The interesting thing is, whenever I go, I am always glad I went.” (Taken from the book, Resisting Happiness, pp. 138-139, by Matthew Kelly)
On the first Sunday of Lent, St. Joachim Parish finished giving out 1,500 copies of Resisting Happiness for the purpose of promoting a fruitful Lenten journey for at least that many individuals and families in our parish. At least twenty persons have thanked me for the book and have told me that it is really making a positive difference in their lives. I consider the book to be a gold mine of practical inspiration for growth in holiness and genuine happiness. I encourage everyone who received a copy of this book to finish reading it and then to pass it on to someone you care about so that the treasure can be shared and keep bearing good fruit.
 
Blessings, Fr. John 

​¿”Cuando fué la última vez que fuiste a confesarte?”… Empecé a pensar en eso. No podía acordarme. Al menos no estaba seguro. “Creo que fue en el último retiro del grupo de jóvenes.”
Hablando de la resistencia.  Si hay una batalla que la resistencia ha dominado en el corazón y en la mente de los católicos por los últimos cincuenta años, tiene que ver con la Confesión. Simplemente dejamos de ir.  En un nivel, tiene sentido... La mediocridad busca la comodidad e ir a confesarse no es cómodo. Es incómodo mirarnos, evaluar nuestro egoísmo y nuestra pecaminosidad, y hablarle de eso a otro ser humano.  Pero qué bien nos hace. Todos tenemos una gran necesidad de sanción. Todos necesitamos ser liberados de nuestro egocentrismo.
Necesitamos desarrollar nuestra conciencia de cómo lo que hacemos y decimos afecta a las personas que nos rodean y a las personas al otro extremo del mundo... Pero nos resistimos a eso. Nos resistimos a Dios. Nos resistimos a Su perdón. Nos resistimos a la felicidad… Yo he estado yendo a confesarme con regularidad por mas de veinte años. Siempre has la tentación de no hacerlo. La resistencia pone  una barrera entre ir a confesarme y yo y, como siempre tengo que romper esa barrera, matar la resistencia, e ir.. Lo interesante es que simpre que voy me alegra haber ido.
(Tomado del libro, Resistirse A La Felicidad, págs. 148-149, por Matthew Kelly)
 
En el primer domingo de Cuaresma, la parroquia de San Joaquín terminó de dar 1,500 copias de Resistencia A La Felicidad con el propósito de promover un fructífero viaje cuaresmal  por lo menos a esos individuos y familias en nuestra parroquia. Al menos veinte personas me han agradecido por el libro y me han dicho que realmente está haciendo una diferencia positiva en sus vidas. Considero que el libro es una mina de oro de inspiración práctica para el crecimiento de la santidad y la felicidad genuina. Animo a todos los que recibieron una copia de este libro para terminar de leerlo y luego pasarlo a alguien que te importa para que el tesoro pueda ser compartido y seguir dando buenos frutos.
Bendiciones, Fr. John

Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against evil spirits. To Arms! It’s time to take up our most powerful spiritual weapons against our deadly enemy, Satan and his demons. Therefore, you are invited to participate in an extraordinary event for our 2019 Lenten Journey toward Easter: All Night Adoration and Confessions - Friday - Saturday - March 29 - 30.
In recent Pastor’s Corners I have been describing root causes and deadly consequences of the Satanic attack on the God-given meaning and dignity of human nature, human sexuality, marriage and family. The Satanic attack has been increasing in scope and intensity from the time of the Fatima apparitions in 1917 to the present. The war on the unborn through abortion, which is now being extended to infanticide in a number of states, is especially egregious. The destruction of marriage and family through pornography, lust, promiscuity, contraception, sterilization, infidelity, gender confusion and easy divorce, is increasing day by day. Archbishop Gomez of Los Angeles sums it up with the words, “Without God society has lost its humanity.”
 Many of you are involved in the battle. You already participate in our ordinary schedule of daily Masses, weekly devotions, Saturday morning and Wednesday evening Confessions, and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Our parish provides adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in our side chapel on Monday and Tuesday from 8:40 am to 9:00 pm. Then, adoration from Wednesday 8:45 am, day and night, all the way through Friday 6 pm. Wednesday evening has Rosary, Mass, and a Holy Hour of Adoration of the blessed Sacrament in the main church from 6 pm to 9 pm. Repentance, Reconciliation with God through the Sacrament of Confession, and Adoration, amplifies the Grace to enter into deeper Friendship with the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit through Prayer of the Heart. This is the constant prayer God wills for us and grants us though His Gift of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit-led constant longing for God is able to animate all of the individual disciplines of prayer: Holy Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Spiritual Reading, Prayer before meals, Thanksgiving after meals, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Praise, Thanksgiving, Entrustment of needs to God, Reparation, Meditation and Contemplation. We add Fasting and Works of Mercy which are the prayers of the body. To Arms!!!
Lenten Blessings for a New Springtime of Christianity,
Blessings, Fr. John 

