Saint Joseph Parish - San Mateo CA

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08/09/2023

Dear Readers,

We are not updating our Parish page on a regular basis due to continued difficulty in posting photos and sermons. Please visit our website on the link found on this page for current Mass Information and to read our parish newsletter.

Our current schedule: Sunday Mass - 9:00 AM - followed by coffee and fellowship.

Sunday Discussion Group will resume on September 3.

Blessings,

Father Craig Looney+
Rector

05/09/2023

Updates for Monday, May 8, 2023

Our regular Sunday Schedule is as follows:

9:00 AM Parish Mass & Sermon
followed by Coffee and Fellowship
10:30 AM Adult Christian Education (Except June 25)

Ascension Day, Thursday, May 18, 2023

12:15 PM Low Mass & Homily

Please join us.

03/30/2023

Holy Week and Easter 2023

Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023
9:00 AM Blessing of Palm, Procession, Mass and Sermon
Coffee Hour and Bible Study

Wednesday before Easter, April 5, 2023
9:00 AM Morning Prayer, Litany for Church and Evangelism
Brief Meditation

Maundy Thursday, April 6, 2023
6:00 PM Mass and Stripping of the Altar

Good Friday, April 7, 2023
10:00 AM Church open for Prayer
12:00 PM Good Friday Liturgy

Easter Even, April 8, 2023
5:00 PM Blessing and Lighting of Paschal Candle
Ante-Communion

Easter Day, April 9, 2023
9:00 AM Parish Mass and Sermon
Coffee Hour

Please join us.

Masks optional for fully-vaccinated persons
Hand sanitizer stations available

Holy Communion is distributed in both kinds (except on Good Friday).

11/22/2022

Dear Readers,

The recent site changes instituted by Facebook have made it difficult to post sermons, photos, and other items to our Parish Page.

Navigation through Facebook is now more complicated. For now, we will not be posting new sermons.

Please visit our Parish website for current information on Masses and other events.

On the Advent 2022 Wednesdays, we will be offering Morning Prayer and Litany for Church and Evangelism in the Church at 9:00 AM.

Our Christmas 2022 Schedule is as follows:

Saturday, December 24, Christmas Eve
4:00 PM Mass and Sermon
Sunday, December 25, Christmas Day
9:00 AM Mass and Sermon

Blessings,

Fr Craig Looney+
Rector

11/22/2022

Sunday Next Before Advent 2022
Sermon - Saint Joseph Parish - San Mateo CA
Father Craig Looney
The Collect Jeremiah 23.5-8
✠
It’s that time of the Church Year for us to get stirred up...or more precisely to ask God to stir up our wills to do good works and to be “plenteously” rewarded.

The Collect for the Sunday Next Before Advent is one of the oldest in the Book of Common Prayer. It can be traced to the 10th Century. The opening words “Stir up” (in Latin, excita), gives today its poplar Anglican name ”Stir up” Sunday”.

In his commentary on the Collect, Father Massey Shepherd, author of the American Prayer Book Commentary, writes the fruit of God’s work and the fruit of our good works are not exactly the same thing, but there is an intimate connection between them.

When we ask God to stir up our wills we are acknowledging his will and our wills are not always in sync. We want our wills to conform to his...that is the only way we can do the good works he wants us to do.

In Victorian times, people would go to Mass and hear the opening words to the Collect. It would remind them to stir up the ingredients to the Christmas pudding. Most recipes call for the pudding to be made well in advance of Christmas...so the pudding has time to mature.

We can apply the decidedly incarnational image of the Christmas pudding maturing to our own spiritual lives. The Sunday Next Before Advent is the Church’s New Year’s Eve.

The Collect is our News Year’s Resolution...to ask God to stir up our spiritual lives so we can mature...and get ready for the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day.

About 700 years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Jeremiah wrote that God was going to send a king who was a descendant of David, and his name would be “The Lord Our Salvation”. He would be the one who would put things right again between God and his people. He would bring them back from all over the world to live in their own land again.

The Hebrew Bible, what we call the Old Testament, is full of God interacting with his people through prophets like Jeremiah. Christians understand his prophecy to be talking about Jesus. God’s love for us is not an abstract idea or thought; it is an action. God revealed his love for the Jews by doing things for them, either directly, or through people like Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and others.

We experience God’s love through the people we come into contact with in our daily lives...especially those who have had a positive influence on our lives and helped us mature spiritually. We are about to turn our attention toward the most important event in human history.

