St. Boniface Catholic Church in Anaheim and Fr. Augustine Vu

Since we were going to be in Anaheim on a Sunday, we asked our hotel about the nearest Catholic Church and mass schedules. The nearest Catholic Church to Residence Inn Anaheim Maingate is St. Boniface Catholic Church, located at 120 N. Janss Street, Anaheim.

It was a 10-minute drive from our hotel.

Hotel staff were so helpful that they sent us the Sunday mass schedules even before we got there. So, if you are in Anaheim and would like to hear Sunday mass, here's the schedule:

6:45am (English)
8:00am (Spanish)
9:30am (English)
11:00am (English)
12:30pm (Spanish)
5:00pm (English)
7:00pm (Spanish)

We went to the 5pm mass and it was funny that we couldn't find any parking space at the church itself. My nephew Alexis had to park elsewhere. It's funny since a former officemate of mine asks for the intercession of St. Boniface when she needs parking space ("St. Boniface, St. Boniface, please find me a parking space.")

The mass we attended was celebrated by Fr. Augustine Vu, a Vietnamese priest who had recently been featured on the Los Angeles Times. During the sermon, he talked about his story (that he shared with the LA Times) of going on a boat from Vietnam at the age of 10 and not having any food or water for 30 days. He said that he felt "helpless, hopeless, and lost" and prayed that should he be saved from that situation, he would dedicate his life to the Lord.

Well, the 10-year old boy did become a priest and on the day that we heard mass, there was a Church affair with plenty of food for mass-goers and he was inviting everyone to try his "holy egg rolls."

Back to Fr. Vu's sermon, the phrase "helpless, hopeless, and lost" was in reference to the words used by the family of Seung-Hui Cho (Virginia Tech), in a letter written by his sister Sun-Kyung Cho. It was an apt reminder that amidst life's frustrations and troubles when we may feel "helpless, hopeless, and lost," there is a Lord Who will assist us, Who will be a Source of strength, and Who will find us, no matter where we may be.

For more details about St. Boniface Church, you can visit www.rc.net/orange/stboniface

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