Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp,

Happy Pentecost! May the Holy Spirit fill your heart with love. According to scriptures, the celebration of Pentecost or the coming of the Holy Spirit occurs ten days after the Ascension of the Lord Jesus. This Solemnity of Pentecost marks the birth of the Church, in which the first group of disciples was strengthened and guided by the Holy Spirit to go out and to preach the Good News of Salvation to the world.

The First Reading from Acts of the Apostles recounts the event of the universal commission of the first disciples by the Holy Spirit as follow:

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim (Acts 2: 1-4).

The speaking of different tongues in Acts of the Apostles, which refers to the ability to reach out to the Gentiles, signifies the universality of the mission of the Church. The First Reading of Acts of the Apostles also claims that foreigners were able to understand the speech of the disciples in their own language. They asked among themselves:

Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?
Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?
We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene,
as well as travelers from Rome,
both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,
yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues
of the mighty acts of God (Acts 2: 7-9).

Speaking of the universality of the Church’s mission, sacred ministers of the Church are ordained for a broader mission; they are commissioned to bring the Good News to many people. Sometimes, due to pastoral necessity, a sacred minister is transferred to a different location for ministry. Today, I want to inform you that Bishop Vann has asked two of our parochial vicars, Father Luis Segura, and Father Nicolaus Duy Thai, to serve at different parishes. Beginning July 01, Father Luis will serve at La Purisima Parish in Orange, and Father Nicolaus at Saint Boniface in Anaheim.

Personally, I am sad to see Fathers Luis and Nicolaus go. However, I must accept the bigger pastoral needs of our diocese as the reality of ecclesial ministry. I hope we all cherish their love, service, and their remaining time at our parish.

To compensate for our loss, Bishop Vann has graciously given us Deacon Francis Ang, who is scheduled to be ordained to the priesthood on June 06, to be our new parochial vicar. In addition, Father Jaime Hernandez, who is now serving at Saint Cecilia in Tustin, will be another new parochial vicar. As for the successor of Sister Jessica, her community sends us Sister Silvia Frias; she will assume the responsibility as Coordinator of the English and Spanish Faith Formation.

Due to changes in personnel, I need to put some projects or programs on hold, so that I can focus on journeying with our new parochial vicars and Sister of Faith Formation. In addition, I need to focus also on journeying and supporting a seminarian-intern named Eddie Hubber, who will be staying with us from July 01 to the end of December.

Lastly, I wish to inform you also that we had a total of one hundred fifty-eight (158) children receiving First Holy Communion, eighty-five (85) for Teen-Confirmation, fourteen (14) for Adult Confirmation, and forty-three (43) receiving into the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil.

Oh Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, and Saint Polycarp: Pray for us!

Father Viet Peter Ho
Pastor