That event is the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. It is God’s interjection of himself in human history, as a baby in a manger, at a specific time, and in a specific location. It is God’s love for us in the flesh and blood of Jesus. It is about our redemption and final maturity when we get to heaven.

The coming of the promised Messiah, is expressed so well in the great hymn “O come, O come, Emmanuel”. Hurry up, hurry up, and get here, God with us. Jesus is coming soon. That is really something to get excited about.

Stir up our wills, Lord! Get us excited about the work we are doing. Help us to be enthusiastic in telling others about the gift of your Son, Jesus, whose birth we will soon celebrate, and make the work we do truly pleasing to you.
✠

11/22/2022

November 24, 2022
Thanksgiving Day
10:00 AM Mass and Homily

10/17/2022

XVIII Trinity 2022
Sermon – Saint Joseph ParishFather
Craig Looney
St. Matthew 22.34-46
✠
They were out to trick Jesus! They were hoping to get the last word!

The action in today’s Gospel takes place during the final week of the life of Jesus on Earth. He knew the Sadducees and Pharisees had already decided they had to get him killed, or lose their political power. The encounters between Jesus and the Sadducees and Pharisees will only become more heated as the week progresses.

The Gospel tells us the Pharisees heard Jesus had silenced the Sadducees. The Sadducees had tried to trick Jesus with a question about marriage in heaven. It was a trick question because the Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead or heaven. They did believe in Sheol...a dark place the souls of the dead went to after the body died.

Jesus told the Sadducees they didn’t know their own Scriptures or God’s power. If they did, they would understand there was no need of marriage in heaven because we would be like the angels. They should also know God told Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” The God they claim to know is the God of the living, not of the dead!

What did Jesus mean by “God of the living”? Deuteronomy refers to God as the “living God.” He is not only the God who is alive...all other gods are dead because they do not really exist...he is also the God of the living. God’s relationship with us doesn’t end when we die. Jesus...God’s Son...proved this when he died and once and for all defeated death. Because he died and lives forever with the Father...so will we.

Now it is the Pharisees turn. They did believe in the resurrection of the dead and now tried to trick Jesus with a question of their own. They asked him which of the Ten Commandments was the greatest. Jesus has already shown all the Ten Commandments carry equal weight. He could not have said one Commandment is more important than the other without getting himself into trouble, which is what the Pharisees wanted.

Jesus tells them all of the Commandments and the teachings of the prophets depend on the Greatest Commandment to love God with our whole being; and the Second Greatest Commandment to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Jesus asks the Pharisees to tell him what they thought about the Messiah and whose descendent he was. They answered he would be a descendent of King David. Jesus then said if that was the case...why did the Holy Spirit inspire David to call the Messiah ‘Lord’? Jesus quotes Psalm 100...“The Lord said to my Lord; sit here at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet.” The frustrated Pharisees couldn’t give Jesus an answer and didn’t ask him any more questions.

In Jesus’ time “Lord” was a title of respect and would have been used by a young person when addressing his father, uncle or an elder, not the other way around. A father or an uncle would never have called his son or nephew ‘Lord’. Jesus pointed out to the religious experts didn’t understand the truth about their own religion. Otherwise they would have understood Psalm 110...“The Lord” is God the Father.

He calls the Messiah “my Lord”. God the Father tells the Messiah to take the place of honor reserved for him at his right side. King David was great; the Messiah is greater. The only way God the Father would say to the Messiah to come and sit down at his right side, in the place that was rightfully his, the only way King David could call his own descendant, Jesus, his “Lord”, is if the Father and Jesus are one and the same. Jesus said, “Before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I AM.”

We call Jesus our Lord and King. He is Lord over and above King David and all of his other descendants. He is Lord over all earthly kings, presidents, and prime ministers. He is Lord over all bishops, priests and deacons. He is our Lord and we gladly claim him for our own. Our commitment to Jesus as Lord, as King and as God comes with the duty to love God above everything else and love (do what is best) for others. And Jesus will keep us firm until he comes again.

And Jesus always gets the last word!
✠

10/10/2022

XVII Trinity 2022
Sermon – Saint Joseph Parish - San Mateo CA
Father Craig Looney
Ephesians 4.1-6 St. Luke 14.1-11
✠
Is it OK to work on the Sabbath? The first part of today’s Gospel answers that question. The second part of the Gospel is a lesson in humility and hospitality.

