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.

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.

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.

Last Easter season a new convert to Catholicism at my parish asked me with a grave tone in her voice: “Why do we call priests ‘father’ if Jesus says, ‘Call no man on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven’?” Thinking myself clever, I asked, “Do you think it’s okay to call someone your ‘teacher’ or ‘mister’ or ‘dad’?” She said, “Yes, I do.” I responded, “Well, Jesus seems to forbid that, too. So, it’s obviously hyperbole that he’s using.” She thought for a moment and declared, “Then I will stop using those words, too!” And she walked away. Not the outcome I was seeking.