Happy Sunday!

One of the greatest treasures of our parish is the presence of our Eucharistic and Adorable Jesus in our Saint Katharine Drexel Chapel for us to be in His presence and pray. What a loving and generous act of our Blessed Lord to console and strengthen us in our faith. The Imitation of Christ describes: “When Jesus is near, all is well and nothing seems difficult. When He is absent all is hard. When Jesus does not speak within, all other comfort is empty, but if He says only a word, it brings great consolation” (Book II Chapter 8).

Happy Sunday!

You may have noticed our beautiful flower arrangements near the altar at Mass during the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary last week. Thanks to the Little Flower Ministry of young ladies dedicating their service to the Lord with altar arrangements and preparations for the Holy Mass for beautifying our sanctuary. The flowers help us be reminded of God’s creation and beautiful skillset of his handiwork.

Happy Sunday!

When we hear about Holy days of obligation, many thoughts come to mind. Routines experience an inconvenient schedule during the week, a guilty conscience weighs heavy on us and now we have to plan to attend Mass because the Catholic Church said so. As grateful Catholic sons and daughters of the Church, we receive these Holy Days of obligation as an extension of Sunday, the Lord’s day. With their richness and beauty of how they direct our hearts and minds to contemplate the goodness of the Lord, we want to be part of those celebrations.

Happy Feast of the Transfiguration!

The extremely hot July has passed us and we are another month closer to cooler weather which means more outdoor activities such as hiking. One of my favorite outdoor activities are hikes around the valley and northern Arizona. The feast of the Transfiguration reminds me of the ascent of a mountain. We spend time conditioning ourselves, preparing food and water to make such a climb. The focus is always the summit and we do not distract ourselves with what we have already done. In fact, one continuous step at a time allows the efforts of our climb to reach the summit.

Happy Sunday!

Three years ago I was appointed Associate Director of the All Saints Catholic Newman Center at Arizona State University. As you know it was difficult to leave St. Joan of Arc. Many questions and concerns crossed my mind. Will the university have students on campus? As I began to observe, very few students were present on campus. It was an eerie sight as we were accustomed to seeing thousands of students everywhere.

Greetings and blessings!

On July 10th, our Knights of Columbus Council here at St. Joan of Arc installed new officers which included my appointment as chaplain. I am grateful for the past Grand Knights, past officers and current members who fulfill their duties with the council. I offer my sincere congratulations to our new Grand Knight Chuck Reader and the rest of the officers. After attending the ceremonies, the brotherhood of the knights was inspiring as the men were reminded to embrace the cross of Jesus Christ. This brotherhood resembled a portion of the Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary vision prayer: “In brotherhood we strive to be discipled by Jesus in all things; to embrace joyfully His cross.”

It’s not uncommon to hear people complain that we Catholics often fail in communicating our faith. Fair enough. We can and should improve there. But it’s interesting to notice that Jesus himself was implicitly accused by his disciples of a similar failure. This week in Matthew’s gospel they are perplexed that he speaks to the crowds in ambiguous parables. The Lord’s riddles leave many people more confused than before. He responds by pointing out that his parables have an intentional dual purpose: to hide (for some) and to reveal (for others) his Gospel: “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted” (Matthew 13:11). Is Jesus being unnecessarily difficult, obscurantist, or, worse, elitist?

Blessed Sunday to all!

Thank you for the warm welcome back to Saint Joan of Arc parish! My heart has experienced an immense amount of joy and excitement this past week. The homecoming was also met with beautiful and ornate arrangements of decorative artwork around the church.

Happy Sunday!

While giving thanks and praise to almighty God, my return to St. Joan of Arc was received with tremendous joy and acceptance. This is the parish where I learned to be a priest for three blessed years from 2017 until 2020. As I return to being the pastor of souls, the Parochial Administrator, my heart is filled with gratitude and my intent is to fulfill this function with the diligence of a good householder. The advantage comes from the previous years of getting to know many of you. Since then, we have grown as a parish and I look forward to meeting our new families and the newest additions to the growing family. I am aware of some faithful departed members and I will miss them. In your kindness, please let me know who has gone before us.

Happy Sunday!

I never thought this day would come so soon, but this is my last bulletin letter. Being the pastor at St. Joan of Arc has been a wonderful gift and something I’ll always be grateful for. From the moment I arrived I felt like I was a part of this family. In April of 2019 I really didn’t know quite what to expect. It has been a privilege to be a part of your lives in so many ways. Having the opportunity to baptize your children and grandchildren, preside at marriages and offer Mass for you has enriched my priesthood. Not only these joyous moments, but visiting the sick in their homes, care facilities, and hospitals, celebrating funeral Masses when the Lord called your loved ones back to Himself, each of these moments has been a privilege for me to experience. I am grateful for being welcomed into your homes for meals, hearing about your journeys in the faith, listening to your struggles, all the while doing my best to accompany you. Thank you for being so patient with me as I learned and continue to learn what it means to be a pastor.

Happy Sunday!

A very happy Father’s Day to all of our fathers in the community. This weekend we are also celebrating the Solemnity of St. Joan of Arc. Her calendar feast day is May 30th, however, since she is our patroness, we are able to move it to the closest available Sunday so that more people in the parish can celebrate it. Since the Sunday after May 30th was Trinity Sunday and then Corpus Christi, the next closest Sunday is this weekend. The readings and antiphons will not be the same as are in the Lumen Christi missal.

Happy Sunday!

This Sunday the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, or Corpus Christi. This solemnity always reminds me of the great Eucharistic processions that occur throughout the world on this day. After my second year of theology studies I spent the summer in Antigua, Guatemala. I had arrived there just in time for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Throughout the city families and different devotional groups were preparing “alfombras” for the Eucharistic procession. While the word “alfombra” typically refers to a rug, in this case the alfombra was about the size of a rug, but it was a design of flowers or religious symbol such as a monstrance. These designs would be created with flower petals or different colored sands.

Dear Friends,

Summer is a great time for reading. Remember summer reading lists from school? I used to ride my bike down to the library in the first weeks of break and check out all the books I was supposed to read. Then I would find other books, too. Remember browsing the shelves? Then I would set up and read and read until all the summer reading was done. After that I was free to read on my own and what I liked.