Before we talk about the Gospel we must understand the Sabbath is not Sunday. Sunday is sometimes called the Christian Sabbath. Sunday should more properly be called the Lord’s Day!

The Gospel begins with Jesus having lunch on the Sabbath at the home of an important religious leader. People came to see him...the Gospel says they “watched him closely”.

A man with edema came to Jesus for help. Jesus asked the religion teachers if it was OK to heal someone on the Sabbath. According to the Book of Exodus...we’re supposed to work six days and not do any work on the seventh day (the Sabbath).

The religious leaders knew better than to answer Jesus. If they said yes, they would look like hypocrites for violating the Law and what they were teaching people not to do. If they said no, they would appear uncaring and unkind about the sick man. So Jesus heals the man and sends him on his way.

Jesus told the religious leaders they wouldn’t think twice about rescuing a son or ox that fell into a well on the Sabbath. Jesus had many discussions with the religious leaders about work on the Sabbath. In Matthew he said the Sabbath was made for man...it is a blessing and a gift from God.

The point Jesus is trying to make is God created the Sabbath. Jesus is God...he is free to do whatever he wants on the Sabbath or any other day of the week. But since God worked for six days and then took a day off...so should we. That doesn’t mean staying idle...it’s perfectly OK to have a BBQ, take a road trip, wash the car or paint the house.
We do, however, need to make time for God, eve on our day off.

In the second part of the Gospel Jesus is watching guests arriving for lunch falling all over themselves trying to get the best seats...closer to the host. Jesus gives the people seated near him a lesson in humility. Take the closest available seat...you might be asked to come and sit closer to the host...a place of honor. But if you push people out of the way to get a better seat...you might be asked to move. Think how embarrassed you will be.

Jesus then tells a short story about hospitality. He tells us not to invite friends or relatives to lunch or dinner. They will want to repay you by inviting you to dinner. Instead go invite a stranger or homeless person...they are in no position to repay you for your kindness. And that’s the point of the story. Our acts of kindness and hospitality must be unconditional...never a quid pro quo.

Jesus often takes on the lawyers and religious leaders over their literalistic and self-serving interpretation of the Law…they used the Law to control people’s lives…to browbeat them into submission…to make themselves look and feel more important and better than everyone else.

Jesus also tells us in Matthew he didn’t come to abolish the Law...he came to make it come true. He did so in giving it a new and rich meaning.

In the Oxford Prayer Book Commentary, Father Massey Shepherd explains what we should learn from the Gospel...“The people who think themselves important in the world may very well find that in the Kingdom of God their places of privilege will be taken by others who are not so self-centered and self-regarding”.

Saint Paul tells us in his Letter to the Ephesians we are to...“live lives that measure up to the standard God set when he called us”. The word “Church” comes from the Greek word Ekklesia...”the called out ones”. We are called out to be a Community of Believers driven by love, compassion, humility, gentleness, patience and tolerance with one another.

We have a prime directive to live as Church...on Saturday, Sunday and every other day of the week. We honor God even when our jobs require us to work on Sunday...it too is a blessing from God. ✠

10/03/2022

XVI Trinity 2022
Sermon – Saint Joseph Parish
Father Craig Looney
St. Luke 7.11-17
✠
Our friends Saint Luke and Saint John record the eyewitness accounts of three people Jesus raised from the dead during his earthly ministry. He performed these miracles before his own Passion, Death and Resurrection.

This morning’s Gospel from Luke records the first resurrection Jesus performed. He has just healed a Roman officer’s sick servant in Capernaum. He and his disciples and a large crowd following him are now heading south toward Jerusalem.

Along the way they pass through the small village of Nain. Nain still exists today. It is located in the Jezreel Valley, also called the Plain of Megiddo, about 50 miles north of Jerusalem. It is a fertile area where many kinds of crops are grown and sheep and cattle are raised.

As they enter the village, Jesus, his disciples and the large crowd encounter a funeral procession for the only son of a widowed mother. The Gospel doesn’t give us any details about the mother...not even a name.

We also don’t know anything about the dead man. He was probably young and his death was unexpected. We can only imagine what the dead man’s mother was thinking. Her entire world had just come crashing down around her. Parents aren’t supposed to bury their children. Who would take care of her now?

