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.

Today we are reminded again by Our Lord in the Gospel just what the cost of discipleship truly is. Our Lord reminds each one of us that those who love father or mother, son or daughter more than Him are not worthy of Him. Does that mean that you and I are supposed to love our parents less? Of course not! That would be silly to think Jesus is telling us to ease up on loving our family. So what does Jesus mean in today's Gospel? Our Lord is teaching us the importance of prioritizing our relationships. God must come before anyone (or anything) else in our lives. As we seek God above all else, we learn what it means to be a disciple and a Catholic.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Most post-pubescent males can father a child. Fathering a child is vastly different from being a good father. So what does it take to be a good father? One this Father’s Day, I would like to address the vital role my father holds in my life and the important role of the father in the life of his family. 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Church is blessed to celebrate this special Feast of Corpus Christi today. So what are we celebrating? Today, we celebrate the fact that Jesus is the Bread of Life. The Gospel reminds us that Christ feeds multitudes with bread. In the Mass, Our Lord feeds us with His own Body and Blood! Christ Himself gave us the Eucharist on the night of the Last Supper. The Church has offered Holy Mass from then until now and the Church will offer Holy Mass until the very end of time. Why? She will do this simply because Jesus commanded us to "do this in remembrance of me!"

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As human beings, we need one another. We are united as God's children. As such, we do well to understand that being a beloved child of God the Most High, we are called to seek a holy and lifegiving relationship with God and one another. Since each of us have been created in the image and likeness of God, we are able to be a sacred reflection of the Most Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Today's Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity celebrates the most powerful mystery of who God is as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Secondly, today reminds us of the relationship God shares with us, His beloved children.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today, we celebrate the birthday of the Church. The promised Holy Spirit that we've heard about these last couple of weeks comes down upon the Apostles, and their lives would never be the same! The world would never be the same! The Catholic Church, as founded by Christ, now celebrates the fact that the Holy Spirit remains with us to this very day. It is the Holy Spirit that enables all of us to hear Our Lord's call to follow Him every day. It the same Holy Spirit that enables us to build the Kingdom of God here and now. It is the same Holy Spirit that enables us to do God's work, while we await His return!

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Several years ago, I was blessed to be a part of a Eucharistic Procession with nearly 10,000 people in Lourdes I have always thought about having a Eucharistic Procession through our neighborhood streets with the parishioners of St. Bernadette. I wasn't too sure about doing this at first because I preferred a quiet holy hour safely in the air-conditioned chapel as opposed to walking through streets with a monstrance with Jesus' Eucharistic Presence under an elaborate canopy. I convinced myself that people wouldn't understand so why do it?

It is so wonderful to see so many people return to Holy Mass! St. Bernadette Catholic Church continues to follow the directives set by our bishop as he continues to monitor and take seriously the guidance and directives of Governor Ducey, Arizona health oficials, and the Federal Government. As you can see, we are moving toward the goal of full restoration of parish life with prudence. We hope to balance the very real spiritual needs of the faithful with our great concern for the physical well-being of our parishioners and the wider community.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Peace and Joy in Our Risen Lord!

We are living in a moment in history that not one of us have ever experienced before. This pandemic has brought much trial, sickness and suffering to many people. Hopefully, it has also brought us to our knees in prayer. I can sense a growing longing for Christ in the Eucharist and the other sacraments, as well as a greater devotion to the Church and Our Lord by many Catholics. May that hunger for holiness never fade. Because our frenzied activity has dissipated, what is more essential to our eternity remains.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

At the invitation of Bishop Olmsted, many people throughout our diocese recently completed their consecration to St. Joseph. If you missed this 33 Day Consecration opportunity, the next one begins on July 20th. I invite you to prayerfully consider consecrating yourself and your family to St. Joseph for many reasons. St. Joseph is known as Mirror of patience, Lover of poverty, Model of artisans, Glory of home life, Guardian of virgins, Pillar of families, Solace of the wretched, Hope of the sick, Patron of the dying, Terror of demons, Protector of Holy Church, the foster father of Jesus and the husband of Mary. He was just honored on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1st.