As our world faces so much turmoil and change, it is now more important than ever to remember who God is, who we are and where we are going. It is easy to get distracted and lose focus, especially when we are being pulled in so many directions. We can not only lose sight of God but one another. Maintaining our well developed and mature relationships with God and one another is essential to continuing to live, healthy, happy, and focused lives. In a message to young people, Pope Benedict XVI said, “the happiness you are seeking, the happiness you have a right to enjoy has a name and a face: it is Jesus of Nazareth, hidden in the Eucharist.” What is true for those who are younger is even truer for those who are older. Regardless of how the particulars of life change over time, human beings are still hard-wired to seek the fullness of life and happiness. How we embark on this journey and what we choose along the way will indicate whether we meet success.

Happy Trinity Sunday!

This Sunday we give thanks and praise to God for the ordination to the Diaconate of our own Harold Escarcega. He is to be ordained a deacon this Sunday morning at St. Thomas the Apostle. Please keep him in your prayers as he begins his last year of seminary as a transitional deacon at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver. He will be ordained a priest next June! Congratulations Harold!

Happy Pentecost Sunday!

Today the Church celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit given to the apostles at Pentecost. In the Office of Readings for today we hear from St. Irenaeus who says, “This was why the Lord had promised to send the Advocate: he was to prepare us as an offering to God. Like dry flour, which cannot become one lump of dough, one loaf of bread, without moisture, we who are many could not become one in Christ Jesus without the water that comes down from heaven. And like parched ground, which yields no harvest unless it receives moisture, we who were once like a waterless tree could never have lived and borne fruit without this abundant rainfall from above.”

Happy Sunday!

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. In the Preface Prayer of Mass this Sunday the Church prays,

“He ascended, not to distance himself from our lowly state
But that we, his members, might be confident of following
Where he, our Head and Founder, has gone before.”

Happy Sunday!

And Happy Mother’s Day! Thanks be to God for all of our mothers. Our Gospel is very fitting this weekend as Jesus gives us His commandment: “Love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Isn’t this the example of mothers throughout the world? Women who lay down their lives for those whom they love most, their own flesh and blood. More often than not, this self-sacrificial love happens in secret. I have been very privileged to witness this in the women of our parish. Thank you for being so generous with your gift of motherhood.

Happy Sunday!

May begins Confirmation season for us here at St. Joan of Arc. This weekend at the 10:30 Mass we celebrate the adult confirmations. Over the next few weeks we will have First Reconciliation and First Communion and Confirmation for our children. Please keep all in prayer during this very eventful month. As well, we have numerous weddings throughout May and June. Please keep all couples in your prayers as they prepare for the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.

Happy Sunday!

I pray everyone has had a good week. This week we continue to hear from the First Letter of St. John. It begins, “Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.” St. John has a wonderful simplicity in his writing. The love the Father bestows on us is making us His children. St. John adds very simply, “Yet so we are.” Almost as if anticipating how remarkable such a statement is. It is not open to debate, it is merely that. We are God’s children, no arguing. Sometimes it’s difficult to really understand this. We can hear over and over again that we are God’s children and yet not “feel” it or experience it. One good spiritual practice is to simply sit with this truth. Maybe to ask God in prayer what it means that you are His child. In the silence of prayer God can speak to us and give us a deeper understanding of the love He has bestowed on us.

We often act out of ignorance. Armed with the best of intentions, we think we are seeing clearly and correctly, but we are not. We don’t always understand the full meaning of things and only perceive part of the truth. Hence, our judgments and actions can be impaired by myopic, incomplete or erroneous perceptions. The meaning of life, understanding of human experience, and negotiating life’s challenges can all become skewed without proper understanding and vision. The resurrection of Christ is the corrective to our incomplete and limited view of life. Looking at things with the eyes of faith brings a depth of clarity and understanding to how we see God, ourselves, others, and the world.

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday! Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful start to the Easter season. I have not written a bulletin letter in a while and want to express my thanks to everyone who made Lent and Holy Week such a wonderful success. We have a great staff here who continually gives of themselves as well as incredible volunteers! Thank you to everyone; you are all a great gift to me and the parish.