When Jesus saw her, his heart was “filled with pity”. Jesus, in all his humanity, was grieving along with the dead boy’s mother. He was going to do something...it was time to take action. Jesus says comforting words to the grieving mother, “Don’t cry”. He then touches the boy’s casket and says, “Young man! Get up, I tell you!. Jesus, confronted with the boy’s death, commands him to get up. The boy sat up and began to talk. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know what he said?

Luke also records the second time Jesus raised a person from the dead. A man named Jairus, an important leader at the Synagogue in Capernaum, came to Jesus and begged him to come and heal his 12-year old daughter who was dying. When they arrived the house, they were told the little girl was dead. Jesus took her hand and told her to get up! He gave her back to her father and told him to get her something to eat.

The third person Jesus raised from death was his friend Lazarus, Martha’s brother, who lived in Bethany. The town is located on the Mount of Olives about 2 miles from Jerusalem. When Jesus arrived at Martha’s house, he told her he is the resurrection and the life...those who believe in him...even though they die will live. These are the same words of hope we hear at the beginning of the Burial Office. Jesus wept real tears when he was shown Lazarus’ grave. God cries when he sees death. Jesus commanded Lazarus to come out of his grave and gave him back to his sister.

The Gospel accounts of Jesus raising three people from the dead have temporary happy endings. The three people went on to live their lives but they did experience death again. They have yet to experience what the writer of Hebrews tells us we all hope for but have not yet seen...resurrection into eternal life and glory...the same resurrection into eternal life and glory Jesus experienced.

Jesus, God’s Son, doesn’t like to see people suffer. When he saw the grieving mother about to bury her only son...he experienced all of the emotions we experience when a friend or relative dies. He cried for the mother. He cries with us.

Funerals are by their very nature sad events. But they are not without hope. We believe, like Martha believed, Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He took the overwhelming grief of a widowed mother and transformed it into overwhelming joy. He does the same for us.

The crowd who witnessed Jesus raise the young man from death said a great prophet was among them. We know the truth...it is Jesus, God’s Son, who came among us, to bring us life now and forever in heaven.

That’s a message we can’t keep to ourselves.
✠

09/25/2022

Sunday, October 2, 2022...9:00 AM Parish Mass for the 16th Sunday after Trinity and Commemorating Saint Francis of Assisi.

Coffee and Fellowship following in the Parish Hall.

10:30 AM Blessing of Animals for Saint Francis Day in the Garden following the Coffee Hour.

09/25/2022

XV Trinity 2022
Sermon – Saint Joseph Parish
Father Craig Looney
St. Matthew 6.24-34
✠
Money...they say...is the root of all evil. Although often quoted and attributed to the Bible...nowhere in the Scriptures does it ever say money is the root of all evil. What exactly do the Scriptures say about money?

In the Book of Ecclesiastes we are told he who loves money will never be satisfied with money or what he earns from his investments. He will always want more. (Ecclesiastes 5.10)

In the Book of Proverbs we are told not to spend so much time trying to become wealthy. Our wealth is only temporary. Whatever we set out eyes on will soon be gone. (Proverbs 23.4-5)

The Psalmist writes our real trust should be in God…not in our material possessions. We should trust in the loving kindness of God forever. (Psalm 52.7-8)

The writer of Hebrews tells us we must keep our character free from the love of money; God Himself has said he will never desert or forsake us. (Hebrews 13.5)

Our friend Paul doesn’t mince words when he wrote to Timothy and we need to pay attention to what he says…we are made truly rich by our faith in Jesus Christ. We should be happy with what we have…for the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. (I Timothy 6.9)

And we should all recognize these words from the Prayer Book Burial Office...“For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.” (I Timothy 6.7)

This morning’s Gospel is about God and our material possessions. Jesus tells us we can’t serve two masters; we will either hate the one and love the other; we will be devoted to one and despise the other. We cannot serve God and wealth.

We need to be very clear Jesus is not saying money and material possessions are bad things. Money and material possessions are not bad things. They are gifts from God. The question Jesus is asking us to consider is in whom...or what...do we place our trust. What Jesus is saying is we need to be careful our material possessions…or anything else…don’t become our gods.

Jesus tells us we spend too much time in the Worry Department. A cursory glance at the Internet gives us plenty of things to worry about if we set out minds to it…inflation, global warming, wars, homelessness, politics, Covid-19 and violence. And many of us worry about what new challenges tomorrow will bring.

