Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Peace and Joy in Our Lord Jesus!

We live in troubling times. Many communities are being destroyed by violence. Our faith is being tested. I’ve had many conversations with parishioners about riots, thuggery and civil unrest. It is frustrating to see people get hurt. It is difficult to see people in service professions get disrespected and even killed and businesses and livelihoods being destroyed.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Fr. Zachary of the Mother of God, SOLT offers a beautiful reflection on the five important “rules” that can be a part of our lives every day of our life. I think they are solid rules that can help us all to become better disciples of Our Lord Jesus.

#1 The first rule begins when we rise from bed. First thing in the morning say: "This is the first and greatest of all the commandments, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, and with your whole mind, and with all your strength’ and the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Dear Family of God,

Peace and Joy in Our Lord Jesus Christ!

Do you find yourself often frustrated, tired, and lacking patience? You may want to look at how you deal with your hatred and anger. The very first line we heard from Sacred Scripture applies to so many people in our culture. The Book of Sirach “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. The vengeful will experience the Lord’s vengeance... So forgive your neighbor’s injustice.”

Dear Family of God,

Peace and Joy in Our Lord Jesus Christ!

You may have noticed these signs around town. They are simple signs that offer some hopeful messages. They are encouraging roadside signs that have been popping up in neighborhoods all around the world – and it’s all thanks to one woman who felt helpless in the face of mental illness.

Dear Family of God,

Peace and Joy in Our Lord Jesus Christ!

It is amazing how much we depend on schedules and routines. Many people rely on their watch or phone to keep on track and to get to where they need to be on time. While I was in the seminary, I didn’t need a watch because we had bells. The use of bells let us know when it was time to eat, to sleep, to go to class and when to pray. I will admit, I didn’t much care for the bells at first. Eventually, I came to appreciate them.

Dear Family of God,

Peace and Joy in Our Lord Jesus Christ!

This Gospel reminds us that we are called to proclaim the love of God whether it is convenient or not. Our duty includes a call to personal holiness and salvation as well as a willingness to speak the love of God to those who do not know God. A few weeks ago, I spoke about the how we are obliged to protect the fundamental rights of the citizens and their freedom to live out the Faith in the way that they – and not the government – see fit.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We are so blessed to have Our Blessed Mother leading us through the difficulties in life. We celebrated the glorious feast day of Our Lady, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, last Saturday. The feast day recalls the death of the Blessed Virgin Mary - the Dormition, or falling asleep, as it was known in the East. The Assumption reminds us that Her body did not decay but that She was raised up, body and soul, into heaven.

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

Informed Catholics need to agree on the foundational issues that have made this nation the greatest nation in the history of the world. Our nation is a beacon of freedom for literally billions of people. We've been blessed to live a very family-friendly state. One of the reasons we find Arizona to be so pro-family is because Catholics in the public square have worked hard to bring pro-family legislation to our Arizona legislature. We are one of the most Pro-life states because so much legislation has been signed into law by pro-life, pro-family, and pro-freedom governors through the years.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I encourage Catholics to speak loudly at the voting booth. I understand that there are concerns and even fear when it comes to speaking publicly about God and politics. I can assure you, for evil to prevail, good people only need to remain silent or indifferent. This cannot happen under our watch. Our country is a beacon of religious freedom for millions around the world. The Catholic Church has a seat at the table of truth and freedom. But we need to speak with our actions… that means we must vote as faithful Catholics.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

How does a person figure out who to vote for in an election? There seems to be so much information to wade through and at times it can seem overwhelming. How can a faithful Catholic discern who is right for the job?

First, a faithful Catholic is called vote for a candidate who best represents positions that would be in accord with God and His Commandments. This means that we want to vote for someone who would share similar if not the same values, morals, principles, etc. that we hold as Catholics. Of course, a candidate does not have to be Catholic, but the best candidates adhere to values that puts the welfare of the common good over personal political gain.

You may have heard that we have in important election this year. Hopefully, as Catholics, we understand our role and responsibility to vote as citizens and as Catholics. The importance of our role as Catholic citizens of the United States of America cannot be emphasized enough. We are blessed to live in a great nation that allows us to celebrate our faith. We are also blessed to live in a nation that upholds our God given religious freedoms... at least for now. But as you know, freedom is not free. Catholics have a responsibility to care for the welfare of our citizens and our future.

In choosing stained glass windows and sacred art for the interior of our beautiful church, glorifying God is always the priority. How do we choose? The bishops' document offers two ways of evaluating sacred art. The first way focuses on the quality. "Quality is evident in the honesty and genuineness of the materials that are used, the nobility of the form embodied in them, the love and care that goes into the creation of a work of art, and the personal stamp of the artist whose special gift produces a harmonious whole, a well-crafted work." (Built of Living Stones, ch. 3)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2502 states that "Sacred art is true and beautiful when its form corresponds to its particular vocation: evoking and glorifying, in faith and adoration, the transcendent mystery of God - the surpassing invisible beauty of truth and love visible in Christ, who "reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature," in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily." This spiritual beauty of God is reflected in the most holy Virgin Mother of God, the angels, and saints. Genuine sacred art draws man to adoration, to prayer, and to the love of God, Creator and Savior, the Holy One and Sanctifier."

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

American Saint, Frances Cabrini once said, "I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him." This seemed to be the conviction of all our American saints who founded hospitals, grade schools, churches, universities, leper colonies, orphanages, missionary outposts, soup kitchens and more. In order to remind others of the goodness of God and Christ's redeeming, so many saints, canonized or not, functioned as building blocks of our country. Catholics, in other words, have played a huge part in American history.