Nuestra batalla no es contra la carne y la sangre, sino contra los malos espíritus. ¡A las Armas! Es hora de tomar nuestras armas espirituales más poderosas contra nuestro enemigo mortal, Satanás y sus demonios. Por lo tanto, usted está invitado a participar en un evento extraordinario para nuestro 2019 viaje cuaresmal hacia la Pascua: Adoración toda la noche y confesiones - viernes y sábado - del 29 al 30 marzo.
En los últimos rincones del párroco he estado describiendo las causas profundas y las consecuencias mortales del ataque satánico sobre el significado y la dignidad de la naturaleza humana, la sexualidad humana, el matrimonio y la familia. El ataque satánico ha ido aumentando en alcance e intensidad desde la época de las apariciones de Fátima en 1917 hasta el presente. La guerra contra el feto a través del aborto, que ahora se extiende al infanticidio en varios estados, es especialmente atroz. La destrucción del matrimonio y la familia a través de la pornografía, la lujuria, la promiscuidad, la contracepción, la esterilización, la infidelidad, la confusión de género y el divorcio fácil, está aumentando día a día. El arzobispo Gómez de los Ángeles lo resume con las palabras: "sin Dios la sociedad ha perdido su humanidad."
Muchos de ustedes están involucrados en la batalla. Usted ya participa en nuestro horario ordinario de Misas diarias, devociones semanales, el sábado por la mañana y el miércoles por la noche confesiones, y la adoración del Santísimo Sacramento. Nuestra parroquia ofrece la adoración del Santísimo Sacramento en nuestra capilla lateral el lunes y martes de 8:40 am a 9:00 pm. Entonces, la adoración del miércoles 8:45 am, día y noche, hasta el viernes 6 pm. El miércoles por la noche hay Rosario, Misa, y una hora Santa de adoración del Santísimo Sacramento en la iglesia principal de 6 pm a 9 pm. El arrepentimiento, la reconciliación con Dios a través del Sacramento de la confesión, y la adoración, amplifican la gracia para entrar en una amistad más profunda con el padre, Jesús y el Espíritu Santo a través de la Oración del Corazón. Esta es la oración constante que Dios quiere para nosotros y nos concede a través de su don del Espíritu Santo. Este anhelo constante de Dios, dirigido por el espíritu, es capaz de animar todas las disciplinas individuales de la oración: Santa Misa, liturgia de las horas, el Rosario, La Coronilla de la Divina Misericordia, lectura espiritual, oración antes de las comidas, acción de gracias después de las comidas, adoración del Santísimo Sacramento, alabanza, acción de gracias, encomienda de las necesidades a Dios, reparación, meditación y contemplación. Añadimos el ayuno y las obras de misericordia que son las oraciones del cuerpo. ¡¡¡A las Armas !!!
Bendiciones cuaresmales para una Nueva Primavera del Cristianismo,
Bendiciones, Fr. John 

Let us heed these exhortations from two “golden-tongued” Doctors of the Church: “There are three things, my brethren by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other. Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them, or not all together, you have nothing. So, if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ears to others, you open God’s ear to yourself” (St. Peter Chrysologus).
“Prayer and converse with God is a supreme good: it is a partnership and union with God. …I do not mean the prayer of outward observance but prayer from the heart, not confined to fixed times or periods but continuous throughout the day and night. …Our spirit should long for God and call him to mind, so that these works, (fasting and mercy), may be seasoned with the salt of God’s love. …I speak of prayer, not words. It is the longing for God, love too deep for words, a gift not given by man but by God’s grace. The apostle Paul says: We do not know how we are to pray but the Spirit himself pleads for us with inexpressible longings. When the Lord gives this kind of prayer to a person, he gives riches that cannot be taken away, heavenly food that satisfies the spirit. One who tastes this food is set on fire with an eternal longing for the Lord: his spirit burns as in a fire of the utmost intensity” (St. John Chrysostom).
 
Lenten Blessings, Fr. John 

“The days of Evil are numbered. It is Evil that must be afraid.” (Pope Francis). The Seasonof Lent is meant to be a Springtime of Renewal for our spiritual lives. Through the disciplines of Prayer, Fasting and Works of Mercy we are to take ground away from the devil and apply the Victory of Jesus to every aspect of our lives.
Given the devil’s primary attack on marriage and family by substituting lust for love, this Pastor’s Corner will focus on the Virtue of Chastity. Though not the most important virtue, (Charity and Humility are), the Virtue of Chastity is Crucial for conquering one of the most dominant evils of our day. The words below seek to condense the Wisdom of the Saints for resisting sins of lust into one paragraph.
When facing the temptation to focus on and indulge oneself in intense sexual pleasure at the expense of God’s Will, one’s own dignity and the dignity of other persons, the wisdom of the saints is to crowd it out rather than struggle against it. This means that I need to become enamored with the awesome, holy and sacred, truth, goodness and beauty of the God-given meaning of human personhood, sexuality, marriage and family. By focusing on what is true, good and beautiful, the counterfeit of lust will lose its force of attraction over me. God created sexual pleasure to be good. In God’s plan, sexual pleasure is not meant to be the focus, rather it is meant to accompany a loving act of total, free, faithful, open-to-new-life, Gift of Self to a spouse in the renewal of a marriage covenant. This God-given meaning of sex is awesome, sacred and worthy of reverence. It can inspire the virtues of self-mastery, chastity and authentic love. The blessings and the virtues of true love draw their meaning and their power from the love of Jesus, who is the true bridegroom of the human race, of the Catholic Church and of every human soul. In Jesus the counterfeit of love, which is lust, can be resisted, crowded out and purified. I can encounter Jesus decisively in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist. Jesus’ Gift of Self to me enables me to resist the sins of lust and every other sin as well.
 Lenten Blessings, Fr. John 