Jesus tells us we shouldn’t spend so much time worrying...especially about things we have little or no control over...like tomorrow! We have enough things to keep us busy today...and those are the things we need to focus on.

If we spend too much time worrying about what might happen tomorrow...or next week...or next year...we miss out on opportunities to enjoy the things of today.

Jesus told the crowd who had come to hear him to take a look at the flowers growing around them on the hillside...take a look at the birds flying in the air. God provides the sun and rain the flowers need to grow and they produce the seeds the birds need for food.

Jesus tells us as beautiful as flowers and birds are, human beings are worth more and God takes care of our needs. We should not repay his love and care with worry and anxiety! That means we really don’t trust him.

God wants us to have the money and materials things we need in order to live comfortable lives. It’s OK to use the money and material things we have to plan for a vacation or retirement. In this way we are honoring God by using the money and material things he has given us wisely.

If we’re looking to become truly wealthy…we need to listen to what Jesus is telling us. He is asking us to do what he does...trust in God to take care of our needs.

The time to place our trust in God is now. Yesterday is gone...and it’s too soon to worry about tomorrow!
✠

09/25/2022

XIV Trinity 2022
Sermon – Saint Joseph Parish
Father Craig Looney
Galatians 5.16-24 St. Luke 17.11-19
✠
Only one man came back to thank Jesus for healing him...and he was a Samaritan.

Once again the hero in today’s Gospel is a Samaritan. The difference between last week’s Parable of the Good Samaritan and this week’s Gospel is the ten men are not virtual characters in a story. Jesus is actually having a real-life encounter with ten men with a “dreaded skin disease”.

We don’t know for certain what the “dreaded skin disease” was. Any visible skin condition was suspect and would have been considered possibly contagious. It would have made the person with the condition unclean and an outcast...forced to live away from family, friends and society.

Jesus is one his way to Jerusalem along the border between Samaria and Galilee. He is still in Gentile territory when he encounters the ten men with the “dreaded skin disease”. They kept their distance and shouted, “Jesus! Master! Have pity on us!”

Jesus tells the ten men to go have the priests in the Temple examine them. According to the Book of Leviticus...only a priest could declare a person unclean...and only a priest could declare a person healed.

The Gospel tells us when one of the men saw that he was healed, he immediately turned around and went back to Jesus. He knew Jesus was the source of his healing and fell down at his feet, praising and thanking God. Only one man returned to thank Jesus...and he was a Samaritan.

We don’t know anything about the other nine men. They were probably Jews, although the Gospel doesn’t say they were. Regardless, the man who did the right thing and thanked Jesus for healing him was a despised Samaritan. The Gospel clearly teaches us Jesus didn’t discriminate when it came to healing someone who asked for his help.

What about the other nine men? The Gospel doesn’t give us any more details. We can only assume they did what Jesus told them to do. They had the priests in the Temple examine them and certify they too were clean. But they failed to acknowledge Jesus was the source of their healing or to thank him for helping them.

We ask God for healing all the time. We ask him for spiritual and physical healing. God likes it when we ask for his help. He also likes it when we thank him. Our individual and corporate prayers are acts of faith. They are expressions of our belief God hears and answers our prayers...and God always answers our prayers...yes…no…or wait awhile. There is no such thing as a prayer that goes unanswered.

Now that God has answered our prayers and we have seen the results of our asking for help or guidance…what do we do next? We need to do exactly what the Samaritan does in today’s Gospel. The Samaritan did the right thing…he came back to Jesus and fell at his feet and thanked God…he knew it was God who healed him.

Jesus wants us to know God is always ready to forgive us and heal us because it’s his nature to show mercy and compassion. Jesus shows us how much the Father loves us through his own acts of love and compassion...especially through his acts of healing. He cares about our physical and spiritual health and everything we do in our daily lives whether it’s work, school, church, or vacation time to get refreshed. And nothing is unimportant to God.

Our friend, Paul, reminds us in today’s Epistle to the Galatians, healing comes in many forms. Paul is concerned about actions that are against God’s will...actions that hurt others and hurt ourselves. The cure for bad actions is good actions: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control. God’s Holy Spirit helps us do all the right things. That is a healing!

We should never hesitate to ask God for healing. And we should always remember...

God likes it when we say “thank you!”
✠

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770 N El Camino Real
San Mateo, CA
94401

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