June 2, 2024

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ we hear of Jesus saying, “This is my Body…This is my blood.” Earlier, he said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. 54 Whoever eats[s] my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” (John 6: 53-55). These and other parts of Scripture are very clear Jesus was not speaking symbolically or metaphorically.

The Lord has created us to be in union with one another and especially with Him. Look at how life was in Genesis before Adam and Eve sinned: God would come down from heaven each day to walk with Adam in the garden. Now that we lost that, the Lord knows that we still are created to be in union with Him. If He were only to give us a sign or symbol or representation it would leave us unfulfilled, distant and eventually empty. But because He loves us so much, he comes down from heaven at each Mass, transforming by the power of the Holy Spirit, bread and wine into His Body and Blood—allowing us to be made present at the Last Supper. He enters our bodies to restore that union with Him and to allow us to experience His love.

Please try to make time this week to see the movie, “Jesus Thirsts” in theaters just for a couple of days. There are showings at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at the Regal in Aliso Viejo and the Regal at the Irvine Spectrum. You can purchase tickets at https://jesusthirstsfilm.com

In Christ,

Bishop Tim Freyer

May 26, 2024

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Thank you for your feedback in letting me know how much you appreciated learning what went into the celebration of confirmation. A few people also asked me what else I do at the diocese so I thought I would share that with you this week.

As our diocese is geographically compact, we don’t have regions but areas of responsibility. My areas include: Parish faith formation; youth and young adult ministry; the ministry on our college campuses; the formation of our teachers, catechists and volunteers; evangelization (including bringing focus missionaries into some of our parishes, St. Paul’s Street Evangelization, Damascus ministries for youth). I also oversee our Hispanic ministry, our office for worship, the implementation of RCIA, our Cathedral campus, our cemetery ministry, our security detail and am Bishop Vann’s liaison to the Orange Catholic Foundation. Additionally, I oversee our family life office which provides marriage preparation, natural family planning, mental health ministry, care for the divorced, separated, widowed, and our care for the whole person ministry. Thankfully, we have good people serving in these offices and I am blessed to work with them to continue to provide the best ministry possible to our parishes, schools and faithful.

Apart from my responsibilities at the diocese, I am also a police chaplain for the City of Anaheim and serve on the board of directors of a few national Catholic ministries, am on the executive committee of the CA Bishops’ Conference as well as a few committees for the US Bishops. As ministry is a blessing, I don’t feel like what I do is work and I am grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with so many amazing people.

Please plan to attend an amazing movie, “Jesus Thirsts” in theaters June 4-5 in English and June 6 in Spanish!

In Christ,

Bishop Tim Freyer

May 19, 2024

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

When I was a pastor, the confirmation director asked that every student be interviewed by a priest in order to be confirmed. She would want the priests to have the students name the commandments, beatitudes, etc. I told her that for the first time meeting a priest, I wanted it to be a positive experience. So, we asked the students about their life and then asked them to think which gift of the Holy Spirit they needed most, given their particular circumstance, and then we prayed for that gift.

On this Pentecost, I invite you to do the same. As a reminder, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are:

Wisdom: Wisdom is a gift that allows us to understand things from God's point of view.

Understanding: Allows us grasp, at least in a limited way, the very essence of the truths of the Faith--The teachings make more sense to us.

Counsel: This gift allows us to judge how best to act in accordance with God’s will.

Fortitude/Courage: Gives us the capacity to stand up for good against evil and be convicted to take a stand when the occasion arises.

Knowledge: Allows us to understand the meaning and purpose God has for us and to live up to this meaning. It differs from wisdom in that it is an action.

Piety: The willingness to worship and to serve God. Piety takes that willingness beyond a sense of duty, so that we desire to worship God and to serve Him out of love.

Fear of the Lord: Helps us to understand the greatness and awesomeness of the Lord-- everything we are is due to the wonder, love, grace, and perfection of God.

In Christ,

Bishop Tim Freyer