What is the Root Cause of Social Problems of divorce, broken families, misery, addictions, crime, greed and injustice? Connecting the Dots: In prior Pastor’s Corners I have been pointing out that the forces that attack and weaken our human community in its very foundations, are the forces that weaken and destroy marriage and family. During my last year of high school (1967), I was taught through the secularized media that the root cause of misery and poverty in the world is over-population. Therefore, the solution would seem to be birth-control. After entering the seminary, my eyes were re-opened to the Truth that the root cause of misery and injustice in the world, is, and always has been, SIN, that is, a broken relationship with God. A lack of trust in our Creator and sustainer always has a negative impact on the way we relate to one another. Therefore, the real solution is reconciliation with God. And the Good News is, God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him, may not perish, but may have eternal life (John 3:16). As disciples of Jesus and members of His Body, the Church, we are called and empowered to be part of the solution, instead of part of the problem. Why have so many people rejected the Catholic Church’s teaching on sexual morality – on the God-given meaning of human personhood, authentic love, sexuality, marriage and family? Why is our society awash in the politically correct propaganda that lust, pornography, “safe-sex”, promiscuity, shacking-up, same-sex experimentation, contraception, sterilization, embryonic stem cell research, abortion-on-demand and gender confusion are civil rights? I believe that St. Paul answered the question about the Root Cause of Social Problems most concisely in his Letter to the Romans: Therefore, these men are inexcusable. They certainly had knowledge of God, yet they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks; they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise they became fools. … For this reason God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. … They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator. (Romans 1: 20-22, 24-25).
Blessings, Fr. John

​Cuál es la Causa Fundamental de los Problemas Sociales del divorcio, las familias rotas, la miseria, las adicciones, el crimen, la codicia y la injusticia? Conectando los Puntos: Anteriormente en el Rincón del Párroco he estado señalando que las fuerzas que atacan y debilitan a nuestra comunidad humana en sus propias fundaciones, son las fuerzas que debilitan y destruyen el matrimonio y la familia. Durante mi último año en la escuela secundaria (1967), me enseñaron a través de los medios secularizados que la causa fundamental de la miseria y la pobreza en el mundo es la sobrepoblación. Por lo tanto, la solución parecería ser el control de la natalidad.  Después de entrar en el seminario, mis ojos fueron reabiertos a la Verdad que la causa fundamental de la miseria y la injusticia en el mundo, es, y siempre ha sido, el pecado, es decir, una relación rota con Dios. La falta de confianza en nuestro creador y sustentador siempre tiene un impacto negativo en la forma en que nos relacionamos unos con otros. Por lo tanto, la solución es la reconciliación con Dios. Y la Buena Noticia es que tanto amó Dios al mundo que le dio a su Hijo único, para que todo el que crea en él no perezca, sino que tenga vida eterna (Juan 3:16). Como discípulos de Jesús y miembros de Su Cuerpo, la Iglesia, somos llamados y empoderados para ser parte de la solución, en lugar de parte del problema.  ¿Por qué muchas personas rechazaron la enseñanza de la Iglesia Católica sobre la moralidad sexual – en el sentido dado por Dios de la persona humana, amor autentico, sexualidad, matrimonio y familia?  ¿Por qué nuestra sociedad está inundada en la propaganda políticamente correcta que la lujuria, la pornografía, el “sexo seguro”, la promiscuidad, la fornicación (shacking-up), experimentación con el mismo sexo, anticoncepción, esterilización, investigación de células madre embrionarias, aborto a petición y la confusión de genero son derechos civiles? Creo que San Pablo contesto la pregunta sobre La Causa Fundamental de los Problemas Sociales mas concisamente en su carta a los Romanos: Por lo tanto, estos hombres no tienen excusa. Porque habiendo conocido a Dios, no lo han glorificado, ni le han dado gracias, sino que han puesto sus pensamientos en cosas sin valor y sus mentes se han oscurecido. Alardeando de sabios, se han hecho necios.  … Por eso Dios los ha entregado, siguiendo el impulso de sus apetitos, a una impureza tal que degrada sus propios cuerpos.  ...Cambiaron la verdad de Dios por la mentira, y de haber adorado y dado culto a la criatura en lugar de dárselo al Creador. (Romanos 1:20-22, 24-25).
Bendiciones, Fr. John