Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

01-28-2024Pastor's LetterFr. Daniel Cruz

Happy Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time!

This Friday, February 2nd is the 40th day since we celebrated the Nativity of the Lord. On this feast, our Blessed Lord Jesus was presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph. You may have noticed the retention of the Christmas trees. This gave a subtle impression of the Christmas season’s continuation and culmination of this day. Our Mass will be solemn and dark as you enter this morning. All are invited to bring candles of your own to be blessed and then we will walk into the church with different lighted candles.

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Pray, Fast and Defend

01-21-2024Pastor's LetterFr. Daniel Cruz

Happy Sunday!

After praying, fasting and defending the legal protection of the unborn for nearly 50 years, it has been almost two years since the aftermath of the overturning Roe v. Wade. Since then, the defense of human life has gotten more difficult as states are now enacting laws to protect or continue destroying innocent human life.

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Your Earliest Encounter With Christ

01-14-2024Pastor's LetterFr. John Muir

As a priest, I’m amazed how happily married couples remember the tiniest details of their earliest encounters. They effortlessly report things like: “he wore a blue shirt,” “we ordered brussels sprouts,” “her hair was up in a bun,” and “he spilled shrimp cocktail sauce at my family’s open front door when it was ten degrees below zero,” (that one’s courtesy of my mom). We delight in remembering and speaking of when our new life of love began. The little details are glorious reminders that it’s all real.

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The Epiphany of the Lord

01-07-2024Pastor's LetterFr. Daniel Cruz

Happy Epiphany!

As our Christmas season continues into the Epiphany, we thank God for the beautiful celebrations thus far. I am so grateful for the many volunteers and staff that have been hospitable during our very busy time. A tradition I am encouraging you all to partake in this New Year 2024 is the Chalking of the Doors. On January 6th, our water will be Epiphany Water in our baptismal font. Take some home and bless your homes and families. The fathers of the house preside over the home and bless in the presence of the children and other family members. Here is a modified version.

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2023 In Review

12-31-2023Pastor's LetterFr. Daniel Cruz

Happy Feast of the Holy Family and a Happy New Year!

Many music playlists show favorite songs at the end of the year which can be broken down to how many times and hours a particular song was played. In case you were wondering, my top song played in 2023 was Ave Maria by Franz Biebl performed by Chanticleer.

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4th Sunday of Advent

12-24-2023Pastor's LetterFr. Daniel Cruz

Merry Christmas!

Truly this is the most wonderful time of the year. Our weather is beautiful, our hearts are prepared in various ways to meet the Lord and many of us gather to celebrate the Nativity of Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ. I am blessed to have my mom and a few family members join me for Christmas here at St. Joan of Arc. As a priest and now parochial administrator, the commute to the rural towns is tough after many liturgical celebrations during the Christmas season. Turns out, I get tired once in a while.

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Third Sunday of Advent

12-17-2023Pastor's LetterFr. Daniel Cruz

Happy Gaudete Sunday!

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.” Our antiphons for this month use Philippians 4:4-5 to express the closeness of the Lord, Guadete or REJOICE!

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Second Sunday of Advent

12-10-2023Pastor's LetterFr. Daniel Cruz

Happy Second Sunday in Advent!

This is my favorite season and Christmas is only two weeks away! That means tamales are getting ready and on other occasions enjoying some eggnog. Many friends and family arrive from all over. Here at St. Joan of Arc we are very blessed to have so many ways to encounter our Blessed Lord with Holy Mass, adoration and fellowship.

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First Sunday in Advent

12-03-2023Pastor's LetterFr. Daniel Cruz

Happy Advent!

As the people of Israel waited for generations for the promised Messiah, we too enter into a season of waiting and longing for our Savior Jesus Christ by celebrating His birth. This season, we are called to deepen and renew the desire in our hearts to be in union with Him.

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Solemnity of Christ the King

11-26-2023Pastor's LetterFr. Daniel Cruz

Happy Solemnity of Christ the King!

Ever since we began our customary tradition here at St. Joan of Arc with a Eucharistic Procession on this Sunday of Christ the King, I have desired to continue this bold proclamation to the streets. One highlight while I was away from Saint Joan of Arc was taking our Blessed Lord into the streets of a secular campus of Arizona State University. Almost 100 years later we continue to respond to the established feast day by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism. This public university and many other universities tend to imagine a way of life which leaves God out of man’s thinking and organizes a life as if God does not exist.

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Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

11-19-2023Pastor's LetterFr. Daniel Cruz

Happy Sunday!

Our parish continues a beautiful and reverent tradition of proclaiming Jesus Christ is King out in the streets and I want you all to join us. Thanks to the many helping hands to make this Eucharistic Procession a success and witness to the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

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Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

11-12-2023Pastor's LetterFr. Daniel Cruz

Happy Sunday!

For the past year you may have noticed a few good men standing guard around areas of the parish property. Those volunteer men are our very own parishioners known as the Porters of Saint Joseph. The men allow our parish family the freedom, without distraction, to focus on worshiping our God in a safe and secure manner. In the event of a security or medical incident, these men are trained to achieve positive results and maintain a spirit of the overall Church mission.

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